The Oil Industry: A Proposed New Game Feature For Airport City

[Captain WH Rollins]

The Oil Industry - A Proposed New Game Feature For Airport City
I would very much like to propose a new game feature for Airport City, based around the oil industry. This new game feature will add a unique element to the game and give it much greater depth.

This new feature will only become available towards the top end of the gaming spectrum. It will be a standard of achievement, through the patience of long term game play. It will also be in-keeping with the game of Airport City, where you will need to reach a certain game status level, before this new feature becomes available.

A Brief Game Feature Summary
This new feature will involve the transportation of oil workers, by a fleet of helicopters, to offshore oil drilling rigs. Rewards of coins and experience points will be earned by completing flights, also rewards of a star and bonus will be earned by completing each flight stage of each helicopter destination.

As you progress through the new feature the game will open up, giving you more options, further rewards of coins and experience points will be earned as you purchase new hangars and helicopters. You will also be able to earn additional coins and experience points by completing themed collections. There will also be flight chest's to collect and rewards, of spare parts and fuel, to be obtained by completing set number of flights.

Creating The Main Features Menu
You will first need to purchase the Oil Administration Building, followed by the Helicopter Pad, the Helicopter Fuel Station, the Helicopter Maintenance Centre, the first of the four Oil Crew Facilities and the first of the four Helicopter Hangars. Once you have these six structures in place, the first of the four Helicopters will then become available to purchase and the flights can begin.

The Main Features Menu
When you open the menu, by clicking on the Oil Administration Building, the following information will be displayed, accessed by a series of four icon click buttons:

1st icon button - this will display the first of the hangars and helicopters available to you, as well as fuel information​

2nd icon button - this will display the first of the oil drilling rigs available to you, the location and flight time information​

3rd icon button - this will display the first of the oil crew facilities available to you, and oil worker information​

4th icon button - this will display the log book of the fleet of helicopters, number of flights completed, when maintenance is due, repair work needed and spare parts available​

​

Oil Administration Building (1st purchase)
This is where the oil workers will gather, for the outward bound flight, destination will be to one of four offshore oil drilling rigs. On the return journey, the oil workers will disembark here:

building size - 2x2 cell​

building location - airport side​

cost of purchase - 550,000 coins​

construction time - 4 days​

electricity rating - 25​

building upgrades - 1st level=4 sets of 4 gift items, 2nd level=4 sets of 4 gift items and 3rd level=4 sets of 4 gift items, once completed then make building solid​

​

Helicopter Pad (2nd purchase)
This is a multi-purpose platform for vertical takeoff and landing of all viper class helicopters in the fleet:

structure size - 3x3 cell​

structure location - airport side​

cost of purchase - 500,000 coins x4 platforms​

construction time - 6 days​

electricity rating - 50​

building upgrades - 1st level=4 sets of 4 gift items, 2nd level=4 sets of 4 gift items and 3rd level=4 sets of 4 gift items, once completed then make building solid​

​

Helicopter Fuel Station (3rd purchase)
This building will produce the fuel required to keep the fleet of four viper class helicopters in the air. It is important that fuel stocks never run low, so there are four production options (these options produce various amounts of fuel, but each comes at a price):

building size - 2x2 cell​

building location - airport side​

cost of purchase - 575,000 coins​

construction time - 4 days​

electricity rating - 25​

building upgrades - 1st level=4 sets of 6 gift items, 2nd level=4 sets of 6 gift items and 3rd level=4 sets of 6 gift items, once completed then make building solid​

fuel production - 5 barrels=20 minutes and 40 coins, 10 barrels=1 hour and 80 coins, 15 barrels=2 hours and 100 coins, 20 barrels=4 hours and 200 coins​

​

Helicopter Maintenance Centre (4th purchase)
This building is where the service and repair of the fleet of four viper class helicopters will take place, and where spare parts will be stored. A log book will record the number of completed flights by each helicopter, when maintenance is due and when repairs are needed:

building size - 3x3 cell​

building location - airport side​

cost of purchase - 750,000 coins​

construction time - 6 days​

electricity rating - 50​

building upgrades - 1st level=4 sets of 6 gift items, 2nd level=4 sets of 6 gift items and 3rd level=4 sets of 6 gift items, once completed then make building solid​

service schedule - 50 completed flights​

speed-up or repair - viper class mk1=speed up, viper class mk2=speed up, viper class mk3=1 day maintenance and viper class mk4=1 day maintenance​

