SimplePlanes 2 News

[p]Sitting in SimplePlanes 1’s vast ocean is one of the game’s most iconic locations, which isn’t an island at all, nor necessarily a building; it’s a ship.[/p][p][/p][p]The USS Beast has been a much-loved part of the original SimplePlanes, but with its last revision being all the way back in 2019 with Version 1.8, it’s been long overdue for an upgrade.[/p][p][/p][p]I’m not gonna mince words: Kevin has done a phenomenal job giving the Beast a complete remake. The entire thing was completely rebuilt from scratch, nothing was untouched. The entire model is so much higher in fidelity, feeling more like a real location than the Beast ever has, with some neat new features to boot.
[/p][p]Letting Kevin take over for a minute, here’s some insight into the creative process behind the Beast II:[/p]

[p]The USS Beast II aircraft carrier was inspired by the real-world CVN-78 Gerald R. Ford class. I kept the iconic silhouette of the angled flight deck and island superstructure so it’s instantly recognizable as a modern naval powerhouse. But from there, I deliberately left the design open so we could work around some frustrating gameplay elements with the elevators in the landing zone along with vertex budget management. The goal wasn't to create a perfect 1:1 replica, but something that is authentic and grounded/game-ready.
[/p]

[p]Alongside an entire new model, the Beast II sports some neat extra additions:[/p]

• [p]Destructible planes are parked all over the deck[/p]
• [p]There are fancy new buttons in the UI for using the catapults and elevators[/p]
• [p]The carrier’s movement leaves a wake in the ocean behind it with actual physics, creating hazardous water conditions for any vessels following too closely [/p]

[p][/p][p][/p][p]If you happen to be wondering where the carrier’s typical destroyer escort is, don’t worry – the old escort duo has been retired so you can’t see them anywhere in this showcase, but they are pending new, more modern replacements that will be ready to keep your trigger finger in check same as ever :)[/p][hr][/hr][p]In the wake of the new Beast II, you might have noticed that the water in SimplePlanes 2 is looking quite a bit different from the very flat water in SimplePlanes 1. That’s because it is![/p][p][/p][p]Using an asset called Crest by Wave Harmonic – the same asset that allows us to have bodies of water above sea level for things like rivers – we’re finally able to support significantly improved water graphics and physics.[/p][p][/p][p]The biggest thing Crest gives us aside from rivers is support for actual waves that jostle your craft around. The flat seas of SP1 are no more, now you have to design your boats with turbulent water in mind lest you get caught in the waves and capsize. Here you’ll see a gif with a debug tool showing some behind the scenes stuff for the physics, with little pink nodes showing exactly what parts of the water are being sampled to gently (or violently) bounce your craft around.
[/p][p][/p][p]Wave size varies depending on the weather, water depth, and location, meaning things will be much more intense if you set the weather to stormy far out in the sea than if you’re in fair weather on the coast.[/p][p]
(Gif at 2x speed to make gif compression easier)[/p][p][/p][p]Thanks to a mod by Gestour (with help from Nicky), you’ve actually been able to play SP1 with waves for nearly five years. As such, crafts that were made with this mod in mind may behave better in SP2 than ones that weren’t. If on the other hand you designed your ships for the flat mirror-like oceans of SP1, you may unfortunately be in for a slight rude awakening. We’ve tested a ton of crafts from the website and many of them don’t take to the seas of SP2 very well, so you may have to do some extra tuning to survive out there.[/p][p][/p][p]Aside from just waves that throw you around, the new water has a whole bunch of visual improvements. Improved underwater graphics, caustics on both the sea floor and your craft, sea foam, different colours based on the environment, coastal waves… It’s all a huge gamechanger not just for ship builders, but for pretty much anybody.
[/p][hr][/hr][p]If you like what you're seeing, please consider wishlisting the game! If you'd like to see bits of these blogs early, consider joining our Discord Server![/p]

