After a few days of delay due to us prioritizing work another dev blog is now published, this one packed with screenshots from the upcoming Alpha 33 update. We're digging into some of the new features, discuss Unite Copenhagen and give thanks to everyone who's been a part of the journey so far during these two-year early access anniversary time!
As you might have seen, Airport CEO as of last week officially now supports German. This is the result of a very long project starting in the spring of 2019 with a brand new system for delivering text in the game and then over the summer the actual translation of the text from English into German. That German translation is now implemented in the game but unfortunately we've received a lot of feedback on the final result stating that the quality is not on par with its English equivalence. This is of course unfortunate, as we've spent a lot of time and resources on selecting a qualitative agency to work with to make sure that our German players can enjoy Airport CEO without breaking the fourth wall and trying to figure out what a "big door on a children's slide" actually means. We've thus come to realize that Airport CEO, with its many words and vast quantities of complex industry language, is a too difficult translation project for a single person or a single third-party agency to take on.
In the wake of the English to German translation mishap we've contemplated a lot on how we were supposed to move ahead with the remaining languages. We don't want to make the same mistake again by working with a sole agency and while working with single translators probably yields more control and costs less, there's still the issue of contextual translation and aviation terminology quality. No... we've come to realize, that the only persons who would be up for the task is... you! You have the know-how of Airport CEO to understand the words in their context, and you're also interested in aviation and know what words are typically used. Now we're asking you for help to translate Airport CEO.
We've teamed up together with Localizor, an online crowd translation tool where you can help out in translating the text of games in exchange for coins that can be redeemed into Steam keys. We've received loads of requests from various airport CEOs who want to participate in the translation of ACEO into their native language, but this has always been out of the question as we've not only lacked the tools to allow people to help out on a smaller scale but also because we haven't had a reasonable way to compensate participants for their work. Localizor solves both those problems and we're really excited to try it out together with you. This is how it works:
Head on over to the Localizor platform and sign up
Select a game you want to translate (preferably Airport CEO but there are a few other projects available as well)
Get busy translating! Either fill in a translation of some text that hasn't been translated or vote on existing suggestions that already have been submitted.
When you've accumulated enough coins, head over to Localizor's coin shop to redeem a Steam key!
If you have any questions, comments or concerns just post them below in the comment section and we'll reply back. We hope you will like to join in on translating Airport CEO together with us and Localizor, and to ultimately bring the ACEO experience to new people!
If you haven't noticed it already, Airport CEO now officially supports German! Although German has been supported since the initial release of Alpha 32, we've held off with the official announcement as we've performed another round of quality assurance with the localized text out in the wild. We are as of today happy with the quality of the translation in its early access state and are therefor now ready to claim official support for German. Here are a few answers to a few questions you might have...
How do I switch to German?
Launch into the game's main menu and go to the gameplay settings menu. Click on the German flag and accept the prompt by pressing "OK". The game will now reboot into the German version.
Why is some text on the experimental branch not localized?
The experimental branch is our fast paced development branch where we primarily focus on implementing features and content. When new content is added, the text we produce for the interface is written in English and the translation of that text is automatically placed in a localization backlog. Once we've accumulated enough text to be localized (from a cost perspective), or once we deploy a new major update, the text in the backlog will be translated.
Why is some text on the default branch not localized?
Then you've found a bug! Airport CEO consists of over 17000 words and in an early access state it's possible for something to slip through. Bug report it using the in-game panel and we'll get busy fixing it!
Why is the word "[insert any word]" incorrectly translated?
Airport CEO consist of a lot of complex industry terminology. We would love your feedback on the German language in the game and you can send it directly to us via the bug reporting panel, or reach out to us via any of our social channels!
Alpha 32.12-0 is now making its way out to you as a quality of life update focusing on a large section of common bugs as reported by players on the default branch and the turnaround update. We've mainly focused on bugs that surround loading and saving, some rendering issues with multiple floors and some logic problems in terms of job tasks and turnaround procedures but we've also thrown in taxis and taxi stops, did a render overhaul and improved vehicle pathing. Below are, as per usual, the patch notes for this update...
