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BallisticNG News

BallisticNG 1.4.1 Dev 3 is now available

[p]We've reached a major milestone with BallisticNG's multiplayer update! We still have some work to do, mostly in the quality of life department, but we're currently in a good place for a new development branch release.[/p][p][/p][p]If you haven't seen the other multiplayer changes we've made recently, be sure to also check out the previous announcement:[/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p][/p][p]Remember to check out our roadmap for a look at what we're working on for 1.4.1. [/p][p][/p][h2]Playing on development builds[/h2]
  • [p]Right click BallisticNG in your steam library and go to Properties[/p]
  • [p]Go to the betas tab on the window that opens[/p]
  • [p]From the dropdown select development. If the update doesn't automatically queue for download, restart Steam[/p]
  • [p]Once you have opened the game, the version at the bottom right of the menu for this release will read 1.4.1-d9
    [/p]
[p][/p][hr][/hr]
Multiplayer
[h3]Multiple Gamemodes[/h3][p]Multiplayer now supports Knockout, Rush Hour, Upsurge and Eliminator! Bots can also join in and play these gamemodes if you enable them![/p][p][/p][p]Dedicated Servers now also have a gamemode vote, and the random lobby example lua script has been updated to change the gamemode from time to time.[/p][p][/p][p]Some notes:[/p]
  • [p]When playing Eliminator, bots will combat spin to maintain proximity to the player who has the lowest race position. If there aren't any players (everybody leaves on a dedicated server), then the bots will keep proximity amongst themselves to ensure that the event can end in a somewhat reasonable time.[/p]
  • [p]The placement of barriers in Upsurge are handled client-side. The tradesoffs with this was accurate positions but barriers could pop out of nowhere, or inaccurate positions but you get a chance to react, and we think it's better if you don't have to deal with barriers spawning out of nowhere.[/p]
[p][/p][h3]Bot Variants[/h3][p]Bots will now be given random ship variants when the server is deciding which ship to give them. These are always random and are currently not configurable on dedicated servers.[/p][p][/p][p]Beforehand, bots always used the default (2159) variant of ships.[/p][p][/p][h3]More synchronization[/h3][p]Many more game events are now correctly synchronised, such as ships being eliminated, ships respawning, ships passing the mid and start line, etc.[/p][p][/p][p]These used to be handled client side as they aren't essential to accurately synchronize for just racing. The other gamemodes however have progress and win conditions that are bound to these events, so it was vital that the server is aware of when these events happen instead of just guessing based on the latest information it has on everybody.[/p][p][/p][p]This should also fix the long standing bug where some ships can stay on fire after being eliminated.[/p][p][/p][h3]Controllable Spectator Camera[/h3][p]The spector camera, previously only used if you died in a race with spawns disabled, is now user controlled! You can now switch between ships and the track cameras / orbit camera modes for yourself, the game will no longer do it automatically.[/p][p][/p][p]We'd like to potentially include this in the post race cameras for singleplayer too.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][hr][/hr][p] [/p]
Full Changelog
[h3]Ships[/h3]
  • [p]The eliminated fire sound is now stopped when entering a spectator camera[/p]
  • [p]Elimination fire now only plays for 10 seconds[/p]
[h3]Input[/h3]
  • [p]Controllers no longer rumble when the players ship is eliminated[/p]
[h3]Pickups[/h3]
  • [p]Hellstorm no longer locks onto eliminated ships[/p]
  • [p]Projectiles no longer collide with eliminated ships[/p]
  • [p]Fixed plasma impacts not creating camera shakes against walls[/p]
[h3]AI[/h3]
  • [p]The AI ahead of player lap multiplier is no longer applied in multiplayer[/p]
[h3]Gamemodes - Rush Hour[/h3]
  • [p]Fixed discharge start time notice not displaying[/p]
[h3]Gamemodes - Eliminator[/h3]
  • [p]The target score can now be lowered to a minimum of 150[/p]
[h3]Multiplayer[/h3]
  • [p]Peer names are now cached on their linked ships (prevent Unknown Networked Player showing if a player disconnects mid-race)[/p]
  • [p]Bots are now assigned random ship variants[/p]
  • [p]The gamemode is now shown under the track name in the lobby[/p]
  • [p]Knockout can now be played in multiplayer[/p]
  • [p]Upsurge can now be played in multiplayer[/p]
  • [p]Eliminator can now be played in multiplayer[/p]
  • [p]Rush Hour can now be played in multiplayer[/p]
  • [p]Chat messages can no longer re-enable parsing with tags[/p]
  • [p]The spectator camera is now user controlled and allows access to the pause menu[/p]
  • [p]Ship laps are now synced as trigger events happen instead of being included in per-tick ship data[/p]
  • [p]Ship eliminations are now synced as they happen instead of being handled on each clients side (this should also fix the long standing fire ship bug)[/p]
  • [p]The race completion check no longer tries waiting for players who have backed out to the lobby[/p]
  • [p]Disconnected peer ships are now hidden[/p]
  • [p]Fixed bot ship weapon hits not registering against the host in Server Authoritative and Sender Trusted hit detection modes[/p]
  • [p]Fixed pause menus remaining open when switching to result screens[/p]
  • [p]Fixed the racers list not always updating correctly when ships are eliminated[/p]
  • [p]Fixed a race condition where both the gamemode and race manager can trigger a return to lobby[/p]
[h3]Dedicated Server[/h3]
  • [p]Added Vote Gamemode option[/p]
  • [p]DedicatedServerExample.cfg updated with LobbyVoteGamemodePercent entry[/p]
  • [p]Random Lobby example scripts updated with random gamemode selection[/p]
  • [p]Fixed bots not having eliminations reported[/p]
  • [p]Fixed several sources of null reference exceptions being thrown due to notification buffer messages being triggered without anything listening for them[/p]

