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Hello pilots!
I'm happy to announce that the Glacier is now available on the game's main branch! Thank you to everyone who gave it a try on the beta branch and reported bugs and feature requests! Much of this devlog will be familiar to those who have been keeping up with the beta updates, but I'll repeat all that info here for everyone else!
This plane is based on a classic real-world bush plane on floats, much beloved for many, many years. It flies like an absolute dream, even better than I expected. The Glacier is intended to serve as an amazing beginner plane and capable bush seaplane. It's a great plane for players new to flight sims in general, and also for experienced flight simmers learning the nuances of operating a seaplane, or who don't often fly multi-engine planes.
To give it a try, you can start a new game and choose to start with the Glacier from the main menu. Both a full build and quick start mode are available. You can also fly to Manypeaks, and a stripped-down Glacier fuselage will now be available at the docks for anyone who wants to give it a try in their existing save file.
The Glacier is overall smaller than the Lakehopper (the updated name for the familiar twin-engined flying boat in the game), at just over half the weight, and half the horsepower. It flies slower than the Lakehopper, making takeoffs and landings easy and forgiving. Being a floatplane, rather than a flying boat, the hull design is different, with different, gentler takeoff characteristics.
The Glacier, having only a single engine, uses an actual water rudder! A switch on the instrument panel will raise and lower the water rudder (though there's no visual for this part yet). Because it represents real hardware, this works regardless of the "fake water rudder" setting in the game settings.
The build uses many familiar parts, and some new ones! Basic info for the new Glacier configurations is available in the in-game binder. If you start a new game and pick the Glacier as your starter plane, the shack will have all the parts you need for a Glacier build.
Some parts are still due for an update, particularly the cargo racks. They don't fit the Glacier very well, but they're functional for now.
If you have any feedback or notice any issues with the Glacier specifically, I've created this discussion thread to collect all of them in once place. I've love to hear any feedback you have, as well as any detailed bug reports you can provide! Thank you all for your patience, waiting for Lakehopper's first major content update, with more on the way!
Adding the Glacier was a ton of fun. I think it'll work great as a new beginner plane, and just generally a great addition to the fleet. It also works as a first step showing the interchangeability of parts. Any parts that could be re-used between the two different planes, were.
But what am I working on next? Looking at the roadmap, I think my next big priority is adding some new places to fly to. That's been the biggest request/critique of the game as it is now, and I think it's a very fair one. The current three ports represent only a tiny portion of the landscape in the game and I'd love for players to be encouraged to explore farther and wider! I have some ideas for what I want to accomplish for the next big update, so stay tuned!
Here's a full changelog that sums up all the changes between 0.3.5 and 0.4. Anything in bold is an update new to this version from 0.3.10, the last beta update. Check out the other beta logs to see the full journey of adding the plane!
Added the Glacier, a single engine floatplane!
The Glacier is available either as a new game option, or available in Manypeaks as a bare fuselage. A bare Lakehopper fuselage is available in Manypeaks as well.
Added a locking ring to the Magnoprop Cores
In the Glacier, the short Magnoprop core is right behind the instrument panel and was getting in the way all the time. It became necessary to add some way to secure it so it's not constantly highlighted. The same wrench tool is used to secure the locking ring.
This locking ring was also added to the original Magnoprop core for consistency, and to solve the same issue which was present, but less impactful as your viewpoint overlaps with the right side core only when looking at the overhead panel in the Lakehopper. This part is set as automatically secured when loading an old save.
Added some Glacier specific info to the binder
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.
Expanded the "Getting Started" section in the binder. It's probably still not very helpful, but I added a few seaplane specific points to the text.
Added locking door handles to the Glacier doors
The entire door being interactable was distracting during flight. All Glacier doors now have a handle that must be unlocked first and then the whole door can swing open.
Fixed some typos, spelling errors, and inaccuracies in the rest of the binder
Fixed a bug in the debug tool for the debug fly option
Fixed an issue where the player was able to move and open tools while loading
Fixing this required a change to some important control input code. Keep a look out for any controls/input related bugs, especially when using controller. Let me know if you spot any bugs here and I'll get them fixed.
Fixed the reverse thrust light not working on the Glacier instrument panel
Fixed an issue on the Glacier where the underside of the right aileron and flap did not match when using custom colors
Fixed an issue where the dual fuel cell support frame spare part wasn't appearing in the parts shack in Manypeaks
Fixed an issue where the Lakehopper and Glacier that spawn in Manypeaks would end up respawning in the wrong place when flying back to MP
Fixed a bug where if a player is using the external orbit cam when Manypeaks spawns, it would snap to one of the docked planes
Happy skies!
Hello pilots!
Some more updates to refine the Glacier experience!
Binder updates to include Glacier specific info!
Each subsystem now has an additional page showing the Glacier specific configuration.
There are now separate checklists for the Lakehopper and the Glacier. Eventually these sections will be expanded to have more relevant plane info.
Expanded the "Getting Started" section in the binder. It's probably still not very helpful, but I added a few seaplane specific points to the text.
The cowling and float hatches will now properly match custom plane colors on the Glacier.
Fixed a few typos in the Lakehopper checklist
Removed references to default keyboard keybinds in the binder.
Secured the Magnoprop core on the Lakehopper Quick Start
Fixed some issues related to the debug fly option
Fixed an issue where the player was able to move and open tools while loading
Fixing this required a change to some important control input code. Keep a look out for any controls/input related bugs, especially when using controller. Let me know if you spot any bugs here and I'll get them fixed.
Happy skies!
Hello pilots!
Here's what's new in this beta update! A full changelog is at the bottom of this post.
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!
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.
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!
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.
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.
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
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!
Hello Pilots!
Another quick update on the beta branch with some bugfixes.
