The 1.9.205 update is now available. It includes a lead indicator for the guns and cannons, tracer rounds for the cannons, and a big update to Funky Trees. Also, we've upgraded Unity to a newer version and if you also play on Android, you will hopefully see some performance improvements.


Zeus Dive Bomber/Fighter MK1 by Galland

FEATURES

• Several Funky Trees enhancements
  
• Added air-to-air lead predictor for guns and cannons
  
• Added Tracer Rounds to Cannon
  
• Performance improvements for Android

You can read the full release notes here.

Check out the Aerospace Engineer Bundle for an additional 15% discount on SimplePlanes.

The new update for SimplePlanes is now available for download. We hope you enjoy the new tank cannon part, designer enhancements, advanced targeting, and a whole lot more! Here's the update trailer for the SimplePlanes 1.9 update:

https://youtu.be/qAsJr-UP7Ys

William added a new customizable tank cannon part and it is even more fun than expected, especially when combined with the new Advanced Targeting integration (thanks, Nicky!).



We've been having Dude Perfect style competitions by trying to blow stuff up from Wright Airport. The ships are a fun challenge, but Philip set the record when he blew up a Krakabloan bridge from Wright Airport. Who will be the first to oust Philip from this record?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPTGynp_AWU

Nicky integrated his Designer Suite into the game, so now you'll have access to all kinds of goodies like the blueprints overlay, orthogonal view, x-ray vision, and manual part connection editing. He also added a Funky Trees, which are an advanced way to blend inputs via XML modding. Some players are already using them in very / creative / ways and building things that would never have been possible before.

You can view the full change list here.

Did you know that William and Nicky have been secretly working on an update for SimplePlanes for the past few months? If not, then you are in for a pleasant surprise. The 1.9 beta is now available on Steam, and it should be available tomorrow on Google Play and shortly after that for iOS via TestFlight.

• First, let's get this out of the way. Unfortunately, mod support has been removed from the Android version for technical reasons. Google now requires 64-bit support. Unfortunately, mod support in SimplePlanes is dependent on Unity's version of Mono, which is limited to 32-bit.
  
• To be clear, this isn't Google's fault and it isn't Unity's fault. It's really not anyone's fault, it's just that the technologies we are using have shifted in an unfortunate way.
  
• To compensate for this, we've bundled two of the most popular mods into the game: FineTuner and Overload. Also, Nicky has integrated his Advanced Targeting and Designer Suite mods into the game.

• Added new Tank Cannon part.
  
  • Several customizable properties such as Caliber, Barrel Length, Muzzle Brake, Recoil, Projectile Velocity, and a whole bunch more.
• Added new stock craft: Jackhammer, an Armored Personnel Carrier, created by @EternalDarkness.
  
• Bundled Fine Tuner and Overload mods with the game, so Android users can still use them.
  
• Nicky fully integrated his Advanced Targeting and Designer Suite mods into the game.
  
• Advanced Targeting
  
  • Displays trajectory line and impact point for bombs and also for the new tank cannon.
    
  • Includes a Predictor quality setting for low-end devices, or if you just want to turn it off.
• Designer Suite
  
  • Attachment Editor - Manually add or remove connections between parts.
    
  • Blueprints panel - Overlay a reference image in the background of the designer.
    
  • Orthographic View
    
  • X-Ray Vision
• Funky Trees
  
  • Nicky brewed this up in his experimental laboratory. They aren't your traditional trees, but rather an expression parser so you can write actual code that is evaluated for input controllers. Intended for XML modders, these allow you to blend inputs in any way you can imagine. For example: <InputController.State input="Pitch + Trim/8 + Roll/2" />
• Added support for switching between Metric, Imperial, and Nautical unit systems.
  
• Added Ground Speed, Indicated Air Speed, and True Air Speed modes.
  
• Added weapon naming and multirole weapons.
  
• Added sliders for Metallic and Smoothness to paint flyout.
  
• Added hex color textbox to paint flyout.
  
• Added ZeroThrottle and MaxThrottle inputs.
  
• Upgraded to Unity 2018.4.
  
• Performance Boost on Android. The silver lining of losing mod support on Android is that the game will now run a little faster.

• Added support for the Dev Console on mobile (tap settings header x5 to activate and then 3-finger tap to open/close).
  
• Tweaked touchdown physics and added smoke effect.
  
• Added Tournament Validator to aircraft properties.
  
• Added ignitionDelay attribute to missiles.
  
• Added waterproof attribute to missiles.
  
• Added shortestAngle property to JointRotator.
  
