Hi All,
My self and @sim_k have been busy over the last few weeks. Especially last two weekends. Where I spent over 15 hours coding each weekend.
But you didn't come here to read that. You want to know when you will get your hands on our biggest update yet. Our 0.5 Cargo update to flyLAT.
So, here is where we are up to, we have completed the flight engine on the server side which is responsible for starting, updating and ending a flight. Previous version had over 1800 lines of code. New one has been compressed to just 700 with a lot more functions. Very clean and more efficient. This new version will hopefully eliminate where some users were not getting paid for their flights. As well as the flight engine, we are nearly finished with the haulage function of flyLAT cargo. Calculations for earning per delivery have now been completed.
Simmy is working on a sleek and new UI structure to load your aircrafts with cargo.
Over the next week, I will be working on the job mechanics. This job mechanic will be responsible for creating contracts for major logistics companies around the world as well as giving you the abilities to create internal jobs for your employees. This will give employees new angle of play here as they will be able to do something else other than just transporting passengers.
As we are on the subject of job mechanics, this will enable CEOs to create aircraft transfer between locations. This will allow your employees to shift aircrafts. Now another angle of this is that someone could operate a transportation company that doesn't deal with passengers, cargo or execs. They can simply be a transport company that will move aircrafts for companies for a fee on the job market. Pretty cool feature as it give you the ability to be another type of company. This is not all, as our Heron Digital Eco will allow AirTool and flyLAT to work together. Meaning that users of AirTool will also be able to move your aircrafts around for you... and no, they will not damage your aircrafts. Anything external, does not have impact on your aircrafts wear and tear.
Honestly we are getting close to releasing this, as we are on final stages of the design. Here is what we need to complete before the release:
- UI design for Distributions
- UI design for Hub and facilities
- UI design for loading/unloading cargo
- UI design for job/contracts page
- UI design for flight booking
Simmy is pretty quick and creating UIs so this might sound like a lot, he is able to knock these up within day. Now the server side coding that is required for me to do:
- Flight log updater
- Flight booking and reserving
- Contracts & Jobs mechanic
- Internal job viewer/completer
- Passenger Economy 1.5 (will be working on the back end in 0.5 but won't take effect until 0.55)
Trust me when I say this, 0.5 has been stressful, taking forever, loads of rewrites... honestly, it's a killer task for two people. But we have now tackled our challenges with what I want to achieve and it's all down hill from here. We had to rewrite the entire server side code to accommodate this new update and future proof it with GA and Exec flights that are coming later this year as well as integration with Euro Truck Simulator 2 and American truck simulator as well as X-Plane integration. A lot is happening this year and we truly cannot wait for main modules to be done. I will release a list of modules once they have been implemented as I am aware praying eyes are looking for ideas to copy.
My plan is to release flyLAT 0.5 a month before my wedding so it gives us time to fix last minute bugs (for those that know when I am getting married, well you might have an idea when 0.5 will be out). We will potentially release this on a Friday (no exact date can be said but I have a date in mind) so that me and Simmy are free Friday and Saturday when we release this. We will be doing a live stream to promote the new version.
Beta testing for closed beta users will be sent out before release. Streamers that hit our criteria will also get an invite to try out flyLAT 0.5. If you are a streamer, please get in contact with me luke@herondigital.net
Until then, wish you happy flying and see you soon!
Luke