[p]Hello again! It's blog post time again, this time with yet another set of map-related stuff to show off! We've got vehicles, a new island, and more! So let's get started:[/p][p][/p][hr][/hr][p]In SimplePlanes 2 there are a number of vehicles that spawn around the map, ranging from cars to airplanes, boats, and even the occasional blimp or hot air balloon. They all spawn in predefined areas that we’re able to set, and each has a randomized colour palette.[/p][p][/p][p]In order to maintain a balance of quality and performance (among other reasons), these vehicles are their own handmade 3D models rather than crafts made in the game. Achieving something with the scope we wanted is a large undertaking, so we called in reinforcements.[/p][p][/p][p]Enter Emmanuelle Le Nouaille, or simply Emma. Emma is a 3D artist who’s been making many of these vehicles for us, having previously made a number of structures for a little-known game called Microsoft Flight Simulator. Everything she’s made for SP2 is built to look pretty without feeling stylistically out of place with the rest of the game, serving as nice little setpieces to make the world of SP2 feel less lonely.[/p][p][/p][p]Emma has some words of her own to share in regards to the creative process here, so I’m going to let her take over now:[/p]

[p]I was asked to make several vehicles to populate the airport, including a blimp, hot air balloon, a yacht, golf cart, planes and a helicopter. This was a fun task as I got to use some of the skills and techniques I had learned working on Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, where I was taught very handy hard surface modelling techniques that give a really nice result. I am very proud of the vehicles I have made for SimplePlanes 2 and hope they enhance the overall game.[/p][p][/p][p]The vehicle modelling process is always the same for me, first I need to create a bounding box that is the length, width and height of the vehicle I am making, then I set up some blueprints of that vehicle which I download off the internet. Next I will start with primary shapes, a box, or cylinder or plane, which I conform and add lines to and slowly build up the final shape from the least amount of lines possible. Once the silhouette is correct I can start adding details like windows and doors and some panels, which I cut into the surface. And, finally, I add the small parts, like door handles, aerials, and lights. The main difficulty was trying to keep the polycount as low as possible while also making sure all the curved surfaces were curved enough. Once the vehicle is modeled, I lay out the UVs to be able to texture it. I made the textures fairly simple to match the style of the vehicles players make in the game. Also, the materials are made to be able to change the color of the vehicles ingame for more variety. The last step is to create LODs (level of details): From the vehicle I modeled and textured, I make a version with a reduced amount of polygon that will be displayed in the game from a distance. It’s a classic optimization method that is very efficient to make the game run faster.[/p]

[p][/p][hr][/hr][p]Located just off the east coast of Vetusta Island is a whole other island we haven’t talked about yet, called Driftwood Island.[/p][p][/p][p]Driftwood is a bit different from the other three islands. It’s a small, eccentric private island that’s densely packed with fun playspaces, with its main attraction being:[/p][p][/p][p]Named after Kunimitsu Takahashi – a legendary Japanese racing driver who popularized the art of drifting in a car – Kunimitsu Airport is a private airport set on the southern end of Driftwood Island, built to be a hotspot for all sorts of high-profile racing events both on and off the ground.[/p][p][/p][p]Kunimitsu is another collaboration with Emma that we’re very proud of, so once again I’ll let her speak for herself:[/p]

[p]Due to my previous experience as an environment and props artist, working on Flight Simulator 2020, creating airports, monuments and vehicles I was hired by Jundroo to work on SimplePlanes 2. The first model I worked on was \[Kunimitsu] airport. Working closely with the team, I designed original buildings that look like a small private airport with all its functionalities: runways, taxi ways, control tower (ATC), firestation, terminal, hangar, radar antenna and fuel station. It was a fun task to do as I got to express creativity with the designs while keeping them functional and fun to play. We wanted a classy feel, inspired by luxury hotels in Dubai and also private airports, while keeping with the mood of the game.[/p][p][/p][p]From the blockout and the brief provided by the team I modelled a terminal building with organic shapes and a glass ceiling, inspired by modern architecture. The team wanted the airport to be able to receive a lot of different vehicles from air, ground and water so we designed it with helipads on the roof, a big hangar at the front where small planes can come from the runways, floating piers at the back to park boats and an underground parking for cars. I hope it's fun to play around on.[/p][p][/p][p]The ATC is a fairly classic design but since the Terminal building is quite tall, the ATC needed to be tall as well. This became a problem as it felt out of place next to the terminal. To solve that problem, plus balance the design more, we ended up lowering the roof of the Terminal and adding a race control tower on the lower section of the ATC. Yes, I forgot to mention before, we have a racetrack at the airport.[/p][p][/p][p]I designed the main hangars next to the terminal building with arched roofs. The team liked the idea and pushed it further, "Why not be able to drive on the hangar?" Following their idea, I modified the shape to have the roof starts from the ground, that way players can drive on the hangar with cars. I adjusted the models several times so they work nicely together in harmony.[/p]