Fixed an issue where the Rear Magnoprop mount could attach to cargo racks.
Fixed an issue where the Glacier's water rudder would often stop working after landing.
Added a missing hand truck to the Glacier start.
Adjusted the cargo rack attach position in the Glacier to make it easier to see and access all bays.
I'm still not happy with this layout and need a better solution, but this makes better use of what's in the game right now.
Happy skies!
Quick hotfix to fix a critical bug. Oops! Thanks to everyone who jumped on the beta and found this bug and others that will be fixed in the coming week.
Fixed a critical bug that was preventing players from saving their game in the new Glacier start. You can now actually save the game with your fancy new plane!
Fixed a cosmetic bug where the new Magnoprop core locking rings were unsecured on the plane on the main menu.
Hello, Pilots!
It's time for Lakehopper's first major content update! I'm incredibly excited to introduce everyone to Lakehopper's second plane, the Glacier!
This single-engine floatplane is a blast to fly. It's available for everyone to try now on the beta branch. As of now it requires starting a new game to try it out, though I'll be adding the ability to obtain this plane in existing saves soon, before the main branch release. More information about the Glacier is below, and I already know it'll be a great addition to the fleet. It joins the original multi-engine flying boat already in the game, which will now be known as the eponymous Lakehopper! (I'll use the abbreviation LH1 in places where that can be confusing.)
This plane is based on a classic real-world bushplane on floats, much beloved for many, many years. It flies like an absolute dream, even better than I expected. The Glacier is intended to serve as an amazing beginner plane and capable bush seaplane. It's a great plane for players new to flight sims in general, and also for experienced flight simmers learning the nuances of operating a seaplane, or who don't often fly multi-engine planes.To give it a try, select "Start Game" from the main menu, and pick "Glacier Start (Beta)" which will drop you on Test Island with all the parts you need to get a shiny new Glacier up and running. I'll add the ability to obtain both planes in the same save in the near future.
A new plane mandates new parts! Using a mix of familiar parts and new parts designed to fit the smaller Glacier, you'll be able to assemble new configurations of the familiar hydrogen tanks and power plant, as well as the Magnoprop engine. I've also added a new cosmetic spinner part to change the look of the Magnoprop engine for both the Glacier and the Lakehopper.
Replacements for all these new parts have been added to the parts shack in Manypeaks. I'll be updating the binder's documentation to have information about these new configurations soon. Until then, experienced Lakehoppers will find things fairly familiar.
The Glacier is overall smaller than the Lakehopper, at just over half the weight, and half the horsepower. It flies slower than the Lakehopper, making takeoffs and landings easy and forgiving. Being a floatplane, rather than a flying boat, the hull design is very different, and leads to a much lower tendency to porpoise.
The underlying water physics are identical between the Glacier and the sometimes tricky Lakehopper. I think there's something about the design of the the Lakehopper's hull (which is modeled on a real flying boat's hull) that causes a tendency to oscillate in the water. This doesn't happen nearly as readily with the Glacier. I need to do some more research, but it's really fascinating to see how different the hulls behave. I think this is due not to any bug, but nuances of the real world physics.
If you have any feedback or notice any issues, I've created this discussion thread to collect all of them in once place. I've love to hear any feedback you have, as well as any detailed bug reports you can provide!
Getting this plane in the game has been a ton of work, but I'm thrilled to be able to finally share it with you! Thank you all for your patience, waiting for Lakehopper's first major content update! This update is very focused on this one new big addition, but the full (sparse) changelog is below. Thanks for giving this new plane a try!
Added the Glacier, a single engine floatplane!
Added a locking ring to the Magnoprop Cores
In the Glacier, the short magnoprop core is right behind the instrument panel and was getting in the way at all times. It became necessary to add some way to secure it so it's not highlighted all the time. The same wrench tool is used to secure the locking ring.
This locking ring was also added to the original magnoprop core for consistency, and to solve the same issue which was present, but less impactful as your viewpoint overlaps with the right side core only when looking at the overhead panel in the Lakehopper.
The Binder is missing information for new subsystem configs
The propeller appearance is distracting in the Glacier now that you are always looking straight through it. This needs to be tweaked.
It's not possible to swap to the Lakehopper if you start with the Glacier, and vice versa
The Glacier currently can't be recolored
On existing saves, the magnoprop core will be unsecured and will wear much faster until the player detaches, reattaches, and secures the locking ring that appears.
The water rudder need to be visually modeled and animated.
The Glacier has animated flaps, but the Lakehopper still does not.
Reverse thrust works, but the light does not blink on the instrument panel.
It's not possible to lock the doors and their outlines can be distracting during flight.
The locking rings on the main menu plane are unsecured and are visible.
Happy skies!
Hello pilots!
Got a bunch of bugfixes here, mostly related to the technical refactor done in 0.3.3 and 0.3.4. There's nothing too spectacular that requires extra explanation, so let's go straight to the changelog!
Fixed an issue related to incorrectly configured attachments on a certain preset group of parts.
The preset fully assembled tank parts in Manypeaks were incorrectly configured and would fail to properly attach to each other. This was causing issues with colliders, which was then causing issues with loading from a save file and returning to Manypeaks. Turns out the game doesn't like dealing with colliders hundreds of kilometers long...
If you were having issues flying to Manypeaks multiple times, or save files in Manypeaks failing to load, this is likely why. This fix should allow for those save files to work properly, but if you're still having issues, let me know in the discussion forums.
Fixed an issue where the propeller wasn't spinning if assembled in a certain order. The plane was still producing thrust, but the propeller wasn't animating. This is fixed now.
Fixed an issue where gauges that show fuel tank levels weren't being updated properly when the tanks were removed from the plane and not replaced.
Fixed an issue where the plane was creating a collider that was interacting with held parts, causing the "ghost" to move around when it shouldn't.
