Liftoff: Micro Drones News

The release of our Milestone update performed above expectations, it's been very stable. Nonetheless, update 0.5.1 aims to further polish the newly introduced features and content.

[h2]Changelist:[/h2]

• Updated the race score screen in multiplayer to show the global leaderboard instead of the monthly.
  
• Updated the multiplayer menu to show the sign in as a split panel instead of a single large panel.
  
• Added a notice in the leaderboards menu that scores are only kept saved in multiplayer sessions.
  
• Added the game option to enable/disable checkpoint visual triggers.
  
• Fixed issue with the popup always having a small box visible behind the original popup message.
  
• Fixed issue with leaderboard scores in the race score screen overlapping.
  
• Fixed issue where the global leaderboards wouldn't show the player's best actual score over the course of the monthly leaderboards.
  
• Fixed pixel border masking issue in the leaderboards menu.
  
• Fixed multiplayer room play bar being positioned too high. It now sticks to the bottom of the screen.
  
• Fixed the player score panel not being cleared in multiplayer after a race when no player finished.
  
• Enlarged the player activity icon while in-game.
  
• Updated the progression bar styling to be more consistent with the general UI style.
  

We are super excited to release the first Milestone update for Liftoff: Micro Drones, pushing the game a massive step closer to its V1 release. This is a big one: optimisations, simulation update, Sealand, leaderboards, replays and more!

[h2]Changelist[/h2]

• Added: Sealand day and night environments. Each environment has interactive elements, 3 new race tracks, a hover drone track and 3 balloon collection courses.
  
• Added: The replay feature. From the main menu, in the 'Tools' section, you can now watch saved recordings of your flights.
  
• Added: Leaderboards! Watch your best race and lap times in the leaderboards menu. Cycle through on a monthly bases, or view all-time best scores. The menu is accessible through the main menu, in the 'Tools' section.
  
• Updated: Optimised drone stat calculations, this should result in more authentic simulation.
  
• Updated: Made more motors selectable in workbench, allowing for more configurations.
  
• Updated: Unity game engine. This should give an overall increase in performance.
  
• Updated: All multiplayer menus have been merged into a single menu, saving a few loading screens.
  
• Updated: The multiplayer score screen now shows leaderboard times as well, below to your personal best times.
  
• Updated: The multiplayer room creation menu now shows the environment being selected.
  
• Updated: Set your desired flight mode and assists directly from within the flight controller menu.
  
• Updated: The current flight mode and active flight assists are now shown prior to arming the drone, allowing you to better pre-select the desired flight mode before taking off.
  
• Updated: Larger player avatars are now downloaded, so that they look crisp.
  
• Updated: Optimized the drone HUD to be less CPU intensive.
  
• Updated: Optimized several content files to be more loading efficient. This reduces installation size (-3GB) and decreases loading times when flying on a track.
  
• Fixed: The flight mode and active flight assists are now saved between drone resets. This prevents from having to reselect the right flight mode again after each drone reset.
  
• Fixed: Many minor bug fixes.
  
• Fixed: On macOS only - shader issue with the plant in the San Lipo Drive environments not rendering its leaves correctly.

[h2]Welcome to the Principality of Sealand[/h2]
Have you ever power looped a whole nation?

[previewyoutube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zf8LJzAcQA[/previewyoutube]

With official government permission from the Principality of Sealand, we are excited to see you all discover the coolest micro nations in the North Sea!

Sealand brings a complete new experience to Liftoff simulators: not only do you have to consider that drones don't swim and seagulls don't chill, at night you also have to deal with some stormy weather. Nothing a pro pilot can't handle ;)

E Mare Libertas!

[h2]Soon: Sawdust Inc. [/h2]
Last month we teased a new level called Sawdust Inc, and we are excited to reveal another section of this level. Sawdust inc is going to feature the bigger indoor Liftoff: Micro Drones environment to date, with 4 discting areas, from a wood workshop and a warehouse, to offices and a furniture showroom. Here's another screenshot of this exciting new level that will become available in Liftoff: Micro Drones in the near future.