[p][/p][hr][/hr][p]You read Emma correctly; woven into Kunimitsu Airport is a full-fledged race track, lovingly crafted by another contributor we’ve brought on to help us create SP2’s environments.[/p][p][/p][p]The Driftwood Circuit and most of its surroundings besides the airport is made by Henry Deng, who many of you may know better as DeezDucks, a prominent member of the SimplePlanes community and a moderator on our website. Collaborating with him has been a treat, and it’s resulted in one of my favourite areas in the game.[/p][p]As with Emma’s contributions, Henry is much more suited to talk about this than me, so I’ll leave the rest of the explanation to him:[/p]

[p]Most of you may already know me, some of you may not. I’ve recently had the opportunity to help out with environmental assets and related art for SP2. Of the items I’ve worked on so far, the most recent and by far the largest is Driftwood Circuit. Connected to and carving through Kunimitsu’s airport layout, Driftwood Circuit represents a huge leap in fidelity for race tracks over SP1. While the layout of the circuit was already made (the full layout of which I’ll leave a secret, but will look familiar to those who notice), I worked on the trackside buildings, barriers, and details. Something that I wanted to improve on from SP1’s tracks was the immersion and sense of scale. Alongside the improved fitment of the track with the terrain, the inclusion of new runoffs and barriers will make racing between friends much more forgiving (sometimes, sometimes not) and fun.[/p][p][/p][p]The circuit is separated into four distinct sectors, each with a unique feel. I looked at a wide variety of real life tracks and modeled certain aspects after them as an homage to legendary racetracks and to try and show respect to our motorsports enthusiasts. The last sector includes a number of alternate routes, allowing for multiple combinations and lengths of layouts. These combined with the new activities, will give everybody a ton of things to do in lots of different cars, from formula racers, to drift cars or stadium trucks. In the future, Driftwood Circuit won’t be the only track to populate the island, and hopefully they’ll live up to the hype. I’ll be back a few more times this week to talk about some of the other things I’ve been working on.[/p]

[p][/p][hr][/hr][p]Among the contributions Henry has made to the world of SP2 besides Driftwood Circuit are various bridges around the map, ranging from a grand suspension bridge connecting two islands together to a small bridge on a touge. There are quite a few bridges scattered across the islands; if you happen to be a bridge enthusiast, I’m sure you’ll have fun. Or maybe you just want to blow them up, nobody’s gonna stop you.[/p][p]As with last time, I will be acting as a bridge for Henry to talk about some of this stuff himself. Here’s what he has to say:[/p]

[p]Acting as the gateway into New Yoke from Middleton, the suspension bridge helps form the main land corridor between the island chain’s two major cities. Following the stylistic direction we wanted, I looked to combine some more classic North American examples with some from East Asia, particularly from Guizhou province in China to create a more unique design.[/p][p]A number of factors relating to player interactions were considered. The bridge incorporates an array of decorative lights and functional anti-collision beacons, helping it stand out at night. Due to the nature of the terrain on both sides of the water, I had to give the deck of the bridge a rather aggressive arch so that there was enough clearance for most types of military and commercial vessels. If your ship just won't fit, fear not! The entire main structure is able to be fractured, so you can just blast your way through. The rest of the islands have multiple smaller bridges dotted across the landscape, but this one is the standout feature in comparison.[/p]

[p][/p][hr][/hr][p]Scattered across the SimplePlanes Archipelago are various little points of interest that add some much-needed atmosphere. These, too, are made by Henry! Here’s what he has to say:[/p]

