Reentry - A Space Flight Simulator News

[p][/p][p]This update improves Mercury autopilot fuel efficiency, updates rendering and lighting systems, adds the new Plume Renderer to Mercury and Gemini, enhances the Mercury cockpit, and resolves reported issues.[/p][p][/p][p]Note: If you experience new issues related to this update, please report them. You can revert back the a previous build using the Steam betas tab for the game. Most recent rollback option: Reentry Version 0.99.88.[/p][p][/p][p]Mercury ASCS[/p][p]The Mercury ASCS is responsible for automatic attitude control. I made some improvements to it and fixed an issue where it would typically overshoot in roll, then enter a ping/pong mode until the target has been reached. I corrected the rate limiter issue that caused this to happen, and improved a few other things to reduce fuel consumption. [/p][p]Tips: It is always recommended to use a manual mode for most of the flight.[/p][p][/p][p]Earth Rendering / Atmosphere shader fixes[/p][p]I fixed a shader issue in the Earth Atmosphere shader that previously caused a NaN (Not a Number error). This created a small spark in the atmosphere as the faulty pixel was overbright and triggered the bloom system (many believed this was lightning strikes or other phenomenon. It became a little thing). For you who wondered what this actually was, now you have the answer.[/p][p]As this is fixed I was finally able to re-enable the games blooming logic as part of the post processing effects. [/p][p]This can make it possible to further down the line make an option to toggle off the Lens Flare, and instead render a bloomed sun. I will at a later update make it possible to toggle off the Bloom Effect in the post processing layer.[/p][p]In addition, I made some improvements to the Earth and Cloud brightness settings and coloring to try and reduce the brightness of Earth, and the occasional but rather blinding areas where if over a desert with clouds below you, could be quite annoying. I will continue to iterate but I hope this reduces the issue.[/p][p][/p][p]Astronaut/Crew Hider[/p][p]The astronaut hider responsible to hide the astronaut if your camera is near or inside its head had an issue that I though was corrected in the previous update. It was not, and I rewrote the logic. It should now work as intended.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]New Launch Vehicle Plumes for Mercury and Gemini[/p][p]I am continuing my pursuit of improving the plumes in the Mercury and Gemini ascent. These are quite simple but will adjust itself as the rocket climbs. You can see that the plume isn't static. Its size and shape is dynamic and will look different at lower altitudes compared to higher altitudes.[/p][p][/p][p]P01 Timescale block[/p][p]Players trying to time scale through the P01 alignment in the Apollo Command Module before liftoff might have noticed that it can cause the alignment to fail. I have made a quick check to disable time scaling during P01 alignment.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Mercury Cockpit Improvements and Rendering[/p][p]As I was fixing some issues with rendering and lighting conditions in the cockpits, along with re-enabling bloom, and decided to take a few hours to improve some of the elements inside the Mercury cockpit. This is the oldest craft, but the first step for most new players. When you enter the cockpit you will see new and improved cockpit indicator lights, fixes to a few gauges, updates to the Earth Path Indicator (EPI) model, and general fixes to various interactable components. I have also fixed an issue with the SSAO layer that could cause barely visible dark lines (artifacts).[/p][p][/p][p]Dynamic Cabin Audio[/p][p]I continued to iterate on cabin audio in Project Mercury. I replaced the cabin depressurize and repressurize placeholder sound effects with new ones, and improved their logic. I also worked on the EPI and added its ticking noise. This is a test of the 3D cockpit sound effect.[/p][p][/p][p]Unity Security Update [/p][p]A Unity security patch has been applied to the games executable to accommodate a security issue in the Unity Game Engine.[/p][p][/p][p]End-of-Early-Access Price Adjustment [/p][p]As the game prepares to leave Early Access and launch version 1.0, the price is adjusted as mentioned in the Early Access interview on the games Steam Store page.[/p][p]To accommodate Steam schedules, sale cooldowns and release logistics in November 2025, the price will be increased as soon as Steam publishes the new prices. The price of 34.99 USD is the final price for 1.0.[/p][p]The journey doesn’t stop at 1.0 - it’s just the start of the next chapter. You can hear about the journey and the 1.0 release here, followed by the recording of my Ask-Me-Anything (AMA) I held October 1st.[/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p][p]The Ask-Me-Anything:[/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p][p]Patch notes:[/p]

