I don't know if this is the right place,

Our forums are generally the best place for non-GC related topics. Though, it is not too lively right now. https://www.ventdev.com/forums

but can you tell us something about Aeromogul?

It is an Airline management game on a new economics, graphics, and UI engine.

I know you've worked hard on it,

Actually, I have been bogged down working on GearCity: 2nd Gear as fundraising has done well, but the war in Ukraine has cut off my artist. The idea was to have 8:1 Art to Programming ratio, and I ended up with a 0:1 Art to Programming ratio. That said, I recently paused the FBS for several months to focus solely on AeroMogul, since it's my next serious paycheck.

but do you think we could have early access this year?

No. The public release of the game is still 4-6 years away. I probably won't be doing Steam Early Access, but contributors to the GearCity FBS will have some access to the betas when I need testing and feedback. Similar to how I had a GC Open Beta between 2013 to 2018. I expect to have some sort of fully playable alpha gameplay loop for them this year.

Please, please, please be similar to Aerobiz and Aerobiz Supersonic.

Originally posted by CRab_PEoPLe:

Please, please, please be similar to Aerobiz and Aerobiz Supersonic.

I'm expecting to have three different involvement modes ranging from Casual to Hardcore. The casual side of things will be very similar to AeroBiz Supersonic. Maybe even a little more like AeroBiz 95'.

Most of the work goes into the hardcore mode though, since it's easier to scale complexity down with shims than scaling it up.

A more hardcore version of supersonic sounds great. The forum you linked to about Aeromogul seems less active than here because its way too early so I'll just ask here. Will we be able to use a business team of agents to send out on tasks? Will businesses have a bigger impact on the game? Will we be able to control business/first class for routes? I apologize but I just found out about this game and I'm already getting hyped.

Originally posted by CRab_PEoPLe:

A more hardcore version of supersonic sounds great. The forum you linked to about Aeromogul seems less active than here because its way too early so I'll just ask here. Will we be able to use a business team of agents to send out on tasks? Will businesses have a bigger impact on the game? Will we be able to control business/first class for routes? I apologize but I just found out about this game and I'm already getting hyped.

I'm not releasing too much information about AeroMogul at this time. So, I can't answer all your questions at this time about it. Some of what you mentioned are in the game, some things are not.

Really big thanks for development of Gearcity 2 and Aeromogul. I beliveve 8:1 Art - Code ratio is actually good target, as current Gearcity has fun and rich gameplay, but maybe more visual representation in UI will make the game even better and more fun.

Also, don't forget about Sound in the game. It adds so much to the gameplay really.

Originally posted by fedorsam:

Really big thanks for development of Gearcity 2 and Aeromogul.

I am not making a GearCity 2. There will never be a GearCity 2 without a proper multi-million dollar budget. And I would never self fund that if by a stroke a luck I ever get that much capital.

GearCity: 2nd Gear is a free crowd funded DLC for GearCity. It's just an expansion of the base game with the features included picked by the contributors.

I beliveve 8:1 Art - Code ratio is actually good target, as current Gearcity has fun and rich gameplay,

This is pretty bad for the viability of the business. The DLCs were designed to add new art content to the game since I could not fund it from the game's sales. The few programming bounties in the system were to supplement the artwork. The system was never intended for me to be working full time on it. To put it into prospective, I made about $8000 from crowd funding the DLC in 2024 and lost approximately $80,000-$120,000 in opportunity costs from not being able to work on AeroMogul.

If the system went as planned. I would have spent $7000 on artwork and other things I can't do from third parties. Then do the programming work for the other $1000 worth of bounties. Resulting in only a $6,000-$10,000 opportunity costs loss. Which would be much more worth it because it would be fixing the main issues with GearCity.

So, there will probably either be no GearCity: 3rd Gear or bounty prices are going to increase significantly after GearCity: 2nd Gear is complete. It all depends on if Sergey can return reliably and fulfill his contracts.

but maybe more visual representation in UI will make the game even better and more fun.

I have no say as to what gets added to the DLCs. Everything added is voted by the contributors. So far, there hasn't been many UI selected by the contributors.

Also, don't forget about Sound in the game. It adds so much to the gameplay really.

There hasn't been a single vote cast for audio related bounties.

You know, public can't know everything. I work for automotive production HQ / distribution business. And some things, that some time ago were considered as a luxury options like stereo or rear-window defroster are now considered "must have" by every car buyer in the world and no one is telling about those options in OEM surveys. So is the music / audio in games. No one going to pay to to add it but everyone will notice it's abscence.

