2009.259 (September 16, 2009)

New Achievement System for Standoff Simulator

In the weeks since Standoff Episode 5 was released, PopsiclePete has been working hard to add a cool new achievement system to the mission simulator. You earn bronze, silver or gold ribbons for successfully completing a mission. Star medals are awarded for exceptional performance, and there are even a few mission-specific awards thrown in. A few ways to earn star medals:

Quick Ace: chain 5 quick kills
Every Shot Counts: maintain a gun accuracy of 70% or better in a successful mission
Solo flying: player is credited with 100% of the kills in a successful mission

Check out the updated play guide for more information on these new features. If you're new to Standoff or its online scoreboards, the guide will also explain how to get started.

Rocky Exoplanet Discovered

Scientists in Spain today announced the discovery of planet Corot-7b. Although there have been several suspected terrestrial worlds discovered outside the solar system, this is the first to be reliably confirmed and the most similar to Earth. Its size is about three times Earth's diameter without about five times the mass, but the planet's extremely tight orbit puts surface temperatures on the sunward side at about 3600 degrees Fahrenheit. Meanwhile it's far below freezing on the planet's dark side. The European Southern Observatory has released an image of what it might look like from Corot-7b's orbit.