Deadstick - Development Update

Tactile World

One of the key philosophies of Deadstick is the focus on being the pilot not the aeroplane. To this end, we have tried to capture as many of the processes that a pilot would go through and faithfully replicate them in-game.

Some of these features we have demonstrated previously, however we have since identified a few areas in which we felt we could go even further to enhance the experience within Deadstick. Some of these items are highlighted below.

Briefing Rooms

One of the key elements of Deadstick we have yet to reveal to the public is the map screen and job planner. Its development has been very fluid with constant iteration as we work to make it as user-friendly and intuitive as possible. As such, it has never quite been at a point where it has been representative enough of the final version to show it off (one for a future update)!

One big lesson from this process however, was the discovery that we were making life far too easy for the player. From the map screen, players had constant access to weather information (TAFs/METARs) and airfield information (NOTAMs). Any jobs that were available would be displayed on the map screen and could be selected at any time.

A key part of good airmanship is gathering relevant information for a planned route and using that information to safely conduct a flight. By providing constant access to this information at the press of a button, we were robbing the player of the opportunity to gather this information in a realistic manner – and so, we decided to make things more difficult!

All weather (TAFs, METARs) and notices (NOTAMs) must now be gathered by the player by visiting an airfield’s briefing room, walking in, and using the briefing computer. Any information obtained will then update the map screen and can be used for planning. As in the real world however, that information is only relevant at the time you retrieved it and will quickly go out of date. It is therefore important to factor these briefing room visits into your daily flights to have a good idea of the forecast and/or temporary airspace restrictions that might be active that day. To complicate matters further however, as in the real world, not all airfields have such facilities and, as such, the player will need to carefully plan their flights to make sure they don’t find themselves in unforecast weather/temporary airspace!

Cell Phone

In much the same way that weather and NOTAMs must be obtained manually via the briefing rooms, we wanted the manner in which the player obtains jobs to be done in a similarly physical fashion and so it was only natural that we equip the player with a cell phone. This is your central device for communication within the game.

Should you start to get a reputation as a safe and successful Bush Pilot within Deadstick, you will likely start to get text messages with job requests from which you can choose to accept or ignore. Everything you do in Deadstick will have some influence on your reputation and, as such, you must manage it carefully should you wish to grow your bush flying empire. Don’t worry though - if you ruin your reputation in one location you can always fly elsewhere and hope to start afresh. A word of warning though - the extent of damage to your reputation caused by a particular 'event' will also determine how badly that ripples through to other airports and may therefore have