Jet Lancer has been in development for a long time. We're feeling nostalgic, so this week I want to show you some of the game's history, some older weapon systems, and a brief look at what we have now.

My name is Vladimir, I'm the lead designer of Jet Lancer, and this is DISPATCH_02

A History of Guns

A.K.A.

How I Almost F****** Up Our Weapons System

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We started developing the “Planes game” in 2011 and back then it was quite different. It was much more of a simulation; you would take on the role of a Close Air Support pilot, fighting in combat where you felt more like a cog in the machine, trying to influence a battle by taking out key targets and helping your ground troops. Your arsenal consisted of standard CAS weaponry: minigun, unguided rockets, air-to-air homing missiles and unguided bombs.
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So when we reimagined the project into a more arcade-oriented experience, known literally as “Planes 2” (one of many names we were using before we settled on Jet Lancer), we started with quite a similar idea. To start, you had access to 4 different weapons.
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They all had different purpose and you were suppose to find a perfect balance between all of them for each mission at hand. The system was ammo-based, and your jet had a weight limit to ensure you pick optimal loadout for each mission.
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It worked totally fine in theory, and the premise of playing around with amount of ammo wasn’t bad. This weapon system was in the game for almost 2 years, until one day during some playtesting I realised I haven’t used any weapon except for guided rockets for at least last 6 months. And it wasn’t just a balance issue, switching weapons mid-combat meant you have to take your left thumb off your stick for a second to reach for D-pad, which can cost you a life in such fast-paced game. That’s when it struck me:

This weapon system was designed for a completely different game.

I had just grown so used to it as a known quantity that it didn’t cross my mind to change it. After that, I went and highlighted the main issues with the system as it was.

• Button Bonanza: The weapon system used 6 different buttons by itself (4 weapons on D-pad, minigun button, special weapon button).
• Ol' Faithful: Guided rockets were very clearly the safest bet, their reliability made up for their slightly lower damage output.
• Ammo Woes: It was possible to unload your full payload in the first 10 seconds of a mission and then be left with only your minigun for the remainder.
• Analysis Paralysis: Being able to access so many weapons at once made it hard to balance as a developer, and hard to weigh options as a player.

So I went back to the drawing board, and soon after had a version that is similar to what is in Jet Lancer today.

Instead of trying to balance 4 weapons to be equally viable, I divided everything into 2 slots based directly on their damage potential: rocket weapon and super weapon which would be tied to the same button. Rockets would use a tapping input, while supers would become a “charge” weapon. Additionally, I made all of our weapons cooldown based. With two different weapon slots, we were able to expand our weapon list beyond just 4 fixed weapons, but still keep “trying to find perfect loadout” part of the based design. Instead of wrestling with a weight limit, now you have different weapon options in two categories, each one having its own strengths and weaknesses. This change alone pretty much fixed all the problems we had:

• Simplified controls: Now game uses only 2 buttons to control your weapons (one for minigun, and one for both rockets and charge shot)
• Standard Array: Rockets are always available and are essential part of your kit, so you don’t have to make a tradeoff to use more of them.
• Always Have Options: With cooldown reload timers instead of ammo, you’re never stuck with just the mini-gun for a prolonged period.
• Variety is the Spice of Life: Additional weapons lets us fine tune power levels in a way where there was never a clear “best” option.

And that's how we got to where we are today! Sure, we hit some turbulence, but Jet Lancer is built of tough stuff, so there was never any worry.
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That's it for this week! We'll talk more about Jet Lancer's future in our next Dispatch. Until then, please wishlist Jet Lancer on Steam and tell all of your friends, family, and rival pilots to do so as well! If you want to get Dispatches, beta invitations, and news even faster you can subscribe to our newsletter at www.jetlancergame.com .

And of course if you want to hang out with the Jet Lancer team (and who wouldn't want to hang out with us?!) you can do so in our Discord.

On behalf of the Jet Lancer team, this is Vladimir Fedyushkin.
Over and Out.
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