GearCity news & patch notes

Greetings Everyone, Yet another small bug fix update this time around. It contains fixes for a pair of exploits, edge cases, a medium-sized bug, and a few little bugs. Unless anything major pops up, I am taking a break from GearCity until sometime next year to focus 100% on my next game, AeroMogul. GearCity's Free DLC, GearCity: 2nd Gear, is approximately 50% complete. I have another round of work on that before the end of the year. When I complete that round, I'll pause work on the DLC for a few months to focus on getting AeroMogul to a testable game state. In short, work on GC related stuff will resume spring next year. v2.0.0.13 Change Log: -Bugfix: Fixed Stock window not showing contract and other secondary revenues streams. -Bugfix: Fixed autotools exploit that could cause fractional sales prices below $1, thus breaking AI. -GUI: Synced rating star values between rooms. -Bugfix: Fixed bug that did not transfer stocks when companies consolidate. -Bugfix: Fixed possible stuck RnD skills when skill level drops below 0.25. -Gameplay: Decreased Dealership subsidy amount after several uses. -Gameplay: AI now does dealership subsidy on normal, hard, and nightmare mode. -Bugfix: Fixed Global Fuel Price issue that causes the display of incorrect transportation costs values on the first turn. -Bugfix: Jitter Charts OSX 2.0.0.12 (City Sales, small window) -Media: Removed Classic Territory on OSX to prevent crash. -Bugfix: Fixed Gearbox Prototype Selection text not resetting after player clears it.

Greetings Everyone, GearCity is getting another bugfix update. It contains a few small bug fixes and two possible crash fixes. Work continues on our crowdfunded DLC, which will be released for free when it's complete. Currently, contributors are voting on the feature set for the 4th update. There was also a bugfix update for that DLC today too. V2.0.0.12 Change Log: -Bugfix: Fixed in-game borderless window button -Bugfix: Fixed incorrect year being shown on World Map Competition Graphs the first month of the year. -Bugfix: Fixed unlocked components disappearing after skill point drop from spinoffs. -GUI: Fixed Outsourcing/Licensing sorted list not displaying in user unit selection -GUI: Switched English translation of 'Ease' to smoothness to keep text same. -Bugfix: Fixed misaligned Branch Operations Report Tables -Bugfix: Removed Old School Territory Map From Linux Builds (Crash Prone) -Bugfix: Fixed Drag placement crash -ContentUpdated Translations

Greetings everyone! I have for you all another small bug-fix update. The 2nd Gear DLC also got an update. It is approximately 10% complete. You can find the changelog for v2.0.0.11 below. -Engine: Fixed possible double free issues that could cause crashing when changing rooms. -Engine: Fixed possible GUI Memory issue that could lead to crashing. -Bufix: Fixed mismatched type issue that prevented a performance optimization -Bugfix: Fixed typos in reviews files. -GUI: Taxes are now included as expenses in the revenues report. -Gameplay: Automatic deadbeat stock sales moved from turn 1 of negative funds to turn 5. -Bugfix: Fixed population issues in Medellin on the Base City Map. -Gameplay: Reduced dealership population effects on low popularity vehicles. -GUI: Game now allows returning to component selection from advanced designer when acccessing the designer via the vehicle modification window.

Greetings everyone, Just a small patch today fixing up the few issues reported to me since the last update.

• Fixed column shift issue in Individual City Sales Reports
• Fixed import taxes are charged on old sales when countries enter a war phase.
• Fixed issue causing non-manufacturing racing teams to order a vehicle for racing but not race them.
• Fixed possible exploit in the chassis licensing system.
• Adjusted the frequency of economic boom and bust random events when playing on Random History mode.
• Fixed possible issues with the office contract display windows that were not popping up when racing contracts were unfilled.
• Fixed possible green listing of unfilled contracts in the office contract display.
• Fixed decimal numbers appearing in the vehicle reports table columns.

Enjoy!

Greetings Everyone! I have released GearCity version 2.0.0.9 for everyone and GearCity: 2nd Gear version 2.1.0.1 for FBS contributors. Version 2.0.0.9 has 11 bug fixes compiled over the last few months. I still have one or two things related to the mod tools that I will work on in the future. Work on my next game, AeroMogul is making steady progress, although work on the GearCity: 2nd Gear DLC for Feature Bounty Contributors has slowed progress somewhat since the last GearCity update. If you have any issues with the game, please don't hesitate to contact me. The next update to GearCity will come after enough bugs have been reported and fixed. Thank you again, and enjoy! Change Log: -Bugfix: Stop vehicle end production from centering the window when the window is open. -Bugfix: Prevent the modify Vehicle System from opening while assisted vehicle designer or vehicle body system is opened. -Bugfix: Improve estimated sales system for dead vehicle types. -Bugfix: Fixed text clipping issues for Japanese users. -Bugfix: Fixed racing cylinder restrictions being incorrectly read from xml. -Engine: Now shipping openal on Linux, since some Ubuntu based distros no longer include it and Steam's runtime isn't picking it up for some reason. -Bugfix: Made adjustments to stock IPOs and buyouts since it could be abused to exploit the game. -Bugfix: Fixed issues in Russian Translation that causes large magazine not to work. -Bugfix: Fixed issues in the AI racing system that prevented the replacement of old designs. -Engine: Prevent GearCity: Classic from loading GearCity: 2nd Gear save games. -Bugfix: Fixed possible issue with the auto production system and contracts when all factories are under limited production restrictions.

