@Johnnyynf Thanks for capturing all this info. Tire physics improvements are never an easy task, but we've seen your feedback and will take them into consideration.
Mods which contain nothing but custom maps, and which also contain no non-standard Unity shaders should work on Android, but our mod tools currently have no way of verifying this, which is why we don't have them available here.
There is (as you've noted), nothing stopping people from attempting to load mods themselves, which we've purposefully done to not take the option off the table for those who want to try them.
Even a single script could make the entire mod not function properly, and with the availability of so many free Unity assets, which may contain seemingly trivial scripts, the chance of what seems like a pure map mod not working is fairly high.
@McDonnellDouglas It truly is. I made this P-51 and the Corsair way back before we officially released SimplePlanes anywhere, and in spite of their primitive looks, and lack of technical prowess they still hold a special place in my heart :)
@EchoVehicle Yep :) The Corsair isn't tied to my account b/c I created it back before SimplePlanes had user accounts, or the ability to capture other information like what platform a craft was created on, which is why the Corsair is listed as "Created on Unknown"
Just FYI: We've received quite a few bug reports regarding not having a way to reverse helicopter rotors. This feature was disabled at the last-minute when a serious bug was found which wasn't going to have a quick fix...it has since been fixed though, and will be in the next beta release, so no need to report it anymore :)
"Question: Do i have to purchase the game in order to update because i got it using APK?"
@FRIGGLES You have to purchase it to get proper updates, yes. We don't have it free anywhere, so I'm guessing you might be using an unauthorized ("pirated") version, even if you didn't realize that.
Many apk websites appear to suggest that the apk is authorized in some way, but unless it's a paid version from either Google Play or Amazon (in the case of Android), it has not been authorized to be distributed on that website.
We have been pretty lax about trying to combat piracy...not because we don't care at all, but because we don't want to impose the sort of DRM that makes things difficult for people who have legitimately bought the game, as well as taking up developer resources...resources we could be putting into the game itself. But, if someone enjoys SimplePlanes, we'd appreciate it if they purchase it from authorized stores if they can.
It's only available in VR for SimplePlanes VR on Steam and Quest.
For future reference, when a bug-fix/tweak/feature is listed with (VR) in the description, that means it only applies to the VR versions of SimplePlanes.
@Shimamurahougetsu, @Lms3912 - Zoom works on mobile and PC. There isn't really a need for it in VR since you can just move your head closer to things to get a better, look like you do in the real world.
A couple clarifications I'd like to bring up (this may change as we learn more):
SimplePlanes VR requires OpenXR, and you will need the Unity OpenXR plugin v1.2.8 installed for ensure mods work properly. Make sure you have the correct version of Unity before installing the plugin, though (see next bullet point).
We switched to Unity 2020 for the latest updates, and are now on 2020.3.19f1. In Unity 2020+, the setting you want to change has moved to Project Settings->Player->XR Plugin Management->OpenXR (PC)->Render Mode, where you'd want to set it to "Single Pass Instanced" (not just "Single Pass").
You should also set Graphics (PC)->Shader Stripping->Instancing Variants to "Keep All" to prevent instanced shader variants from being stripped from mod asset bundles when doing a final mod build.
These are just guidelines at this point. If you find a process that works better, let us know and we'll update 'em.
@Schiefensnarglez The "problem" with making the main rotor produce more torque which the tail needs to offset is that you'll have more tail rotor drift/roll. It is already fairly noticeable on some designs when you punch collective (and rotor torque increases)...I just wasn't sure people would want to deal w/that. I guess I could make it XML moddable. Thoughts?
@Ariesthefurry Re: "The Quest is an ALL IN ONE SYSTEM meaning CORDLESS who in the world decided that we have to use the oculus link..."
To clarify some things. The game doesn't require Oculus link at all, it is just supported if you want to use it. SPVR supports any VR device as far as we know, and in any configuration, but of course, that is what this alpha is hoping to determine.
You can use Air Link on Steam as long as your network gear supports it.
We're hoping to support as many VR setups as possible. If your VR gear supports wireless, we'll support it most likely.
And yeah, we'll also have a native Quest build, which will obviously be totally wireless.
@Epicfail @hfusiwjf29 It doesn't look like you two are all that active anymore, but I just wanted to say thanks for the work on this Apache, it was my workhorse for testing the new helicopter parts in the update. Special thanks to hfusiwjf29 for making the base design...it is beautiful!
@DepressedTortoise It is deliberate. It is vibration from the rotor blades...does it seem too strong?
