Aquila Bird Flight Simulator
Online Saturday in Scotland at 9pm UTC!
Previous events have worked out well, I got loads of feedback and a little bug list to fix. Now those bugs are squished (mostly ... I'm sure more will appear!), I'm ready to do it again. I need to get an idea of how Aquila will cope with more players, and just give everyone a chance to fly together and see how it works out. :)
With the current version there is now weather synchronised between the players. The server is set to early Summer, so we could get anything except snow. It's random, at the moment, but the next work I'm doing is to bring some structure to how the weather behaves...
Come and say Hi in our Discord channel here: https://discord.com/invite/cmeNm4r9bQ
Feel free to take video, screenshots, share them here... I’d love to see all of it. Even the bugs. Although Steam can be unreliable with it's broadcasting, I will be broadcasting if it'll do it. The first time I managed to crash in to a lake the first time I tried to fish... very embarrassing!
Please check out the Tutorial Videos ( HERE ) for a control guide, particularly for motion controllers in VR. The in-game tutorials cover the bare minimum, and not everything.
Hope to see you online. Feel free to get in touch if I can help in the meantime.
Graeme
Online later in Scotland at 9pm UTC!
Previous events have worked out well, I got loads of feedback and a little bug list to fix. Now those bugs are squished (mostly ... I'm sure more will appear!), I'm ready to do it again. I need to get an idea of how Aquila will cope with more players, and just give everyone a chance to fly together and see how it works out. :)
Come and say Hi in our Discord channel here: https://discord.com/invite/cmeNm4r9bQ
Feel free to take video, screenshots, share them here... I’d love to see all of it. Even the bugs. Although Steam can be unreliable with it's broadcasting, I will be broadcasting if it'll do it. Last time I managed to crash in to a lake the first time I tried to fish... very embarrassing!
Please check out the Tutorial Videos ( HERE ) for a control guide, particularly for motion controllers in VR. The in-game tutorials cover the bare minimum, and not everything.
Hope to see you online. Feel free to get in touch if I can help in the meantime.
Graeme
Version 1.0 arrives! Ok well it's 1.03...
I'll say now it's not finished, but I feel it has the base features that I'd hoped for, which was to get a little bit of the real feeling of flying into virtual reality, and this is most apparent with motion controllers. At the moment you get that most when higher above the satellite photography, but lots of landable trees are on the maps now, as are fish to catch. These are the ground work of adding more.
Multiplayer seems to be working well, although the odd bug will still come along! I originally wasn't sure about adding it, but I'm glad I took the time to overhaul the code to support it. Please use the official server button on the Network page (remember to pick your name or you'll be called ChangeMe!). The status of the server is always on the Forum. It would be great to see you. There is also a Discord server for development chat. Please drop us a line if you wish to help.
Please please please check out the YouTube tutorials here: YouTube tutorials
And be sure to *start* off with the Tutorial for your chosen control method, particularly if you plan to fly with motion controllers. This is important!
Future plans? Survival mode, more prey types, more foliage, nest building, challenges, more seasonal content, TeamSpeak support ... the potential list is long. I am also working on native versions for Oculus Quest 2 and Android. Yes they both run, and can join the same online server.
Anyway I'm pleased with how it's coming along, and feel that the Early Access badge can go. Still plenty more to work on for sure. It'll be great to see you in-game.
Thank you for reading. Please check out the release notes below. :)
Graeme
----
Current issues with 1.03:
- When you catch a fish on the official server, everyone hears the splash.
- Catching a fish with headset steering is vile. I don't recommend it at the moment.
- In Non-VR, menu's are not yet navigable using a Gamepad alone, so you'll need to use a mouse.
- At peak times, I've noticed server performance can suffer. This is unfortunately my ISP. I'm working on upgrading the version of Mirror that Aquila uses, to hopefully iron this out a little. The most extreme little lag spike, if you're flying, will cause you to die and respawn if you're near the ground. As a workaround, you can use T to keep resetting to random trees and get near to where you were.
Latest changes for 1.03:
- Map positions adjusted to be more central to the origin Unity uses. This will hopefully reduce shadow shudder further away from the centre. I'm still thinking about this one.