Hello! Version 2.0.0.8 is now out. This update is another bug-fix patch of things submitted to me over the last few months. There is nothing too big in this update. But there are a few moderate and small bug fixes. Depending on what FBS Contributors fund in our Feature Bounty System, the next update will be in conjunction with the FBS DLC release. In other news, The Feature Bounty System crowdfunding milestone is 74.4% funded, and we have four more months to go. We are highly likely to reach the first milestone goal! That means new features in GearCity for FBS contributors. (Eventually, those features will become free to everyone else.) If you want to know more about the FBS system, please view our stickies in the forums. As some may know, I have spent the last 6 months working on our next game, AeroMogul. AeroMogul is an airline management business simulator. I'm pleased to report that progress is going very well. The graphical client, including airports, routes, and the first iteration of some of the UI, is complete. I would love to share an early teaser trailer, but the Russian invasion of Ukraine has hampered artwork production. So instead, you'll get a couple of screenshots. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/6091300/b6048a93f7349669f0177a1416c2e9693fa0beb2.png {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/6091300/cdfdcc28e0adbc14887d044ec4585ffe8b8c6869.png {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/6091300/8f568a9dc29aa41123f334616407bf26dccfdf88.png I am now working on the economics engine for the game. It is called Beardgine III Economic Engine. It is the next iteration of the economics engine found in GearCity's Beardgine I and Beardgine II. However, it is just an economic engine, whereas Beardgine I and II were entire game engines specifically designed for GearCity. I am using Unity3D for AeroMogul's graphical client. Just a little tech talk for those who are interested. Change Log: -Bugfix: Fixed Districting Tutorial's title bar text. -Bugfix: Fixed contract prices not updating when changing contracts. -Bugfix: Fixed Redesign button issues in RnD->Modify->Components -Engine: Help->Manual now directs to the Japanese Wiki when playing in Japanese -Engine: Updated CEF on MacOS. -Bugfix: Fixed issue that was causing incorrect new generation when using refit system. -Bugfix: Fixed TV and Internet marketing date mismatches. -Bugfix: Fixed massive dropdown box item issues when massive GUI scaling (above 100%/double) is used. -Gameplay: Disable Static Vehicle Popularity no longer blocks Random Vehicle Popularity at game start. -Bugfix: Fixed Memo warning moving when resizing memo window. -Bugfix: Fixed list page reset when using Mega Menu End Production and Stop Selling tools. -Bugfix: Fixed rare condition that allowed the player to build one extra branch when branch limits setting is enabled. -Bugfix: Fixed small font in production lists when Auto Production is enabled. This might cause a regression. -Bugfix: The game will now load the next memo after deleting a memo. -GUI: The game will no longer recenter the Components Modification window after using end production. -Bugfix: Removed broken predesigned vehicle. -Bugfix: Fixed Branch Operations report breaking when city sales reports are disabled. -Bugfix: Removed misleading window title for refit components popup. -Gameplay: Player now receives a stock split memo for their own company. -Gameplay: New component and vehicle type memos are now checked on the 12th month of the year instead of the 1st. -Gameplay: New racing series memo now appears 13 months before start. Memo wording might cause issues in the future. -Gameplay: Racing Series and Non-Manufacturer Racing contracts now generate their own memos.

Hello everyone! I have another bugfix update for you. This time we have ten bug fixes, one of which is an exploit fix. We also have two gameplay changes, one of which may harm your company if you solely rely on racing contracts. And two engine changes, one of which allows you to increase GUI scaling to triple the normal size. In other news, The first milestone in our crowdfunding efforts for additional GearCity content is now over 1/3rd of the way funded. We continue to need your support to reach our milestone goal. If you enjoy the game and would like to see more content for it, please consider contributing. You can find more information on our forums under the pinned Feature Bounty threads. Work continues on GearCity documentation, but my primary focus is on the next product, AeroMogul. It is progressing well, and we have already shown off a few sneak peeks to Feature Bounty contributors. Change Log: -Bugfix: Cyrillic font not displayed when using CJK language. -Gameplay: Reduction to racing contracts unit requests. -Bugfix: Fixed volume settings reset after updates. -Bugfix: Fixed Research Teams exploit that allowed the player to enter any value into the text boxes. -Bugfix: Fixed typo in English newspaper articles. -Gameplay: The "Enable All Vehicles At Start" option now removes year limits to premade designs. -Bugfix: Fixed unassigned contracts popup that would appear when you are not producing the monthly requirement, even if you are producing more than the remaining units needed. -Bugfix: Fixed Munitions Factory Destruction Memo from firing when you are not making munitions. -Bugfix: Added contract sales to Total Delivery Costs calculations -Bugfix: Fixed sorting issues with Datatables for numbers with '$' and ',' characters. -Engine: In-game settings now allows for a +200% increase in UI Scaling. This is up from our +100% scaling. -Bugfix: Fixed bug that prevented the components redesign button from showing if you clicked certain models in a certain order. -Engine: If you launch the game "offline," the game will now periodically check to see if you have connected to the game distribution client to log your achievements. -Bugfix: Fixed a problem with our internal scripting that was causing unnecessary files to be uploaded to distributors. Those extra files should be removed with this update.

Hotfix #1

-Bugfix: Fixed code point issues on Japanese and Chinese fonts, which caused text not to appear in the game when using either language.

Hotfix #2

-Bugfix: Fixed regex issue causing sorting problems on some Datatable columns.

Hotfix #3

-Engine: Limited Auto-GUI Scaling for OSX HiDPI displays to +100%.

