Frontiers Reach News

This weeks update builds more upon last weeks update and adds some new features. The biggest feature add is the new paint job customization of the S-27 Wildboar, and the F-42 Mermidon. Along with this feature is the ability to save and load paint jobs that can be applied to any of the starfighters. With that said, we've currently disabled all other starfighters from being able to be flown until we've gotten the new updates to the flight system and the camera system propogated throughout the game and each starfighter integrated with the new custom paint job shading system.

- Added new custom paint job system with support for the Kruger Interstellar S-27 Wildboar and Lochland & Masters F-42 Mermidon starfighters.

- Paint jobs can be saved and load onto any starfighter that is currently hooked up to the new shading system.

- More updates to the flight mechanic to give it more of a dynamic feel and to add in additional flight features.

- Flight mechanic will now compensate for having variance in atmopshere to include no atomsphere.

- Updates to camera system. It is smoother and supports additional features we will be enabling in the near future.

- Major updates to the input system that now supports generic controllers and joysticks and will switch on the fly during gameplay. Much of this work is foundational work for custom key and axis bindings.

Fixed a small bug that caused player starfighter to fail launching after crashing and pressing the reload button in the middle of spawning.

Fixed bug that had secondary fire and decelerate on the same key/button binding.

We've deployed a hot fix to address an issue with the third person camera when configured from the settings menu.

This week we have a completely new camera system, have made massive optimizations to the new cloud rendering system, and have made more progress on getting the planetary maps scaled up. We've also laid the foundation work for a starfighter paint job customization as well. Additionally there is a lot of new artwork for the RNV Heliosiren both in the model that is seen during missions and on the bridge between missions. This weeks update in conjunction with ground work laid last week mark the release of our 0.3.X version of the game up from 0.2.X. While the patch notes may seem small a lot of artwork was touched up and optimized to get the experience in a better state over all.

- The Frontiers Reach Sector 17A planet location map has had major optimizations done to the artwork in an effort to test new tools for optimizing planet locations.

- Massively scaled up planetary maps. Play area is now 75km2 in Unity Units which is roughly 1 Unity units to 1 meter.

- Implemented first iteration of new camera system with look controls for gamepad and joystick.

- Major optimizations to cloud rendering system.

- Major optimizations of Heliosiren model that should reduce the impact on game performance. This also includes a new animation for the hangar door that includes visible mechanical components.

- The RNV Heliosiren now sports a graphic on her hull to give the carrier some personality.

- Completely new artwork for the bridge of the Heliosiren.

- Fixed a bug that would allow players to enter the reload and rearm sequence despite being in the initial launch sequence.

This weeks update sees a huge shake up in art, flight mechanics, and the launch sequence players will go through at the begining of each mission. This new launch sequence should over all see significantly fewer instances of launching into the hangar door and a general smoother experience across the board. We've also updated to Unity 2020 to try and solve some issues with linux builds.

- Integrated newest version of cloud rendering system.

- Integrated new flight mechanic into the game that is physics based and much smoother than the previous one.

- Completely new launch sequence at the start of each mission with some ground work laid for more accurate and higher quality audio presentation.

- Most starfighters now have a cockpit closing animation as a part of the launch sequence.

- Added new landing sequence with easier landing and audio alert prompting a landing confirmation when the 1 key is pressed or left on the D-pad.

- Added the ability to request a landing to reload and repair with the 2 key or down button on D-pad. Starfighter will immediately relaunch afterwards.

- Collision impact force checking has been reimplemented for those collisions that fall within the angle check.

- More backend changes to better handle how friendlies are spawned into the map.

- Tweaks to AI to adjust for the inclusion of the of the new flight mechanic.

- Performance tweaks to AI collision avoidance.

- Added new mission info panel to the redesigned S-27 cockpit. Will be added to newer redesigns as they are completed.

- Previous 3rd person camera system has been stripped out and replaced with a fixed camera until some issues regarding camera jerk have been solved. Aim is to eventually move to cinemachine camera.

- Major overhaul and upscaling of the Frontiers Reach Sector 17A map. This map is the future of the game in terms of scale. It contains a new terrain texture upgrade that eliminates visible tiling of textures.

- Rudimentary mouse flight setup for the new flight mechanic. Improvements are planned for future versions.