Welcome to 2021, pilots! It's been a roller coaster ride of a year. But now we can put the past behind us, and look toward the future! And in that spirit, we've put together a new build of Azure Domain to be available to all players on the Pre-Alpha Playtest! This build features a number of changes that should overall improve the player experience. First of all, graphics settings are now configurable per user (FINALLY!). Resolution, graphics quality, and display mode can be adjusted to one's liking. Additionally, the plane AI has received massive improvements. They are more accurate with their shots, so they should prove a bit more challenging. Note that this also applies to your wingmen. They are more than capable of tearing targets to shreds now, when previously they couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. Use them to your advantage! We realize that the accuracy buff could make things difficult on players, so in response, all planes now have reduced cooldown times on their countermeasures. This will make defensive options more available, and allow you to block damage more readily in the heat of battle. On top of this, the Sky Drift system has now received a massive rework. Instead of using thrust to circle a target (which is what the old system was designed to do), this new Sky Drift feature lets you use thrust to move your plane side to side, and up and down, at high speeds. You can strafe targets sideways, upwards, and every which way, as well as avoid damage using it. Give it a go! These and other great changes await you in the new build. Here's the full list! [b]Change List (Version 0.1.10)[/b] [list] [*] -New graphics settings menu; Resolution, graphics quality, and display mode are now configurable by players. [*] -Vastly improved Plane AI; all AI planes have drastically improved accuracy. [*] -Marginally improved Airship AI; friendly airships have better collision detection with large objects, and turrets are more aggressive. [*] -Sky Drift system reworked. [*] -Cooldown time on countermeasures for all planes, player and AI, has been drastically reduced. [*] -Controls for manuevering are now relative depending on camera angle, making it easier to move and aim when looking at the plane from the side, or the front. [*] -New plane: QuA-31 Trident (Assault-type) [*] -New weapons: Class 3 Machine Gun Pods, Class 3 Beam Lasers, and Class 3 Airburst Charges. [*] -New Defense Module: Resonance Field (Boosts weapon damage depending on countermeasure state). [*] -Machine Gun bullets and Fragment Cannon shards travel at half speed. [*] -Fragment Cannon shards have new particle effects to make them easier to see. [*] -Bayonet, Machete, and Suzume have extra module slots. [*] -Fixed absent text from module selection dialog. [*] -Fixed options not applying on game load. [*] -Fixed not being able to rebind mouse axes. [/list] [b]Known issues[/b] [list] [*] -Game will temporarily black out and stop for 2-3 seconds when in fullscreen mode, and loading the main menu. This behavior is not observed in other display modes. [*] -Y-axis rotation on models in the aircraft hangar does not behave consistently. [*] -Sabertooth and Trident control surfaces are not animated. [*] -Module text is cut off in the selection dialog. [*] -Game may start with a low resolution; can be resolved by setting resolution in Options. [/list] Thank you all so much for participating! From the bottom of our hearts, we at PCMG wish you a happy new year! Good flying, pilots! Gordon Whaley, PCMG Lead Programmer