Meet PIP, the cyber-gull who flies with you
From today every pilot gets a pet. It starts as an egg in the corner of your screen and ends, if you keep flying, as a gold-lit Ace with a jetpack. Its name is PIP until you give it a better one.
The egg
Take off once and an egg turns up next to your minimap. Catch any aircraft or ship to warm it. A warm egg hatches on the next UTC day: fly in, the egg is waiting with a "!" over it, and the hatch plays right there next to the map. Then you name it, up to 16 characters.
The egg lives on your account, so it waits for you on any device, and the bell tells you when it's ready. Flying as a guest you get an egg too, but it only hatches after you sign in. Your catches come with you, so the egg is already warm when you do.
The wingman
PIP flies beside your gull or drone, a little behind, and catches up after turns. You choose the side and the height on its card. When you land it stands next to you, on the ground, on a roof or on the water.
It cheers every catch, and not always the same way. An aircraft gets a plane in its bubble and a rising whoosh. A ship gets a ship and a low two-note horn. The rarer the catch, the bigger the move and the brighter the colours, up to a crown and a fanfare for legendary ones. Tap PIP, press H in flight or tap the heart on its chip to pet it; three quick ones make it loop.
Five stages
PIP grows with the new cards you catch while it flies with you: Chick, Scout at 10, Radio at 40, Navigator at 120 and Ace at 300. Each stage adds gear (an antenna, a headset and chest radar, a visor, then the Ace's jetpack, golden lights and light trail). Every catch that counts sends a "+1" into PIP and fills the ring on its chip. A new stage opens a celebration window and rings the bell.
If you already have a big collection, those catches count up to Radio. From there PIP grows with you.
Seen by others
Other pilots see your PIP flying next to you, gear and all, and your profile shows its name and stage. If PIP isn't for you, hide it from its card or in Settings → General. It stops growing while it's hidden and comes back as it was when you switch it on.
Questions and ideas are welcome on Discord. Next we're working on colours for PIP, earned by stage, by the countries you've flown to and by your rank.