Anniversary Update - New Public Beta Version!

Today, we are updating the Beta branch with two major changes: (1) a complete overhaul of how air operations from airbases and carriers currently function, and (2) native support for loading of 3rd party models for modders! These changes are in addition to another round of bugfixes and other improvements described below.

Major Overhaul of Flight Deck Operations

This update of the Beta branch includes a major update for how Flight Decks work in-game. This comes after many community requests for more realistic air ops. Note: because this change is highly impacting to how carriers/airbases work in the game, we have included a difficulty setting in the game's Options to disable or tune it! All new behavior is described here:

• All aircraft (including helicopters) now have individual loadout preparation times, and cooldown/servicing times after recovery

• Flight Decks now have limited Ground Crews to prep aircraft, and limited Deck Park space for prepped aircraft to wait for launch

  • Ground Crews are crews available to fuel and arm aircraft - once all Ground Crews are assigned, further prep orders must wait until Ground Crews are available

  • Deck Park spaces limit the total amount of aircraft that can be waiting to launch at any given time - if Deck Park is full, you must launch off aircraft to free up Deck Park space

  • Note: prep/cooldown times are shown as timers on the Flight Deck UI. Ground Crews and Deck Park are shown by gauges that will fill up as space is used.

• Added a new Rally Point mechanic to allow players to define a rally point and altitude for aircraft launched from the airbase/carrier

  • To set Rally Point, right click on the airbase or carrier, then go to Flight Deck > Rally Points.

  • Rally Points can be set for aircraft, VTOL aircraft, and helicopters independently

  • To set the Rally Point location, click on the rally point unit type and then right click on the map to place it.

  • AddedNoterally point visibility is still WIP and will be added soon.

• Airbases/Carriers now have limited ordnance stores ("ammunition"), especially of advanced weaponry, such as Phoenix and Harpoon missiles

• The Mission Editor has been updated to allow mission-makers to configure prepped aircraft and allocate airbase/carrier ammunition stores

• Added a new Flight Deck Timings setting in Options with 3 modes: Realistic, Casual, Arcade. Arcade mode disables prep/cooldown times.

Native Support for Loading of 3rd Party Models

Loading of 3rd party models (OBJ format) is now supported natively in-game! This greatly simplifies use of mods with custom models, as chain loader tools are no longer required. Note: Workshop modders who have posted mods with 3rd party models included should test their mods against the Beta branch if possible to confirm their models will load properly.

Mission Editor Improvements

Continuous improvement of the Mission Editor is a high priority for our team. With each update, we are bringing new refinements to it as we work through a backlog of requested features from the community. Most of the changes in this update are to support the Flight Deck overhaul, but several requested features have been added as well:

• Controls for all new Flight Deck mechanics from within the Mission Editor

• Ability to pre-plan aircraft preparation, making aircraft available immediately in the mission for player and/or AI

• Ability to customize Flight Deck ammunition stores

• New trigger actions for weather changes and reactivation of triggers

• New waypoints for sonobuoy deployment, including "drop in line" and buoy depth

• Checkboxes to disable airbase AI, and new trigger action to enable