As for "Gearcity 2" I meant your DLC. Anyway, without good follow-up for Gearcity, it would be harder to fund your future projects, right? So not everything should be done for immediate profit. Consider those updates as investment in your business.

Originally posted by fedorsam:

You know, public can't know everything. I work for automotive production HQ / distribution business. And some things, that some time ago were considered as a luxury options like stereo or rear-window defroster are now considered "must have" by every car buyer in the world and no one is telling about those options in OEM surveys. So is the music / audio in games. No one going to pay to to add it but everyone will notice it's abscence.

Complete list of bounties are all available, with a search function: https://www.ventdev.com/fbs/bounty_list.html

As for what gets added. I approve everything listed. But only the stuff that the people paying gets added to the game. If the contributors do not want new music in the game, then no new music gets added.

Personally, if it were up to me, GC would be frozen to 2022, with a yearly bug fix patch. The FBS/DLC system was only created to fund upgrading the art system in the game since that is approximately 30-40% of our return reasons. And it is something easily fixed by throwing money at the problem. (IE. it's something I can't do my self.)

So, if you would like new audio in the game. When the FBS opens back up in June, make a contribution. Gather up some votes. Rally other contributors to vote for your cause. And then hope you gather enough votes to meet a funding threshold. Otherwise, I suspect, most contributors will continue focusing on advanced gameplay changes, since the bulk of the contributors are hard-core players.

(Which is another amusing observation, there are a few UI improvements that I thought would be funded, but haven't. Because the bulk of the contributors are used to our UI. UI being the other major factor in why people hate the game.)

As for "Gearcity 2" I meant your DLC. Anyway, without good follow-up for Gearcity, it would be harder to fund your future projects, right? So not everything should be done for immediate profit. Consider those updates as investment in your business.

It's not a follow up for GC. It's just continued development moving toward a DaaS model. It's also a way to reduce capital requirements risks for new artwork in the game. (Even though this hasn't happened yet. Which is why the FBS is failing.)

AeroMogul is fully funded. And GC is a fully mature product. So, working on GC:2G actually reduces economic gains and potential for the business. Without new artwork and new UI, no free GearCity DLC will drive enough new users to the product. And the user base itself is not large enough to support paid DLC. If the FBS system was functioning properly, the crowd funding community is large enough to support continued improve of the game, if most of that improvement is directed to fleshing out artwork, designer, and content side of things. Ultimately, I remain working in this industry or go dormant based on AeroMogul success, and the longer it takes to make it, the less likely it will be successful.

RE: Audio: This a spreadsheet game. A very engaging and fun one. THE most engaging and fun one.... But I listen to music I would "work" to. A playlist in the background on loop....

Eric I always wondered about 2nd Gear and your IRL business. It added up as a commitment to your product, but made no time or financial short term sense. I really appreciate that you refused to shortsell yourself and your product. I love this game. That list is a very short list over 45 years of gaming.

Civilization
Railroads!
Syndicate
Out of this World
Aerobiz NES and SNES
Mechwarrior 2
Mechwarrior 4
Mech Commander 2
Star Wars: The Flight Sim MS Dos games
Master of Magic
Master of Orion 1 and 2
Star Control 2
Command And Conquer Generals
Goldeneye N64
Tropico 3 (HAHAHAHA LOL)
Eastside Hockey Manager 2
AI War 2 (I can beat it on hard on a standard map with pockets of starsystems gated by my defenses. Hard ass game.)
Ultimate General: Gettysburg or Civil War
FTL
Gear City: 2nd Gear

I love each of those games. Had fun with lots of other games. But I love those games....

2 of those games are basically without a soundtrack or much soundFX. EHM2 and GearCity. Some games the money in development is best spent elsewhere. Making GC 2nd Gear was a great long term investment that may drive future sales. This game is unique and fills a niche it almost solely occupies.

I am looking forward to the unveiling of AeroMogul. It will scratch one of my hardcore niche itches. I wish you all the best Eric!

His answer was posted on reddit. Early access beta might become available to the public 2027-2028. In case anyone was still wondering. AeroMogul forums don't seem to have any traffic yet but the subreddit has some info on it.

Originally posted by CRab_PEoPLe:

His answer was posted on reddit. Early access beta might become available to the public 2027-2028. In case anyone was still wondering. AeroMogul forums don't seem to have any traffic but the subreddit has some info on it.

I haven't been pushing any PR for it. GearCity: 2nd Gear has slowed me down considerably since the artwork side of things never came through.