​

Oil Crew Facilities (5th purchase)
These four buildings will produce the required number of oil rig workers needed to operate the four oil drilling rigs (it will only be necessary to purchase the first of the four buildings to begin with):

building size - 2x2 cell​

building location - airport side​

cost of purchase - 400,000 coins x4 buildings​

construction time - 4 days​

electricity rating - 25​

oil rig workers - 10 oil workers every 2 hour​

building upgrades - 1st level=4 sets of 8 gift items x4, 2nd level=4 sets of 8 gift items x4 and 3rd level=4 sets of 8 gift items x4, once complete then make building solid​

​

Helicopter Hangars (6th purchase)
These four buildings is where the fleet of four viper class helicopters will be housed when not in operation (it will only be necessary to purchase the first of the four hangars to begin with):

building size - 2x2 cell​

building location - airport side​

cost of purchase - 450,000 coins x4 hangars​

construction time - 4 days​

electricity rating - 30​

​

Helicopters - Viper Class Type Transporters
Each of the four helicopters in the fleet will have their own designated flight destinations - the viper class mk1 will fly to Proteus (North), the viper class mk2 will fly to Poseidon (East), the viper class mk3 will fly to Pontus (South) and the viper class mk4 will fly to Palaemon (West). Each of the offshire oil rigs will open up for operation as you purchase your hangars and helicopters.

The four helicopters can only be purchased, one at a time, in order of class type. The first two can be purchased with coins while the remaining two can only be purchased with gold and silver tokens:

Helicopter - Viper Class Mk1 Type Transporter

cost of purchase - 1,000,000 coins​

flight destination - Proteus (North) offshore oil drilling rig​

passenger capacity - 10 oil rig workers​

flight time - 2 hours duration round trip​

fuel usage - 75 units of fuel​

flight rewards - 250 coins and 150 experience points per completed flight​

flight star and bonus - 100 flights=1st star and Dice bonus, 200 flights=2nd star and Golden Dice bonus, 400 flights=3rd star and Bottomless Barrel bonus​

​

You will need to complete the first 100 flights, flying the viper class mk1 type transporter, before the second hangar becomes available to purchase, then followed by the second helicopter. A reward of 2,000 coins and 2,000 experience points will be obtained at this stage in the game. Only then will the 2nd oil field, Poseidon (East), become available for flights.

Helicopter - Viper Class Mk2 Type Transporter

cost of purchase - 2,000,000 coins​

flight destination - Poseidon (East) offshore oil drilling rig​

passenger capacity - 15 oil rig workers​

flight time - 3 hours duration round trip​

fuel usage - 100 units of fuel​

flight rewards - 500 coins and 300 experience points per completed flight​

flight star and bonus - 200 flights=1st star and Matryoshka Doll bonus, 400 flights=2nd star and Secret Faucet bonus, 600 flights=3rd star and Family Ticket bonus​

​

You will need to complete the first 200 flights, flying the viper class mk2 type transporter, before the third hangar becomes available to purchase, then followed by the third helicopter. A reward of 3,000 coins and 3,000 experience points will be obtained at this stage in the game. Only then will the 3rd oil field, Pontus (South), become available for flights.

Helicopter - Viper Class Mk3 Type Transporter

cost of purchase - 50 gold and 100 silver tokens​

flight destination - Pontus (South) offshore oil drilling rig​

passenger capacity - 20 oil rig workers​

flight time - 4 hours duration round trip​

fuel usage - 125 units of fuel​

flight rewards - 750 coins and 450 experience points per completed flight​

flight star and bonus - 400 flights=1st star and Alarm Clock bonus, 600 flights=2nd star and Golden Toad bonus, 800 flights=3rd star and Inconvertable Coin bonus​

​

You will need to complete the first 400 flights, flying the viper class mk3 type transporter, before the fourth hangar becomes available to purchase, then followed by the fourth helicopter. A reward of 4,000 coins and 4,000 experience points will be obtained at this stage in the game. Only then will the 4th oil field, Palaemon (West), become available for flights.

