Airport Master Early Access Public v. 0.3.2a RELEASED!

Airport Master Early Access Public v. 0.3.2a RELEASED!

Game workflow

• Added Game Difficulty Setting: currently the following game aspects are affected by Game Difficulty Setting Player selects on starting a new game: a) initial financial subsidy from City Mayor, b) all financial subsidies from City Mayor received as rewards after completing Mayor's Quests (like servicing 100th aircraft, performing 100 upgrades etc.), c) fuel costs on FBO fuel contracts, d) airline rating changes (both increase and decrease), e) initial quantity of fuels (100LL and Jet1A) left in tanks from Player's avatar predecessor on Airport GM position, f) salaries of already hired personnel and personnel being hired due to Airport facility upgrades, g) electric power cost per kWh; e) electric power consumption; added
• Added protection to Flight Scheduling system that would not allow scheduling of flights of Aircraft that require higher Airport Upgrade Tier; as a double measure (for hypothetical cases of erroneous data in saved games or Player intentionally tampering with saved games) additional protection was added upon any Flight operation start that would also prevent such Aircraft to appear in game world before the required Airport Upgrade Tier is achieved; added
• Added bounds protection that is a fix to a very rare bug report by our Player Steven (thank you!) and also once reported by CAT-tester that exhibited very strange behavior: if upon saving a game an aircraft was starting a new flight op (regardless of type) and then the saved game is reloaded, and aircraft could have been placed below ground level while reporting it's on parking stand or in the air - from now on, a strict protection mechanism is added that addresses this issue - if at any time Aircraft's reported altitude ever goes below ground level - it's simply removed from the game world, without affecting Airline ratings; fixed \ added
• Added GSE vehicles driveway east (as part of Airport Upgrade Tiers 3 - leading from FBO Fuel Base East to Cargo Apron and Tier 4 - leading from Cargo Apron via FBO Fuel Base East to Passenger Terminal 2 Apron (Apron East); added
• Added FBO Fuel Base East facility with two large cisterns holding (370,000 Liters Jet 1A fuel each); added
• Changed how Fuel Tankers are purchased (upgraded) and associated staff hired: from now on, each consecutive Fuel Truck (Tanker) purchase will result in hiring 3 drivers\operators to cover 3 shifts (24 hours); changed
• Tweaked fuel transfer rates for both Small fuel tankers and Large fuel tankers based on FBO Fuel Transfer Rate upgrade level: Small Fuel Tanker: L1: 17 L\sec; L2: 23 L\sec; L3: 28 L\sec; Large Fuel Tanker: L1: 35 L\sec; L2: 41 L\sec; L3: 53 L\sec; tweaked
• Changed how fuel system (mainly for Jet1A fuel tanks) works in the Airport: all Jet1A tanks (tank A is available at game start, larger tanks B and C are upgrades that become available when upgrading Airport from Tier 3 to Tier 4) are linked together via underground pipeline with 2 fuel balancers installed: one allows Player to balance fuel between Tanks A and B, the other one controls fuel transfer between tanks B and C; when purchasing fuel at Refineries, it is always delivered to tank A; Player may select from one of the following Fuel Balancer modes: NO CROSSFLOW - crossflow is closed between given pair of tanks; AUTO EQUAL - automatically equalizes fuel levels for given pair of tanks; MANUAL TRANSFER - allows for manual control of fuel transfer at any time; note: fuel balancer installed between Tanks B and C has additional mode - AUTO FILL B - now, for Fuel Base located on eastern side (Airport Upgrade Tiers 3 thru 5, serves Cargo Apron and Pax Terminal 2 Apron it is typical to crossflow from both tanks B and C to refill tankers, it is however possible for base operator to issue order to fill a tanker from C - so this additional fuel balancer mode allows gathering fuel in tank B - which is useful when fuel levels are low; Fuel Tanks A and B have nontransferable reserve level, which is currently set to 1 refill volume of a tanker operating using this tank - 17,000L for Tank A and 41,000L for Tank B; Tank C has no set reserve margin, so it is possible to dry this tank completely by transferring fuel to other tanks; if any of the AUTO modes encounters a restriction or is unable to perform as programmed, corresponding fuel balancer switches to NO CROSSFLOW mode and if required, notifies Player via notification system and\or on radio on intercom channel; changed
• Changed how notifications are issued (both yellow and red warnings) in regard to low fuel levels: there are now two sets of warnings: set 1 works as previously (25% and 10%) but not for individual tank but rather for total fuel capacity; set 2 issues warnings in case there is a refill or fuel delivery problem is encountered (when refilling a tanker or trying to deliver 100LL fuel to G\A and Helicopters aprons via pipeline); changed
• Added new type of Airport Fee: Cargo processing fee, this fee is charged per 1 kg of cargo entering or exiting Cargo Terminal sorting area; added
• Added Fire and Rescue Service firefighters training simulator - this modern firefighting simulator can be used to mimic fire on fuselage and all types of engines (jet, prop, wing-mounted, tail-mounted); firefighters training simulator area will be used for Player scheduled firefighters' daily training exercises; added
• Added Cargo management module; added
• Added first batch of LD3 cargo containers (20 for Fong Air Cargo and 20 for CargoLet), each ULD (including pallets) has its own number and logo painted\stickered on front and back, is unique, can be tracked by Cargo management module (in future versions, when Cargo terminal inside space is implemented, Player will be able to walk among cargo sorting lines and storage in warehouse - and see (and track) which cargo ULDs arrived with which flight etc.; added
• Fixed airplanes filing flight plan for local visual circuit training sometimes not getting correct shortened runway in flight clearance for runway 16; fixed
• Fixed annoying bug with situations when there is enough fuel left from previous flight (mostly noticeable on local VFR flights) and\or load sheet for new flight has lower value than currently on board - thou the algorithm of checking for this condition was correct it had a small bug with floating point variable used to determine minimum fuel request at FBO, due to incorrect division this figure may have resulted in setting state of the aircraft to 'waiting for fuel via pipeline' thou the miniscule amount would at the same time prevent FBO from actually creating a pipeline job; hopefully fixed
• Added Fong Cargo airline (a subsidiary of Fong Air), code FNC; in future versions the mechanics of influence of ratings of daughter\subsidiary on parent Airline ratings and vice versa will also be implemented; added
• Fixed CargoLet airline initial rating was incorrect on game start; fixed
• Added 37 new ground movement routes around Apron East area and taxiway Papa; added
• Added the following Statistical values: Tons of Incoming Cargo Processed, Tons of Outgoing Cargo Processed, Total Tons of Cargo Processed to stats module; added
• Added temporary Cargo unloading mode for Cargo Loaders when they encounter aircraft like AN25, in which case making it to the rear loading ramp of such cargo aircraft without colliding seems not-practicable, in such case Cargo Loader would unload ULDs first to the ground and then perform semi-automatic loading on ramp; added
• Fixed bug with fuel trucks (small and large) may have reported that tanker refill from FBO's tank is complete while actually it was still underway - this bug manifested rarely, specifically when saving and immediately reloading a game while tanker refill was in progress; fixed

