Solar Lander News

Solar Lander has just been updated with working sound settings and a bug fix. I also noticed that the previous build didn't quite make it to the live state as I had intended. Don't know what happened there, but that issue is now fixed. And I double-checked this build just to make sure!


The sound system now saves your settings for whether sound is enabled, and the volume that the sound plays at. And it respects those settings in-game. Currently, there are only two sounds: One to warn you that you are about to crash into the terrain, and the other for when you switch the HUD mode.

More sounds are going to be coming soon. You may notice that the developer commentary settings can now be adjusted. I added that feature in advance so I won't have to worry about it when I start making the commentaries.


I traced a bug that would shut off the kill rotation autopilot to a block of code that was supposed to check your input to see if you were trying to rotate the vehicle while kill rotation was active. There was only one problem: There was no code available to help it perform that check.

When the player hits the kill rotation button, it's supposed to save your controller's current rotation input. But that didn't happen because I forgot to put in a single line of code. That oversight has been fixed. Now, the kill rotation autopilot will check to see if you are trying to override it and will deactivate if you are.

One slight issue you might come across is that you must hold your rotation axis on the controller perfectly still or the autopilot may inadvertently shut off. I may add an adjustable null zone in future builds to prevent that if it becomes too much of a problem.

There is now a Linux version of this game available (x64 only) for testing with the demo coming soon. The Linux version has not yet been tested on any Linux distribution.

Steam will now store the best score that you have achieved on Solar Lander and display it on the "High Score" leaderboard. The game still stores your high scores in a local file, but that will not count towards the High Score Leaderboard. The old system is likely to be removed.

Other Update Notes:

• Kill rotation toggling timer increased slightly.
  
• Achievement for Landing upside down Implemented.
  
• Achievement for first successful redock no longer requires you to land before hand.
  

There is now a Linux version of this game available (x64 only) for testing with the demo coming soon. The Linux version has not yet been tested on any Linux distribution.

Steam will now store the best score that you have achieved on Solar Lander and display it on the "High Score" leaderboard. The game still stores your high scores in a local file, but that will not count towards the High Score Leaderboard. The old system is likely to be removed.

Other Update Notes:

• Kill rotation toggling timer increased slightly.
  
• Achievement for Landing upside down Implemented.
  
• Achievement for first successful redock no longer requires you to land before hand.
  

I'm publishing an experimental build of the update early to begin working on achievements and stats. As a result, you will see "Developmental Build" in the lower right hand corner of the screen. This build is a small portion of what I want the next update to be because I am trying to implement and test achievements and stats.

Stats added (but not necessarily implemented) include things like the number of times you've crashed, the highest score you've obtained during the game, and a few other surprises.

Most of the achievements are (theoretically) implemented already and I'll be working on implementing the rest of them quickly. Please provide feedback on how the achievements are working (or not working).

A few closing notes: The command module now has an AI that will kill its rotation, there's a click sound for changing the HUD mode (mostly as a sound test right now), and the new undock, staging, and kill rotation mechanics have been implemented.

As a bonus, I changed the command module and ascent stage textures to show where the docking ports are. Just line up the pixels almost exactly and you'll be redocked.

Also, I would like feedback on how to improve the achievement thumbnails. Particularly the one modeled after NASCAR's disqualification flag. If anyone sends me a 64x64 image for any achievement, and I use it for that achievement, they will be listed in the game's credits.

I'm publishing an experimental build of the update early to begin working on achievements and stats. As a result, you will see "Developmental Build" in the lower right hand corner of the screen. This build is a small portion of what I want the next update to be because I am trying to implement and test achievements and stats.

Stats added (but not necessarily implemented) include things like the number of times you've crashed, the highest score you've obtained during the game, and a few other surprises.

Most of the achievements are (theoretically) implemented already and I'll be working on implementing the rest of them quickly. Please provide feedback on how the achievements are working (or not working).

A few closing notes: The command module now has an AI that will kill its rotation, there's a click sound for changing the HUD mode (mostly as a sound test right now), and the new undock, staging, and kill rotation mechanics have been implemented.

As a bonus, I changed the command module and ascent stage textures to show where the docking ports are. Just line up the pixels almost exactly and you'll be redocked.

Also, I would like feedback on how to improve the achievement thumbnails. Particularly the one modeled after NASCAR's disqualification flag. If anyone sends me a 64x64 image for any achievement, and I use it for that achievement, they will be listed in the game's credits.