Hi everyone.
This patch is just a bunch of fixes for bugs reported since the Tuesday update. There is a new switch on the Flight Assist panel of the F/A-26B, labeled CATO TRIM. This can be enabled prior to a catapult takeoff to allow for a safe hands-off catapult launch with any payload weight.

Aside from various fixes, I've also begun applying some brightness adjustment for the cockpit instruments to help with night missions. I've only started on the AV-42C and have not finished, but I wanted to get these fixes out as soon as possible.

EDIT: Also Hotfix v0.0.7.2 which fixes the missing shaders for the new labels in the AV-42C.

A full list of changes are below:

Hi everyone.
This patch is just a bunch of fixes for bugs reported since the Tuesday update. There is a new switch on the Flight Assist panel of the F/A-26B, labeled CATO TRIM. This can be enabled prior to a catapult takeoff to allow for a safe hands-off catapult launch with any payload weight.

Aside from various fixes, I've also begun applying some brightness adjustment for the cockpit instruments to help with night missions. I've only started on the AV-42C and have not finished, but I wanted to get these fixes out as soon as possible.

EDIT: Also Hotfix v0.0.7.2 which fixes the missing shaders for the new labels in the AV-42C.

A full list of changes are below:

This is a big update that includes access to the mission editor and a new vehicle, the F/A-26B. There are also a bunch of optimizations so the game runs smoother than ever before.

The mission editor is a work in progress, so it's missing some features, but you'll be able to create and share scenarios like those found in the Island campaign. You can place allied and enemy units in the air, sea or on the ground, set up paths and waypoints, configure objectives and events, and more. I will post more information in the discussion board. Over time, the editor will be improved and expanded. Please note that missions created in the current version of the editor may or may not be compatible with future updates. I've included a few example missions for the AV-42C and F/A-26B which you can play, edit, or use as a reference for creating your own.



The F/A-26B is a twin-engine carrier-capable fighter aircraft that can be equipped for air-superiority or attack roles. It has an internal 20mm rotary cannon and 10 external weapon hardpoints. It can also carry up to 3 external fuel tanks and a targeting pod. It features a new radar system used for detecting targets and locking on for firing medium range radar guided missiles. There isn't a campaign for it yet, but I've included a couple combat missions created in the mission editor.

Check out the release video.




Thank you to everyone playing VTOL VR, joining the discussion on Steam and Discord, and leaving reviews! Early access has been going great and I hope to continue to see all of you until full release day and beyond.
If you find any issues with the new features, please leave a message in the Steam discussion board or discord channel.

For the next update, I will continue to work on the editor, and improve the two flyable vehicles. I'll also be working on converting the current campaign missions to the new system -- they are still using old versions of the units that are less optimized -- and will return to working on new missions for the Island campaign.

Down the road, I'll be looking at ways to improve the map, and plan how to implement a map editor.

A full list of changes for this update are below:

This is a big update that includes access to the mission editor and a new vehicle, the F/A-26B. There are also a bunch of optimizations so the game runs smoother than ever before.

The mission editor is a work in progress, so it's missing some features, but you'll be able to create and share scenarios like those found in the Island campaign. You can place allied and enemy units in the air, sea or on the ground, set up paths and waypoints, configure objectives and events, and more. I will post more information in the discussion board. Over time, the editor will be improved and expanded. Please note that missions created in the current version of the editor may or may not be compatible with future updates. I've included a few example missions for the AV-42C and F/A-26B which you can play, edit, or use as a reference for creating your own.



The F/A-26B is a twin-engine carrier-capable fighter aircraft that can be equipped for air-superiority or attack roles. It has an internal 20mm rotary cannon and 10 external weapon hardpoints. It can also carry up to 3 external fuel tanks and a targeting pod. It features a new radar system used for detecting targets and locking on for firing medium range radar guided missiles. There isn't a campaign for it yet, but I've included a couple combat missions created in the mission editor.

Check out the release video.




Thank you to everyone playing VTOL VR, joining the discussion on Steam and Discord, and leaving reviews! Early access has been going great and I hope to continue to see all of you until full release day and beyond.
If you find any issues with the new features, please leave a message in the Steam discussion board or discord channel.

For the next update, I will continue to work on the editor, and improve the two flyable vehicles. I'll also be working on converting the current campaign missions to the new system -- they are still using old versions of the units that are less optimized -- and will return to working on new missions for the Island campaign.

Down the road, I'll be looking at ways to improve the map, and plan how to implement a map editor.

A full list of changes for this update are below:

Here's another mini update. This time you get a new toy: the M230 chain gun, which can be slaved to the targeter (and by extension, your head). The slaving mode must be enabled in the weapon's CONFIG menu, and is only available for use under a certain airspeed. The turret will be locked forward during high-speed forward flight.

