New LAC Version 7.09 for Jan2019

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Major new features of the Jan2019 version (Lac7p09) include:

Each of the two HQ airfields in MissionNetworkBattle01 and in MissionNetworkBattle03 are now strengthened by a battleship moored just offshore, at right angles to the runway, adjacent the RADAR tower. Victory requires destruction of the battleship in addition to destruction of the airfield facilities. Once the battleship is destroyed, it cannot be refloated or repaired, and airfield anti-aircraft facilities are correspondingly weakened for the remainder of the battle. This enriches the player experience because strike missions are now far more likely to include attacks at right angles to the runway in order to destroy these ships (favoring dive bombers and other strike aircraft that are more accurate at delivery of their ordnance), and it is correspondingly more complex and more time-consuming to achieve victory.

Also in those two missions, the bunker building on the hilltop adjacent the HQ runways is now of tactical importance. When it is damaged, the associated HQ airfield suffers some damage too, and IFF ("Identify Friend or Foe") services are temporarily disrupted.

Dive Bombers with dive brakes have had their flight models tuned up for greater accuracy. Dive bombing is now a lot more accurate and more fun.

Air Raid sirens now shut off after all hostile aircraft leave the area, even if the airfield is still damaged.

The penalty for lugging heavy ordnance has been made more realistic. (Prior versions enforced no penalty for hauling more than 16 heavy weapons. Now that modest penalty is enforced for every heavy weapon that is lugged, and jettisoning any such weapon results in a slight improvement in sustainable climb angle, etc.) As a result, heavy bombers that sustain damage will more frequently and more realistically find it necessary and worthwhile to jettison some of their bombs in order to maintain flight.

.3ds rendering code has been optimized for efficiency and as a result, frame rate is increased for even smoother flight.

Major new features of the Dec2018 version (Lac06p94) include:

In recent, prior versions, many of the aircraft have been able to climb far too rapidly. This has been fixed. I rescaled and recalibrated the logic that calculates altitude. This forced recalibration of all of the flight models, and as a result of these changes, most aircraft are a little more maneoverable, and all aircraft now enjoy much greater freedom to climb at steeper and more realistic angles. "Zoom" climbs now last longer and complete in a more satisfactory manner. It's notably easier for beginners to get the "feel" of flight when climbing. The recalibration of all of the flight models isn't yet quite as good as I would like, but most of them are correct so far as historic records are available, and all are in the right ballpark.

"Bots" are a lot smarter. In prior versions, bots had spent a lot of their time rolled on their sides, struggling to fly more-or-less in a straight line, and consequently looked silly during most of their flight time. This has been fixed. Now the bots fly complex, energetic. elaborate defensive manoevers, making them ideal for target practice. They still aren't very agressive, so it is extremely rare for a bot to shoot at the player, but it is great fun to chase them and shoot them down. This exercise can now appropriately prepare beginners for the online, multiplayer environment (where competition, created by other online players, is smart and fierce). As a consequence of these new, smarter bots, the three online, server-based, multiplayer missions are now more robust and better behaved, even if no other online players are present, than the old set of "offline" missions. Within those three missions, the transition from flying alone, versus the bots, to flying with or against one or more other online players, is now seemless as soon as any other online player shows up.

I fixed a bug that had previously allowed players to recieve full ground services (refuel, rearm, and repair) from hostile ground forces. Now any attempt to receive those services from personnel at hostile airfields results in confiscation of almost all of the player's fuel and ammo.

I enhanced the "Startup00.wav" sound-effect file with much greater dynamic range. Now, when the three P38s fly close past the player's eyes, it sounds even more dramatic and exciting.

I further enhanced the signon animation with a brighter, better scenery banner and with new logic that causes the VERSIONSTRING and the name of the primary software author ("ROBERT BOSEN") to fall to the ground, after the three P38s whiz by, in a more dramatic fashion.

I modified all of the target selection logic so that it is no longer dependent upon RADAR. Accordingly, it is now possible to use the familiar "TargetNext" and "TargetPrevious" functions to cycle through all aircraft and airfield facilities, regardless of RADAR range, or whether the RADAR has been switched off, or even if RADAR is destroyed. When combined with LAC's long-present target vocalization logic, these changes make it far more practical and fun to pursue a mission when airfield damage prevents RADAR use. In those situations, the player can hear vocalizations, similar to WW2-style radio dialogs, revealing the general direction (in "clock-face" notation) and altitude of the selected target. Furthermore, the distance to online targets can also be estimated by paying attention to the Network Router panel. As a result, LAC's online missions now better emulate WW2-style encounters when RADAR is switched off or destroyed.

