Liftoff News

Not much of Liftoff’s original 2015 version remains, most of its code has been rewritten, and much of the content refreshed. Back then, it launched as a single-player experience with just 3 drones, 4 levels, and none of the features we now take for granted: leaderboards, freestyle mode, bots, tutorials, or a track builder. With everything we’ve achieved so far, imagine what the next 10 years could bring. We’re fully committed to supporting Liftoff for another decade.

As we step into 2025, what’s on the horizon? Our plan remains clear: continuing with our tried-and-true approach: improving whats already there and rolling out new features and content.

Currently, we have two levels in production, each at different stages of development. The first, titled "Rustline," is slated for release in Q1 of this year. Here's a very early sneak peak.




[h2]Celebrating the past and future decade of Liftoff. [/h2]

This year is particularly special as it marks the 10th anniversary of Liftoff, a decade of innovation, community, and progress.

This anniversary marks the start of an exciting new chapter with our sights set on Liftoff 2.0. Our focus: refreshing older content and visuals while expanding customization options. We want Liftoff to evolve from a sim built for you to a sim you can shape: your drones, your levels, your content, your vibes.

It begins with the launch of a completely revamped track builder (a true game changer), soon to be followed by a HUD customization tool, now in its final stages of development. For a glimpse of Liftoff’s fresh new look, here’s a preview of our UI revamp, making Liftoff look less 2015 and more 2025 from the moment you booth up the sim:





Disclaimer: Nothing shared in this post is set in stone. We follow an organic development approach, and plans may evolve over time based on opportunities and community feedback. While we’re eager to get everything into your hands as quickly as possible, we’re fully committed to taking the time needed to ensure everything is done just right.

A few additional fixes and optimizations, along with an improved drone search option based on community feedback.

[h2]Changelist[/h2]

• Updated: the drone selection menu's can now search for drone setups, and the layout has been made more consistent.
  
• Updated: Hall26 lighting, performance and thumbnails.
  
• Fixed: several texture and material shadows.
  
• Fixed: the race timer would start before arming the drone in the rare case where the first checkpoint of the race was right in between the environment's origin point and the drone spawnpoint.
  
• Other: split up large game files into several smaller packages so that future updates to textures and materials will result in smaller updates.
  
• Minor backend bugfixes

Gather 'round, dear friends, for a joyous celebration awaits in our festive 4-week in-game holiday extravaganza!

Embrace the spirit of the season as you embark on a merry quest to uncover every snowman nestled within a single Liftoff level. With each discovery, unlock the enchanting "Snow Spotter" achievement.
May your days be merry and bright.

Yesterday’s update, version 1.6.6, marked a significant milestone for Liftoff. It introduced an essential engine update that lays the groundwork for the project’s future growth. These updates are crucial for ensuring Liftoff’s continued evolution, but they always come with challenges.

Engine updates are tricky; they often uncover unforeseen problems in unexpected places, sometimes beyond what internal testing can reveal. We’ve been hard at work addressing the major issues reported since yesterday's update, and today’s version 1.6.7 aims to fix several of them. We’ll continue rolling out quick-fix updates if needed.

[h2]Changelist[/h2]

• Updated: the 'Fixed drone setup' multiplayer game modifier now allows you to use modified variants of the drone setup. The game will ask you to select a compatible drone when joining the game, if any are available.
  
• Updated: the gameplay options menu now always scales with the contents rather than having a fixed size and requiring to scroll down.
  
• Updated: improved lighting for Liftoff Arena environment.
  
• Fixed: pink visuals on Intel-based mac systems.
  
• Fixed: multiplayer 'waiting for others' issue.
  
• Fixed: in multiplayer infinite race, when spectation another player while the game settings were being changed, your drone wouldn't allow to reset.
  

Thank you all for your reports and your patience, it truly means the world to us. We do everything with the best intentions, but we’re not perfect and sometimes things slip through. Knowing we have such an engaged and supportive community makes all the difference, and we never take it for granted.

Meet the Racewhoop! This little powerhouse is a 3D-printed, 2.5-inch drone that’s as versatile as it is fun.

[h2]Changelist[/h2]

• Added Racewhoop 2.5" drone frame and blueprint.
  
• Added Bushmaster 2105.5 2800KV and Bushmaster 2105.5 3600KV motors.
  
• Added Camulus T63 6-blade propellers.
  
• Added S-Line 5S battery.
  
• Added Redot Mini action camera.
  
• Added a new tournament format: Elimination with double and single elimination formats.
  
• Added a toggle to skip the countdown in races, when possible.
  
• Added a slider to set the coloring threshold for the race lap timer. This allows you to fine-tune how strictly the lap timer reports improvement or regression in your checkpoint timing.
  
• Updated the game engine for increased performance and frame consistency.
  
• Updated the flight controller settings menu to allow setting the throttle start and end values.
  
• Updated the game options menu with a dedicated 'Race' section to update settings related to race game modes.
  
• Updated tournaments to allow switching to a different drone setup in-game, rather than returning to the tournaments menu again.
  
• Fixed descriptions for several batteries where the described values didn't match internal specifications.
  
• Fixed multiplayer game modifiers not being displayed properly in the games lobby.
  
• Fixed issue where 'broken' drone setups could still register a tournament tryout.
  
• Fixed action camera skins issue where they would not allow to recolor the camera.
  
• Fixed several graphical issues in the Short Circuit, Pine Valley, Bando City, Bardwell's Yard, Hall 26, Dubai Legends and Hannover environments.
  
• Fixed drone stats not showing correctly in the drone selection option of the pause menu.
  
• Updated lighting visuals in Dubai Legends, Hall26, Minus Two and Paris Drone Festival.
  
• Fixed issue where track items with multiple checkpoints would not properly display which checkpoint to fly through during a race.
  Fixed: exploit where multiplayer game modifiers weren't applied properly when switching the game settings mid-play.
  
• Fixed issue with the race guides not properly visualizing the path if a track item with multiple checkpoints was set as a start or ending checkpoint of a race.
  

EDIT: For those who experience MP issues after the 1.6.6 release, a quickfix was released that (hopefully) fixes most of these problems. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience.




[h2]Dquad Fixation Tournament - Finals are about to commence.[/h2]
The stage is set for the highly anticipated Dquad Fixation Tournament Finals! In the coming weeks, we’ll officially kick off this thrilling event. Our finalist pilots have been contacted and are prepared to face off in Liftoff, competing in the debut of our newly introduced Elimination Tournament format.

We invite everyone to check out the new tournament system as our finalist compete and we’re excited to roll out this format for everyone to enjoy after the Dquad Fixation Tournament Finals wrap up.

As always we thank our sponsor Dquad for making this possible!