Release notes - Airport CEO - Version Alpha 32.12-0
[/url]] - Failed shipment counter resets too quickly causing other shipments for other structure to stall as delivery truck get deadlocked with failed shipment
[/url]] - Vehicles cannot pathfind efficiently (cross the road) from several vehicle accessible objects such as tunnels, vehicle depots and fluid buildings
This is one of the most exiting development blog posts we've posted to date. Dev Blog 135: The future of Airport CEO details the road ahead of Airport CEO from its current early access state to a full release. We've got a very ambitious schedule set with a lot of new content planned in conjunction with some pretty massive overhauls (we're hearing all of your feedback!). Don't hesitate to check out what's coming up next!
We are back from the summer vacation and are finally releasing Alpha 32, or The Turnaround Update, to the default branch! We've written an extensive text on this update in today's development blog in which we not only detailed what's happened this summer, but what Alpha 32 is all about and what the next steps for Alpha 33 and 34 are.
The Turnaround Update
It’s time to make money. With the turnaround update we’re now enabling three new turnaround services for you to expand your airport with. They span across various disciplines, require different structures, operate under different circumstances, business practices and equipment but all serve the same purpose: For you to start rolling in the big bucks!
In this update we’ve included:
• Three all-new turnaround services: Catering, aircraft cabin cleaning and de-icing fully simulated from arrival to departure • Four new vehicles: Catering truck, aircraft cabin cleaning truck, garbage truck and de-icing truck • Three new structures: Catering depot, waste depot, and de-icing fluid depot • Two new business types with three new companies each: Catering food and de-icing fluid suppliers • Sliders in the operations and the economy panels to give you control over what services are enabled and how much you charge for them • A template tool (copy and paste) • German language support
We will continue to monitor the bug flow and update if any critical issue arises.
Release notes - Airport CEO - Version Alpha 32.10-0
Improvement
ACEO-4219] - Instantly load game when double clicking a save container
ACEO-13106] - Added fees sliders for catering meal and de-icing fluid sales
ACEO-14636] - Airport staff renamed 'passenger service agent' in accordance with industry terminology
ACEO-14637] - Security staff renamed 'security officer' in accordance with industry terminology
ACEO-14856] - Improved error handling for person activity update loops to avoid stalling persons
ACEO-14874] - Service truck renamed 'baggage truck' in accordance with industry terminology
ACEO-14939] - Added conveyor belt escalator direction guide icons
ACEO-14942] - Added temperature modifier value based on airport location to avoid de-icing and cold weather coniditions in countries with traditionally warm climate
ACEO-15202] - Improved service road texture with rounded corners
ACEO-15234] - Road tunnels now automatically set road type based on connectors
ACEO-15238] - Implemented separate path finding system for contractors to avoid stalling other agents during path finding
ACEO-12209] - Time format is not set correct on tutorial phone
ACEO-12309] - Flight planner clock is layered behind scrollbar
ACEO-12422] - Imperial passenger height and weight units missing for passenger panel
ACEO-12734] - Missing key value for catering job task description
ACEO-14128] - Dashboard and main interaction bag counters do not match
ACEO-14323] - Vehicle procurment text size too big
ACEO-14397] - Older saves (saved before Alpha 30) can crash on load due to incorrect serialized item type
ACEO-14410] - Beechcraft 1900D does not activate extra lights on runway at night
ACEO-14419] - Aircraft cabin cleaning turnaround procedure does not take deboarding and boarding status into account
ACEO-14456] - Contractors can in rare cases get teleported to delivery sites without reason
ACEO-14480] - De-icing vapor visible on lower floors
ACEO-14483] - If an aircraft arrives to a de-icing pad before a de-icing truck, the next occupying de-icing truck will never invoke the de-icing behavior causing a deadlock
ACEO-14508] - Improved tutorial step completion background color to better accommodate reading experience
ACEO-14531] - Waiting positions for service vehicles at medium stands overlap
ACEO-14536] - Aircraft information panel missing requested services icons
ACEO-14538] - Aircraft cabin cleaning truck position for Q400 misaligned
ACEO-14539] - Aircraft sound levels inconsistent when switching from startup to idle
ACEO-14541] - Missing localization key value for de-icing fluid amount
ACEO-14543] - Switching floor causes vehicle animations to reset
ACEO-14547] - Incorrect requirement for de-icing truck renders it non-purchasable if waste depot not built
ACEO-14552] - Garbage trucks have infinite waste capacity resulting in a seemingly excessive amount of garbage trucks dispatched for waste pickup
