Hello pilots and all fans of sky-high experiences. We want to inform you that Polish Developer Sale has just started. It's such an amazing opportunity to buy Heliborne cheaper by 40%! Just jump into your helicopters and buy this Polish game today!
More than that, you can buy Polish Armed Forces Camouflage Pack -90% OFF! How cool is it? Yeah, we know - it's awesome! But it's Polish Armed Forces! <3
Hello pilots and all fans of sky-high experiences. I would like to inform you that Halloween Sale has just started. What does it mean? Now you can buy Heliborne cheaper than... many things ;)
Jump into your helicopters and buy this game today!
Heliborne 0.97 — Sahara Desert
Greetings, pilots! We've been working on the update 0.97 for some time, and now we are happy to unveil our new map — North Africa, Sahara. This desert map is designed for II generation helicopter squads and is available both in PvP and PvE modes.
Operation Fznamznon map has also been improved. We've added several ships which guard carriers from enemy helicopters and basically defend your spawn point. Nguyen Hue has received new visual effect and improved PvE mode.
Heliborne 0.97 full changelog:
New map - North Africa, Sahara for 2nd generation, both PvP and PvE versions.
Additions to Fznamznon map - several ships will guard each spawn and landing ship location. Be aware, those ships are armed with heavy missiles.
Visual changes on operation Nguyen map - new rice fields, camera settings, rice field water splash effect.
Additions to PvE on operation Nguyen map - new unit locations and also experiment with boats on the water.
On both of 2nd generation maps tanks will now shoot at nearby helicopters with their main gun. Don't hover close to them.
Fixed some UI problems and improved some effects (40mm and 57mm AA gun effect)
Added "additional timer" option to PvE setup. This option will allow you to make either extend or reduce default objective timer.
Timer for rescue objectives now will be tied not only to difficulty setting, but also to size of the map. Allowing for more time to pick up soldiers.
Soldiers intended for rescuee now will be grouped closer. Soldier callback/pick up range is extended. And from now on soldiers will try not to climb up the electric poles. Fixed problem with rescuee soldiers not willing to take empty seats in some cases.
Recon soldiers requesting evacuation under fire will now mark their position with purple smoke.
Some of the PvE objectives now will specify grid coordinates of the objective.
Fixes to training map - armor values of training targets are updated. Some changes in target visual effects.
Heavy machinegun fire adjusted. Each bullet will deal less damage, but machinegun itself will fire for a longer period of time.
ATGM missiles should stop "crashing" enemy helicopters in some cases and will count as a regular kill.
Visual fixes for several helicopters.
Heliborne Flight School
Apart from that, we would like to announce Heliborne Flight School. The School will be made in a form of regular online battles, mostly PvP. Cadets will be split into 2 teams, and each of the teams will be led by one of our top players. Teams will be able to chat in a special private voice channel in our Discord.
If you would like to get advice from the most experience Heliborne players, be sure to reserve a place! Please fill in this short questionnaire. Those who want to share their experience with others are also encouraged to fill in the form.
Team JetCat
Heliborne 0.96.8 — New Co-op objectives
Greetings, pilots!
The Dragon's Awakening event has been successfully finished. You all did a great job, and it's now time for awards!
Every special medal earned within the event will give you a unique thematic Chinese camouflage.
We also would like to ask how did you like the event? What did you like most of all? What should we improve next time? Help us to make every next event better than the ones before!
Heliborne 0.96.8
Great news for Co-op players: we have added several new types of Co-op objectives and improved Co-op overall. We've also made scout helicopters more valuable, but a bit shortened their markable area range.
More Co-op updates will follow soon!
Changelog:
Difficulty settings for Co-op now affect accuracy and target contact range both for AA guns and vehicles.
Health of AA guns on III and IV generation maps has been increased.
New Co-op objectives have been added: insert operation under fire, reconnaissance group evacuation from ambush, medevac, and reconnaissance operation.
Appearance logic of several objectives has been changed: less objectives deep behind enemy lines, less objectives which lead to spawn of enemies in close vicinity to player's helicopter, etc.
50-seconds enemy spawn delay has been added to "engage enemy convoy" objective.
Time limits for objectives on easy and medium difficulty levels have been slightly increased. Several new options for number of simultaneous objectives have been added.
Chance of positive event after successfully carried out objective has been slightly decreased on all difficulty levels.
Air-to-air and Manpad missiles have received guaranteed damage depending on their power. Overall, air-to-air missiles became more effective, but will not inflict more damage than before.
MANPAD's missile smoke trail is now starting higher from the ground.
Shooting accuracy and range of RPG soldiers have been slightly increased.