[p]A variety of different POIs dot the landscape of SP2, these are meant to provide players with options that encourage them to explore the more remote corners of the map. Three different types of POIs currently exist: Lighthouses, Firewatch Lookouts, and stunt ramps. Each type has two variations, and more unique POIs are planned for the future.[/p][p][/p][p]A number of lighthouses guard the islets and dangerous coasts across the islands. They function with working beacon lights that cast out into the darkness, the tower has both a tall buttressed version, and a shorter stout one. This variety combined with auxiliary support buildings, helps give each location a unique feel.[/p][p][/p][p]The firewatch towers come in a tall stilted version and a short stone based one. Often placed far into the forest, these towers provide great opportunities to kick your feet up and enjoy the landscape.[/p][p][/p][p]Lastly, players can find a number of stunt jumps dotting the landscape, the call of the void manifested. Coming in a rickety wood and more sturdy steel version, these will help players get maximum air before gravity inevitably takes over.[/p][p][/p][p]More unique POIs are planned as the game progresses, but we’ll keep them a secret for now :)[/p]

[p][/p][hr][/hr][p]If you like what you're seeing, please consider wishlisting the game! If you'd like to see bits of these blogs early, consider joining our Discord Server![/p]

[p]Hey everyone,[/p][p][/p][p]It’s getting late in 2025, and we’ve been hearing a familiar question more and more: "When is the game actually coming out?" So, let’s talk about it. I’ve got good news and bad news.[/p][p][/p][p]The good news: We finally have a release month
The bad news: It's not until next year[/p][p][/p][p]We are going to release SimplePlanes 2 on Steam as Early Access in March of 2026. We're still considering what the initial price will be, most likely it will be $20 or $25 with a 10% launch discount and that price will go up when we exit Early Access. At this point we don't expect to delay the mobile release, but it's certainly possible it will slip to 2027.[/p][p][/p][p]Why Early Access? Because we wouldn't dream of trying to finish this game without the community's input. We’ve built something here that we’re truly proud of and it's shaping up to be our most exciting, feature-packed launch ever. But there's still work to do: localization, VR support, more parts, more environments, and most importantly, time to listen and respond to the community before calling it final.[/p][p][/p][p]Early Access is the only sensible way to release a game like this, for a community like this.[/p][p][/p][h2]But, wait! There's more good news![/h2][p]Now, for the really exciting part. This October, we're releasing a free, limited-time demo on Steam for everyone. This demo, which we're internally calling the Flight Demo, is focused on letting you experience multiplayer and a taste of the new environments. Here's what to expect:[/p]

• [p]The designer will be "read-only": You can load up and look at any craft, including your SP1 crafts, but you can't modify them. You won't be able to add, remove, or modify any parts. However, the designer will let you paint your craft so you can check out the new texture system which is pretty sweet.[/p]
• [p]New stock crafts: We have a new set of stock crafts built with love by our playtesters. They are awesome. We'll have a showcase post for them in the future.[/p]
• [p]Driftwood Island: You will be restricted to a small island just east of the main SP2 Isles. It has plenty of great stuff to check out, so don't try to leave because Nathan has installed a very accurate missile system that will shoot you down.[/p]

[p]Aside from those limitations, the demo will let you do quite a lot. You'll be able to start activities such as air & car races, a bomber defense mission, play multiplayer with your friends, or just explore the island! We're really excited to get the game in your hands soon, and we hope this demo will help alleviate some of the sting of having the game delayed. You might even come across a developer in a multiplayer lobby on occasion :)[/p][hr][/hr][p]One last thing. When you check out the Steam page, you might notice some new art. We got new key art for the game from the very skilled Daniel Liske! It turned out really nice, and you'll be seeing it all over the game on Steam now; in the thumbnail, your library, and so on.
[/p][p]If you haven't already, please consider wishlisting SimplePlanes 2 on Steam and joining our Discord Server! We hope to see you in October when we release the demo![/p][hr][/hr][p]Thanks for your patience and thanks for playing![/p][p]-Andrew[/p]