Helicopter - Viper Class Mk4 Type Transporter

cost of purchase - 100 gold and 200 silver tokens​

flight destination - Palaemon (West) offshore oil drilling rig​

passenger capacity - 25 oil rig workers​

flight time - 5 hours duration round trip​

fuel usage - 150 units of fuel​

flight rewards - 1,000 coins and 700 experience points per completed flight​

flight star and bonus - 600 flights=1st star and Vintage Weather Vain bonus, 800 flights=2nd star and Business Class bonus, 1,000 flights=3rd star and Sky Captain bonus​

​

Game Feature Expenditure

How Much Will It Cost
The following buildings, hangars and helicopters all come at a price. I have spent a considerable amount of time on this, before finally deciding how much each structure should cost. I believe they are all in-line with what you would expect to pay at the top end of the gaming spectrum:

550,000 coins - Oil Administration Building​

500,000 coins - Helicopter Pad x4 Platforms​

575,000 coins - Helicopter Fuel Station​

750,000 coins - Helicopter Maintenance Centre​

400,000 coins - Oil Crew Facilities x4 buildings​

450,000 coins - Helicopter Hangars Viper Class x4 buildings​

1,000,000 coins - Helicopter Viper Class Mk1 Type Transporter​

2,000,000 coins - Helicopter Viper Class Mk2 Type Transporter​

50 gold tokens/100 silver tokens - Helicopter Viper Class Mk3 Type Transporter​

100 gold tokens/200 silver tokens - Helicopter Viper Class Mk4 Type Transporter​

Game Feature Rewards

Increasing Your Main Game Fuel Capacity
Each time a viper class type transporter helicopter returns from a flight, fuel will drop and be added to your main game fuel counter. Each progressive viper class type transporter will drop a higher amount of fuel:

Viper Class Mk1 Type Transporter - this flies to the first oil drilling rig location Proteus (North), 10 units of fuel per flight will be rewarded for each return, once you have completed the first 100 flights, the second oil rig will open up.​

Viper Class Mk2 Type Transporter - this flies to the second oil drilling rig location Poseidon (East), 15 units of fuel per flight will be rewarded for each return, once you have completed the first 200 flights, the third oil rig will open up.​

Viper Class Mk3 Type Transporter - this flies to the third oil drilling rig location Pontus (South), 20 units of fuel per flight will be rewarded for each return, once you have completed the first 400 flights, the fourth oil rig will open up.​

Viper Class Mk4 Type Transporter - this flies to the fourth oil drilling rig location Palaemon (West), 25 units of fuel per flight will be rewarded for each return, once you have competed 600 flights, more oil rigs can be added, following a future game update. For further information go to the section - The Future of The Game - towards the bottom of this thread.​

​

You will be able to obtain more fuel, through other game reward avenues, within this new feature, which will go a long way to help keep your fleet of planes in the air e.g. by collecting Flight Chest's.

Flight Destination Rewards
By flying each of the four viper class helicopters and completing each stage of the four flight destinations, you will earn the following game rewards:

Helicopter - Viper Class Mk1 Type Transporter

stage 1 - 25,000 coins/15,000 experience points/1 bonus​

stage 2 - 50,000 coins/30,000 experience points/1 bonus​

stage 3 - 100,000 coins/60,000 experience points/1 bonus​

Helicopter - Viper Class Mk2 Type Transporter

stage 1 - 100,000 coins/60,000 experience points/1 bonus​

stage 2 - 200,000 coins/120,000 experience points/1 bonus​

stage 3 - 300,000 coins/180,000 experience points/1 bonus​

Helicopter - Viper Class Mk3 Type Transporter

stage 1 - 300,000 coins/180,000 experience points/1 bonus​

stage 2 - 450,000 coins/270,000 experience points/1 bonus​

stage 3 - 600,000 coins/360,000 experience points/1 bonus​

Helicopter - Viper Class Mk4 Type Transporter

stage 1 - 600,000 coins/420,000 experience points/1 bonus​

stage 2 - 800,000 coins/560,000 experience points/1 bonus​

stage 3 - 1,000,000 coins/700,000 experience points/1 bonus​

Hangar and Helicopter Rewards
Each time you purchase one of the four hangars and helicopters you will earn the following game rewards:

