I just uploaded new version 8.01 to the usual location for your download from SourceForge. I had not anticipated having time to make another big release this year, but today's environment of self-isolation gave me a lot of unscheduled time. I implemented pretty much all of the "wish list" items from our discussion groups and fixed some bugs that had been compromising LAC's reliability in large networked missions with a lot of simultaneous players. Here's the "What's New" for this version Lac08p01:
Changes in the Apr2020 version (Lac08p01) include:
The cockpit's "TAR ALT" display is now colored red when RedTeam objects are selected, and colored blue when BlueTeam objects are selected.
The duration of flight supported by fuel supplies has been adjusted for all aircraft so that bombers have longer flight endurance and greater range than fighters, etc. The B29 now has the longest flight duration (without refueling) in the sim, and the Me109 has the shortest endurance of all piston-powered aircraft, according to its well-known reputation. Others fall in between these extremes. In general, heavy bombers can remain aloft about twice as long as fighters, and medium bombers can remain aloft about 50% longer than most fighters.
The Spit5 and Spit9 now suffer from fuel-flow cutoff when pulling negative "G" forces, in the same manner as their historic counterparts.
The DeHavilland "Mosquito" has been upgraded from the "bomber-only" version to the "Fighter-Bomber" version, equipping it with guns and rockets in addition to its bombs. These changes should make the "Mossie" a more popular choice among LAC players.
I found and fixed several minor errors in the menu logic that displays "HISTORIC PERIOD" associated with each aircraft. Now, in LAC's menus, early-war aircraft are correctly described as "EARLY WAR", and all late-war aircraft are correctly described as "LATE WAR".
I found and fixed a tiny little bug in main.cpp's "event_targetPrevious()" function that was failing to vocalize aircraft team affiliations if there was only one other aircraft in the mission.
I found and fixed a bug that was causing the "FIGHTERS" tutorial mission to start out with IFF disabled every second time it was re-started.
I enhanced the two-player "HEAD TO HEAD" mission so that its cockpit instruments now display "DATA FLOW" instead of "CONNECTION" to better describe that mission's true use of network activity.
I adjusted starting positions in all three of the server-based, multiplayer missions. Now the player starts out farther from his requested airfield and higher up, giving more time to set up landing when desired.
I found and fixed a bug that sometimes caused LAC to "Hang" destructively when a targetted object was destroyed (either by the player or by somebody else). This bug had also sometimes caused segmentation errors WITHOUT "hanging" the sim.
I adjusted startup logic that was sometimes causing segmentation errors within the first 5 seconds of online missions. (Those errors are now diminished in frequency but still occur from time to time. Not very often. They can be avoided by avoiding violent maneuvers during the first 5 seconds of a new mission.)
I found and fixed a bug that was sometimes causing segmentation errors when the player collided with another aircraft or mission object.
I enhanced the "TargetNext" and "TargetPrevious" facilities. Now they ought to be more accurately named "TargetNextRed" and "TargetPreviousBlue", respectively, since the first of them cycles FORWARD through all RedTeam mission elements (skipping BlueTeam elements), and the second of them cycles BACKWARD through all BlueTeam mission elements (skipping RedTeam items). Accordingly, the keys and processes formerly known as "TargetNext" now yield the next RED target, and the keys and processes formerly known as "TargetPrevious" now yield the previous BLUE target. This arrangement sensibly preserves existing habits, keyboard and joystick mapping, and documentation, with only a small adjustment in pilot behavior. The arrangement is more convenient than the "classic" arrangement that has been in use for the prior three years, since a player that knows the team affiliation of his desired target can now select it with an average of only half as many keystrokes or joystick button activations.
I enhanced the "Map Mode" display with new information revealing the player's current altitude and true airspeed, making "Map Mode" a lot more useful (especially when the Norden Bombsight is active.)
I completely rewrote the Norden Bombsight logic. The "Continuously Computed Impact Point" pipper (which was too "jumpy" in prior versions) now moves much more smoothly. Accuracy is greatly increased. The prompting text has now been optimized to give better advice, which is customized a bit according to the type of aircraft being used.
I eliminated the universally despised, vocalized "tour" of the tactical situation at the beginning of all three online, server-based, multiplayer missions.
As a consequence of all of these changes, LAC is a little more realistic, suffers from fewer segmentation errors and "HANG" problems, is more accurate, and easier to control in complex tactical environments.
This version remains functionally interoperable with all versions since Lac07p92, but it is better behaved, a bit more realistic, and nicer to fly. All players are urged to upgrade.
