Project Phoenix · Steam Update
The Flight Update
The flight model has been rebuilt from the ground up. The Flight Controller/PIDLoop now runs at BetaFlight 4,000Hz.
Every drone now ships with a tune taken from a real 5‑inch freestyle quad — its rates, its filters, its weight, its throttle response.
NEW Turtle ModeNEW APEX default tuneNEW Blackbox Explorer supportFASTER frame rate & menus
How it flies
the largest change in this update
A new default tune: APEX
Every drone now starts on a tune built from a real 5‑inch freestyle quad's own configuration — the same rates, filter stack and PID values that aircraft actually flies. It is the default the moment you launch; nothing to import, nothing to set up.
The rate controller was rebuilt
Feedforward, I‑term relax and rotation, anti‑gravity, D‑term filtering, absolute control, acceleration limiting and RC smoothing now all behave the way they do on a real flight controller — including the order the stages run in, which is what makes a stick input feel immediate instead of soft.
Filtering that matches real hardware
RPM‑based filtering and a dynamic notch now run on the gyro signal, tracking the motors as they spool. Props wash and motor noise are handled the way your own quad handles them, rather than being smoothed away.
Motors, props and the battery
Throttle response across the whole range, voltage sag under load and current draw were all reworked. A hard punch pulls the pack down and the aircraft answers for it — and a tired pack flies like a tired pack.
Weight, inertia and authority
The airframe's rotational inertia and control authority were re‑derived from the real aircraft. The quad now carries its momentum through a roll and settles when you ask it to, instead of stopping dead like something weightless.
Vibration you can feel through the sticks
Frame resonance, blade‑pass noise and the airframe's own vibration signature were rebuilt per axis. It is not decoration — that noise reaches the controller the same way it does on a real quad, and it is part of why the aircraft feels planted through the throttle range.
New
features added since the last build
Turtle Mode — press T
Flipped onto your back? Press T and the quad rights itself where it lies, keeping your heading. No respawn, no teleport back to the start — you pick up your line from where you crashed.
Simpler tuning, and room for your own
The tuning screen now ships a single factory tune — APEX — plus three free slots you can save your own setups into and switch between. The factory tune is locked, so you always have a known‑good baseline to come back to.
Blackbox logs open in Blackbox Explorer
Logs exported from the sim now load in Betaflight's Blackbox Explorer. Fly, export, and pick your flight apart with the same tool you already use on a real quad — gyro traces, PID terms, motor outputs and RPM, all there.
Performance
smoother in the air and in the menus
Higher, steadier frame rates
The physics loop and the per‑frame simulation work were both cut down substantially, and a costly piece of collision work is now off by default. The gain is largest exactly where it matters — in fast, close proximity flying.
Menus open instantly
The home, drone select and level select screens used to stall for a beat on every transition. That stall is gone, and the three screens were rebuilt on one consistent design.
Fixed
Blackbox exports no longer fail to openin log viewers.
Saved tunes now load the values they were saved with.A fresh install and an existing save resolve to the same setup.
Tuning changes stick.Several settings could silently revert to a different value than the one displayed.
Throttle response at the bottom of the rangeno longer loses authority when all four motors sit near idle.
Menu and level‑select stallson every screen transition.