The Liftoff team has been hard at work behind the scenes. We have some great things for the project coming soon. Today we add the Cetus Pro from BetaFPV to the simulator, a really sleek and lightweight setup that many burgeoning micro drones pilots have enjoyed as a starter setup. We are also excited to reveal what's next for Liftoff: Micro Drones. Make sure to check out new level reveal "Sawdust Inc."

[h2]CHANGELIST[/h2]

• Added new Cetus Pro frame and blueprint
  
• Added new BetaFPV 1102 18000KV Brushless Motor (Currently only usable on Cetus Pro)
  
• Added new BetaFPV BT2.0 450mAh Battery
  
• Added new 1635 Tri-blade propellers
  
• Updated Driblet Antenna and blueprint icon
  
• Minor bugfixes
  

[h2]WHAT DOES THE FUTURE BRING?[/h2]
Expect the following things in the near future:
- The addition of official leaderboards and a replay feature.
- A rework of the simulated parts system. This is mostly an internal improvement that will allow us to add more exotic parts in the future.
- A new level called Sawdust Inc. We are excited to show you the first (work in progress) screenshots of this level.

We are ending the year in style with a final Liftoff: Micro Drones update for 2021. Thank you for your support and enthusiasm, it makes a massive difference! Stay tuned for an amazing 2022!

[h2]Changelist[/h2]

• Tweaked drag values, this should result in a more locked in feeling.
  
• Introduced damage calculation differences for frames with and without prop guards.
  
• Update the damage indicator with colors, should be easier to notice prop damage.
  
• Level selector has been added to the singleplayer finish screen, quickly jump to the next level or track when finishing a race.
  
• Some ground surfaces should now slide more.
  
• More drone customisation options: added a motor category
  
• Added 3 brushed and 10 brushless motor variations. These impact flight behaviour.
  

[h2]Flight behaviour tweaks[/h2]
Last week’s throttle update was a success: you tried it out, liked it (awesome!) and provided us with additional feedback. This feedback all pointed in the same direction, tweaking the drag value might push it another step closer to perfection. In this update, the drag coefficient has been slightly increased, this should make the micro drones feel more locked in: sharper cornering, less drifting, and a slight decrease in overall speed. Your favourite Micro Drone should now be a lot more controllable, without losing that magic fun feeling we already offered in previous versions. We’d love to know what you think!

[h2]More content and customisation[/h2]
The current Early Access version already offers solid fun experience, but can’t hold its ground in terms of content compared to classic sims like Liftoff, that have had a 6 year head start. Introducing new content to Liftoff: Micro Drones is a long-term endeavour that starts with this update.
Included are more parts to customise your setup, now you can change the motors of your favourite Micro Drones, impacting not just the way your drone looks but also flies.

Early next year we hope to introduce a few additional frames, and soon after we’ll be teasing the next level that's currently in production.

This update introduces 2 changes that have been at the center of the feedback we have received from you.

We noticed pilots new to Liftoff simulators were unaware of some of our shortcuts (example: "V" to change camera "A" to change flight mode). It was clear we needed to make information of these shortcuts more easily available. Before, you could only access our Button menu by going to Options in the Main Menu. We have reworked the systems to be more easily offered at different locations in the game: more specifically you can now access the Button setup menu in the Pause menu, while playing the game.

Another point of feedback was the flight behaviour. Different pilots look for different things, have different experiences, opinions and preferences. Collecting feedback as early as possible is key to making a successful simulator, that's what Early Access is all about. Our goal is to work incrementally and keep tweaking and improving physics and flight behaviour for years to come, as there's no such thing as a perfect simulation. This update introduces some first tweaks to throttle controls and should also make the drones feel slightly more powerful. Your feedback on these changes should help us define the next step in flight behaviour improvements.
Disclaimer: some of your fleet setups (and Workshop uploads) might need to be tweaked again.

[h2]Changelist:[/h2]

• Reworking our Button setup menu to be consistent at different places in the game.
  
• Making the Button setup menu available in the Pause menu, easy to access during gameplay.
  
• Providing a first tweak to the flight behaviour: drones might feel slightly more powerful and will require less throttle input to start hovering.
  
• Decreased project size by 2Gb.