Like its predecessor, in SimplePlanes 2 you’ll be able to play a number of activities, ranging from races to combat challenges to some less conventional activities we’ll get into soon. Unlike SP1 though, in SP2 you’ll be able to play all of these activities in multiplayer!

Races

In SP2, there are a bunch of races for you to choose from in a variety of locations, from traditional circuit races on the Driftwood Circuit, to long sprints through a winding touge, to dangerous air races that let you thread the needle to truly off your aircraft piloting skills.

To start an activity, click the activities button in the flight scene and select something. If selecting a race, set a number of laps (if applicable), and anyone in a multiplayer game will have a chance to decide whether or not to participate, as well as change their craft to something appropriate for the task. Once in a race, it’s the familiar setup of ring checkpoints you’re used to from SP1, with some visual and quality of life improvements, such as being able to restart from the last checkpoint if you messed up (or if someone rudely bumped you off course).




(this particular gif is a blooper from a developer playtest)

Combat

To test out the lethality of your crafts, there are some combat activities to try out, best done with friends! As some of these are team-based, the in-game targeting system has been updated to allow easy differentiation between friend and foe, with allies appearing blue, enemies appearing red, and neutral crafts being green.

In Deathmatch, the goal is simple: blow up more players than everybody else. It may be advisable to bring a craft with multirole capabilities, as some players may opt to bring a ground-based anti-air vehicle rather than an aircraft, which would be rather unfortunate for anybody unprepared.

In Bomber Intercept, enemy bombers are coming to blow up the airport! Your job is to intercept and destroy them, denying them... whatever goal it is they're trying to achieve. But be careful, they've brought fighter escorts that you'll have to deal with before you have a chance to eliminate the main threat. More players in multiplayer means more bombers and escorts, so you'll have to work together to defeat them.

Wacky Stuff

Alongside the relatively conventional activities like races and Deathmatch, we have some curveballs that offer more unique gameplay.

In Mech Invasion, massive bipedal mechs are emerging from the sea to storm Driftwood Island. Equipped with energy shields, guns, and lots of health, you’re gonna need to bring all the firepower you have in order to take them down. Please note that the footage you’ll see of this activity here is of a work in progress build of the game with placeholder models for the mechs – this was actually the team’s first ever time trying Mech Invasion.

Orb Snatcher is another multiplayer-based activity like Deathmatch, but with a more interesting twist. Around the map are numerous red orbs; fly (or drive) into one and it’ll start following your craft. You can pick up as many as you want at once, with the goal being to deposit them at a set location. Sounds simple enough, however – each orb you carry adds mass and drag to your craft, and other players can steal them from you, encouraging you to ponder how many orbs are worth picking up before becoming a target for other players.

We plan to add more silly activities like these as time goes on. When it comes to SimplePlanes, nothing is ever really out of the question here...

If you like what you're seeing, please consider wishlisting SimplePlanes 2 on Steam. If you'd like to see bits of these blogs early, consider joining our Discord Server!