BallisticNG 1.4.1 Dev 2 is now available

[p]We've started work on a major update to BallisticNGs multiplayer! We're working towards multiple gamemodes being available for multiplayer, but before that we're making some smaller changes to the core multiplayer systems.[/p][p][/p][p]Remember to check out our roadmap for a look at what we're working on for 1.4.1. [/p][p][/p][h2]Playing on development builds[/h2]
  • [p] Right click BallisticNG in your steam library and go to Properties[/p]
  • [p] Go to the betas tab on the window that opens[/p]
  • [p] From the dropdown select development. If the update doesn't automatically queue for download, restart Steam[/p]
  • [p] Once you have opened the game, the version at the bottom right of the menu for this release will read 1.4.1-d6 [/p]
[p]
[/p]
Multiplayer
[h3]Improved Collisions[/h3][p]While we still recommended keeping collisions disabled, we've made some changes which improves them. Whether people can collider with each other (both have each others ships installed) is now also synced. If collisions are enabled and somebody is in the null ship, you'll no longer collide with that particular person and vice versa.[/p][p][/p][h3]Combat Stat Sync[/h3][p]Ship combat stats are now synced at the start of every race. If you're using a ship that others don't have installed, your weapons will now deal the damage they're supposed to.[/p][p][/p][h3]Rollback Netcode[/h3][p]Rockets, missiles, cannon and plasma hits are now synced using rollback on the server. This is actually customizable where the host can switch between three hit detection modes: [/p]
  • [p]Server Authoritative (default)[/p]
    • [p]The server performs rollback to determine if it was possible for a client to have hit another client. [/p]
  • [p]Receiver Trusted (pre 1.4.1-d6 behaviour)[/p]
    • [p]Clients will decide if another client hit them.[/p]
  • [p]Sender Trusted[/p]
    • [p]Clients will decide if they hit another client.[/p]
[p][/p][p]Behind the scenes we've been refactoring the code for projectile weapons to cleanly implement rollback, and as a result of this there are some other general projectile changes. See the full changelog below for more details.[/p][p][/p]
Full Changelog
[h3]Ships[/h3]
  • [p]Fixed AI trails not being reset when teleporting[/p]
  • [p]Fixed airbrake animations with a steer response not working on AI[/p]
[h3]Multiplayer[/h3]
  • [p]Dedicated server example CFG updated with NetHitDetectMode setting[/p]
  • [p]Added auto-synced network time for event tracking[/p]
  • [p]Added hit detection mode option:[/p]
    • [p]Server Authoritative (default) : The server performs rollback to determine if a ship has been hit by a projectile[/p]
    • [p]Receiver Trusted : The client being hit decides if it was hit by a projectile (pre 1.4.1-d6 behavior)[/p]
    • [p]Sender Trusted : The client firing a projectile decides if it hit somebody else[/p]
  • [p]Ship combat stats are now synced between peers[/p]
  • [p]Peers now share whether they can collide with other peers (ships not installed)[/p]
  • [p]Improved quaternion compression (7 bytes to 4)[/p]
  • [p]Peer ship transforms are now synced with extrapolation and faster interpolation (more accurate player positions with prediction and less jitter)[/p]
  • [p]Peer ship tilt is now interpolated[/p]
  • [p]Ship teleportation events are now synced[/p]
  • [p]Airbrake animations are now synced[/p]
  • [p]Improved accuracy of predicted spawn transform for projectiles (uses predicted position without interpolation and now accounts for predicated rotation)[/p]
  • [p]Peer ships now have basic PhysX rigidbody physics running to improve collisions[/p]
  • [p]Fixed in-game host resetting ship collisions to off after the initial lobby settings load if it was enabled in the saved settings[/p]
[h3]Achievements[/h3]
  • [p]Look Ma can now trigger if the hit ship has a shield deployed[/p]
  • [p]Fixed Look Ma triggering when a missile has a lockon[/p]
  • [p]Fixed being able to shoot your own mines to unlock the Minesweeper achievement[/p]
[h3]Pickups[/h3]
  • [p]Player cannon hit sounds now play in multiplayer when using the Server Authoritative or Sender Trusted modes[/p]
  • [p]Mines now have the same explosion sound radius as projectiles[/p]
  • [p]Cannons now play their destroy animation and sound when colliding with mines[/p]
  • [p]Fixed multiple projectiles being able to trigger an explosion for the same mine if they collide with it in the same frame[/p]
    • [p]Shooting rockets at a line of mines head on now allows you to destroy 3 of the 5 mines[/p]
[h3]Tracks - Outer Reaches[/h3]
  • [p]Fixed random pitlane tile on Project 9 reverse[/p]
[h3]Debug Hub[/h3]
  • [p]When in a multiplayer game, the network time and latency are now displayed. The latency is updated every 5 seconds alongside the network time sync[/p]

BallisticNG 1.4.1 Dev 1 is now available

Development of 1.4.1 is underway, and to kick things off we're starting with a major update to the layout creator!

