Chairborne as the new Heliborne Community Representative
Hello Heliborne Community,
My name is Markus, and some of you may know me under my in-game nickname “Chairborne”. Being 45 years old, I am rather old for a gamer, or it only seems like that to me. Ever since the first 8-bit home computers came out in the mid-1980s, I enjoyed computer gaming, primarily military and simulation software. My professional background as a retired soldier and paramedic/firefighter has given me some inside look into the world of helicopters. So it is no wonder that once I came across Heliborne, back then still in early access, I immediately got hooked on the game. It is safe to say that with almost 2000 hours spent in-game, I am one of the more consistent fans of that wonderful piece of a game. Never before have I stuck to one simulation for so long. Now I have gotten the opportunity to do my tiny bit to help improve Heliborne and become a link between the developers and the community. There have been difficulties in the past and sometimes hard feelings, primarily due to misunderstandings as I see it. Believe me, monetary goals are not my motivation for getting engaged in this adventure. Instead, I want to make the gaming experience for all of us top-notch and serve as a connector for developers and gamers.
Moving forward, I will be managing the Steam forum and Discord channels, both Heliborne and Heliborne: Enhanced Edition, and doing my best to activate and connect you so that you get more chances to play in PvP or multiplayer. I will gladly listen to your feedback and ideas while we play together, so just let me know if you are ready on the #looking-to-play Discord channel:
The reasons Klabater hired me are the willingness of the devs to - improve the information flow between you and them (bugs, improvements); - moderate the chats and forums - propagating supportiveness towards new players, sharing constructive feedback, being polite and respectful to other community members; on the other hand, scattering or even banning for disrespectful behavior towards other players - feel free to DM me about any such situation; - organize events to the extent the game allows, live stream on Heliborne Collection Steam page, do typical lets plays, etc.; in short - activating and bringing you together to enjoy the multiplayer modes.
Feel free to add me as a friend on Steam. Here is the link to my profile: https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198065011131/ Chat, report, let me know if you’re willing to organize something together or live stream with me. I am sure it will be a pleasure to meet you and the devs much closer.
See you around! Markus, aka Chairborne
Patch 2.2.1 and the lookout for CM!
Greetings Pilots!
In today’s update, we have three important pieces of news for you. Firstly, Daily Deal with a special price. Secondly, we come with the next portion of fixes, this time, as brought up earlier, for Heliborne Enhanced Edition. Thirdly, a recruitment announcement - we are looking for a worthy pilot to become our representative of PC and Xbox editions. Read more below.
DAILY DEAL
Steam supported us with a Daily Deal, which means we are featured on the main page for 24 hours. Heliborne Collection will be exposed to more Steam users, so we expect new players to join the game soon. Former community, your support to the new pilots is invaluable.
Be prepared to say hello!
And if you have been following and waiting for a great deal to get the Heliborne Collection or you just want to convince your friends into playing with you, now’s a perfect time to do that. Heliborne Collection is currently 55% off!
Have you not done this yet, JOIN OUR DISCORD by clicking below:
HELIBORNE PATCH 0.98.8a and HELIBORNE ENHANCED EDITION PATCH 2.2.1
As promised in our latest update, we are constantly working on new patches. This time we released a portion of fixes to Heliborne Enhanced Edition and a minor update to Heliborne. Stay tuned for other patches in the future.
Patch notes:
Heliborne patch 0.98.8a update:
Helicopter names are now the same in both versions.
Heliborne Enhanced Edition patch 2.2.1:
Changed how skins are implemented to make sure that everyone receives them all.
Fixed an issue that could prevent the player from joining a PvE game.
Fixed helmet skin display.
Fixed folding chassis animation for prototype helicopters.
Adjusted helicopters glossiness.
COMMUNITY REPRESENTATIVE WANTED
There have been ups and downs throughout the over 4 years old development history. Heliborne quickly found its core audience, and the community has always appreciated the game. We moved Heliborne to a new engine and decided to bring it to console gamers. At the same time, we continued to improve the PC versions. We care a lot for the Heliborne IP, and therefore, we need more help for the recent and upcoming changes and challenges we are facing. Mindoug, the previous Community Manager and former JetCat Games member, will remain active on the Heliborne server with the original Heliborne version’s fans. However, we want to expand the team with another community role, who will manage both the PC community and the new console gamers joining soon.
We need:
- Xbox and PC gamer - with fluency in English, - appreciating and knowing well the Heliborne IP, - with the community and management skills to process the feedback to developers; - on top of all the above, the eagerness to stream would be an advantage.
If you meet the above expectations and you are ready manage the growing community, send your resume to contact@klabater.com following the below guideline:
Subject: Applying for Heliborne Community Manager
In the email include: general information about yourself, your nationality and place of residence, Steam profile user name and link to your profile, hours spent in Heliborne, if you’re a member of the Discord server, let us know your nickname (nick#0000), if you wrote a review for Heliborne, please attach it to the email (can be a screenshot), let us know your feedback and your ideas for this role!
