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New beta - 1.8.3 (Steam today, mobile tomorrow)

Dev PhilipTarpley  5.7 years ago

Update - 2019/03/13: A new update has been pushed to Steam (1.8.3.1) with two additional bug-fixes (see top of the list)
Update - 2019/03/13: The beta (1.8.3.1) should now be live on Android

We've been sifting through the piles of bug reports from the first beta, trying to tackle as many as possible. We've prepared another beta which has a few minor features, a lot of bugfixes, and a number of tweaks. Last, but not least, we wanted to thank you all for doing a REALLY thorough job in testing the beta out!

It is live right now on Steam. Mobile platforms will be pushed sometime tomorrow. iOS will take a few days to be approved.

A note about existing helicopter designs:

The helicopter engine has had significant changes. As a result, existing designs will not behave the same as before, and some will likely require substantial changes to fly similarly. In addition to general enhancements, there was a pretty serious bug which impacts any helicopter whose blade diameter was changed. The more a design's diameter was changed from the default value, the more impact it would have. These designs will continue to function, but will be considered "modded" by SimplePlanes. To fix these designs, you would have to replace the rotor with a new one, and replicate the settings. Or, for xml modders, just remove the "maxRpm" attribute. If you like how it flies, you don't have to do anything...it will continue to function.

tl;dr - I probably broke your helicopters.

As a peace offering, the helicopter engines now have very extensive XML moddability, and provide tweak-able options for nearly every aspect of their performance. We know you guys love making designs fly as accurately as possible, so hopefully these options can help you out.

STANDARD WARNING

  • If you are concerned about losing data (such as planes, settings, unlocked locations), I highly recommend backing it up before trying the beta. There is always risk of losing data during betas. If that makes you uncomfortable, I'd recommend not trying the beta right now.
    Data folder: %APPDATA%..\LocalLow\Jundroo\SimplePlanes\

FEATURES

  • Added a ModLoadLog.txt file that logs messages, warnings, and errors related to loading mods.
  • Added ability to reverse rotation on main/tail helicopter rotor.
  • Added alternate inputs for heli collective/cyclic pitch to facilitate coaxial rotor systems.
  • Added helicopter rotor performance modifier to enable XML modding a bunch of helicopter stats.

BUG FIXES

  • Fixed bug where missiles would sometimes be incorrectly rotated upon firing.
  • Fixed bug causing T2000 prop engines to no-longer load.
  • Fixed bug in resolution dialog that would cause deselected buttons to be colored white.
  • Fixed Arresting Hook mirroring. Existing hooks must be rotated 90°.
  • Fixed a bug with the chase camera rotating awkwardly during tight turns.
  • Fixed a bug where the screen would show random artifacts while loading the level.
  • Fixed a bug where the nudge part keyboard shortcuts would not move connected parts when the Part Transform panel was set to Connected Parts.
  • Fixed a bug where the numeric spinners in the part transform panel would load the alphabet keyboard on iOS.
  • Fixed a bug where the rotation spinner control would ignore player's text input in some circumstances.
  • Fixed several issues with ship water trails displaying incorrectly in certain circumstances.
  • Improved stability of fast forward.
  • Fixed a bug where the collider's cylinder mesh would show up on the magnet part in some
    circumstances.
  • Fixed bug where catapult button would stay after leaving zone
  • Fixed a bug in the generation of the spmod-info file name.
  • Fixed a bug where winches would not work correctly if the winch part was scaled.
  • Fixed an issue with loading mods with spaces in their filename using file associations on Android.
  • Fixed a bug where a designer undo step would not always revert the craft to the correct version.
  • Fixed bug where the catapult would briefly fall back on launch
  • Fixed a bug where the catapult would connect to detached parts
  • Fixed bug where propeller engines didn't respond properly to part scaling in flight scene.
  • Fixed bug where prop/heli engines' HP rating could be wrong, or display as zero.
  • Fixed swashplate missing face and tweaked blade shapes to be more cohesive.
  • Fixed bug when changing heli blade count. Control-rod base objects would be left behind and only attached to one blade.
  • Fixed issue causing heli cyclic to behave strangely if placed directly on the Aircraft's CoM.
  • Fixed issue causing cyclic audio volume to be calculated incorrectly in some circumstances.
  • Fixed issue where helicopter rotor would slightly lower a craft's max angular velocity.
  • Fixed issue where XML modded propellers no-longer react to being under-water as they had before.
  • Fixed issues causing heli rotor part-scale from working.
  • Fixed issue causing tail rotor grips to not be rotated properly.
  • Fixed bug where heli engine power was erroneously being taken into consideration when calculating auto-rotations.
  • Fixed bug which could cause helicopter designer properties to become un-editable after switching between crafts.
  • Fixed bug which resulted in nearly all helicopter rotors being treated as modded and therefore not-auto calculating MaxRpm when diameter changes.
  • Fixed bug which could cause a helicopter engine to immediately explode from over-speeding when cutting engine throttle.
  • Fixed issue where helicopter rotor could tilt in the wrong direction when cyclic is applied.