The plane's autopilot state is now correctly saved and set when loaded.
The hydrogen tanks were far too strict on what parts were allowed to be missing from the subassembly. Previously, one missing accessory on a single H2 tank would cause the entire system to become inoperable and not able to be filled or provide H2. Each tank's state is now calculated individually. If a tank is missing an accessory (essentially leaving the tank open and unable to hold H2), only that tank will fail, while the other tanks will work as expected. This greatly reduces the penalty for minor assembly errors on easy to miss parts.
Work continues on the next major update with new content, but these fixes were important enough to prioritize. More soon!
Happy skies!
Hi pilots!
I'm pushing the latest beta update to the main branch, bringing the game's version up to 0.3.4. The main focus of this update is technical changes under the hood to prepare for future updates. These major technical changes aren't visible at all as a player, so best case scenario, you won't see any changes in game.
I've also added a Turn Coordinator instrument and slightly rearranged the instrument panel to accommodate it. Another small addition is a particle effect when unbolted parts break off during assembly, making it clear that this is an intentional game mechanic, not a bug!
The full changelog is below. More specifics and full explanations can be found in the previous beta changelogs here:
SubassemblyManager refactor: complete refactor of core part code.
Added Turn Coordinator to instrument panel.
Added a particle effect for when parts disconnect during building, if they've not been bolted down and too many parts are attached to the assembly. Yellow sparks will fly where connections are broken. This is intended to make it clearer that this is intentional, and not a bug.
Fixed a bug where if the game failed to update a subassembly's collider, it would get stuck trying to retry that update, causing massive lag.
Fixed a bug where parts were placed in the wrong part of the hierarchy when the player attaches them in a specific way.
Fixed an issue where the hand truck's center of gravity would change after being stored in the plane, causing it to start falling over on level ground.
Some bugfixes and a particle effect to make it clear that parts disconnecting during the build process is intentional, not a bug. This update is on the beta branch. Switch to the beta branch in Steam to try out these updates before I push them to the default branch later this week.
Added a particle effect for when parts disconnect during building, if they've not been bolted down and too many parts are attached to the assembly. Yellow sparks will fly where connections are broken. This is intended to make it clearer that this is intentional, and not a bug.
Fixed a bug where if the game failed to update a subassembly's collider, it would get stuck trying to retry that update, causing massive lag.
Fixed a bug where parts were placed in the wrong part of the hierarchy when the player attaches them in a specific way.
Happy skies!
Hello pilots!
A little bit of an odd update today. It's on the beta branch for the next few days until I'm sure there's no terrible bugs. I say it's an odd update, because it took a good deal of effort, but if everything's gone well, everything should look exactly the same to you as a player. Remember to swap to the beta branch to give this a try!
As part of an effort to prepare for future updates, as mentioned on the roadmap, I refactored the core code related to how parts attach to each other, interact with the player, and manage being part of a hierarchy in a subsystem. It underwent a massive reorganization to break a single bloated class that ended up responsible for far too many things, into a nice, clean, organized structure with good separation of responsibility. It's a very technical change, and completely under the hood. Like I said, if all has gone well, you shouldn't notice any changes whatsoever. I'm very happy with the changes and it gets rid of a huge source of technical debt. This will make it much easier for me to expand the game and make future improvements.
Because this change is so fundamental, (literally every part in the game uses this class, and nothing at all would work without it) I'm pushing this update to the beta branch first. Please let me know if you see any bugs or issues by posting in the bug reports discussion forum here on Steam. Please specify that you're testing the 0.3.3 update. Thank you so much for helping me test this major change!
As a reward, I do actually have something new for you.
One instrument that was conspicuously missing from the instrument panel was a Turn Coordinator. I've added one to the panel, and as such, rearranged a few things. The plane now has a proper six pack, and you can have an absolute blast making coordinated, standard rate turns. Exciting!
I know this isn't the most exciting update. More exciting things are coming. Including something that I'll give you a sneak peek of...
DISCLAIMER: This is not in the game, and I have no timeline for when it will appear and be playable.
I took a week and as a treated myself to a very special modeling project that's still incomplete, but I know many of you will be excited to see that work has begun on a radial engine.
This radial engine will be added as an alternative power train to the electric motors currently in the game. Like many things in the game's design, what you use will be about preference, rather than one being strictly better that the other. To keep things lore friendly, they'll burn hydrogen, rather than avgas. But don't fear, they'll behave basically the same as the radial engines many are familiar with, including the sounds, power curves, and temperamental nature. My current estimates are that there will be around 150 parts PER ENGINE, and that's after simplifying things a decent amount. Having 9 individual cylinders really balloons that part count.
There's more work that has to happen in the modeling stage, and a LOT more work that has to happen after the model is done. So don't expect this to be in the game imminently, but it and a second plane are my next priorities. More updates and more info coming soon! Thanks for your patience!
SubassemblyManager refactor: complete refactor of core part code
Added Turn Coordinator to instrument panel
Fixed an issue where the hand truck's center of gravity would change after being stored in the plane, causing it to start falling over on level ground.
Happy skies!
This update has some small bugfixes.
Fixed an issue where many bindings were not being recognized in game until the game was reloaded.
This was causing all sorts of problems. If your peripherals weren't working well for you, or bindings were working in the menu but not in the game since the big update, this is probably why.
Improved behavior of using both axis input and keyboard on the same plane input.
Fixed an issue where Magnoprop Cores weren't updating which motor they were associated with and were being animated by the wrong motor state.
Good day, pilots, this is your dev speaking.
Today I've got the main branch release of the input system update. Thanks for everyone who jumped on the beta branch to help test and make sure that this major change went as smooth as possible. For such a sprawling change, things went fairly smoothly. This post has the headlines for anyone who wasn't following the beta branch updates, and a detailed changelog for this specific 0.3.2.2 update.