stage 1 - 1,000 coins and 1,000 experience points​

stage 2 - 2,000 coins and 2,000 experience points​

stage 3 - 3,000 coins and 3,000 experience points​

stage 4 - 4,000 coins and 4,000 experience points​

Flight Chest's and Rewards
There will be four levels of flight chest's to collect, the more helicopter flights you complete, the greater the rewards will be, across the fleet of viper class helicopters:

1st level - viper class mk1 - 50 flights=1st chest contains 1 spare part plus 5 units of fuel, 100 flights=2nd chest contains 1 spare part plus 10 units of fuel, 150 flights=3rd chest contains 1 spare part plus 15 units of fuel​

2nd level - viper class mk2 - 50 flights=1st chest contains 2 spare parts plus 20 units of fuel, 100 flights=2nd chest contains 2 spare parts plus 25 units of fuel, 150 flights=3rd chest contains 2 spare parts plus 30 units of fuel​

3rd level - viper class mk3 - 50 flights=1st chest contains 3 spare parts plus 35 units of fuel, 100 flights=2nd chest contains 3 spare parts plus 40 units of fuel, 150 flights=3rd chest contains 3 spare parts plus 45 units of fuel​

4th level - viper class mk4 - 50 flights=1st chest contains 4 spare parts plus 50 units of fuel, 100 flights=2nd chest contains 4 spare parts plus 55 units of fuel, 150 flights=3rd chest contains 4 spare parts plus 60 units of fuel​

Themed Collections and Rewards
There will be four themed collections to complete and rewards you will earn for completing them, each of the four viper class helicopters will have its own collection:

1st collection - Greek Sea Gods - rewards 400 coins and 200 experience points for completing the collection, plus one collectable item - flying the viper class mk1 type transporter​

2nd collection - Roman Sea Gods - rewards 800 coins and 400 experience points for completing the collection, plus one collectable item - flying the viper class mk2 type transporter​

3rd collection - Finnish Sea Gods - rewards 1,600 coins and 600 experience points for completing the collection, plus one collectable item - flying the viper class mk3 type transporter​

4th collection - Celtic Sea Gods - rewards 2,000 coins and 1,000 experience points for completing the collection, plus one collectable item - flying the viper class mk4 type transporter​

Game Feature Information

Helicopter Fuel Source
It would prove to be far too much of a drain on resources to have a fleet of helicopters and a fleet of planes, both using the same fuel. Because of this, I decided they should be independent of each other's resources (the rockets and shuttle of the space program has its own source of fuel, separate from that used by the fleet of planes).

Oil Drilling Rig Passengers
In this new game feature the passengers are oil drilling rig workers being flown to offshore oil drilling rigs by a fleet of helicopters, not passengers being flown to countries by a fleet of planes.

Gifts To Neighbours - Upgrade Items
The following five buildings will need to be upgraded across three levels - Oil Administration Building, Helicopter Pad, Helicopter Fuel Station, Helicopter Maintenance Centre and Oil Crew Facility before being made solid. Although your neighbours will be able to help you with upgrade gift items, you will not be able to collect any of these gift items from flights. This should not present too much of a problem for players with multiple neighbours.

Gifts To Neighbours - Spare Parts
You will also be able to gift spare parts to your neighbours for the maintenance and repair of the fleet of viper class helicopters, but you will not be able to collect any of these gift items from flights. This should also not present too much of a problem for players with multiple neighbours.

Background Information
This has been a very interesting project to work my way through. I have approached it from the perspective of a long time player and forum member, not as a games developer.

I had the idea for this new game feature quite sometime ago and have worked my way through each stage of the creative process. Along the way there were many decisions to make, some of these were known to me, while others were new to me. Some decisions were easy to make, while others required more time and thought.

