Lunar Flight got a mention on The Escapist today, thanks Andy! 🙂

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/114462-Lunar-Flight-Beta-Trailer-Goes-to-the-Moon

Sim HQ has an excellent preview of Lunar Flight up today!

I put together this new trailer to highlight allot of the new work gone into the game so far all of which will be available very soon to anyone who has made a donation.

I hope you like it!

After much furious work the upgrade system is now complete. You can view the upgraded performance in the Systems page of the Mission Computer. You can also purchase upto 3 Action Items at a time. You can have any combination as well so you could carry 3 Fuel or 2 Boost and 1 Gyro etc… The instant use of Fuel and Repair items is contrary to my original plan in the previous post but ultimately I think it is more fun to be able to use them like power ups. You can only buy upgrades and items while on a landing pad.

• Fuel – Instantly add 500 units of fuel
• Repair- Instantly repair 50% of your hull
• Boost – Short term engine boost to 300%
• Gyro – Cancels out any rotation over 4 seconds

The next release will be out very soon… Click the image to view full size.

I’ve added a new Forum Page which you can access from the buttons on the top of this page. It’s using a Word Press system called Mingle and I want to trial it first before give it the all clear. Please register and start posting today. 🙂

Lunar Flight Forum

The Map loading interface is done, there are also nice screen/audio fades between Login, Reset and Map load. This video also has a very brief look at Alpha base on the Canyon map. Version v0995 should be out within a couple weeks and will also feature the Upgrade System.

Total donations have exceeded $500, 1/3rd of the way there. A very big thank you to every one who have contributed, every donation big and small gives me the motivation to stay focused and get the game finished knowing there are people genuinely interested in Lunar Flight.

I’ve been wanting to add upgrades for awhile that can be purchased. With the new Canyon maps difficulty this has made this a higher priority as some things simply cannot be achieved with the default Lunar Module Performance.

The following is the current planned list of things you can buy, there are usable items as well as upgrades. You can buy additional item slots so that you can carry more at once, initially you have none.  The final numbers are likely to change during balancing. Upgrades and Item levels will only become available once the player has reached the required experience and rank.

Field Repair Kit – Usable

Allows repairs to be made in the field, the Lunar Module must land before it can be activated.

Emergency Fuel Cell – Usable

Provides additional fuel, the Lunar Module must land before it can be activated. Note: Fuel tank is limited to 1000 and any left over fuel will be wasted once the tank is full and the item is used.

Power Booster – Usable

Provides a temporary ‘Timed Limited’ primary thrust power boost(25%). When activated it will add additional power for a set duration TBD. This is ontop of any primary thrust power upgrades. e.g. Max thrust upgrades is 130% + 25% = 155% power output.

Usable Item Slots – Upgrade – 3 Levels

Increases the number of usable items you can carry. 1 Slot each level.

RCS Jet Power – Upgrade – 3 Levels

Increases thrust power of Reaction Control System Jets.

Primary Thrust Power – Upgrade – 3 Levels

Increases the thrust power of primary thrust. 10% each Level.

Fuel Efficiency – Upgrade – 3 Levels

Improves fuel efficiency of the primary thrust. 10% each Level, approximately equivalent to an additional 100 Fuel.

Here’s what a Lunar Flight map looks like in Unity with all the Survey and Time Trial rings. This map will really test your skills at conserving energy and advanced thrust manoeuvring.

I demo’d Lunar Flight today at this event this evening http://www.emulatorart.com.au/upcoming-events/indie-game-showcase/ It was a pretty good night, there were allot of great local Indie games on show particularly Vessel created by some super talented friends of mine at Strange Loop Games. Overall Lunar Flight was pretty well received and it was great to get see people playing it and hearing their positive feedback.

Work has been progressing slowly but surely and the next build will hopefully include a new Map Terrain to fly around on. The next map is a more difficult challenge due to it being set amongst some canyons requiring allot of vertical flying.

Here’s a development image one some new Terrain I’ve been working on which is 6×6 kilometres in size created from a single 6147×6147 heightfield. There are some lighting issues that create seams along each 2klm border edge.

I’ve finally added an out of bounds feature which will prevent players from being able to fly off the edge of the world. Now when you fly over the Map border you will receive a warning and 10 seconds to return or suffer a critical failure.

This will be added in the next build once it is released. To see how this works I’ve created a new video to demonstrate it.