Remember to check out our roadmap for a look at what we're working on for 1.4.1.


[h2]Playing on 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 for this release will read 1.4.1-d3


Layout Creator 3.0


Version 3 of the layout creator makes many changes that have facilitated the introduction of customizable hotkeys, controller support and many improvements across the board.

The layout creator was previously a mess of hard coded inputs among a sea of spaghetti code, so the first thing that needed changing was that.

We now have a tools system which has allowed us to make the editor much more modular and remove a lot of jank that came with the introduction of new features over the years.

Note that documentation on our readthedocs hasn't been updated yet. We'll be doing that closer to the release of 1.4.1.

[h2]Hotkey Editor[/h2]
Now that everything is modular and has a structure, the layout creator finally has a hotkey editor!




[h2]Controller Support[/h2]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3O8_N3yWI9s

With the tools system implemented, it became much more trivial for controller support to be implemented. With exception to the perspective orbit camera, the layout creator is fully functional when using a controller!

You'll need a controller that's supported by Rewired's gamepad template for this. If your controller works out of the box with the game then you have a controller that's supported. You can also refer to this table, where anything with the gamepad icon on the left hand side is supported:
https://guavaman.com/projects/rewired/docs/SupportedControllers.html


[h3]Analog Stick Ease Power[/h3]
Similar to the steer curve option for gameplay, the layout creator has an easing curve for analog inputs to help you stay precise near the resting position of the analog sticks. By default this is set to use a power of 3 which we felt works for Dualshock 4, Dualsense and Xbox controllers, but you can customize this:

  • Open the menu (X for Sony controllers, A on Xbox)
  • Navigate down to Set Ship
  • Navigate right until you reach Set Analog Stick Ease Power
  • 1 is linear, above 1 reduces sensitivty near the center of the stick, below 1 increases it.


[h3]Selection Spread Crosshair[/h3]


As it's harder to be as accurate with an analog stick then it is a mouse, whenever you're selecting nodes the crosshair is turned into a circle where anything that's within its radius will be considered for selection. If there's multiple nodes within the circle, the node closest to the center dot takes priority.

[h2]Templates[/h2]


The layout creator now has templates! When you first load into it, or when you start a new file, you'll be given an option to select one of four starting templates depending on the kind of track you want to make.

These templates provide an appropriate track width and play mode setting configs for each track type.

You can also create your own templates by saving a CTL file into the User/Config/Presets/Layout Creator/Templates folder.

[h2]The Sidebar[/h2]
Additional tools were previously hidden away in windows that were accessed through the menu bar.

These have been moved into two tabs that are more immediately accessible on the right side of the screen. The options have also seen a layout update to make the interface much cleaner.



Full Changelog


[h3]Engine[/h3]
  • Corrupt controller sava data files are now detected and deleted instead of breaking the game on launch. A message will be shown on screen to inform of this happening.


[h3]Options[/h3]
  • Fixed CRT Brightness being labeled as CRT Resolution


[h3]Modding[/h3]
  • Moved the small vehicles template CTL in the modding folder to User/Config/Presets/Layout Creator/Templates


[h3]Layout Creator 3.0[/h3]
Tools System
All hard coded inputs calling functions in spaghetti have been replaced with a modular context, tools and action system:
  • A context provides a set of tools and are selected with the edit mode dropdown at the top of the editor,
  • A tool provides a way to interface with the editor. These are inspired by Blender and can be passive (camera movement, selection) or modal (adjusting spline nodes, transforming physic zones, etc),
  • Actions provide per-context access to tools through hotkeys, which can now be customized.
  • Modal tools can provide their own inputs to expand their feature set. Actions are disabled when using a modal tool so hotkeys don't conflict


UI
  • Added Hotkey Editor (Edit -> Hotkeys). Inputs are saved in User/Config/Layout Creator,
  • Added properties side bar. The node and route tools windows have been moved here,
  • Inputs for modal tools are shown at the bottom of the screen while the tool is being used,
  • The physics mod zones settings list has been moved to an invisible tab in the side bar which activates when a physics zone is selected,
  • Updated text to TextMeshPro