Also, group of RPG soldiers now communicate with each other and does not make double shot in the same target.
Fixed RPG grenade bug which incorrectly lowered its damage.
RPG grenade rules for damaging helicopters have been changed: now it inflicts guaranteed damage.
Enemy RPG and MANPADS in Co-op now have unlimited number of shots.
Targets marked by scout helicopters now have additional "request for attack" icon above them.
Markable area range for scout helicopters has been decreased from 100 to 70 meters. As a result, markable area size has been decreased around two times, but it's still enough to cover any landing zone.
Target auto-lockon for cannons has been improved. It's now being activated much more often. Hence "mark target" button for scouts has been moved from B to E by default, while manual lockon has been moved from E to B.
Improvements of Chinese localization (thanks to Danyu-Tom, Pvt.Petrenko, and Chinese players group).
Team JetCat
Heliborne 0.96 — Dragon's Awakening
Hello everyone! We have several great new for you. First of all, Heliborne has received a new map — Binomo Islands, Operation Fznamznon.
https://youtu.be/xK8MDIdn5hQ
The Map
Operation Fznamznon is IV generation hypothetical scenario with an amphibious assault on an island located in South China Sea. It introduces a lot of brand new gameplay features. 60 percent of its 69 square kilometers are occupied by an island, the other part is sea.
The map is based on Frontline game mode with several significant changes. The biggest one is that instead of ground bases players start battle on heavy aircraft carriers. Those are USS Wasp (LHD-1) on US side and heavy aircraft-carrying missile cruiser Novorossiysk on Soviet side. They need to support an assault on the island, providing cover to the amphibious troops on their way to the shore and after that support the Marines while they are advancing through the island.
The map’s fleet also include dock landing ships (Ivan Rogov and USS Rushmore (LSD-47)), which deploy light armored vehicles and cover them until they reach the ground, and hovercrafts (Zubr and LCAC-1), which transport ground vehicles to the island.
Currently, Operation Fznamznon is available in PvP only, but we are going to add it to Co-op later.
We are currently looking into possible scenarios to expand sea operations related gameplay in the future. Looking forward to your feedback on this map and gameplay and waiting for your suggestions on how we could make it better!
Chinese localization
Today we are also happy to greet our new Chinese pilots on-board and present official Chinese localization for Heliborne! 欢迎您!
To commemorate this significant step in the game's development we've prepared a special in-game event — Dragon's Awakening. The event will last for 10 days during which everyone will be able to unlock unique helicopter camouflages and helmet patches.
The Manuscript
To all pilots,
Heliborne HQ has received an ancient Chinese manuscript from secret sources. Our translators and decoders have been working for months until they have finally discover its content. The manuscript is based on The Art of War by Sun Tzu and reveals how to become an invincible warrior. With the help of Chinese masters we've been able to adapt this knowledge to helicopter warfare.
The Objectives
Pilots, during the next 10 days, until June 24th 23:55 GMT, you'll have several temporary achievements available. Those are Tiger, Fox, Horse, and Dragon medals. Each of them has several objectives which have to be fulfilled during one battle.
Dragon medal can be received only by those who already have Tiger, Fox, and Horse medals!
1. Tiger medal In one battle, complete 2 of 3 objectives:
- Destroy 25 ground vehicles
- Shot down 5 helicopters
- Destroy 10 AA positions
2. Fox medal In one battle, complete 2 of 3 objectives:
- Scout 35 targets
- 15 spotted targets destroyed by your teammates
- Destroy 20 special soldiers
3. Horse medal In one battle, complete 2 of 3 objectives:
- Capture 5 Landing Zones
- Show down 2 helicopters with MANPADs
- 10 targets destroyed by your mortars
4. Dragon medal After Tiger, Fox, and Horse medals are received:
- Destroy 30 ground targets with door gunners
- Get ATGM-sniper 1st class ribbon (destroy 8 enemy vehicles with 8 ATGMs in a row)
The Awards
Every medal will unlock a unique helicopter camouflage after the event is finished.
Good luck, pilots!
Heliborne 0.96 changelog:
New map has been added — Binomo Islands, Operation Fznamznon (available in PvP only, will be added to Co-op later).
Operation Fznamznon map features updated Frontline mode: additional LZ which trigger deployment of vehicles have been added. Those LZs help to push forward on the map much faster, and without them being captured it is impossible to follow some of the routes.
New UI showing progression during special events.
4 new medals available during Dragon's Awakening event.
Hit sounds for helicopters have been improved: they now depend on caliber of a gun (thanks to ChokDK).