Aircraft

• Added new helicopter - Airecoach Helicopters A305 (real-world prototype: Airbus Helicopters H125, formerly Eurocopter AS350 B3) - this unique helicopter was able to actually climb the required obstacle clearance altitude and land on Mount Everest summit - which is very important for rescue ops in so called 'death zone' on the mountain; besides, AS350 is among the most popular (3590 built to date) helicopters on the planet and it has some distinctive features: easy to operate, very capable and reliable; helicopters in the following liveries were added: N364B, N8311F, QS-LDA, CA-HZE (Private operators) and HV-TUL (operator: MedEvac); added
• Added 2 new liveries for AN25 cargo aircraft - N382P & N202S (operated by Fong Cargo); added
• Fixed incorrect prop rotation direction for AN25 left engine; fixed
• Fixed rare bug with game being saved and immediately reloaded while an aircraft was lining up or vacating active runway may have caused aircraft to get stuck; fixed
• Fixed bug with L20V aircraft type landing and taxi lights halo effects were shifted beyond the light bays glass, resulting in incorrect depiction of both halos and projecting lights; now moved to appropriate distance; fixed

Vehicles

• Added new service vehicle type - 41,000L Fuel Truck (model PAS Excelente 41). Perfect Airport Services Excelente 41 high capacity fuel truck with dual frontal steering axis allows for refueling of medium to super heavy aircraft. Its massive 41,000L tank holds enough to refuel most medium and heavy aircraft in one go, while sporting a hydraulic lift platform to allow re-fueling of high-wing heavies and super heavies; added
• Added new vehicle movement mechanics: Dual Front Steering Axis Heavy Trucks; added

