Mind Melting Air Combat, Soviet Future Punk Monster Slaying Hey howa’ doin, FlyAwayNow here again, bringing you Q and As from the cold dystopian Soviet flavored future past and simultaneously a bombastic delivery simulator. The line between these two being, of course, aerial combat. In one: the enemy is rebellion and monstrous manifestations of creatures more horrible yet than all of the imagery of Christian reckoning. In the other? Drones and dragons and the g-force itself. We are surrounded by radical dreamers in this genre, building brick by brick new games that bring this genre of arcade flight action, in its wide gradient, to its gameplay ends of explosive, fast-paced, insanity seen only in Touhou or the rebirth of the Boomer Shooter these last few years, or the other side of the Iron Curtain, where order and politics at the End of History are as much of a threat as cancerous beings, bleeding in the streets.  Here are two of those dreamers: Yollie, and Misha, of Delivery Must Complete and Zakon . Delivery Must Complete Website Links: Linktree Who are You? I'm Yoyoyollie, but I prefer people calling me Yollie. If you call me Yoyo, I will stab you. I'm an Australian gamedev who makes games as a hobby and have been doing so for like, 5-ish years now, all for game jams. I've made 29 games as of now, but currently this game is going to be my 30th.... that is, if I don't end up doing (another) jam in the middle of making this one. You might know me from GMTK 2024 (because I was a winner, Pizzascaper, search it up). I'll do my best to make this game with the skills I learnt from making all those.  Why are you making your game and this type of game?  Honestly, the main reason I'm making this game like this is I just feel like I should make a full game by now (lol). A lot of my dev friends are moving from doing jams to making full games and I felt like I should be doing the same, so here I am. This genre in particular because I'm sick and tired of waiting for Ace Combat 8 to release. Though as you might be able to tell, I'm also a big fan of the spectacle of games like Devil May Cry / Ultrakill, plus I also like roguelikes, so I sorta just stuffed all that into the game and it works? What do you want this game to be? I absolutely want this game to be fast paced and action packed, as well as having a ton of build variety and depth in its roguelike elements. I mean, I can't be the only one who found Project Wingman's Conquest mode lackluster, right? As I design the game, I realize I'm deviating a lot from traditional acelike design (by that I mean, basically just Ace Combat and games like it) but it lets me have way more freedom in what I can do with the game, so it's a fair tradeoff. Also, I do not want this game to focus on story as much as Ace Combat does, and the story won't ever be nearly as serious. Instead, I want to dedicate all that into the gameplay, because I think a fun game is more important.  29 Game Jams and games is a lot, what’s your secret? Doing jams is really fun and somewhat addicting, and every time an interesting jam came up I'd join it and give it a shot... which ended up being like, 80 jams (though I only managed to submit to 31). Game jams are just really, really fun to participate in, especially being able to have a game idea and rock out a prototype in a weekend. I LIVE for that adrenaline rush at 2am, an hour before submissions close, finishing and building a game while battling the clock. What’s your background? When did you get started making games? Aside from messing around with scratch when very young, I basically learnt gamedev and programming entirely through game jams. I did originally start gamedev by just straight up following a tutorial series loosely for a month or so, but game jams were what really taught me how to make games. I guess, after practicing making games for jams enough, I just got good at it? Were you surprised by how much traction Delivery Must Complete, then Cloudbreaker, got when you shared it for the first time? Not at all, the first time I shared it, it got as much as most of my other twitter posts get. A couple dozen likes and a few retweets (lol). The first reddit post (and later on the first YouTube post) REALLY surprised me though. I literally did not expect the community to have that good of a reaction to the game and was very unprepared for it. Now I’m terrified of filling up the Ace Combat subreddit with posts about Delivery Must Complete instead of Ace Combat (lol). I wonder what the mods will think about that.  This game used to be called Cloudbreaker, and now it’s Delivery Must Complete. What caused the name change? Literally a day or two after I put the game up on Steam, another game that was ALSO called Cloudbreaker got put up. The other game's team had been working on their title for longer than mine at that point, so it was just a pure coincidence we both came up with the same name and published the pages at the same time. Anyways, I decided to change the name of my game so we wouldn't sabotage each other's place on search engines (also it gave me an excuse to get a redesign for the old mediocre logo for the game).  