Feature updates
This thread will contain information about changes and new features that will be included in the next release version of AirwaySim. This is a closed thread used only to preview the changes so please post any questions and comments to the General forum.
Please post all questions and comments to the following thread: https://www.airwaysim.com/forum/index.php/topic,6111.0.html
Scroll to the end of this thread for the latest information. Please note that some of these updates are already live in the current v.1.05 games but most of them will be featured in the upcoming v.1.1 worlds.
- Improvement: Airline creation menu improved a bit - rules about airline names are presented more clearly.
- Improvement: Real world airline name lists enhanced.
- New feature: Loan interest rate update interval changed and they follow a more realistic market pattern.
- Improvement: Copying a route will keep the original turnaround times of the route.
- New feature: Ability to set default turn-around time for each fleet group. System automatically selects this time for all sectors when creating a new route, if no other turn-around time is manually specified. The menu will be under 'Airline settings' page. (see image #1)
- New feature: Quick link to change flight number from the 'View route' page. Similar to quick edit of route prices. (see image #2)
- New feature: 'Richest airline CEOs' statistic added. Tells who has pulled off the most salary from his airline (later to be used for other things too).
- Improvement: Engine type shown on My Aircraft page / Technical view listing.
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- New feature: Real time to game time converter.
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- New feature: Airline credit rating. The whole loans system is being rewritten and adding credit ratings is part of the process. The better the rating, the more likely the banks are to loan to you and with better terms. Your value, image and company age affects the rating. More about the loan system later when it's finished...
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- Major new feature: Loans system completely updated.
This includes the Credit Rating system, and variable interest rates, and also a complete change of the general loans system itself. Loans are now paid back automatically, instead of the current system where player takes out a loan and pays it back whenever he wants. Each loan will have an interest margin that depends on how good/bad company the banks see you and also a management fee.
Another new addition is that you can raise the amount of allowed loan by selecting securities for the loan (=if you cannot pay the loan back, the bank will take possession of the secured item!). Or use unsecured loans with worse terms.
(pls note. The system of paying back the loans is rather similar to what individual persons have which is not entirely accurate in corporate world. But the information on corporate loans is limited so this model shall be sufficient for this system ..)
In the future you can also take out a loan directly from aircraft purchase pages, or negotiate financing options for the planes.
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- Major new feature: Aircraft pre-scheduling
Simply stated, aircraft on delivery will appear to scheduling pages about two weeks before delivery and you can normally assign routes to them. Pre-scheduling is stated with the yellowish background on scheduling view.
When ac is delivered the routes are flown automatically. Functionality is just the same compared to normal aircraft (assign reg, assign routes, assign maint.) except you cannot perform A/B checks immediately (only after they are delivered).
In this pic we have one normal plane and the B743 will be delivered soon and it's already available for scheduling.
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- Major new feature: Aircraft system changed
This is a bigger new feature that is not directly visible to the users but makes the game worlds more realistic. Previously used aircraft were generated every week to the lists, and also aircraft were removed from the lists if they were not sold quickly enough. This meant that these computer generated planes appeared / disappeared automatically from the world. This was not realistic so the system is changed so that no aircraft ever disappears from the game world.
- Game is started: A number of planes (thousands) is generated to the world to represent the existing aircraft market. Only some of these (~500) are added for sale to used market at the start.
- When time progresses more planes of the aircraft pool (those made at previous step) become available in the used market so that the number of planes for sale is sufficient.
- If player returns a leased aircraft, or goes bankrupt, every plane he owned is returned to the banks/lessors (= this aircraft pool), from which they will later appear to the market again. Not like before that only some of the planes come instantly available to used market when player goes bust.
- Aircraft brokers will also perform maintenance to the aircraft if they have expired before the plane is put up for sale.
- The global aircraft generation is also improved so that some planes are not generated so often, for example the entire world can have less than 10 Concordes etc at the start. Of course if players buy 1000 Concordes those do not disappear anywhere after the player sells them or returns back to lessor.
- Each individual aircraft will have it's own MSN number and it's ownership history can be traced from the day it was produced.
- The basic system is done but the browsable history and other things will be done later.
Something new to report for a long time ..