I recalibrated the Norden bombsight for more accurate prediction of bomb impact points.

Airfield defenses have been strengthened to give them a better chance of surviving sustained onslaughts from strategic bombers.

The audio messages from Forward Observers have been made more reliable.

Bombers taking off from the most remote airfields are now spawned in the air, with full fuel, full ordnance loadouts, and from an altitude of 9,400 feet. If the player selects a B29 heavy bomber, the "most remote" airfield is 35 kilometers farther removed from the HQ airfields.

Aircraft that land on runways can now come to a complete stop instead of "creeping" slowly forward all the time.

Major new features of the Oct2018 version (Lac06p50) include:

Fixed a bug that was causing bombs to explode several times each.

Enhanced the appearance of black smoke associated with various types of explosions. (Note that this is only visible if the "special video effects" option is activated.)

Improved all of the flight models in steep dives: Now steep dives are more exciting because the ground seems to "rush up" toward the player much faster. This makes the consequences and risks of steep dives more realistic.

Fixed a bug that was preventing rockets from displaying smoke trails in the online, multiplayer missions.

Improved the intelligence of "bots" in all of the offline missions, and in online missions when only one player has been active. Although bots are still not very smart, they are not quite as stupid as before and it is more fun to shoot them down.

The "hit bubbles" associated with all aircraft were adjusted so that big, fat bombers are now a lot easier to hit with machine guns, while smaller aircraft are proportionately more difficult to hit.

Network "jitter" has been further diminished.

I created a new sound effect that plays five sequential beeps, used to warn the player whenever any opposing player fires rockets or missiles in his vicinity. Those beeps are very loud if the missiles or rockets are close by, but they are proportionately softer at greater launch distances.

I created another new sound effect that plays some sad "mood music" for members that are flying any of the online, multiplayer missions when their team loses the battle. (At the same time, members that are flying for the winning team hear the same, exciting musical fanfare that both teams had been hearing in prior versions.)

The menus can now be navigated with keyboard keys in addition to the mouse. This will be of great benefit to users whose LINUX PCs are equipped with ATi "Radeon" display adapters, because LAC has heretofore not handled mouse motion well within its menus on modern PCs equipped with Radeon hardware. (The keyboard keys that navigate the menus are the same keyboard keys that control view direction during flight. After using those keys to designate a menu button, the <enter> or <space> keys will activate the corresponding function.)</space></enter>

The visual appearance of the German Me163 "Komet" rocket plane has been greatly improved.

Text messages from the LAC Server can now be displayed when directed to Realm, Mission, Team, and/or PlayerId.

The startup "splash" artwork has been enhanced with an animated image of a Lockheed P38 "Lightning" fighter aircraft flying out of the display screen toward the viewer. Also, the previous sign-on "splash" image is now a lot prettier, has the proper aspect ratio, and features an F4u Corsair and an F6F Hellcat flying in loose formation over an airfield.

Fixed several bugs that were interfering with sound effects when online missions end due to the destruction of one of the HQ airfields.

Major new features of the Sep2018 version (Lac06p36) include:

Improved external views: Prior versions were only displaying the forward 75% of the player's aircraft when flying in the "External" or "Chase" view". With this version, the virtual camera is moved farther behind the player's aircraft so that the entire plane is now visible and looks much better.

Improved graphical scaling: Prior versions were displaying all aircraft with the same visual size, so that small fighter aircraft looked just as big as heavy bombers when flying near one another in formation. Now all aircraft are scaled according to their historic size.

Improved visibility when landed or parked on airstrips: Prior versions did not display aircraft that were on the ground. With this version, aircraft that are taxiing or stopped on runways are now visible. This improves realism and exposes players to a much more realistic risk of being "vulched".

The F6F "Hellcat" graphical model has been significantly improved, thanks to Blake Williams (Thanks Blake!).

Major new features of the late Aug2018 version (Lac06p30) include:

Enhanced Victory/Loss reporting: The "OnlineScoreLog.LAC" text file now records the player's air-to-air defeats in addition to the victory reports from prior versions. Now the OnlineScoreLog.LAC file provides a comprehensive history of both, and reports are now expanded to include the "CommunityHandles" of victors and victims.

Improved Morse Code Radio panel on the cockpit: The Morse code radio panel now looks a lot better on the cockpit, with a more interesting shape, improved color contrast, and larger text that is a lot easier to read.