Hotkeys
  • Added New File (Ctrl + N),
  • Added Open (Ctrl + O),
  • Added Save (CTRL + S),
  • Added Save As (Ctrl + Shift + S),
  • Added Export TRM (Ctrl + Shift + Alt + S),
  • Added Export OBJ (SHift + Alt + S),
  • Added Copy and Paste Track Shape (Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V),
  • Added Copy and Paste Physics Mod Zone Settings (Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V),
  • Added Select Next Node (Right Arrow),
  • Added Add Next Node To Selection (Shift + Right Arrow),
  • Added Remove Next Node From Selection (Ctrl + Right Arrow),
  • Added Active Selection To Next Selected Node (Alt + Right Arrow),
  • Added Select Previous Node (Left Arrow),
  • Added Add Previous Node To Selection (Shift + Left Arrow),
  • Added Remove Previous Node From Selection (Ctrl + Left Arrow),
  • Added Active Selection to Previous Selected Node (Alt + Left Arrow),
  • Added Add Route To Selection (Shift + Up Arrow),
  • Added Select Route (Up Arrow),
  • Added Deselect Route (Down Arrow),
  • Orbit camera changed from middle click to shift + right click,
  • Orbit camera distance changed from W/S to scroll wheel (sensitivity is now dynamically adjusted based on distance to target instead of the FPS camera speed),
  • Clear selection changed from backspace to escape


General
  • The orbit camera can now focus on objects in the reference image and physics mod zone edit modes,
  • The track refresh rate now defaults to the monitors refresh rate,
  • Track nodes are now smaller and always render on top,
  • Sliders in the route tools UI have been replaced with input fields, allowing for any values to be entered,
  • Entering the layout creator and creating a new file now opens a templates list. A few templates are provided with the game and you can add more by saving CTL files in User/Config/Presets/Layout Creator/Templates. Loading a template doesn't set it as the active file so you can't unintentionally save over it
  • Fixed holding speed up not increasing the speed of the FPS camera raise/lower movement


Spline Tools
  • Added Transfer Routes tool, available in the route tools tab:
    • Select, in order, the nodes you'd like to move to another route,
    • Select the node in the destination route you'd like to move the nodes to. The nodes will be logically placed AFTER the destination node.,
    • Run the route transfer tool,
    • This tool can also be used to move the order of nodes within the same route
  • Added extract route tool, available in the route tools tab:
    • Select two nodes in the same route,
    • Run the extract route tool. The nodes between, and including, the selected nodes will be moved into a new route
  • Track shape copy and paste can now handle sequences of shapes in the order of selection. The sequence is repeated if there's more nodes selected when pasting then there was when copying,
  • Creating a new route now selects the last node in the route to enable immediate editing of the route,
  • Scaling and rotating nodes now uses the mouse cursors position as the origin point. Using the previous average position method can be accessed by pressing the hotkey again when using the tool (by default),
  • The insert tool is now an interactive modal tool where you can click the node position onto the spline. Holding shift snaps the position to thirds, and holding CTRL allows continuous insertion of nodes,
  • Nodes can now be click dragged on XZ without needing to use the move tool. Vertical dragging can be performed with the side or front camera views,
  • Nodes can now be created with grid snapping and straight locking at the mouse cursor by double clicking. The grid plane is used for this, so use the bottom of the node height lines to align your mouse.,
  • Nodes can now be now grid snapped when scaling and rotating,
  • Move To Cursor in the move tool now works when adjusting node heights,
  • The distance that nodes have been moved during move and scale operations are now shown,
  • The angle that nodes have been rotated and tilted are now shown,
  • Adjusting track shapes is now handled per node instead of copying the first selections shape to others. Press space when using the track shape tool to toggle between per-node and first selection copy modes.,
  • Pressing R when adjusting track shapes now toggles between the default shape and the adjusted shape,
  • Pressing F when adjusting node tangents now toggles between the default values and the adjusted values,
  • Activating the scale and rotate tools with only a single node selected now switches to the tangent distance and tangent rotation modes respectively,
  • Jumps and teleporter node types are now rendered with a line and label,
  • Route labels now signify which route is the active route,
  • Optimized track node rendering,
  • Fixed resistive behavior when tilting nodes,
  • Fixed tangents not being refreshed when toggling route close,
  • Fixed tangents not being refreshed when appending nodes,
  • Fixed tangents not being refreshed when inserting nodes,
  • Fixed tangents not being refreshed when deleting nodes,
  • Fixed Allow Out Of Bounds not being restored when undoing/redoing,
  • Fixed route labels not rendering if the route only has a single node


Physics Mod Zone Tools
  • Added undo/redo support to physics mod zones add, delete and transformation changes,
  • Added copy and paste actions for physics mod zone settings,
  • Physics zones can now be scaled along axis planes using Shift + X,Y,Z inputs in the scale tool,
  • Physics zone scales can now be reset by pressing S while using the scale tool.,
  • Physics zones can now be rotated along the X and Z axes.,
  • Physics zone rotations can now be reset by pressing R while using the rotate tool,


Reference Image Tools
  • Added undo/redo support to transforming the image plane and changing the reference image,
  • Editing the reference image is now its own edit mode, instead of being hacked into the spline tools edit mode,
  • Removed reference plane locking (not unnecessary with these changes)

Wipeout-like anti-grav racer BallisticNG v1.4 out now bringing lots of new content and Steam Deck Verified

Even though it was Steam Deck Verified back in February, that was Valve testing against an opt-in Beta (which is a bit weird) but now the big release is here for the anti-gravity racer BallisticNG.

