Rise of Flight » WIP 09

WIP 09

Hello fellow pilots!

Before the release of 1.008, I promised to stay in touch with our community. Hopefully this update is a good first start. The last ‘Rise of Flight’ update was like an ‘iceberg’ in that it had its above-water aspects and its underwater parts. You read about, and experienced, the visible aspects, but the hidden one was equally important.

Any software development can be likened to a growing tree. Base modules establish the trunk, secondary modules form the branches, and finally, the interface begets the leaves and fruit. A more complicated project needs more numerous branches and a steadier trunk. Update 1.008 brought an important change that fortified our ‘trunk’. Now we will deal with the branches.

A new system of missions that allows players to respawn (a dogfight mode), multi-seat planes available in single player or multiplayer modes, new modes for virtual competitions - all of these tasty things, and more, are planned for the future, but as of last week, we have finally have a steady base from which to develop them.

We are working, in parallel, on SDK materials that will make possible our cooperation with small teams and individual developers. The first tasks will be new plane, vehicle and game map creation.
Going forward, this will ensure a steady stream of high quality content. That gives you a quick glimpse into the future, but let’s take a look at the more immediate concern: update 1.009.

Playback - a system with which to record and playback in-game videos. Each user will be able to record an in-game video of any length (from the overall mission time to a couple of seconds) by simply clicking one button. All events occurring in the game can be recorded and then played back, which is as easy as choosing from a list of tracks in the same manner as you choose a mission to fly. The RoF playback system records not only your own input data (i.e. the consequence of your actions), but it also records coordinates and actions of other entities in the mission. This grants you access to a fully accurate reconstruction of a recorded mission. The amount of in-game objects participating in a video influences output file size. This is why we have added an option for you to choose what in-game events you would prefer to record. We specially tested how well such files can be archived (e.g. zip), and we had good results with it. Greater detail will follow in the next blog entry.

Input settings. At the time of Rise of Flight’s release, we had no way of coding the input settings into the in-game interface. That’s why we left them in the launcher. We also assumed that a typical RoF user will play the game with rather simple joystick, so we hid all complex configuration adjustments. In retrospect, that was an error on our part. In studying the problems you’ve encountered, we’ve concluded that vast majority of RoF users employ rather sophisticated (and not cheap) input devices, sometimes tuned manually. As a result of this, it’s very inconvenient to configure your devices via the settings.exe utility and then wait for the game to load each time to check your keys assignments. Once 1.009 hits, those troubles will (hopefully) be a thing of the past. We are also adding the ability to manually tune joystick curves and axis sensitivity. More details will follow.

Mods ON/OFF – after the SDK release, we hope to see different user-made modifications to Rise of Flight. We have read many posts of users being afraid of possible cheating. It is a valid concern; mods always bring the potential for unfair play. To avoid those complications, we are creating a simple protection system. Starting with update 1.009, you will be able to launch RoF in two different ways: Mods ON and Mods OFF. Turning Mods ON allows for the use of unofficial modifications - the game will not check your files and data transfer. Unfortunately, having this mode active disqualifies you from being counted in the global statistics. Simply deactivate the Mods mode in order to resume being counted.

While we are eager to see some great user mods created, adding to everyone’s RoF experience, I hope you understand why only non-modded gameplay will be ranked. This system allows the ‘wolves’ of the sky to feast, while the ‘sheep’ can frolic unharmed.

These are three major elements of the upcoming version, but that’s not all you have to look forward to:

Winter season – winter time will come to RoF. New winter textures will be available in the Mission Editor. Squadrons won’t ‘wait out’ the cold anymore in career mode.

New Sky colors – we have improved the sky color system. You will see far more realistic colors in the sky. Our artists are continually working on it and if we will have enough time, you might be lucky enough to see the sky colors changing not only during the 24 hours of a day but also its seasonal changes.

Coop game mode – while you are waiting for this new game mode will be finished, we have decided to provide you with a simplified version of coop. There will be no need to choose a side before entering a server; you will be able to change your side inside a mission without leaving it. There will be a few nice changes for mission designers as well.

Skin Management – currently, Rise of Flight contains a limitation on the number of skins in use during a mission. Without this limitation, you would simply run out of memory. This is not an ideal solution since during WW1, aircraft appearance was of great importance. We have improved our system and now you can use more skins. The system will let you see only nearby planes. Other planes will be in default skins until they approach closer to you, such that you are able to discern their distinctive pattern.
This system will also fix ‘white’ planes that could be found in multiplayer missions in case a player had used a skin that others did not have.

Skins development SDK and Tools – I always look at new works with great pleasure. Sometimes I am awestruck by their brilliance. These tools will help you to work faster and easier, which is vital to creating things properly.

River Ships – ships will sail on the rivers. We have finished our first models and are eager to see them in-game. Ships can navigate and follow a route and can receive commands similar to other Rise of Flight objects. They can be dangerous because many have AA guns onboard. I’m excited to see what missions the community creates using them. If these first models are a success, I think there will be many waterborne vehicles sailing the Rise of Flight waters. And you’ll be able not only watch over them but launch off of their decks.

Realistic Smoke – at first, we intended to build a uniform system of physics. We did not launch it from the very beginning because it had a huge impact on PC performance. Your feedback informed us that this was a very coveted feature. The first aspect of new physics system will be smoke blowing in the wind. Its operation in-game will depend on various options set for a mission, such as wind strength, direction, gusts and turbulence. Have fun experimenting!

Planes Flight Model – as a result of very helpful and descriptive discussion on the forums, we will additionally tune some Rise of Flight planes. Many thanks go out to everybody who helped with the search for materials and information. I have no doubt that that kind of communication will be invaluable moving forward.

That is not the end of the list we are preparing. But the entire list would be too much for one update. I hope this has whet your appetite for future blog entries. We will be looking at many other features and concerns more in-depth, not only reading about them in the forums, but watching them in-game as well. Whew, that was a long one. Now I have to get back to work! Thanks for reading.