- Inter Solar 83 Kickstarter is now live! - 12 November 2023
I'm very please to announce that the Kickstarter is now live! Grab a discounted copy of the game, get in the credits, get involved with development! This will run for just 30 days so get over and stake your claim to one of the amazing rewards available exclusively to backers. CLICK HERE! https://kickstarter.com/projects/1280672150/inter-solar-83
- New Company, New Game, New Kickstarter! - 11 September 2023
I'm very pleased to announced that finally, after many years, I am finally setting up the games company I always dreamed of! First Time Games Ltd is now the official home of Go For Launch, and also my new VR Exclusive title - Inter Solar 83! Building on everything I learned from making GFL:Mercury I have been working on this new VR space sim for quite some time. Breaking new ground and developing a truly breathtaking simulation of space. (its my hope this too could feed into future Go For Launch titles...). Go For Launch was "launched" originally by the support of crowd fund backers, if you would like to be a part of this next chapter of VR gaming then you can sign up for updates on the kickstarter launch right here! - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1280672150/inter-solar-83 And VR users can try the demo out right here! - https://store.steampowered.com/app/2098920/Inter_Solar_83/…
- 32bit version now available in betas tab - 15 November 2022
Hi all, many thanks for the patience while I put this build together. Some people have been finding that the game no longer launches at all. This seems to be some sort of conflict between recent Nvidia drivers and older version of unity (GFL is built in unity 5... the old girl has been going since 2015!). Some people have reported that the only version which now works was an old 32 bit build I created way back. So with that in mind I have now recompiled and optional version of the current build as a 32bit exe. This should have all of the features and graphics of the regular 64bit This can be found in the betas tab. Hopefully this will help some/all users get the game going again. Its hugely frustrating for me as well as you when an outside element, like video drivers, breaks the game... in the long term I hope Nvidia simply fix whatever unstable element is causing the bug, in the short…
- Hotfix - 8 July 2021
Hi all, hotfix is now live! This should fix update errors. Please contact directly or via community hub if there are any further issues. Many thanks joe
- Hotfix coming shortly! - 8 July 2021
Hi all, just a quick message to say I'm awware of the issue effecting some players unable to update. This was reported by the fantastic AViTSCJ (thanks!). Please stand by!
- Performance and bug fix update. - 25 June 2021
Todays patch should hopefully improve performance on some machines by streamlining the way textures and sounds are accessed by the game. In addition there are various minor bug fixes to correct crashes and memory issues.
- Version 11 now live! - Huge performance update + in-game manual - 26 September 2020
Hi all, sorry for the delay, I've spent a little longer with this update than I initially planned. This was supposed to be just a small update to add the new in-cockpit manual to the game, but I decided to also do a lot of back end work to the code and resources, overhauling a lot (hundreds) of assets to give some improvement to framerate, and, hopefully a really masive improvement to loading times! Depending on your system you shouldn't have to endlessly watch an hour glass listening to Kenedy and should transition much more swiftly to the capsule. There are also various other minor tweaks. I'd like to thank everyone for their continued support on this project, it's been a strange year with a lot of factors preventing any rapid development (who knew I'd need to be a home school teacher and preschool rolled into one!) but, hopefully the world will get back to normal before long. The nex…
- Quick Start Guide now available in Steam Guides! - 1 July 2020
Hi all, Steam didn't like me hosting a pdf via their forum, so I've uploaded a copy of the quick start manual to the Guides section. I'm working on also adding it to the cockpit. Joe
- Coming out the other side! - 14 June 2020
Hi all, I hope you are all safe and well in these strange times! Just a quick update to say that I am now back on partial development, family is recovered and some restrictions are now lifted in my country (UK) which has taken some burden away with lack of childcare / homeschooling. Things still aren't ideal in terms of available hours, so, in the short term, I have decided to put out a series of smaller patches, rather than hold out for larger content updates. The next patch, out soon, will add a much needed basic manual to the game, covering keyboard shortcuts, controller buttons etc and a very brief outline of the spacecraft dashboard modules. This will be in the form of a pop-up overlay for regular monitor play, and a physical in-game object in VR. After this I will push out smaller patches addressing individual items (like fixing that damn descent dial!). Very sorry for any stress…
- Update on development during Covid-19 outbreak. - 30 March 2020
Hi all, Just to say development is currently on hold for this title during the outbreak. Me, my wife and our 2 young children are all recovering from the virus. In addition to this all of our nation's schools have been closed for the foreseeable furture which means I am now a home tutor full time. I hope you can appreciate that, at present, caring for my family is my one and only priority. I'll be picking this back up once the world returns to normal. Joe
- Version 0.10 Live! (again) - 27 January 2020
Hi all, Version 10 is now hopefully fixed and is once again set as the default version of the game! It was a tiny bit of code, but it took a while to track down! Happy landings!