Other sounds have been added: reconnaissance failure, picking up cargo (thanks to ChokDK).
Some bugs have been fixed (cargo, choosing of a helicopter), opacity slider for night maps has been added, team chat has been added as default, cargo has been added to the training map.
5 missing helmet patches have been added to Deluxe Camouflage Pack.
Chinese Camouflage Pack has been added.
We've also prepared some new features which we did not include into this update. They will be added within following days.
Heliborne 0.96.1 changelog:
Armoring on vehicles has been unified on all maps. Overall, some vehicles became a little bit more armored, without significant changes.
Adjusted weapons of light vehicles on 3/4 generation maps. Vehicles will shoot for longer time, but each round will be less lethal.
Bonus to spotting range in ATGM mode, far turret zoom and artillery aim now is given only to scout helicopters.
Fixed UI for "8 ATGM kill-streak condition". Condition itself is reworked and should work without problems.
Fixed UI for several medals.
Added secondary cargo spawn location on new map.
Fixed turrets of LSD-47 on new map.
Fixed various bugs in achievements, game results, visual effects.
Team JetCat
Heliborne 0.95 — Pre-Battle Lobbies
Greetings, pilots!
We have very good news: a long-awaited lobby system has finally been added to Heliborne!
Now you can create a lobby to gather more players before starting a battle. You can both wait until other players join or invite your Steam and Discord friends.
You had a great battle with an unknown pilot and would like to play together in future? We made it much easier to socialize with others: now each battle ends with a post-battle lobby where you'll be able to talk to other pilots and send them friend invitations.
Take a look at the full patch notes to learn more details about the Update 0.95:
This update adds "lobbies" or "pre-game rooms". How they work - now when you creating a multiplayer game (be it Coop or PvP) - you can choose an option to Gather Players and create pre-game room. People will be able to join that pregame room and a battle will be started when you (host) will decide to do so. We hope to utilize this new feature a lot more in upcoming PvE overhaul and additional PvP gameplay modes.
While in a pre-game room you will have access to pre-game chat, where you can talk with other players.
Also while you are in a pre-game room, you will be able to send join invites through Steam and Discord to your friends.
We've integrated Steam Rich Presence - you will be able to send invites to both in-game and off-game friends. And you will be able to join games of your friends from the Steam interface (Join game buttons in friend list and profile list). This depends on privacy settings of your Steam profile.
We also integrated Discord Rich Presence - you will be able to invite your friends to both pre-game and on-going matches. Also, information about details of what you are playing will be displayed in your Discord profile. This integration also depends on your Discord privacy settings.
Steam friend list menu is added to the game. Through it, you can message your Steam friends, find their current battle or invite them to a pre-game room you are currently in.
Now after all multiplayer games participant list will be displayed in a post-game menu. You will be able to check other player's in-game profile (helmet, rank, and medals) and send them friend invites.
Also, a post-game chat will be displayed after all multiplayer games.
Planet Plyuk map is now hidden from both PvP and PvE. We'll do something with it in future, meanwhile, a new game map is in its finishing stages and should arrive to the game soon.
Meanwhile, we've added Kosovo Night map to the list of Coop-playable maps.
Achievement for mortar support (Love-tube) was fixed.
Maximum team difference rules where changed. For teams of size 3 or less maximum team difference is now 1, for size of 4 and more — 2, like before.
Password protection menu changed — now it is one password for the battle itself, not per-team.
Coop settings menu changed — it looks differently and now allows for more option combinations.
Increased rocket, missile, and personnel reload speed. Rocket refill speed now different for small caliber and large caliber rockets.
Oh, and we are going to show you something special very soon, so stay tuned!
Team JetCat
Destination Unknown
While Elon Musk is dreaming about colonizing Mars, we made it to a much farther place. The place with no helicopters, so we've built them from scrap.
Fuel is running low, we don't have much time left here. All pilots this net, request immediate air support!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HO8TevKsIKU
Heliborne 0.92 — The Transport Renaissance
Greetings, Pilots!
We've issued an update which will definitely make your day. And there are several reasons.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tC2lfhSeGuQ
First, it's a special day for transport helicopters — they are finally able to do sling loading! We've added two initial types of cargo — ammo crates and repair kit. Expect more in upcoming updates.
Second, we've finally introduced Steam Achievements. There are 50 of them at the moment. More are coming. Start earning them, you'll need them soon!
Third, you may now choose a size of a room, from 3x3 to 8x8 (depending on a map).
Also, good news for owners of Logitech controllers: we've recently introduced native support for Logitech 3D Pro, X52 HOTAS, X52 Pro HOTAS, and X56 HOTAS.