Greetings everyone! I have for you all a small bug fix update. It's mostly tidying up a few things that were reported to me since the last update. -Engine: Added Additional Error Checking to Prevent Rare Vehicle Design Crash. -Bugfix: Fixed Borderless windows in-game setting in Windows. -Maps: Updated UA city names on Base City Map names to IATA standard. -GUI: Fixed some text alignment issues in the Japanese Language File -Web: News page is now separated based on which game distribution platform you are using. -Engine: Fixed issues with the Chat system that prevented it from working on 64-bit builds. -Engine: Fixed browser not redirecting to an internal error page when a report isn't found or when you're offline. -Engine: Created offline pages for news and manual. The latter will have a static manual once we complete the manual. -Translations: Updated Translations, added Ukrainian support. -Gameplay: Minor tweak to Morale increase when paying good wages. -Gameplay: The game will now only sell a fraction of shares when you run out of money instead of all your share of a single entity.

Greetings Everyone, I have released GearCity v2.0.0.5! This update fixes a few bugs in the game, mod tools, and settings editor. All our external programs are now running Qt5, which should help with HiDPI issues on all platforms. The Feature Bounty System has also launched. We're about halfway to our monthly goal to reach the first milestone before the deadline. You can find more details on the forums, the official websites, or our social media pages. Work will continue on documentation and fleshing out the FBS bounty lists. Changelog: -Engine: Some external websites in the game are now using HTTPS on 64-bit builds. -Bugfix: Fixed issue that could cause frequent engineering strikes when many designs are under research. -Bugfix: Fixed issue that prevented wage negotiations not being applied to all engineering employees if multiple designs are under research. -Bugfix: Fixed issue that caused the dealership subsidized frequency value to be incorrect. -GUI: When there are no longer any unlockable designs in the Research Teams window, we use a blank texture instead of an empty blueprint texture. -Engine: Fixed several issues with saving and loading volume settings and the settings editor. -Bugfix: Fixed money not being taken away when using the Anti-Trust Bribery option. -Bugfix: Fixed several issues when losing the Anti-Trust case when selecting the Bribery option. -Bugfix: Fixed a way for players to break the New Generation System by clicking the format button and changing the vehicle type and name. As a result, this fixes a couple of reports that players can't create new generations of certain vehicles. -Bugfix: Fixed issue that caused unused factory morale to show 100 when it could be less. -GUI: Player will no longer get a memo for unused factories with low morale. -Bugfix: Fixed incorrect country in McLaughlin achievement. -Bugfix: Fixed bug that could cause marketing efficiency to grow too fast at first. Made additional adjustments to marketing efficiency monthly growth values. Mod Tools: -Bugfix: I Added a MapFileLocalSave.xml that stores the local path for the exported map. "MapFileForModTools.xml" uses relative paths which may not load when exported. -GUI: Implemented Turn Events Editor buttons. -Bugfix: Increased all localization ID max values. -GUI: Added load, edit, and save music comments to music editor. I also fixed sizing issues. -Bugfix: Fixed AI Editor clustering value limits. -Bugfix: AI Editor can now accept -1 values. This value forces the game to generate a random value. -GUI: Tool clears racing restrictions when making a new series. -Bugfix: Fixed OSX drawn issues. -Tool: Upgraded to QT5. Settings Editor: -Bugfix: Fixed error prompts when downloading files from Steam Workshop. -GUI: Added missing music settings. -GUI: Removed full screen resolution lock. -Tool: Upgraded to QT5.

Greetings Everyone, I have released version 2.0.0.4. This update fixes a few minor bugs and exploits. You can expect the next patch once the community reports a work-week worth of issues. In the meantime, I will return to working on the Game Mechanics section of the manual. Work on the manual will last about a week. Then I will switch back to working on the Feature Bounty System items starting in the middle of this month. That brings me to the next bit of news. As you probably all have heard, Russia invaded Ukraine, and now the country is engulfed in war. Unfortunately, Serhiy, our contract artist who has done most of the quality artwork on the game, including the backdrops, logos, and 30-40% of the vehicles, lives in Ukraine. He is safe at this time, but nothing is predictable with the uncertainties of war. What does that mean with GearCity? One of the most important elements of the Feature Bounty System was adding new vehicle types and replacing the existing vehicle bodies with a more advanced body designer. In addition to many other artwork-related items, such as visible component designs, more logos, etc. The plan was to have each fundraising milestone require funding for an artwork bounty before the remaining funds were used on programming bounties. (I require capital to pay for artwork, whereas my time is the only programming expense.) However, because of the instability in Ukraine, we are uncertain if he'll be able to produce the artwork. So I will likely go ahead with the Feature Bounty System without any art-related bounties until the situation improves in Ukraine. When things have stabilized over there, we'll have a couple of art-only milestones to catch the artwork up with the software side if we get too far ahead. I planned on soft-launching the Feature Bounty System on our chat networks at the end of last month. However, because of the invasion, I pushed the soft launch to the end of this month. A broader launch will be middle of next month, keep an eye out on the forums and what have you, as I won't be making a Steam announcement when it launches. Let's all hope and pray for a speedy and favorable conclusion to the war in Ukraine. Not only for a return to normalcy but for all the lives involved. Speaking of the chat networks, we have added a Discord if that is your thing: https://discord.gg/xyxDvWPX8X And it is bridged to our IRC channels: irc.esper.net #vent and #gearcity. So feel free to come and join us! Change Log: -Bugfix: Assisted contract designer component selection breaks when running out of options. -Gameplay: Improved assisted contract designer to cycle through component options. The tradeoff is that it will test fewer slider positions, but the assistant should be more successful now. -Gameplay: Assisted Engine Designer will now use maximum length and width of a contract if you load the assisted engine designer via the Assisted Contract Designer. This means you can make adjustments to your sliders and it assistant will keep the dimensions within the contract. -Gameplay: AI manufacturer and non-manufacturing race teams are now more likely to join first year of racing events and single year series. Non-manufacturing racing contracts now start an extra year in advance before a season starts. -Gameplay: AI manufacturers are now more likely to join in racing in the early years and replace models a little more frequently. -GUI: Mega Menu End Production racing/contract warning now only displays when the selected model is used in racing or a contract. This is to make the feature work the same as RnD End Production. -Bugfix: End Production does not remove model from contract bid, resulting in blue selections in contract window. -GUI: Zoom in and zoom out button for 64-bit reports windows. The game will store the zoom level for the reports until you close the game. Note, a few reports will not use the stored zoom level, but you can still manually zoom in and out. -Bugfix: Estimated Design Requirement and Manufacturing Requirement ranges can break with certain numbers -Bugfix: Limit Define Benefits employee fees to no more than 100% of wages. -Gameplay: Adjusted union negotiations demands so that fees greatly increases benefits demand. Unless you have very high admin skills, you're unlikely to be able to demand more than 50% fees now. -Bugfix: Disabled WW2, WW1, and Great Depression achievements in Random History mode -Bugfix: Refit new trim allows unlimited characters -Bugfix: Premade designs have availability years that don't match base model body's years. So they're not usable in those years. -Bugfix: Stock window drop down not resetting when clicking some buttons in the stock window. -Bugfix: Gearbox racing contract weight values incorrectly displayed -Bugfix: Lack of rounding in the Purchase More Components memo. -Bugfix: Refit system creating new generations of vehicle when using the trim system. -Bugfix: Price Gouging Penalty sticking in the Buyer Rating Table until you hit apply to the price. -Bugfix: Spin-off stock resell exploit, adjustments made to cash value in stock eval, past stock history for spun off company is now deleted. -Bugfix: Reports when Auto-save GUI in enabled do not center.

