BallisticNG News

The major update to 2280 has begun and we're now ready to push out the first part of the changes.

2280 was originally implemented as a cheat mode for fun which has fallen very far behind in quality compared to the rest of the game, so with 1.4 being our last major feature update we're spending the time to re-implement it. In a future content update we'll start to introduce dedicated content for the mode too.

The physics mode selector is now in the custom race menu. And yes, it'll save your selection between game sessions!

[h2]Playing development builds[/h2]

• Right click BallisticNG in your steam library and go to Properties
  
• Go to the betas tab on the window that opens
  
• From the dropdown select development. If the update doesn't automatically queue for download, restart Steam
  
• Once you have opened the game, the version at the bottom right of the menu will read 1.4-d7

[h2]Notices[/h2]
[h3]Camera option changes[/h3]
We've recently updated the camera options to be per camera mode, instead of the previous physics mode based FOVs and global settings with random specific mode settings sprinkled in.

Every camera mode now has it's own FOV and offsets, and any mode specific options are now organised with the respective modes section in the menu. Because of these changes, the names of old camera settings in the ini file have been updated so everything will be reset to their defaults.

[h2]The 2280 Update[/h2]
[h3]Part 1[/h3]
Part 1, this release, is the initial set of changes to the mode. We've laid the groundwork and have begun setting up ship stats. Let us know what you think!

2280s physics are now mostly separated from 2159, which has given us the opportunity to implement everything in a much cleaner and more modern way. Some parts of the physics like the ships thrust and various track bound related behaviours are still running on the 2159 code to keep that consistent, but pretty much everything else is new.

[h3]Part 2[/h3]
Part 2 will be focused on exposing the new ship stats to the modding tools and separating out game mechanics like weapon absorption to be available everywhere.

The goal is for 2280 to become just a physics mode, with the game mechanics becoming options which let you mix and match whatever you like. This includes being able to do things like have weapon absorption and pitlanes enabled at the same time in any of the three physics modes/

We'll also be working towards 2280 having leaderboards, and for this we'll be setting up 2280 to use the afterburner and pitlanes as the default configuration, like with 2159.

[h2]Changelog (since 1.4-d4)[/h2]
[h3]2280[/h3]

• 2280 is now mostly separated from 2159, and everything that has been separated has been rewritten from scratch
  
• Hovering is now handled with 4 hover points which apply torque for track alignment
  
• Full physics zone support (Kuiper Overturn fixed)
  
• The chase camera has been rewritten and now has several options to customize it
  
• Collisions have been rewritten and now include visual / audio feedback when hitting the track floor
  
• Added 2280 specific stats for various parts of the physics (adding to modding tools in a future update)
  
• Added support for manually defined turn speed, gain and falloff stats (adding to modding tools in a future update)
  
• Added grounded grip multiplier stat (adding to modding tools in a future update)
  
• Restored the 2159 engine sound behaviour
  

[h3]Multiplayer[/h3]

• NgServerSettings.BoostMechanic has been changed from an integer to an enumeration type. None, Afterburner, Turbo, Mixed (case insensitive) are now the valid assignments for both the svrset command and in lua.
  
• Updated example dedicated server lua scripts to reflect the BoostMechanic setting change.
  
• Fixed boost mechanic option not being saved or loaded with lobby presets
  
• Fixed initial connection failing and timing out if a player is using a secret ship that the client doesn't have unlocked
  

[h3]Campaign Editor[/h3]

• Added support for gamemode configuration overrides. If you're writing campaigns by hand in XML, save a campaign from the editor after setting up config data and check the GmConfig section to see how this is setup.
  
• Added support for custom weapon pools. If writing an XML by hand, check the PuBlacklist section after using the in-game editor to see how this is setup.
  
• Options which previously cycled through values on clicking are now provided in a list popup.
  

[h3]Custom Race[/h3]

• Customize Weapons renamed to Custom Weapon Pool, and is now saved per gamemode
  
• The boost mechanic option now supports none (multiplayer parity)
  

[h3]Options[/h3]

• All camera settings are now per camera mode. Previous options for specific camera modes are now listed under the camera modes section.
  
