ACB-VLT Terminals & Jets

[simsmart]

Are those cessnas/beechcrafts in the lower left going to be in a next pack?

[Voltaire]

The BE58 and CL601 on the GA apron are slated for release only in the prefabs so far but it's a pretty good bet a new AC modular series will follow. That series will include individual gate Lots for the 737s, A320s, and more new aircraft not yet announced.

  ---

We're finally bringing the prefabs' development/production on-line, and you can clearly see why it's taken 6 months:



In contrast to the smaller functionals, these are intended as direct replacements of the mega-lot maxis airports. This one is stage 9, the largest so far (nothing says we can't go higher). ACB terminal, new ramp textures, all-new Runway, 12 new planes, and hundreds of props on the field & ramp. All this, in a footprint smaller than the original Maxis lot!

There's still a few surprises coming up, starting in that right corner... and each lower stage has something unique, to set it apart and make it more than just stage 9 minus a few gates. I'll be showing off a bit as things progress, stay tuned!

edit:spelling

[cameron1991]

WOW! That looks awesome!   
This is definatley worth the wait!
Just one thing that could possibly be worked on:
IMO the 747 lots should be atleast 1 tile longer, so that 747s taxiing wont clip parked 747s with their wings.
Other than that though, it looks incredibly good! 

[simsmart]

Will they be props so someone would be able to lot them? And, what about those private jets?
EDIT: Where can I request a texture for an A321 (Perhaps an A319)?

[allan_kuan1992]

cameron... I think to keep the airport at this size means that you will have to sacrifice some realism to achieve the results that they they are making. Sad but true.

Although you can't really make this airport more realistic in the small lot area they are using, you could surely use the modular airport packs to build your dreams. =)

- Allan K

[ShadeSlayer]

That airport is amazing, but being the little perfection type of guy I am, I have to ask if you're going to fix up those light grey square bits popping out in the left area?

But other than all that, they are simply amazing and I think you should back up your files to prevent that from happening again...

[Zaphod]

That airport is amazing, but being the little perfection type of guy I am, I have to ask if you're going to fix up those light grey square bits popping out in the left area?

-NM-

These are great.

The way I see it, anyone who is looking for a lot like this is more concerned with practicality and just likes the look of the new planes and terminals, and is not so worried about realism. People who really want that level of detail will probably be more likely to download the custom kit and build their own airports. So I think it's fine. Personally I plan on downloading this, I have to admit I am not much of a plane guy (I am just flying for the first time in my life in august ) and never could get my own airports to look good, and this will be very useful.

[porter66083]

Erm.... uh.... 

I think he may be talking about the road plops off to the side there.....

[ShadeSlayer]

Well, actually I'm talking about this:

[allan_kuan1992]

Ah... i kinda noticed that too =P

Well... I'd guess that would have to be fixed...

- Allan Kuan

[Voltaire]

General Info:
We are not doing liveries by request at this time. I won't be doing a prop pack, or modulars, until this Lot series is done. I have no estimate on that because the design phase is not yet complete.

-----

Thank you everyone! it's nice to see folks interested in the design, and I'd like to provide a few answers.

cameron the original lot actually did have an extra tile, for that exact reason... however it was deleted for a good cause. I needed more room under the LotObject cap (there's a hard limit of 1280 textures, props, and buildings per Lot). So I traded in that empty row of tiles for a nice, 'lived-in' look out front.

shadeslayer, allan - That stair-step colour change is a feature of stages 8 and 9, to show their relative age (Remember these are functional Lots upgrading over time). Real airport operators will replace the most-worn sections as needed in-between major refurbishments. New concrete is the lighter colour, under the aircraft gates where it recieves more use (and is replaced first). Since it comes in large square sections, the edges are not straight. If you look closely you can see this under the A321 and 747s, plus there is a lot more off to the right.

Backups caused the problem in the first place... they turned out worthless, because the media was unreliable. Lesson learned:
never trust a system with a single point-of-failure. For your Important Things, use multiple backups on different media. Case-in-point, the 737 and A320 were saved from oblivion because I had them on a flash drive too.

Personally I plan on downloading this, I have to admit I am not much of a plane guy (I am just flying for the first time in my life in august) and never could get my own airports to look good, and this will be very useful.

thanks! this is exactly the purpose of these functional lots, we hope everyone will find them an excellent replacement for the Maxis airports.

[ShadeSlayer]

Yeah, that's what I mean. I have a server which hosts my various websites, but also my weekly computer backups (due to a lot of important work worth lots of time & money).

And even then, if you don't have the money to pay monthly hosting fees, you can still buy an external hard drive (or next time you want a new computer, build it and buy two separate hard drives (along with actually separating them as C:\ D:\ etc)). Just some words of wisdom there, and I now understand why those squares are how they look.