Greetings everyone, I have just another minor update this time. It fixes several smaller and medium-sized bugs with the game. This update superseded work on the manual, so I am a little behind on the Game Mechanics portion. I do not plan on delaying work on the Feature Bounty system because of it. So I will begin setting everything up for that starting tomorrow. I hope to get it ready to go by the end of the month. Change Log: -Engine: Rebuilt Freetype on 64-bit Windows to enable legacy scaling which will hopefully fix some font resizing issues. (I will post in the manual some optional libraries for Linux users to override their system's freetype libraries. Mac users probably won't get this change.) -GUI: Restricted warning message in Outsourced Contracts Management window when supplier's HQ nations are at war. -Gameplay: Fixed incorrect sign in chassis length slider that caused longer chassis to be weaker. -Gameplay: Now allowing restart production of licensed designs. -GUI: Added fuel type to showroom Marque Catalog and Model Compare fuel consumption information. -Gameplay: Fixed Hybrid fuel type end date. -GUI: Fixed chassis name not appearing in Refit information window. -Gameplay: Fixed possible condition that could cause double taxation in Q4. The IRS isn't too happy to close this loophole. -GUI: Displayed additional tax rebate info next to Monthly Expenses in the reports when you get a rebate. -GUI: Fixed typos in the supplemental texts (newspapers, map events, reviews) -Engine: Enabling borderless window with the In-game settings will toggle off fullscreen. And enabling fullscreen will toggle off borderless window. -Translations: Updated translations from the website.

Hello Everyone, Another bug-fix update for GearCity. With the release hype dying down some, the next bug fix will be in a couple of weeks unless someone comes across a major issue. -Media: Normalize tutorial audio speaking, sound fx, and music. -Bugfix: Changing sound effects vol from off to on doesn't change tutorial audio volume. -Bugfix: Fixed auto-production not producing enough components for contracts when multiple contracts use the same engine for different types of contracts. -Bugfix: Apply to all not working when merge trims is enabled. -Bugfix: Merge Trim not showing all models on the world map. -Bugfix: Non-English language causes a innocent sqlite error on player creation table. -Bugfix: Fixed possible issues in the reviews system that could cause no reviews for a design. This issue is probably impossible to duplicate playing the game. -Gameplay: Reduced wage demand/strikes during economic downturns. -GUI: Fixed some GUI scaling issues. (Some more work needs to be done here.) -GUI: Added commas to Breached Contract memos. -Bugfix: Fixed possible exploit that allows for loans to be taken twice in a month by reloading a save game. -Bugfix: Fixed inversed engine manufacturer requirement stars and stuck chassis manufacturer requirement stars in the Licensing window. -Bugfix: Fixed issue with custom district factory upgrades that could result in a free, small upgrade to your factory. -Bugfix: Fixed issue in the standalone car designer that duplicated accessory buttons. -Bugfix: Monthly report page will now scroll back to the top after you end a turn in 64-bit builds. -Bugfix: Fixed HiDPI Auto-Scaling issues on Apple. -Translations: Updated to latest translation files and fixed some translated tutorial audio.

