Our team finished the Alpha 4 version of Ground of Aces and we updated the demo with its new features.
Here is the list of the major changes of the Alpha 4:
HQ relationship & airbase rank system
- Different types of airfield ranks and requirements.
- Weekly goals of started and successful missions.
- Get served more missions as your base levels up.
Victory Points system
- Earn victory points after completing missions.
- Purchase new, more powerful planes with victory points.
- You can decommission unwanted plane crews in the plane management screen.
Weekly resource delivery system
- Get weekly shipment of resources from HQ.
- A truck delivers exclusive military grade resources.
- Resource amount is tied to HQ goals success.
Game Over scenario: it’s possible to fully lose the game.
- Brand new Game Over screen animation.
- Lose the game by low base morale.
- Lose the game by not fulfilling HQ expectations for three weeks in a row.
New wall and floor decorations
- Posters, Flags and other wall decorations.
- Carpets, rugs and other ground decorations.
- Posters are custom designed, inspired by historic war posters.
Improvements to plane taxi
- Planes now take more realistic paths according to their sizes.
- Planes can use multiple runways at the same time.
- Smarter scheduling on which runways to use by distance and occupation.
Balancing updates
- Missions majorly affect base morale, depending on their success.
- Missions are more dangerous, potentially inflicting damage on successes.
- Higher fuel consumptions across all missions.
- More realistic, larger fuel tanks for large bombers.
- Fuel is more scarce and harder to get. Shipments are important.
- More range in food production, the 4 seeds feel majorly different from each other.
- More punishing effects from work and war. Harder to keep up base morale.
- More severe punishment from not sleeping on proper beds.
- Workbenches now either need to be built inside or outside by type.
- Size of parking spots have been slightly reduced.
- Several resources now don't degrade anymore when stored properly.
Improved UX & UI
- New particle effects for workbenches and tasks
- Ability to build several assets in the same rotation while holding shift.
- The current time of day is visible in the schedule window.
- New shipment truck UI showing your upcoming shipments.
- More historic plane details in the plane order detail window.
- Building projects now have different placeholder box sizes.
- There are depleted versions of wild seed plants.
- Gardening uses the proper tools like hoes and watering cans.
Improvement of game performance
- Less lag when upgrading runways and parking spots
- Better optimisation in task handling
- (under construction) Quality Settings in the Options Menu
Bugfixes
- Fixed issues with existing roofs not being able to be deconstructed.
- NPCs now face each other when talking and fighting.
- Fixed several issues with plane previews in the plane order window.
Why was this update released faster than the previous Alphas?
Because we wanted to give the community something special for Christmas! And during the Christmas break, many have more time to play and test the latest features.
Send us your feedback and shape the game during development!
How do you like the new progression system and the feel of it? What do you think about the missions? What do you think about the balancing?
Use the survey link and feedback button inside the game to send us your new feedback. With your input, we will know what improved, what we overlooked and on what we need to keep focusing. Together with you, we can make the game better for everyone.
We hope you have time to try out the new Alpha / new demo over the Christmas break.
Happy holidays from the whole Blindflug Studios team!