TWEAKS

  • Reduced TowerMain collider protrusion on USS Beast.
  • Allow clicking and holding the increment/decrement buttons in the part transform panel to continuously nudge the selected part.
  • Update rotation slider sensitivity based on current rotation amount in part transform panel.
  • Added refresh rates to screen resolution dialog.
  • Disabling carrier wake on low-quality water
  • Reduced part drag calculation precision in order to improve performance for calculating drag for large crafts.
  • Updated carrier colliders based on player feedback.
  • Moved the catapult connector to the bottom of the Gizmos category in the designer
  • No-longer defaulting to large UI on all mobile devices unless they have a high DPI. This should prevent tablets from defaulting to large UI which can look strange.
  • Added cable deceleration property to arresting hook.
  • Added catapult acceleration property to catapult connector.
  • Improved low-quality water on PC.
  • Added target launch speed property to catapult connector.
  • Added ability to scale heli rotor/grip assembly w/o impacting blades.
  • Small heli rotor is now 50% smaller.
  • Updated tail rotor to remove the base and shorten the shaft.
  • Helicopters now behave more realistically during a flare and after applying throttle during an auto.
  • Gator 2 has been updated to have no tail rudder and updated due to flight model changes.
  • Lots of additional helicopter engine tweaks.
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  • Profile image

    @PhilipTarpley thanks

    5.7 years ago
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    3,761 stig27

    @Sinacraft they can't add a multiplayer mode because that would imply renting A LOT of extra servers, and this game is ad-free, so they just can't support that infrastructure.
    But you could try the multiplayer mod if you're luckier than me and have a PC

    5.7 years ago
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    Dev WNP78

    @PhilipTarpley robust auto-tuning would be the holy grail, but having presets for different type (ie airliner, fighter, light aircraft) would be pretty cool too. I mostly got carried away on SimplePilot trying to get it to do aerial refuelling.

    5.7 years ago
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    153k RussianAce

    @Oski yes, 1.8.3.2

    5.7 years ago
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    10.5k Xenotriver

    You just rolled out a 1.8.3.2 or is it just me seeing things?

    +1 5.7 years ago
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    10.5k Xenotriver

    @MobileSky check the previous blog on how to get it

    5.7 years ago
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    Please add online mode and multiplayer

    5.7 years ago
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    I'm new here and I want he 1.8.3 please :)

    5.7 years ago
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    @AtlanticSalmon you will, and "when" is when they feel confident that all the bugs and kinks are out

    5.7 years ago
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    3,485 SelectAKey

    @stig27 thanks for tips. wow

    5.7 years ago
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    35.7k Speedhunter

    Is the link to the beta here?

    5.7 years ago
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    If I didn’t sign up will I get the update, if I will, when

    5.7 years ago
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    3,761 stig27

    @SelectAKey for the missiles set 'maxTargetingAngle' to 180
    The engines part I didn't understand

    5.7 years ago
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    59 CLIFFER

    @AtlanticSalmon I really need it for Android urgently there are no fun without it

    I need it with options like Escort or Attacking something and Stick with with player Always whatever the player Does

    Please please

    5.7 years ago
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    180 Maxx2245

    @AtlanticSalmon it’s already out if you signed up for the TestFlight SimplePlanes beta. The instructions on how to do that are in the post for the first version of this beta.

    5.7 years ago
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    As in IPhone

    5.7 years ago
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    Will it be out for mobile

    5.7 years ago
  • Profile image
    59 CLIFFER

    I NEED FREINDLY AI NOW PLEASE

    FREINDLY AI PLEASE

    5.7 years ago
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    3,485 SelectAKey

    k gotta ask. how did you guys make missles lock in any direction? multi-unfuel motors or vanes of power? *and yes i threw the exray on it

    5.7 years ago
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    32.4k TheAceOwl

    Im have a weird glitch where my plane with by flying one moment then suddenly jerk to the side or a different direction

    5.7 years ago
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    Hey Philip I need some help when is the exact date of the mobile release I need to download the tank tracks man

    5.7 years ago
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    11.5k shipster

    @Nickoboy11 ok

    5.7 years ago
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    3,485 SelectAKey

    @Rub3n213 thank you for the tip. i just started modding because of this latest update. kinda revitalized my love for the game. and this community.

    5.7 years ago
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    @shipster i got it to work, i just had to switch to the account i originally got the game on to update to it

    5.7 years ago
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    11.5k shipster

    Did the beta not download for you either???
    @Nickoboy11

    5.7 years ago
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