Hello everyone, A small bug-fix patch this week. I wanted to get it to you all yesterday, but my week was very heavy with greater than expected release traffic and some offline headaches. Then I was going to release the update Saturday morning, but at the last minute caught some vandalism in our translation system. So an evening update, which I hate doing. With that said, the translation system is locked down. You need to email me to register an account and tell me what language you want to work on. I will also be locking translators to a single language. This is for damage limitation in case anyone goes rouge again. In advance, I'd like to apologize for the inconvenience. I think it's better to inconvenience a handful of people than to break the game for a few hundred to a couple of thousand people. I will be working on another bug-fix patch. I'm aiming for next weekend, but it might be a little longer if I deem nothing large enough to build a patch. I'll also start work on the manual again starting tomorrow. -Bugfix: Fixed issue causing orphaned save games from not being deleted when exiting the game on the Select HQ Location screen. -Bugfix: Fixed Research Teams RnD window not showing gain amount when skills are over 99. -Engine: Initial support for the Korean language. If you're interested in translating to Korean, please let us know. -Bugfix: Fixed several off screening and off window issues when users are running low resolutions (1080p and less) with high GUI scaling. -Engine: Updated software OpenAL implementation for improved support of newer sound cards. Knock on wood, it doesn't cause issues for anyone running the game fine before. -Bugfix: Fixed side panel disappearing when another window overlaps the panel and the player hits escape. -Engine: Reports should work when characters that require URI encoding are in the file path. -Bugfix: Fixed chassis size requirements for contracts having badly rounded data with SAE when referring to minimum requirements. -Media: Added some Italian tutorial audio, added all missing Portuguese tutorial audio, and added all German and Japanese tutorial audio. -Bugfix: Fixed issue causing memos not to pop up when priorities are hit. -Gameplay: Reduced negotiation times for critical strike events from 3-6 months to 1-2 months. -Bugfix: Possible fix to a crash issue on Linux that involved decal placement, body resize, decal placement again, and a dangling pointer.

It is my pleasure to announce the completion of GearCity.

I welcome everyone stepping into the game for the first time. I hope you have an enjoyable and profitable experience. Be sure to do the tutorials, and feel free to ask if you have any questions. For everyone that has been with me for some time, I would like to say thank you. When I started making this game twelve years ago, I had limited expectations that anyone would play it. I thought it was bound to be an unfinished open source game rotting in a repo somewhere, but the game did find a small but dedicated audience. Through your feedback and suggestions, GearCity's development continued well past its anticipated expiration date. During 12 years of evolution together, we handwrote 431,941 lines of code, 416,733 lines of GUI script, and 225,771 words of content (a 650-page paperback book). Many of you helped translate that into several languages. We also recorded 2.5 hours of interactive audio tutorials and 4.5 hours of video tutorials that have been watched and listened to by countless people over the years. The user manual is about 100,000 words and still growing. The community has posted 1,689 threads and made 7,193 posts on the official forums. On Steam, you all made 3680 threads. Sadly, Steam's forum system is very limited, so I can't pull up the post numbers. However, I can say that I have replied to you all 13,587 times via both forums. You all sent me 13,874 emails, but by keeping my email account public and clickable, I got 57,533 spam emails. Even with all that typing, I continue to look forward to communications with you all. The game has seen 186 updates: 6 in Alpha, 15 in Open Beta, and 165 in Early Access. While I can't guarantee future updates, I imagine that number will grow, although more slowly, post-release.

That brings me to our future plans.

While GearCity has reached an important milestone that markets the end of continuous development, computer software is rarely ever truly completed. I will continue to provide customer support and bug fixes for as long as I am humanly (or contractually) able. I also plan on launching a Development as a Service system to raise funds for additional features in the game. It is called the "Feature Bounty" program. There will be no Steam Announcement when I launch this system, so please follow us on other platforms. I will reopen the official forums with the launch of the Feature Bounty system. I hope that many of you will join us there.

So, what am I doing next?

After I get the user manual completed, I'm taking a few days off. I haven't had a good vacation in a few decades. After that, as you may have seen in GearCity's magazine, the next game is called AeroMogul. It is an airline business simulator, that should have as much depth, if not more, than GearCity. If everything works out as planned, it could revolutionize the spreadsheet tycoon genre. I anticipate development to speed up substantially by retiring Beardgine (our engine) as a front-end engine. However, it will still power the backend of the new game. Please join the community for this game on our official forums when it reopens in the coming months. I'll be sure to make an announcement here when the Steam store page is ready in a few years.

Finally

There are so many people I want to thank for helping me make this game. The list is way too numerous to publish. Thank you to the people who worked on the game, whose names are in the About window. Thank you to the folks who worked endlessly to translate the game. I did not give you as much love and appreciation as you deserve for your hard work. (If I didn't have to change the translation system so many times, I would enter your names into the game.) Thank you to everyone who showed friends and peers the game. And thank you to those who bought the game as gifts for other people. Thank you to those that posted the game in various forums and communities for discussion. And thank you to everyone who chatted about our game on our forums. My heart-filled thanks to everyone who offered suggestions and gave bug reports. Without you, the game wouldn't be anywhere near as good as it is today. A tiny thanks to everyone who has pirated the game. And a pat on the back to those that bought it after pirating it. I thank everyone who has bought the game and enjoyed it. And my apologies to those who hated the game after they purchased it. And last but not least, thank you to everyone that has had to put up with me non-professionally in the real world and the virtual one. In short, thank you. Good luck and enjoy the game! ːEricBː