The entire game has been changed to a different input system with much better support for flight sim peripherals. If you had issues with your flight sim hardware before, those issues should be resolved and your device should now work with Lakehopper! (Please let me know if you're still having issues in this discussion topic here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/4209010/discussions/0/807974496347683301/)
This update will require you to rebind any previous controls you bound. Some devices will be partially plug and play, picking up the default axes automatically. There's a new rebinding UI, but I'm planning to overhaul this in the future to something that fits the game's needs better. The default keyboard keys for the rope, wrench, and flashlight have been changed. The new defaults are: Rope - R, Wrench - F, Flashlight - G. This is to put these tools on more convenient keys by default.
Thanks again to everyone who gave feedback about their input issues previously, and for helping me test this major change. If you want all the details, see the beta devlogs linked below.
I've made a few changes to how parts wear to both improve the gameplay overall, provide clarity in what's going on, and give you more control.
First, I've adjusted the default wear rate to about twice as fast as it was before. Under normal conditions (not flying at full throttle the full flight), the most fragile parts (fuel cell stacks, followed by motor loops) should now be replaced every 4 hours of flying. If you're harder on the plane, this will be shorter. If you fly more efficiently, this will be longer. This estimate is when the part reaches 80% of normal performance, after which a part's performance will decline quickly. Parts still function after this point, but you risk in-flight failures or drastically reduced performance.
I've made some adjustments to when wear starts to appear on parts. Over time, parts will turn from shiny and new, to less shiny. It's a subtle change at first. Then, light dirt will show on the surface of parts as they begin to become worn. Eventually, dark rust spots will begin to show. When rust starts to show up, that's generally your sign to replace that part. This is currently the progression for all parts. Eventually part diagnostics will get more nuanced, but for now, rust = bad. This was always how this worked, but this wear will now show up earlier, and I fixed the appearance of this wear on the glowing loops.
Last, I've added a wear rate slider to the Gameplay Settings menu. Feel that the new default wears parts out too fast? You can slow it back down. Want a challenge, or just want to spend more time on the ground than in the air? You can make parts wear faster, up to 8x the new default. (This is not advised.)
There's much more I want to do here, but I saw a lot of questions about if this was even in the game. It was, it was just happening slower than even I intended. This should make this game mechanic a little more apparent and affect play more.
There's a few more optimizations & bugfixes noted in the changelog below. The full changelogs for the previous beta versions are here: Some examples of what part wear looks like at various stages:
Improvements to how part wear happens: The new default wear rate is about twice as fast as previously.
Tweaked wear shader: This will show signs of wear earlier than before.
Added wear rate slider in gameplay settings: Adds an option for players to adjust how fast parts wear overall.
Input Revamp: The input system has been changed to one with much better flight sim peripheral support. No huge changes in this specific version. Read the beta branch changelog for full details on this change. Related bugfixes for this version listed below.
Adjustments to terrain optimization strategy: tl;dr: performance will be smoother while the player is walking around on the ground.
Boring technical details: To avoid visual glitches, the coordinate system receives an update every few seconds while flying. The fewer terrains active when this update occurs, the less of a dip there is. In an attempt to avoid large frame drops while flying, the game enables and disables terrain that's off camera. However, enabling and disabling this terrain has a cost, it just helps spread it out over more frames, but it does have an impact.
Previously, this was active while the player was on foot, when these coordinate system updates weren't happening at all, but the game was still enabling and disabling the terrains. This caused unnecessary processing whenever the player looked around on foot. This system is now disabled if the player is not moving very fast. Frame rates while walking around on foot will be smoother. This system is still active while the player is moving quickly, such as when seated or walking around in a fast flying plane, or performing an impromptu skydive. However, while flying the plane, players usually look around much less, usually flying with a more static camera position. There's less enabling/disabling of terrains, and we don't see that performance impact nearly as much, but still get the reduced frame drops from coordinate system updates.
Fixed an issue where noisy peripherals would interrupt using the mouse in the UI. The game now only listens for UI specific inputs from gamepads and other input devices.
Fixed an issue where the trim inputs were overly sensitive and were moving way too fast when held.
Fixed an issue where camera/player look inputs were not working on the external plane orbit camera. (Speaking of, the new input system lets you bind POV hat inputs, so you can actually look around the cockpit while flying.)
Fixed an issue where rust and dirt weren't properly showing on Bednorz Loop parts due to how they glow.
Fixed an issue where the VOR gauge would start to glitch out after being rotated more than once in either direction.
Happy Skies!
Quick hotfix to fix some bugs in the beta branch version.
Re-added the scroll wheel input for increasing and decreasing knobs, switches, and rope length. You will need to push the "Restore Defaults" button in your control settings to get this to take effect if you've made changes to your bindings. This will be properly rebindable in the future.
Fixed an issue where alt-tabbing out of the game would lock the player into the "rotate held object" mode until alt is pressed again with the game in focus.
Fixed an issue where opening the binder multiple times would fail to show the mouse cursor.
Fixed an issue where pausing and unpausing with the binder open would hide and lock the mouse cursor until the binder is closed and reopened.
Hi everybody! Important stuff first!
This update is currently only on the beta branch. You can swap to the beta branch by going into the game properties (under the right click menu on PC), going to "Game Versions & Betas" and selecting the "beta" option. Eventually this will merge with the default version in a few days, but the change is so big I want to verify it's not going to cause major problems first. You can verify you have the right version by checking that the main menu shows 0.3.2 in the upper left hand corner.
I have changed the default keys for the wrench, rope, and flashlight. On keyboard, the wrench is now on F, the flashlight is on G, and the rope is on R. The intent of this is to put more frequently used tools in more convenient spots.
