bbosen - 2018-08-06

Major new features of the Aug2018 version (Lac06p29) include:

Bug Fix: I fixed a bug in version Lac06p28 that was causing two of the three online, multiplayer missions to crash about 30 seconds after they were started. The affected missions were "MissionNetworkBattle01" and "MissionNetworkBattle02". Now all three of those "MissionNetworkBattleXX" missions are well-behaved again.

CommunityHandles: Users that enter a name for themselves in the "CommunityHandle" field of their ~home/.LAC/LacConfig.txt file now benefit from LAC's automated transmission of those names among other players participating in the same Realm and Mission. (It's best if you choose a name that's likely to be unique throughout the emerging LAC community, and if it is the same as your Mumble username.) In flight, when using the "SelectNextTarget" and "SelectPreviousTarget" functions (activated with "N" and "P", respectively unless you've customized your keyboard), the CommunityHandle of each selected target is displayed on your cockpit panel. (This isn't instantaneous; After joining a new mission, it may take as long as 60 seconds for all of the CommuninityHandles to propogate among players via the network.)

Improved high-speed flight models: Extensive testing of prior versions has revealed a general tendency for aircraft to turn too well when flying at extremely high speeds. This version improves that situation. High speed maneuoverability is still better than it should be for many aircraft, but all aircraft now perform more realistically in this regard. Further fine-tuning may be necessary, but in the future those changes will be smaller and ought to characterized as "tweaking".

Improved defensive airfield guns: Prior versions enforced an altitude limit of about 4500 feet on airfield guns, so opposing bombers were able to fly safely at unrealistically low altitudes when attacking a hostile airfield. With this version, that limit has been raised to 10,000 feet, resulting in much more realistic airfield defense versus bomber missions. (Of course, once airfields are damaged, the effectiveness of their defensive guns is diminished proportionately, so it can still be safe to approach a hostile airfield at low altitudes, but only after it has been significantly damaged.)

Missile Warnings: In all three of the main online, multiplayer missions, whenever any player fires a missile or rocket, all other players within the same mission are alerted with a radio message so that they can take evasive action if necessary.