As of now, the only news we've had about future Jundroo projects is the following statement:
You might ask "is the next major project SimplePlanes 2?" Great question! That's a very strong contender and there are other ideas that we are very excited about as well. The team has been focusing on researching and developing core technologies that can be used in future games.
While it does tease the idea of SP2, it's far from a definite confirmation. As this is all of the information we have, I've felt inclined to speculate a little.
A sequel to SimplePlanes would need to be not only a straight upgrade, but also do something different not only in terms of setting but also in terms of base mechanics (this isn't an EA game, remember). The question is, what? A new map and new places to explore, sure, but there would have to be something more than that, some drastic improvement or upgrade in the way that crafts are actually built.
All three of Jundroo's most successful sandbox games (SimpleRockets, SimplePlanes, and Juno: New Origins) have relied on a block-based craft building system, as do many other vehicle-oriented sandbox games. It's a system that by now the team has a ton of experience with (and is usually easy for players to understand and work with). However, if we assume for a moment that SimplePlanes 2 would use a similar block-based system, we run into a problem: What would be different? Better shaping methods and more ways of adjusting parts, sure, but J:NO already has that, and I think it's a logical assumption to make that SP2 would not simply use the same mechanics as J:NO (at that point, just add more plane parts to Juno and make that be SP2).
I don't know what else could be done to the existing building system (other than "making it better," which isn't particularly informative) that J:NO hasn't already taken into account in some form or another. Precision corner shaping? Done. Ability to stretch/extrude individual faces in all six directions? Done. Easy resizing and shaping? Done. There's only so much you can do with a block-based system, and I think J:NO achieves most of it, which leaves very little room for SP2 to do something new and different in that area.
That being said, one element that could be greatly improved (that even J:NO hasn't touched on to any great extent) would be the internal components of the crafts, things like fuel lines and electrical wiring. This would add a whole new level of complexity to the game (probably meaning that it would not, in fact, be "SimplePlanes 2," but instead be named something else), and in my opinion would be a very neat element of vehicle design (take Stormworks for example, but not quite that block-based). This, however, is something that to my knowledge the Jundroo team has really not delved too deeply into, which means that it would require a significant amount of time to develop properly (though they do hint at developing "core technologies" for future games, so there's something new in the works at any rate!).
Moving past the designer, what about gameplay? In my opinion, SimplePlanes 2 would need to be a lot less "simple" in order to offer a truly new and interesting experience for rookie and veteran players alike, even outside of the designer. Whether this means more accurate physics (wing vortex simulation?), better combat mechanics (actual heat-seeking missiles, more detailed damage modeling), or advanced systems management (fuel control, engine temperature management, etc.), there would need to be something deeper and more complex, but not so complicated that it drives away newer players. What that will be, I have no idea.
Take Juno: New Origins, for example. For those of you who didn't play it, SimpleRockets 1 was a two-dimensional (you read that right, two-dimensional!) rocket sandbox where you snapped basic components together to create vaguely rocket-like directed explosives. You could do things like docking and orbital stuff (and even visit other planets), but it was closer to something like Into Space than something like Kerbal Space Program. J:NO, on the other hand, is a huge leap forward from SR1 (so much so that they renamed it!), and SimplePlanes 2 would, in my opinion, have to make similar leaps in order to attract a significant playerbase. However, avoiding overlap with J:NO in this regard would be rather difficult given how in-depth even the atmospheric simulations are in the latter game.
In short (for the high percentage of y'all that just scrolled to the bottom), I don't think the next Jundroo game will be SimplePlanes 2 for the simple reason that they have set the bar so high with SP and J:NO that I'm not sure they can make a dedicated SimplePlanes sequel different enough that it doesn't overlap either of the other two games.
I have never been so happy to be proven wrong
Does this mean that there won't be a SimplePlanes 2? Absolutely not, I have no idea what the folks at Jundroo are planning (the last time I talked to any of them directly was a bug report email chain in 2021). This is just my opinion, and I'd like to hear what y'all have to say on the subject!
@HuskyDynamics01
Thanks for that. Good to hear your opinion on it. I certainly hope it is sp2.