• Field of view settings can now go down to 60
  
• Hidden FOV offsets for specific camera modes have been removed. Defaults for these camera modes reflect what they would have been at default settings previously.
  

[h3]Tracks[/h3]

• Added grounder push zone to the light bridge on Luna Reverse in 2280
  
• Added grounder push zone to the off road hill on Freyr Falls / Freyr Falls Reverse in 2280
  
• Increased gravity on Haze and Haze Reverse in 2280
  
• Increased tension of the track spring on Kuiper Overturn and Kuiper Overturn Reverse in 2280
  
• Fixed light bridge floors on Aciknovae Reverse being marked as a TRM floor
  

[h3]Ships[/h3]

• Applying both airbrakes to fully brake now requires that analogue inputs are held 1/4 way down to prevent accidentally trimming speed.
  

[h3]User Interface[/h3]

• Moved physics mode option from Cheats and Extras into Custom Race
  
• Fixed the Forklift Certified title displaying when the Scorplet hasn't been unlocked yet
  
• Fixed DLC track categories being listed below custom tracks (regression in previous development release)
  

[h3]Stats Overlay (F1 twice)[/h3]

• 2159 stat listings are now replaced by the equivalent 2280 stats when in 2280
  
• Camera stats are now editable (in debug mode)
  
• The cameras current FOV is now shown
  

[h3]Engine[/h3]

• Physics toggler track scripts are now ran before ships are spawned
  

We've kicked off development of 1.4 and to get things started, we've been working on some modding features alongside some general features and improvements!

[h2]Playing development builds[/h2]

• Right click BallisticNG in your steam library and go to Properties
  
• Go to the betas tab on the window that opens
  
• From the dropdown select development. If the update doesn't automatically queue for download, restart Steam
  
• Once you have opened the game, the version at the bottom right of the menu will read 1.4-d4

[h2]Notices[/h2]
[h3]Legacy Layout Creator Depreciated[/h3]
1.4 is depreciating the legacy layout creator. It's still in the game and can still be used to create tracks, but has been tucked away so layout creator 2.0 is the focus.

The legacy layout creator can now be accessed by using the mod_legacylayoutcreator console command. Note that it isn't being removed entirely as this is a feature that's important for backwards compatibility.
[h2]Unity Tools Update[/h2]
If you're making mods, you can now download unity packages for development builds of the game:
https://github.com/Neognosis-Workflow/BallisticNG-Unity-Tools/releases/tag/1.4


All changes to releases towards the current major version will be documented on this release page.



[h2]Ship Lua Scripting[/h2]
The game's Lua implementation has been extended to ships!

These enable you to do anything you can imagine, from setting up additional cosmetics to adding new mechanics and physics! Like with custom track lua scripts, these are sandboxed so they're confined to only doing stuff inside the game.

Download the latest Unity Tools to get started with ship lua scripts.

Documentation:

• Creating Lua Runners
• Ship Functions Reference
• API Reference

[h2]Trkd files[/h2]
Trkd (Track Data) files are a new addition to custom tracks which allows menu data to be provided with the track.

Trkd files are compiled and placed next to your tracks trk file. When present, the game will load everything it needs from the trkd, instead of going through the lengthy caching process.

Trkd's can also be embedded into Wtrk files, and will be automatically added / updated if they're next to the Trk when creating / updating the Wtrk.

It's safe to distribute both Trkd and Wtrks with embedded Trkd files to the current public stable release (1.3.3). Older versions of the game will just ingore the files.

Also note that while Trkd files are not required and the game will continue with the current cache process without them, we highly reccomended you start shipping them with tracks as they offer similar load performance to the old system but without the extremely long load time on the first game launch.

Download the latest Unity Tools to start building Trkd files.

[h2]Reload mod content in-game[/h2]
It's now possible to reload mod content without needing to restart the game!

Use the new mod -> refresh content button on the menu to start the refresh. This will remove mods that have been deleted, register mods that were added and will also handle content being moved between folders.