Hello Everyone, The full release of the game is about one week away. I've spent quite a bit of time playtesting the game and knocking out issues that you all have reported over the last few weeks. I also did some static and dynamic code analysis and made changes based on those results. In short, I'm running out of obvious things to fix. So I thought it would be a good time to release version 2.0.0.0, the full release build, to Early Access. Unless a major issue pops up in the next few days, this will be the build the "Full Release" goes live with on the 14th. (I will probably update translation files and other text files at that time as well.) Any minor issues I'll work into the next minor update or hotfix. In the meantime, I've got a few more loose odds and ends to clean up, particularly with the manual. So that's what I will be doing this week. I'd like to thank everyone who has played the game, reported issues, debugged the game, offered suggestions, and created content over these last 12 years. I'll have a more fitting thank you with the full release announcement. But I can never say thank you enough. So thanks. Change log: -Bugfix: District Factory production panel blank during wars in mega menu. -GUI: Fixed English font sizing in several locations. (Purple text.) -Bugfix: Fixed Nations trying to buy factories while they're under construction. -Bugfix: Fixed 'All Companies' selection not working in Platform Sharing window. -Translations: Fixed several spelling issues with English map news. -Bugfix: Fixed issue Idle Factories auto command tool not removing components from production. -Bugfix: Fixed spec display issues related to clone engine and bore/stroke sliders when the original design has a greater maximum bore and stroke value than current engines can support. -Bugfix: Fixed bug causing a fine if you did not supply your own racing teams with components or vehicles. -GUI: The Character typed will now appear in text boxes after you highlight the text. -GUI: Combo drop-down boxes will no longer disappear when you drag the scroll button away from the drop-down menu. -Bugfix: Fixed issues with IPO share counts of nearly bankrupt companies. -Bugfix: Fixed buffer overflow possibility in displayed design costs for designs. -Bugfix: Fixed issue causing incorrect dealership subsidization costs to be displayed. -GUI: Reduced the likelihood of horizontal scroll boxes appearing in some places. -Gameplay: Removed production expenses from the City Expense Report. This will give you a better indication of a city's profitability, sans, production costs. -GUI: Fixed wrong font being used in the Sell Shares, "Top Three Holders" panel. -Bugfix: Fixed issue causing the world map, map legend to appear when it shouldn't. -Engine: Fixed Linux and OSX showroom shadows and shaders issues. The game should look a little better in there now. -Bugfix: Fixed possible crash when clicking load design, then body design, without selecting a vehicle in the Stand Alone Car Designer. -Gameplay: Initial enabling of Auto Sell will no longer overwrite your sales prices. Use Idle Branch and then Auto Sell if you want the AI to overwrite your prices. -Bugfix: Fixed crash in Linux when the newest file in the load directory ends in .db.* and the player hits the Load Save game button. -Bugfix: Fixed GUI selection error when ending the production of a design in RnD that triggers a crash in Linux, but just an error in other OS's. -GUI: Adjusted the size of small report windows for when players have really short windows and high scale values. -Translations: Updated Japanese Map News text. -Bugfix: Possible bug fix that could cause Contract Request tutorial not to trigger. -Bugfix: Several possible small bugs fixes via static analysis. -Bugfix: Fixed several invalid read issues via Valgrind, which might lead to improved stability in Dx9 (hopefully). -Bugfix: Fixed possible Japanese Magazine crashes. (Will require starting a new save game to fully fix.) -Bugfix: Fixed issue that prevented the "View Prototype" window from not closing when it should. -Bugfix: Fixed 64-bit OSX crash when certain joysticks are plugged in. -Translation: Turkish GUI translation added. -Translations: German translation reached 100% complete on GUI translation. -Translations: Portuguese translation reached 100% complete on GUI translation.

Upon looking into some user-reported bugs, I noticed that I left some map testing debug code in the game. This error resulted in the Autosave function not working properly. Since this is a big enough issue, I decided to release this RC5 update. This update fixes that issue and a couple of other bugs. Work on the manual continues, and I hope to reach the formula/mechanics sections by the end of the month. -Bugfix Fixed company acquisition cooldown times not being saved to the save game file in certain situtations. -Bugfix AutoSave saving every decade to a new file instead of indicated time. -Bugfix Fixed Autosell not selling licensed or outsourced designs automatically. -Gameplay Tweaked AI and Autosell initial pricing system. -Media Increase max values for top reviews clips because of chance of falling outside that range. -Media Added additional predesigned cars submissions. -Bugfix Fixed Gearbox weight in contracts window displaying incorrect values. -Media Increased racing series end dates for any series that reached end game for current maps.

Greetings everyone, The fourth full release candidate is now available. With this update, all first-party game-related items are considered complete. I have finished the maps that will ship with the game and fixed several bugs in this release candidate. With the fulfillment of the map data, the game is complete! We're ready to remove the Early Access tag from GearCity and step forward into the post-release phase of the game. But there is a problem. It's a matter of timing. Q4 is probably the worst time to release a non AA game. This time of the year, major studios are releasing their big-budget games for the holidays. Most games will have weeks of discounts for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years' sales. In short, it's difficult to gain sales and attention when you have to compete with 90% discounts on past blockbusters. With that in mind, even though I'm ready to remove the Early Access tag from GearCity, I won't be doing it this quarter. However, I am willing to confirm a release date! Assuming it does not conflict with a Lunar Sale, GearCity will be officially out of Early Access on January 14th, 2022. This is a fitting date, as official work began on GearCity around mid-January 2010. (Work on the engine predates even the idea of making a GearCity.) I won't be spending the time idle. I plan on continuing to fix bugs as you report them to me. I've also been working on the manual http://wiki.gearcity.info, and it will give me time to work on business, marketing, and community-related tasks that I have put on the backburner. Such as reopening our official forums, setting up an IRC-Discord-Matrix bridge, etc. Then there is the matter of the planned post-release feature bounty system that I need to set up. The small delay will also give time for any remaining translations to finish. The journey is almost at an end. You can find the full changelog here. Sadly a few things slipped through testing:

Hotfix #1

-Bugfix: Fixed Random History New Game Crash. -Bugfix: Fixed Stock Detail Panel not showing for Player's company. -Bugfix: Fixed Italian Flag crash on European Test Map. -Bugfix: Fixed Map Logos not loading on 64-bit builds. -Translations: Added Japanese Review Text.

Quick hotfix today fixing two typos of mine that prevented the player from buying stock shares if they already owned shares of a company. And another that kept tutorial videos playing after you closed the window in the Office. Easy fixes, so I thought I'd slip them in a hotfix before moving on to more complex stuff.