[Voltaire]

A few more tidbits on the prefab series... in the last month I've reached the middle stages (starting from the top remember) and the library of airlines & aircraft keeps growing. Now I'm not going to reveal them all until release, but there are 25 new-modeled aircraft so far, not including 747s which were already done.

The mechanics of upgrading will be different than Maxis' method. With those a re-plop is required twice -- stage 4 and 7 -- to up-size the footprint to municipal then international.

With our prefabs, the functional Lot's footprint is always the same 9x35 tiles. No re-plop required, from landing strip to international. To make that possible, the runway has its own 5x35 Lot starting at stage 5. The taxiway upgrades at stage 7 require just one re-plop of that Lot. Combined with the automatic upgrades, our design requires far less maintenance.

Separating the runway is also necessary due to limits of the simulator. A realistic terminal/ramp/runway combined Lot, would break the allowed number of LotObjects (1280 textures and props). For example:
    Stage 8 terminal: 1218        (~500 ground textures and 700 props)
    Stage 7+ Runway: 923        (~300 textures and 600 props)
    Total: 2141 LotObjects.   <--Which is why it takes awhile to make these

Here's some screenies from stage 8, featuring the new hangars, and Delta Connection CR2.

[cameron1991]

 
That looks awesome!
Keep up the good work! 

[pilotdaryl]

Wow!  I must congratulate you on all this fantastic work you've done!   Unfortunately, due to a computer virus, I won't be going anywhere for awhile

[Yoder7652]

unbelievable 

[jaronamo70]

WOW!!! Just read through all 10 pages and WOW! You guys may have ruined city-building for me forever, as I now may just build airports exclusively  . Great job with all the models, paints, etc. Although I'm not a huge fan of the "prefabs" (prefer to build my own, realistically-sized airports), they look FANTASTIC. These things can't be released soon enough  .

Oh, and if you guys ever get around to the Airbus planes, would you consider a Frontier Airlines livery (or maybe a few lol) ? As I hail from Denver, this would be very, very cool. Keep up the unbelievably excellent work.

[bat]

Fantastic work there on these terminals and jets! Looks really wonderful...

[Jack_wilds]

hello Voltaire, Jack wilds here... its all good    particularly the tarmac details and the planes.  The terminals and other structures are so much better than the maxis varieties. 

I do have something of a request concerning the 'tram-bus stop'... it is suppose to meet a cities demand for an airport yet when I plop it the demand news-ticker is still demanding an airport. 

Then if its possible could there be a tram that has a smaller foot print -say 2x3sq small town, 3x3, 3x4, 4x4sq for towns with pops of say 7000 to say 150,000 Then what about a mod or whatever would do the job of tracking plane traffic -where does the plane traffic go, what cities are benefiting from the traffic, economic impact, trade volumes generated to other cities due to the airport. 

Then concerning the tram -say I have a regional airport and I want it to service cities adjacent and non-adjacent cities.. that I can pick and designate the tram will service what regional airport, the cities with the tram service would then pay to be a part of the regional airport authority -size of the tram service cost.  Then to also use a glr-line to do the same as the airport tram.  Am I being clear?    

looking forward to finally having a neat airport in my sim city 

later  Jack

[RippleJet]

I do have something of a request concerning the 'tram-bus stop'... it is suppose to meet a cities demand for an airport yet when I plop it the demand news-ticker is still demanding an airport. 

Unfortunately the news ticker can only check for the existance of ingame Maxis airports.

There are three variables available and checked by the news ticker, and they are defined in the exe file:
  - game.g_small_airport_count (for Maxis landing strips)
  - game.g_medium_airport_count (for Maxis municipal airports)
  - game.g_large_airport_count (for Maxis international airports)

The custom airports are all made into municipal airports, but unfortunately they are not seen by these counters.

Then if its possible could there be a tram that has a smaller foot print -say 2x3sq small town, 3x3, 3x4, 4x4sq for towns with pops of say 7000 to say 150,000

That is only a matter of someone making them...
I know Mightygoose once started to work on an airport with a small footprint that would be upgrading from a bus station to a helicopter tower

Then what about a mod or whatever would do the job of tracking plane traffic -where does the plane traffic go, what cities are benefiting from the traffic, economic impact, trade volumes generated to other cities due to the airport. 

Then concerning the tram -say I have a regional airport and I want it to service cities adjacent and non-adjacent cities.. that I can pick and designate the tram will service what regional airport, the cities with the tram service would then pay to be a part of the regional airport authority -size of the tram service cost.  Then to also use a glr-line to do the same as the airport tram.  Am I being clear?    

Unfortunately the regional play isn't that advanced.
Every port (including shuttle stations) only affect the city they are plopped in.