LudoCraft have today released Alpha 0.50 of their in-development multiplayer airship game, AirBuccaneers HD. The most notable inclusion in this update is the automatic update system which will allow you to keep the game up to date from the launcher from now on. The full list of changes can be seen after the break:
- Automatic update system added. Will be used for any future updates.
- Footstep sounds
- Rockets’ range increased when fired from a cannon
- Base cannon damage increased
- Spotting lasts longer
- Chat and scoreboard can be viewed while on a glider
- Damaging or destroying anchored ships do not give XP
- New start menu & map menu
- Graphics improvements: Ship models, cannons, new boost rockets
- Several performance improvements: Ragdoll slowdown fix, character ship deck calculation optimized
- Several bug fixes: Particle system draw order, servers not appearing on map fix, several sound related fixes, random disconnect fix
- Lots of other stuff
The game can be downloaded from the AirBuccaneers HD website here.
Devs vs. Fans Battle – Part 5 – Son of Revenge:
The team have also announced the date of their next developers versus fans battle in which the developers play as Buccaneers against a team of fans playing as the Vikings. The current score stands at 2-2 each so this is the match to gain that all important extra point for this series of games.
The battle begins from 18:00 BST on April 11th 2012 and all you’ll need to do if you fancy a game is to download the latest version from the link above (Alpha 0.50 at the time of writing), join the official LudoCraft server (first come, first served) and try to win against the developers for best out of 5 matches.
For more information, check out the forum thread here.
The floating islands map:
The developers are currently in the process of building a new map for the game which, as teased in a tweet on their twitter (below), will feature floating islands.
More great news for #AirBuccaneers fans! Another map is being built and should be ready for the next release. It has floating islands!—
(@AirBuccaneers) March 28, 2012
They originally hoped it would be available in the next update, Alpha 0.50, but due to some issues they didn’t want to cram it into that release. They clearly like to keep their work as polished as possible. In the meantime, the newest map does contain one floating island, as seen in the screenshot below. We can only assume the map when released will feature bigger versions of that.
“You are not in Kansas anymore. You are on Pandora, ladies and gentlemen.”
Alexander “AJ” Bridgwood