This update took slightly longer than I wanted to get out the door, but it's a big change to a very core system. I've completely changed the underlying input system in the game to one that has much better support for HOTAS, yoke, joystick, rudder pedal, and all sorts of other input devices. No more missing axes or buttons! (For the technical minded, I've swapped from Unity's InputSystem to Rewired.)
If you've had issues with your flight sim peripherals in the past, please swap to the beta branch and check out the new 0.3.2 update. This update changes the rebinding UI to a new temporary UI, and you'll need to redo any existing bindings. I'm not super happy with the layout of this UI and will change it in the future, but I wanted to get the technical changes out for testing ASAP.
Please report bugs, or verify that the update fixed your issues, in this discussion thread here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/4209010/discussions/0/807974496347683301/
This update also includes some bugfixes and minor changes which are detailed below.
Complete refactor of the input system: As mentioned above, the technical backend of how the game handles input devices has been changed. Many HOTASes, yokes, joysticks, pedals, etc., with issues will now be handled correctly. The names I've seen most commonly are Thrustmaster, Saitek, and VKB, all of which should see improved support. Many peripherals will have some basic default bindings as well. This involves a bunch of changes, the most obvious of which is a new UI. This UI is temporary and will be replaced with something more streamlined that better fits the game's needs at some point in the future.
Improved "Recover Plane": The "Recover Plane" option in the pause menu has been changed to "Recover/Return to Plane" and will now work even if you're not sitting in the pilot seat. This now allows you to return to the plane if you've fallen out, or if the plane has sailed away from you on the water, or slid down a hill away from you. This will still put you in a mode where you pick up the plane, rather than simply teleporting you back inside. And this will cause issues if the plane is in flight as the plane's speed drops to zero when recovered. Prepare to recover from a nosedive if returning to the plane after skydiving. (This will be fixed in a future update.)
Changed default keys for tools: I've changed the default keys for the wrench, rope and flashlight. By default, the wrench is now on F, the flashlight is on G, and the rope is on R. This should be more convenient, but might take a moment to get used to. The logic here is that you swap in and out of the wrench and rope more often than the flashlight, so moving those to more convenient spots should be better.
Added a default held item rotate binding to gamepads: On keyboard you can hold Alt to rotate an item you're holding. This modifier wasn't bound on gamepad, but is now on D-pad up by default.
Fixed plane recolor UI on ultrawide monitors.
Fixed an issue where a package dropped at a destination would be able to be picked up after starting its animation, then disappear from the player's hand and not be able to be dropped until the game is reloaded. Delivered packages can no longer be picked up while animating.
Fixed an issue where repeatedly loading and unloading delivery crates at a location would cause the game to grind to a halt.
Fixed an issue where any exception would cause object loading to freeze until the game is saved and reloaded. The object loading process now has a timeout that fixes this issue. I saw issues reported a few times where locations would fail to load, but I wasn't ever able to replicate it myself. This should fix that, but let me know if you're still seeing this issue.
Happy skies!
Hi everyone! It's been a very exciting launch week! It's very wonderful to see people having fun with the game, hearing how you also see the potential the game has, and it's very validating seeing how many people have wanted a game like this for a long time. I'm gonna do my very best to do it justice.
Since many people are curious, I wanted to share a sort of roadmap for the game. Listed below is what I'm going to tackle first, and the likely order I'll tackle bigger future features. The biggest disclaimer of all time: All of this is subject to change, and has no specific dates, not even goals or estimates. I'd hate to over promise and under deliver, or be constantly pushing back release dates.
Features may change priority, and the order here is for the core of each feature, not the fully fleshed out, content filled completion of that feature. Everything is inter-connected, and some major sections of the game can't be built until most of the core features are implemented at a basic level. This list doesn't include bugfixes, or bits of extra content I'll add along the way.
These items are my immediate focus. Mainly some changes I wanted to make since the pre-release playtest, but couldn't do before launch.
Many people have reported issues with their flight sim peripherals, and the core issue is that the Unity input system I'm currently using doesn't provide as much built-in support for yokes, joysticks, throttles, rudder pedals, etc. as I'd hoped. (I've seen the most issues reported with Saitek, Thrustmaster, and VKB devices. I'm personally seeing issues with my CH controllers.) I remain 100% committed to supporting as many different peripherals as possible.
The fix for this is probably to make a big change in what input system I'm using. I need to do more research, and I'm investigating 3rd party options. This is essentially my highest priority, and I'll be dedicating a lot of time to it this week specifically. As you might imagine, user input is pretty core to a lot of the game code, and is woven throughout many scripts. I've organized things in a way that should reduce the effort to swap things over, but it still has the potential to be complex. Your playtesting and bug reporting has been critical for me for this fix, so thanks! I'll get this fixed, one way or another.
I've got some technical debt that I need to take care of as early as possible. There's a few different core scripts that are functional, but need some refactoring to allow me to expand their functionality and optimize things, and just make those parts of the game more maintainable. Primarily, the script that manages a lot of how parts connect and describe how the player can interact with them needs a big refactor. The longer I put this off, the harder it's gonna be, and the more extra effort I'll spend adding new things.
There's some internal tools I need to build for myself to make it easier to expand and change locations in the game world without breaking save files. I've got some ideas for some new locations to add soon, but better tools have to come before that. Neither of these will change anything about the game that's visible to you, the player, but they'll be very important to building new things that you will see!
I'm gonna be doing plenty of other bugfixes. I've got some fixes ready to roll out with the next update, but I'll aim to make the overall experience smoother, and tackling bugs and game design issues that only seem to appear once you've got many, many people playing the game. Keep those bug reports coming!
I'd like to get Steam Cloud Saves set up. Just nice and convenient to have, and shouldn't be too tricky.
