Pilots, Heliborne 0.89 is the last update of the year. What a year it's been though, a year we can’t thank you enough for. Today's update, however, is a bit smaller than we planned as we've run into some technical issues with some of the planned features we were going to put in this update and have decided to delay their inclusion in the game until a later update coming in the new year. We apologize for this, but we'd rather get a working feature to you than a buggy and broken one. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Heliborne 0.89 changelog:
2 New Helicopters have been added to the game, the Ansat and the CH-46.
Festive camos have been added for the Mi-8T, Mi-24V, UH-1D and AH-1S. These camos are temporary and have been added for holiday period only.
Added camera sway from wind when a helicopter is hovering. This can be disabled via the Settings menu.
Added a camera shake when colliding with the ground or receiving a large amount of damage.
Changed the logic behind helicopter module damage. Now, after a module has taken critical damage, any additional damage is applied to the helicopters main hull until it is destroyed.
Changed turret angles for most helicopters with turrets. The angles have been changed according to real values, this results in a 20-30% increase overall on turret angles.
Changed vehicle targeting calculations. Ground vehicles will shoot more often and in more situations.
Repair times now account for spent ammunition when changing a helicopter at the main base.
RPG Soldier reload speed when shooting at ground targets is now 11 seconds, down from 19.
Fixed IRCM reload error when landed at a base.
Fixed aiming angle for air-to-air missiles on some helicopters.
Added Estonian language, thanks to Valvejoodik for translation.
Happy New Year, pilots!
Team JetCat
Happy Winter Holidays!
Greetings, Pilots!
Winter holidays are coming and we want to wish you all the best! Thanks a lot for staying with us and helping to make Heliborne better.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOxQ5rvwPrw
Holiday events are planned for the next several weeks, stay tuned!
Also, this holiday season Heliborne is 30% off! It's a perfect time to get your friends into the mix and use your time off work to clock in some more quality flight hours!
Team JetCat
Heliborne Winter Complete Edition
Greetings, pilots! The new year is just a few days away and we want to celebrate the end of the year 2017 with a special Heliborne bundle which includes everything we’ve made so far — Winter Complete Edition.
If you have ever wanted to get all the camouflage packs this is perfect time at least for three reasons:
1) you will get 26% discount for a bundle,
2) you will get an additional discount for everything you have purchased already,
3) the bundle comes with a new Winter Camouflage Pack which is available for limited time.
Upcoming updates
We have at least one content update planned by the end of this year with an ability to carry cargo as the main feature. It should have been released together with the Winter Complete Edition, but due to scheduling issues, we have to separate them. Game update will follow in upcoming days. Sorry for inconveniences.
The next one will introduce a lot of changes to Coop/PvE: additional PvE map (one of those which are PvP exclusive at the moment), new types of objectives, changes to existing maps and mechanics, a new behavior for ground troops, etc. We also want to improve difficulty settings and give you far more parameters to adjust.
Some of the things planned for Early 2018:
- Pre-game lobby,
- Updated sounds,
- New helicopters for existing nations,
- Daily/weekly tasks,
- Lifetime awards and leaderboards,
- Sea map.
Many thanks for your support!
Team JetCat
Two German Camouflage Packs Have Arrived!
Pilots, let's go back in time to 1989!
During the Cold War, there were two German Republics - the Soviet controlled German Democratic Republic, a self-proclaimed socialist workers' and peasants' state, and the Federal Republic of Germany that remained in the western sphere of influence. It wasn't until 1990 that the Germany we know today was finally unified.
Today we premiere two new Camouflage Packs:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/749241/Heliborne__German_Camouflage_Pack/
http://store.steampowered.com/app/749240/Heliborne__East_Germany_Camouflage_Pack/
https://youtu.be/jIUVIVatesQ
Each pack contains 7 new camos and 4 stickers.
Apart from that, we have added 2 new camouflage patterns to progression, the East German Mi-4 and Mi-8.
Team JetCat
Heliborne 0.87.8 — Preparations
Greetings, pilots!
The content update with sling load mechanics is getting ready, and this patch brings some preparations for it.
Changelog 0.87.8:
Ground AA fire accuracy increased for when target is in sight for a long time - about 20% increase comparing to what it was before
Some models and textures fixed (for example Mi-28 rotor)
PvE can now be won by capturing enemy stronghold only if there is "Until victory" condition.
