SimplePlanes News

We’re getting closer to testing SimplePlanes 2, and we’re now opening signups for anyone interested in joining the playtest once it begins.

This isn't the official start of the playtest just yet — we're still working hard to get things ready. But we want to start gathering a pool of potential testers so that, when the time comes, we can begin bringing people in gradually.

The plan is to invite testers in small batches at first, then open things up more as we go. We're aiming for a wide range of experience levels and playstyles to help us test from different angles. That includes longtime players, casual builders, mobile veterans trying SP2 on PC for the first time — everyone brings something valuable to the table.

If you’re interested in helping us test the game and provide feedback, you click the link at the bottom of this post. It asks for some basic info about your hardware, your experience with SimplePlanes, and what you’re most excited about in SP2. It should only take a few minutes.

One important note: signing up doesn’t guarantee you’ll be invited. We expect more signups than we’ll be able to accommodate, especially in the early phases. But we’ll be reviewing responses regularly and bringing in new testers over time.

Sign up here for the SimplePlanes 2 Playtest

Today we are releasing our final update for SimplePlanes. Release notes are here. We had a few small features and several bug fixes that have accumulated in our repo so we decided to finish them up and push out a final update before sailing away to the next project(s). This will be our last update for SimplePlanes, unless we have any critical issues that pop up, but hey that doesn't mean the story ends here!

You might ask "is the next major project SimplePlanes 2?" Great question! That's a very strong contender and there are other ideas that we are very excited about as well. The team has been focusing on researching and developing core technologies that can be used in future games.

Today we are also releasing an update for Juno: New Origins along with a collaboration with @Linx bringing his amazing KSP mod Parallax to Juno with improved performance and visuals.

To celebrate all of this we are going to offer a week long discount to all of our titles on Steam, so if you have been thinking of getting the original SimpleRockets or SimplePlanes VR, now it is the time!



These discounts apply on top of the Aerospace Engineer bundle, so if you want both Juno and SimplePlanes or just one of them and you already own the other, you can get them with an extra 15% discount.

As always, thanks for playing!

Cover image credit: @Rafalemmm (aircraft)

SimplePlanes version 1.12.125.0 is now live. With the update comes all the necessary tweaks and changes to make SimplePlanes a great experience on the Steam Deck. We hope you enjoy it and please provide us feedback on ways we can further enhance your experience on the Steam Deck. Thanks for playing!

[h3]Tweaks[/h3]

• In the "VR headset not found..." error message, we now show the current OpenXR runtime (for debugging purposes), and a link to the related topic on the Steam forums.
  

[h3]Ever wanted to reach out and grab the flight stick, or flick that switch in SimplePlanes before?[/h3]



Go ahead and give it a try, because SimplePlanes VR is now available to buy with a %20 launch discount! Experience the expanded freedom of SimplePlanes as you fly all the crafts again for the first time, in VR.

SimplePlanes VR is a standalone version of SimplePlanes, which allows you to fly all the crafts/levels/challenges/etc that are available in SimplePlanes, but enhanced by the incredible immersion provided by VR, along with and all the functionality added to SimplePlanes in updates 1.11 and 1.12. We focused on making flying in VR as polished as we could, so SimplePlanes VR does not include the aircraft builder that SimplePlanes has. There are some other differences you should know about. Check the SimplePlanes VR store page out for more info.

Some key info regarding SimplePlanes vs SimplePlanes VR

• SimplePlanes VR will have a launch discount for a limited time.
  
• Once logged in, you have access to fly the same craft in both games.
  
• SimplePlanes includes an aircraft builder, SimplePlanes VR does not.
  
• Except for those which require building; all challenges, islands, locations, aircraft, etc. are available in both games.
  
• Buying them both on Steam will automatically enable VR in SimplePlanes. After VR is enabled in SimplePlanes you can do everything there, without switching games.
  

The latest updates (v1.11 and v1.12) have prepared for this moment by adding tons of new features/parts with content for everyone (VR and non-VR).

We hope you enjoy updates v.1.11 and v1.12 for SimplePlanes, and we also hope you check out SimplePlanes VR, which is now available!