Austin Meyer of Laminar Research recently sent one of our forum members details concerning his upcoming iPhone title X-Plane Racing, which was submitted to the App Store last night.
This is X-Plane RACING, the FIRST-EVER X-Plane (for any platform, including desktop!) with timed race-courses that let you race against the computer, or your friends, in multiplayer-mode! This is the most polished and optimized version of X-Plane for iPhone yet, with a LOT of testing done on the AI and multiplayer modes!
Of course, as we always do with these types of features, we will soon apply multiplayer as a FREE upgrade to ALL the X-Plane flavors, but FIRST we are introducing it in X-Plane RACING to let everyone test it out. We will then upgrade ALL the X-Plane versions with this new technology as free upgrades as soon as it is proven for a little while in RACING.
So here is how it works: X-Plane RACING comes with 4 regions (for now.. of course we will add more in free upgrades, same as always) and 4 planes (for now.. of course we will add more in free upgrades, same as always) with a race course for each plane in each region… a total of 16 race-courses. These course are presented as ‘highway-in-the-sky’ ‘hoops’ that you fly though, racing against the clock, right alongside the AI plane. X-Plane RACING will show you the time through the course, and number of hoops missed, at the end of the race. Can you fly faster than the AI plane? Some courses race down river-valleys.. others through mountain ranges, other through clouds. Some through snow-covered rocky mountains, others through desert. My favorite is the F-15 course in Anchorage, Alaska… can you handle it? To our knowledge, this is the most realistic flight physics for any aerial racing sim ever done. Pulling these peppy WW-2 fighters, or massive jets, through the hoops in the Mach 0.5 to Mach 1.25 range at low altitude through mountains and canyons is… special.
Then, once you get the hang of racing against the computer, it is time for MULTIPLAYER: Race against your friends! Who can get through the courses fastest? Both of your times are tracked and posted. This works on both iPhone AND iPodTouch… you just need to be on the same wireless network for the phones to se each other.
There are four planes to choose from in X-Plane Racing: the F4U Coursair, the P-51 Mustang, the F-4 Phantom, and the F-15 Eagle.
Some of the other features are a tire-skidding sound that is accurately hooked up the street-racing-accurate tire-physics model, visible afterburners, and basic autopilot capabilities.
X-Plane Racing was mentioned when Laminar’s first iPhone release, X-Plane 9, hit the App Store. It’s been a long time coming but should appear in the App Store in the next couple of days. We’ll take a closer look when it goes live.
[ thanks dannys95 ]