How about inspirations for Delivery Must Complete? You mentioned Ultrakill and Devil May Cry above, but anything else?   The main inspirations for the game are, of course, Ace Combat, Project Wingman, Ultrakill and Devil May Cry. I also took a lot of inspiration from Afterburner, especially the sheer speed and energy it has. I suppose the roguelike elements of the game are heavily inspired by Backpack Hero and Sephiria, with a little bit of Slay The Spire and Hades on the side. The drift and boost in the game were actually inspired by Mario Kart, funnily enough. I don't actually have a Nintendo Switch, I just thought one day, "oh, that could work in a plane game." How long do you think a run in Delivery Must Complete can last? I'm aiming for a full run from an experienced player to last somewhere around 45-60 minutes! There is still a bit of game design that will probably change a lot as I develop the rest of the game though, so it might be longer / shorter by release. What features make your roguelike experience the way it is? The biggest feature is the upgrade grid system. It ’s difficult to explain through text and it’s still WIP but it allows players to customize and improve on practically every aspect their weapons and aircraft throughout a run. Much deeper than what games like Ace Combat let you do. Aside from that, the fully procedural environments and the Slay The Spire style map are both pretty new to the genre and makes the game feel wildly different between runs. Why’d you decide to go after this crazy aesthetic for DMC? It's more like I really don't wanna do realism and stuff like other acelikes do because it takes too much effort. Plus I'm too lazy to draw any textures. This style means I just have to make a couple shaders here and there, and I'm not restrained by having to make things look feasibly realistic. I mean, I do this sorta similar visual style for a lot of my jam games because it's pretty damn fast, so I'm used to it by now -- its gotten to the point where some people I know can tell that I worked on a game just by looking at the VFX... which might mean I have a unique visual style but might also mean I'm not creative enough. Idk.  You post a lot of new features on your social media, how much more can you possibly have? I'm lucky enough to be working in a genre which already has crazy ass stuff constantly, and I'm designing the game around having a ton of variety in the content. So literally anything. I'll continue showing them off on socials though, making weird content is always very fun to do  I don't want to dig too deep but, what's going on as far as story and characters go in DMC? What are we delivering? The game will have story, characters, but most importantly, planes. No, actually, not that, the most important part of the story is what you're delivering. It's highly confidential but you gotta get it there fast, it tastes way better piping hot! Is it a pizza? No comment. Alright well what's your favorite type of pizza, unrelated to the previous question? Pineapple. Nice. Any closing thoughts or things you want to say? Wishlist the game, RIGHT NOW ON STEAM ( https://devilmayfly.com/ ). PLEASE WISHLIST I BEG YOU. Also join the Discord too if you want. ZAKON Website Links: Itch.io  | Steam  | X.com   | Who are you? My name is Misha (or Mishanya). I'm a regular shmegular software developer who is developing Zakon in my free time. Why are you making your game and this type of game? The origin story of Zakon is related to Ubisoft but not in a way that you would think. During my last year of University, I applied there for an intern or junior dev and got rejected. One of the reasons was that I didn't have a C++ project in my portfolio (which was true). So, I decided to play around with Unreal Engine and have something in my portfolio. Because I didn't know any 3D and especially modelling, I decided to go with the flying game because: A. I always liked the jets IRL and jet & vehicle games. B. It was much easier to do, in comparison with the normal 3D human-characters games. After some time though, the game grew into something much more defined and I decided to try and make it into a real video game. What do you want this game to be? Sadly, I didn't know what direction I wanted to take with Zakon for a fat while. That made a lot of the aspects feel incoherent or not well developed all together. Only somewhere late in the development I was able to shape out what Zakon is and what ideas I want to explore with it. Developing a game, for me, is a way to explore a certain idea or a topic. Usually, I have only one main idea that the whole game is structured upon: from gameplay to the story, UI, sounds, worldbuilding, etc... I've always been fascinated when videogames are using all of the available tools of this media: from the writing and cinematography during the cutscenes, sparkly VFX, gameplay input controls, etc... to the consequences of the player's actions in the world. When everything is being made with the idea of the supporting the main topic. That being said, the main topic of Zakon is "following