• Added hingeOffset parameter to JointRotator.
  
• Fixed normals on hemispheres.

• Fixed bug causing hubHeadScale to not react properly w/prop blur.
  
• Fixed a bug with mirroring small parts sitting on the mirror plane.

We decided to have ourselves a good old fashioned Halloween challenge to see who could build the best Halloween themed aircraft. Make a ballistic pumpkin go Mach five, send Pennywise a bombardment of bombs, or build a haunted house for kittens. Let's bring Halloween to the Simple-Verse! Points will be awarded to the top three players with the highest-rated submissions from the community. I will act as a tiebreaker for the top three by casting my vote. Make sure to upload your craft as a successor to this craft to enter.

The deadline for the competition is 11-4-2019 by 7:00 am CT.

• 1st: 1500 points
  
• 2nd: 500 points
  
• 3rd: 250 points

• Spooktacular creations that embody the spirit of Halloween.
  
• Multi-activation group madness.
  
• Aircraft that gets your blood flowing.

Try to keep things G rated, and have fun!

After more than three years of development, SimpleRockets 2 is now available on the iOS App Store and Google Play. You can get it here.



As usual, here's a new trailer we put together for this special day. There is an absurd number of features in the game and the mobile version has the same feature set as the PC and Mac versions. The only difference is that the graphics are dialed back slightly, but don't get the wrong impression as the game still looks amazing on mobile devices!













SR2 has been available on Steam for almost a year now, so we've had time to add tons of new features and fix a lot of bugs to get it ready for this mobile release. But, we're not stopping here! You can check out our Roadmap for the list of stuff we are planning to work on. If you have a suggestion, feel free to submit it and make sure to upvote the suggestions that you favor. We take player suggestions into consideration with every update and it has led to great enhancements to the game such as the procedural rocket engines and jet engines.

If I could go back three years ago to when we started this project, I never would have imagined that we would get a fully 3D space simulator with seamless ground-to-space transitions and unprecedented craft customization working on a mobile device. I'm really proud of the team and the work we've done in creating what is now the most comprehensive simulator on mobile for building and flying rockets. I hope you will enjoy the game as much as we've enjoyed making it!

Thank you for reading and we hope you enjoy the game!

-The Jundroo Team

Starting today, our games can be used for free for education. Educators now have access to download the Windows and Mac versions of SimpleRockets 2 and SimplePlanes (DRM-free) from our website and install them on any number of classroom computers.



We've heard many great things over the years about how teachers are using our games in the classroom. They lend themselves well to teaching physics concepts and students seem to enjoy them. Fundamental concepts such as velocity, acceleration, gravity, lift, drag, etc can easily be demonstrated with an airplane or a rocket hurtling through the atmosphere at hypersonic speeds and that has a way of grabbing and maintaining a student's attention. SimpleRockets 2 goes a step further and can demonstrate advanced concepts such as orbital mechanics and many other rocket science concepts.

If you are an educator, just visit this page and click the Submit Request button. After we review your request, you will be given access to the downloads page where you can freely download our games for Windows and Mac.

If you are a student, help spread the word and let your teachers know!

It's been a while since we had an update, but after several rounds of beta we've released version 1.8. It's packed with new features that we think you're all going to enjoy. To those of you who saw the beta posts, most of this will be familiar, but to those who did not, here are some highlights.

We've added rotor engines so the commoners among us can make helicopters without going to such great lengths to do so. They simulate ground effects, translational lift, and all the torques you can imagine thrown into the mix, which the tail has to deal with to settle things down. The rotors use actual wing physics to produce the lift at the blades, so if the tail isn't up to the task of countering the torque of the main rotor, things can get quite spinny. Even with all the standard options, we knew there would be cases where some people can't get their heli to fly quite like they'd wanted, so in addition to all those, there are a bunch of additional XML properties to really tweak it.



The aircraft carrier is now one of the most exciting places in the known universe, and has so much more room for activities! It has a catapult to launch random items (airplanes?) at blistering speeds. Wanna slow down? We've got you covered with an arresting hook to get things back to the sub-blistering range. If you stroll on over to the red boxes on the deck, be prepared for the ride of your life as the elevator brings you to the lower deck where the party really starts. Just kidding, there isn't much down there, but if you use your imagination, anything is possible!



The magnets and winches allow you to pick up all the trash you've been dropping around the islands and carry them to other parts where your guests can't see them.



In addition to all the features, there are lots of tweaks/bug-fixes, so make sure to check out the list. We wanted to thank all the beta testers for their hard work, they helped us find a lot of bugs that would've slipped past, it is much appreciated! On that note, there are still some issues that we're working on, which will be addressed in a post-launch update in the coming days.