- Improvement: Loan display improved and added an feature to pay back only part of the loan.
The loan info display is more informative with more details. And you can also select a sum of your choice if you wish to pre-pay only part of the loan.
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- Improvement: Mobile browser edition of the website.
As discussed here (https://www.airwaysim.com/forum/index.php/topic,7519.msg46784.html#msg46784) about an iPhone app, a mobile edition website version is now live. Like mentioned on the thread this is not an 'app' for the iPhone and probably such will be never made, but we've optimized the website layout so that it's more viewable with mobile browsers.
The system also automatically detects you as a mobile user and automatically serves the smaller layout for you (but you have also an option to switch to the full layout there).
The flash charts will be updated later to be compatible with non-flash browsers if possible.
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- Improvement: Used aircraft system changed a bit.
- Aircraft appear to the market on random days instead of every day.
- When the world is initially created the initial 'aircraft pool' has now aircraft according to what has been produced in the reality (ie. this means more 'better' planes, not 100 An-38's but instead only like 10 of them, and not 100 A320's but instead 1000 of them, or so..). The total number of planes available is also checked/adjusted a bit.
- The computer brokers are a bit smarter. They pull the plane off the market if it has been for sale for a certain period with no luck. After the broker puts it up to the market again some time later it has a reduced price, and also fresh C/D maintenance if needed. This cycle continues 3-4 times and if the plane is still not sold, the broker scraps the plane. Of course with the first selling attempts they try the opposite, to get a higher price...
- Maintenance dates/timings of planes appearing to used market is also updated or refined to be better.
- Bugfix in used a/c landings/takeoffs.
- New feature: New aircraft production start & closure dates can be randomized for each game if needed. System can move the dates back or forward a max of 1,5 years for each model upon game world creation so that the dates are not known to players.
- New (tiny) feature: System shows the time / place of the error if the schedule overlaps thru another flight or maintenance, to help you see where the problem is.
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- Bugfix: Scheduling display on ultra-long routes (spanning 4-5 days), original report (https://www.airwaysim.com/forum/index.php/topic,10678.0.html), had some issues and is now corrected. Posting this also here as info - the fix is live already immediately, and be aware that as I have re-coded large parts of the scheduling calculations at the same time (optimized it a bit), there may be other bugs in the scheduling (although did my best to test it), so please check actively for any strange things...
And also as this display issue was fixed you may encounter some issues if you need to re-schedule your ultra-long routes (mainly in ATB game if you operate long range 777's or similar). Previously you were able to snap an extra day to the schedules due to the bug so you may need to re-shuffle your routes IF you change the scheduling (if you don't change the schedule, it works until further).
- Improvement: Aircraft system changed a bit (seat config operation).
- The aircraft generated to the world at the startup have now real seat configurations (instead of the "standard" which always did not match with the in-game configurator). Smaller planes are configured with all high density seats, larger with standard Y class and the largest planes with mixed C/Y seating with premium comfort, depending on the model.
- When aircraft is returned back to the broker they always reconfigure the plane to the above-mentioned configuration so that it's easier to sell again possibly. If plane is owned by a player and returned to him (from another player who leased it), the configuration remains the same / unchanged (as it is today already).
- Also a few minor range vs. payload display bugfixes.
- Improvement: Minimum allowed seats for seat config.
To disallow people from being bad guys and returning planes to their owners with a config of like 6 seats a new feature is added that checks the minimum allowed number of seats for the configuration. This equals roughly the max number of seats in the best possible class & seat type, so the figures are not that big (for example around 25 lux. first class seats for a B737). So it does not fully solve that small issue but an improvement anyway.
Note - all comments and discussion should go to this thread (https://www.airwaysim.com/forum/index.php/topic,6111.0.html).[attachment deleted by admin]
- New feature: Production end dates of new aircraft are now dynamic / depending on number of orders it receives.
As suggested here (https://www.airwaysim.com/forum/index.php/topic,8995.msg38220.html#msg38220) and already brainstormed earlier, the real production line closure dates are ignored in future games. Instead the closure of the lines is based on the true demand in the game world - if a plane doesn't sell, the manufacturer will close the line although in reality it should be open for years (= in reality a popular plane but not in the sim world, some Russian made equipment for example?).