[h2]Steam Deck / Big Picture keyboard overlays[/h2]
If you're running the game on a Steam Deck or in Big Picture with the Steam overlay enabled, any text input required (setting your name, entering data for custom campaigns, etc) when using a controller will now prefer the relevant Steam based keyboard instead of our internal overlay!



[h2]HUD Scaling[/h2]
BallisticNG now has a HUD scaling option! This setting is particularly useful for use with the Steam Deck or other handheld computers. Scaling ranges from 80-120%, which is setup to accommodate overlap with the vanilla HUD.

Just as a note, we currently don't have plans for menu UI scaling. Several parts of menu UIs are built with the scale they're already at in mind and can't be scaled without breaking.





[h2]Options[/h2]

• Added HUD scaling (graphics -> display -> hud scaling). This ranges from 80-120%, based on the overlap of internal HUDs. Scaling is always disabled in splitscreen.
  
• Added Roll On Thrust Tap (controls -> roll on thrust tap). Enabling this allows you to barrel roll by releasing the thrust input and then quickly pressing it again.
  
• Added option to disable player light colors on DS4 / Dualsense controllers
  

[h2]User Interface[/h2]

• Sliders now support suffix strings at the end of the value readout.
  
• The controls menu now automatically switches the bindings / calibration list to the last touched input device that's assigned to the player, and opens with the players active input device selected.
  
• The survival score readout is now vertically positioned above the speed and shield bars and has digit group separators.
  
• DLC and custom ship / track loading is now a single loading content screen, which is hooked up to a new content loader.
  
• Added mod -> refresh content to the main menu. This will unregister content that no longer exists on disk and then search for newly added files and register them. This doesn't refresh track menu information.
  
  • If starting the game with -nougc, this can be used to load custom content on demand.
    
  • This supports moving content around. Just make sure you refresh content before doing anything else so the game is aware of the new file locations.
    
  • Moving tracks which don't have a trkd file will regenerate the cache as tch files are linked to tracks by absolute file path.
    
  • Newly added content is not alphabetically organized with the rest of content due to sorting being a part of the file discovery and not internal sorting. Everything will be correctly organized after the next game boot.
    
• Removed access to the old layout creator from the menu. It now needs to be accessed from the new mod_legacylayoutcreator command.
  
• Text inputs when using a controller now tries to open the Steam Deck or Steam Big Picture keyboard before falling back to the in-game keyboard.
  
• The update profile interface now has a button to update the profile image, reset the profile image, and has a realtime pilots license preview.
  

[h2]Modding[/h2]

• Implemented trkd files. When present next to a .trk file or embedded into a .wtrk file, these replace the game generated .tch files used for menu frontend data.
  
• Fixed custom tracks files in the root of externally linked paths not being moved into an uncategorized folder
  
• Mod content folders in different locations with conflicting folder names are now correctly merged into categories, instead of the last loaded folder with a name conflict taking exclusive priority.
  

[h2]Steam[/h2]

• Precision run times are now included in Steam Cloud. This applies globally to all branches, this note is just documentation of the change.
  
• Updated to the lastest version of Steamworks (we haven't updated in 7 years!)
  

[h2]Commands[/h2]

• Added mod_legacylayoutcreator. Call from the menu to access the old layout creator.
  
• The following commands have been updated to prompt for an output path using native OS file browsers (they use their previously fixed output paths as the defaults):
  
  • mod_bloomconfig
    
  • mod_flareconfig
    
  • mod_exportshipstats
    

[h2]Lua[/h2]

• Implemented support for lua scripts on ships. These use functions and global variables which are specific to ships, and have the same freedom (with sandbox restrictions) as track lua scripts. Like with track lua scripts, user variables can be defined in Unity and used in the script.
  
• Added Api:IsSplitscreen() and Api:IsVerticalSplitscreen()
  
• Exposed VirtualEnv (virtual environment control), VirtualPaletteSettings (settings for virtual environment palette) and VirtualColors (class holding virtual environment palette data)
  

Hey everyone, here's a small update to address some issues brought up from the GOG side of things.

Your in-game profile is now decoupled from launchers and can be freely changed however you see fit using the new config -> profile button on the main menu.