- Fish added to another big lake in Scotland.
- Unintentional take off's fixed on motion controllers.
Latest changes for 1.026:
- T key now resets you to a tree top.
- R key now cycles rescue mode.
- F key cycles FPS (displayed below your speed)
- A few camera tweaks made.
Latest changes for 1.025:
- More bugs swatted for false achievements gained sometimes after death and reset.
- Mouse clicking with the in-game menu open, while landed, no longer tries to take off.
- Random deaths while landed fixed on a network game. This occurred when network performance was poor.
Latest changes for 1.02:
- You can crash into water, although you have to hit harder than you would the ground.
- Ground speed for tree landings needs to be less than 45mph. Ground speed not airspeed.
- Mouse steering added, that can be used whenever Gamepad/Keyboard controls are used.
- Tweaked taking off from the ground using non-motion controls.
- Left ctrl also grabs fish and trees to land.
- A height achievement bug has been fixed after crashing into something.
- Some trees in Canada were not landable.
- Tutorials mention using WSAD/Mouse for control.
Latest changes for 1.01:
- Well 1.00 didn't last long! Grey looking birds at night fixed.
- Fish added to lakes/rivers in Canada and Columbia.
- If you died, and respawn to a tree top, you'd falsely get the achievement for a Tree Landing if you didn't have it already. This is fixed.
- AI birds replaced with a new version, and are mirrored to clients on network games.
- Note Santa's sleigh is *not* a network aware thing (yet), and only happens on each client. It still works though.
Latest changes for 1.00:
- Catchable test fish added to a couple of lakes in Scotland only. Grab fish by pressing and holding gamepad triggers, or grip buttons on motion controllers. Releasing the buttons will drop the fish! See Readme within install folder for full changes. You can land in trees with fish, and you'll continue to hold them. You have to hold the buttons again prior to take off, or you'll drop it! You can pick up and drop fish repeatedly, but if you leave them they will despawn after 5 minutes or so.
- Eagle models for golden and bald updated to latest version.
- Wind noise updated to one recorded in a glider/sailplane flight in the summer.
- Crashing added. Yes you can go splat into trees and/or the ground. Be careful on takeoff... if you gather speed, and pitch down, you will splat yourself.
- Tail twisting added for all birds as you use controls.
- All tutorials are now narrated.
We're doing it again! Come and join us for a group flight in Scotland!
The first event really worked out well, I got loads of feedback and a little bug list to fix. Now those bugs are squished, I'm ready to do it again. I need to get an idea of how Aquila will cope with more players, and just give everyone a chance to fly together and see how it works out. :)
Therefore I will be online and in-game from 9 pm UK time (8 pm UTC), certainly for a couple of hours with the odd break or two. I’ll set up for a maximum of 32 players, and see how we go... the system running as dedicated server is an older Falcon Northwest i7 4770, 16 gb ram, SSD and a GTX 1070 ... on a 500Mbps internet connection. It should cope!
Feel free to take video, screenshots, share them here... I’d love to see all of it. Even the bugs.
More events will definitely follow, using whatever features are added. Still early days yet, but simply flying in a group was awesome on the first event... and I valued every player who joined in. Thank you!
Please check out the Tutorial Videos for a control guide, particularly for motion controllers in VR. The in-game tutorials cover the bare minimum, and not everything. Also please ensure you have version 0.9964 installed... it should do automatically on Steam. Please see the patch notes below!
The playlist can be found here: Aquila YouTube Tutorial Playlist
Hope to see you online. Feel free to get in touch if I can help in the meantime.
Graeme
Latest changes for 0.9964:
- Steam achievement added for landing in a tree.
- Extra view added for your PC screen. Select HR Headset View from the main menu options, and while in-game pressing O alternates this view on and off. It basically watches a random bird, or your bird in single player, using a pan & zoom camera.
- Various bugs fixed as to which cameras can see which elements on screen.
- New button added to the in-game GUI for Multiplayer games, which alternates a table showing You at the top, your player marker colour, and the 5 closest players and their distance in KM. Each player in a multiplayer game is assigned a random marker colour. In time, I'll make this colour selectable.
Come and join us for a group flight in Scotland!
