GearCity 1.22 Progress Thread

[Eric.B]

We switched over to documenting and ticketing on Friday. And knocked out the follow bugs and minor features:
-Fixed bug displaying administrative benefits demand amount in the action memo.
-Fixed bug in vehicle manufacturing strike auto wages.
-Possible fix to strikers demanding less wages than they make.
-Fixed Sound Effects Volume Setting not being loaded.
-Limited company's profitability's effect on preventing benefit negation values.
-Added Administrative skill effect on benefits negotiation.
-Fixed bug which did not reset morale when successfully negotiating benefits with a department.
-Adjusted the time when we calculate demanded Benefits Rate. (At the same time fixed a bug in the old calculation that caused too many request every 3 years.)
-Slowed the rate of morale decline if your benefits are too low
-Fixed District Branch Filtering in Mega Menu
-Fixed bug which causes factory lines to be applies to the wrong vehicle in Mega Menu
-Fixed bug which gave marque's too much benefits on Image ratings from marketing compared to parent company
-Fixed Auto-Marketing crashing when player has no branches
-Possible crash fix with aerodynamic drag calculations when clicking the Ratings button on certain video drivers.
-Fixed bug which caused HQ selection to break when you return to the main menu from one game to start a new game.
-Fixed crash in shader system when going from stand alone car designer to in game car designer then exiting to Office.


I'll continue working on big bugs and little features until about Friday. (Or I knock out my list, which ever comes sooner.) After which I'll return to working on the Map Tool, Map loading, and a new test map.

[Eric.B]

Today concludes the last little round of bug fixes I'm doing for v1.21.2. There are still quite a few bugs left to fix, but since the main focus of v1.21.2 is map loading, I need to complete that before I can release an update. So I will be switching back to our Video Settings Editor / Mod Tools / In game map loading until they are complete. Once map loading is implemented and a test "dot city" map is completed, I'll release v1.21.2 and then move back to bug fixes for a bug fix only v1.21.3 patch.

In the mean time, here is what I knocked out since the last post:
-Possible fix to Monthly Report and others missing some inventory vehicles in certain conditions. (Not sure if I found all possible conditions.)
-Fixed bug with non-ascii characters in save games causing reports not to load.
-Disabled key repeat for all characters except backspace, delete, and arrows keys in order to prevent gui character insert issues do to frame timing. IE repeat characters in a text box because you type too fast.
-Fixed some bugs with escaping keying windows.
-Fixed newspaper hot key crash
-Fixed bug which caused the "please wait" popup to come up when starting a new game even if you forget to select a year or difficulty rating, or if your save name already exists.
-Fixed bug which caused the contracts to awarded one month too soon.
-Fixed bug in which created marques did not have AI Behaviors. (So when they were spun off they acted insane.)
-Fixed bug that did not copy shipping distances when cloning a branch.
-Adjusted shadow system to get rid of shadow type that causes vehicle paints to be black on some video cards.
-Fixed two places that did not copy engine transversed check box when redesigning or copying engine sliders.
-Fixed bug which caused reports and factory costs to be miss matched.
-Changed "Base Costs" text to "Line Costs" and added a cost per line amount in World Map Factory View Details.
-Fixed idle factories not showing up in factory expense report.
-Made RnD->Modify->Component automatically open the restore production window if no components are active but discontinued components exist.
-Fixed bug that sometimes caused OEM parts revenues to drop to $0 three years into the game.
-Fixed missing overview text for two stroke value type.
-Fixed crash in Portuguese language file when making a race team.
-Fixed crash when deleting old reports in translation files that do not use ascii characters.

[Eric.B]

Map Tools and Video Settings Editor have been ported to Linux.

The Map Tools have reached the point where they can successfully export map files for the game!

A map loader system has been implemented in the game. You can now select which map you wish to play when starting the game.

The "Classic" map (the map you're all used to) has been successfully detached from the game. I had to remove a bunch of hard coded stuff for this to work. But now map changes, city data, etc should are dynamically loaded from the map files.

What does this mean? It means that you can make your own maps, cities, AI, and turn events using easy graphical tools. You then export those files into a folder in the game, and then load those files at the start of a new game.


There are still a couple more things I have to do. There are 3 missing features in the Map Tools, missing error checks in the Map Tools, I need to implement loading a map from a save game, and I have to work on the dotCity map format (which allows you to just use the coordinates of cities to make maps rather than using 3d modeling tools.)

Hopefully I can knock out these things by the end of the month. I'll then take a couple of days to make a new test map and make sure loading/unloading on multiple maps works. We'll then be ready for v1.21.2 release.

[Eric.B]

After quite a bit of headaches, everything is now working with the new maps system.
Since the new maps are dynamic, as in, different sizes, shapes, cameras, etc. We were having trouble selecting cities. This bug was present in the old map as well, but due to the position of the map/camera you never really noticed it.