Hard and very hard difficulty levels of coop now should be a bit harder (more enemies and they appear more often)
Minimum repair time for helicopter is 15 seconds
ATGMs on speed now have smaller angle of freedom before aim starts to wiggle
4 new helmets have been added to the rotation
Meanwhile, we've started to work on a new map — a naval one. This should be a totally different experience, we hope you'll love it. Check those WIP screenshots and tell us what you think!
Team JetCat
Return to Weekly Live Streams
Pilots, good news!
We'll be returning to live streaming this weekend! I'll see you all on Saturday, the 18th of November at 1300hrs EST.
Located as normal on our official twitch channel: https://go.twitch.tv/jetcatgames
Countdown Clock - http://itsalmo.st/#streamtime
-Rayne
Team JetCat
Community and Media Relations
Heliborne 0.87.7 — Updated Controls
Hello Pilots!
Update 0.87.7 is live! This is the third post-release Heliborne update. Its cornerstone is a big change to simple control scheme which allows players to turn without losing air speed. We believe that all pilots will benefit from it, especially new ones.
This update mostly fixes and adjustments of various gameplay issues. Upcoming updates will introduce sling-loading and extensions to coop gameplay.
Version 0.87.7 changelog:
Changes to simple controls - now when you try to turn without additionally pressing A/D - you'll have slow steady turn without losing a lot of air speed, if you additionally press A/D - you'll have the same turning speed as before
Changes to a number of helicopters and their flight parameters
A lot of transport helicopters from gen 2 to gen 4 health values were improved
Prices for transport loadouts of some helicopters from gen 3 and gen 4 were lowered
Several helicopters received changes to their respawn time after death (mostly faster respawn for less armed loadouts)
Treacherous map borders on Tonkin map are extended
Air-to-air Stinger and Igla missiles got their damage slightly reduced (by 10% or so), they should not be one hit - one kill missiles for most of the modern attack helicopters. R-60 and AIM-9 received no changes.
Heat seeker missiles no longer have lock speed bonus for next missile on the same target
Heat seeker missiles turning speed after successful flares is lower - its easier to avoid them by maneuvering after long-range flaring
Heat seeker missiles locking cone is smaller on distance now - you need to actually keep your aim on target for some time
MANPADS missile turning speed is a bit better
MANPADS squadron price is 12 now
MANPADS will now shoot no more than 2 missiles per 10 seconds on 1 helicopter from 1 location (70m radius)
Most of modern ATGMs max speed is lowered by 20-30%
Now ATGM aim will work without wiggling in flight if you are aiming at something directly along your helicopter's current course
TRS-132 and M-8 rocket damage increased by 30%
Minor network improvements
Saitek X52 default layout - thanks to rada660
Fly safe!
Team JetCat
MrLinford's Extra Life Charity Event
Greetings pilots! Rayne here again, and yes I know, it's been a while, however, I'm back in action! Today, I'd like to announce a partnership with an up and coming live streamer friend of ours, Mr Linford.
On Saturday, the 4th of November at 1000HRS GMT, MrLinford will be starting a full twenty four hour live stream marathon for the Extra Life Charity. He's got a few copies of Heliborne to give away if you're interested, as well as other titles. We suggest stopping in and saying hello, and if you're feeling generous and charitable, that's also great!
Stay tuned for more as we intend to be doing this somewhat more often than we have in the past.
Here's the rest of the info,
Who: MrLinford
Where: https://twitch.tv/mrlinford
What: 24 Hour Live Stream Marathon for the Extra Life Charity
When: 1000AM GMT, Saturday November 4th.
Countdown Link: https://countingdownto.com/countdown/mr-linfords-charity-marathon-countdown-clock
Extra Life unites thousands of gamers around the world to play games in support of their local Children's Miracle Network Hospital. Since its inception in 2008, Extra Life has raised more than $30 million for sick and injured kids. Sign up today and dedicate a day of play for kids in your community!
Thanks again Pilots! Fly Safe.
-Rayne
One week after the Release (Update 0.87)
Hey Pilots!
One week has passed since Heliborne has been officially released. And it’s been a really good time for the game: a lot of players having fun 24/7, dozens of new Heliborne streamers on Twitch and YouTube, media coverage worldwide. This is so great and exciting, especially for such a small team and project as ours!
Even more exciting is how fast our community is growing. You guys are awesome! It’s a pleasure to see how active and dedicated you are. We’ve received tons of good ideas and advice how to make Heliborne great again. Will be done!