- Temporary Roll Back While Creating Hot Fix - 24 January 2020
Hi all, The update to the new Aurora 7 mission went great!... but unfortunately it's broken some of the other missions. While I work on a hotfix patch for it I have restored version 0.9 as the default as it is in much better shape. If you want to fly the Aurora 7 mission you can still access version 0.10 from the steam beta menu. Apologies for the bugs, I'll get them crushed asap!
- Version 0.10.0 Now Live! - 20 January 2020
Hi all, Very glad to say that the Aurora 7 mission is now flyable! It's taken me a lot longer than I'd hoped due to NASA losing all the audio recordings! I have managed to piece some of the mission audio together from the partial files they have, sadly the audio is not complete, but it's as good as it gets until a better source turns up (the NASA history office didn't seem to know 2 hours were missing from their recordings!). Changes Added Aurora 7 capsule and flight. Adjusted terrain settings for lighting. Fixed major bug where star field moved incorrectly from cockpit view. Fixed texture bugs. Various simulation bugs patched.
- Progress report and road map to Beta - 1 October 2019
Hi all, Just checking in as I'm sure you're all wondering when the next update is out! I've had a few setbacks with both the code, the source material and real life for the new Aurora 7 mission but I'm back on track and currently working on the mission audio. I really hope to have this out soon as I want to get on to the remaining capsules. The last year has been a massive slog with less than I hoped to show for it so I'm keen to up the pace a little! I have also been doing a lot of the admin side of things, including working out when to push the project from alpha to beta, and then set it as "released" on steam (rather than early access). This is important moving forward as, currently, GFL only sells a couple of copies a month as it's hidden away in the Early Access backwaters. More sales means more freedom to work without having to pick up other work to pay the bills!...so you can ima…
- The next capsule. - 4 August 2019
https://cdn.steampulse.org/steam/asset?u=https%3A%2F%2Fsteamcdn-a.akamaihd.net%2Fsteamcommunity%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fclans%2F27211808%2F20d6a766acc540774bb8e9cee4f1483dece15887.jpg While I'm still working on the mission control feature in the background, I've switched the main focus of development to adding the next capsule (Aurora 7) to the game. It's likely the next patch will be the Aurora mission and some bug fixes, tweaks and polish. This is probably my favourite of all the artwork painted on the Mercury capsules! https://cdn.steampulse.org/steam/asset?u=https%3A%2F%2Fsteamcdn-a.akamaihd.net%2Fsteamcommunity%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fclans%2F27211808%2F45217c92eef72f2c0ed67ae968cdc69a4cdb3b61.jpg
- Checking in on development - 25 June 2019
Hi all, Just checking in to say development is continuing and going well, I'm very pleased to have started the ground work on a new, major feature of the game - Mission control! Rather than having any sort of overlay or HUD I really wanted a way to display various bits of flight data and info without breaking immersion. Once this feature is implemented you will be able to switch between the cockpit (pilot view) and an authentic recreation of the Mercury Mission Control Center (flight director view). I'll check back in with more updates as this stage progresses! Thanks again for all the great support. https://cdn.steampulse.org/steam/asset?u=https%3A%2F%2Fsteamcdn-a.akamaihd.net%2Fsteamcommunity%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fclans%2F27211808%2F4ab3e0c155417d4f771720533bfc4d62f4e6a3bb.jpg
- Version 0.9.0 Now Live! - 12 May 2019
