F.A.Q.

[epic.photongames]

Here’s some answers to the most often asked questions I’ve seen. I’ll do my best to keep this info up to date as things change. All of this info is subject to change, and any future plans have no specific timeline associated with them.

• What’s the release date?
  
  Lakehopper will release into Early Access on March 30th! The Open Playtest is available to join right now!
  
  
• Is this a flight sim or a more casual flying game?
  
  Lakehopper is first and foremost a flight sim. The flight dynamics are complex and can be rather challenging. I’ll continue to improve the aerodynamic modeling as development progresses. The goal is to provide a rich flight model grounded in real world physics. A successful flight is not guaranteed.
  
  
• Does Lakehopper support my flight sim peripherals/HOTAS/yoke/throttle/etc.?
  
  Yes! I’ve made sure that from the start, Lakehopper works with the yokes, joysticks, gamepads, rudder pedals, throttles, etc. that seasoned flight simmers will want to use. There’s a control rebind menu in the settings, with support for axis invert and deadzone config. I plan to improve the ability to configure the controls over time, but the bare minimum to smoothly play with all variety of setups is already present in the game.
  
  
• What are the weird engines on the plane?
  
  The current plane in Lakehopper has a fictional hydrogen-electric powertrain. It generates power from a hydrogen fuel cell (relying on battery storage is far too heavy for most planes) to drive two electric motors. My goal is for these systems to be as complex, intricate, and interesting as an internal combustion engine setup. This change is related to in-game lore, that will be added to the game as development continues. I’m also not ruling out the option to include other powertrains and engine/motor configs that can be swapped in and out by the player.
  
  
• Are you going to add more planes?
  
  Yes! The next plane I plan to add (at some point, no set timeline) will be a single engine float plane as an alternative, less complex plane to start with instead of the multi-engine flying boat that’s in the game at the moment. You won’t be locked to the plane you start with and will be able to swap as desired, once we get to that point. Farther in the future, I have my eye on a few larger seaplanes I’d like to add to the game, but I have no timeline on doing so at the moment.
  
  
• Will you support modding?
  
  Yes! It’ll take some technical work from me, and the game will probably need to be in a more stable state before that really begins. But, I do want to do all I can to support and cultivate a rich modding community. Everyone has their distinct tastes and preferences, and I want to support players being able to add the wide variety of planes, parts, systems, and more that they’re passionate about.
  
  
• How much will the game cost?
  
  The price at launch will be $9.99 USD, with a launch discount to $7.99 for a week. I’ll be using Steam’s recommendations for regional pricing. As the game develops and more content and game mechanics are added, the price will go up, but remain reasonable. I’ll give advance notice of any price increases in the future.
  
  
• Will there be combat/fighter jets/military aircraft?
  
  No, Lakehopper is focused on civil and general aviation. There are tons of amazing combat sims out there, and I wanted a game with rich game mechanics, focused on navigation, exploration, community, and the more “everyday” side of aviation.
  
  
• Will Lakehopper be multiplayer?
  
  No, at least not for a long long time. I’d love to include it as a feature, but the reality is that it takes a lot of time and resources to get this right, especially in a way that meets my high standards for a bug free, non-janky experience. I’d love to eventually add multiplayer, but it’s such a huge effort, it’s nowhere on my roadmap right now.
  
  
• Will weather be added?
  
  Yes! Making decisions about whether it’s safe to fly, diverting around storm systems, setting personal minimums, and the conflict between safety and “getting the job done” is a huge part of aviation decision making and will add a ton of depth to the flying in the game. It’s high on my priorities list, but I want to add it as a complete and interesting game mechanic, along with ways the player can get info about the weather, so it feels like a part of the world, not just an annoying obstacle.
  
  
• Will there be time passage/a day-night cycle?
  
  Yes! Like weather, time adds a lot of interesting decisions about flying, especially in the world of Lakehopper, with its rugged terrain and wide expanse of wilderness. Like weather, I want to add this as a coherent part of the world, not a tacked on feature that only gets in your way.
  
  
• Will there be more jobs and quests?
  