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- New / improved feature: Aircraft production rate is now dynamic, and also more realistic / better than before.
When manufacturer launches a new production line (= new fleet group of aircraft, let's say the A320 series) it will set the target production rate for it (for example 20 aircraft per month). These base production rates take many things into account and follow loosely what is expected in reality.
When certification of the model is complete and deliveries start the first 6 months of deliveries happen on slower pace as the production line and methods is not fully finalized yet. The production rate gradually grows during the first 6 months to reach this target production rate set at model launch.
Then if the aircraft proves to be a popular one the manufacturer can increase the production rate by some 50-60% (within certain limits). The changes to the production rate always happen with a delay of 6 months. So if they decide today to increase the monthly rate from 20 units to 25 units, it is effective from 6 months from today. So deliveries from today to +6 months will keep going at 20/month, and after that all deliveries happen at 25/month - so the delivery dates of users beyond the 6 months time will be pushed somewhat forward. But in a nutshell you will know the delivery date of the plane 6 months in advance and there will not be any major changes to it during that time due to prod. rate changes.
If the orders are winding down the exact opposite of above happens, again the changes in the prod. rate take place 6 months from the decision. If production rate is made slower it cannot be any slower than the "base" rate, so deliveries cannot be pushed back hugely, but users will see deliveries happening later than at the high rate period.
The changes to the production rate happen once a month for each manufacturer.
(and I have no idea how I can make this sort of simple feature so complicated.... and all this is related to the new a/c production system, this is just one small component of it, more info on other parts later once finished.)
- Information about a new feature: New aircraft ordering system. Work is still in progress but I'd thought I'd write a few lines about what is coming.
The new aircraft ordering system will be renewed completely. The previous two posts contain already some information of some subsystems/features that are fully completed.
- Each aircraft is ordered from 'production lines' from the manufacturer. Each production line manufactures the aircraft of that fleet group (ie. A318/A319/A320/A321).
- Each production line has a given, dynamic, production rate, read previous post on that. And each new aircraft built on the production line represents a production slot.
- To place an order you simply go to the new aircraft page and open the page of the plane you like. After clicking the buy/lease button there you are taken to a new page - there you can place a combined order of any aircraft model in the production line. So you can order A319 and A320 at the same time. Or you can just buy the rights to the production slot and decide later the model, engines and weight variant (within certain time limits, ie. must be decided for example 12 months before delivery).
- When you make the order the delivery dates are spread. So you won't get new planes in a row to yourself. It's always "one for you, one for him, one for that guy, one for you ..." - unless you are the only airline to make orders for that aircraft type.
- You will also have the ability to modify the order slot by slot later on. (= if you ordered 20x A319 and 20x A320 on that one batch, you can change the ratio later)
- When you make the order the manufacturer will quote the delivery dates. These are always only approximate dates! The final delivery date for each order is confirmed / locked 6 months before delivery. The idea is that the manufacturer will sell the production slots to airlines and tries to make sure that all slots are filled so that there are no gaps on the production line. If however there is a gap on the line, so that no planes would be delivered in a 2 month period, the system will gradually fill all the gaps on the line the nearer the production date gets - this means that the delivery date may shift forward if there are very little orders from other airlines for that type you ordered.
- Aircraft delivery itself is normal and as before. The delivery date is locked 6 months before, aircraft is pre-delivered for scheduling purposes 3 weeks before delivery.
- The payment systems / financing options is not yet changed in any way and most likely due to limited time, won't be changed either in this version.
More information later. The technical aspects of the prod. lines are nearly done, the user interface is unfinished so that's why no screen shots.
- New feature: Aircraft production lines browser (see previous post).
Here's a screen shot on how the production lines can be browsed (= replaces the current page that lists all the orders for the fleet type). Orders are color coded and each have a mouse-over tooltip for more information.
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- Preview of a new feature: Improved aircraft ordering.
This is the page #1 of the user interface when ordering new aircraft. On the page you can select the basic information of your order, ie. which models, how many and with what options you'd like to order the planes.