It is determined by the rotor size, so if you have a relatively large rotor on a light airframe, the shake will be much worse...most "realistically" proportioned crafts I've made seem fairly moderate, but it can be pretty strong, depending on the design.
@KCferrari Holy cow! I thought you meant "gear up" as in "get ready", haha...oops. I knew I was missing something, but thought the overall design was awesome as it was. That is an amazing transformation.
Mellons is very close, but it looks like you are using windows, so try this.
Hit the windows key + R to open the run window, then paste in "%userprofile%\AppData\LocalLow\Jundroo\SimplePlanes\AircraftDesigns" (without quotes), then hit enter.
Find and delete the editor.xml and editor.xml.bak files.
That should remove the problem aircraft and enable you to get back into the editor.
It shouldn't normally be necessary, even if the aircraft doesn't load, but apparently something went wrong in this case.
@TrashpandaShinji Is there any chance you declined the file access permissions at some point? It should've popped up a permission window at.
It should probably be logging an error when you hit the blueprints "Open Image" button w/nothing happening. To see the error, you'll need to open the dev console. If you haven't done that before, start from the initial loading screen, go to settings and tap on the "Settings" header (at the top) five times in a row. "Settings" should change to "Dev Console Enabled". Once you've done this, you can open the dev console by doing a three-finger tap. Open the dev console after trying to insert a blueprint and see if there are any errors logged. Clicking on a log item will expand to show additional info.
@SpaceJunkee008 Thanks for reporting. If you can, could you edit your first comment to combine all reports into one, with any relevant details about how to reproduce them...it makes this post cleaner in the long term. I will go back and delete these meta comments after...if not, I will try to combine myself...no problems, just a clarity thing for this post.
@L3FTxR1GHT Thanks a lot for the feedback, it looks like stuff we should probably look into. We should also probably get a focused feedback thread going, but in the meantime, can you post a link to this post in the long-running bug thread, along with perhaps a very short description such as "My feedback for the next update..." or something along those veins?
@PlaneFlightX The fix is now live for Steam (Windows/Mac). Thanks again for reporting it and giving repro steps...it really helps :) Update thread is here
@PlaneFlightX Thank you for reporting this. I've confirmed the bug, and I've got a fix in the works which will be rolling out today. Steam and Google Play will likely get the fix today, but iOS will need to go through their review process first, which has been pretty fast lately, though.
@Korzalerke It is intentional, actually. It's a website design choice to organize resource access. Unlisted planes can be found by randomly accessing them in that way, but we haven't seen any significant issues arise from it. Unlisted planes are not intended to be truly private. And, the odds of landing on any specific craft are pretty astronomical.
Generally speaking, we don't often join in on the discussions for a variety of reasons, but for me, it's mostly because whenever a dev drops into a discussion, it is likely to significantly change the course of the discussion in the thread, and I'd rather not do that for the majority of threads (again, generally speaking, sometimes it makes sense). Also, it can eat up significant time that we could be using to work on our games. We've also got to be pretty careful when commenting on suggestions to make sure anything we say isn't necessarily taken as a commitment/promise to implement something that we're not yet sure when/if we're going to be able to follow-through on.
"Do you guys actually check the forums for suggestions? "
@Korzalerke
Yes, we definitely check the forums for suggestions, especially forum posts specifically tagged as "Suggestion".
It's not something we have plans to work on, currently. Where did you read that?
+12@JediWolf I'm sorry, but pirating software is illegal regardless of what your reasons for doing it are.
+10@Johnnyynf Thanks for capturing all this info. Tire physics improvements are never an easy task, but we've seen your feedback and will take them into consideration.
+9Mods which contain nothing but custom maps, and which also contain no non-standard Unity shaders should work on Android, but our mod tools currently have no way of verifying this, which is why we don't have them available here.
+7There is (as you've noted), nothing stopping people from attempting to load mods themselves, which we've purposefully done to not take the option off the table for those who want to try them.
Even a single script could make the entire mod not function properly, and with the availability of so many free Unity assets, which may contain seemingly trivial scripts, the chance of what seems like a pure map mod not working is fairly high.
"this is literally a fossil"
@McDonnellDouglas It truly is. I made this P-51 and the Corsair way back before we officially released SimplePlanes anywhere, and in spite of their primitive looks, and lack of technical prowess they still hold a special place in my heart :)
+5@POTETOZ
+5Regarding: your bug report
@Suica
Regarding: your bug report
@MisterT
Regarding: your bug report
Would you all be able to provide links to crafts exhibiting these issues? If possible, lower part-count crafts would be great, to simplify testing.
