Get ready for a race around various indoor arenas in the upcoming Liftoff: Micro Drones, as it's now confirmed to be releasing in Early Access on November 30 with Linux support. This is the fifth game from LuGus Studios and their fourth to officially support Linux too.
From what they said about it:
"Liftoff: Micro Drones is an authentic standalone drone simulator, dedicated to the magic of the smallest class of drones. The simulator will use the latest Liftoff physics developments, modern graphics, a slick and up-to-date user experience, six unique micro drones, drone customisation, three realistic environments in two variations each (providing 6 different experiences), different game modes such as Race, Hoverdrone Race, Freeflight and Party Popper. The Early Access version will feature single player and multiplayer experience.
Additional drones, parts, environments, game modes and features are expected to be added as free updates later on. Additionally, features expected for the future full release are a dedicated tutorial, more game modes, a track builder and a progression system."
Direct Link
They confirmed the Early Access price will be €14.99 or whatever your equivalent is (no other currency mentioned).
You can follow it on Steam.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
I hope they'll implement robust support for gyro controls.Uhm, IDK, I consider Liftoff a sim. I use it for training and I don't think I'll even attempt fly a race quad with gyro _ever_. If somebody manages to fly in acro/airmode with gyro - respect.
Are there people playing this without owning a quadcopter?
Last edited by poisond on 5 November 2021 at 5:05 pm UTC
Philadelphus Nov 5, 2021
I use it for training and I don't think I'll even attempt fly a race quad with gyro _ever_. If somebody manages to fly in acro/airmode with gyro - respect.
Do quad controllers (until the Deck is released) generally have gyro? Gyro in game controllers is increasingly becoming a thing to overcome the dead zone problem: no dead zone makes controls too twitchy, and too large a dead zone makes controls imprecise; tuning that to work well for everyone is a tricky task.
Are there people playing this without owning a quadcopter?
I expect that's their plan; quadcopters are pretty niche, but the gaming market is huge.
Interesting, I've been contemplating FPV drones recently, but can't quite afford a new hobby for a few months and everything I've seen says to get as much time as possible in on a simulator first. Hadn't heard of this studio before, but maybe this would be a cheaper way to find out if I'm actually interested in FPV flying.
Yeah, if you manage to learn acro mode in Liftoff you're good to fly the real thing.
It is an an expensive hobby but fun and addictive. The initial costs for FPV goggles+TX are steep.
If the quads are expensive depends if you go analog or DJI.
You do also need at least basic electronics equipment (soldering station, multi-meter) and quite a lot of reading.
Last edited by poisond on 5 November 2021 at 6:34 pm UTC
Do quad controllers (until the Deck is released) generally have gyro?If you mean RC transmitters: no.
Some toy/DJI video drones do support gyro controls via mobile phone, but there is absolutely zero relation to race quads.
Those toy/video drones use autolevel mode.
Race/Freestyle pilots fly manual (aka acro/air mode) in order to be able to perform the maneuvers because it's impossible in autolevel mode.
You'd need 2 gyro controllers or use a stick+gyro because you manually control thrust+yaw+pitch+roll in acro mode.
I just gave it a try with a steam controller, gyro for pitch+roll, stick for thrust+yaw. Absolutely zero chance I'd be able to pull it off ^^
You'd need 2 gyro controllers or use a stick+gyro because you manually control thrust+yaw+pitch+roll in acro mode.The idea of gyro in a game controller (other than the Wii) is that it's a supplement to other controls, doubling up something else, rather than a sole means of control. To allow fine control that would otherwise be clamped by the dead zone.
I just gave it a try with a steam controller, gyro for pitch+roll, stick for thrust+yaw. Absolutely zero chance I'd be able to pull it off ^^
I wonder why this isn't simply a Liftoff DLC.
I hope they'll implement robust support for gyro controls.Uhm, IDK, I consider Liftoff a sim. I use it for training and I don't think I'll even attempt fly a race quad with gyro _ever_. If somebody manages to fly in acro/airmode with gyro - respect.
Are there people playing this without owning a quadcopter?
Me too…
I use Liftoff with my Taranis X9D+ (most of the time I use it for micro/nano quadcopters with an RX4 Plus module).
Last edited by Bogomips on 5 November 2021 at 8:48 pm UTC
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