The third full release candidate is now available. This update fixes several bugs the community and I have found, and it includes a bit of text content that I put off for several years. Looking forward, we're going to have a Release Candidate 4 to finish the Base Territories, Europe Test Map (name will change to Europe Map), and the Old School Territory map. I hoped to get these done for RC3 but ran into time constraints. In addition to that, work has begun on updating the game manual. After RC4 is released, I will finalize a release date and begin marketing efforts. I'll address any bugs that pop up after RC4 with a just before-release patch. Some RC3 highlights: -160% increase in the review text system. -200% increase in filler newspaper articles -A few additional news articles for Base City Map and Classic Map. -33 Japanese subtitled Tutorial Videos are available here or by clicking "Help, Video Tutorials" in the game. -30+ bug fixes are minor game tweaks. You can find the full changelog here.

A save game corruption issue has forced Release Candidate 2 out a couple of weeks sooner than planned. But that is the purpose of Release Candidates. So we're likely to have 4 RC's now unless more major issues pop up. If you have a save game that was corrupted in RC1, it should work in RC2. I also worked on a few other items users reported to me over the last few days. I did not update translations, edits, or the new data that I planned on. I'm saving those for the next update. -GUI: Show all player vehicles in the magazine class challenge. -Bugfix: Fixed bug that prevented AI companies from getting factories and branches in some cases, if the player did not start on the old starting years. -Bugfix: Fixed digit rounding issues with bored, stroke, and research team skill values. Digits should round to 2 decimal places instead of 2 integers. -Data: Changed some reviews from untranslatable to translateable. -Bugfix: Fixed error checking issue with AI contract production system that could cause AI not to produce anything if the player has contracts but isn't using the autoproduction system and is using other autosystems. -Bugfix: Fixed issue that could prevent sqlite from moving some databases (save games) to memory, because the optimize system did not fully complete its run previously. This typically happens when the player exited the game. -Bugfix: The game will repair any save files corrupted by the above bug when you select a save game from the load list.

It's been a long time since there was an update. And for good reason! With the game nearing completion, much work went into creating the in-game video tutorials, playtesting, and cleaning up more text files. With the additional amount of playtesting over the last few months, I am more confident that the game is at the stage where I can release it as a final product. So we have entered the release candidate phase of development. Or "going Silver," as some call it. This phrase means that the game is "code complete" and nearly ready for release. I won't be touching any part of the program except to fix bugs or gameplay issues. My entire focus now is playtesting and finalizing English edits, documentation, and a map or two. That's not much different than the state of the game for the last several versions. The big difference with Release Candidates is that it is a candidate for release. Any one of these updates could be the version we use as "Full Release" or "Gold," as some call it. "Full Release" will mark the end of guaranteed development of the game. The keyword there is "guaranteed." I plan on providing support and bug fixes for the game for the foreseeable future. But with life, one never knows what can happen. Being a good steward of my software, I'll probably Open Source the game if I am no longer able to provide continued support. I also hope to continue feature development for the game well after release in what I call the "Feature Bounty System." Some of you may have already read about that some on our forums when requests pop up. I'll release more details on that after Full Release. The current plans are to have at least 3 Release Candidates, but it may go higher depending on if any unacceptable bugs appear in the software. Roughly around RC2, I will begin PR efforts and set a release date for the game. In the meantime, I am continuing my third round of English edits, which will extend to news articles this time. I'll be adding more data to the magazine, news, and DYK articles. And of course, more playtesting. The changelog is too long to attach to the announcement. You can find a copy of it here.

Greetings everyone, I spent the last several months creating the final video tutorials for the game. I am pleased to announce that all of the main video tutorials for the game are now available for download or streaming. Here is where you can find them: Steam Guide Youtube Official Website You can also find some of the tutorials embedded into the game via the top-right Help menu. The missing ones will come with the next update. In total, there are 46 videos and 4.65 hours of content. I've tried to break things down so that you can easily find information on specific topics. I do have plans on creating some additional videos covering smaller items in the game. I also need to cut the videos on specific topics for the user manual. I may also re-dub and subtitle the mod tool videos and possibly create a couple of play through videos. I might do a live play through or two. Perhaps in a Q&A or Interactive Commentary setting, but I'm not too sure about that. I'm not telegenic.

1.25.0.12 Update

Most of the regular followers of the game already know about the video tutorials. So let's move on to what everyone wants to know about, updates. I've started work on v1.25.0.12, which will also serve as Final Release Candidate 1 (RC1). As of this writing, I've knocked out 30 issues so far. I will continue to do extensive play through testing to find and fix everything I run across. My goal was to have this completed by the end of March. Sadly, with everything going on in the world, I am late as always. Beyond that, I still have a manual to rewrite. I wrote the last version of the in 2013 for version 1.11. I plan on finalizing the European Map, adding more newspaper clips, magazine reviews, and some more editing. I hope to create the North American map and map tool tutorial videos, but this might come post-release. After all that, there will be additional RC's as needed, marketing the game, releasing the game, heart attacks, and then the post-release feature bounty system. Anyway, that's where we are.

Greetings everyone! It's time for another hotfix, as a possible crash with outsourced component production was reported to me. I also went ahead and fixed several pending issues, and included the latest video tutorial. On the topic of video tutorials, I am nearly finished, but I have been slowed down recently because of the length of the videos I'm currently working on. Anyway, enjoy! -Bugfix: Fixed crash in would map when opening production of a vehicle design that uses outsourced components. -Bugfix: Fixed issue causing AI companies to own a model name when player outsources a vehicle to them. This bug prevented players from being able to make new generations of these vehicles. -Gameplay: Adjustments have been made to the component age penalties. -GUI: GUI load optimizations to the Office Contract window. -GUI: Horizontal scroll bar returns to the Office Contract Window parts secletion. -Bugfix: Fixes applied to several achievements that had database counting issues. -Media: Main Tutorial video added to the game. (Will eventually integrate a link into the in-game tutorials themselves.)

