Changelog
I'm doing the patch notes a little differently this time and splitting up the news post and changelog.
The full changelog can be found here!
IR Guided SAMs, the SA-9 Strela
The SA-9 is a BRDM adapted to carry and fire the 9M31 "Strela" infrared guided missile. This is the first AI operated missile in the game, and is absolutely devastating to fighters if not flared against right away. It's maybe a little too strong right now, but its performance will be re-evaluated as more SAMs get added to the game.
In Tiny Combat Arena, infrared SAMs are short ranged ambush weapons. Since they don't require a radar lock, there is no warning before they are launched. However if you're prepared and quick on the flare countermeasures they can be effectively countered and gunned down before they reload.
For the moment, the SA-9 is found only as a selectable enemy in the Strike Instant Action mode, and in the "Arena Demo" Arena mission.
Player Ejection
It's exactly what it sounds like! By default this requires three taps in quick succession, but can also be configured for a hold for a couple seconds instead. When the ejecting in Arena, this means the pilot is not lost, only the plane. Future Arena missions and mechanics will be built with this mechanic in mind.
The New "Game" HUD
Adding missiles meant that there needed to be HUD symbology to make the player aware of them and counter them. This means missile symbology on the TWD and HUD, and associated audio. I needed to add missile warnings, but the HUD had been drawn in such an experimental (and spaghetti) way that adding anything to it felt like it would cause the whole thing to collapse. The HUD was always the bottleneck for adding SAMs, not the SAMs or missiles themselves.
Beyond just that, many HUD features that I had been wanting to add, such as expanded weapons symbology were beginning to pile up. By this point, it really was holding back too many new features, and the missiles were the last straw. I finally had enough and decided to pull the trigger on the total HUD rewrite I had been planning for quite some time.
The new HUD has nearly complete feature parity with the old one, but with things tweaks and additions:
- Can be used from the "Chase" third person view (optional)
- The TWD and Radar are now "instruments" on the HUD
- Instruments have three configurable styles: borders, transparent, clear
- Instrument placement can be set to 4:3, 16:9, or Screen Edge
- Radar lock shows target type and altitude on radar screen
- Heading tape
- Pitch ladder (optional) that automatically reacts to FOV changes
- Waterline and flight path markers (optional)
- VTOL HUD mode automatically activated based on flight and input parameters
- VTOL HUD mode switches FPM, pitch ladder caged, and pitch ladder used as a vertical velocity indicator
- Input debugger is now part of the HUD (optional)
- Fuel gauge to display both internal and external fuel (optional)
- Target boxes have a SHOOT cue that coincides with seeker lock
- Dynamic Launch Zone (DLZ) indicator added with some very questionable and WIP math
- Time to impact show shown for previously launched munitions
- Ground targets on radar appear as indistinct blobs (important targets like AAA still use unique symbols)
- Gunsight shows current range and max range
- Fixed gun cross which situationally appears
- Incoming missile warnings and audio on both HUD and Threat Warning Display (TWD)
The HUD is already in a good place, but there are still aspects of it that I'd like to improve upon, and features I'd like to add.
HUD Features Still to Come:
First of all is another optimization pass, as ironically the HUD is the most expensive to render thing in the entire game. By some measures, it's actually 2.5 times more expensive than rendering all of the 3D in the game. (This is reduced from 4 times as much in the initial implementation) I already have ideas for how to further optimize it, but they are large enough that I didn't want to delay the patch for them.
This HUD was also designed with customization in mind, which is why many of the new features above are optional. Examples of more options to come are are customizable colors, and being able to set the units displayed on the HUD between metric and Imperial.
The biggest planned feature set for the HUD revolves around the currently unused Navigation mode, which can currently be triggered manually through a keybind (default ~), or by holding down the select next weapon key for a couple seconds. This mode will in the future the take the place of the very crowded, cluttered, and distracting Arena symbology that is currently being drawn while in flight, and can be (for now) toggled by default with Shift-H.
If you have more ideas for features and options the HUD should have, please leave comments below. This is one of the most important aspects of the game, so I want it to be as easy to use and informative as possible.
"Game HUD" vs "Aircraft HUD"
The naming here is very intentional. The Game HUD is meant to be universal and work regardless of if the aircraft has a modeled cockpit or not. The Game HUD should support every game mechanic the game has to offer, and should be built with the game's mechanics in mind, rather than the other way around.
The HUD has long been a source of design "deadlock" for me. Oftentimes I felt limited by what features I could add to the game because I couldn't figure out how to fit them onto an AV8B HUD or cockpit. This is partially why the game features the AV8B in the first place, as opposed to an older model (e.g. AV8C), as its large HUD and MFDs in theory could allow for more "fudge factor" in capabilities.
For a long time now I've been wanting to remove this very tight coupling between the game's features and a specific aircraft cockpit. The solution I've settled on is a bit of a "have your cake and eat it too", and it will require almost double the workload for when a new cockpit gets added, but it's something I feel very strongly about.
To solve this, I'd like to have a separate, aircraft specific HUD mode which gives more authentically styled HUD symbology, and displays correctly in the HUD glass. The game's mechanics will still be mapped onto the aircraft-specific HUD, so it's more like it'd be a more tailored and flavored version of the HUD, but it also gives each plane a bit more character because some HUDs and cockpits might not have a way to show every mechanic the game has. Others meanwhile might even show something extra that isn't readily available in other planes. The Game HUD will always be a fallback, more informative, the default, and more reliable for players who choose to play this way. The game will also still be designed with the Game HUD in mind.
Keep in mind that this is a long term idea. The Game HUD is more important, and more versatile. This is a feature that I'd like to attack in bits and pieces over time, and goes hand in hand with the various cockpit enhancements that are on the Trello board.
PAPI Lights
A fun little addition that was mainly for prototyping out future light related features. They scale such that they're always clearly visible regardless of distance, but look normal inside their housings up close.
PAPI lights are designed to help airplanes land on runways by indicating when they are on the correct glidescope. If you see two white lights, and two red lights, you are on the prescribed glideslope, typically of 3 degrees. None of this really matters to the Harrier, but it's still a fun and forward looking addition.
Physics Props
Another quick and fun little addition I wrote as a palate cleanser after the grueling HUD rework. Physics props, in the form of traffic cones, have been scattered around most airfields. They don't do anything, but they're fun to blow around with guns and engine wash!
What's next?
I've been very, very happy with the development that's been happening with the terrain. The updated main island will be the central feature of the next big patch, along with updates to Arena mode and its UI to support the new terrain. On the back end, some things were written assuming a flat map, but the new map is very clearly not flat anymore! Spawning rules, UI, and various other gameplay features will need to be shuffled around a bit to accommodate, and new features such as "tactical targets" are to come.
Following this will be an air to air focused patch, as the ground game will by then be near completion. This will bring missile based air to air combat, an expanded role for aircraft in Arena missions, and a large pass on their AI and tactics.
Thank you again everybody for sticking with the development of this game! As always, if you have feedback or comments, the best places to get in contact with me is on the Tiny Combat channels of the official MicroProse Discord, or here on the Steam discussion forums.