Thoughts on potential big updates

I’ve been playing Airport Ceo pretty much since it got released in early access and the game is one of the best I have ever played no doubt. However, I feel like there are a couple of additions that would really spice up the game and make it endlessly playable.

Cargo
I think we all knew this one was coming, but it is such a vital part of the aviation industry and it would be amazing to see it in-game. Cargo stands, warehouses with customs/security, and different ground equipment to load these aircraft. Cargo would be insanely cool to add alongside the passenger gameplay that is already in the game.

FBOs
This is one that I have been thinking of for quite some time but I never see anything about it. For anyone that doesn’t know, FBO stands for fixed-base operator and is essentially a passenger terminal but for corporate, charter, or privately owned aircraft. It is an independent company that does fuel, maintenance, parking, etc. for these GA aircraft. I think this would put a really cool spin on the game, where that GA isn’t really just there, they can actually be a real money maker if done correctly. This would have to add maybe smaller parking “stands” for the largest GA aircraft which usually tends to be maybe a Gulfstream G800? It is a large plane but requires less space to park and I feel like this could really make GA interesting to play around with.

I just feel like being able to experiment with cargo and FBOs along with passenger airlines would be insanely cool. This would make it so you do not have to start with passenger traffic if you don’t want. You could start with cargo, then go to FBOs, then go to passenger traffic. You could start your airport how you want to start it, making the game have so much replayability.

I know all of this sounds cool, but none of these will be implemented. Development has already stopped.

Oh genuinely? I sorta just assumed they have been taking a little while to do some stuff since they are a small company

I would not call development stopped. We still get bug fixes and just had a few new planes.

Development is current centered around their next game which is being planned and developed as we speak.

Cargo and FBO have been heavily requested and while I would not hold my breath for an official release soon™ we may one day in the future get them. I’m only giving a fraction % chance through from the Devs. :disguised_face:

I would however suggest taking a look at this Mod/Thread.

You might even share your ideas with the Dev, Cargo is sorta implemented already.

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Very cool, thank you!!

As stated in this topic our full focus for the time being is indeed on Project Venus. We’ve always known that the desire for a cargo DLC is high and while we’ll never say never, it is highly unlikely that it would make sense to put time into developing such a thing in the studio’s current state. If we get beyond Project Venus and are allowed to develop more games in the future, I think all of us at the studio would feel as if it would make a lot more sense to develop something like Airport CEO 2 which has cargo built in, on top of being a much better architectured game, than developing something for the original ACEO code base. But nothing is of course ever set in stone.

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The smartest thing developers can do is no longer waste their time on Airport CEO, let alone add anything else. The game has a scalability issue. If you have a small or medium airport, then there may not be any problems, but if you build up the entire territory, piling terminals on top of each other, then bugs will fall from all the cracks, and if you also screw Cargo on top, then it will work even more crookedly. I entered the game after a long time, I am completing the construction of the 3rd terminal in the allotted territory, and it’s already dark in my eyes from bugs. And most importantly, the builders do not carry materials.

I disagree. There is at least space for adding more aircraft or decorations or even more music via DLC raising the shelf time a bit. You are totally right about the scaling problem and the code will not be corrected in that regard. Otherwise, I hope for the devs doing ACEO2 in the future. It is a sad thing that there are some very good niche games out there where development stopped before a ‘conceivably’ completed product. ACEO is one of the best airport sims for my palate but development stopped before the game could tap its full potential. Oxymoron Studios did Project Hospital, also doing one of the best and immersing hospital sims but still lacking features moving on to doing a sci-fi game now and leaving their customers scratching their heads about the future of the game they like. I understand the limits that exists in terms of funding software development and this is why there always had to be a compromise but I would be far from saying this game is dead and gone. Whether doing more stuff is economical I cannot say. I can only say - for me - that ending development of ACEO left me disappointed - same with Project Hospital. I would hope for an ACEO2 where the lessons of the first game are implemented. That said, I wish all of you at Apoapsis Studios a happy new year 2023.

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The potential is very high. But we have to be aware that this is no big development studio with a huge budget and publisher. ACEO was a project by 3 nordic nerds. It took already 5 years to get where it is now. And I think it’s already far more that the devs initially planned.

From economical side there must be a new game at a certain point, otherwise there won’t be a studio anymore. It’s not like Colossal Orders where a small team still can work on Cities Skylines DLCs. (And if I remember the first game CIM from CO, that was also replaced by CIM2 very quick)

I really hope that once there will be a successor which contains all the existing stuff, improved by all lessons learned and extended with many new usefull features. =)
If it’s from Apog Labs, it would be even better.

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Airport CEO completed his task. The developers got experience and some resources for the next project. I know how to get around the bugs that are in my way in realizing my goals in the game. That’s enough for me. I will transport 50 million pax, and then we’ll see what needs to be translated in the new project.

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