Read the full article here: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2025/05/wipeout-like-anti-grav-racer-ballisticng-v1-4-out-now-bringing-lots-of-new-content-and-steam-deck-verified/

BallisticNG 1.4 is now available!



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fx7ruNdS100

Almost a year and a half in development, we're excited to bring you the BallisticNG 1.4 update!

1.4 is all about 2280, redesigned menus, quality of life improvements, more modding tools, and many significant under the hood changes to enable it all. Oh, and the game is now also Steam Deck verified!

A huge thanks to the internal testing group and community who've played the builds and provided feedback throughout the course of this updates development!

1.4 is so big that we can't fit the full changelog into a Steam announcement, so if you'd like to see every little change then you can read that on our website here:

https://neognosis.games/2025/05/01/ballisticng-1-4-is-now-released/


We are now entering the 1.4 support cycle, where we will continue to expand on the 1.4 update with smaller additions and fix any remaining issues that crop up along the way. To see what's coming for 1.4.1 and 1.4.2, check out our roadmap.

Notices

[h3]New Inputs[/h3]
New input binds for variant selection and opening the advanced content selectors have been added in 1.4. If you're using an officially supported controller then these binds will be added automatically, otherwise you'll need to add them manually in the input options menu. Keyboard controls also have these binds added automatically.

[h3]Barrel Roll Inputs[/h3]
The steer wiggle inputs for barrel rolls have been changed to releasing and then quickly re-pressing the thrust input. This can be changed in the Input Options menu, but we've changed the default to thrust tap for ergonomic purposes.

[h3]Leaderboards Reset[/h3]
As we've made category balancing changes for 1.4, the leaderboards have been reset to give everybody a clean slate to work with.

[h3]Legacy Layout Creator Depreciated[/h3]
The legacy layout creator has been depreciated with 1.4. It's still in the game for compatibility but now needs to be accessed through the mod_legacylayoutcreator console command.

[h3]Camera Option Changes[/h3]
Camera settings have been split out so each camera view has it's own unique set of options. Your camera settings will be reset in 1.4 because of these changes.

[h3]Moved Preset Locations[/h3]
Ui preset locations have been changed and the game won't automatically migrate them. If you've been using custom AI rosters then you'll want to move the following:
  • User > Config > Ini > Ai Presets, to User > Config > Presets > Ai Rosters

With the fundamental changes to multiplayer settings in 1.4, old lobby presets are no longer compatible.

[h3]Dedicated Server Changes[/h3]
There have been a lot of backend changes to multiplayer to prepare it for future updates and the configuration for dedicated servers has changed.

See the updated example CFG, random lobby lua example script and LUA documentation txt for more details.

[h3]BNGL Bundled[/h3]
BallisticNG now ships with a sample of Radracers BallisticNG legacy project. This contains a large snapshot of tracks and ships from various points in the games development, ported as mods.

These mods need to be installed manually and can be found in the Additional Content folder where the game is installed.

For GOG users, these files can be found in your library on the GOG website as a goodie.

If you already have the full BNGL directly from Radracer or have downloaded BNGL content from the workshop, you already have everything this bundle includes.

[hr][/hr]
Unity Tools

If you're making mods, you can find the changelog and download for the latest Unity Tools here:
https://github.com/Neognosis-Workflow/BallisticNG-Unity-Tools/releases/tag/1.4


The NeoTilemap and NeoModeling Blender addons have also been updated to support the Blender 4 releases.


[hr][/hr]
2280

Let's start with the big one: The 2280 Update.



2280 was originally a port of the physics from one of BallisticNG's predecessor projects; AGR2280. The mode was added as a cheat but gained popularity throughout Early Access and has seen many tweaks over the years. We were even planning on creating dedicated content for it around version 0.8.

It was ultimately left on the backburner so we could focus on 2159 physics and content for it, but with the game now reaching the end of major development, we felt it was time to strip 2280 out and then re-implement it from scratch to meet the original vision of the AGR2280 project. Basically, we've come full circle :)

The core changes:
  • 2280 physics and camera has been rewritten from scratch, with only the ships thrust physics being shared with 2159 for speed consistency.
  • 2280 now has its own set of ship stats which allow for indepth control of how each ship handles in the mode. If ships aren't given unique 2280 stats, 2159 stats will be interpreted like before.
  • 2280 is now a physics mode only. The built in game rule modifiers have been split out and can be toggled for any physics mode.
  • 2280 leaderboards have been added and you can now also set local records with it, as it's no longer considered a cheat.
  • 3d track pads are no longer used. They'll however still be used if present in custom tracks.


[h2]2280 Ships[/h2]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H70c0Hk-VTQ

Created in collaboration with several community members, the majority of ships in the game now have 2280 versions! These are selected by using the new the variant select inputs in the ship selector (bumper buttons on a controller by default).

