AZURE DOMAIN™ Pre-Alpha Playtest update for 21 April 2021

We’re back, pilots! It’s been a long and winding road, but we’ve been able to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and get some more work done on Azure Domain! As a big, hearty thank you for being so infinitesimally patient with us, we are releasing a brand-new update with a smorgasbord of changes!

New planes, revamped visual effects, improved controls, quality-of-life updates, and bug fixes await in this brand-new patch! There’s so much stuff here, it’s tough to know where to begin. Let’s start with the biggest change first: we have added 3 brand-new planes for players to fly!

First up is the FMan-72 Czar. A heavy assault plane that has seen venerable service in the Republic of Deussean’s air force, the Czar is packing 3 medium and 2 large hardpoints. It is slow and tough to maneuver, but has powerful weapons and defensive systems.

Next, the QuF-12 Javelin! This is the standard-issue fighter for pilots flying for the Quixonian Union. An advanced piece of kit, this plane boasts phenomenal speed and maneuverability, and firepower equal to a Viscount. At the same time, however, it depends on that agility in order to survive; it’s defenses are paltry and weak.

Finally, Motoboyo’s premier heavy gunship, the Tori-12 Mukudori, enters service. This behemoth, modeled after the Suzume, is packing 8 small turreted hardpoints. The placement of the turrets enables some interesting strategies and counter maneuvers.

But of course, planes are only good if they can be flown, and in that spirit, we’ve made phenomenal adjustments to the game’s controls. Mouse controls have received a huge overhaul, requiring less movement to maneuver planes and featuring greater sensitivity than ever before. Joystick and gamepad controls have received an update as well, feeling much smoother and controllable than previous iterations.

On top of all this, the camera can now be panned in an analog fashion, instead of rotating to fixed angles. Simply press the Rotate Camera Modifier button and let your mouse or right stick do the rest. Gunship turrets can also be shot while panning, enabling free aim of weapons while looking around. Once you tap the button again, the camera will snap to the closest fixed angle, allowing pilots to fly while looking up, to the side, or backwards.

Finally, we’ve made some significant changes to the countermeasure system. While countermeasures are active, you can repair your plane by dealing damage. Previously, the countermeasures would passively heal, and you would receive health if you got hit by an attack that the countermeasure blocked. This approach was at odds with the game’s aggressive playstyle, so we flipped the script by enticing players to damage enemies in order to get health back. The passive healing and health-on-attack functions have been removed, so be sure to be aggressive with your countermeasures!

The best part still is that this is far from an exhaustive list of changes! We’ve pulled out all the stops and made sure that Azure Domain is the best game we can make. We look forward to hearing what you have to say about it, and we hope you enjoy playing it as much we did making it!

Sincerely,
Gordon Whaley (Johnny B. Getgoode)
PCMG Lead Developer.

Full changelog for Azure Domain version 0.1.11:

• -Camera controls for aircraft are now analog.
• -Mouse and keyboard controls reworked to be smoother, and require less mouse movement to yaw/pitch.
• -Joystick controls reworked to be less twitchy and more responsive.
• -Rotation issue in hangar beauty cam fixed.
• -Weapon stats rebalanced and tweaked.
• -Plane stats rebalanced and tweaked.
• -Sky Drift replaced with afterburner function; hold button to gain speed.
• -Added weapon drain mechanic; each weapon in a fire group reduces the amount of energy gained per second. The amount varies by weapon.
• -New visual effect for countermeasures.
• -Added environmental reverb to map boundaries prefab.
• -Fixed issues with targeting enemies in front.
• -Reworked countermeasure system (attacks while countermeasures are active heal now. Removed passive heal and heal on getting hit).
• -Ability menu renamed to Wingman menu; ability and countermeasure buttons removed.
• -Button/key controls added for countermeasures and abilities.
• -Ability and countermeasure indicators moved to HUD.
• -Tweaked incoming attack displays for AI planes; they now appear just before a plane can attack, instead of when an enemy has line of sight.
• -Fixed a bug with chain lasers not seeking targets upon a hit.
• -Reworked exhaust VFX
• -Replaced debuff text with icons, and made it so the icons always face up on the camera.
• -Fixed exploit with Gauss Cannon allowing infinite damage if game is paused on impact.
• -Reworked Class 2 Missile launcher to launch missiles sequentially, instead of all at once.
• -Fixed a bug that reversed avoidance direction when AI detects an obstacle.
• -Lengthened the AI detection radius, and made it so the AI only avoids enemy planes.
• -Buffed AI damage and nerfed their turn rate
• -Buffed health of Viceroy and Desmond airships.
• -Added three new planes: FMan-72 Czar (Assault), QuF-12 Javelin (Fighter), and Tori-12 Mukudori (Gunship).
• -Reworked airship smoke FX; there is now a flame at the bottom.
• -Gave the Desmonds in the Carrier Assault mission predetermined paths.
• -Removed unnecessary space from the mission area in Carrier Assault.
• -Revised collision detection methods for planes and airships.
• -Refined targeting display and added silhouettes to planes for the display to render.
• -Added gradual acceleration to flight physics.
• -Rotate camera function is now a toggle, and gunships can aim and fire their turrets while rotating the camera.
• -Adjusted the player turret logic so planes don’t shoot themselves while rotating the camera.
• -Adjusted score tracker logic so that wingman kills count towards the kill total.
• -Adjusted score thresholds for Carrier Assault.
• -Added color grading.
• -Adjusted size and color of crosshair for easier visibility.
• -Reworked spawns to be determined on how many craft on one side are remaining versus timed.
• -Reworked options menu to save user variables properly.