Hello everyone!
Hope you all enjoyed the long weekend (US residents) and are having a good week so far! As usual, I'm a bit behind schedule with this as I ran into some issues with packaging, but I'm glad to finally get it up and running on steam. It'll be nice to be able to add consistent updates again, keeping you looped in, as you should be in early access.
Nonetheless, it is important to note that this new beta build is a bit watered-down at the moment, but this will be corrected quickly. The primary reason for this was to get the initial build out into your hands, so you can start playtesting the functionality and editor. There is still a lot more content to add to the editor (infantry models, vehicle models, more objects, etc.) that is already built, just need to be configured in. I guess it's similar to moving to a new house, you don't realize how much you have until you need to move it all. Either way, I'll be adding this and pushing updates every few days.
Additionally, as I mentioned in the last SITREP, the sorties were taken offline to receive some more polish before releasing them. It shouldn't be much longer before I'll release the AC-130A variant sorties, and I'll continue to release the following variants as they get done. Once the AC-130A sorties are released, this build will be moved to the default branch, and the previous (old) version of the game will be accessible as another branch (I'm still planning on making even older versions available in separate branches as well).
To access the new build, you simply need to right click on the game in your library, select "Properties," select "Game Versions & Betas", then select the "publicbeta" branch.
Granted it is a new build, everything needs to be thoroughly tested, but here are some of the things that I'll need feedback on:
Sensor control: Please let me know if this has been improved in your opinion. This relates to all control methods.
Joystick Configuration: This has had its issues in the past, but I think I got all those issues resolved. There may still be some bugs related to unplugging & plugging in a device while in game (has been a common breaking point), but I think those are currently mitigated. The system should also be fine with multiple devices plugged in at once but let me know if you encounter any issues.
Graphic settings and Performance: I added a few more settings you can use to hopefully improve the performance and I spent a lot of time optimizing both the GPU and game thread. I also defaulted the RHI to use DX11 but provided the option to use DX12; these changes only take affect after restarting the game. Please let me know if you have any specific performance concerns or issues.
Editor: I really haven't spent any time testing limits on this and am not sure exactly how my implementation will respond when put to the test. If you see any issues with objects not spawning or loading in when starting custom scenarios, please let me know! I've also tried to build out these systems to allow updates/improvements without affecting your built scenarios (don't want to waste any work/time you put into them), so if there are any issues here, I need to know.
As for the editor, I'm still working on a more intuitive and informative "help" page within the game that will give better instruction on how things work and tie together, but that will be added as soon as it's done. For now, hovering the mouse over each parameter (object parameter window) should give a baseline understanding for it and how it connects to the other parameters. You access these parameters by selecting an object and selecting the parameter button in the bottom right corner (it should change, depending on what is selected. If nothing is selected, it will allow you to change the general scenario details).
Additionally, I'll most likely release a news update detailing this information, so you'll have access to it in-game and on steam. Here is a look at the basic controls in the editor. I tried to implement things in a way that makes editing easy and quick. If you have any suggestions on how we can improve here, let me know:
Like I said previously, much more is coming and you will now see consistent/constant updates to the game going forward. Most of the heavy lifting is finally done and we have a much better path to a 1.0 release this year. I appreciate everyone's support and help and look forward to receiving your feedback and playtesting results.
Thanks!
-Sklor