These are purely cosmetic changes and don't impact stats. They do however have different tilt angles and camera positions then the 2159 versions so both variants of a ship have a different feel whilst still performing exactly the same.

Note: 2280 ships do not enable 2280 physics and can be used in any physics mode.

[h2]2159 Track Compatibility[/h2]
The existing tracks are not designed with 2280 in mind, however we wanted to make sure that you still get a decent experience with them when using 2280. We've combed through every track in the game and updated them with 2280 exclusive physics zones to take out the rough edges when playing in 2280.

These physics zones increase gravity and orientate the ship to the track below them as ships are lighter in 2280 and need some assistance. 2280 tracks will be designed around the lighter aspect of the ships.

[h2]AGL2280[/h2]
AGL2280 is a new DLC sized campaign, introducing you to 2280 in a remix of the base games AGL campaign.

We've included a new tutorial / practice event with it's own guide specifically for 2280 to get you up to speed with how the mode works and the mechanics you'll be using throughout the campaign.

[h2]Gullfoss Run[/h2]

The first of several to come, Gullfoss Run is a track that's playable in all physics modes but designed for 2280 first and foremost. A few people might recognize this tracks layout ;)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymO62XJxsek

[hr][/hr]
User Interface

[h2]Redesigned Menus[/h2]


Every menu in the game has been redesigned both visually and in layout. Everything is now consistent, cleaner and requires less effort to navigate through.

This is an update that has been long coming for one of the game's weakest areas, and we've incorporated a lot of feedback into these menus to make sure it's easier for everybody to get into the game.

The New Layout
Everything is now vertically laid out. The landing screen, the pause menus, content selection... everything.

Horizontal inputs are now reserved for changing options or switching tabs.

Keyboard / Mouse Interactions
The new menus are controller centric in design, but considerations for desktop use are still in place with new ways to access and enter data in a way that's keyboard and mouse friendly.

Hover a mouse over any option value and you'll see a little blip under the first character to signify you can click it for a keyboard/mouse interaction, such as typing in values for a slider or bringing up a fullscreen list for selectors.

The input glyphs you see at the bottom of the screen can also be clicked on to perform the action that input glyph is for.

You can right click to go back in menus, which the game has always had, but we've made sure it's now in every menu and not randomly omitted for any reason!

[h2]Option Menus[/h2]


The option menus have seen a significant overhaul to better organize their contents and make it much simpler to tweak settings and get out. BallisticNG has a lot of options, so we've also added a search function!

Instead of having two separate back and save buttons, you now just back out of the menu and you'll be prompted to save any changes that you had made. The prompt also gives you an option to review every change that you've made.

It's also useful to know what options do, so the right side of the interface is dedicated to an explanation of what the highlighted setting does. We've spent some time writing detailed explanations and suggestions for each option to help you get the game setup the way you'd like.

[h2]Steam Deck / Big Picture Keyboard Overlays[/h2]

When playing on the Steam Deck or in Big Picture with Steam running and the in-game overlay enabled. the game will now use Steam's keyboard instead of the game's internal keyboard when entering text with a controller.

[h2]Ui Scaling[/h2]
Menus and HUDs can now be scaled! This also includes padding adjustments for the menu and horizontal margin scaling for HUDs, allowing you to fine tune how compact everything is on top of its scale.



[h2]Hud Design Tweaks[/h2]
HUDs have seen some design tweaks to bring them in line with the new menu design and to make some elements less intrusive.

Lists of information (scores, campaign awards, etc) are now styled like tables in the new result screens, giving them a clean look with background which help them stand out against bright scenes.


Name tags and shield energy bars have seen a large update, stripping out all unncessary elements and making them much more compact.


There are of course more changes then this, but these are the two largest and most notable changes. The rest are minor aesthetic tweaks to touch things up.

[h2]Signed Distance Field Text Rendering[/h2]


When updating all UIs and HUDs, we also replaced all text components with Unity's TextMeshPro component, which uses SDF rendering to maintain font sharpness regardless of the resolution.

This works well for 4k, but also helps with text legibility if you're playing at low resolutions as well!

The top half of the image above shows the original text component. The bottom half shows TextMeshPro at the same scale.

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Content

[h2]Ship and Track Variants[/h2]

Coinciding with the 2280 ships, it's now possible for ships to have multiple prefabs for more customization of a ship beyond just its liveries. Internally we're using this system for model swaps and cosmetic stat changes with the 2280 ships, but mods can do whatever they like with variants.

Tracks not only have variants, but also additional courses. A track variant is treated as the forward/reverse version of a course, and an additional course allows you to select the route to play. This allows us to significantly tidy up the user interface to make it easier to find and select what you want to play. Like with ships we have our own specific use for this system, but mods are free to do whatever they feel like with this!

Mods work with this system by choosing a track or ship to be the main selection, marking variants as hidden on the menu and then referencing those variants in the main ship / track. if the main ship / track is not available then any content marked as hidden will be shown to make sure you can always access it, making sure there aren't any hard dependency requirements.

[h2]Reworked Reverse Track Pad Layouts & Maglocks[/h2]


Starting with Freyr Falls in the Maceno Island DLC, we had started paying more attention to the layout of track pads on reverse tracks to make sure they're in appropriate places and are fun to hit.