@jamesPLANESii
Regarding: your bug report
Are you still seeing this, or did it clear itself up by some miracle, perhaps? :)
I just keep staring at the gifs...I'm mesmerized at how beautiful it is.
Edit - Posted to twitter
+5That's a beautiful snail, and I'm digging that song as well. Great to see you again :)
+4"I’m dumb..."
@Skittle No, you're not. There's a lot of stuff to digest here, and things get missed sometimes, it happens to everyone.
+4@EchoVehicle Yep :) The Corsair isn't tied to my account b/c I created it back before SimplePlanes had user accounts, or the ability to capture other information like what platform a craft was created on, which is why the Corsair is listed as "Created on Unknown"
+4Should be fixed on Mac...let us know if you have any issues. Thanks for reporting it, and sorry about that!
+4@Chancey21, @BoeyingOfficial Noted :) It is a good suggestion.
+4Just FYI: We've received quite a few bug reports regarding not having a way to reverse helicopter rotors. This feature was disabled at the last-minute when a serious bug was found which wasn't going to have a quick fix...it has since been fixed though, and will be in the next beta release, so no need to report it anymore :)
+4"Question: Do i have to purchase the game in order to update because i got it using APK?"
+3@FRIGGLES You have to purchase it to get proper updates, yes. We don't have it free anywhere, so I'm guessing you might be using an unauthorized ("pirated") version, even if you didn't realize that.
Many apk websites appear to suggest that the apk is authorized in some way, but unless it's a paid version from either Google Play or Amazon (in the case of Android), it has not been authorized to be distributed on that website.
We have been pretty lax about trying to combat piracy...not because we don't care at all, but because we don't want to impose the sort of DRM that makes things difficult for people who have legitimately bought the game, as well as taking up developer resources...resources we could be putting into the game itself. But, if someone enjoys SimplePlanes, we'd appreciate it if they purchase it from authorized stores if they can.
"Does the map avialable in mobile??
+3@ShocK69
It's only available in VR for SimplePlanes VR on Steam and Quest.
For future reference, when a bug-fix/tweak/feature is listed with (VR) in the description, that means it only applies to the VR versions of SimplePlanes.
@Shimamurahougetsu, @Lms3912 - Zoom works on mobile and PC. There isn't really a need for it in VR since you can just move your head closer to things to get a better, look like you do in the real world.
+3@PapaKernels That will come to the final version for everyone, including mobile.
+3Thanks for writing this up, Kenneth :)
A couple clarifications I'd like to bring up (this may change as we learn more):
These are just guidelines at this point. If you find a process that works better, let us know and we'll update 'em.
+3Thanks again, Kenneth
@Xzenozilla : "What time of day will it release?"
+3At approximately 7AM(UTC-6). Here is a handy countdown timer.
@Schiefensnarglez The "problem" with making the main rotor produce more torque which the tail needs to offset is that you'll have more tail rotor drift/roll. It is already fairly noticeable on some designs when you punch collective (and rotor torque increases)...I just wasn't sure people would want to deal w/that. I guess I could make it XML moddable. Thoughts?
+3Can you try verifying the game files
+3Awesome job...I hope you keep it up. Can't wait to see what you come up with after our next update (rotating parts/floating parts)
+3@LieutenantSOT I'm just talking about looking into the feasibility of custom maps, not full, and general mod support fyi.
+2@ren64 "is apple silicon support improved? my computer started lagging on simple planes after the 1.12 update"
Are you saying it performed better on apple silicon before the 1.12 update? And I'm assuming you're referring to MacOS, and not iOS/iPadOS?
+2@Ariesthefurry Re: "The Quest is an ALL IN ONE SYSTEM meaning CORDLESS who in the world decided that we have to use the oculus link..."
+2To clarify some things. The game doesn't require Oculus link at all, it is just supported if you want to use it. SPVR supports any VR device as far as we know, and in any configuration, but of course, that is what this alpha is hoping to determine.
You can use Air Link on Steam as long as your network gear supports it.
We're hoping to support as many VR setups as possible. If your VR gear supports wireless, we'll support it most likely.
And yeah, we'll also have a native Quest build, which will obviously be totally wireless.
Hey man, nice shot!
+2@Epicfail @hfusiwjf29 It doesn't look like you two are all that active anymore, but I just wanted to say thanks for the work on this Apache, it was my workhorse for testing the new helicopter parts in the update. Special thanks to hfusiwjf29 for making the base design...it is beautiful!
+2@DepressedTortoise It is deliberate. It is vibration from the rotor blades...does it seem too strong?
