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Race in the 2025 FAI Spire e-Drone Racing World Cup!

[h3]🗼 Qualifications are open for the 2025 FAI Spire event! 🗼[/h3][p]Qualifications are now open for the 2025 FAI Spire e-Drone Racing World Cup! Race and try to get the best qualification laptimes for this event, happening on Saturday 4th October, at 13:00UTC![/p][p]Register here to the FAI Spire Event[/p][p][/p][h3]The SPIRE track, designed by EreaDrone[/h3][p]A blue zone... a red zone... and exciting racing all throughout! [/p][p]Try out this track designed by the EreaDrone team. We're looking for feedback onn this track, so don't hesitate to tell us what you think of this track, here or on our official Discord server![/p][p][/p][h3]🎁 Announcing Rewards for FAI events 🔓[/h3][p]Just like for EreaDrone Challengers events, all participants who have submitted at least 1 qualification laptime will receive a profile banner and player title to display in in-game and the webiste, in leaderboards or anywhere else! Of course, winners and finalists get exclusive banners and titles as well.[/p][p]We're working to bring you more in-game and out-of-game rewards for you to enjoy![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]See you![/p]

Announcing the EreaDrone Challengers League

[p]We are happy to announce the EreaDrone Challengers League! A series of Drone Racing and Challenge events, which are open to absolutely everybody, especially beginner and intermediate pilots. And we are holding the very first event this week![/p][p][/p][h3]📅Bi-Weekly Events📅[/h3][p]The events will happen almost every two weeks on Saturdays, on the EU/America timeslot: 15:00 UTC, or on the Asia timeslot: 7:00 UTC. The events will be quicker than our current FAI eDRWC events, taking 1h30 including all the phases. On weeks where we are running an FAI e-Drone Racing World Cup event, there will be no Challengers events.[/p][p][/p][h3]📐Format📐[/h3][p]Depending on turnout, there will be 32 or 64 participating pilots. All races will have 8 pilots at the same time. There will be a live-stream to follow the races. During the season, there will be rewards that you can earn for participating and winning.[/p][p]The rules are also more flexible in Challengers events, so expect some changes! We will give you more freedom to choose how you want to fly.[/p][p][/p][h3]📏4 types of events📏[/h3][p]There are 4 types of Challengers events:[/p][p]- 🥇Race, a standard race with multiple laps[/p][p]- 🏎️Sprint, an A-to-B race, racing to the finish line[/p][p]- 🤏Tiny, races and challenges with a tiny drone[/p][p]- 🏆Trial, where everyone competes separately for the best time or score[/p][p][/p][h3]🌬️2025 Challengers Event #1: Zephyrus Race🌬️[/h3][p]We are holding the very first Challengers event this week! [/p][p]The Challengers Event 1: Zephyrus Race is now open for registration, and you can already fly your qualification laps as well. The event will be held on this Saturday 13th, at 15:00 UTC.[/p][p]The Zephyrus Race takes place on a community track designed by SKAN AIR, that was slightly modified to fit the event.[/p][p]For this event, we allow you to use any drone model you want with its default settings.[/p][p]Sign up here for the 2025 Challengers Event 1: Zephyrus Race![/p][p][/p][p]We will share a full calendar soon, stay tuned.[/p][p][/p][p]Hope to see you there![/p][p][/p][p]- The EreaDrone Team[/p][p][/p]

Optimization Update (and annoucing the Physics Update)