Last edit: bbosen 2020-04-07
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I just uploaded new version 8.01 to the usual location for your download from SourceForge. I had not anticipated having time to make another big release this year, but today's environment of self-isolation gave me a lot of unscheduled time. I implemented pretty much all of the "wish list" items from our discussion groups and fixed some bugs that had been compromising LAC's reliability in large networked missions with a lot of simultaneous players. Here's the "What's New" for this version Lac08p01:
Changes in the Apr2020 version (Lac08p01) include:
The cockpit's "TAR ALT" display is now colored red when RedTeam objects are selected, and colored blue when BlueTeam objects are selected.
The duration of flight supported by fuel supplies has been adjusted for all aircraft so that bombers have longer flight endurance and greater range than fighters, etc. The B29 now has the longest flight duration (without refueling) in the sim, and the Me109 has the shortest endurance of all piston-powered aircraft, according to its well-known reputation. Others fall in between these extremes. In general, heavy bombers can remain aloft about twice as long as fighters, and medium bombers can remain aloft about 50% longer than most fighters.
The Spit5 and Spit9 now suffer from fuel-flow cutoff when pulling negative "G" forces, in the same manner as their historic counterparts.
The DeHavilland "Mosquito" has been upgraded from the "bomber-only" version to the "Fighter-Bomber" version, equipping it with guns and rockets in addition to its bombs. These changes should make the "Mossie" a more popular choice among LAC players.
I found and fixed several minor errors in the menu logic that displays "HISTORIC PERIOD" associated with each aircraft. Now, in LAC's menus, early-war aircraft are correctly described as "EARLY WAR", and all late-war aircraft are correctly described as "LATE WAR".
I found and fixed a tiny little bug in main.cpp's "event_targetPrevious()" function that was failing to vocalize aircraft team affiliations if there was only one other aircraft in the mission.
I found and fixed a bug that was causing the "FIGHTERS" tutorial mission to start out with IFF disabled every second time it was re-started.
I enhanced the two-player "HEAD TO HEAD" mission so that its cockpit instruments now display "DATA FLOW" instead of "CONNECTION" to better describe that mission's true use of network activity.
I adjusted starting positions in all three of the server-based, multiplayer missions. Now the player starts out farther from his requested airfield and higher up, giving more time to set up landing when desired.
I found and fixed a bug that sometimes caused LAC to "Hang" destructively when a targetted object was destroyed (either by the player or by somebody else). This bug had also sometimes caused segmentation errors WITHOUT "hanging" the sim.
I adjusted startup logic that was sometimes causing segmentation errors within the first 5 seconds of online missions. (Those errors are now diminished in frequency but still occur from time to time. Not very often. They can be avoided by avoiding violent maneuvers during the first 5 seconds of a new mission.)
I found and fixed a bug that was sometimes causing segmentation errors when the player collided with another aircraft or mission object.
I enhanced the "TargetNext" and "TargetPrevious" facilities. Now they ought to be more accurately named "TargetNextRed" and "TargetPreviousBlue", respectively, since the first of them cycles FORWARD through all RedTeam mission elements (skipping BlueTeam elements), and the second of them cycles BACKWARD through all BlueTeam mission elements (skipping RedTeam items). Accordingly, the keys and processes formerly known as "TargetNext" now yield the next RED target, and the keys and processes formerly known as "TargetPrevious" now yield the previous BLUE target. This arrangement sensibly preserves existing habits, keyboard and joystick mapping, and documentation, with only a small adjustment in pilot behavior. The arrangement is more convenient than the "classic" arrangement that has been in use for the prior three years, since a player that knows the team affiliation of his desired target can now select it with an average of only half as many keystrokes or joystick button activations.
I enhanced the "Map Mode" display with new information revealing the player's current altitude and true airspeed, making "Map Mode" a lot more useful (especially when the Norden Bombsight is active.)
I completely rewrote the Norden Bombsight logic. The "Continuously Computed Impact Point" pipper (which was too "jumpy" in prior versions) now moves much more smoothly. Accuracy is greatly increased. The prompting text has now been optimized to give better advice, which is customized a bit according to the type of aircraft being used.
I eliminated the universally despised, vocalized "tour" of the tactical situation at the beginning of all three online, server-based, multiplayer missions.
As a consequence of all of these changes, LAC is a little more realistic, suffers from fewer segmentation errors and "HANG" problems, is more accurate, and easier to control in complex tactical environments.
This version remains functionally interoperable with all versions since Lac07p92, but it is better behaved, a bit more realistic, and nicer to fly. All players are urged to upgrade.
Last edit: bbosen 2020-04-07