The Nav Circle in SR1 made it very easy to control rockets in a 2D game. It took me a while to figure out the best way to extend the Nav Circle into three dimensions. I ended up with basically two nav circles: one for heading and one for pitch. The end result is now called the Nav Sphere and it makes controlling rockets in 3D extremely easy.
The blue circle is for controlling the pitch of the rocket and the orange circle is for controlling the heading. You can click and drag the circles to adjust them or you can use keyboard inputs (or a gamepad) to control them. We will probably tweak the visuals a bit before release, but I'm really happy with how they've turned out.
Launch Effects in SimpleRockets 2
Kevin just finished redesigning the launch site. He also built a new hangar, extended the runway, and added two additional landing pads for those of you who want to be like Elon.
With the effort invested in the new launch site, we didn't want to take any chances so we integrated some invisible sound suppression systems to protect the launch pads from the considerable acoustic force. Okay, that's not really true. We just added some volumetric smoke that is a purely visual effect. However, that combined with William's new camera shake has really enhanced the launch experience and I noticed after launching my Pigeon Heavy rocket that my socks were nowhere to be seen.
Has anyone seen my socks?
Re-Entry Effects in SimpleRockets 2
They said the Apollo 11 command module re-entered Earth's atmosphere at Mach 36 and temperatures of the air in front of the heat shield reached nearly 20,000° degrees Fahrenheit, which is well beyond the melting point of sanity. Today, I loaded up the latest build of SimpleRockets 2 with the new re-entry effects Philip and I have been working on and I hurtled my command pod at Smearth at nearly Mach 40.
The new, resizable Heat Shield part is protecting the command pod and if you have really good eyes you can see in the lower left that it reaches over 13,000° Celsius. The command pod is mostly protected, though it does take some damage from the excessive heat. The G-forces from the deceleration (which I did not measure) would undoubtedly turn any person into a pancake of squishy. So, while I am way hotter than Apollo 11, my astronauts would be far more deader. It's a good thing we don't have any astronauts in SR2 yet.
We're really excited about the new effects. Players have been asking for them for ages and we really struggled with how to tackle the visual effects. Philip did a great job with them and we're all really happy with how they turned out. We also reworked the drag model so we could monitor part temperatures. Amazingly, after implementing some thermodynamics equations discovered by really smart people, the model seemed to be about right without much tweaking. Of course, I'm sure when you all get your hands on it, you'll find all the hidden features (ie - bugs).
Apex I Engine in SimpleRockets 2
Our newest engine, the Apex I is an absolute beast. It's heavy, expensive, and drinks RP-1 like there's no tomorrow, but it will have the power to get even your most poorly engineered contraptions into space.
It dwarfs the Mage I engine in size, power, and visuals.
Here are the details:
Thrust: 3,200 kN
Mass: 3,500 kg
Price: $8,500,000
Height: 4.2 m
Diameter: 3.0 m
Max Gimbal Angle: 2.5 degrees
Fuel Consumption: 1,350 L/s
Specific Impulse: 298 s
Here's a bonus shot of it in a highly ill-advised use case.
Can anyone guess the inspiration behind this engine? I'll give you a hint, if you are on a PC, the name of the engine is on your keyboard...
SimpleRockets 2 Steam Page
SimpleRockets 2 now has a coming soon page on Steam along with a new teaser trailer to entice you to come check it out!
We're still shooting to release on Steam Early Access this summer. We plan to keep adding features and responding to player feedback until we feel the game is ready, at which point we will release the final version on all platforms at the same time. This includes iOS, Google Play, Humble, GOG, and of course Steam (Windows and macOS).
Photo Library in SimpleRockets 2
This past week I finished adding a new Photo Library feature to SR2. This makes it easy for players to take screenshots of their crafts at any time (in the designer or in flight) and use those screenshots when uploading their crafts and sandboxes. It also keeps track of when and where you took the photo and you can write a description if you're a fan of keeping a journal of your craft's journey across the solar system.
I've also taken some time to improve the screenshot tool. Now you can switch between landscape, portrait, and square orientations. You can also enable a depth of field effect so that you can snap nice looking photos of your craft like you're using a big expensive camera. You can drag the focus point around to focus on specific parts of your craft.
I'm really excited about this feature. It was a lot of fun to work on and I think it will make it easier for players to showcase their content in the best way possible.
Pixie Engine in SR2
*Note: Check the FAQ here before asking questions.*
We've just completed development of the second engine in SR2. The Pixie engine is a much smaller alternative to the Mage engine with far better gas mileage. This makes it suitable for those second stages destined for Smoon. With an accordingly lower thrust, it is also a lot easier to land on a low-G planetary body without getting into an endless cycle of up-and-down that I often find myself in when trying to land with a Mage engine.
Also, I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm going to start posting blog updates every other week instead of every week. It's been fun, but these posts take a lot of time to put together and as we continue to slip further and further behind schedule, I need to use any extra time I can find to focus on development. I hope you understand!
Fairings in SimpleRockets 2
Last week I finished up implementing the fairings for SimpleRockets 2. Fairings are a great way to cover your sensitive belongings while you send them up to space. They are like the groin protectors of the aerospace industry.
I designed the fairings in SR2 to be completely procedural, just like the fuselage pieces, so they can be resized and re-shaped into an infinite number of combinations.
They are actually composed of three separate parts that link together.
The fairing-base is the part that responds to the stage activation and separates the fairings. The first fairing part must connect directly to the fairing-base. Any number of fairings can then be connected in series. The nose cone is optional, but some people like it because it looks cool. Also, it helps to minimize drag.
SimpleRockets 2 is currently under development. We are hoping to release on Steam Early Access in June. You can read more about our development here and also read our FAQ here.
Speed Build of a Saturn V rocket in SimpleRockets 2 [Teaser Video]
SimpleRockets 2 is currently under development. We are hoping to release on Steam Early Access in June. You can read more about our development here and also read our FAQ here.
Small Update Today
I released a small update today. Here's what's included:
Fixed the OpenAL issue (hopefully) that prevented players from running the game.
Fixed a bug that caused the game to crash when pressing the DELETE key while moving a part in the editor
Fixed a bug that allowed the game to react to key presses while typing in the save mission dialog.