Full patch notes:
Sling Loading. The first two cargo types — ammo and repair kit crates. Transport helicopters can pick them up at bases and move anywhere on a map to create a reload/repair point for other helicopters.
Steam Achievements. The first 50 achievements have been added. More will be added in future.
Automatic Pre-Battle Slot Reservation System has been introduced. This will prevent simultaneous connection of several players for the same side and thus will help balance battles.
Correlation between vehicle armour and explosion damage has been updated. Medium and heavy armoured vehicles now receive less damage from fragments. It also depends on an armour of an affected part of a vehicle.
Online Single-player Mode. Those who want to play solo and earn progression points may now play this new game mode instead of password protected multiplayer battle. However, we recommend to play Heliborne with other players — this is what it has been designed for.
Flight model has been updated. Now high speed during dipping down may be achieved only together with Collective Increase (Space button). Altitude gaining rules have been updated as well.
Repair time and experience bonuses for outnumbered teams (1+ players) have been added to PvP modes.
Room size settings have been added to PvP: a host can limit number of players for a battle.
The last used camouflage (including Hangar) will be remembered and automatically applied when you add a helicopter to a squad.
AA sight on a one Mi-28N modification has been fixed.
Mortars info has been added to the after-battle report.
Net code fixes.
Hidden fixes for the next upcoming updates.
Native support for the following Logitech controllers has been introduced: 3D Pro, X52 HOTAS, X52 Pro HOTAS, and X56 HOTAS.
Special thanks to TRUMP's warhammer, KapukiCram, Sheepify, and Erkeo for help in preparing Steam achievements.
Team JetCat
Heliborne 0.90.5 — Winter Offensive
Greeting, pilots! The update 0.90.5 officially starts the Operation Winter Offensive. Be sure to read the briefing carefully.
Changelog 0.90.5:
Start of the Operation Winter Offensive.
Ground effect mechanics updated (thanks to FatherSarge for consulting).
Altitude climb and ballooning mechanics updated (thanks to FatherSarge).
Increased course change speed on small turns.
Fixed CH-46 lag in certain cases, fixed Mi-8MTV aim problem.
Helicopter control tips added to training flight.
Fixed certain bugs in UI, fixed task list when entering Co-op game.
Team JetCat
Operation Winter Offensive, February 6-8
Attention, pilots! Heliborne Headquarters announces a new battle operation — Winter Offensive. Please read closely the mission briefing.
Keep in mind that this is an announcement. You'll be additionally notified on the actual start of the Operation on February 6th.The Operation has started!
HELIBORNE HEADQUARTERS
For immediate distribution to all pilots.
SUBJECT: OPERATION WINTER OFFENSIVE, 6-8 February 2018.
MISSION: Fulfill following objectives to receive unique air efficiency awards. The awards may be received during the Operation only.
OBJECTIVES: Every medal requires a certain number of objectives to be fulfilled; pilots may choose any objective(-s) from the lists. The objectives must be fulfilled in a single battle, either PvP or PvE. At the event’s conclusion each player will receive a reward corresponding with the highest medal earned.
3rd Class Winter Offensive Service Medal (one objective to be fulfilled):
• Capture 3 Landing Zones
• Destroy 8 ground vehicles
• Destroy 4 helicopters
• Scout 40 targets
2nd Class Winter Offensive Service Medal (two objectives to be fulfilled):
• Capture 7 Landing Zones
• Defend 7 Landing Zones from enemy attacks
• Destroy 10 tanks
• Destroy 20 AA positions
• Destroy 10 helicopters
• Spotting resulted in 20 destroyed targets
• Deploy mortar troops which will destroy 15 targets
1st Class Winter Offensive Service Medal (three objectives to be fulfilled):
• Destroy 10 ground vehicles with RPG soldiers
• Destroy 3 helicopters with MANPADs
• Spotting resulted in 35 destroyed targets
• Destroy 2 helicopters with door gunners
• Destroy 20 helicopters with machine gun or cannon
• Destroy 30 ground vehicles with ATGM
• Return helicopter in critical condition to base 3 times (less than 10% HP; press G to return a helicopter)
In case of a successful outcome of the operation, the pilots awarded with medals of distinction will be assigned to additional awards:
For 3rd Class Medal — commemorative helmet patch.
For 2nd Class Medal — commemorative helmet patch and helmet.
For 1st Class Medal — commemorative helmet patch, helmet, and unique UH-1D Bundesgrenzschutz camouflage.
The Operation Winter Offensive is the first in-game event in 2018. It also serves us as a test run for other events which are planned for following months. Your feedback is extremely valuable!