Remuneration is to be negotiable. Any community management experience is welcome but not necessary. Please note that the minimum time spent in-game is 60hrs.
We hope this news finds you all well and that we will meet more and more of your expectations over time.
Thank you for all your support and your long hours in the game!
Klabater Team
Heliborne Collection update
Greetings Pilots!
We have an important message and updates to pass on today. We’ll try to keep it short and not tl;dr. Briefly:
New launcher - new Steam product name - Heliborne patch - Discord updates - brief development status
NEW GAME LAUNCHER
In today’s patch, we introduced a new launcher. From now on, you can choose what Heliborne edition to play without switching between the branches. This will make the Heliborne game structure more transparent for the new customers, and we hope not much more complex for existing ones.
NEW STEAM PRODUCT NAME
We implemented a new naming system - the main game on STEAM is now called Heliborne Collection. It includes Heliborne and Heliborne Enhanced Edition. Both editions contain all the DLCs published so far, and all the future content will be mirrored for both. Worry not; each Heliborne version will be actively updated - today, you get the patch for Heliborne, and the Heliborne Enhanced Edition patch will follow soon. There will be a need to download both games, so expect a 13-16 GB of download (depending on the OS) with this update. Sorry for the inconvenience.
HELIBORNE PATCH 0.98.8
New patch arrives in Heliborne:
Fixed missing objectives on Tonkin map.
Added new standard camos (14 new skins).
Fixed the loading screen, causing the game to hard lock.
Removed placeholder "campaign settings" button.
Fixed Nguyen map - mission 3 now loads in the correct order.
Updated copyrighted helicopter names with community suggestions.
DISCORD UPDATE
New discord server (servers structure) - a community update.
We have set up a new separate Discord server for Heliborne Enhanced Edition users to split the communities and avoid misunderstandings. A new server link: https://discord.gg/kFzpMU8hRk. Feel invited. Please first read the rules. The current Discord server: https://discord.gg/w7rbapJmXv remains active with mindoug’s supervision.
DEVELOPMENT BRIEF STATUS
Consoles and PC development:
We will keep improving Heliborne Enhanced Edition - next patch ETA end of March 2021, and keep fixing ongoing issues/bugs in Heliborne - patch today. Please use the current Discord channel actively to inform us about contemporary matters. We also submitted Heliborne Enhanced Edition for console certification to Microsoft and expect the game to be commercially available still in Q1’2021. Additionally, we are now solving specific network-related issues on PlayStation. The date of the commercial launch for this platform is still TBA.
Thank you for playing and following!
Klabater Team
Patch 2.2.0
Greetings Pilots!
2020 is coming to an end (hopefully!), but we managed to squeeze in one more significant update for you. Thank you for your patience so far. Thanks for supporting our game and providing us valuable feedback throughout the year!
We hope that Heliborne, despite turbulence, was an enjoyable destination during the compulsory lockdowns, and hopefully, next year, there are going to be voluntary entries only ;-) Meanwhile remember - Red over white, you’ll be alright!
Here comes the 2nd major and the last in 2020 patch note.
System:
Added new, free camouflages.
FPS no longer drops when looking towards the center of the map.
Brightness is now applied to the HUD as a whole, not just FPP.
Re-enabled ATGM thermal view.
UI:
French language in the Options is no longer referred to as “English.”
Fixed an issue that prevented changing anything in the Defense section.
All weapons can now be purchased.
The door gunner research price is now displayed correctly.
American Flag no longer has a red background.
HUD text now correctly renders in Cyrillic.
Radio transmitter glow is now correctly displayed on the minimap.
Prototype helicopters now have correct rocket pods installed.
Corrected second loadout for A129.
Fixed graphical glitch on the profile button.
Fixed typos on Khost.
Fixed incorrect display of colors in a chat window.
Getting shot by APCs will now leave bullet holes in the HUD.
Turning the UI off and on again no longer causes the cockpit image to disappear.
The radio commands no longer block the display of ammo counters.
SFX:
Fixed engine sounds when adding helicopters to squadrons.
Corrected SFX activated when a rocket is launched.
Non-recon helicopters will no longer play a recon sound.
Added missing launch sounds to rocket pods.
Corrected radio chatter in test flight mode.
Other:
Light vehicles on the Kosovo map are no longer invisible.
A correct map will always load in Multiplayer games.
Water on Khost map is no longer green.
The loading screen in the lobby will no longer twitch after finishing an offline game.
Windsock is now displayed correctly at all times.
Destroyed AH-1Z now has the correct texture.
Corrected cockpit window on AH-1Z.
Fixed muzzle flashes on MH-6 door gunner.
