We know that passenger behaviour is going to be a complex part of the game, and the devs have already touched on this with regards to passenger types etc.
One thing I notice about flying is that the way people behave in an airport is very different to the real world, and this varies widely between passengers. It would be great to see some of these reflected in the game.
One thing that is immediately obvious is speed - some people can pass through an airport in no time at all and without issue, others really struggle in exactly the same environment and take much longer - for example, people at check in trying to find their passports and moving underwear from one bag to another in order to get their bags within the weight limit, and people at security wondering if water counts as a liquid (yes, I really saw that happen). Whilst I don’t think the full spectrum of passenger behaviour can possibly be simulated in the game, it would be possible and a nice touch to vary the speed at which people move through your airport. Rather than just having a set amount of time for each person to clear check in and security for example, it could vary from person to person. Frequent fliers (business people and the like) would be likely to pass through without issue, whereas tourists would be more likely to get held up. This could even relate to walking speed - business travellers would walk quickly and directly to where they want to go, whereas leisure travellers would be slower and more likely to stop off at duty free and so on. Of course, I’m stereotyping here and there is variation within each group so maybe each passenger has a randomly generated factor that affects speed, with weighting given based on the type of passenger?
Another behaviour I’ve seen that I find rather odd is the insistence of some passengers to queue as soon as their gate is announced (even when seats are allocated). Not everyone does this thankfully, but again it may be a nice thing to try and implement - some passengers will queue as soon as their flight is called, others will sit and wait?
I agree with the OP. The more variation we have in the behavior of passengers, the more interesting the game gets, even from a strategic standpoint.
Do you prefer more flights to holiday destinations? Then people will buy more stuff at duty free shops but they will take longer to board and might cause delays (when they don’t show up at the gate after checking in and the plane has to wait for them). More business passengers will mean less shopping but maybe some paying for luxury lounges.
This will mean you need to think very well before you start building lounges, duty free shops, cafés and restaurants so that you can match the types of passengers you are getting.
Confused passengers would be a great reason to put down information boxes and hire information staff. Lots of information can keep the delays because of confused passengers down.
Yeah, a lot of good points here, I honestly can’t wait until we have the time to look at minor stuff like this. We’re putting a lot of effort into rigorous simulation algorithms so that it in the future will be easy to modify certain behavioral aspects in given situations. People starting queueing before the gate has opened is one of them, it would also be fun to have people drink alcohol and become drunk and even security threats.
A lot of good ideas here, keep posting whenever you’re out flying and notice something new!
@Bigbigcheese: We saw that video a couple of days ago, really interesting but looks like an insanely abstract career to have, haha.
You’d probably be surprised how common these people are needed… Airports, stations, roads… Anything that involves things moving. I’m sure most good architects are trained in some way to incorporate this into their designs.
Also, I believe that some airports will majorly change operations when a vip is at the airport (president, royalty etc). Some airports might block mobile signals to stop remote attacks. Other planes can’t go anywhere near the Vip’s plane and more. It would be intersting to see how this impacts your airport.
That is an interesting idea for the game! Also add that people are getting angry to delays,cancellations of flights also put that someone is complaining about his/her ticket and etc
Hope this helps…
Very nice ideas
And that would also add another aspect of where to place shops in the airport to keep people moving and extra security to account for the slower passengers. Also it would make you ask yourself twice on weather to expand because it would take longer to get through and be more confusing. Also at the gate maybe you could getaway with less seats and aircraft held up for late passengers. Then the time of year in game could affect the type of passengers
E.g. In the holidays there are more tourists than normal.
I think you could get very deep in how passengers move through the airport. There are so many aspects that could affect them. The distance to the gate, the type of shops, how long the lines are. Whether you arrived late or early.
I’d love to see someone sprinting through the airport about to miss their flight causing havoc which affects other passengers and their behavouir.
It’s interesting that you think people are complicated and unique but then when it comes down to it you can model their behaviour in places like an airport using basic fluid mechanics.
Okay, so I had an amazing idea on how to make passenger behaviour more useful in the game. I was thinking that people behave funny when they are hiding something.
So, when incidents are implemented and become important in game, security staff can pick up on bad behaving customers, and be more thorough with their search.
However, to isolate these bad behaving customers, you must have the majority of customers acting normally. To do this, build facilities for passengers to enjoy, and those that don’t show behaviour improvements should be selected for additional screening.
You could also add the option for the CEO to click on customers, and look at their behaviour to analyse if they are a threat. If they are a threat, then the CEO (you) can click on their boarding pass to put the SSSS mark on it. This makes security more thorough for this customer. Have a look at the US and the SSSS boarding cards. I think doing something similar might make the boarding cards more useful… Of course this is all when events are implemented.
I’m an interior designer and we didn’t get taught about people’s walking patterns in such detail (I wish!) but establishing a journey through the space is the first step to any good design. Everything else follows. The better the flow, the better the design!
Yes but that is only a small percentage of what interior design is. It includes, how to utilize space like how water flows down a stream. You find where you want to add your rooms, e.g. toilets, shops, check-in, security and then you have different department offices where you could arrange anywhere necessary for your staff. It involves lighting, flooring, walls, and yes furniture and where they will be placed. Interior design is very important to building a terminal and gates and seated areas.
Interesting idea. It would be cool if passengers had different statistics, such as familiarity with flying/your airport, level of intoxication, happiness, and economic status. These could be impacted by your choices, such as which flights you accept, placing down bars, wait times, etc. and could then impact behavior, such as how much a passenger spends, how quickly they move, and security incidents. That way there are more tradeoffs to make: for example, adding a bar may make you more money but could also cause issues and require more security, or accepting flights from Las Vegas will bring in happier passengers that are also more likely to be drunk and to be tourists that move more slowly.
Then the time of year in game could affect the type of passengers