Therefore I will be online and ingame from 9pm uk time (8pm UTC), certainly for a couple of hours with the odd break or two. I’ll set up for a maximum of 32 players, and see how we go... the system running as dedicated server is an older Falcon Northwest i7 4770, 16gb ram, ssd and a GTX 1070 ... on a 500Mbps internet connection. It should cope!
Feel free to take video, screenshots, share them here... I’d love to see all of it. Even the bugs.
Down the line more such events will follow, using whatever features are added. Still early days yet, but simply flying in a group could be awesome? Team speak is next on my hit list, if it can be done...
Please check out the Tutorial Videos for a control guide, particularly for motion controllers in VR. The ingame tutorials cover the bare minimum, and not everything.
The playlist can be found here: Aquila YouTube Tutorial Playlist
Hope to see you online. Feel free to get in touch if I can help in the meantime.
Graeme
Version 0.9963 available - with Multiplayer!
BUT ... please please please... if you're new to Aquila and playing in VR, check out these tutorial videos. It is a *must* particularly if you're using motion controllers.
You'll find them here: YouTube Tutorial Playlist
Other notes:
- If playing in Multiplayer, *please* change your birds name. :) Cuillin is the default.
- "Join Official Server" button will join my server here. To start, I'll keep it online as much as I can. If it won't connect, that's because it's off. It will be off when I'm working on it... we're not at a version 1.0 yet!
- You can host your own server, and others can join yours. Servers are capped at 16 players at the moment, until stability can be proven. I'm using Mirror for multiplayer, which is capable of more players in theory. Demo users can join the official server, or others, but they will still have a time limit. If the server is not hosting the Scotland map, a demo user will not be able to connect. You can't host with the demo version.
- Note: You need to change your name, or enter server addresses, using the keyboard on your PC screen. You can't type purely in VR.
- There is no in-game chat/'teamspeak' yet. Working on that one still...
Soon I hope to schedule an event to get a few birds flying together. I will announce this.
Hope to see you in game soon. Get in touch if I can help. :)
Graeme
Here's the first tutorial video:
[previewyoutube="tVKe18DR5A8;leftthumb"]
Possible multiplayer testing...
If you are interested in giving it a try, when it is ready, please comment below. I anticipate setting up a server here at home, with appropriate port forwarding, perhaps with an associated chat server, at an appropriate time and we'll see how we go!
I believe Aquila's traffic requirements to be low, as prey items are not implemented yet. Mirror, the networking extension I am using for Unity, is MMO capable ... so you'd think a high number of players would be possible in theory? I've set a limit of 16 on my development version.
Anyway, if you are interested please reply back here. I have no ETA for such a test at this time, but not too long. :)
Thanks;
Graeme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXY4mxC66-E
Version 0.9915 available!
Latest changes for 0.9915:
- Bug fix for keyboard controls not working when no vr setup is detected.
- Bug fix for start position being ignored and starting with a non-moving levitating bird, when no gamepad is detected and running in a non-vr mode. This was caused by a little confusion within the game between flags for "no vr detected" and "vr disabled by launch option".
Thank you for your patience. :)
Graeme
Version 0.991 available!
Anyway this version, 0.991, fixes all that and should work ok for both VR and non-VR gameplay. If, by chance, this version does not work for you ... please get in touch either by commenting here or contacting me directly at scottgj AT gmail.com . However, so far with testing, this version has been very promising. If you really can't cope with this new version, you can revert to the previous release by opting in to the 'beta' channel. This currently holds the previous release.
MOST IMPORTANTLY: SteamVR controller configuration is no longer required. The game will work with most Xbox-type gamepads, Oculus Touch, and Vive wands. I *highly* recommend using VR and motion controllers to get the most out of flying Aquila. :)
In addition to the notes for version 0.990, version 0.991 introduces the following:
- In the Settings menu, an option for Quality is now available. Previously you had to change Unity's player settings by holding CTRL on launch from Windows ... but they took that away so it's now in-game. Settings range from Simple, and go up to Everything.
- Back view distance from the bird is adjusted on landing, so in both VR and non-VR you're not right up close to the bird, and you're moved a little further away.