[p]Among the original SimplePlanes parts in desperate need of a facelift is the Resizable Wheel. It was introduced over nine years ago and has received relatively little change since then, besides the addition of a number of new visual styles.[/p][p][/p][p]Needless to say, improving the wheels has been a high priority for SimplePlanes 2, and we’re really excited to finally show off what we’ve been working on.[/p][p][/p][p]To start with, the model for the wheels is much more detailed. Look closely and you’ll see high definition rims, the brake rotor, and the brake caliper – all of which have their own paint trims. There’s also new skidmark and tire smoke visual effects, letting your craft leave a lasting impression everywhere it goes.[/p][p][/p][p]As far as customization goes, there’s the standard size and width options you already know and love, but we also went just a tiny bit overboard and now you have over 20 tire styles, over 20 rim styles, and a bunch of tread styles, all of which can be independently selected. You can also use a slider to adjust the offset of the rim, setting it deeper or shallower into the tire. All of these allow for an insane degree of personalization, letting you make your wheels look exactly the way you want them to.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]But new visuals aren’t the only thing we did with the wheels. Come on, did you really think we’d leave the physics untouched? Because boy oh boy did we touch them.[/p][p][/p][p]The wheel physics have been totally redone, behaving in a much more realistic and fun way. They behave differently depending on the type of surface you’re on (roads, grass, sand, etc), you can drift in them, they have much better colliders, and so much more.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]The new wheels use an elliptical grip model (shout out to @hpgbproductions for making a SimplePlanes 1 mod that does a similar thing two years ago!), which is a difficult concept to explain so if you’re interested you can check out this Wikipedia page. What it essentially means is the way the grip in your wheels works is significantly more dynamic and realistic than before, allowing each wheel to oversteer or understeer depending on a multitude of factors for much more interesting vehicle handling.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]We’ve tweaked the default properties of the elliptical model to what we feel meets a nice middle ground for the needs of most players, but we’ve left those properties open in the craft XML for those of you who want to fine tune your craft’s handling in a more in-depth way.[/p][hr][/hr][p]Wheels are cool and all, but they don’t exist in a vacuum (unless your name is Apollo). In order to make a vehicle that drives smoothly and doesn’t violently break itself apart at the slightest bump, you need suspension.[/p][p][/p][p]You could make suspension in SimplePlanes 1 and many people have happily done so, but it required a fair bit of knowledge of the actual mechanics of real-life suspension and was generally not intuitive to a new player.[/p][p][/p][p]So in SimplePlanes 2, we’ve added a brand new procedural Double Wishbone Suspension part with a variety of tweakable properties. Now you can simply drag and drop some suspension onto your craft, tune it to your liking, slap a wheel on it, and go on your merry way![/p][p][/p][p]Here’s a quick rundown of the suspension properties you can customize:[/p]

• [p]Size & Extension[/p]
  • [p]These are self explanatory. They affect the overall size of the part, as well as how far from the center of the craft it will extend.[/p]
• [p]Length[/p]
  • [p]This defines the suspension’s range of motion and how far off the ground the main body of your craft will be. A nimble racecar made for a track might prefer a shorter suspension that doesn’t travel much, but an offroader will want all the room it can get to navigate perilous terrain.[/p]
• [p]Stiffness[/p]
  • [p]This affects the strength of the spring according to how smooth of an experience you want. A softer spring will make for a more pleasant and stable ride on uneven ground, but may not give the desired responsiveness for a track-oriented car that a more firm spring would.[/p]
• [p]Damper[/p]
  • [p]Effects the suspension’s resistance to vibration. Low damper will make the suspension bouncier when absorbing bumps, and higher damper will keep the suspension steadier which will help plant your tires more firmly onto the road.[/p]
• [p]Shock Position[/p]
  • [p]A purely cosmetic property that affects how far forward or back the shock absorber is.[/p]