  Yes. Right now, the jobs system is pretty simple, and involves taking individual packages from place to place. Eventually, cargo jobs will get more complex, we’ll add passenger jobs, time-sensitive tasks, as well as jobs and quests that don’t directly involve flying, like repair jobs.
  
  
• Are you really a solo developer?
  
  Yep! I’ve been building the game on and off since June of 2023, and full time since November 2024. All models, code, writing, and game design are done by yours truly. This may change in the future, but I’ve got no specific plans to expand to a bigger team.
  
  
• How does crashing effect the plane?
  
  Right now, the only penalty is getting stuck in the middle of nowhere. In future updates, crashes, hard landings, bumping into stuff, will effect the condition of the plane. Once I add crash detection, for a bad enough crash, you could get rescued and towed/hauled back to a nearby community to begin the repairs to get back in the air. If you do crash or get stuck right now, you can either load a previous save, or use the “Recover Plane” debug option in the pause menu to move the plane back to the water.
  
  
• What’s the terrain? Are there different biomes?
  
  The terrain is based on real world terrain, specifically the Coast Mountains of western Canada. The difference being that the sea level has been raised by a mile. You end up with the sort of rugged, mountainous terrain that could only be properly served by a seaplane. The textures are then procedurally assigned based on the new elevation and slope, with some randomness thrown in for texture. As of now, most areas look pretty similar, though there are some places where the landscape is distinctly different. I hope to improve and add more interest to the terrain, such as trees and other foliage. However, that’s been a huge technical challenge that will have to be a future priority. It’s unlikely that there will be a ton of super diverse biomes, as the map represents one specific region and I want the scale to stay as close to feeling 1:1 as possible.

I’ll update this info as it changes, and add more answers to questions as needed!

[Kubo]

Fun concept of game,keep up the good work.

[finnkers]

this game looks awesome

[IConIC HawKz]

Thank you for the PlayTest. So far, i am really enjoying the concept. It is challenging to understand if you start on Default, but Quick Start made it so much easier to understand where everything went. The checklist is very well laid out. I started the engines with a bit too much throttle and ran it into the mountain before i was ready to take off. Overall, I love the challenge and craftsmanship of building the aircraft before your journey. It shows that a lot of effort is placed into this game especially from a solo creator. This game is showing great potential in such an early stage. I know it is only going to continue to get better from here. Thank you again for allowing me to test this awesome game.

[Ricky]

tried it batterie wont even charged... plane take ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ 6week before it decide he wanna ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ fly 2/10

[itsconniedammit]

Like where it's going but struggling to get my x56 hotas to bind correctly.

[crazypanda43]

Originally posted by Ricky:

tried it batterie wont even charged... plane take ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ 6week before it decide he wanna ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ fly 2/10

i got everything to work perfectly fine, did you flip all the necessary switches?

[crazypanda43]

i couldnt seem to find any other station other than the starter one, am i just bad?

[Pelot]

Originally posted by crazypanda43:

i couldnt seem to find any other station other than the starter one, am i just bad?

yeah, if you dont set properly the course you won't find any. What i recomend is to take off, then climb a bit and turn around towards the starter station. Once above set your course towards the next station !

[Defender 28]

ok here is my feedback:
it´s a great concept but there is a lot to improve,
landing and especially starting is quite difficult,
the navigation system needs an extra explanation in the binder and the plane itself flyes like a hypersensitive brick when using a keyboard (i understand that this is a playtest so it´s completely fine),
still, building and starting the plane was fun and i already like the game, keep up with the improvememts and this might become the next MS-Flight Simulator...

[Robdoc]

Do you plan on making a community for this game on Discord or reddit or something?

[ReamedBySteem]

VR and HoTas support please.

[Robdoc]

Originally posted by ReamedBySteem:

VR and HoTas support please.

It already has pretty good hotas support. Couple small issues but completely playable

[Might be Jack]

Im super excited for this! I hope someday I can fly around with my buddies in this sim!! Keep up the good work!!

[TheBassman77]

Very fun concept for a game. One question; do you have any plans for aerial firefghting missions? The plane and terrain etc. seem perfect for that feature and pretty much no game does it justice. Anyway picking this up on release

[flashgeist]

I hope you also add headtracking support, its a great game, but feels weird to fly without headtracking