Den som väntar på något gott väntar aldrig för länge. Translation: Good things come to those who wait. Sorry for the delay but as explained in this tweet…

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Due to connectivity issues in the outlands the development blog is delayed. 56k is a bit too slow for our .gifs. Update coming soon.

— AirportCEO (@AirportCEO) 16 juli 2016

… we hade som issues uploading images and .gifs. But as stated in this reddit post, delayed devlogs does not mean delayed progress. We’ve done a lot of things during the past weeks and are now finally able to share them with you!

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Building Runways

As we discussed in the previous devlog we had hoped this week to show you something concrete when it comes to building runways in the game. The truth is we have still not fully decided on the final design of the build system, therefore it will take a few more days to finish. We are currently discussing a few options on how the runways will be constructed in the game. Basically the discussion is mostly about the complexity of how the runways will be built and how it will add to the overall gameplay. We want to give the player the maximum customization abilities without adding extra layers of complexity on the game design and simulation. As we have implemented a solid build system, the new runway builder must be adapted to that but still feel highly customizable. As you’ve seen in previous images and trailers, ACEO will feature a lot of in-game panels for certain objects in order to display information and in order to facilitate control. The runway is no different, down below is an image of the current version of the runway UI and how we’ve prototyped the current experience building and interacting with it. Please note that this is highly experimental and nothing about it is complete ranging from buttons to any information (CAT, details, stuff like that). What we’ve worked on this week is the build options functionality, pressing this button brings out a number of different options from which the player can build PAPI lights, change the groundwork of the runway construction material (grass, asphalt, hardened asphalt), extending the length of the runway and so forth.

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Baggage System

Another big chunk from this weeks development batch is the baggage system. We’ve made some great progress here and have basically finalized the simulation from check-in drop-off to on-loading bags on service trucks and baggage carts. We’ve added a bunch of different items who are vital to building an efficient baggage handling system and while there’s still a lot of tweaking left to be done such as overall improvements and testing, adding underground belts (yes, bags will be able to travel below the floor) and texture animation for the belts (replacing the dull black texture in the middle of the belt) we think it looks pretty cool and it works very well.

We’ve studied a lot of videos and material on how real-world baggage systems work and even received som in-depth detailed drawings on baggage factory layouts from our beloved fans but given the complexity of working in a 2D environment and the fact that this is the first version of the baggage system we’ve initially decided to limit the system with the following seven items:

• Baggage Belt: A simple belt to transport the bag.
• Baggage Separator: A simple baggage belt tile to place down instead of a belt when the belt becomes too cluttered, using this will ensure baggage to be neatly collected and distributed in an even tempo (seen below with a gray cover over the belt tile).
• Baggage Tilt Tray: Baggage tilt trays can have two settings, “offload” which makes it alternating between pushing a bag forward and to the side in order to lower the baggage density on the belt or “sort” which makes it sort baggage correctly depending on which baggage bay the bag must travel to. The tilt trays are marked with two small yellow arrows.
• Generic Scanner: This is a bigger, first stage scanner, used for basic screening of baggage to check their contents. If the scanner detects something suspicious the bag is diverted, if not it is allowed to pass.
• Specific Scanner: This is a smaller, second stage scanner, used for specific screening of a certain type. Bags in ACEO can contain a number of different items and so the player can build a specific scanner and then choose what kind of items it will look for ranging from organics and food, guns, explosives, drugs and medicine to illegal documents and valuables. If a bag is detected containing something suspicious it gets diverted, otherwise it is allowed to pass.
• Scanning Station: This is a bigger, third and last stage scanner, operated by an employee who manually screens bags that have not made it past the previous scanners. The skill of the employee determines how likely it is that the baggage will pass.
• Manual Baggage Screening Station: Operated by an employee who grabs the bag off the belt and performs a manual search [not yet implemented].
• Baggage Bay: This is where bags are loaded or offloaded.

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As mentioned, there’s still some stuff to be tweaked and added. For example, if a bag is diverted from the third scanner the player should build a manual screening station where an employee grabs the bag off the belt and searches its content – that items has not yet been implemented. Scanners have different traits such as scanning speed (first stage scanners are quicker at scanning than second stage scanners and so forth) so it will be very important to optimize your baggage system. If the belt gets too cramped, add more scanners or build diversion lines and sorting circles – the possibilities are endless and the more efficient your baggage screening system is the quicker you’ll get the baggage scanned and loaded on the flight!

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Below is a .gif of the baggage scanning system in action…

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… including a close up on the second stage scanners.

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Here’s the simulation of employees loading scanned baggage from the baggage bay onto the service truck and baggage carts, the next step of the development cycle is getting the cart out to the aircraft and simulating loading and offloading of baggage!

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… and lastly here’s a .gif showcasing the entire process operating. Multiple flights, multiple scanners, a lot of effort to make sure shipped goods is secure!

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So that’s it for this (last) week’s devlog, sorry to keep you waiting but that’s indie development for you sometimes! We’ll probably change the devlog publishing day to Monday instead as previously discussed, if this happens we’ll let you know on Friday. Work continues and as we move closer to completing the passenger-aircraft-baggage-cycles its time to stop adding content and start testing, tweaking and adding gameplay! See you soon and have a great week!