[p]Hi Pilots![/p][p]Here’s a small update, mostly centred on performance optimization. We hope you like it, and it should fix some problems if you have any. We would like to remind you that the registrations are still open to the second event of the 2025 FAI eDRWC, so sign up now if you haven’t already! Also…[/p][p][/p][h3]⏰ANNOUNCING THE CHALLENGERS LEAGUE⏰[/h3][p]We are now running a new series of competitive events: the EreaDrone Challengers League. Read more about it, and sign up here.[/p][p][/p][h3]🔜COMING SOON : ⚖️PHYSICS UPDATE✨[/h3][p]Releasing soon, we are announcing the often-requested Physics Update! It will overhaul physics, give you more options to tweak them, including a gravity slider, and will include an in-game guide to explain what all those confusing sliders mean to help you get the physics that suit you best. Stay tuned![/p][p][/p][p]But before that, here’s the changelog for the current update:[/p][p][/p][h2]🆕 NEW FEATURES 🆕 [/h2][p][/p][h3]🌄DLSS 3.7, FSR 3.1, and XeSS 2.1 Support:[/h3][p]You can now turn on your AI upscaler of choice, which lets you enjoy higher frame-rates and better visuals. They are available to choose from in the Anti-aliasing option.[/p][p][/p][h3]🖼️Import an image in the Track Editor:[/h3][p]You can now import any image into the track editor and move it around/scale it as you want. This can be helpful to reproduce any real track layout, if you have a picture of it. This is only to help you build a track, and it will not show up once you decide to publish the track.[/p][p][/p][h3]📊Improved Drone Interpolation:[/h3][p]In Multiplayer, drones of other players were often stuttery and distracting. With this new system, they should now fly smoothly and be accurate to how other players fly them at all times.[/p][p][/p][h3]🌬️Ground Hovering FX:[/h3][p]In Multiplayer, you can now see some visual effects of the drones hovering over the ground. This is tied to the Volumetric Clouds setting, so you can turn it on/off that way.[/p][p] [/p][p][/p][h2]👀AVAILABLE FEATURES 🔦[/h2][p]Over various recent patches, we discreetly added a few features, but we never told you about them… So here’s a small list of what’s new since the Rework Update:[/p][p][/p][p]🎛️High Quality Collision option. Turning this on will simulate drone collisions with the ground and obstacles more accurately. Please note that this will use more system resources.[/p][p]🔭You can now use Ctrl + scroll to change your FOV in Map View Mode[/p][p]🏷️You can hide other players’ names in Multiplayer (Options -> Display others’ names). We know this is often requested, and it's already in the game![/p][p] [/p][p][/p][h2]📊PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENTS ⚙️[/h2][p]Here are the major changes in this update! We have major CPU and memory optimizations, and especially reduced memory allocation. This should help your game run smoother and minimize some of the issues with stutters and weird frame pacing.[/p][p][/p][p]- Better support for VRR and Low Framerate Compensation on compatible monitors[/p][p]- Controller polling should now be more efficient[/p][p]- Minor optimization in the Stadium environment[/p][p]- Various bug fixes related to performance[/p][p]- VSync and Target FPS are now independent of the quality presets[/p][p]- Removed “Unlimited” Target Framerate option[/p][p]We removed the Unlimited option because it caused lag spikes and uneven frame pacing, which do not occur when the framerate is capped. Instead, you will still have the option to choose a max framerate up to what your monitor can support, so your input latency will not be affected.[/p][p] [/p][p][/p][h2]🛠️BUG FIXES 🔧[/h2][p][/p][h3]⚠️Major : [/h3][p]- Fixed missing Game Ending sequence and Spawn Selection screen in certain scenarios[/p][p]- Fixed occasional fatal game crash related to the initialisation of drone physics[/p][p]- Fixed Local Server crashing because the ports were not available[/p][p]- Fixed Tutorial mode not starting, causing the player to be stuck in the lobby settings without the start button[/p][p]- Fixed alternative fonts not working, making some non-Latin (especially Chinese, Korean, and Japanese) characters into squares[/p][p]- Removed a 3rd Party tool that was sometimes wrongly detected as malware by some antivirus software[/p][p][/p][h3]🔎Minor:[/h3][p]- Various security and networking fixes[/p][p]- Various visual fixes[/p][p]- Various fixes related to controllers and input[/p][p]- Fixed the mouse cursor never becoming invisible in certain cases[/p][p]- Fixed drones stuttering in spectator mode[/p][p]- Fixed issue where drones were locked when joining a lobby after the lobby already started[/p][p]- Various bug fixes related to events[/p][p]- Fixed Drone Collision detection for High-Quality Collision setting, sometimes not giving back adequate control[/p][p]- Fixed a bug where localized text inside buttons was not updating when changing locale/language[/p][p]- Fixed game blocking exception when the droneprofile.ed file is corrupted[/p][p]- Fixed the Replay reader playing too quickly[/p][p]- Fixed the wrong font in the Game Mode Selection screen[/p][p]- Fixed bloom settings not being applied everywhere, and made bloom stronger[/p][p]- General updates to packages and game components[/p][p][/p][p]And that’s it![/p][p][/p][p]- The EreaDrone Team[/p]

Fly to win in the FAI Italy e-Drone Racing World Cup

[p]EreaDrone is once again hosting the official FAI e-Drone Racing World Cup, this time in Italy… virtualy.[/p][p][/p][p]Race with the best on the track of the 2025 FAI Italy Drone Racing World Cup, and compete for the podium all season long! If you want to train or just fly along, the map is also available in the Map Browser.[/p][p][/p][p]Qualify and compete from your own computer: this is a completly remote event. You have until September 18th, 23:59 UTC to submit your times.[/p][p]The event will be livestreamed when it starts on Saturday 20th September, at 1PM UTC![/p][p][/p][p]To watch it:[/p][p]The event will be streamed on the official FAI Youtube Channel when it starts.[/p][p][/p][p]This event is open for everyone to register, even without an FAI Sporting License. Some restrictions apply.[/p][p]To participate, you will need to join the EreaDrone Discord server: https://discord.gg/mBEd7Abskw[/p]