orders". Especially now, with so many terrible conflicts in the world, we yet again are faced with the arguments surrounding "I was only following orders". It's easy to judge it while being inside our cozy houses, but it's hard to imagine what it's like to actually be a soldier and receive inhumane orders. Of course, if it were only good vs. evil there would be far fewer questions about that, but I think there are a lot of variables that have a great effect in the decision making and even in knowing that the there is a decision to be made. In a way, Zakon is just a tool to explore that. Through the game the player will have questionable mission objectives and it's up to the player to decide what to do with them. Not knowing that you can disobey is already a part of this conversation. You complete the orders? Great! The UI is going crazy in the affirmation of your actions and here, have some cool new shiny upgrades that are fun to use. You accidentally helped the protestors? Careful, your Social Score has been decreased and who knows what happens when it goes too low? Better keep it high and healthy. And the people and the officers are shaming you? Not good. You helped to stop the protests? Yay, people are cheering and happy, right? They must be happy if they are cheering? I don't want to sound all this artsy-housy pretentious guy. I'm not trying to hide it under layers of deep meanings. On the contrary, I just think we kinda lack some simple games with silly gameplay and a topic that is somewhat easy to access and digest. What are some inspirations for Zakon? I've been thinking about it for a lot but honestly, I don't think that there are many inspirations. Obviously, I take a lot of visual inspiration from Evangelion, Gundam, old PS2/PS1 games. But nothing in particular. The most "influential" were real events, such as protests in Belarus and in Russia. In both countries, after the big protests and the start of the war, there was a trend of policemen burning their uniform on video. Some of them got arrested and are still in jail AFAIK. I would say this is one of the big questions that I want to explore and maybe find an answer to in Zakon. Zakon can be a bit intimidating to get into, so, just for a short summary, what is the world of Zakon? The world of Zakon is somewhat based on the real world which had quite a few historical turns during the 19th century.  The game takes place in the capital of a country called Krasnogorie. It's an exaggerated high-tech world with old problems. I often find myself calling it "futuristic soviet punk" to give it a simple and short explanation. I've played Zakon, and it's not exactly the easiest, or most traditional of "flight" games. Do you intend it to be a harder experience? Yes, that's one of the biggest hurdles of Zakon. There is a lot to this question, but ultimately it comes down to the trade-offs of what I want from the game and what a player will experience.  From a conceptual point of view, Zakon is on the harder side: Much more dense map Non-trivial navigation Big boss fights Due to the high density of the city, I had to modify the controls to the extreme in comparison with other flight games. However, this led to a lot of frustration for the players because it doesn't feel right at the beginning. Especially if they have little experience with flight games. I received a lot of feedback from the demo about it, tried a bunch of different methods, but sadly I couldn't get anything to work properly to give the same feeling and level of control. But also there is another big point to it - my abilities. The game is clearly unpolished and lacking some of the basic QOL features. Buuuut I'm still relatively new to game development and due to the lack of experience I might not even know how to make something feel better.  That being said, the game fundamentally has a level of difficulty which I wanted. I will work on improving it and adding QOL features but I doubt I will make it easier, hopefully less frustrating though. How much farther do you have to go in development before 1.0? Ah, the famous question... And the famous answer is - hopefully not a lot. All the main things are more or less completed: all the missions are done, most of the cutscenes are done, the main systems are done, etc... So, the roadmap would be something like: Finish all the endings Improve QOL Localization UI fixes Sound fixes OST coherence Fix what needs to be fixed Balance changes Performance optimization Any closing thoughts or things you want to say? Thank you for the opportunity to speak about Zakon . I really feel grateful that my little game could bring so much attention. I appreciate everybody for their support and thank you to all who played the demo. I did not expect myself to be an indie developer and definitely did not expect Zakon to reach this level. I'm enjoying the ride and, with all the flying games that are being baked right now, am excited about the future of this genre. And remember: war bad, jets rad . About the Interviewer Matthew "FlyAwayNow" Nguyen Artwork by alice (@atrousyolks) Producer, writer, incidentally personified online as a rooster. One of the three main developers of Project Wingman and now working across the board on several other combat flight videogames, audioplays, podcasts, and books. Advocate for indie creators, fanfiction, and critical analysis of what you love. [ Bluesky  / Linkedin  / X.com ]