• Added Helicopter Parts
  
  • Main Rotor: Highly customizable helicopter rotor system.
    
  • Tail Rotor: Counteracts torque from the main rotor system(s) and provides yaw control.
• Added Winch part: Rotating drum that extends and retracts a cable. Works great with the new magnet part.
  
• Added Magnet part: Turn it on with an AG and this powerful electromagnet will stick to anything with the slightest hint of metal.
  
• Added Hollow Fuselage part: The visuals are hollow, but the collider is quite solid.
  
• Added Arresting Hook part: Helps to slow down quickly when landing on the aircraft carrier
  
• Added Catapult Connector part: Tells the aircraft catapult where to connect to your plane. (Not strictly required for catapult connection.)
  
• Major updates to the USS Beast aircraft carrier
  
  • Brand new mesh
    
  • Catapult launch system
    
  • Arresting cables
    
  • Elevators
• Upgraded game engine to latest version of Unity (2018.3)
  
• Added new stock helicopter: Gator 2 (modeled after a Huey Gunship)
  
• Added Fast Forward mode
  
• Added shift+click to yank a single part off a disconnected part group in the designer.
  
• Added option to specify the "Engage At %" for a propeller engine's throttle governor.
  
• Added Delay setting for detachers to allow for delayed detachment.
  
• Added Reconnect Part button to designer
  
• Added UI Scale slider to settings page in the main menu
  
• Added a VSync quality setting in the quality settings UI
  
• Added Sun Flare and Tone Mapping that can be toggled via a new Image Effects quality setting
  
• Added a camera look back (left/right) input for use in cockpit and first person cameras. Includes Cockpit/CameraVantage modifier XML attribute 'lookBackTranslation' to translate the camera (left/right, up/down) when looking back.
  
• Added a ModLoadLog.txt file that logs messages, warnings, and errors related to loading mods.

• Improved UI for part rotation to allow entering exact angles.
  
• Save player's settings for nudge and rotate amounts in part transform flyout.
  
• Several performance improvements
  
• Added ability to set a part's Input to Disabled in the designer part properties
  
• Added bindable keyboard shortcuts for toggling Part Transform, Part Properties, and Color panels.
  
• Counter measures now have hidden autoDispenseDelay XML option.
  
• Updated the input system (hopefully better controller support)
  
• Updated SimplePlanes logo in the main menu
  
• Improved support for splane/spmod file association handling on Android (some file managers will still have issues unfortunately)
  
• Improved file association loading of splane/spmod files while the game is running for GOG / DRM-Free builds.
  
• Reduced part drag calculation precision in order to improve performance for calculating drag for large crafts.

• Fixed a bug where fuselage inlets would revert the player's changes when immediately selecting another fuselage inlet before closing the Part Properties.
  
• Fixed a bug where the nudge part inputs would not work until the transform part panel was opened
  
• Fixed a bug where the download progress bar would report very high values on Mac
  
• Fixed bug which could cause the propeller engines to hunt for target pitch and never be able to reach it...could cause wild swings in lift.
  
• Only display "Aircraft Damaged" in Sandbox if the plane is hostile.
  
• Fixed speed of destroyers to match the aircraft carrier's speed
  
• Fixed the wind heading not showing up in the compass.
  
• Fixed a bug where the rings would spin oddly after passing through them in a race
  
• Fixed a bug where the view would rotate backwards if the player attempted to rotate the view too quickly.
  
• Small islands are no longer shiny and are now have friction for wheels.
  
• Fixed a bug where two rigid bodies could not be connected directly to each other at more than one place. Existing aircraft will continue to work this way, but new aircraft will support multiple physics connections. Old aircraft can be updated to use the new approach by changing their legacyJointIdentification attribute to "false" via XML.
  
• Fixed a bug with multiple conflicting inputs being deactivated when activated via ActivateCameraLook
  
• Fixed the position of the scrollbar on the mods menu
  
• Fixed a texture quality issue with low quality water.
  
• Fixed a bug where the fuselage properties would revert player's input text if their number ended in a zero.
  
• Fixed a bug where a designer undo step would not always revert the craft to the correct version.

• The build process and format of mods has slightly changed. When building mods for Windows/Mac, Unity will need both the Windows and Mac build components installed (mod tools should warn you if this is not the case). PC/Mac mods now include separate asset bundles for both platforms in a single mod file. You will likely noticed larger mod file sizes with this update. A new 'Debug' build option is available which builds the mod only for Unity's current target platform with the DEBUG symbol defined (should be a faster build than the other build options).
  
