New LAC Version 7.65 published Jul2019

Linux AirCombat Changelog:

Changes in the Late June 2019 version (Lac07p65) include:

This version remains operationally compatible with all versions since 7.56, but the cockpit instrumentation has been improved slightly with the addition of an indicator revealing the rate of repair of the player's HQ airfield. As a consequence, where prior versions had been scrolling messages about that repair rate through the three-line "SystemStatus Panel", this version eliminates those messages.

Changes in the late April 2019 version (Lac07p64) include:

No functional changes. This version remains operationally compatible with all versions since 7.56. Source code cleanup has eliminated more than 1,000 compiler warnings. Now, when Codeblocks is used to rebuild all 80,000 lines of source code, only 19 compiler warnings are detected, and all of them are now individually documented in the source code and all are known to be harmless. As a result of this cleanup, the code is now more robust and more tolerant of configuration errors. Some of the compiler warnings that have been eliminated could possibly have have caused occasional segmentation faults had they not been fixed.

Changes in the mid April 2019 version (Lac07p61) include:

No functional changes. Cosmetic source code cleanup and bug fixes. Several compiler warning messages have been eliminated due to cleaner source code. Three very obscure conditions that had caused rare segmentation faults were fixed. Fixed a bug that had sometimes displayed a tiny white dot in the center of the screen when looking straight up. This version remains operationally compatible with version 7.56.

Changes in the early Apr2019 version (Lac07p59) include:

Updated the tutorial prompting text in the LacConfig.txt file. This version remains operationally compatible with version 7.56. Cleaned up some details in the source code that had caused the compiler to issue warnings about four functions that did not always return an expected status value parameter. (Updated compilers, used in a few LINUX distributions, were generating code that resulted in segmentation faults until these warnings were fixed.)

Changes from the late Mar2019 version (Lac07p56) include:

Manoeverablity of all aircraft have been adjusted for greater accuracy.

Bots have been made a little smarter, so that they don't crash into the ground as frequently.

The LAC Server interface has been made more sophisticated.

Two bugs that were causing severe network jitter under certain conditions within MissionNetworkBattle02 were fixed.

A bug that was causing excessive network jitter immediately after any aircraft was destroyed in any of the multiplayer missions has been fixed.

Some excessively "noisy" run-time diagnostic messages have been eliminated.

Major new features of the Mar2019 version (Lac07p50) include:

All of the aircraft have been able to manoever too well, especially at high speed. Accordingly,  the "maneoverability" attribures of all aircraft have been adjusted and as a result, all of the flight models are a little more realistic now.

The visual appearance of the Bell P39 fighter aircraft has been significantly improved, thanks to the work of Blake Williams.

Morse Code sound effects have been improved.

Rocket aiming has been made easier because rockets now launch and fly straighter.

The Norden Bomb sight has been stabilized and recalibrated for better accuracy, and the instructional prompts that it displays have been enhanced with additional details.

Aircraft and rocket crash sound effects have been improved.

Aircraft lethality has been adjusted for greater accuracy compared with the best available records.

Sun glare and sunblindness effects have been improved.

Some bugs were fixed in the logic that accumulates rocket damage against battleships.

Visible surface textures have been improved for the Me110, Dornier, the airfield tower building, and the bunker buildings.

Several serious bugs in MissionNetworkBattle02 (the desert terrain mission) have been fixed. It no longer suffers frequent segmentation faults at startup, and the terrain features are identically synchronized for all players. The terrain also benefits from improved appearance, with dramatic new cliffs and canyons. Bombs and rockets no longer cause multiple explosion sounds when they descend below the altitude of airstrips.

RADAR has been made more realistic: Aircraft flying at extremely low altitudes are no longer detected by RADAR and are immune from airfield-based anti-aircraft fire. This has significantly improved MissionNetworkBattle02 because its desert terrain now features numerous canyons into which players can descend below RADAR detection level.

Experimentation has demonstrated that game play benefits from battleships that are easier to destroy than traditional, heavy battleships like "Bismarck" or "Yamato" or "Iowa". Accordingly, I have decided to refer to LAC's "Battleship" as a "Pocket Battleship" (similar to Germany's "Deutschland", "Admiral Scheer", and her infamous "Admiral Graf Spee"), which implies a large, lightweight ship built for speed but armed with heavy cannons larger than the 8-inch guns generally used by naval cruisers. The "maxDurability" of LAC's battleship is now set at "120,000", which allows its destruction when hit by about 3 bombs and about 8 rockets. A B25 can even sink it with just its heavy, devastating guns and cannon (but that requires a lot of passes and is VERY dangerous unless the anti-aircraft guns of the adjacent airfield have been neutralized).

The Morse Code radio has been improved so that the unshifted "\" key is interpreted as the "?" key, since Morse code makes no provision for the modern "shift" function of keyboards. Accordingly, whenever the operator wants to send a question mark on the Morse code radio, the "\" key can be used, and the resulting transmission, vocalization, and display operations handle it as a question mark, avoiding any requirement for "shifting" the keyboard.

The four required "*.LAC" configuration/log files have been moved into the user's hidden ~home/.LAC folder alongside LAC's other configuration and log files.

Installation has been improved, and LAC is more forgiving of installation errors now. LAC now automatically regenerates any of the following seven configuration files in the user's hidden ~home/.LAC folder if they are missing:

   1 of 7: LacConfig.txt
   2 of 7: LacControls.txt
   3 of 7: LogFile.txt
   4 of 7: DefaultHeightMap.LAC    5 of 7: GunCamHistory.LAC    6 of 7: LastTerrain.LAC    7 of 7: OnlineScoreLog.LAC

Major new features of the Feb2019 version (Lac07p28) include:

LAC's Network Protocol version has been increased from "8" to "9". This requires updating by all players. Any attempt to use an older version while any other player is using a newer version will result in numerous "beeps", run-time diagnostic reports, and descriptive log entries in the ~/.lac/logfile.txt file as incompatible packets are detected.

