The second beta version of Airport CEO has now been deployed on the experimental branch which means that the second beta sprint has officially begun. We will during the next one and a half weeks deploy daily updates on the experimental branch with the goal of by the end of this one and a half week sprint deploy the first full beta 2 version on the default branch.
“Wait… what? How does this beta thing work?”
Read the 156th dev blog to get the full detailed breakdown of the development cycle, but here’s the most important part you need to know:
The Airport CEO beta development cycle consists of a series of sprints. A sprint is a short period of time in which a number of planned development tasks should be completed and the ACEO beta sprints are no different. They will last for two weeks (pending no delays…) and contain a series of different planned tasks ranging from performance overhauls of certain systems, plain bug fixing, polishing and or necessary changes to certain gameplay elements. Another type of development task found in one of these sprints can also be “minor” new features that have been planned for some time, such as larger maps or additional world entrances.
When a new sprint starts, a new beta version is released on the experimental branch. That beta version is then maintained with daily updates for two weeks, updates which are comprised of a mix between planned development tasks as part of the sprint and bug reports from both the experimental and default branch. When the two weeks are up and the sprint’s tasks are completed, the beta version will be deployed on the default branch and the cycle starts over. This means that the first release of a beta version we deploy on the experimental branch will contain very few fixes but those daily releases will then eventually amount to a larger bi-weekly default release. The first beta version, Beta 1.0-0, was released today which means that the first beta sprint starts today. If we stay on schedule, this means that we’ll launch a new beta version on the default branch every other week, i.e. every other Wednesday.
Here’s the initial change log for Beta 2.0-0:
Release notes - Airport CEO - Version Beta 2.0-0
Bug
[ACEO-11044] - Small plant and modular sofa corner variation base sprites not updating correctly
[ACEO-32588] - Tunnel build button available despite multiple floors permit not researched
[ACEO-34197] - Staff room does not also place staff zone when built
[ACEO-34213] - Incorrect prefab dimension causes holiday tree to not be placeable
[ACEO-34235] - Opening development console panel (F10) enables full sandbox if any sandbox setting is active
[ACEO-34277] - Saab 340B aircraft cockpit window sprite has incorrect slicing
New feature
[ACEO-33783] - Walls now become solid if placed next to each other
Improvement
[ACEO-27478] - All relevant objects covered by a terminal now highlighted when terminal layer is enabled
[ACEO-34317] - All build buttons and respective preview images have been added, overhauled or adjusted
This is just like with beta 1 only a few of the development tasks we have planned for the second beta sprint and the full extent can be reviewed once this beta sprint is completed. We’ll update and complete this topic with more patch notes and information as development progresses.
Nice. Any updates on when the new aircrafts (Cessnas and the 767), and the improved weather simulation will be added (and how the new weather simulation would be different)?
The new aircraft are spread out across the different betas, the new Cessnas and the 767 series is part of a later beta release. When? You’ll have to wait and see!
As for the weather system overhaul it is part of this beta, yes. It won’t really be any different as it is mostly a logical overhaul, meaning that we will get rid of all of the weird weather settings such as 35 degrees C and snow, weird de-icing and such. Some improved effects specifically relating to the sound will come however. Doesn’t look like much but is actually a lot of work from a development perspective, just like everything else…
Nah, you don’t need weather stations for that. You’d need to hire some shamanic services and prayers, or if live in more “civilized” nations, then thousands of fans to keep bad weather away.
Actually this brings me to an interesting question. Is there actually any point to forecasting the weather, especially if creating the airport in a more stable climate (e.g. tropics or desert)?
Severe weather events are right now generated at random, with this overhaul they will be part of the generated weather instead and you’ll be able to see when severe weather is forecasted if you have the large weather station. This will allow you to take premature action and cancel flights ahead of the emergency, rather than having the chaos face you first hand.
What will that chaos look like? and will airport location in the world impact the level of chaos?
I’d like to see something like weather impacting some mechanics that would make it a nuisance, like aircraft, ramp agent, or vehicles speed, or time for aircraft clearance at runways.
How would this work with the maximum amount of incidents that players can take at once? Say if severe weather is forecast but we have 5 planes being fixed in the hangar …
EDIT: And following up on that one, how would this impact the airline rating? Won’t cancelling the flights pre-emptively reduces your airline rating significantly, especially for large airports?
Airport CEO Beta 2 
