Lakehopper 0.3.9 beta update: Glacier quick start, colors, & plane swap

Here's what's new in this beta update! A full changelog is at the bottom of this post.

Glacier Quick Start

You're now able to select the Quick Start option for the Glacier plane, providing the option for a faster build at the start of the game. I've also updated the UI on the main menu to make picking how you start clearer and it also adds the ability for me to expand on it in the future!

Glacier Colors

You can now recolor the Glacier like you can with the Lakehopper. It's the same UI and works in the same way. I still consider this a placeholder, and more advanced livery customization will be added at some point.

As you may notice, the float hatches and engine cowl don't match properly. I know about this issue and will fix it soon, but it ended up being a more involved fix than I'd hoped and got pushed back.

Plane Swapping

For the first time, you'll have access to more than one plane at a time! No matter what plane you start with, a Lakehopper and a Glacier will be available at Manypeaks for you to use! Steam post image

Both planes are completely disassembled, so be starting from scratch on them! Pull parts from the part spawners in the parts shack down the dock. There's no complete "set" of parts spawned for each plane, so you'll have to pay attention to complete the builds. Note that this may cause issues with the "Recover Plane" option in the pause menu in the vicinity of Manypeaks. Standing closer to the plane you want to recover should pick the correct one.

What's Next?

This is still a beta update, so you may ask, what needs to be done to release the Glacier on the main branch? Because the Glacier is meant to be a good plane for beginners to start with, it needs to be as beginner friendly, if not more so than the Lakehopper. The biggest hurdle here is updating the binder to include all the relevant information for the new subsystem configs, as well as Glacier specific checklists. I have some design work to do here, that may involve changing how the binder works, so that's the biggest remaining hurdle.

There's other smaller polishing tasks to complete, since I don't want the Glacier to feel like an afterthought. Once the Glacier update moves to the main branch, it should make as good of a first impression as the Lakehopper has done for other players.

Thanks again for checking out this beta update. Here's the full changelog.

Changelog

Major Changes

• Added a Glacier Quick Start option

• Updated the Start Game UI

• Added Glacier recoloring

• A Lakehopper and a Glacier fuselage now spawn at Manypeaks, and will be available for players to build and fly

Improvements

• Loading a save file from a previous version will now automatically secure any attached but unsecured Magnoprop Cores.

  • Behind the scenes, I developed a way for me to do these sort of save file compatibility updates. It should reduce the number of times I need to fully break saves across versions, though I can't promise it'll never happen. In fact, I can guarantee that it definitely will, but hopefully only when there's major changes to the core game, such as new game modes.

• Tweaked the propeller spinning sprite to make it more transparent and less distracting. This was critical for the Glacier, since you're looking straight through it the whole time you're flying.

Happy skies!