+2It is determined by the rotor size, so if you have a relatively large rotor on a light airframe, the shake will be much worse...most "realistically" proportioned crafts I've made seem fairly moderate, but it can be pretty strong, depending on the design.
@SMHrubix What is "yaw swing-back"?
+2@KCferrari Holy cow! I thought you meant "gear up" as in "get ready", haha...oops. I knew I was missing something, but thought the overall design was awesome as it was. That is an amazing transformation.
+2Nice job! I made a little video of it and shared it on Twitter
+2Mellons is very close, but it looks like you are using windows, so try this.
Hit the windows key + R to open the run window, then paste in "%userprofile%\AppData\LocalLow\Jundroo\SimplePlanes\AircraftDesigns" (without quotes), then hit enter.
Find and delete the editor.xml and editor.xml.bak files.
That should remove the problem aircraft and enable you to get back into the editor.
It shouldn't normally be necessary, even if the aircraft doesn't load, but apparently something went wrong in this case.
+2@TrashpandaShinji Is there any chance you declined the file access permissions at some point? It should've popped up a permission window at.
+1It should probably be logging an error when you hit the blueprints "Open Image" button w/nothing happening. To see the error, you'll need to open the dev console. If you haven't done that before, start from the initial loading screen, go to settings and tap on the "Settings" header (at the top) five times in a row. "Settings" should change to "Dev Console Enabled". Once you've done this, you can open the dev console by doing a three-finger tap. Open the dev console after trying to insert a blueprint and see if there are any errors logged. Clicking on a log item will expand to show additional info.
@Turbo18 Can you describe in more detailed steps how to reproduce the bug? Not sure I've seen that one before.
+1@Thatguy2020 Regarding SimplePhysics...I did not help on that game at all...it was all @AndrewGarrison
As far as streaming music integration...that would be cool, I'll admit, but it's not on our radar at the moment.
+1Here are the exact conditions...not sure why it has apparently been hard to initiate...perhaps there is a bug.
+1I used a version of this guy (not the smol pp version) to test out the WIP wind settings way back
+1@Thatguy2020 We don't have anything to announce at the moment, but it won't be this year.
+1@SpaceJunkee008 Thanks for reporting. If you can, could you edit your first comment to combine all reports into one, with any relevant details about how to reproduce them...it makes this post cleaner in the long term. I will go back and delete these meta comments after...if not, I will try to combine myself...no problems, just a clarity thing for this post.
+1@ThatRandomCarrot 4
+1No problem. It was fun to drive around :)
+1@L3FTxR1GHT Thanks a lot for the feedback, it looks like stuff we should probably look into. We should also probably get a focused feedback thread going, but in the meantime, can you post a link to this post in the long-running bug thread, along with perhaps a very short description such as "My feedback for the next update..." or something along those veins?
+1@Alisuchanka Just to be clear...this doesn't always happen for you, does it? Only under certain circumstances?
+1@Dogepro1086 No, there is not, unfortunately
+1@DaKraken If you see "Hotfix" in the title of a forum post, prepare to not get excited.
+1@PlaneFlightX The fix is now live for Steam (Windows/Mac). Thanks again for reporting it and giving repro steps...it really helps :) Update thread is here
+1@PlaneFlightX Thank you for reporting this. I've confirmed the bug, and I've got a fix in the works which will be rolling out today. Steam and Google Play will likely get the fix today, but iOS will need to go through their review process first, which has been pretty fast lately, though.
+1@Korzalerke It is intentional, actually. It's a website design choice to organize resource access. Unlisted planes can be found by randomly accessing them in that way, but we haven't seen any significant issues arise from it. Unlisted planes are not intended to be truly private. And, the odds of landing on any specific craft are pretty astronomical.
+1"i dont see a dev in that forum tho"
+1@KONOJERRYDA
Generally speaking, we don't often join in on the discussions for a variety of reasons, but for me, it's mostly because whenever a dev drops into a discussion, it is likely to significantly change the course of the discussion in the thread, and I'd rather not do that for the majority of threads (again, generally speaking, sometimes it makes sense). Also, it can eat up significant time that we could be using to work on our games. We've also got to be pretty careful when commenting on suggestions to make sure anything we say isn't necessarily taken as a commitment/promise to implement something that we're not yet sure when/if we're going to be able to follow-through on.
"Do you guys actually check the forums for suggestions? "
@Korzalerke
Yes, we definitely check the forums for suggestions, especially forum posts specifically tagged as "Suggestion".
@WolfHunter9111 Looks sweet. I'll try it out in VR later tonight.
+1