There's a new feature for air-to-ground missiles. You can set them to "manual uncage" mode, which allows you to fire on targets without having to point your nose directly towards them. To use it, set the option in the weapon's CONFIG menu. To uncage the seeker and slave it to the TGP, hold down the trigger. It should automatically slew to the target point as long as it's within the missile's seeker range. Then to fire, press the weapon-switch button on the joystick while still holding the trigger.

The settings you select for weapons will now be saved between flights, so you won't have to keep configuring the weapon settings such as seeker modes and ripple rates.

As usual, there are a few key fixes and changes. The full list is below.

As for progress on the mission editor and new vehicle--I'm at the point where I can fly both the AV-42C and the F/A-26B in custom missions created in the editor. The editor just needs to have a few more features put in before its ready for you all to try. The fighter is all done externally, and about 80% done internally. The internals have a few new features that will likely also make it into the VTOL, such as two additional smaller MFDs to replace the RWR and fuel info hardware, which will allow for some more customization and more detailed information. I'll have some teaser videos up soon for that!

Until the major new features are ready, I'll continue to push smaller updates such as this if there are any major bugs to fix or small features.

Thanks everyone for your patience! Happy flying!

Alpha v0.0.6
Improvements
- Added M230 Chain Gun (with gimbal)
- Added manual uncage option for AGM-114, AGM-65, CAGM-6
- Equipment settings are now persistent between flights
- Added clear binding button
- Added binding axis test
- Improved AI pilot use of missiles, especially heat-seeking
- Improved AI pilot target prioritization and other combat behaviors
Changes
- Adjusted interior/exterior audio mixing
- Amplified audio sources that are exterior but attached to the vehicle
- Further reduced fog density
- Increased max locking range for targeter
- Added a far-distance LOD for city chunks
- Increased range of positions for spectator fly-by camera
- Removed Mach as global speed units option
- Mach number displayed in a separate HUD element
Fixes
- Fixed rebinding of rudder between multiple controllers
- Fixed certain missiles causing scraping damage to aircraft when being launched
- Fixed enemy soldiers were able to be loaded into passenger bay
- Fixed soldiers pausing when running
- Fixed pitch ladder sometimes becoming unaligned
- Fixed errors thrown by AI planes when map is being set up

Here's another mini update. This time you get a new toy: the M230 chain gun, which can be slaved to the targeter (and by extension, your head). The slaving mode must be enabled in the weapon's CONFIG menu, and is only available for use under a certain airspeed. The turret will be locked forward during high-speed forward flight.

There's a new feature for air-to-ground missiles. You can set them to "manual uncage" mode, which allows you to fire on targets without having to point your nose directly towards them. To use it, set the option in the weapon's CONFIG menu. To uncage the seeker and slave it to the TGP, hold down the trigger. It should automatically slew to the target point as long as it's within the missile's seeker range. Then to fire, press the weapon-switch button on the joystick while still holding the trigger.

The settings you select for weapons will now be saved between flights, so you won't have to keep configuring the weapon settings such as seeker modes and ripple rates.

As usual, there are a few key fixes and changes. The full list is below.

As for progress on the mission editor and new vehicle--I'm at the point where I can fly both the AV-42C and the F/A-26B in custom missions created in the editor. The editor just needs to have a few more features put in before its ready for you all to try. The fighter is all done externally, and about 80% done internally. The internals have a few new features that will likely also make it into the VTOL, such as two additional smaller MFDs to replace the RWR and fuel info hardware, which will allow for some more customization and more detailed information. I'll have some teaser videos up soon for that!

Until the major new features are ready, I'll continue to push smaller updates such as this if there are any major bugs to fix or small features.

Thanks everyone for your patience! Happy flying!

Alpha v0.0.6
Improvements
- Added M230 Chain Gun (with gimbal)
- Added manual uncage option for AGM-114, AGM-65, CAGM-6
- Equipment settings are now persistent between flights
- Added clear binding button
- Added binding axis test
- Improved AI pilot use of missiles, especially heat-seeking
- Improved AI pilot target prioritization and other combat behaviors
Changes
- Adjusted interior/exterior audio mixing
- Amplified audio sources that are exterior but attached to the vehicle
- Further reduced fog density
- Increased max locking range for targeter
- Added a far-distance LOD for city chunks
- Increased range of positions for spectator fly-by camera
- Removed Mach as global speed units option
- Mach number displayed in a separate HUD element
Fixes
- Fixed rebinding of rudder between multiple controllers
- Fixed certain missiles causing scraping damage to aircraft when being launched
- Fixed enemy soldiers were able to be loaded into passenger bay
- Fixed soldiers pausing when running
- Fixed pitch ladder sometimes becoming unaligned
- Fixed errors thrown by AI planes when map is being set up

Hi everyone! This is update is mostly a set of fixes to common issues that were preventing people from playing and causing some existing features to not work properly.
Here are the main ones:
- Pilot creation keyboard
- Rudder input binding
- Black screen when returning from mission
- Anti-ship missile guidance failure with only one waypoint

Also, there was a problem with the update process that cause some players' pilot save file to be overwritten. Sorry about that! That should no longer be an issue.

