Firstly I would like to say that if Airport CEO was fixed - it would definitely be the better game…
However, Airport CEO is unplayable for me. There are just waaaay too many bugs and issues. The experience of playing is that of managing and working around bugs and issues.
The game itself if light on real challenges - It’s actually straightforward to build a profitable airport - the challenge comes in when your designs meet the reality that the game doesn’t work.
Ramp agent cars don’t arrive on time or leave too early? Let them walk - hire a shitload of them who cares you are loaded.
Busses getting all crowded - design a road layout that anticipates how bad vehicles are at driving - perhaps put vehicle depots everywhere - one per vehicle ideally so they never get deadlocked at the entrance.
… etc etc.
Basically this game is not an airport management game - it’s a bug management game.
SimAirport has fewer features and has less potential as a concept - but is much more reliable, less frustrating, and I spend my time managing the airport not the clusterfuck of bugs and things that don’t work.
So my recommendation, take it or leave it, is that you stop implementing any new features until the base game works. It would be really great if it worked.
TL;DR - This game doesn’t need more features it needs fewer bugs.
You know, AirportCEO is early access, which means work in progress?
Everyone serious is aware that there are bugs and devs are working on fixing them and also adding new features which makes this game being a simulation. The more complex a game is, the more bugs will happen which need more time to be fixed.
I don’t know about gameplay of SimAirport: But only these childish graphics alone keep me away from it with the impression, it’s just an smartphone-like-arcade game. You said yourself, SimAirport has “less features” and “less potential as a concept”.
Just keep playing SimAirport and may check AirportCEO some time later again if you don’t like to be part of the development.
I agree that an early access game have bugs, but the fact is that AirportCEO is accumulating so much bugs that it will be virtually impossible to get rid of them if things continue the way they are now.
New features are important and I believe the devs focus on that because it gives the sensation of progress and response to players claims.
And that is a very good thing, but I am starting to be concerned over the way this game is being developed, because it seem to me that bug fixing is getting somewhat neglected, in order to prioritize the new features, as already told.
The point is: focus on fixing bugs, make the game playable again and then, start implementing new features again.
It is much easier to make something new work, when what was there before was already working fine.
I am contributing… I submitted about five bug reports to JIRA, and this post itself is part of my contribution.
Feedback is contributing.
Yes. I am giving my opinion on how the developers should continue - based on my evaluation of the early access experience.
I think perhaps you don’t understand the point of early access - it’s not supposed to be a fanboy circlejerk, it’s for the devs to get valuable feedback.
In case you missed it, here is my feedback again: Focus on fixing the bugs - stop working on new features until the game is playable.
The comparison to SimAirport is there because that game (also early access) does not have the same need - their game is playable as is, and the thing they need to work on is more features.
The developers, of course, are welcome to take my advice or leave it, but I would be extremely supprised if they didn’t want to receive it.
I just don’t see which game breaking bugs are being neglected.
Pathfinding and freezes have been mentioned:
For peoples pathfinding there just has been a big overhaul, give the devs some time to fix resulting bugs.
For vehicles or aircrafts I don’t see any bugs, just a not yet optimized pathfinding system. I’m sure this will be optimized at a later time.
Also freezes, I just expirienced them with an old savegame after the recently big update: Again, give the devs some time to fix it. I for myself started a fresh airport to see, if freezes are caused by the old savegame or happens in a new one too.
And I’m sure you understand yourself, that a less complex game is easier to be bugfixed, than a more complex game.
A small team has to deal with the development themselves, they can’t fix everything at once. It’s a matter of priorities, just as you say, of course. But while you call me a fanboy, I just don’t see which bugs are being neglected.
I bought this game. I’m a big fan of this genre. I wanted to love it. I can’t play it because of bugs. From people dissapearing, to the staffroom being full up with tens of the same guy, staff not going to their stations, turnaround services not being completed for no reason, unable to dismiss planes, vehicles constantly getting deadlocked, people not collecting baggage, people walking through walls…
For me, It was bad enough to be unenjoyable and unplayable and to make me feel like the game is currently not on the right path (because it seems like the devs are adding more features on top of quite an unstable base).
All the more reason to fix the existing issues before promising more and more features (game would be pretty good as is)
Yes exactly. Fix it now, before complicating it - it will be harder later.
If I understand right, you’re new to the game? Possibly that’s the reason why we have different point of views. I’ve already seen the efforts the devs put into developing this game and I’ve seen the development it made and that’s why I trust them. And I know how to cope with bugs/not-yet-optimized mechanics until they get their turn.
I can assure you bug fixing is very much a priority and one that it taken very seriously. At this time there are only two Devs working on this game, a third will be added in the new year which should help things progress. There are bugs yes, I agree. I have a very devious, serious one that is not your normal run of the mill. The Devs are talking to me though directly asking me questions to find the route cause of the issue. At first I had no idea. With some game time later, the issue has been identified and bug reports sent in helping to pinpoint the issue at hand. We don’t yet know what it is given holidays are happening, but suffice to say, from my perspective I’ve been able to communicate directly with the Devs and know they are working to resolve bugs, and not just this one.
I’ve seen them do this with everyone as well where they are reporting issues. The forum is littered wth examples. Not just the above.
However, having said that. I prefer some games over other games and no amount of persuasion will sway me. These are just the games I prefer to play. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and formulate their own justifications about which games they do or don’t enjoy. As others have said though, this is Early Access.
So here’s my view. I’ve played both games into great detail, playing with multiple airports.
ACEO Has done great in the following
Releasing when mostly stable
Great updates
Keeping updates happening
Very involved devs
Fixes released semidaily when high season
Devlogs so we know what is happening
Animations very good
Reporting bugs is easy.
Default branch release is somewhat frequent
Has experimental
ACEO Has not done so great with
Taking a while to get updates, but they are great updates
Bugs stack up quickly
No between Experimental and Default, something that is between has less bugs but isn’t perfect. would be updated weekly?
SIMA has done well in
Releasing early
Daily updates more frequently
Performance got better quicker than ACEO
Has a middle channel between Edge and Default, Experimental.
SIMA Has not done so well in
Releasing way too early with too many bugs
Sometimes game is completly unplayable for long stretches of time and aren’t addressed for a bit. (Some are fixed very quickly)
Devs are somewhat participating. (Twitter is used a lot)
Bug reporting is harder since you have to write an email.
Default branch takes a while.
All in all, it depends what you are looking for. SIMA has a lot of things ACEO doesn’t have, such has Multifloors, walking pathways, and such. But ACEO has other things such as, remote gates, buses (For remote), ramp agents, and such. If you want complex buildings then SIMA is for you, if you want complex operations ACEO is for you. These are my opinions.
I like it and I want it to be good.