Greetings Pilots! Heliborne is getting closer to the release, the Date will be announced very soon. Almost everything that we’ve promised to add during the Early Access stage has been implemented already. Just a few things will be left after the update 0.73, like a single player campaign, soundtrack and updated sounds, several new helicopters, and some other changes.
The Update 0.73 introduces a new game element, a very important one — Progression System. From now on most of the helicopters will be locked at the beginning. You’ll need to play and earn progression points to unlock helicopters and new modification. We’ve been testing the progression system a lot to be both challenging and fun. Although you don’t have everything on a plate from the very start, you should be able to unlock something new literally after every battle. We really hope it will bring more players to battles and make you Heliborne experience more satisfying. Please let us know what you think about it and how do you find the speed and difficulty of the progression: fast/easy, slow/difficult, or just perfect. [quote]What about experience points (=military ranks) you have already earned, you would ask? They will be transformed into progression points! It means that those of you who’ve been playing Heliborne recently will receive a certain amount of points in exchange for military rank. You will be able to spend them right away.[/quote]
Many players asked whether it is possible to play Heliborne without an internet connection. Now it is — the update 0.73 features the Offline Mode! Single player campaign, when released, will be available in Offline Mode as well.
Apart from that, we’ve introduced first 24 camouflages (more will be added on release), kill assist, new hangar music (thanks to NicerDicer!), in-lobby battle timer, bonuses for finishing battles, and more.

0.73 Changelog:

• progression system
• first 24 camouflages added to progression (more on release)
• squadron repair bonus: you will get faster repair time with squadron which does not utilize more than half of available points
• offline start - you can start the game without an internet connection
• ATGM launch warning - you will have a warning now when ATGM is launched in your direction, also there is possibility to have additional info about where is ATGM coming from, depends if it shot from forward, side or back
• top ATGM max speed is reduced a bit
• now you need soldiers and vehicles inside landing zone give 50% of capture points for top team point bar, instead of 100% given if both are present
• ATGM bug where it exploded on launch was fixed
• mortar stuck inside landing zone bug fixed
• helicopter tilt and strafe when rotating in hover changed - should make less movement
• RPG accuracy on ground targets significantly improved
• RPG accuracy on air targets reduced
• rifleman accuracy reduced
• using spotting you can now mark soldiers for friendly vehicles to shoot from bigger distances
• using spotting you can now mark soldiers for friendly door gunners to shoot from bigger distances
• squadrons now won't be destroyed when helicopter squad prices are changed, but they will be marked as an invalid squadron and you can fix them
• Mi-24P main gun and AH-1G Vulcan gun now have recoil, also Mi-24P main gun now does not have forced burst
• all guns and bullets were changed according to feedback from new damage system
• some rockets were changed according to feedback from module damage system
• tail module now takes more damage before being "critted" comparing to other models
• AA fire should be a bit more accurate and a bit more powerful according to feedback from module damage system
• some reward point values are changed for PvP and Coop
• you now will receive a significant reward for a win or defeat in PvP battles, win in Coop battles and first win of the day in any type of battle
• rank point criteria are changed, generally, ranks are now harder to obtain than before, but not very hard
• in the coop, neutral LZ's should not be suddenly captured by enemies if a player is in close vicinity to it
• added point reward for kill assist
• stealing "spot" is now impossible if you "spot" enemies which are currently are under "spot" effect from someone else - you will just prolong the spot effect, you need to "spot" enemies which are not spotted atm to get spotting reward
• lobby battle UI now shows timer till the end of a battle
• heat seeking missiles now have smaller than before (~45% smaller, but still pretty wide, locking sector)
• UI changes
• new hangar/menu melody - thanks to NicerDicer!

Team JetCat