There's more I want to do to improve the native Linux build. There's likely some lurking memory issues that I need to diagnose and haven't been able to fully track down just yet, but I'm on the case! There appear to be some Linux specific peripheral issues, and I'll be making sure my other changes help out here as well.
Now to the good stuff. This is generally the order that I'll tackle the big features in the game, without any specific dates. There are just too many unknowns for me to make any specific promises. These aren't the only updates that will appear, and each Phase won't be added all at once in one huge update. These are just sort of the phases I have in mind for where the focus will be, and they'll probably overlap.
A first round of new content that advances the game's features and acts as a good first test for future content to be added.
Plane #2: I'm planning to add a single-engine floatplane as both an alternate starter plane, and one available in the world to change between as desired. It'll need a few new parts, but many of the same parts that already exist will be compatible with the new airframe. I've already got a prototype for this, but it needs more modeling details, an interior, new parts, and fine tuning of the plane config and flight profile. This will be a good starter plane for those less familiar with flight sims, multi-engine planes, or flying boats. It flies slower, is single-engine, has a water rudder, and will be simpler to manage for new pilots. It turns out that a heavy multi-engine flying boat with high mounted engines without a water rudder is a LOT to handle, even for experienced flight-simmers. It's a rewarding challenge, but it's a pretty steep learning curve.
First alternate parts: I designed the entire building system of Lakehopper from the ground up to support for alternate parts and systems. The way parts are structured and function is defined by the parts themselves. I'll be adding a first round of alternate parts that add some interesting player choices. For those who like planes that go BANG instead of BZZZ, I plan to add a hydrogen powered radial engine made up of a LOT of individual parts. They'll be hydrogen powered so they fit in with the world lore I have in mind, but otherwise they'll look, feel, sound, and behave like radial engines that are more familiar to the real world. Seriously, it's gonna be a lot of parts, while also being less fuel efficient. (Sorry, that's how physics and thermodynamics works.) But for those willing to work for it, it'll be a fun challenge.
Some new locations: I'll add some more places to fly to in the world. I've got a few things in mind, but don't want to commit to anything specific just yet. No matter what ends up getting added here, the world will expand and get more interesting. In general, flight times will still be on the shorter side, (think Manypeaks to Nest Lake, rather than the longer flight to Test Island) but there will be more places to go.
A few new jobs: Definitely not the full range of jobs and quests I want to add, but at least a few new interesting things to do.
Charts: With more places to go, pilots need more info, so that'll require an update to support proper charts and sectionals.
If you're interested in modding Lakehopper, it's probably worth waiting until around here to dive in, as many of the underlying systems will probably change to support this Phase. I can't promise any specific modding support here, but about here is when the core game logic around parts and planes becomes ever so slightly more stable.
Making the world more dynamic, and giving the player some interesting choices to make.
Weather: One of the most important decisions a pilot can make is about whether the weather is safe to fly in, both in general, and for their personal minimums. In a game that's all about consequences of your piloting and decision making, that makes the weather all more important. My goals for the first pass at weather are to add wind systems (seaplanes REALLY care about which way the wind is blowing), make the clouds and visibility dynamic, add changes in temperature and air pressure, as well as a first pass at precipitation like rain. That barely scratches the surface, but it's a good place to start. Along with the weather changing, I'll be adding ways for the player to forecast the weather. Whenever I add a big feature like this that adds challenges, I also want to give players the tools to deal with those challenges. Just adding weather would be extra difficulty without any way of anticipating it, and would feel frustrating and punishing, rather than a fulfilling game mechanic that rewards good decision making and planning.
Day/night cycle and time passage: Pretty simple to explain. Time should pass in the game, especially if you suddenly need to be able to wait for the weather to clear. Landing in the dark on water is exceptionally difficult, dangerous, and generally inadvisable, so now you've gotta plan to get to your destination before dark, as most places won't have any "runway lights". My concept for how time will pass is that the day will go by quickly on the ground, but slower once you're in the air. Something like 1 game day = 1 real hour on the ground, but closer to 4 game hours = 1 real hour in the air. This is so it feels like you can do a few legs of flying in a single game day, without locking the player into a real time only slog where you have to play for 20+ hours to reach a new day in the game. There's balancing to be done here, and I'll probably make it something the player can set for themselves. You'll have the ability to sleep and pass time without having to just wait in-game.
Terrain refactor: The current terrain is functional, and looks alright from a distance, but could use some more details and variety. Unfortunately, there's some technical challenges that are preventing me from reaching the level of fidelity I want. (My last attempt to add trees knocked 20 fps off the framerate. No thanks.) I have some plans to tackle this and make the world of Lakehopper look nicer in general, but it's a big technical hurdle.
What fun is an empty world? Why does your flying matter if you never see who you're doing a delivery for? Therefore, we've gotta add some people.
NPCs: Hoo boy, this one is a big one. There's so much unknown here that I don't have too much to say. But, my logic around prioritizing NPCs is that they'll be tied into so many other parts of the game, I need them to exist in the game loop sooner rather than later. NPCs tie into the jobs you do, how you get new parts, how you find new planes, how you recover from crashes, any story and dialogue, passenger missions, the quality and character of every place you visit, game lore, repairs and maintenance, docking the plane and departing, and so much more. They're very important to the core feeling of the game I want to create, so you'll probably see some NPCs in the game earlier than you might otherwise expect.
More locations: With adding NPCs, they need more places to live, so this is another spot I'd expect the game world to open up even farther.
More jobs: With NPCs in the game, there's more options for the kinds of jobs that make sense. Some of those will be added here.