• A bunch of classes received interfaces which have been added to the mod tools. You may be able to get away with using less reflection code by taking advantage of these interfaces. These live in the "Jundroo.SimplePlanes.ModTools.Interfaces" namespace.
  
• Fixed a bug with the starting locations reflection proxy code which may have caused the spawining of AI aircraft to fail.
  
• Fixed a bug with mod level duplication when saving mods.
  
• Fixed a bug that prevented the cloning of parts with a hinge joint.
  
• Mod Builder Window style/layout tweaks
  
• Some additional info on changes and upgrading can be found on the modding wiki

• Since we updated Unity with this upgrade, several mods are likely to be broken. For this reason, mods will be automatically disabled the next time you start SimplePlanes. Nathan has been able to find some very clever ways to allow some mods to still function, but several mods will be broken with this update. We recommend turning them on one by one and testing each one to verify whether or not they still functions and don't cause any problems.

Changes since last beta

BUG FIXES

• Fixed collider misalignment on helicopter blades
  
• Fixed issue w/heli blade collider being incorrect when the hub is scaled.
  
• Fixed a bug where the camera could move wildly after un-pausing.

If you'd like to help us test, go grab the beta and if you find any issues let us know using this Bug Report Form.

We've got some new stuff for you to check out! Philip and Kevin have really outdone themselves and added a completely new propulsion system to the game. Helicopter parts, one of the most highly voted player suggestions, are now available. Quite possibly the best part ever added to SimplePlanes, which I find to be hilariously ironic. It includes highly detailed visuals, such as showing how the linkages and swashplate respond to cyclic and collective controls. It also supports ground effects, translational lift, and autorotations.



William and Kevin also significantly improved the aircraft carrier and added a launch catapult and arresting cables.



Nathan has been working in his laboratory, perfecting the mod support and doing what he can to save the current library of mods. Some mods will continue to limp along, but unfortunately many will have issues. If you are a mod developer, please consider upgrading your mods to work with the new mod tools.

• If you are concerned about losing data (such as planes, settings, unlocked locations), I highly recommend backing it up before trying the beta. There is always risk of losing data during betas. If that makes you uncomfortable, I'd recommend not trying the beta right now.
  Data folder: %APPDATA%..\LocalLow\Jundroo\SimplePlanes\

• Added Helicopter Parts
  
  • Main Rotor: Highly customizable helicopter rotor system.
    
  • Tail Rotor: Counteracts torque from the main rotor system(s) and provides yaw control.
• Added Winch part: Rotating drum that extends and retracts a cable. Works great with the new magnet part.
  
• Added Magnet part: Turn it on with an AG and this powerful electromagnet will stick to anything with the slightest hint of metal.
  
• Added Hollow Fuselage part: The visuals are hollow, but the collider is quite solid.
  
• Added Arresting Hook part: Helps to slow down quickly when landing on the aircraft carrier
  
• Added Catapult Connector part: Tells the aircraft catapult where to connect to your plane. (Not strictly required for catapult connection.)
  
• Major updates to the USS Beast aircraft carrier
  
  • Brand new mesh
    
  • Catapult launch system
    
  • Arresting cables
    
  • Elevators
• Upgraded game engine to latest version of Unity (2018.3)
  
• Added new stock helicopter: Gator 2 (modeled after a Huey Gunship)
  
• Added Fast Forward mode
  
• Added Speed button so mobile players can switch between slow-motion and fast-forward modes.
  
• Added Autopilot On/Off button for mobile players
  
• Added shift+click to yank a single part off a disconnected part group in the designer.
  
• Added option to specify the "Engage At %" for a propeller engine's throttle governor.
  
• Added Delay setting for detachers to allow for delayed detachment.
  
• Added Reconnect Part button to designer for mobile players
  
• Added UI Scale slider to settings page in the main menu
  
• Added a VSync quality setting in the quality settings UI
  
• Added Sun Flare and Tone Mapping that can be toggled via a new Image Effects quality setting
  
• Added a camera look back (left/right) input for use in cockpit and first person cameras. Includes Cockpit/CameraVantage modifier XML attribute 'lookBackTranslation' to translate the camera (left/right, up/down) when looking back.

• Improved UI for part rotation to allow entering exact angles.
  
• Save player's settings for nudge and rotate amounts in part transform flyout.
  
• Several performance improvements
  
• Added ability to set a part's Input to Disabled in the designer part properties
  
• Added bindable keyboard shortcuts for toggling Part Transform, Part Properties, and Color panels.
  