US soldiers no longer change appearance after they reach an AA gun.
Have a great holiday season!
Klabater Heliborne team
Patch 2.1.0
Greetings Pilots!
Patch 2.1.0 is here! It's one of the major patches planned for Enhanced Edition. We plan at least one more huge update later this month, so please stay tuned. This one however is very important, since we have changed the UI according to notes and reports from our community. Hope you will enjoy it.
New: The lobby received a second full UI overhaul. Most of the helicopters received new (fake) names and descriptions due to licensing restrictions.
Changed: Simplified water for Tonkin, Africa, Fznamznon. Removed yellow glow from helicopter models on Binomo. Water reflection no longer appears when water transparency is turned off on Kosovo.
Fixed: Airfield shield now correctly protects against bullets. Added missing texture to Soviet flag on Kosovo. Squad builder limit can no longer be exceeded. Fixed models and animations for flags on Binomo. Fixed flare color on Nguyen. Fixed flag shaders on Nguyen night. Added a missing texture for a flag on Nguyen. Fixed wrong mission numbering in the Nguyen campaign. Fixed SAM exploding with water. Fixed helicopters having unnatural smoke dispersion during an explosion. Fixed issue with ATGM’s smoke not being drawn by the camera. General fixes for VFX issues of all maps.
Important note: This patch works now for Windows and Mac only. Linux version on the way, stay tuned!
Klabater team
Enhanced Edition update coming soon
Greetings pilots!
To begin with, we apologize for missing the expected release date of the PC update and would like to thank you for your patience. It required more work than we estimated, but in the end it lead to several positive events.
First, we decided to further expand the team with a new Senior Unity Developer who will now help to speed up the progress with Heliborne franchise.
Second, part of the team has been assigned to development of the Xbox build and now it is finished! We have started to test it internally and will share the results soon.
As for the PC update, our current plan is to release it next week.
See you soon!
Team Klabater
Enhanced Edition — When the next update will be released?
Greeting pilots!
We haven't been releasing updates for a while, so let us tell you about what is happening with Heliborne development right now.
The team is currently working on fixes of the Enhanced Edition. We are planning to release the next update in mid-October. Although it should fix most of the known issues, we still want to take some time and hear your feedback before we would upload the Enhanced Edition back to the main branch.
As of today, most of the visual issues are fixed. Right now, our priority is the UI. You gave us a lot of feedback in that regard, so we have completely rebuilt all the main screens, including squadron builder and battle rooms. Here are a few examples of how the squadron builder will look like:
If you think we should improve anything here for better user experience, please share your ideas in the comments.
Meanwhile, part of the team is working on the Xbox One version. We already have a stable version with good performance and full gamepad compatibility. This week we will focus on the network. We aim to finish all the critical parts and features of the Xbox build by the end of October and then proceed with testing.
P.S. If you are new to Heliborne and wondering why the game looks different from the screenshots on the store page: there is an older version of the game on the main branch, the updated version—Enhanced Edition—has been temporarily transferred to beta versions. You can easily switch to it several simple steps:
Find Heliborne — Enhanced Edition in Steam Library.
Right-click on it and choose Properties.
Go to the Betas tab and select “enhanced_edition” from the dropdown menu.
Wait until the update is downloaded.
Team Klabater
Database incident — free points to all players!
Hello pilots! Here is a short update on what happened on Sunday. As we have found out, there was an attempt to damage our server provider's network structure. Unfortunately, Heliborne database was affected.
We have managed to restore most of it, but part of the data from October 1st to October 4th has been lost. We have also migrated to a different provider and taken measures to eliminate the risk of such incidents in future.
Still, some players have lost part of their progress. To reduce the impact on your game progress we will send all the players 2000 of progression points.
Team Klabater
Game progress issue
Hello pilots! We are aware of the issue with the game progress and are now investigating. We will update the announcement as soon as we have any details on that. Sorry for the inconvenience!
UPDATE [18:40 GMT]: We have restored both databases (the Enhanced Edition and the Legacy version). Expect more details on the incident tomorrow.
Team Klabater
Patch 2.0.4 is LIVE!
Hey guys!
We are working hard in order to deliver the updates, you, as a community desire. Today we are bringing another patch! Here you can find the Patch Notes:
Version 2.0.4
Changed: - Less debugging garbage when debug mode is disabled. - More network debugging garbage when network debug is enabled. - Base network configuration adjusted for higher client compatibility. - The ‘Apply’ button removed from the multiplayer lobby. - Fog density reduced across all scenes.
Fixed: - Some minor UI fixes. - General VFX fixes. - Collision on ‘fnamznon’ maps adjusted.
Removed: - Linux: Support for OpenGL Core removed due to stability and shader issues. - MacOS: Support for OpenGL Core removed due to stability issues.