These 3 phases are really just the beginning. Once we've got a dynamic world with NPCs, the amount of content that can be added explodes. We can really dig into adding more planes and parts, more jobs, it'll be properly worth digging into localization, and how players can customize their planes. It's sort of not worth me planning past this point until I have a better idea of the state of things. Most of the exciting stuff lives here, but I will be adding more and more to do in the game as we move through the previous 3 phases.
I hope this gives you some idea of my priorities for the game. Keep in mind that this is not a complete list of everything that I'll be adding during this time, so if you don't see your most wanted feature here, it doesn't mean it'll never happen! If you have any feedback, please let me know! I want to factor in what players are interested in seeing, while still planning for the long term future of the game.
If you've read this far and are interested in following the development of the game, I stream a large portion of the game's development on Twitch: I don't have this link posted on the game's main page, just because I keep things extremely chill there so I can stay productive. It's also not the place for bug reports or feature requests. Those are best submitted via the Steam Discussions page. But I figure if you've read to the bottom of a vague early access roadmap, you might be interested in seeing how the sausage gets made. Just be polite and kind if you come check out the stream. Thanks!
Happy Skies!
Let me start by thanking each and every one of you who have purchased Lakehopper. My expectations have been greatly exceeded, and I feel very lucky and thankful. I'm so happy that so many of you are having fun with the game! Thank you for your feedback, questions, and bug reports. Keep 'em coming!
Today’s update is all about fixing some of the low-hanging fruit. There are more fixes and early improvements on the way. The biggest change has to do with how parts wear over time and how that affects plane performance. I knew I needed to do this change, but it didn’t quite make the cut for release. I’ve got a couple other small improvements, and some bugfixes that fix issues regarding rebinds, UI, and refueling.
The part condition system has had a overall rebalance. That system has been active and working, taking into account how hard parts are being run, for how long they’ve been run, and if there are any loose bolts. (They don’t currently take crashes or high G-force flying into consideration… yet.)
For this rebalance, I’ve adjusted individual part lifespans, increasing the lifespan of most parts, especially structural parts without complex or moving components. Some parts have had their lifespans shorted slightly. This makes some parts durable, and some parts fragile. In particular, motor components wear faster, as do the fuel cell stacks in the power plant.
However, I’ve also greatly adjusted the curves that determine how well a part works over its lifespan. Overall, every part currently on your plane will perform better than it was before, even if I’ve reduced the lifespan. Below is an image that shows the old and new curves used to evaluate this.
Previously, a part would be reduced to 80% of its performance after 35% of its lifespan had been used. This was far too large a reduction in performance, far too fast, and well before any visual indications of wear were showing up.
With the new curve. parts retain 96% of their performance after 50% of their lifespan, and only drop to 80% after around 75% of their lifespan has passed. By this point, early visual signs of wear and tear will have already become apparent. Performance falloff is steeper when it happens, but your plane will retain its performance for much longer, even for parts that now wear faster.
For those interested in the math, the old curve is y = x^0.5, and the new one is y = 1 - 2^(-10 * x), x being the remaining percent of lifespan, y being the performance percentage.
There is definitely be more balancing to be done here, but I wanted to get this overall change out ASAP. I'll also be adding in-game documentation for the expected lifespan of different parts and the replacement intervals.
Increased rope forces for both the player pulling on the plane and rope tension from tie-downs.
Added keybind setting for the held item modifier key (alt by default).
Holding this key allows you to rotate held parts, and using the scroll wheel, adjust how close they are held.
Allows for binding a controller button if desired.
Fixed an issue where the Flaps Up secondary keybind was not detecting inputs from devices other than keyboard and mouse. Some other bindings received the same fix, so if you were having binding issues previously, this may fix them. There’s more work to do on peripheral support. This might fix some issues, but not all.
Fixed an issue with saving bindings for players in countries that use a comma instead of a period for the decimal separator in numbers. This was causing axis deadzone and invert settings to fail to be applied or saved for those players.
Fixed an issue where the hand pulled rope toggle flipped on and off instead of staying on or off.
Fixed many UI window issues on ultrawide monitors. Overall, the UI windows should be more consistent for everyone, but especially for ultrawide monitor users. (If you’re still seeing issues, send a screenshot and I’ll fix it!)
Fixed an issue where resetting the fuel nozzle while attached to the plane wouldn’t properly clear the refuel port.
Fixed an issue where the fuel nozzle would stay attached to your plane if it flew away from the refuel station. It will now reset to the station. (No more infinite fuel glitch, sorry!)
Happy skies!
Lakehopper is available now! I’m very excited to welcome you to my seaplane flight sim, and invite you to explore its flooded world! This has been my solo game dev project for the last year and a half and I feel very lucky to be able to release it into Early Access today!
To celebrate the launch of the game, Lakehopper is 20% off for the next week!
Happy skies!
-Photon Games
Welcome everyone! It’s Early Access launch day! Work on Lakehopper first started in summer of 2023, and the game has been in full time development since November 2024. I’ve been looking forward to this for a while now! Lakehopper is a solo project and it’s been a joy to work on. I’m very excited for what I’ve got planned for the future.
Thank you again to everyone who participated in the playtest! Lakehopper is a better game today than it was a month ago, thanks to your feedback and bug reports. If you reported a bug, and it hasn’t been fixed yet, know that all those bugs are still on my list and will be addressed.
I’ve made a few changes and fixed some bugs since the last playtest version, including a fun surprise that will allow for some customization! The full changelog for this version is below. During the next period of development I will be focusing on fixing more bugs, including some bigger issues that I wasn’t able to address before launch.
Currently there’s a memory leak causing crashes on the native Linux version. I want to get this fixed ASAP. Some playtesters were having issues using or binding their specific flight sim peripherals. Most peripherals do work, or partially work, but I want to make sure everyone can use their hardware. This is a bigger fix that involves technically complex changes and I want to give it the care it deserves.