[p]Tuning your vehicle’s suspension can be quite a fun process, with an endless variety of configurations depending on what you want – there is no singular “best” option, it’s all about what you want out of any given vehicle. So experiment![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]While the double wishbone is the only suspension configuration currently in the game as of writing this, we also have plans to add straight axle suspension! Kevin has already made the model for it, it just needs to be brought to life on the programming side by Andrew.[/p][p][/p][p]Circling back to wheels for a moment, we’ve also added steering wheels to the game! You’ve got your traditional circular steering wheel, as well as the more rectangular type commonly seen in high-performance race cars. Just like the joysticks and yokes, they can be gripped by Chad for an added layer of interactivity to your craft.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]To make operating the steering wheels more comfortable for Chad, there’s now a reclinable racing chair as well, perfect as a more grounded replacement for the aircraft-centric chairs currently available in the game. You can set it to recline anywhere from 0-90 degrees in the designer, and Chad will lean back along with it – maybe with some neck pain if you don’t adjust his head rotation.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][hr][/hr][p]For all the improvements you’ve seen us make to ground vehicles, there’s still one glaring issue left: engines.[/p][p][/p][p]In SP1, the Car Engine is incredibly barebones and hardly behaves the way it should, as it merely applies torque to a selected set of wheels and does little else. So let’s fix that.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]In SimplePlanes 2 we’re adding procedural engines and transmissions, along with several modular powertrain parts to make it all work. Let’s start with the engine.[/p][p][/p][p]The new procedural engine is highly customizable and has significantly more realistic behaviour, while staying simple to set up. Rotational inertia, torque curves, and angular velocity are all simulated now. This lets you really feel the way your engine responds to the variety of situations you put it in, especially with the new RPM gauge in the flight UI that appears when you’re in a car.[/p][p][/p][p]There are a few properties you can mess around with on the engine:[/p]

• [p]Size[/p]
  • [p]Raising this increases the engine’s horsepower and torque, but reduces its maximum RPM and increases its mass.[/p]

• [p]Cylinders[/p]
  • [p]Increasing the number of cylinders in the engine raises its horsepower and torque without reducing RPM, but makes the engine longer and heavier.[/p]

• [p]Engine Tuning[/p]
  • [p]With the Engine Tuning slider, you can tune the engine to produce more torque but less RPM, or vice-versa. More torque will improve your vehicle’s acceleration and make it better at carrying heavy loads, but the resulting loss in RPM will reduce your top speed which may not be desirable for a racecar.[/p]

[p][/p][p]Next, the transmission. A transmission allows you to optimize your engine’s output according to how fast you’re going, using a set of gears. The new Transmission part gives you a number of things to tinker with: you can choose between manual or automatic shifting, three different gear profiles preconfigured to be optimized for street, racing, and offroad performance, set the number of gears from 3-10, and you can tune it. Similar to the engine tuning, gear tuning allows you to choose whether to prioritize torque or top speed, allowing for further fine tuning beyond just the engine itself.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Now for some really cool stuff. In order to make the engine work, you use a combination of driveshafts, differentials, and transfer cases to link everything together.[/p][p][/p][p]Driveshafts build a path from your engine to other powertrain parts, and differentials and transfer cases allow you to split that output in multiple directions to make any drive configuration you can imagine.[/p][p][/p][p]This might sound complicated, but true to the game’s name (well, half of it anyway) we’ve made it quite simple. Just place a driveshaft at the end of your transmission, and the driveshaft will automatically shift and scale itself around to link to any parts you attach to it, allowing for creation of ground vehicles in a way that is both intuitive and educational.[/p][p][/p][p]While the whole powertrain system might sound like it’s just for ground vehicles, during development we realized how flexible it truly is – so not only will we be adding additional types of car engine, we’ll also accommodate use of the powertrain system for aircraft via propeller engines and turbines![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]We've uploaded a video showing off the new power train system, check it out here:[/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][hr][/hr][p]If you like what you're seeing, please consider wishlisting the game! If you'd like to see bits of these blogs early, consider joining our Discord Server![/p]

[p]This post serves as a follow-up to our previous post about the new wings and fuselages in SimplePlanes 2, with more in-depth information than we gave you in the last one. If you missed Part 1, check it out here.[/p][p][/p][p]This one is going to be a slight change of pace compared to our previous showcases, with some more nerdy talk than usual. If that isn’t your style and you’d rather skip it, then the key takeaway here is this: for SP2, we’ve completely redone the flight model for the wings, making their physics more dynamic and interesting than ever before.[/p][p][/p][p]For the nerds that want the juicy details, I’ve let Nicky (the mastermind behind these new wings) write the rest of the showcase as he can explain it far better than I can:[/p]