If launching for the first time with a launcher running, the game will still pull your name and avatar image from there. A reset button in the new profile menu will let you automatically reset it to the launchers account name, or local defaults if you're not running a launcher.

Your avatar image is now cached to User -> Cache -> ProfileImage.png. You can update this image to be whatever you want, and it'll show up on the menu the next time you launch the game. If you run without a launcher, a default image will be cached.

Finally, the multiplayer name text input has been moved to the new profile menu and like with your local name, can also be reset!

We're going to be expanding the new menu with more functionality in the future for 1.4. We've kept the scope of it for this update fairly limited to maintain stability while we begin work on the new update.

[h2]Changelog[/h2]
[h3]Options[/h3]

• Added config -> profile to the main menu. This opens an overlay menu where you can configure your profile.
  
• Moved multiplayer name input field to the new config -> profile overlay.
  

[h3]Engine[/h3]

• The profile name is now a preference entry, which is stored in User/Config/ini/preferences.ini, and is only set from Steam / Galaxy when a profile name isn't available.
  
• The profile image is now loaded from User/Cache/ProfileImage.png. This image file will be written to using a Steam / Galaxy / default profile image if not present.
  
• Fixed issues with processing GOG Galaxy leaderboard entries if the requested entries do not exist
  
• Fixed all preference options, with exception to first startup, not being saved or loaded
  

[h3]User Interface[/h3]

• Tips mentioning the Game -> Assist menu now correctly mention the Game -> Access menu.
  

Every so often a new game surfaces that aims to be a successor to classic, stylish, mid-'90s antigrav racer Wipeout. Released back in 2018, BallisticNG was among the better attempts, managing to capture the speed and a little of the style while hewing close to the chunky polgyonal style of the PlayStation 1-era original.

Fast Forward five years and BallisticNG has been regularly updated since that initial launch, and a new trailer to mark its release on GOG is keen to brag about

Read more

With BallisticNG 1.3.3 out of the door, we've now wrapped up 1.3 and are ready to move onto 1.4! Originally this is where we would have moved our main focus onto the game's Switch port, but as we have had unfortunately announced in September, Unity's actions and TOS terms moving forward makes this a risk for us within the time frames that we're operating within.

We're still working on the PC version of course, and we'll start rolling out development builds for various 1.4 milestones as they're reached.


We've just released on GOG! To celebrate, here's a new general trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0vWr5aBqEU


[h2]Unity Tools[/h2]
The Unity Tools package used to be shipped with the game, but due to us changing our build process to implement GOG builds, we've changed how we're distributing this.

All of the links previously provided with URL files in the modding folder have been merged into a single txt file (Modding/Links.txt), including the addition of a link to the new Unity Tools Github repository.

Our documentation website has also been updated to address this change.

[h2]Custom Tracks[/h2]
1.3.3 completely revamps the game's section tracking system to allow for much more complex layouts to be made. Over the months we've tested the vast majority of custom tracks available to make sure the new system can accommodate for various misconfigurations, but there may be a few exceptions where tracks will want to be updated.

The primary issue misconfigured custom tracks will see is an inability to backtrack after a pitlane exit due to the route exit section type not being setup. As long as you're racing as normal, this isn't an issue that'll impact you. In some rare cases, alternative routes may be inaccessible.

If you've made custom tracks then we advise that you check your tracks for issues. If you find an issue that you'd like to fix, documentation for route setup can be found here, and we now also have documentation for the new tracking system here. If you have long routes that span more then 20 sections that you'd like players to be able to switch between, we've also setup a new feature, which is documented here.


[h2]Fixed NX2000 and Hyperion collisions[/h2]
With 1.3.3 we've added support for custom made ship collision meshes which has allowed us to finally fix some long standing collision issues with the NX2000 and Hyperion!

If you're making custom ships, documentation can be found here.

We also now have the debug_drawshipconvex console command so you can see what the physics engine sees. Just note that enabling this will drop performance,

[h2]Accessibility option to disable lightning flashes[/h2]
We've previously implemented an option to toggle weather completely, and with 1.3.3 we've added a accessibility specific option to toggle the lightning flashes.