- Numerous bugs swatted, and Unity libraries updated to their latest versions.
- SteamVR controller configuration is no longer required, as I'm using the new Unity Input System.
- More achievements added for efficient flying. :)
Limitations:
- Sometimes in VR on the main menu, your point of view may jump slightly. This doesn't occur in-game. It usually occurs when you re-centre the view on the main menu.
- The game resolution on your monitor is simply your desktop resolution on starting the game. You can increase performance by lowering your desktop resolution. 1080p should be fine, but I sometimes see a hit on my 1080 Ti if I launch in 4k.
- On past versions, sometimes on starting the game you may see sky blue, before the game would crash. This was due to a bug in Unity, and that version has been updated with this release of Aquila. If you do experience this with this new version, please get in touch. Try launching the game with a lower quality setting, or reducing your monitor resolution ... that should fix it.
What's next?
- Just started work on multiplayer, as the previous network code is out of date.
- I have been trying to recreate the maps without satellite photography, and a higher resolution mesh. So far performance has been rather poor, but it's better than it was. The benefit of this is grasses, more tree's, more lakes and rivers. I don't have an eta for this yet.
- There will be some kind of prey to catch soon... probably fish for the bald eagle. :)
- If landed in a tree, and the sun has set, add an option to skip to dawn.
Thank you for reading. :)
Graeme
Beta Version 0.990 available!
If you're feeling brave, I've added the beta of version 0.990 of Aquila to Steam. You'll need to select the 'beta' channel on your Steam library settings for Aquila to opt in and receive this version.
What has changed:
- New eagle models added for the bald eagle, and a golden eagle model replaces the white tailed sea eagle. All models have a full suite of animations for on the ground and in the air, although some are not used at the moment as they're not required.
- Tree's are placed around the landscape, and you can land on the top of all of them. You can also begin the game starting in a random tree-top.
- I've used LuxWater to add realistic water to the game. It is used in the Scotland map for lakes (I have to add a few more), and an ocean to the Canada map. There's no water in the Columbia map (yet).
- Please note that the water has no collisions added at the moment. You'll go straight through it and land on the ground beneath. Well I have to keep some things back for a V1.0. :)
- New title screen. Completely overhauled, and works within VR or using the mouse on your main pc screen. If you use the mouse, it locks out selecting options with the VR headset for a few seconds.
- Within the title screen, you'll find configurable options to optimise performance. You'll also find an achievements screen where: your total flight time is tracked, and various achievements. The only two linked to Steam, at the moment, are the Valentines challenge and Santa's Gift.
- Again on the title screen, there is a help (?) button giving a basic guide and descriptions of the achievements. More information is given in YouTube tutorials to be found here https://www.aquila-bfs.com/tutorials/ . Bare in mind these were recorded with the old menu system, so skip through as appropriate. :) Lots of useful background info though...
- You can bring your wings in to dive, and it's proportional to the amount you bring your wings in giving you fine control over your glide. This works with both motion controllers and gamepads. With motion controllers, just bring your wings towards your body a little. With a gamepad, move the right stick down to bring your wings in, while moving it up flaps your wings.
- Countless bugs swatted...
Apologies for the delay with this update. A major issue was the complete change of how SteamVR uses controllers, and my previous code was rendered completely useless. It was a large job to overhaul it, then add the features from the Oculus version as well. I hope this improves your enjoyment of the game, and thank you for your patience.
There are a couple of issues you should be aware of though:
- At the moment, with this 0.990 Beta, I have not tested non-VR game play in any capacity. It might work, or it might completely break. I'll find out soon...
- EDIT: Non-VR game-play is very buggy, and the in-game menu isn't working. I recommend waiting for a patch to fix this. Playing with VR is fine. :)
- If you launch the game with motion controllers, and get to the title screen, but then decide to play with a Gamepad (why would you do that????) ... it will not work. You'll need to go to your SteamVR controller bindings, specify Gamepad as your controller, then select My official profile to map the gamepad correctly. It will then work. If you launch the game without motion controllers powered on, this profile is automatically loaded and used by SteamVR. If you have issues, please ask. :)
Thank you for reading. As always, feedback is welcomed and encouraged. :)
Graeme