What?
Give AirlineSim a fresh coat of paint, both making it more visually appealing and adjusting the information design to make the game more accessible. It should be easier for players - both new and experienced - to find what they are looking for, especially in light of future developments that will inevitably make the game more complex.
Why?
The current UI was designed with goal of making the game look and feel like a real-world management information system. Dull colors, high information density, very technical menu structure. The idea was that this will set the game apart from other titles (by emphasising its focus on realism) and cause immersion for players (by making them feel like playing “the real thing”). In hindsight, those goals seem misguided.
Additionally, large parts of the user interface are essentially stuck with technology from the early 2000s, creating an extremely outdated feel, especially when playing AS as a “proper game” on Steam.
Last but not least, looks and first impressions do matter. As much as we’d love to believe otherwise, a lot of potential players, including such that would actually enjoy a game like AS once they got the hang of it, are put off by the current look of the game. Both in screenshots and videos as well as when trying it for the first time.
When?
No concrete timeline yet, but we hope to get started on concept work later this year, with implementation hopefully commencing some time in 2025.