Well with the integration of map zooming, this bug became a monster. It took me a full day to slay it. On top of this, district city selection when making your own district broke. So I had to fix that as well. Few things here and there added up to a couple extra unplanned days.

I need to clean up some files, which shouldn't take long. Do some play tests to make sure the new map system doesn't blow up the normal game. Then port everything to OSX (which might be another potential headache.)

Not everything I wanted for v1.21.2 is implemented, but it's been too long since the last release. So I am looking toward a Feb 9th-15th release at the latest depending on if I run into any issues play testing and porting to OSX. Most of what I don't finish for v1.21.2 will be pushed back to v1.21.4. The road mapped v1.21.3 features will also be pushed back. Bug fixes and map content will become the new v1.21.3 as mentioned in many of the threads over the last month.

[Eric.B]

Everything is ready for v1.21.2. Almost all the files have been uploaded and tested, just another 14-16 hours or so before launching it...

Over the last 8 days I implemented a new map called "Oldschool Territories" which is a semi-revised version of the original map the game had in v0.1-v0.3. The map features 23 territories, and was designed before we moved to the city system you all know. Interesting factoid, the game wasn't named "GearCity" until we moved to the city system in v0.3.

The old territory map looks very poor. It's programmer art. But it serves as a platform to test the scalability of the game. With the new map I was able to fix a couple of manufacturing/distribution bugs with the AI. I was also able to somewhat balance branch and factory modifiers using the map system, thus allowing for larger factories/costs externally rather than hardcoded. I was also able to extensively test the 4 editors we have implemented so far in the mod tools, make corrections, and ticket things that need to be fixed or added.

The later two points are important, as for v1.22.3 the artist should be making a new fancy territory map with around 40-50 territories. This map should serve as a bases for those who find the game having too much micromanagement. Likewise, I'll also be working on a new Default City Map using the map tools. Which will hopefully balance out the gameplay a bit.

Anyhoo more info on that tomorrow. Need to play test Windows build (it just finished uploading) and get some rest...

-Map Loading System
-Added "Testing Dot City" map. Uses Classic Map's data, but dynamically loads city based on coordinates. Will be replaced by "Default Map" by v1.22
-Added base map artwork for player created dot city maps.
-Added "Oldschool Territories" Map. 23 Territory map designed for v0.1 of GearCity.
-Fixed limited/war causing some companies to not function.
-Implemented Factory/Branch size/costs/effects modifiers for maps.
-Implemented system that allows you to make specific textures for territories/cities.
-Map movement now dynamic valued based on size of the map.
-Ported Videosettings/Modtools to Linux and OSX.
-Removed wiki browser tab, made the wiki open in 2nd reports window. (Freeing up 50mb of ram.) May do the same to chat, not sure.
-A couple of minor bug fixes, most of them having to do with the new map system.
-Updated translations.

[Eric.B]

Releases a quick SP1 patch. SP2 will take much longer:

SP1 includes:
-Possible fix to New Generation/Trims costing more time than new vehicles designs if no sliders are touched.
-Fixed Tax expenses on Expense Report showing up one month late.
-Fixed select chassis button not being enabled when you change sub components of a vehicle that is being new generated or trimmed after going to the advance designer.
-Fixed LD texture crash on Oldschool Territories map.
-Removed debt payments from being counted against your tax payment.
-Fixed bug in Mega Menu Marketing when switching to district from individual branches
-Fixed Bug broken clone system in Mega Menu Marketing
-Fixed bug that allowed you to assign marketing dollars to cities with no branches on the world map.
-Hopefully a fix to the car designer raycasting crash.

[Eric.B]

I have been out of office for the last few days, but still around and working limited hours. There will be a couple more days in March where I will have the same level of activity. Sadly my hands are tied in this situation, but things will get back to normal in April... Anyhoo, Sorry for any late replies to forums post.

For 6 days since my last update, it's not as much as I would normally get done, but it's still a bit:
-Fixed bug that shows district shipping checkbox when autoproduction is enabled
-Fixed bug in networth chart that included factory construction as well as unfinished vehicle and component designs.
-Fixed bug in advance designer that caused warning messages to "stick" after multiple designs
-Fixed bug in advance designer that caused optimal fuel messages to pop up when they shouldn't
-Fixed incorrect prestige ratings in Marque' view in Finances.
-Fixed incorrect weight unit in racing engine lists.
-Fixed bug in racing budget lock due to bug fixes in lobbying and other lock systems.
-Fixed bug in racing results memo that didn't show racing series.
-Fixed multiple bugs where engine power rating and engine reliability ratings were getting mixed when pulling data from the DB. (This fixed two known bugs, one of which was the Engine Reliability Modification issue.)
-Fixed bug in GearBox modification issue with smoothness rating. It was being applied twice.
-Fixed a bug with factory/branch ownership when you spin off/sell a marque.
-Assisted and Advance designer will no longer allow you to design 0hp engines. You'll get a popup message telling you that the engine was rejected and why.