Heliborne community has also started to work on Heliborne wiki — feel free to use and expand it, any help is highly appreciated!
Meanwhile, Team JetCat has been working hard all the week to deliver you the first post-release update. In this update we have addressed the most pressing issues and also added new features:
first batch of netcode improvements to provide better network synchronization;
updated mechanics for AA missiles and flares;
several new types of door gunners;
mortar teams will now give a reward to players who deploy them.
The next update will be more focused on new content.
And the last thing for today. You probably remember how the Mighty Jingles helped us on the release? We decided to give him something special in return. Greet a new British camouflage for UH-1D with a logo of the overlord! It’s added into the progression as an additional camouflage which means everyone can get it. More neat stuff for the Jingles subscribers is coming, stay tuned!
Update 0.87 changelog:
An interval between in-game background music tracks has been shortened.
New RPG/SMAW smoke trails.
The 'death cam' will show enemy helicopter more accurately.
First stage of Steam friends integration. Battles with your friends in them are now the highest ones in the battle list, your friends' names are green in-game now, also now you can check steam profiles of players from your last battle in Steam - View - Players.
Filters of a battle list will be active in-between the battles, battles are now showing sides correctly.
Cabin gunner in Mi-8MTV and Mi-8TV has been relegated to door gunners.
New door gunners: AGS-17 (grenade launcher) and NSV Utes (12,7mm) for Mi-8MTV, NSV Utes for Ka-27, paired M-60 for UH-1D.
Door gunners with M60 have been added to UH-1B.
Flares, if they blind a missile, will deflect a missile way farther (50 meters instead of 10) in direction of deployed flares.
Slight change to Flare chance to blind missiles on long distances
Air-to-air missile (R-60&AIM-9) mechanics have been changed: flare will be able to blind a missile only from medium range (about 500 meters), they won't misguide missiles from long range. AA missile itself, when blinded from long range (more than 400 meters), will not go off the course but will significantly lose maneuverability (4 times). It allows pilots to dodge a missile with active maneuver. When blinded from less than 400 meters, a missile will follow flares as before.
AA missiles (R60&AIM-9) now have bigger range and can be guided with maximum zoom.
Double spotting reward bug is fixed.
New ATGM launch sound
New helicopter crash sound
1 second delay between ATGM launches
3rd and 4th gen ATGM maneuverability after 2 sec of flight is reduced
Marker appearance mechanics are changed: markers will appear on a visibility range, hovering helis will be more visible now.
Infantry resupply mechanics are now changed: soldier will be occupying all free seats (they didn't use seats of deployed special troops before), double limit for special troops is removed.
MANPADs on 1st&2nd gens now have less fatal and slower missile. 3rd&4th gens are unchanged
Explosion calculations for AA and MANPAD missiles has been changed: max damage is the same, but will be decreasing to the border of explosion less than before.
Now successful mortars strikes will give an award to the transport heli pilot who deployed them.
Reward for destroying enemy mortars and special badge for destroying mortars in one battle.
Fixed bug with some Throttle devices in advanced control. Now collective won't jump to 0 when throttle is moved into minimum position.
Various small bugfixing
First batch of netcode improvements, should be less network synchronization issues.
ATGM netcode fixes, which should reduce the number of false hits.
EU-2 and US CENTRAL servers have been removed from servers list. Two others that has been left, more powerful ones, are located at the same data-centers.
The Mighty Jingles camouflage has been added to UH-1D.
Team JetCat
Heliborne — The Release
Hey, Pilots!
This is happening — Heliborne has just been fully released!
First of all, we want to thank everyone who supported us along the way. We have managed to build a small, but very close and active community. You guys helped us with a lot of things which would be impossible without you, including almost all the localizations and voice acting for the historical campaigns. As for the tiny team of four, it’s vitally important to have those who will give you a hand when needed. And you even did not ask for anything in return.
THANK YOU! YOU ARE AWESOME, AND WE LOVE ALL OF YOU!
As we announced before, we have a special gift for everyone who bought the game in Early Access. And we wanted it to be so special that we haven’t finished it yet, being insanely busy with the release version of the game itself. However, we believe it’s worth waiting. So thanks again, guys, this time for your patience!
Next, let’s talk about the game.
Heliborne has been in the Early Access for a year and a half, since February 2016. Here’s a short list (ok, not so short) of what has been done:
20 new helicopters. Now Heliborne features 50 different birds, our plan is to significantly expand the hangar after the release.