The Rework Update is finally live

[p]Dear EreaDrone Community,[/p][p][/p][p]We’ve been away since the end of last year’s e-Drone season, but don’t worry, we’ve been cooking! We’re finally back and have been hard at work behind the scenes to make EreaDrone bigger and better. The changes we have made are mostly technical, but we have a few cool new features to showcase as well.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]A Big, Technical Update[/h3][p]This update is quite big, but we can assure you it’s worth it. We have done a LOT of changes in the background of the game, to make it run better and allow us to do more in the future. There's a lot to download, but don’t worry: the game will now take LESS space on your drive than before, about 7 GB less in fact. The game should also run better in general and use fewer system resources. We have also added a few Quality-of-Life features in the UI. Although it's not very flashy, you can now enjoy a better drone-flying experience! [/p][p][/p][p]All those big changes are mostly in the background, but here’s some more foreground stuff.[/p][p][/p][h3]2025 World Games Official Track[/h3][p]For all those participating in the 2025 World Games in Chengdu this year, we are excited to host the official simulator track, available with this update. Fly and train on the official peculiarly-shaped track, and race your way to victory![/p][p]The track unlocks on June 27th at 14:00 CET (20:00 CST, 8 AM EDT, 15:00 AST, 21:00 JST)[/p][p]To access it in-game, search for “The World Games 2025” in the track selection once it unlocks.[/p][p][/p][h3]VR Mode \[Beta][/h3][p]We have now added VR support to the Track Editor and select Environments, currently in Beta. In this mode, you can fly your drone as if you were right there on the track, and use it while building your track to get a real sense of scale and how the track feels. Feel free to try it out with your VR headset![/p][p]Please note this feature is still in Beta, so don’t hesitate to report any issues you have with it.[/p][p][/p][h3]Steam Summer Sale[/h3][p]To celebrate this new update, the upcoming competitive season, and the Steam Summer Sale, we’re happy to announce that EreaDrone is running a -40% sale. Get it while you can![/p][p][/p][h3]2025 FAI e-Drone World Cup, soon?[/h3][p]We are hard at work to prepare this year’s competitive e-Drone season, including some simulator optimizations. You will hear from us very soon regarding the 2025 FAI e-Drone Racing World Cup, so stay tuned![/p][p][/p][p]Warm regards,[/p][p]The EreaDrone Team[/p][p][/p][p]---[/p][p][/p][h2]Detailed Changelog:[/h2][p][/p][h3]🆕 New Features & Enhancements[/h3]
  • [p]The World Games: The official drone racing track of the 2025 World Games in Chengdu will be availalbe on June 27th at 14:00 CET (20:00 CST, 8 AM EDT, 15:00 AST, 21:00 JST)[/p]
  • [p]\[BETA] VR mode: See the world in VR while in the Track Editor, or in game in a few select Environments [/p]
  • [p]Text Chat: The Text chat is now available during the entire lobby's life, and can be seen directly in the lobby even when the game hasn't started yet[/p]
  • [p]Leaderboards: Leaderboard are now available from lobbies, session settings, and escape menu directly[/p]
  • [p]Better Loadings: Loading screens now displays progress instead of freezing the game[/p]
[p][/p][h3]🚀 Optimisations & Improvements[/h3]
  • [p]Files restructuration: Game files and systems have been completely restructured, making the game take less space on the disk (40.4Go -> 33.2Go)[/p]
  • [p]RAM optimisation: RAM usage has been optimised, resulting in less memory use in most situations[/p]
  • [p]Engine: Upgraded Unity Engine to version 6.1[/p]
  • [p]UI stability: The UI has been completely reworked behind the scenes, making it more stable and flexible[/p]
  • [p]Improved multiplayer: Better performance and stability for multiplayer, game server upgraded to a new version[/p]
  • [p]Depth of field: Depth of field graphical option is now disabled by default in all quality presets[/p]
  • [p]Better spectator mode: Spectator camera system has been improved for a better drone tracking and camera selection[/p]
  • [p]Improved drone collision: Drone collission behaviour has been improved in direct mode, making it more physically accurate[/p]
  • [p]Environment lighting: Improved and optimised environment lighting[/p]
  • [p]Localisation: Updated some localisation text[/p]
  • [p]Many other minor optimisations and improvements [/p]
[p][/p][h3]🧹 Bug fixes:[/h3]
  • [p]Fixed bugs related to the spectator camera[/p]
  • [p]Fixed an issue making it impossible to select a checkpoint that has never been used, after loading a track in the track editor[/p]
  • [p]General UI & HUD fixes and harmonisation, including fixes for improper scaling on non-16:9 monitors[/p]
  • [p]Fixed terrain shaders displaying incorrectly[/p]
  • [p]Fixed Drone presentation camera behaving incorrectly in some cases[/p]
  • [p]Fixed issue of not being able to set someone else as the admin[/p]
  • [p]Fixed lobby settings sometimes being unavailable after pressing “Back To Lobby”[/p]
  • [p]Reduced volume of UI sound effects[/p]
  • [p]Fixed issue where singleplayer GameServer instances kept accumulating and were never getting removed[/p]
  • [p]Fixed the Field of View of the Track Editor camera being broken in certain cases[/p]
  • [p]Fixed Drone collision status sometimes not resetting after respawn[/p]
  • [p]Fixed Bloom and Depth of Field settings being swapped[/p]
  • [p]Various other bug fixes[/p]
[p][/p][h3]🧐 Known Issues:[/h3]
  • [p]In multiplayer, other pilots’ drones appear to stutter and move in a choppy way. This is only visual, and does not impact your times, but is very distracting. A fix should soon be released.[/p]
[p][/p][p]Thank you for reading![/p][p]
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