I have a number more bug fixes to get to this week. I'm going to try to get an SP2 patch out to testing at the end of the month with quite a few more bug fixes!

[Eric.B]

A number of bugs have been fixed, I'll be doing a quick play test of SP2 today. We will possibly get a release of v1.21.2 SP2 tonight or tomorrow at the latest. This will be the last SP for v1.21.2, I'll be switching over to implementing a couple new features (random history) and at least 1, possibly 2 new maps for v1.21.3.

-Fixed possible negative RnD costs in expense reports (because budget locks were being processed before reports were being generated.)
-Moved reports buttons in office to allow "web browser" window to be shorter. Thus hopefully giving most 1080 window mode players with 1080 monitors a full browser instead of the short version.
-Pension payouts now occur immediately (the year after), as approximately 6-8% of the work force retires each year.
-Pension liabilities are generated only for when workers retire, liabilities last 25 years now. And grow around 3% per year. (Less for factory workers, more for engineers/admins.)
-Fixed bug in the pension payout report.
-Changes to the pension system prevent excess pension liability costs and causes payouts to be immediate.
-Fixed bug in marketing report text causing the wrong text to be displayed.
-Fixed Autocommands replace model duplicate list bug.
-Possible fixes to world map city selection bugs (let me know if you still have problems clicking cities!)
-Fixed unclickable cities on "Classic Map"
-Added more information to the City Info popup, including name of the city/territory, population, and percapita.
-Fixed a couple of bugs in the German translation file that caused crashes.
-Added more colors and broke population and percapita data down more when using the "Mapping" system to view the data.
-Fixed regression bug that caused all modded engines to be transversed.
-Fixed contract and factory shutdown memo bugs.
-Reordered contract requirement units. This will become obsolete in v1.23 with new contracting system and (possibly) unit type selection.
-Some Lists will now automatically scroll to the selected position rather than resetting to the top!
-Fixed resizing bugs in mega menu and world map distribution.
-Disabled auto center for some windows when something like "Apply" is clicked. If you notice any that do it, and they probably shouldn't, let me know.
-Fixed debt's being transferred when making a wholly owned subsidiary.

[Eric.B]

Once again, it's a limited week, but doesn't mean stuff isn't getting done.
Fixed several bugs in AI racing engine and vehicle designer that caused racing teams not to be made. Also adjusted the AI racing budget's.

It's also that time of year to do paperwork...

More work has been done on the mapping tools, as I start to use them to make the new default city map. Progress has also been made on the new default territory based map...

Speaking of maps, Classic Map is 274 cities. Some of which belong in the game, some of which really don't belong. Many have nothing to do with automotive history, and many do. My goal for the default map is to drop it down to 200 cities. But at the same time, have a good blend of populated cities and cities with automotive history. It's a difficult balance as factories tend not to be produced around major population centers. Then there is always the question of which cities to cut. And how would people fans and residents act? Etc.

Anyway, I took the classic map and started looking at the automotive history of places I planned to cut. (Minsk for example.) Next thing you know I have a list of 1000+ cities that have had factories, offices, RnD centers, or testing centers for major auto manufacturing companies.

So I thought I'd share it with you all. This is an incomplete map, as there were many bus, niche, really dead, and military manufacturers I skipped over. Some of the data does include bus, semi-truck, motorcycle, tractor manufacturers as well, depending on the data I could get. It also includes some abandoned factories, but generally for larger companies.

Blue is factories/offices/etc.
Red is Largest 85 cities. (Note, Largest for their respective continents.)
Orange is cities included in Classic Map.

View Map of Automotive History, Populations, and Classic Cities

So Now I have to come up with 200 cities from this map. Then make all the data, turn events, news paper articles, AI, etc... While at the same time, bug fixing and adding features to the tools... Fun.


-Fixed Bugs in AI Racing vehicle/engine designer
-Improved AI Racing vehicle type selection for generic type events.
-Adjusted Budget adjustments/program stoppage for AI racing.
-Added automatic re-IDing of cities in the TurnEvents, AI, and City files using the City Editor Tools.

[Seaswolf]

That is very interesting! How about having an option to select 200 cities with respective histories and so on and an option to have how many cities you may like.
For example I love to play huge gigantic maps in Civilization game series and I'd love play your game with more than 200 cities.
No problem with the others cities don't have history, etc! For me is important mkt, population to conquer the world! Lol