As I mentioned in the recent dev log, a lot of work is going into the mission editor and flyable fighter vehicle, so it will still be a little while before tangible new features make their way into updates. Please continue to let me know if you have any issues with the current version. Thank you all so much!

Here is a full list of changes:

Alpha v0.0.5
Improvements
- Added built-in keyboard for Pilot creation. Removed dependency on SteamVR keyboard
Changes
- Changed nav map to create map texture dynamically to support future procedural terrains (WIP)
- Adjusted fog falloff rate to improve visibility
- Reduced AoA induced drag on AI planes
- Adjusted colors of morning sky
- Changed island terrain textures
- Lowered anti-ship sea-skimming altitude
Fixes
- Fixed inability to read axis input from particular device if several are present
- Fixed AI Fighters had no extra drag with airbrakes deployed
- Fixed throttle trigger not affecting wheel brakes sometimes
- Fixed HMCS display elements visible from certain spectator camera position
- Fixed screen potentially staying blacked out when returning to menu from a mission
- Fixed aircraft seeming to teleport for a frame on origin shifts
- Fixed floating origin taking several frames to reset when camera moves a long distance
- Fixed weapons shifting back after being jettisoned
- Fixed anti-ship guidance with only one waypoint
- Fixed anti-ship missile crashing before hitting target in direct mode
- Fixed seams between terrain chunks on the island
- Corrected runway markings on the island airbase
- Fixed some jerkiness issues with chase spectator cam

Hi everyone! This is update is mostly a set of fixes to common issues that were preventing people from playing and causing some existing features to not work properly.
Here are the main ones:
- Pilot creation keyboard
- Rudder input binding
- Black screen when returning from mission
- Anti-ship missile guidance failure with only one waypoint

Also, there was a problem with the update process that cause some players' pilot save file to be overwritten. Sorry about that! That should no longer be an issue.

As I mentioned in the recent dev log, a lot of work is going into the mission editor and flyable fighter vehicle, so it will still be a little while before tangible new features make their way into updates. Please continue to let me know if you have any issues with the current version. Thank you all so much!

Here is a full list of changes:

Alpha v0.0.5
Improvements
- Added built-in keyboard for Pilot creation. Removed dependency on SteamVR keyboard
Changes
- Changed nav map to create map texture dynamically to support future procedural terrains (WIP)
- Adjusted fog falloff rate to improve visibility
- Reduced AoA induced drag on AI planes
- Adjusted colors of morning sky
- Changed island terrain textures
- Lowered anti-ship sea-skimming altitude
Fixes
- Fixed inability to read axis input from particular device if several are present
- Fixed AI Fighters had no extra drag with airbrakes deployed
- Fixed throttle trigger not affecting wheel brakes sometimes
- Fixed HMCS display elements visible from certain spectator camera position
- Fixed screen potentially staying blacked out when returning to menu from a mission
- Fixed aircraft seeming to teleport for a frame on origin shifts
- Fixed floating origin taking several frames to reset when camera moves a long distance
- Fixed weapons shifting back after being jettisoned
- Fixed anti-ship guidance with only one waypoint
- Fixed anti-ship missile crashing before hitting target in direct mode
- Fixed seams between terrain chunks on the island
- Corrected runway markings on the island airbase
- Fixed some jerkiness issues with chase spectator cam

Hi everyone.
I've been getting more reports lately that the SteamVR keyboard isn't showing up when attempting to create a new pilot. I will be releasing a patch soon that will have a built-in virtual keyboard instead of relying on the SteamVR keyboard. It will have a few other miscellaneous fixes including the rudder-binding fix.

Until then, try restarting SteamVR, Steam and/or your computer if the keyboard fails to show. Sorry for the inconvenience!

The patch should be up within the next couple days.

Hi everyone.
I've been getting more reports lately that the SteamVR keyboard isn't showing up when attempting to create a new pilot. I will be releasing a patch soon that will have a built-in virtual keyboard instead of relying on the SteamVR keyboard. It will have a few other miscellaneous fixes including the rudder-binding fix.

Until then, try restarting SteamVR, Steam and/or your computer if the keyboard fails to show. Sorry for the inconvenience!

The patch should be up within the next couple days.