• [p]Fixed the Earth Rendering sun reflection blob on the oceans[/p]
• [p]Fixed the root cause of the Atmospheric Flashes issue, it was caused by a Nan in two of the atmosphere shaders.[/p]
• [p]Astronaut Hider fixes[/p]
• [p]Improved Mercury Redstone Launch vehicle plume[/p]
• [p]Improved Mercury Atlas Launch vehicle plumes[/p]
• [p]Improved Gemini Titan Launch vehicle plumes[/p]
• [p]P01 timescale block[/p]
• [p]Mercury ASCS roll overshooting issue[/p]
• [p]Minor changes to CM lesson 9, Earth Entry[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue with the RCS Rate Command logic in both Mercury and Gemini[/p]
• [p]Small updates to the Mercury EPI[/p]
• [p]Small updates to the Mercury Cockpit light indicators[/p]
• [p]Fixes and improvements to the Graphics Rendering logic[/p]
• [p]Fixes to the Earth brightness and tone[/p]
• [p]Fixes to the Clouds renderer, and re-coloring[/p]
• [p]Unity Security Patch[/p]

[p][/p][p]Update: Another build was released due to some meta changes, version is still the same.[/p]

[p][/p][p]This updates rolls out a Sound Design overhaul containing some dynamic cockpit sound effects, and RCS jet sounds, adds a new engine plume test to the CSM SPS, LM DPS and LM APS engines (orbit view only), and fixes some critical bugs.[/p][p][/p][p]Note: This update touches the games core storage system. If you experience new issues related to this update, please report them. You can revert back the a previous build using the Steam betas tab for the game. Most recent rollback option: Reentry Version 0.99.87.[/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p][p]Sound Design / Soundscaping[/p][p]System Components[/p][p]This update rolls out a system that makes it possible add dynamic sound effects to the Virtual Cockpits. I will start small with the sound design elements, but have added an inverter fan, suit fan and a cockpit fan sound effects to these systems across all programs.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Reaction Control Jets[/p][p]In addition I have worked on the RCS jet sound design where I have added improved logic to make it possible to hear the ON/OFF clack sound effect of the valves opening for various thrusters, and the flow of gas for combustion. Thanks to Dee-Jay for helping me with the RCS sound effects.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Engine Plumes[/p][p]I have rolled out a more sophisticated engine plume handler. It is currently in its initial version when it comes to look and feel, transparency settings etc, but rolling this out as a test for the Apollo CSM SPS, LM DPS and LM APS engines initially. If these seem to work I will improve the visuals of them, and extend the system to also support some of the 2nd/3rd ascent stages of Mercury/Gemini/Saturn V/Saturn IB.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Language Issue on Campaign Pages[/p][p]I have finally tracked down an issue that causes the Campaign Pages to sometimes load the wrong language. For example if you have set the language to English, some users could see the Spanish version of the Campaign pages instead of the English version. This is a rare bug so it was hard to track down.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Checklist Guidance System: Complete a Checklist improvement[/p][p]I have improved the checklist guidance system (the system that handles the two RUN buttons and the checklist steps that are queued up) to internally tag each step with what checklist they belong to. This can make it detect that you have completed a particular checklist if you have multiple queued up. In the future this can be used to more advanced checklist flow as was suggested during my AMA session. But one step at a time, let us see if this implementation works well and is stable.[/p][p][/p][p]Thanks all for reporting issue. I have also detected that some crashes has been reported recently. I am curious if it could be related to Unity 6.1 builds and latest graphics drivers or something, will need to dive a bit further into this as I check out Unity 6.2 and a fix for the lately detected security issue.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Patch Notes:[/p]