[p]Having heard so many stories from people who played the game as a way to explore aeronautics from a young age and later found themselves growing up into qualified pilots, engineers or mechanics, I knew that the educational side of the game was very important, and I always wanted to expand on it in the sequel.[/p][p][/p][p]One way to do this is to increase the fidelity of our flight model. This is something I've been planning for a while and it's great to finally see results. Many modern methods exist for simulating the aerodynamics of aeroplanes, but almost all of them are made for designing real life aircraft. This means that they favour being numerically accurate to real life, at the expense of huge amounts of computational power, and ease of use. SP2's flight model is not for designing real life aircraft and has a very different set of requirements. It needs to be highly performant to run on as many devices as possible and it also needs to be numerically stable. If an iterative solution fails to converge for an aircraft you make, we can't have an engineer hop in and change the simulation parameters to get an accurate solution - it has to just work every time. But, we still want to improve the applicability of the behaviour you see in SP2 to real life engineering. This means we need to increase the range of effects and behaviours that can be expressed by the wings. Of course, we still use real-life data and scaling as much as we can - but we shouldn't let it get in the way of teaching important concepts. Numbers are important, but concepts more so. Here are some new concepts that you'll find in SP2:[/p][p][/p]

• [p]Control Surface Moments[/p]

[p]In addition to increasing or reducing a wing's lift, control surfaces also apply a turning force to the wing they're on. In SP1, you can often deploy your flaps all the way to increase your turn rate and save yourself from an early introduction to the ground. This is less advisable in SP2, where flaps will correctly cause you to pitch down. This also means that elevators on delta wings can work without the fakery required in SP1.[/p][p][/p]

• [p]More in-depth customisation[/p]

[p]As we mentioned in the previous blog, you can tune the airfoil parameters to change how your wing acts. This accentuates the difference between a docile trainer and an aggressively tuned fighter. The range of control surface types you've seen are also not just for show: each one affects your maximum lift, stall angle, moment and drag uniquely.[/p][p][/p]

• [p]Wing Efficiency[/p]

[p]A key consideration when designing a wing is efficiency. It's easy to get buried in airfoil cross sections and forget that there's a third dimension down the span of your wing. We're experimenting with a new system that adds effects driven airflow along the span of your wing. You'll see that longer, thinner wings like you see on a glider are more efficient than shorter stubbier wings. This system makes it so that maximising the efficiency of your build is more than just reducing the frontal surface area for drag.[/p]

[p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][hr][/hr][p]Speaking of drag, this was a fairly painful topic in SimplePlanes 1. The drag model had a ton of problems, which becomes quite apparent when you look at any of the top crafts on the website and notice that they typically have drag disabled on most of the parts.[/p][p][/p][p]In SimplePlanes 2, that old drag model is still there, but you can now choose to switch a craft to a brand new drag model that addresses many of the egregious issues with the old one. The new drag model uses the visual mesh of your craft rather than its colliders. This means the overall drag profile of your craft will be more accurate and intuitive. The curvature and angle of surfaces are now also taken into consideration.[/p][p][/p][p]Crafts using the new drag model should notice a significant reduction in overall drag, allowing for better speed. Performance should be better, especially with very large crafts. The frustrating issues with inexplicable asymmetrical drag should also be resolved.[/p][p][/p][p]The new model also has some cool new behaviours that weren’t in the old model:[/p]

• [p]In-flight Drag Recalculation[/p]
  • [p]Drag will now be automatically recalculated in-flight when the geometry of your craft changes, such as a part being detached or destroyed.[/p]
• [p]Body Lift[/p]
  • [p]Non-wing parts are now capable of generating a small amount of lift based on their angle of attack.[/p]

[p][/p][p]To complement the new drag model, we’ve completely overhauled the drag visualizer in the designer. It is now much more useful and very pretty, with a red to blue gradient depending on how prominent the drag is on a surface, and a pretty animation to go along with it. The new visualizer shows a much more accurate visual of the drag forces on your craft, showing exactly where the draggiest bits are instead of just highlighting entire parts based on their total drag, though you can re-enable that behaviour if you want to.[/p][p][/p][p]The drag visualizer can be tuned to your liking, allowing you to set an angle for the airflow as well as the maximum range of drag values to be shown. Note that as of writing this the visualizer doesn’t work on wings due to technical limitations, though by the time the game is released this may change.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][hr][/hr][p]If you like what you're seeing, please consider wishlisting the game. If you'd like to see bits of these blogs early, consider joining our Discord Server![/p]