The Future of The Game
This new game feature can also be expanded, with new features e.g. four new oil drilling rigs in the North East, South East, South West and North West. Also, new hangars and helicopters to these destinations and more rewards of coins, experience points, stars and bonus. Additional coins and experience points can also be earned by completing new themed collections, as well as flight chest rewards of spare parts and fuel.

Updated: Monday 2nd April 2018 at 10.05am BST London UK

 

[Navigata07]

Oh... that helicopter thing is a waste of time and money. If you do the math, the choppers were not making money for the city. You gotta spend more coins than what it brings back it to keep it running. and it takes too much land... such a waste .... i stopped flying once i got all 3 stars for the first two types of helicopters.

I haven't upgraded for the goldfinch yet. so i havent done the math for them. Since the coins they bring is higher, i just hope atleast they are profitable.

The purpose of helis isnt to be profitable. It's to get the unique bonus buildings they offer, and to get stars if youre after them.

 

[WildJaguar]

The purpose of helis isnt to be profitable

Yeah, GI can say that. But we are simulating a game that runs an airport and city and its business. No one does anything that doesn't give you any profit. Also i don't think it gives any exiting bonus buildings, just some other normal buildings. In my definition an exiting bonus building is a building that gives me, either airport cash or good money compared to the other normal buildings or item drops. I don't consider Resource base, mechanical plant or any new buildings that the helicopter event brought in as an exiting bonus buildings. They are just waste of space for running a loss making business. Stars?? yes i agree but, in Airport City game no other destination gives you stars for flying a non-profitable route. If at least the items drops was 'Always' or at least 'Often' then there could have be some use, but that too is 'Very Seldom'

I have stopped flying helicopters for a while as i have got 3 stars in all the Sparrow and Crossbill routes. I have 13 buildings of 2x2 size in my air side [some tourist buildings in land side too] sitting idle doing nothing but wasting my land, as I wanted them when I start flying the Goldfinch. Now to start flying Goldfinch I need a minimum of 14.25 million investment [1 goldfinch & 1 HiTech plant] or to run it decently 18Million [2 goldfinch & 4 HiTech plants].

I might do that for the stars... may be after 6 months.

 

[Navigata07]

Yeah, GI can say that. But we are simulating a game that runs an airport and city and its business. No one does anything that doesn't give you any profit. Also i don't think it gives any exiting bonus buildings, just some other normal buildings. In my definition an exiting bonus building is a building that gives me, either airport cash or good money compared to the other normal buildings or item drops. I don't consider Resource base, mechanical plant or any new buildings that the helicopter event brought in as an exiting bonus buildings. They are just waste of space for running a loss making business. Stars?? yes i agree but, in Airport City game no other destination gives you stars for flying a non-profitable route. If at least the items drops was 'Always' or at least 'Often' then there could have be some use, but that too is 'Very Seldom'

I have stopped flying helicopters for a while as i have got 3 stars in all the Sparrow and Crossbill routes. I have 13 buildings of 2x2 size in my air side [some tourist buildings in land side too] sitting idle doing nothing but wasting my land, as I wanted them when I start flying the Goldfinch. Now to start flying Goldfinch I need a minimum of 14.25 million investment [1 goldfinch & 1 HiTech plant] or to run it decently 18Million [2 goldfinch & 4 HiTech plants].

I might do that for the stars... may be after 6 months.

To each his own. I see one building that I want, but it isn't top priority to get for me. As I said, some people only want the buildings, even if it comes at a loss

 

[Davescharf]

I think Ivan lurks here more than we realize

 

[Captain WH Rollins]

17 months have now passed since I last looked at this themed thread, The Oil Industry - A Proposed New Game Feature For Airport City - I will try and find some time to work through this and add to it.

Regards
Captain WH Rolins

 

[Navigata07]

17 months have now passed since I last looked at this themed thread, The Oil Industry - A Proposed New Game Feature For Airport City - I will try and find some time to work through this and add to it.

Regards
Captain WH Rolins

It's unfortunate that this idea didn't take off. Helis really are just sitting there collecting dust; I feel like this idea would've been a much better route.