Milestone 1.6.0 released

A completely revamped battery simulation and the implementation of a more intricate pro pilot ranking system represent a significant step in Liftoff's ongoing evolution. This 1.6.0 Milestone update incorporates numerous additional features and enhancements, enabling us to further elevate the quality of our simulator. Enjoy!
 

Changelist

• Completely revamped the battery simulation to be more unforgivingly realistic. 
• Added: the bounds of an environment are now visualized with a grid when flying too close. This visualization can be disabled in the game options menu.
• Added: In-game Liftoff Pro ranks are awarded to players when they finish in a top spot. Top spots are visualized on the leaderboards and in the multiplayer game lobby, and the amount of top spots changes based on the amount of participants in the tournament. All previous top spots in completed tournaments will also receive a badge.
• Updated: your multiplayer profile (click on a name in the game lobby to bring up a player's profile) now shows off your earned Liftoff Pro badges.
• Added: In multiplayer, you can now access the relevant multiplayer leaderboards from the pause menu, and interacting with the text ticker in the MP lobby operates similarly.
• Updated: the set of full-screen options in the graphics menu now properly reflects which modes are supported by the platform.
• Liftoff now detects when mods are installed. Competitive features might be disabled when mods are detected. Removing or disabling the mods will make them become active again.
• Updated: added the `Velocity` data stream to the Drone Telemetry feature.
• Fixed: the lighting in the main menu to showcase the drone has been fixed to not be so reflective.
• Fixed: when returning to the main menu from a Free Flight session while walking around to place the drone's spawnpoint, it now shows the drone properly in the main menu again.
• Fixed: the sensor data visualizer can now be toggled on/off again (F9 on the keyboard by default)
• Fixed: the multiplayer lobby would show the 'Fixed drone setup' and 'Battery restriction' game modifiers, even when they were not active.
• Fixed: when the drone spawns in a drone trigger (repair propeller damage, recharge battery, etc.), it would sometimes keep the respective icons flashing on screen, even when the drone was already out of the trigger range.
• Fixed: the Scaling gizmo in the track editor would scale a track item on the wrong axes.
• Fixed: the tournament's tryout recharge timers now properly display when a recharge will actually happen on the server.
• Fixed: Fisheye level-of-detail issue, where switching environments or changing game settings while fisheye was active would cause performance issues.

Gold, Silver and Bronze ranks

We're excited to announce the introduction of Gold, Silver, and Bronze positions in our tournament leaderboards. These prestigious ranks will be prominently displayed on leaderboards and in the multiplayer lobby, adding depth and significance to your tournament wins. Our goal is to recognize and better reward the dedication of those who actively participate in tournaments.
 

Once you reach one of these tiers, you'll be recognized as a Gold, Silver, or Bronze player, and you can advance your tier position three times by achieving more placements within that tier, or by moving up to the next tier by finishing even higher. 

Our goal is to broaden the appeal of our tournaments to a wider audience of pilots. Instead of solely emphasizing the top 3 positions dominated by elite pilots, tournament success will now be measured by aiming for a top 15 placement, enabling a more gradual and inclusive ranking progression. This new feature is designed to improve the overall experience and provide a more rewarding journey for all participants.

 

New battery simulation

Battery life is an important factor in drone applications and often presents a bottleneck for specific flight sessions. An accurate and realistic simulation of the battery discharge is therefore critical part of the Liftoff simulators.

We've update battery simulation to be much closer to reality. Previously, amp draw was calculated too low, which resulted in most setups flying at well below the continuous discharge rate of the battery, even at max throttle. This caused the battery to behave, as some players pointed out, like a timer. We've rectified this, so now your choice of battery will have a significant impact when using battery simulation. 

Low capacity batteries might die before the end of a race, and low c-ratings might cause the battery to overheat and die when you push them too much. 
We've also updated battery sag, to make it more responsive. There is now a small drop in voltage when load increases, which recovers quickly, as well as a slower, longer lasting drop in voltage when you push the battery too hard.