Phoenix Squadron
Removal from steam (For now)
Update 0.1.0 ~ Benchmark/Patch Build
Linux is now supported, and Japanese is now a UI language option.
(MAKE SURE YOU COMPLETELY REMOVE OLD GAME FILES BEFORE DOWNLOADING THIS UPDATE)
More updates and such in the future
~ Star
Small Dev Update
Due to most of the code being written for UE4, a lot of stuff needs to be re-written to work properly with certain changes in UE5.
TrueSky still does not run very well but its at least functional with some minor DX12 crashes, DX11 does not seem to work however.
Development Update
Speaking of which, COOP Multiplayer is going to be the focus of the games online component rather than player v player, I'm still going to include those extra game modes but probably at a later point.
Lumen does not seem to change much about the scenes as everything is too large of a scale for Lumen to really change much, however I will be using Nanite to reduce lag on more geometry cluttered levels.
Development Update: Skins and Mod support
Due to skins not being able to replicate as everyone would need to have the skin mod, instead you can STILL import custom skins but they only show up to you, I plan on making community skins into in game custom skins for aircraft via a vote and at the end of a week I'll look at which skin has the highest votes and add it into a free DLC that can be uninstalled if needed, or you just don't want to see community skins than you can uninstall it, Also doing that in case the size of the files become really large.
Ill also include paint kits via blender models to paint on, UV mapping is painful and I have just given up, Having baked in model detail is pain.
Mods:
Gona drop mod support due to it being too intensive to develop, prob going to introduce it in a later update once the beta drops. (IDK May just include options to adjust flight performance in custom battles)
Phoenix Squadron VR:
Going to have to make the base game non VR supported as making every UI element VR safe is really time consuming and limits some things that would be possible with 2D UI, Also 3D Widgets don't like fast moving objects. VR will be its own mode that will automatically launch when a VR headset is connected.
Multiplayer:
Replication now works! Now I just need to get a proper lobby system and make some game modes (AAAND also fix the de sync!)
Closed Beta: I plan on trying to get a closed beta of V2.04 out by the end of 2022, After fixing most of the major bugs, A open beta will be released, I don't plan on including much other than the Multiplayer for the beta as the single player is still in a re-work, Most of the game is still in a re-work.
Phoenix Squadron VR
Aircraft?
Due to tech limitations and the amount of work needed to get VR features to work in non VR, VR mode will have its own unique versions of the main games aircraft (Although they are mostly the same).
I plan on having a tablet in the aircraft which you can pick up using controllers or just press a key to bring up, from there you can view the map, settings, contracts, story missions, etc...
I do plan on having most of Phoenix Squadrons non-vr features to work with VR, So enjoy dogfighting players in VR on MP!
Aircraft:
F/A-18X S-8
F/I-16CM SuperViper II
Su-33Q SuperFlanker II
Aircraft (Not planned for the beta but will be in the full release):
A-10F DesertHog
F/A-22D SuperRaptor
F/A-14X StealthCat (Yep)
Map?
Again due to tech limitations I cant really do something too detailed ( I Don't want my pc to die lol ).
PHSQ VR will take place on another planet consisting mostly of the skies and high pressure clouds, fly into them and your aircraft will start to get crushed, there will be ways to go under the clouds but what's under isn't as pleasant as the vast skies above...
To spice it up perhaps a giant platform and possibly a large floating city, I want to make this world feel full while also making it not lag like hell.
VR in non-vr exclusive content
I should explain what I mean by this, PHSQ VR will have unique gameplay from the main games content,
However that gameplay wont transfer over to the base game, So VR will provide more immersion, but all you can do is look around in the cockpit realistically and look at the live cockpit to know where the 106 missiles, three laser cannons, and 2 Aircraft are. I can already tell multiplayer is going to be hell in VR.
If you have any suggestions or questions please comment them under this post, Happy Halloween!