3 new maps: Kosovo (25 sq. km), Khost Region (64 sq. km), and a huge and detailed training polygon where you can test helicopters before battles (you will be able to do more there, but let it be our small secret for now). Current map roster includes 6 maps — 5 combat maps and the polygon.
Night map. The first one with lights off is Kosovo. More on the way.
Squadron system. It’s been designed to add more tactics to battles. Very similar to a deck system in card collectible games.
Progression system and Research tree. We designed this research system to be a learning experience, not a grinding one, and plan to keep it this way.
Frontline PvP mode. More tactical evolution of Domination mode with plenty of ground vehicles.
PvE sandbox co-op mode. Also playable in solo.
Two historical campaigns: Easter Offensive in Vietnam (1972) and Operation Magistral in Afghanistan (1987–1988). Co-op play is planned for the post-release period.
Offline mode. For those who can’t or don’t want to play online. Unlocked squadron builder is coming soon.
Customization and cosmetic items. Dozens of helicopter camouflages, helmet paint schemes, and helmet patches.
Private profiles.
Rank & Awards system.
Modular damage system.
Detailed tactical map.
Improved flight model.
Advanced control scheme.
Gamepads/Joysticks/HOTAS support.
New types of deployable special soldiers: SMAW/RPG and mortars.
Soundtrack.
Steam Trading Cards together with badges, profile backgrounds, and emoticons.
New localizations.
A long list of less visible changes we don’t want you to bore with.
For those who would like to additionally support further Heliborne development, we’ve added several cosmetic DLC packs with thematic camouflages (4-7 in each). However, it’s totally up to you: players can still unlock plenty of other additional camouflages free of charge, and we’ll be adding more of them!
The most important question is “What’s next.” Although the full release is an important milestone for the Team, we are too ambitious to finish the development at this point. We have plenty of ideas, and the release will hopefully give us necessary resources to implement them. With that number of pilots playing Heliborne lately, it’s rather a plan than a hope.
We want to give you some details about what to expect in upcoming updates:
PvE improvements: new objective types like covert infiltration, search and rescue, cargo supply, PvE scenarios like defend the position, support the attack, and others
more PvP game modes
carryable cargo for heavy lift helicopters
new options for troop deployment (including fast-roping)
new types of weapons and equipment (radars, more ATGM specifics, etc.)
naval map, naval gameplay, naval helicopter and naval weapons
AI-helicopter for PvE
gameplay tutorial
co-op mode for historical campaigns
in-battle lobby with a possibility to invite friends
Special thanks to The Mighty Jingles who has made a Heliborne review just before the release. The game has never seen such a huge amount of players online as yesterday. Honestly, this is the best possible present we could get for the release.
Apart from that, we also want to thank all the other YouTubers/streamers. Thanks to them we have been able to spread the word about Heliborne even with zero marketing budget. BaronVonGamez, MagzTV, PhlyDaily, Raptor, TheDevildogGamer, and many others gave us a push when we entered the Early Access, just as The Mighty Jingles did on the full release. Don’t know if we could have made it without their help (probably not).
Version 0.86 changelog:
Night version of the Kosovo map. Only PvP at the moment, but PvE version will also be added soon. Be warned: the visibility here is much lower than on its day-time counterpart.
5 new helicopters in the research tree: AH-6, MH-6, Ka-26, Ka-27, and Ka-60.
The first version of historical missions. They are divided into two campaigns, which will be improved and expanded later.
New helicopter camouflages, around 40 variations. Can be unlocked for progression points.
Several cosmetic DLC packs with nearly 40 thematic helicopter camouflages. Purchasable via Steam.
MH-60L/AH-60L has received 4 soldiers.
Romanian IAR-330L has been moved to the Soviet side.
ATGM improvement: a missile loses direction when a player switches to another weapon.
Mortar troops improvement: more powerful mortar shell (close to rockets damage-wise) and increased ammo.
Filters for the list of battles.
Tonkin map: the map borders have been expanded.
"Power shield" on bases against spawn killing has been removed from PvE.
The reward for finishing PvP battles (both with victory and defeat) has been increased significantly.
A reward for completing objectives to the whole team has been added to PvE. The higher is the difficulty, the more points you get.
Ground vehicles on Nguyen map now are more vulnerable to miniguns.
Background in-battle music has been added.
Players limit has been decreased for PvP-mode on two maps: Tonkin — 5v5, Badakhshan — 6v6.