You can now update and play with the new earth graphics overhaul. https://cdn.steampulse.org/steam/asset?u=https%3A%2F%2Fsteamcdn-a.akamaihd.net%2Fsteamcommunity%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fclans%2F27211808%2Fdf74c99bb05e8caa9e83de3c1479f0a28cc1bfba.jpg This patch adds far more detailed and advanced texturing to the planet and atmosphere. Please note these changes may be more demanding on systems, however they are scaled by the detail level setting of the game. https://cdn.steampulse.org/steam/asset?u=https%3A%2F%2Fsteamcdn-a.akamaihd.net%2Fsteamcommunity%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fclans%2F27211808%2F4ec740b7eba81d410862a3a2a4d0f4224507bcb2.jpg If you have any problems with this patch the previous version (0.8.0) is available in the beta menu. The patch also contains some bug fixes, although I still have others I will address in the next patch. Now to move on to adding a few more features to the game! https://cdn.steampulse.org/steam/asset?u=https%3A%2F%2Fsteamcdn-a.akamaihd.net%2Fsteamcommunity%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fclans%2F27211808%2F309d5cce96acfb401100efdbc133e7e861a12a78.%25E2%2580%25A6
- Next patch not far away! - 13 March 2019
Hi all, just checking in to say the next patch is coming along nicely and wont take too much longer. https://cdn.steampulse.org/steam/asset?u=https%3A%2F%2Fsteamcdn-a.akamaihd.net%2Fsteamcommunity%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fclans%2F27211808%2F31c2dd25bedb7a8fe2a07fd1819f6020b611ca00.jpg This update will greatly improve the terrain rendering and cloud graphics to give you a more impressive orbit. Also various bug fixes and tweaks. Once this update is done I will look at adding some new content/features for the next one. Hold tight!
- A sneak peek at what's to come in the next patch! - 31 January 2019
Hi all, Hopefully folk are enjoying the newly revamped Freedom 7 mission (many thanks for the bug reports...all added to the list!). https://cdn.steampulse.org/steam/asset?u=https%3A%2F%2Fsteamcdn-a.akamaihd.net%2Fsteamcommunity%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fclans%2F27211808%2Fcddb1f39e292f23026ac05ed6fb3202ba67ca960.jpg https://cdn.steampulse.org/steam/asset?u=https%3A%2F%2Fsteamcdn-a.akamaihd.net%2Fsteamcommunity%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fclans%2F27211808%2Fdcabe4c45eaf5672fb716d09bbd40f8de6944549.jpg As a the developer of this game I am in the unique position of seeing features well before they arrive on your screens (or headsets!) so I thought I'd share a couple of shots of how the terrain and clouds are currently looking from here! While a great deal of time has been spent on the interior of the capsule, it's always bothered me that my planet terrain just wasn't as nice as I wanted it (although the current globe's texture has a resolution of 130,592 x 85,296!) so I'm working on making everything crisper, bumpier…
- Version 0.8.0 Now Live! Freedom 7 Full Mission. - 21 January 2019
https://cdn.steampulse.org/steam/asset?u=https%3A%2F%2Fsteamcdn-a.akamaihd.net%2Fsteamcommunity%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fclans%2F27211808%2F490afb8cc83b77e6d76461aa97dea9fed7add569.jpg I'm very pleased to say that the re-write of the back end code is now complete and Freedom 7 is now updated in line with the other missions (rather than the old version taken from the demo) to include... Full checklists Reentry Splashdown New Code Graphics tweaks Texture fixes The biggest changes are behind the scenes with the entire mission being completely re-built from the ground up using the same framework as the Liberty and Friendship missions. This means, moving forward, any changes made to one capsule will automatically take effect on all the others. Plotting out the next update this week as there are a few options for which content I want to add next. If you encounter any game breaking bugs please let me know. Version 0.7.0 is still available via steam beta. H…