Development Update and a bit of a Q&A
I Have made a lot of mistakes when developing this game, The biggest has to be saying this game is like Ace Combat Infinity, I'm correcting that by saying Phoenix Squadron is NOT a spiritual remake or based of off Infinity, Phoenix Squadron is its own game, Second off I need to put out any high expectations for this game, Its really been stressful developing this game, Official development started in 2019, but unofficially the game was in development since 2017, And well a few games have released since than that are similar to PHSQ, Namely AC7 and project Wingman, And with the releases of these games I feel like the expectations for Phoenix Squadron has risen dramatically, I'm always thinking that I have to make a game better than both, And well I'm here to say that I probably wont be able to create something on the level of Ace Combat 7, What I feel this game will get compared most to is Project Wingman which is also an Indie flight game, Although what RBD2 did with his game was amazing, Phoenix Squadron is 10x larger, Hell this game shouldn't be developed by just 1 person, It just isn't healthy. Tl;dr: Phoenix Squadron is its own game, And I'm not as good as a developer as RB (Or at least that's what I think), Although I'm much more experienced than I was when I first launched the game on steam, This game still is a lot for just me, On top of that my pc had some issues so I had to reset it, And I lost a lot of my Model files and texture files (Along with some sound files), I'm still determined to get this game out, But I have a lot of things to do, Hence why a lot of the game is still in dev, So if there are any bugs or game breaking issues please be patient, I have other things that I have to take care of when I'm not developing the game, It may take a few patches to fix a bug but again I'm taking on a lot more than I should, I've put in more than ill ever get out of this game. To everyone who has given feedback up until now: Thank You
Phoenix Squadron's development is now continuing however its going to be rough.
OK now for the actual QA
Where did "Northern Star" go?
I'm changing how I'm going to be developing campaigns for the game, Given the game is multiplayer I don't want to release 5 versions of the same online component, So I'm changing how future Campaigns will work:
Campaigns will be released as free DLC that can be installed and Uninstalled (Excluding the NS campaign as that includes some core maps)
No there wont be paid Campaigns
Windows 11 support
PHSQ is currently (But painstakingly) being developed on Windows 11, So I guess its supported?
Linux and mac?
I'm supporting Linux but apple requires that you use a mac to be able to develop for mac...
And my only mac was a 2011 Mac Book Pro with a faulty GPU that is now dead...
So mac support is in a grey area ATM
Unreal Engine 5?
*SIGH* Well I may port the game to UE5 its going to take a lot longer, UE5 is pretty much a new engine to learn, And UE5 is killing of Cascade: the particle system PHSQ uses right now, So I'm going to have to learn Niagara which is 10x more complicated.
Multiplayer
For MP, I plan on having a few game modes such as:
Capture the Flag (If I cant make this one work ill rework it into something else)
Team Deathmatch
Deathmatch
Custom
Acrobatics
and COOP missions.
Mod support?
I'm currently working on a system that allows for the import of custom textures, Basically:
I plan on having fully supported skin mods with emissive metallic and roughness support
(And perhaps a map editor as well?)
Aircraft (for the beta)
F/A-18X S-8 Superhornet II
F/i-16CM SuperViper II
Su-33Q SuperFlanker II
VR?
PHSQ will support VR play with Multiplayer and Singleplayer
And I also have been experimenting with an idea for a VR exclusive Campaign:
An open world where you can have random dogfight encounters which can give you in campaign currency that can be used to buy better aircraft and modules, and the ability to pick up contracts to get even more currency or progress the story with massive assaults, Due to tech limitations I cant make an entire world, Ill go more into depth about this VR Campaign in another post
Console Support
Im leaving this at the end because this wont happen until the game is stable for a full release (or stable full beta)
Playstation - Yep!
Xbox - Planned
PHSQ Update V2.03 (Or PHSQ Major Update 2 Revision .03) will be launching some time soon, Not saying when just saying its in development.