Last month I laid out a plan for May. Unfortunately not everything on the list made it in. But I did get a good amount done, and I would rather release what is ready than hold it back.
This update is mostly about visuals and performance. It also includes a rework of the propeller breakage system based on your feedback.
Terrain spawning
I spend most of my time reworking the terrain generation system. This used to be very inefficient, and was held together by a bunch of hacky solutions. It is mostly behind the scenes work but it already has some practical effects
Rocks
I added rock spawning to the terrain. This was not really possible before, but the new LOD and terrain spawning systems made it possible. It is a small addition, but it helps the world feel a bit less empty.
Loading times
Every time you reset to your base, or at the current airport, or transition from build mode to flying mode, there is this short loading screen. Most of the time in this loading screen was spend spawning the terrain, so reworking it should speed this loading screen up significantly.
Propeller breakage rework
The propeller breakage system got some backlash, and I think this was fair. An engine dropping to zero thrust the moment the propellers broke felt too punishing.
So I reworked it. Propellers now only partially break. And if all propellers are broken, the engine will still run at 70% efficiency. I hope this keeps the sense of consequence without it feeling too harsh.
LODs
I added a basic LOD system. This means that models in the distance, such as trees, are rendered at a lower resolution. Hopefully this improves performance a bit.
Camera modes
You can now switch between three camera modes: normal, freedom and first person. First person was requested a lot, so I am glad to finally add it. I did not have time to model full cockpits though, so the first person view is quite bare for now. This is something I want to improve later.
Explosion rework
Explosions look a bit better now. They also scale with the size of your plane, so bigger planes make bigger explosions. They probably won’t be winning any VFX awards any time soon, but it is an improvement.