Almost every reverse track in the game and its DLCs have received a pad layout update. Note that the number of speed and weapon pads are the same, we've only moved them around.

We've also updated the pad layout for Thunderhead forward as it was a bit chaotic.

While making these changes, we've also replaced the Atlantica Reverse and Luna Reverse maglifts with maglocks. The maglifts were a solution back before maglock physics were properly implemented and we didn't feel like light bridges fit. These were always a bit janky, but had become much more of a problem with the new 2280. These maglocks make these two sections much more playable.

[h2]More Modular Custom Race / Multiplayer[/h2]


Multiplayer settings have been merged into custom race settings to maintain parity between singleplayer and multiplayer automatically. Anything that you set in custom races can now be set in multiplayer, and the interfaces also remain consistent.

Custom race has seen a handful of settings being added. Some come from the split of 2280 mechanics, others are just cool things that have been requested or we think you'll find fun to mess around with.

Added options:
  • Track Recovery (rescue droid or instant)
  • Shield Recovery Mechanic (none, pitlane, weapon absorb or mixed)
  • Weapon Damage Multiplier
  • Collision Damage Multiplier
  • AI Speed Multiplier
  • Speed Pads Toggle
  • Weapon Pad Disable Time Multiplier
  • Force Weapons Toggle


Changed options:
  • Customize Weapons renamed to Custom Weapon Pool
  • The boost mechanic option now supports none (parity with multiplayer)
  • Difficulty renamed to AI Difficulty


There's now a lot of options and you might have a specific setup that you want to recall at a later date, so:

Presets:
  • Save custom weapon pools as a preset
  • Save every option in the custom race menu as presets (including custom weapon pools)
  • Save tournament track lists as a preset


Additionally, the game now also remembers the tracks you had selected in the previous ran tournament when returning to the tournament menu.

[h2]Improved AI Flare Rendering[/h2]

Ai ship flares have always clipped with ships, which has been mostly okay since the ship designs don't make it completely egregious, but some of the new 2280 ships started to show the cracks in the previous setup.

We've updated the AI flare shader so flares stay on top correctly, and it now provides some additional functionality which has allowed us to setup flares on ships with flame engines too. The AI flare can now also be overridden, which gives custom ship authors some new toys to play with!

[h2]Model B Content Updates[/h2]


We've made some tweaks to the Model B content to further refine it and make it more fun.

  • Dropped the extra laps count on Model B tracks to 5 (from 10)
  • Adjusted Model B stats to make them less twitchy and smoother to handle in the higher speed
    classes
  • Removed the slow acceleration from drag mode. Hitting a wall is no longer a guaranteed loss.


[h2]Gamemode Updates[/h2]

Gamemodes have seen updates in 1.4, from tweaks to complete rewrites to eliminate as many bugs as possible.

All
  • 2280 is no longer a cheat and can now be used to set local records
  • Fixed eliminated and results screen opening when both players are eliminated in splitscreen.
Speed Lap
  • Added explanation of what ending a session does when quitting from the pause menu
  • Fixed typo in gamemode description
Survival
  • Added explanation of what ending a session does when quitting from the pause menu
  • The Survival results screen now respects the selected speed measurement option
  • The elimination sequence can now be skipped
  • Fixed custom ship selections being lost when restarting without selecting new content
  • Fixed total time being counted while the ship is eliminated
  • Fixed start boost not triggering in 2280
Rush Hour
  • Added explanation of what ending a session does when quitting from the pause menu
  • Increased global drain rate by 50% (faster pacing)
  • The drain rate is now logarithmic instead of linear to prevent clumps of eliminations
  • Fixed the mode not ending in splitscreen
  • Fixed typo in gamemode description
Knockout
  • Rewritten from scratch to fix numerous bugs
Stunt
  • Wall collisions no longer break chains
  • Increased combo chain time from 2.5 to 3 seconds
  • 2280 is now disabled
Time Trial
  • Medals are now awarded in custom races depending on the time difference when beating a previous record:
    • Setting first record: gold
    • Beating previous record by half a second: bronze
    • Beating previous record by 1 second: silver
    • Beating previous record by 2 seconds: gold
    • Bating previous record by 4 seconds: platinum
Upsurge
  • Added deploy animation to barriers
  • Added shared deployment cooldown to AI to prevent them from creating large clusters of barriers immediately in lower difficulties
  • Increased minimum speed pad zone charge amount by 100% (faster pacing).
  • Absorbing now only consumes a single zone (allow more granular recovery of health and more strategic use of shields)
  • Updated description to better explain mechanics
  • Fixed start boost not triggering in 2280


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Modding

[h2]Category Editor[/h2]
Manually installing mods provides the luxury of using folders to categorize installed content in the menu. If you're using the Steam workshop however, you haven't had this ability... until now.

On the menu, navigate to Modding -> Categories Editor. In this menu you can create categories for ships and tracks separately and then assign any custom content you want into them. Any changes you make will be applied immediately while the game's running.