It is now possible to "squelch" any user that tries to jam the Morse Code radio channel. This is done by pressing "BACKSPACE" while the keyboard is in the Morse Radio mode, which activates a "squelch" upon the player that has most recently been transmitting. Once a player has been squelched, none of his Morse Radio transmissions will be seen until the mission is restarted. (Pressing "BACKSPACE" again will clear all active squelches.)

The visual appearance of the following aircraft has been greatly improved (thanks to the work of Blake Williams):

   1 of 3: Me109F (German Fighter)
   2 of 3: Me109G (German Fighter)
   3 of 3: Mosquito (British Bomber)
   
"Weight of Fire" logic has been improved to better represent differences between aircraft armaments.   

Several long-standing (but minor) bugs have been fixed.

The Makefile has been improved. Now it produces a highly speed-optimized version of LAC like the one that has long been produced by Codeblocks. It also copies the executable result into the ~/bin/Release subfolder according to the same pattern that has long been established. As a result of this improved makefile, developers that don't want to use Codeblocks can now more easily and more automatically use familiar, linux compilation tools according to long-established norms, and the result will be fully compatible with our "install.sh" installation utility.

The well-established, standard linux command that invokes the new Makefile with all of this is simply:

make

Running "make" as configured herein results in cluttering up LAC's main source code folder with a bunch of .o files and an extra copy of lac. All of this can be cleaned up with the following, standard command:

make clean

All of these "make" procedures will be familiar to experienced linux developers but otherwise remains fully compatible with all of our longstanding tools, documentation, and production practices.

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 Nov2018 version (Lac06p72) include:

A "Makefile" is now included in the distribution so that people who do not wish to use "Codeblocks" can now compile LAC with the usual, customary, classic, command-line "make" command.

Source code has been cosmetically cleaned up even more.

Various minor bugs have been fixed.
Airfield terrains were improved to remove small water textures from runway corners.

Better reliability: The rare cases when prior versions would crash with "segmentation" faults are now even more infrequent.

The initial sign-on animation is now much more exciting, and includes much better sound effects.

Some of the audio banter messages have been shortened and sped up a bit, and the logic that activates those messages has been optimized to minimize interference among them. Now it is much easier to get the full report from forward observers about enemy airfield status in the online, multiplayer missions.

LAC's demands for RAM memory are diminished by about 20%. As a result, the rare cases when prior versions would fail to load proper ocean textures are now even more infrequent.

The following six aircraft are now updated with far prettier .3ds models:

   1 of 6: F4u Corsair. The standard version is a little nicer looking now. Furthermore, the "Optional3dModels" folder includes two even more beautiful versions for those with beefier graphics hardware.
   
   2 of 6: F4F Wildcat. The standard version is a lot prettier now.
   
   3 of 6: F6F Hellcat. The standard version is a lot prettier now.

   4 of 6: Me163 "Komet". The standard version is a lot prettier now.
   
   5 of 6: Dewoitine 520. The standard version is a lot prettier now.
   
   6 of 6: Macci C.202.  The standard version is a lot prettier now.
   
Additional, less prominant improvements have been made to the following aircraft: Dornier17, FW190, Heinkel HE111, Junkers JU88, Messerschmidt ME110, Aichi D3A, Nakajima KI84, and Douglas Dauntless.
The instructive text accompanying the three "Tutorial" missions has been improved for better consistency with the World War II historic period comprising LAC's primary focus.

The four old offline practice missions (which all had various annoying bugs in them) have been eliminated, but all of their tactical features have now been incorporated into the three main, stable, online, multiplayer missions. As a result, if a user enters one of those online missions when nobody else is flying, he has allies and opposition from locally generated bots like those that were available in the old off-line training missions. Because these online, multiplayer missions are all far more feature-rich and more stable, the overall experience is vastly improved even when nobody else is flying. (As soon as anybody else joins a mission in progress, the bots revert to their older, "dumber" behavior in order to encourage sentient, human-to-human interaction.)

I strengthened and adjusted the power of dive brakes on all of the aircraft that had them, making dive bombing a much more satisfying and effective tactic.

I recalibrated the Norden Bombsight. The best impact point prediction is now effective when bombing from between 6,000 and 15,000 feet at 290 MPH, but it is reasonably accurate from a wide spectrum of altitudes when speed is in the ballpark of 290 MPH. However, as speed diminishes below 260 MPH, the CCIP pipper tends to underestimate the impact distance (so bombs fly farther than predicted).  Conversely, as speed increases beyond 320 MPH, the CCIP pipper tends to overestimate the impact distance (so bombs don't fly as far as predicted).

I increased the durability of all aircraft, and especially of the B17, B24, and B29 (heavy American bombers). I also increased the lethality of the Me163 "komet" rocket plane. As a result, fighter-vs-bomber combat benefits from a better and more realistic tactical balance, and all individual air-to-air combat incidents tend to last a lot longer.

I increased airfield defenses. Now airfield gunners can hit enemy aircraft as high as 15,000 feet above them.

I recalibrated the altitude indicator in MissionNetworkBattle02 so that none of the terrain features are now below sea level.

The Morse code radios have been made more reliable and are able to sustain more rapid typing rates.

   
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.)

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 (Thans Blake!).