Maceno Bay

The Maceno Island expansions first track, Maceno Bay, has been completed! Here's a first look at the upcoming track :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_QYqV_9rAI

Screenshots

1.3 Beta 1

1.3 is going to be a major update focusing on new modding tools and features for both the PC and upcoming Switch version of the game. Most additions for the Switch will also be on PC, so we're developing them on PC first to give the community access to try stuff out as it's developed!

This update focuses on the addition of a campaign editor, which can be accessed in the campaigns menu. Campaigns that you build in this new tool are also compatible with past versions of the game.

Joining the Beta

• Right click BallisticNG in your steam library and go to Properties
• Go to the betas tab on the window that opens
• From the dropdown select Beta. If the update doesn't automatically queue for download, restart Steam

Campaign Editor

The campaign editor is an in-game tool that lets you build your own campaign lists without needing to know XML. Everything that you can do in XML is available here. Give it a go and let us know what you think!

The campaign editor can be accessed via the campaign menu at the top. Saving a campaign reloads it so you can get straight to playtesting once you've backed out of it!

1.3 Beta 1 Changelog

Internally this build is versioned as 1.3-d5.

Engine

• Most file operations are now handled in platform agnostic code
• FIxed the autopilot disengage spinning the ship at insane speeds if disengaging immediately after engaging it
• The audio manager and mixer is now always initialised on the first frame of track loading if they're not already. This fixes many sounds in fast play ignoring the audio settings and playing at max volume.

Music

• Custom music can now be loaded from any folder on your computer by creating external.txt in the User/Mods/Ingame Music folder and entering a folder path per line. Like the User music folder the game will also scan sub-directories.

User Interface

• Ships now have updated descriptions (thanks Kekka & Brobama!)
• Fixed big arrow buttons not resetting their internal selection color status when disabled
• Gave the campaign menu some visual tweaks.
• Precision runs menu updated with the same visual tweaks as the campaign menu
• The campaign gamemode description scroll view is no longer scrollable and now auto scrolls over time
• Fixed the capital M on the onscreen keyboard being an N

Campaign

• Fixed custom values being ignored when loading campaigns
• Campaign content is now validated. Any event that has missing content will now show what's missing instead of the event name and will no longer let you try to start it.
• Added exception handling to campaign loading. When an exception is thrown the game will now skip the campaign and open the console to show the issue.
• Updated the difficulty icons

Campaign Editor

• Added a campaign editor. You can find it at the top of the campaigns menu.
  • Works off the same XML format that custom campaigns already do. No new features have been added to campaigns, this is simply a UI wrapper around the XML format.
  • The UI is designed to be controller friendly. Every option uses the same UI element and all interactions are handled through the submit button.
  • When using a keyboard in the input field dialogues you can press return to confirm instead of navigating to the confirm button.
  • You can load exiting XML campaigns into the editor. Just note that saving an edited campaign rewrites the file, so any additional data like comments will be lost.
  • The editor only uses the current iteration of attributes. Resaving an XML with legacy attributes will use the newer versions instead.
  • Leaving the campaign editor reloads all custom campaigns. If you're manually writing XMLs you can go into the editor and back out to reload your work on the fly without having to restart the game.

DLC

• All DLCs rebuilt with smaller abbreviated logos for the menu

Ships

• Omnicom Steering Speed increased from 1.63 to 1.7 and Grip increased from 5.5 to 5.65
• Mtechs Top Speed increased to match G-Teks and Steer Slide increased from 1.23 to 1.5
• Large protonic stats tweaks. The new stats make the ship less twitchy so you can let the ship carry its momentum.
  • Tilt angle reduced from 50 to 30
  • Steer Speed increased from 2.3 to 2.5
  • Steer Gain decreased from 1.52 to 1.2
  • Steer Falloff decreased from 1.26 to 0.8
  • Steer Slide increased from 1 to 3
  • Airbrake Drift Falloff decreased from 14 to 3
  • Grip increased from 2 to 2.4
  • Weight increased from 0.7 to 1.2
  • Top speeds now match Gteks

VR

• Fixed various generated UIs having their elements placed far away from the viewpoint
• Advanced content selectors are now correctly curved on the main menu