Content will be moved out of its original category and into any categories that you've assigned it to.

Note that this tool can only be used for custom ships and tracks. The game's internal content can't be re-organised.
[h2]Refresh Content In-Game[/h2]
It's now possible to install mod content while the game's running!

Use the new Modding-> Refresh Content option on the menu to start the refresh. This will unload mod content that have been deleted, load mods that were added and will also handle content being moved between folders.

[h2]Campaign Editor Additions[/h2]
Campaigns, and the campaign editor, have had some additional features added to them:

  • Added support for gamemode configuration overrides
  • Added support for custom weapon pools
  • Added support for forcing AI and Player ship variants
  • Added option to change a campaigns display name
  • Added options to copy and paste campaign events


[h2]Faster custom track loading[/h2]
We've made a few optimizations to track section processing and custom track data conversion that has significantly sped up the loading of custom tracks. A typical custom track should now more or less match the load speed of internal tracks.

In our most extreme test case, a track with over 3000 sections has gone from 30+ seconds of load time to just 7, with most of that time now being Unity rendering the cubemaps for reflection probes along the track

[h2]Ship Lua Scripting[/h2]


The game's Lua implementation has been extended to ships! These enable ship creators to extend their ships functionality beyond what the game provides out of the box by adding new mechanics and physics behaviours.

Like with custom track Lua scripts, these are sandboxed and can only interact with what the game allows them to.

Documentation:

[h2]Ship Extra Renderers[/h2]
BallisticNG is setup to work with a single exterior ship mesh that uses a single material, with airbrakes which act as additional animated meshes but must also share that single material.

Extra Renderers is a new system for ship creators that enables additional meshes with any number of materials to be setup, which can be lit using the ships tile light color and be told which camera views to render in.


[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 building the track from Unity. When present next a TRK file, 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.

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Misc

[h2]Photomode Updates[/h2]

Photomode has seen some updates to add new features and fix issues:

  • You now quit photomode using the menu back input and a quit confirmation has been added
  • Added option to display a thirds grid
  • Effects are now automatically toggled based on their settings
  • The FOV can now be set between 1 and 179 degrees
  • Fixed 240p output resolution using the wrong width
  • Fixed CRT effect toggle desyncing when exciting move mode
  • Fixed the FOV being reset when stepping the game



[h2]Improved Input Device Handling[/h2]


Controller Events
The game now reports controller events! Tying into the Input Improvements mentioned below, the following events are now reported to you at the top of the screen:
  • Controller connected
  • Controller disconnected
  • Controller assigned to a player
  • The player navigating the menu has changed


Controller Assignment
Two controllers can now be automatically assigned to players by default. This fixes a conflict issue on the Steam Deck between the built-in controller and any external controllers.

Unassigned controllers will now be automatically assigned to a player when pressing a button on them (this can be disabled in the Input Options menu). Controllers are assigned to the player who currently has menu navigation control.

Finally, splitscreen is now inaccessible until Player Two has a controller assigned. The game will let you pick a controller in the menu before navigating forward, using the same selection interface as the new Input Options menu. If you're working on mods and don't have a controller present, enabling debug mode will bypass this check.

Improved Controller Saves
Controller data is now saved by device ID instead of a hardware ID.

The device ID is a way to uniquely identify a specific controller instead of just bundling everything under the controllers generic hardware ID, which finally allows two controllers of the same type to have unique binds and calibrations saved for them. Note that for Xbox controllers, the XInput player is the unique identifier, so binds and calibrations are stored and recalled in the order that the controllers are plugged in.

[h2]More Camera Customization[/h2]

Every camera view now has its own set of options. This allows you to more greatly fine tune the FOV, camera position, and various other view specific options.

All of the VR cockpit options are now also available outside of VR! Additionally, we've reworked the cockpit view intertia and added a few more customization options.

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Changes from 1.4-d69

If you've been playing on the development branch, these are the changes since then:

Ships
  • Fixed 2280 wall bounces being able to trigger at incorrect angles
  • Removed old autopilot pilot behaviour which prevented the player ship from ever being under a track section (fix autopilot on Luna Reverse maglock)
User Interface
  • Updated tips on the welcome screen to reference locations in the new option menus
  • Special text inputs on the onscreen keyboard are no longer triggered when typing on a real keyboard
  • Fixed UI element focus being lost when saving presets in the custom race settings menu
Options
  • HUD Horizontal Margins can now be increased up to 105%
Modding
  • Fixed HUD horizontal margins not working on custom huds
Tracks - Base Game
  • Disabled affine mapping on virtual trees in Arrivon XI
  • Disabled affine mapping on virtual trees in Arrivon Peak
  • Disabled affine mapping on virtual trees in Arrivon Falls
  • Disabled affine mapping on virtual trees in Ribble Raceway
  • Disabled affine mapping on virtual trees in Alice Mountain
  • Disabled affine mapping on virtual trees in Forgotten Coast
  • Disabled affine mapping on virtual trees in Maria Tide
Custom Race
  • Fixed gamemode specific settings not being recalled from disk when switching between gamemodes