As I’ve said before many times, when this blog seems dead it’s because I’m busy coding up my next piece of magic.  I’ve been meaning to post here for many months, but it’s hard to find the time.  I’ve been very vocal on Twitter and Facebook, but will try to speak up a little more here if I can.

Airport Madness 3D: Volume 2 released on November 21, exactly 1 day early.  That’s a first for Big Fat Simulations.  I’ve never been on time with anything.  Since development on this began 6 months ago, I’ve tried to be clear about what I was making.  Not a second version of Airport Madness 3D, but a second volume of it.  What’s the difference?  The term “volume” was used to indicate more airports, under the same game title.  A second version would indicate something that takes a major leap forward with all-new features and a fresh feel.

So far, the second volume has been well-received.  People think the airports look a little better in this volume (likely because I’m getting more experienced with the authoring software).  I’ve made some big changes to the traffic system around the aprons.  You may have noticed in the past that all aircraft had to funnel into an apron via the same path.  In AM3D2, this is no longer necessary.  But things get messy when an aircraft waiting at the south end of an airfield gets assigned a particular gate, then gets caught up in a traffic jam on its way there.  The gate forever remains earmarked for that aircraft, and in extreme cases, the apron can become somewhat emptied, with all aircraft waiting for gates to become available.  It’s still an imperfect system, but I’ll keep working at it.

Here’s a video of me, playing Airport Madness 3D: Volume 2.  I’ve decided to spare you all the goof-ball corner image of my face while I speak.  It’s bad enough that you have to hear my voice at all!