The first updates will mostly focus on fixing bugs and making the game more robust. I’ll likely include some minor content updates, but the earlier I fix bugs, the better!
There are a lot of things that need to be added to make Lakehopper the rich, rewarding, and challenging game I want it to be. This includes, but is not limited to: NPCs, story and dialogue, weather, a day/night cycle and calendar, more planes, more parts, more subsystems, more locations to visit, more jobs to do, localization, tutorials, mod support, etc.
This is a huge list, and I’m aware of the monumental amount of work that needs to be done to add all that. It’ll be a long process, especially given that I’m a solo developer. I don’t have any specific timeline for when any specific feature will be added, though I’ll publish a more detailed roadmap soon.
After completing the fixes I mentioned above, probably the first new thing I’ll add is a new plane that’ll be easier to start with, and some highly requested alternate parts. The timeline here depends mostly on the time and effort required for post-launch bugfixes and tweaks.
Thank you for checking out Lakehopper! I’m so happy to be able to finally share it with you! There’s more exciting things to come, and really, this is only the beginning of the journey! Happy skies!
Major Changes
Paint your plane!
I’ve added the ability to change the color of your plane! Just inside the rear door, you’ll find a blue “Change Plane Color” button that will open a UI to allow you to select plane colors. You can create a two color gradient or generate stripes from those two colors. The fuselage, underside, and tail of the plane can get their own color schemes. I wanted to add a bit more variety and customization to the plane! You can always uncheck the Custom Color toggle and return to the default paint job. More livery options will be available in the future.
Push and hold on plane trim, dials, and the rope tool
No more button mashing to set trim or adjust the VOR! I’ve added the ability to push and hold to adjust the plane trims, turn knobs, and adjust rope length.
Currently there’s not much feedback when you hold an input, but I’ll fix that soon so it’s clearer when you’re adjusting things.
Improvements
Added a “Reset Nozzle” button on the refuel station. Pressing this button will return the nozzle to the refuel station, for instance if you drop it to the ocean floor!
Added a new game intro screen with some useful info for new players. This will only appear when you start a new game. The playtest notice on the main menu has been removed.
Bugfixes
Optimized some motor part colliders. Overly complex geometry was causing frame lag spikes during assembly, and was possibly causing the game to freeze for some players. These colliders have been greatly simplified reducing this lag.
Potentially fixed an issue where the mouse sensitivity could be reduced to 0 and get stuck there. The game will check if your saved settings have the mouse at 0 sensitivity and reset it.
Fixed an issue where the pause menu would reopen unexpectedly when pushing a controller button.
I’m so excited to be able to share the game with everyone. There’s a lot more to build, and I’m thrilled to have everyone joining me on the journey!
Feedback and bugfixes for the playtest can be submitted in the Steam Discussions forum! This will give you a chance to try the game out, and help me prepare the game for the full launch.
Ultimately, Lakehopper is the game that I want to play. I’m a huge fan of sandbox flight sims, but I sometimes struggle to set my own fun goals with so many possibilities. It also feels a little underwhelming when a flight ends, and the world and your plane “reset”. I also really love a lot of more casual flight games, with simpler flight models and lots of really fun game mechanics. But I often miss a more complex and engaging flight experience in those games, including the consequences of poor piloting.
I looked around and didn’t see much of what I wanted: A grounded, general aviation focused flight sim with a complex flight model paired with interesting game mechanics to motivate decisions, in a world that continues to exist after a flight ends, complete with rewards and consequences for how that flight went! So that’s what I’m building. A flight sim that challenges your piloting skills, surrounded by a game and rich, persistent world to challenge and reward the player, with the primary goal of making the flights you make and how you fly them matter.
I started Lakehopper back in June 2023 as a solo hobby project after making this 3D modeling “doodle” of the plane. As you can see, the futuristic design of the engines predates the game even existing, and honestly, I can't tell you why I made that creative choice.
I wondered if I could get it flying in a game, not realizing I’d already bitten off more than I could chew. Nevertheless, by the end of that summer, I had a working prototype with a floating, flying plane, and put the project aside for a time.
In November 2024, the spark reignited and I was able to fully commit to making Lakehopper the immersive game I knew it could be. Over the next year and a half, I worked full time on the game. I improved the physics systems for flight and water interaction, created a terrain system, the basic jobs system, developed the part assembly and maintenance systems, and much more. Most of my focus so far has been building out the core systems, paving the way for expanding the available parts, planes, jobs, destinations, and in general adding more to explore and more interesting decisions to make.
Right now, you can have fun in Lakehopper, assembling the plane, flying packages between different locations, doing occasional maintenance, and exploring the wilderness.
The last three months have been purely dedicated to making sure the current features of the game are polished and relatively bug-free. I’ve got high standards for myself and want to ensure the game is fun to play and immersive from the start. The open playtest will help me be certain this is the case, and find any issues I’ve overlooked as the game’s solo developer!
I’ve got a lot of things I want to add to Lakehopper, many of which don’t exist in the game at all at the moment! Early on, I’ll be focusing on adding new game systems, and refining and expanding existing ones. There is some new content I’ve planned to add sooner rather than later, such as a new plane, some new parts, and a few new locations. Once I have all the major game systems in place, my focus can shift to adding more and more content and fleshing out the world of Lakehopper. I don’t have any set timeline for when any of this will happen, but exciting things are in the game’s future!
Thanks for joining me on this journey!
About
This page aggregates Steam news feeds, patch notes, and developer announcements for Lakehopper, sourced from official Steam community posts.
Major updates, balance changes, and seasonal events often correlate with player-count spikes — cross-reference announcements here with the live charts on the main Lakehopper statistics page.
Articles link back to Steam for full changelogs. SteamScope refreshes news entries as new posts are published to the game's Steam hub.