After pressing the 'continue' button you are taken to a more detailed page with information on prices, delivery times and possibility to also modify the order slots one by one (but that page is not done yet). This first page pictured is to act as a quick / wizard style page for ordering the planes if you do not wish to alter the order slots one by one (= to save time).
If you wish to order the same model with multiple weight variants for example, you need to select that from the page #2 as incorporating all that into this first page is not possible, and generally people do not order other than one engine/weight combination.
More pics later ....
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- Preview of a new feature: Improved aircraft ordering.
This is the page #2 of the user interface when ordering new aircraft. Here you will get the price quote and also be able to modify the orders plane-by-plane if you do not wish to use the 'wizard' in the previous page #1.
(also, disregard the delivery times there, that is still not finished)
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More previews of the user interface of the aircraft ordering menu. Progress has been a bit slow but I have been tweaking the user interface so that you can customize the order completely and also that any errors are clearly pointed out.
This page is now finally nearly almost complete. After that I have to do the editing of existing orders and also some calculation functions still.
Ordering aircraft options (ie. optional order) will not be included yet but support for them already basically exists.
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I'm pleased to announce that a test v.1.1 game is running on the server now. It's hidden from everyone still, and I'm just testing that the basics work properly.
There are still a couple of pages left to be done and coded (biggest of them is the order editing page where you can change the order specs after having made the order, and second is to verify the production line slot movements over time). I will post information here once further updates are made. Timeframe for v.1.1 launch is approx. 1 week. (needs a bit of beta testing first)
There has been a slight delay over the original schedule caused by problems at my development server/computer (v.1.1 was supposed to be out in tomorrow or so) but things are progressing as you can read ....
- Improvement: Aircraft on order page is completely rewritten to cope with the new ordering system. It is still missing the functions for order editing and cancellation but those will be included in near future.
Some nice fading effects on the tabs too on this page ;)
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Pending orders can be cancelled now too .. if delivery is more than 6 months away. Cancellation either one by one (picture) or many at once (by checking the boxes on right..)
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- New feature: Ability to edit aircraft order after the order has been made.
(fees apply .. it's always more expensive to change the order afterwards)
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And that feature above completes the updates for v.1.1 game engine. The games will be launched on this friday, see other news on that.
There may be other fine-tuning and small improvements but for this version all major features are now completed. The decisions about next versions or future updates has not been made yet - those will be announced at a later time.
Forgot to mention this before .. but here goes:
- Improvement: Adjustments to pax calculation.
- Seat config type is now very much more effective. You cannot get a longhauler to work in HD seat config anymore. Generally HD seats work in flights less than 60 mins, and standard seats in ~3 hrs flights max (Y class).
- Effect of company and route images also increased. (0-image level is harder)
- Bugfix: Loan payments in the system were wrong and they were disabled for the last ~20 hours. The bug is fixed and payments are going out again normally.
- Improvement: Changed how the great circle lines are calculated on the route maps application (no longer counted at server-end but by the map application itself). Large maps should load faster but downside may be that gc. lines on long routes are not so smooth anymore.
- New feature: Aircraft range map. Click on the globe icon to view the map popup .. Centers at your home base.
Also updated the new aircraft listings a bit. The quoted range is with the factory standard configuration. View the payload vs. range charts to get the more detailed range information.
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- Improvement / Fix: Aircraft insurance cost system calculation improved. Calculation is now specific for each individual plane instead of fleet groups. The insurance premium is paid according to the true value of each plane, compared to the average value from fleet group previously.
This may cause a small change of +/- 5% in the insurance costs. But it's now more accurate than before.
- Improvement: Making the mouse over tooltips a bit more better looking ...
The update is so far only visible on aircraft view pages (like 'my aircraft').
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- New feature: Seat config graphics introduced. Each seat type is represented with a graphical icon of the seat - thanks to our user martimolti.
The icons are added to the Manual (https://www.airwaysim.com/game/Manual/Aircraft/Config/) and are also visible at the tooltip popup at 'my aircraft' page (hover mouse over the seat config row).
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- Improvement / Fix: Updates to used aircraft system.
* Brokers lower the prices of the planes faster than before if they are not sold.
* Brokers also get the plane off the market quicker if it's not sold.
* Fix in C check timing when brokers put up planes for sale.