Greetings everyone, Another hotfix for 1.25.0.11. This one fixes a crash issue with loading .car files on non-standard encoded copies of Windows, primarily Swift-JIS. I also threw in a few bug fixes listed below. Video tutorials are going well. I am about 60% complete. At this pace, I should finish them by the end of the year, and then I can start working on full release candidates and completing the manual. This hotfix includes all video tutorials to date. You can also find them on our youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1Qy-Pj_RIRvRkajKTI9bsut_ZXJ6eqWn or the tutorial page on our website: www.gearcity.info/tutorials Hotfix includes: GUI: Length about text in main menu. GUI: Fixed city hover popup cutting off text. Gameplay: Enabling autoproduction now enables auto-hire and auto-wage automatically. This is done to prevent player logic issues that can cause bad gameplay. GUI: Enabling autoproduction hides auto-hire and auto-wage checkboxes. Gameplay: Autoproduction will now try to avoid using factories with low morale. Gameplay: Purchasing a company with low morale will improve those employee's morale somewhat. Bugfix: Fixed bankruptcy flag not resetting when a player buys a bankrupt company. Situtations where this would be an issue is if the player spun off the company, and then tried to rebuy them. GUI: Yearly Sales memo now uses base vehicle name rather than the latest vehicle model's name. GUI: Fixed Mega Menu's Autoproduction vehicle restriction page flippers not hiding when marque restriction is enabled. Bugfix: fixed missing demands text when Administration union wants more. Bugfix: Fixed .car file crashes on non-unicode, non-US-compatible encoded Windows. Bugfix: Fixed .car file loading on non-unicode, non-US-compatible encoded Windows. Bugfix: Fixed .car file loading on non-unicode OSX. Bugfix: Fixed component slider save/load system on non-unicode, non-US-compatible encoded Windows. Media: Added more video tutorials. Media: Improvements to in-game video tutorial landing page.

This should be the final hot fix for v1.25.0.11, but don't hold me to that. I've also worked in a couple bug fixes in this one as well. Hotfix #7: -Bugfix: Fixed possible crash issue with German translated save games. -Bugfix: Fixed Autoproduction issue which ignored home country contracts during war time if the player has neutral country contract and no peaceful or limited factories. -Bugfix: Fixed several issues with the duplicate name checker for vehicle designs. -Bugfix: Fixed trim finish dates when the player makes multiple trims. -Bugfix: Fixed mouse wheel scrolling on Load Game lists for Unix OS's. -Bugfix: Fixed Branch Distribution window vehicle list alignment. -Bugfix: Additional fixes to the save game updater and mods. -Media: Several new tutorial videos added. -Media: Unfinished redesign of the video tutorial page. (Might slip in an update for this in a day or two.) There might be one or two things I forgot to add to this list.

Greetings everyone, I have released the 6th hotfix for version 1.25.0.11 . This hotfix includes: -Media: 6 New Video Tutorials. -Bugfix: EPS Growth Rate issue in the Stock Report -Bugfix: Revenue Growth Rate issue in the Stock Report. -Bugfix: Operational Margin issue in the Stock Report. -Bugfix: Fixed issue with recent changes to contract bids that could cause vehicle contracts not to being assigned. -Bugfix: Fixed possible crash in the custom district branch pricing system on the world map. -Bugfix: Fixed incorrect value in the Buyer Rating Table explination. -Bugfix: Fixed incorrect text in the subsidize dealerships system. -Bugfix: Fixed typo in the news paper articles -GUI: Added global fuel rate to the Fuel Popularity Report and the newspaper. -Engine: Added a warning message if you run the game at lower than 720p resolution. (Typically only happens with Windows 10 users playing in window mode with 720p monitors.) About 40 more video tutorials to go. I'll work in some bug fixes if any major ones popup. Enjoy!

Greetings everyone, Two more hotfixes for version 1.25.0.11. Hotfix #4: -Bugfix: Fixed a critical issue which wouldn't allow you to select a vehicle body. Hotfix #5 -Bugfix: Tweaked city manufacturing growth for random history mode to prevent city's manufacturing ratings from hitting zero. The fix isn't perfect, and will be further tweaked for v1.25.0.12. -Gameplay: Minor adjustment to racing funding's effect on over experienced teams. -Bugfix: Fixed duplicate stock bankrupt memos. -Media: Added three new tutorial videos.

Greetings everyone, Since Sunday I've released 3 hotfixes targeting crash related issues. The latest issue has to do with save game corruption if you're using modded components files. If you get an error message about lost data, save the game, and reload it to get rid of the message. If you have an old copy of the save game, and the new copy, feel free to email both of them to me and I will be happy to recover most of your data. Here is what was in each fix: Hotfix 1: -Bugfix:Fixed an end turn crash when Random History was enabled. Hotfix 2: -Bugfix: Fixed crash in Advanced Vehicle Designer tutorial. -Bugfix: Fixed duplicate gear combinations for gearbox component because of issues in the components name updater system. -Bugfix: Fixed scroll bar issues in Main Menu New Game options. -Media: Added 10th video tutorial on Sales Reports. Hotfix 3: -Bugfix: Fixed possible save game corruption when using modded components files. -Engine: If the save game is corrupted, fill the corrupted data with valid data to prevent crashes. -GUI: Added an error message to office letting you know if the save game was corrupted. There is a known bug with this. The error message does not disappear unless you save the game and then reload it.