Airport CEO Beta 1
The first beta version of Airport CEO has now been deployed on the experimental branch which means that the first beta sprint has officially begun. We will during the next two weeks deploy daily updates on the experimental branch with the goal of by the end of this two week sprint deploy the first full beta 1 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 1.0-0:
Release notes - Airport CEO - Version Beta 1.0-0
Bug
- [ACEO-32120] - GA aircraft can in rare occasions get stuck outside world boundary on runway approach
Improvement
- [ACEO-31244] - Removed excessive sprite renders and made multiple overall improved object LOD-ing to improve rendering performance
- [ACEO-31374] - Terminal validation algorithm overhauled to avoid very notable "per every three second" lag spike
- [ACEO-32255] - Ability to set custom sandbox rules per new airport session
- [ACEO-32621] - Multiple improved UI features, displays, buttons and layouts across various panels
This is only a few of the development tasks we have planned for the first beta sprint and the full extent can be reviewed once this sprint is completed. We’ll update and complete this topic with more information as development progresses and we stretch our legs in this beta period.
Join us in enjoying this beta period!