@TheMouse SP2 has definitely become a very strong contender based on today's info, though given how small the Jundroo team is, I'm not expecting a full new game to drop tomorrow (though it's certainly a possibility). Whatever's happening, it's definitely specific to SimplePlanes because the same date is not present on the Juno: New Origins site. I'm very excited to see what we get tomorrow!
Based on the current situation (read this) do you still believe this to be the case? If so, what is your opinion on this situation?
Simplewheels 2/3 counting 2015 (or was it the 2016 one that was second?)
@KingOfTypos The only issiue with a “make anything” kind it of game is the overlap it would have with current SimplePlanes or Juno. I think the next game should be more focused on a narrower category and make that category amazing.
A good question.
As one of the older members in the community, I have a somewhat different perspective. It doesn't matter what changes they implement; as a game developer, you will guide the SimplePlanes community to something that makes sense. This transition has already been subtly hinted at through Jundroo's quiet promotion of 'Juno-New Origin.' Personally, I'd appreciate if the outdated game design mechanics in SimplePlanes could be updated similarly to Juno, offering more practical features in the game designer. That way, we'd have less FT code to deal with later on... but realistically, it's unlikely to happen. The future of SimplePlanes is uncertain, one way or another.
"As a realistic optimist, I believe that in one way or another, SimplePlanes' days are numbered."
@BeastHunter as for me... Since the game is all about building anything you want now... Why not "replica" or "modelling" oriented type of game? From bicycles, to cars, to tanks, to planes, to cargo planes, to ships to space ships, Anything. And key features the successor game will have from its predecessor is the Funky Trees and mods (now ingame features) like Finetuner and Overload. Most of us are used to using it by now afterall.
Actually there's amble room for SP2 your looking from an aviation prospective let's look in the wider sense of Ships, Tanks and wherever the human mind can possibly think of sometimes when people are narrow minded they don't see how to expand on new ideas that can lead into something much much bigger and better and whilst yes sr2 does have almost everything that sp has but SP 2 could take on a role of what SR2 is in its own version but also as to what @AngularMomentum has said people are angry at stormworks devs but that by the sounds of things is a tad weird there but if SP was to have a similar thing to stormworks well just imagine what we could have and SR2 doesn't have missles, bombs rockets ect... @HuskyDynamics01
Given that the Stormworks community is gradually getting angrier with their devs, a maritime-based game might be good.
And Jundroo have been putting a lot of time into adding aircraft parts to Juno, so I’m uncertain that another aircraft-oriented game seems unlikely.
@RepublicOfCursedPlanes that would unironically ruin any development.
FT isn’t something you can just go back from. While only available to the most advanced players, removing it?
Yeah, I don’t care how otherwise developed your game might be, you cannot simply remove the most versatile sandbox feature ever added and call it an upgrade.
I feel like with all this in mind maybe a new Juno game then? Because Juno now isn’t related to SR or SP it’s more a mix of both I guess. It’s an aerospace engineering game so it would make sense to build upon both fan bases
I do think SP2 is just the most logical path though because most of Jundroo’s fan base is here
@MRM19 👀
@HuskyDynamics01 Solution: Simple trains
cant wait for the new ComplicatedPlanes
With tons and tons of experience in programming that Jundroo has from years of making games, jundro now is long past the small team of dudes trying to make games and now is in fact a medium indie developer.
Jundroo should now try something more advanced, similar to Keen software house's Space Engineers.
Honestly its hard to predict what they are doing. I hope it's not Aero Effect 2, thought
@Pnut Ocean mod: "Am I a joke to you?"
I wish they make simpleboats with huge waves ingame, that'll be so cool
I think that the ways to make the game different from the first one or JNO is through more realistic flight simulation, such as flight plans, ATC, and other things similar to true flight simulation games, and also better combat mechanics and realistic dogfighting. If not SimplePlanes 2, I hope for something like SimpleTanks.
@Graingy they’ll likely abolish FT
My opinion is that it’ll either be everything at once, or a purely ground vehicle-oriented game
“SimplePlanes 2 would need to be a lot less "simple" in order to offer a truly new and interesting experience”
FunkyTrees is rapidly approaching critical mass