ACEO-14559] - Trucks resupplying a certain depot can become stuck in a delivery loop as they do not correctly account for shipment relevancy
ACEO-14577] - Pushback truck tow bar visible on lower ground floors
ACEO-14584] - Flight monitor missing catering and aircraft cabin cleaning
ACEO-14615] - Missing effect toggle handler on de-icing pad causes it to be un-buildable
ACEO-14622] - Security officers can in rare instances become displaced during or after job task completion causing pathfinding errors
ACEO-14635] - Inactive construction text causing notable performance impact even if object is built
ACEO-14661] - Aircraft cabin cleaning truck and belt loader truck overlap on Q400
ACEO-14767] - Catering food supplier cost value rounded to 0 for lower than one dollar values
ACEO-14784] - Parallax effect on road check-point structure
ACEO-14806] - Runway tire marks layered over aircraft on runway
ACEO-14808] - Jetway not colorable from first floor or above
ACEO-14850] - Premature activity evaluation method for when relief items break can cause a NullReferenceException on interaction items and stalled passengers
ACEO-14858] - Missing distance check for random node fetch in vehicle's roaming method can cause extensive detours in large airports
ACEO-14868] - Fuel trucks perform a pirouette before exiting fuel depot
ACEO-14872] - De-icing fluid depot panel incorrectly displays percentage symbol instead of fluid amount symbol
ACEO-14898] - Assigned fuel truck at closed stand can in certain instances get stuck in a loop
ACEO-14928] - Waste reduction calculation method for waste depots can cause garbage trucks to get stuck
ACEO-14930] - Contractors can in certain cases stuck when ending up in an inaccessible area
ACEO-14938] - Airport fees resets when loading a saved airport
ACEO-14949] - Aircraft cannot abort de-icing activity if temperature rises above zero while approaching a de-icing pad
ACEO-14951] - Passengers can in rare instances get stuck in shop while waiting to pay
ACEO-14953] - Construction costs doesn't match description on some objects
ACEO-14954] - Loans can be paid off with insufficient funds
ACEO-14998] - Flight planner breaks down when planning flights
ACEO-15000] - Shader culling causes marking lines on flipped texture such as runway entrance and exits to disappear
ACEO-15012] - Stairs do not fill out entire allocated model area
ACEO-16388] - Aircraft cabin cleaning truck rotation not correctly set when loading
ACEO-16392] - Service vehicles can in rare instances not reset their current parking structure after a job has been completed causing idling behavior in an incorrect spot
ACEO-16394] - Pushback trucks, upon job task completion, disregard roads in an erratic manner
ACEO-16403] - Saved template category panel in build menu not visible
ACEO-16404] - Template tool now generates automatic description images
ACEO-16428] - Baggagge overlaps generic scanner when passing through
ACEO-16438] - Procurement search bar does not exclude other key input
ACEO-16442] - De-icing trucks can in rare instances get stuck after aircraft de-icing completion and empty their tank
ACEO-16443] - Missing text in template tool button hover to highlight that alt left button is needed to be clicked in order to copy full rooms
ACEO-16465] - Job task panel statistic containers do not update "Fetching data..." text when loading panel for first time with time paused
ACEO-16484] - Fuel truck with middle placed warning light is off center
ACEO-16485] - Conveyor belts can in rare instances get assigned wrong variation index causing escalators to be spawned as straight pieces and consequent null reference issues
ACEO-16498] - NullReference exception thrown when constructing de-icing pads with construction simulation disabled
ACEO-16506] - Poor occupation check for parking objects can cause vehicles to exit a certain parking object to stall
ACEO-16508] - Incorrect aircraft presence check for service vehicles when interacting with stands can throw null reference exceptions and cause stalling behavior
ACEO-16520] - Aircraft with two possible departure runways but only one properly reachable via one-way taxiways cannot perform multiple attempts
ACEO-16540] - "Cabin cleaning required before boarding can start" notification not removable
ACEO-16543] - Double click to load save not implemented on main menu load panel
New Feature
ACEO-3333] - Quick-saving now possible by pressing F5
We are deploying some critical fixes regarding path finding and contractors, as well as other improvements and minor bug fixes. The experimental branch has also been updated and will soon be transferred to the default branch.
Have a good one for now!
Release notes - Airport CEO - Version Alpha 31.8-0
We found an issue with secure zone merging in between different floors causing passengers and staff to get incorrectly failed paths. This hot-fix will fix this as well as another path issue related to security officers. You should also see some updated taxiway textures.
This update is in line with the continued stabilization work of Alpha 31 and more updates are to come!
Release notes - Airport CEO - Version Alpha 31.7-1