I'm really looking forward to the 2nd Gear DLC. I hope you can fill your artist shortage. Have you tried Upwork.com . There are many freelancers from Romania to India, and even domestically (US).

Originally posted by Eric:

This is pretty bad for the viability of the business. The DLCs were designed to add new art content to the game since I could not fund it from the game's sales. The few programming bounties in the system were to supplement the artwork. The system was never intended for me to be working full time on it. To put it into prospective, I made about $8000 from crowd funding the DLC in 2024 and lost approximately $80,000-$120,000 in opportunity costs from not being able to work on AeroMogul.

That begs the question: Why do it? Why keep losing more money than most Americans earn a year, on a product that is finished? Why not close the Bounty DLC and start focussing on earning money for the future? You're not getting any younger and focussing on the future would be the objectively best thing to do.

This game has been a large part of your life and I understand it is hard to move away from it, but wouldn't it be better to close this chapter and focus on the new one?

Originally posted by Scary Barry:

That begs the question: Why do it? Why keep losing more money than most Americans earn a year, on a product that is finished?

You're not getting any younger and focussing on the future would be the objectively best thing to do.

This game has been a large part of your life and I understand it is hard to move away from it, but wouldn't it be better to close this chapter and focus on the new one?

I made a commitment to do it while the game was in development. I try my best to keep my word so long as it's feasible. That's the same reason I am doing AeroMogul, otherwise I would have probably stopped with GearCity and used it to get a job. A six-figure salary is obtainable with the skills and connections I posses now days.

Opportunities in the business world is why I have a net profit goal for AeroMogul of around $100k per year of development. If I don't hit those numbers with AM, I will not be making a third game. Which is why when asked what game is next after AeroMogul, I don't answer and I don't commit to making anything beyond.

The longer it takes me to finish AeroMogul, the harder it will be to hit that goal. Amusingly, the FBS is probably working against us.

Why not close the Bounty DLC and start focusing on earning money for the future?

Originally I postponed the FBS, in hopes for a conclusion of the war in Ukraine. Then I launched it without art bounties. At first the amount raised was manageable, we'd fund about a milestone a year. After the first milestone, I got an OK from Serhiy that he could do artwork.

So, milestone #2 focused on just adding new art the to game. Contributions picked up because people wanted alpha access to the DLC, we funded milestone #2 quickly. Serhiy was able to do about half of the setup work for the art bounty (GC:2G has a new vehicle designer system). Then the infrastructure bombings started happening, and rural Ukraine isn't really a focus when trying to keep electric on.

With Serhiy unable to work, I needed to refund $3500 I raised for artwork, but there isn't a good mechanism to do that with Patreon. And I didn't want to throw all $3500 into one milestone. And any time Serhiy could start working again. With those things in mind, I spread the refunds into bonuses for future milestones funds.

The additional funds from the bonus resulted in some major bounties that caused a lot of breakage with the game. I had to do several bug fix iterations to resolve issues these major changes caused. That ate up a lot of time.

I don't want to close the FBS mid-development of the DLC. That's bad in my opinion. I also have some refund still pending. That is why I removed platform fees from going toward the milestone goals (contributors still get the votes though), and I implemented the fund raising pause after each milestone. So far, it's working well.

I have 3 more fbs milestones to do before I consider GearCity: 2nd Gear done. All the refunded money will have been paid off with work. I'll probably do a couple bugfix and balancing patches and then release 2nd Gear for free. (I might include a "Thank you" type DLC on Steam for folks who want to throw in money via Steam once it's complete.)


And at that point I will reassess the FBS. The system was designed so that Artwork gets 80-90% of the budget (since I am paying for it). And the programming bounties were priced so cheap so that 1-3 would get funded with each artwork bounty. It was an additional perk for people not interested in new car types or improved artwork that wouldn't' take up too much of my time. Without the artwork, I had to fill that 80% of the budget with the discounted bounties. 10-15 per milestone. Programming wise, we're already on what I would have expected to do for GearCity: 4th gear... 10 years from now...

If Serhiy is back and the war in Ukraine is over. We will do GearCity: 3rd Gear as the system is set up. If he's back and the war in Ukraine is on going. I may cancel it completely, as I can't risk another refund situation. It really just depends on how back he is.

If Serhiy isn't back, then I will likely leave it up to contributors. Options include just doing a milestone per year, closing the FBS, or increasing bounties closer to a western programmer wage. Coupled with inflation, that latter option could see bounties increase 200-500%. I'm not sure how many people would be interested in the latter option.