STL 3.0.0.7 - Mobile Controls, Disconnects, & PWA

Whats been added:

• Mobile controls have been implemented, including a joystick for movement, touch-and-drag for looking around, and dedicated buttons for aiming, firing, sliding, and jumping.
• A popup now prompts players to rotate their device if they are in portrait mode on mobile.
• A network disconnect popup has been added for better error handling.
• Progressive Web App (PWA) capabilities have been introduced, allowing the STL website to function like a native app on iOS devices.

Mobile Controls

The new mobile controls feature a joystick on the left for movement and essential action buttons (jump, aim, slide, fire) on the right. Rotate the camera by dragging across the screen.

Request Rotation Popup

Mobile devices aren’t well suited for playing first-person shooters in portrait mode (vertical). When you visit the STL3 site, you’ll be prompted to rotate your screen, and you won’t be able to connect to a match until you do so.

The interface for this feature is clean and responsive—we recommend trying it out on your own phone.

The site automatically detects if you’re using a mobile browser, so if you’re playing on a PC, you won’t encounter this popup.

Network Disconnect Popup

If you leave the STL page by closing the app or your laptop, you’ll disconnect from a match after 30 seconds of inactivity. We’ve added graceful error handling to prevent you from getting stuck on the loading screen when you rejoin.

When you reconnect, your player stats will be retained if the match is still ongoing. Otherwise, you’ll be placed into a new match.

Progressive Web App (PWA) Capabilities

This is the feature we’re most excited about in this version. You can now download SuperTripLand as an app on your iOS home screen by visiting https://supertrip.land, tapping the share icon, and selecting “Add to Home Screen.” This will allow you to play the game in full-screen mode and enable us to update the game frequently without going through Apple’s App Store requirements.

However, there is a downside—frame rates are significantly limited (about one-third of the usual rate) due to Apple’s restrictions on browser functionality. We still plan to release SuperTripLand as a fully-fledged iOS app in the future to unlock higher frame rates. But for now, given our rapid iteration pace, it doesn’t make sense to deploy on the App Store since we’d be several versions ahead by the time an update is approved.

So, for the time being, we’ll continue to use the PWA approach and develop the mobile version from there.