• Counter measures now have hidden autoDispenseDelay XML option.
  
• Particle systems no longer show under water
  
• Updated the input system (hopefully better controller support)
  
• Updated SimplePlanes logo in the main menu
  
• Improved support for splane/spmod file association handling on Android (some file managers will still have issues unfortunately)
  
• Improved file association loading of splane/spmod files while the game is running for GOG / DRM-Free builds.

• Fixed a bug where fuselage inlets would revert the player's changes when immediately selecting another fuselage inlet before closing the Part Properties.
  
• Fixed a bug where the nudge part inputs would not work until the transform part panel was opened
  
• Fixed a bug where the download progress bar would report very high values on Mac
  
• Fixed bug which could cause the propeller engines to hunt for target pitch and never be able to reach it...could cause wild swings in lift.
  
• Only display "Aircraft Damaged" in Sandbox if the plane is hostile.
  
• Fixed speed of destroyers to match the aircraft carrier's speed
  
• Fixed the wind heading not showing up in the compass.
  
• Fixed a bug where the rings would spin oddly after passing through them in a race
  
• Fixed a bug where the view would rotate backwards if the player attempted to rotate the view too quickly.
  
• Small islands are no longer shiny and are now have friction for wheels.
  
• Fixed a bug where two rigid bodies could not be connected directly to each other at more than one place. Existing aircraft will continue to work this way, but new aircraft will support multiple physics connections. Old aircraft can be updated to use the new approach by changing their legacyJointIdentification attribute to "false" via XML.
  
• Fixed a bug with multiple conflicting inputs being deactivated when activated via ActivateCameraLook
  
• Fixed the position of the scrollbar on the mods menu
  
• Fixed a texture quality issue with low quality water.
  
• Fixed a bug where the fuselage properties would revert player's input text if their number ended in a zero

• The build process and format of mods has slightly changed. When building mods for Windows/Mac, Unity will need both the Windows and Mac build components installed (mod tools should warn you if this is not the case). PC/Mac mods now include separate asset bundles for both platforms in a single mod file. You will likely noticed larger mod file sizes with this update. A new 'Debug' build option is available which builds the mod only for Unity's current target platform with the DEBUG symbol defined (should be a faster build than the other build options).
  
• A bunch of classes received interfaces which have been added to the mod tools. You may be able to get away with using less reflection code by taking advantage of these interfaces. These live in the "Jundroo.SimplePlanes.ModTools.Interfaces" namespace.
  
• Fixed a bug with the starting locations reflection proxy code which may have caused the spawining of AI aircraft to fail.
  
• Fixed a bug with mod level duplication when saving mods.
  
• Fixed a bug that prevented the cloning of parts with a hinge joint.
  
• Mod Builder Window style/layout tweaks
  
• Some additional info on changes and upgrading can be found on the modding wiki
  
• We recommend getting started on updating your mods now, but holding off on publishing them on our site and the Steam Workshop until the release goes public, so as not to disrupt players not currently in the beta.

• Since we updated Unity with this upgrade, several mods are likely to be broken. For this reason, mods will be automatically disabled the next time you start SimplePlanes. Nathan has been able to find some very clever ways to allow some mods to still function, but several mods will be broken with this update. We recommend turning them on one by one and testing each one to verify whether or not they still functions and don't cause any problems.

• Test all the new stuff!
  
• Test as many airplanes as you can and make sure they feel like they are flying and behaving the same as they do in 1.7
  
• Test the races, combat missions, and challenges
  
• How is the performance? Do you feel the game is running faster, slower, or roughly the same?

Thanks for helping us test!

• Open the Steam client and go to your Library
  
• Right click on SimplePlanes and select Properties
  
• Go to the Betas tab
  
• Select Public Test from the beta dropdown
  
• Click Close

The Steam Winter Sale is here and you all know what that means! Our games are on sale and we also put together a special bundle for all of you aerospace enthusiasts with an extra 15% discount.

For those of you who already own SimplePlanes on Steam, this bundle is a great way to get SimpleRockets 2 at a nearly 30% discount during this Winter Sale.

That's a great deal and I hope you check it out! Thanks for playing!

After more than two years of development, it's finally ready! SimpleRockets 2 is now available on Steam for PC and Mac.

SR2 is in Early Access now, so we are going to keep working on it and making it better with every update. Check our roadmap to see how we're doing and if you have any ideas then leave a suggestion here. It's already loaded with features, which you can read about on the Steam page.

Full release day info can be found here