You can now turn these off using the Game -> Access -> Lightning Flashes option!

[h2]Aciknovae Rework[/h2]
Aciknovae has been given a major facelift for this update! An important change in this version is making the reactors building feel much more like a real tangible place with a dense industry surrounding it. Aciknovaes layout has a lot of verticality to it, and the new scenery has been built to tower over you as you go through the lower levels of the circuit.

With this update there's also been some tweaks to the pitlane entrances to make the pitlane less painful to manoeuvre into.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Gqg3HU5nGg&t=175s



[h2]Basis Divide[/h2]
Basis Divide is a new track available in the extras category. It's set at the lowest level of the Aciknovae reactor, where the reactors themselves sit. This served as the starting point for the Aciknovae rework, and the spiral of Aciknovae is a direct bridge between the spaces the tracks occupy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbOmdI5VG4E



[h2]Caliburn Rebalanced[/h2]
Caliburn's a team we've been looking to rebalance for a while. Their ship isn't flown much, not even by ourselves, and its over the top grip makes it hard to justify using for fair play. We've put the teams lore in the past and introduced them to the AGL as a legitimate contender.

For 1.3.3 we've adjusted the ships handling stats. We wanted to keep its grippy behaviour but dial it back, and have tweaked various handling stats to bring it more in line with the standard roster of ships. The specific changes are listed in the full changelog below.

With these changes we've also updated the ship to be usable in campaigns, and the team will now show up in regular races if you enable post-release roster in the options menu.

[h2]GOG Galaxy Support[/h2]
As part of our GOG release we've implemented support for GOG Galaxy's achievement and leaderboard systems.

Steam and Galaxy can be used simultaneously if you own the game on both platforms and have both programs open at the same time. Any times you set will be uploaded to both and you can select which backend to view leaderboard entries from in the Game -> General options menu.

[h2]Force disable integrations[/h2]
Launch the game with the new -nosteam and/or -nogalaxy launch arguments to manually disable Steam and Galaxy integrations. These integrations are automatically disabled if the relevant clients aren't running, but you now have the option to tell the game not to use them.

For Unity Tools changes, see the documentation website.

[h3]Engine[/h3]

• The track junction resolver can now re-index routes in much more complicated setups.
  
• Ship section tracking can now handle nested routes and backtrack down routes that you pass the exit of. Optimizations have also been made to this process.
  
• Track routes with cyclic dependencies are now detected, ignored and logged as a warning (for track creators).
  
• When switching camera modes and a ship doesn't have a cockpit, the cockpit camera module is now skipped instead of resetting the camera back to track chase.
  
• Optimized section previous reference processing.
  
• Section tracking is now centered around the ship instead of starting behind the ship. This has implications for open wall junctions and pitlane tracking in some cases, but is covered in the new documentation.
  
• Junctions that target a section without a route start no longer update the previous section reference of the target section to themselves. This will break backtracking on incorrectly configured routes, but now allows junctions to correctly act as bridges between routes. Two normal/jump type sections that point to each other as junctions is now also supported as a result of this.
  
• All sections are now given a negative index before re-indexing on track startup, preventing erroneous section links from forming when sections in invalid routes are present. Negative indicies also help with debugging section flow issues with the F1 debug menu up.
  
• Implemented GOG Galaxy SDK support for achievements and leaderboards.
  
• Implemented -nosteam lauch argument. Use to force disable the Steamworks SDK integration.
  
• Implemented -nogalaxy launch argument. Use to force disable the GOG Galaxy SDK integration.
  
• Fixed an interpolation error in junction resolving where the first index in a route wouldn't match the junction sections index.
  
• Removed BallisticSource library and merged it's code with the game.
  
• Removed BallisticUI library. This contained some unused prototype code from 2017.
  

[h3]User Interface[/h3]

• Added more game tips and updated some existing ones.
  
• Game tips no longer have an image component and now update to show the relevant bindings when the active controller is changed.
  
• The current route index is now displayed on the F1 debug overlay next to the current section index. This values index is inverted as the new track junction resolver works backwards.
  
• Fixed controller binding icons not having pressed highlights applied.
  
