Into the Dawn - Jammin Games - Combat Helicopter Game

Alpha 0.3 Released!

Posted September 19, 2025 by Jamon Holmgren

After over 6 months in development, I've released Alpha 0.3 of Into the Dawn to my Discord testers!

This was a tremendous amount of work -- over 20,000 lines of code changed, most systems substantially or entirely rewritten, and a good base for the next phase of development.

Here's a video talking about 0.3 and beyond:

It's still a ways out, with a ton more work to be done. Now I can focus on adding a core gameplay loop, more features, and a proper campaign and pilot career.

0.4 will focus on the core gameplay loop. I won't have a full dynamic campaign, but you can sign up as a pilot, do a training mission, and fly missions.

If you're interested in following along, email me at my first name at jammin dot games and I'll send you an invite. Include why you're interested in joining the test group, too, please!

Progress Report after 1 year of development

Posted August 10, 2025 by Jamon Holmgren

I've been working on Into the Dawn for a bit over a year now in my free time, and making steady progress other than a few months last fall and a couple months this spring.

It's coming together and I find myself playing it for hours at a time. I even end up having to force myself to stop playing and work on it, which is unusual -- usually I find things that annoy me and I go fix them. But instead I find myself just delighted with playing it.

Note: I added a section About the Game below, so check it out. I talk about my motivations for making Into the Dawn and what it's all about.

There's a lot to go over, so I'll just list the highlights:

Major Systems Added

Damage Modeling System: HUD flickers when damaged, engines lose power, tail damage causes a steady pull to the right, smoke and fire effects from damaged sections, and damage reports are now displayed on HUD

Damage Model
Night Vision: Added a night vision mode with a fade-in effect that looks pretty cool

Night Vision
AI Gunner System: Can aim the chaingun based on your designated target
Tutorial Mode: Basic tutorial to get players started
MFD (Multi-Function Display) System: Added radar MFD, weapons MFD, damage indicator MFD, scrolling map MFD, and target view FLIR MFD
Advanced Radar: Probabilistic scanning, beeps when enemies target you, contact grouping when targets are close together
Formation Flying Logic: Massive improvements to wingmen AI and formation behavior
New Water Shader: Significantly improved water visuals
Basic VR Support: Can sit in cockpit and fly (not fully playable yet)

Visual & Audio Improvements

HUD Overhaul: More efficient rendering with fewer draw calls, removed clutter, improved target display with range indicators and view mode indicators
Large Vehicle Explosions: Spectacular destruction effects when blowing up vehicles
Targeting Squares: Visual targeting system on the HUD
Improved Rotor Effects: Visible rotor with adjusted speed for better visual appeal
Control Stick & Collective Movement: Physical cockpit controls that move with player input
Smart Camera System: Improved tracking of targets and automatic zooming

Performance & Optimization

Memory Usage: Massive 90%+ reduction from 6GB+ down to ~465MB
Binary Size: Reduced from 500MB to ~350MB
Tree Performance: 2x more efficient spawning, can now handle 2M trees
Quality Settings: Added toaster, potato, and stone age settings for lower-end machines, plus effects and shadow quality options
Auto Quality: Intelligent settings that try to maintain 60+ FPS

New Content & Assets

T-55 Tank: Added with test .50cal MG
Destructible Buildings: Including farmhouses with fire and smoke effects
Air Control Tower: Simple destructible asset
New Map: "Mist, Oregon" terrain
Bullet System Revamp: Handles multiple calibers (30cal, 50cal, 20mm, 30mm) with armor classes and penetration mechanics

...and many more small tweaks and TONS of bugfixing along the way. The game has come incredibly far in just one year of development!

New gameplay video -- AH-64D Apache Mission

Posted January 29, 2025 by Jamon Holmgren

I appreciate you checking out my in-progress game, Into the Dawn! It's a combat helicopter game, reminiscent of the amazing combat helicopter sims of the 90s, but with multiplayer, cross-platform play, modern controls...

Missions won't be quite like this video in the actual game, but this gives you a taste of what the core gameplay is like. In this case, I scattered some tanks and AA vehicles around the map.

They're all set to "Green" (inexperienced) and "Relaxed" (meaning they aren't being vigilant), so they see me very late, and fire inaccurately when they do see me.

During the actual game, you'll have to plan out routes much more carefully, fly low (under 150 feet), and approach cautiously if you want to live. If you fly high, someone will take your head off.

I also don't have any weapons in the game other than the 30mm chaingun (which I also repurposed for the AA test vehicle) and a .50cal (for the tanks). The damage model works but needs to be refined.

There's much, much more needing to be done here. For example -- trees! But for the first time, I felt like I could go fly and complete a mission myself. This was a lot of fun.

(Note: multiplayer WORKS ... I flew this one myself, but you can totally have human copilot/gunners and wingmen!)