From: 12/2024 - To: Present - (16 Months)

Project as co-founder of Hana Games SAS (independent studio)

At home in south of France

My Airline Manager by Hana Games
The Art of Massive and Connected Aeronautical Simulation

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Abstract

My Airline Manager is an ambitious airline management simulation in which players develop a global network on an optimized 3D globe. Developed by a duo of developers under the Hana Games label, this project stands out through its Server-Authoritative architecture ensuring total security, massive real-time data management (ScyllaDB, Redis), and advanced integration of artificial intelligence for content generation and localization.

Company

• Studio: Hana Games, co-founded by Sébastien Aglaé (me).
• Team: A powerful duo (Sébastien Aglaé & Mike Chiappe).
• Role: Lead Developer, Backend Architect, and Product Manager.
• Vision: To deliver desktop-level simulation depth on mobile, without compromising on performance and smoothness.

Tech Stacks

Deep dive into the heart of a global simulation infrastructure

A Server-Authoritative architecture: the end of cheating

For a competitive game with global rankings, data integrity is crucial. We chose an “authoritative” server model: the Unity client is only a visualization interface.

• Synchronized calculations: every second of flight, every dollar of profit is calculated by the .NET backend.
• Fast-forward mechanism: to optimize resources, the server does not continuously simulate offline sessions. Upon reconnection, the backend computes the current state in “accelerated” mode to instantly synchronize the client.
• Custom TCP protocol: we developed a lightweight binary communication protocol over TCP to minimize latency and mobile data usage, which is essential for a smooth experience.

The 3D globe challenge: optimization without images

Displaying thousands of air routes on mobile requires a radical approach. Instead of using satellite textures weighing several hundred megabytes, we created a procedural 3D globe.

• Vector rendering: the globe displays more than 100 countries and 250 airports without relying on traditional image textures. This enables infinite zoom and perfect sharpness while preserving the phone’s RAM.
• Real-time visualization: the engine handles the simultaneous display of aircraft on the map (top view) and in menus (side view), including dynamically applied customized liveries (skins).

AI in the service of production and immersion

As a two-person team, AI is our force multiplier:

• Skin generation (Gemini Nano Banana): we generated unique aircraft textures using AI, turning a common fleet into an iconic and personalized brand.
• Narration and scenarios: rather than manually coding thousands of lines of dialogue, we use AI to generate coherent choice trees for radio communications and in-game events (daily tasks, crises, market opportunities).
• Mass localization: thanks to an internal tool I designed, the game is automatically translated into more than 14 languages using AI, with seamless integration into Unity’s native localization system.

Data infrastructure: analyze to rule better

With dozens of parameters per flight, the volume of data grows extremely fast.

• ScyllaDB for analytics: we use ScyllaDB to store and analyze player performance in real time, enabling the generation of precise profitability charts.
• Garnet (Microsoft): this caching system allows us to manage the Leagues (from Bronze to Legendary) with near-instant score updates for thousands of players simultaneously.

A customizable airline empire

Players are in control of everything: from the airline’s name to its logo, and the management of a fleet of 24 aircraft models divided into rarity tiers (Common to Legendary). Every decision, from airport selection to ticket pricing, has an immediate visual and financial impact on the globe.

My Airline Manager is not just a game; it is a technological platform proving that a small team can compete with major studios by intelligently leveraging the cloud, AI, and cutting-edge software architecture.