• The F1 debug overlay now shows the max and mid section indices next to the current section. These can be used for track setup validation.
  

[h3]Gamemodes[/h3]

• The button hold timer for lap invalidation in Speed Lap no longer runs while a turbo is held.
  

[h3]Tracks[/h3]

• Added missing Route Start flag on Arrivon XI forwards pitlane.
  
• Added route links to Atlanticas split.
  
• (Free Tracks) Added Basis Divide.
  
• Updated Aciknovae Scenery and pitlane entrances.
  
• Fixed race position tracking issues in Dover forwards pitlane.
  
• Fixed race position tracking issues in Omega Harbour forwards pitlane.
  
• (Outer Reaches) Added route links to Kuiper Overturns pitlane.
  

[h3]Ships[/h3]

• The precision delta can now be used in campaigns if unlocked.
  
• Rebalanced Caliburns handling. With these changes Caliburn is now available in campaigns, is now part of the post-release roster if the option is enabled, and has been moved in the ship turntable to before the prototype ships. The ships handling performance is now similar to Wyvern, which was chosen as a reference point due to their similar hull designs.
  
  • Steer Speed from 2.2 to 1.63.
    
  • Steer Gain from 1.35 to 1.3.
    
  • Steer Falloff from 1.1 to 0.9.
    
  • Steer Slide from 1 to 0.95.
    
  • Grip from 35 to 6.3.
    
  • Rebound Pitch Mod from 2 to 1.3.
    
• Added support for custom convex collision meshes.
  
• Fixed various collision issues with NX2000 (custom collision mesh).
  
• Fixed various collision issues with Hyperion (custom collision mesh).
  

[h3]Weapons[/h3]

• Hunters can now change routes to reach the race leader.
  
• Fixed hunters being able to fly under the track and getting lost in some cases.
  
• Fixed hunters breaking if the side of a section the hunter is on has a really small width.
  

[h3]Commands[/h3]

• Added debug_sectiontracking. This can be used to visualize how the game is tracking sections, intended as a debugging tool for track flow issues. This command has three modes which can be set with the argument:
  
  • off: nothing will be drawn.
    
  • ship: ship section tracking will be visualized, using player one's ship as a position and current section reference.
    
  • projectile : projectile section tracking will be visualized, using player one's ship as a position and current section reference.
    
• Added debug_drawroutes. This will draw the routes generated by the game on track load for 5 seconds. Enter photo mode to freeze the cooldown timer on them.
  
• Added debug_drawshipconvex. Setting to true will draw the player ships collision convex mesh, useful for debugging custom collision meshes.
  

[h3]Options[/h3]

• Renamed Game -> Assists to Game -> Access (abbreviated accessibility to fit on the UI) to better reflect the options
  
• Added Game -> General -> Leaderboards. If both Steam and GOG Galaxy are running, this controls which backend the leaderboards will be downloaded from. Leaderboards are always uploaded to both backends when present.
  
• Added option to disable the startup FMV (Game -> General -> Misc -> Skip Startup FMV).
  
• Added option to disable lightning flashes (Game -> Access -> Lightning Flashes).
  

[h3]Debug Hub (f9 menu)[/h3]

• Added buttons to clear out various save data. Enable debugging mode at the top of the window and a new section to delete the different types of save data will appear. You'll be prompted before deleting data.
  
• Each section of tools are now under collapsible headers.
  

1.4 is the final major update for BallisticNG. We'll still be working on additional content beyond 1.4 and providing maintenance, but we're very happy with what BallisticNG brings to the table and are preparing to move onto a new project.

This update is going to be about final polish for the game, with the biggest change being a complete rewrite of the 2280 physics mode to bring it up to speed with the rest of the game, We'll also be working on some improvements for how mods are handled, enabling things like being able to add mods to the game while it's running and removing the need to cache custom track data.


If you're a game developer, we've just released the updated version of our vertex lightmapper tool with the improvements made from BallisticNG 1.2 and BallisticNG 1.3! This is the same tool you have in the BallisticNG Unity Tools package, minus the dependencies for TRM meshes. Feel free to use this however you like for your own games!

Check it out on Github here.