ATC

• Changed how ATC assigns full length runway takeoffs vs shortened runway takeoffs: for runways 17 and 35 - omitted; for runway 34: depends only on aircraft's capability and flight crew decision to perform shortened takeoff (note: general aviation aircraft will in most cases try to acquire clearance for shortened takeoff from intersection Golf); for runway 16: general aviation and cargo flights (that will reach runway 16 via intersections Echo and Hotel) - full-length takeoff is mandatory, shortened takeoff requests will be denied; for aircraft requesting clearance from Apron East (Passenger Terminal 2) and Service Hangars Apron East - depends only on aircraft's capability and flight crew decision to perform shortened takeoff; changed
• Changed how Apron East entry and exit taxing is performed: all aircraft regardless of gate \ stand \ hangar assignment, regardless of runway in use (16 or 34) from now on must enter Apron East via taxiway Kilo and exit Apron East via taxiway Juliet; pushback directions to be adjusted accordingly; changed
• Changed how handoff from TWR to DEP occurs: now on reporting airborne, VFR traffics and local visual circuit training flights stay on TWR frequency, while IFR departures proceed via proper handoff to DEP frequency; changed
• Changed how vacate runway instructions are issued by TWR controller: from now on no runway vacate instructions are issued prior to aircraft slows down to approximately 50-40 knots on landing roll (for future compatibility with touch-and-go's and aborted landings with main gear already touched the runway), instead TWR issues a specific runway vacate instruction and proper GND handoff at the end of landing roll; changed
• Fixed ATC incorrectly treating some MedEvac helicopters and airplanes as being privately operated; now actual MedEvac callsign and flight designators on Flight Strips are used; fixed

Sound

• Added new sounds for A305 helicopter, recorded on actual AS350 R3, startup sequence shortened, shutdown sequence blended with sounds of main rotor spinning down to produce more realistic engine shutdown sound; added
• Added new guard rails sound for Headman 14 Universal Cargo Loader; added
• Added ULD rolling sounds for two surfaces: Cargo Terminal dispenser and Cargo Loader platforms rollers; added

Visual enhancements

• Added new 22m high light masts to Cargo Apron area with light cones reaching 100m light dissolve margin; same kind of lights will be used at Passenger Terminal 2 apron area in future; added
• Added ULD-container conveyors and loading areas to Cargo terminal building; added
• Fixed incorrect use of flashing lights by some Ground Service Vehicles: due to state detection error it was possible to induce such mode in which flashing lights would never go off; fixed
• Increased minimal distance at which larger city objects (Soccer Stadium, Warehouses, Expo Center etc.) are drawn unconditionally; changed

Cameras

• Fixed AN25 aircraft preset for Object View Camera - from erroneous 22m wingspan to 30m wingspan, so no more steep angles when viewing this aircraft using Object View Camera; fixed
• Fixed discretion on float values used to determine the tempo of camera movement acceleration when holding directional keys pressed; fixed
• Changed how transparent surfaces\materials are cached\batched when using all forward-rendering path cameras; slightly increased performance on all outside cameras; changed
• Tweaked Airport Overview camera maximum range of travel to correctly allow it to reach farthermost corner of Cargo Terminal; changed
• Changed how colliders on complex objects affect Airport Overview camera movement near them, new improved algorithm ensures clickable objects are still clickable even when a collider is either dead ahead of said camera or when it already affects camera movement by letting it overflow a collider using nearest gravity-induced path; changed

User Interface

• Added Game Difficulty selector to New Game Character Selection Screen with Normal difficulty as default setting and options being Easy and Hard; upon clicking on desired game difficulty the description of a difficulty setting is displayed in the box below the selector; added
• Added flight classifier 'Emergency Flight' to Flight Schedule Slot Editor; added
• Changed Flight Schedule Slot Editor window to be movable by clicking its header, holding mouse down and dragging to a new position, so that it does not obscure flights on Flight Schedule screen, previously invisible while Slot Editor occupied center of the screen; changed
• Significantly re-designed FBO: Fuel UI; changed
• Moved Fuel Contracts to Airport Contracts UI; changed
• Added 2 Fuel Balancers UI to FBO: Fuel management screen; note: fuel balancers are only available when Airport is at Upgrade Tier 4 and above; added
• Added Total Fuel Volume and Total Fuel Worth display, which reflects currently set prices and is very useful when estimating fuel costs vs sell price; added
• Changed FBO Fuel UI - sell price selectors for Jet1A and 100LL were assigned a special area of the screen, data on currently available and active Fuel Tanks became modular and dynamic; capacity of all Fuel Tanks is now shown below current volume of fuel in a tank; changed
• Added new cursor - Click and Drag; normal cursor now changes to four-arrow drag here cursor when over drag-n-drop UI elements; added
• Fixed time stamp in Comms Box messages not being visible on some screen resolutions; fixed
• Changed Airplane Info Window display so that it displays only data relevant to aircraft type: e.g. CARGO is not shown for aircraft without cargo capacity and vice versa - PAX not shown for cargo-only aircraft; changed
• Added Cargo Processing fee setter slider to Airport Fees management tab in Airport Management screen; added
• Fixed clicking on 'New Service Contract Available' notification leading correctly to Airport Contracts screen but incorrectly to 'Fuel Contracts' tab instead of 'Service Hangars Contracts' tab; fixed
• Fixed incorrect Save Game \ Load Game window title; fixed
• Fixed typos in some game tips shown on game loading screen; fixed