• [p]Fixed an issue with the Lunar Module Ascent Lesson[/p]
• [p]Made so it is possible to end P79 in the CSM[/p]
• [p]Gemini Yaw-Steering during ascent guidance fixes[/p]
• [p]VR: Made so you can move the camera with the keyboard[/p]
• [p]Fixed so Superimpose can't be UI navigated (Left, Right, Up, Down)[/p]
• [p]Apollo Command Module Astro/Crew collider check fixes[/p]
• [p]Sound Design updates[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where the Language of a Campaign could be set to something else than the selected language (reported Spanish language in one or two campaigns, while English is selected)[/p]
• [p]Improved the checklist guide system to detect if a particular checklist has been completed even if you have enqueued other checklists as well.[/p]
• [p]Engine Plume test for the CSM SPS, LM DPS and LM APS engines[/p]

[p][/p][p][/p][p]*See another update?
I was testing another build pipeline - no in-game change[/p]

[p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]It is not yet time for the 1.0 release, but it is getting close. Stay tuned for some updates related to my plan towards the upcoming 1.0 launch![/p][p][/p][p]I will be available in the chat for an Ask-Me-Anything (AMA) during the video, and will follow up with an additional AMA session directly after the video.[/p][p][/p][p]Be sure to read the Early Access interview on the games Store Page.[/p]

[p][/p][p]This small update will fix an issue in the Gemini Ascent logic that, for some players only, caused the yaw steering to fail. It also makes some minor improvements to all the in-game Academy exams (aka. Pilot Certification Flights), improves some of the internal logic of the games Storage system, and adds the missing needle to the 3-pointer Altimeter in the Gemini Cockpit.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]I also moved the ROADMAP button on the Main Menu a bit up to make it more visible, in case you are curious about it.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Patch Notes:[/p]

• [p]Gemini Ascent Guidance fixes[/p]
• [p]Fixes to the Pilot Certificate Flights (PCFs)[/p]
• [p]Storage System improvements[/p]
• [p]Minor Gemini panel fixes (Altimeter)[/p]
• [p]Roadmap placement on the Main Menu[/p]
• [p]Fixed a potentially blocking issue related to the Lunar Landing from Launch Pad without using a Save State[/p]

[p][/p][p]This patch fixes some potentially blocking issues where the Command Module RCS jets consumed too much fuel. I fixed the issue and made some minor balancing to the fuel consumption. This will be iterated upon in the next few patches.[/p][p]The patch also fixes some additional things in the Gemini Target Vehicle positioning logic to allow me to further improve mission designs where the goal is to rendezvous and/or dock with a target vehicle in Project Gemini. I have updated the Gemini scenarios and campaign missions to reflect this change.[/p][p]I continued to perform some minor tweaks to the Gemini panels described in the previous patch, and animated the Gemini ADI balls to torque between platform selections.[/p][p]I also made a change to the Prograde Rotation Realism setting. This setting is relevant in Project Mercury and Project Gemini only as most platform operations are relative to the local horizon. Apollo it generally disturbs the guidance systems. This setting will now only be used in Mercury and Gemini, and always OFF in Apollo.[/p][p][/p][p]Patch notes:[/p][p]- Blocking Issue: Fixed an issue with the Command Module SM and CM RCS jet fuel consumption[/p][p]- Blocking Issue: Updated the Gemini campaign to use Ap circ burns[/p][p]- Iterated on the Agena/Target Vehicle positioning system[/p][p]- Tweaked some of the Gemini panel labels[/p][p]- Fixed so the Enable Prograde Rotation realism setting (ON=unrealistic) is only optional for Mercury and Gemini, it is enforced OFF in Apollo spacecraft as it works against their guidance systems.[/p][p]- Added drives to torque the Gemini ADI balls on platform changes[/p]