The rarest forms of flight in VRChat aviation Welcome to the first article in a new series, VRChat Aviation Journal. This series will be focused on discussing sets of VRChat Aviation (VRCA) worlds tied to a similar theme. We are creating this series to increase awareness of VRChat worlds and their world creators beyond a few dedicated articles on specific experiences. There is no denying that to the casual onlooker, fixed wing fighters locked in air-to-air combat is the default experience of VRChat Aviation (VRCA). Rightfully so. If you were to gather all of the worlds that use the Sacc Flight prefab to make flight possible in VRChat, it is probably not an exaggeration to say that at least 80% of them are combat focused. On the General Aviation (GA) side of things, most of those worlds are about airliners, smaller fixed-wing passenger aircraft and helicopters. In this article, I discuss a few of the smallest subsect of GA worlds: airships and gliders. The list is short but distinguished. I would like to thank fellow Skyward Flight Media staff members ' Cubeboy ' and ' Hueman ' for their assistance in flying these aircraft with me and providing the screenshots within this article. Just Airship by Tobiuo Up until recently, airships in VRChat have existed in name only. Just static objects that give the illusion of being in an airship. Really more of an object shaped like an air balloon permanently hanging in the sky. Just Airship  by Tobiuo (とびうお)  finally changed this by giving players a hands-on airship experience. This world was released on June 21st, 2025, and if the fantastic promotional video did not win me over, visiting in person certainly did. It is set around the experience of traveling from island to island to view them from above or land to explore them on foot. Island houses, a crashed container ship, a windfarm, large beaches and other landmarks await. While in transit, even whales can be observed traversing the ocean. This is very much a sightseeing world. The colorful airships in this gleaming archipelago are the stars of it all. While sitting in the back of the cabin, looking out the window, I felt myself physically unwind. The airships are flown with VR controllers or keyboard and mouse. They use standard Sacc Flight controls though they are so unusual compared to other aircraft, it takes a bit to understand how to properly ascend and descend correctly. The airship can come to a hover to slowly descend or ascend with nearly zero forward movement. This capability allows the airship to land in relatively secluded areas. Something especially useful on the islands and other landmarks scattered throughout the world. While you will not see airships flying at the speed of sound, they can travel around the speed of an ultra-light aircraft. At time its feels as though, the airship is moving a bit faster than most real-world airships, but not so fast there is a danger of not being able to enjoy the finer details of the world. The world creator tuned the experience to be accessible for people that may be unsure how exactly and airship flies, while also letting people master its slow speed characteristics over time. The flight deck, which has an eye bleeding amount of detail, seats up to six people with the pilot is in full control of this aerostat aircraft. There is an impressive array of flight instruments available, at least in terms of what you would expect from an airship. While Just Airship  by Tobiuo (とびうお) does have first person view drones and a helicopter with a rather impressive gyro-stabilized multi-axis gimbal housing an observation camera, it truly is the airship that makes the experience. Test Pilots by Sacchan Test Pilots is the birthplace of VRChat aviation. This world was created by Sacchan , the solo developer of the free to download Sacc Flight and Vehicles prefab ; the "seed" that has made an entire generation of aviation possible in VRChat. Test Pilots is often the introduction for new players to see what is possible with aviation on the VRChat platform. Since April 2020, the Test Pilots world was the first VRCA world and to this day continues to be the most visited world in the entire genre with over 15 million visits as of the time of this article's release. We have written about this pioneering world in detail, but its primary draw is the variety of aircraft and other vehicles it provides in a single experience. On September 14th, 2025, Sacchan added a new air vehicle to the experience: a Hot Air Balloon. The Test Pilots Hot Air Balloon does not rely on the familiar control scheme that the fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft in the world utilize. The balloon gains lift with its burner cluster mounted above the passenger platform and pilot seat. When turned on, the burners gradually increase the altitude of the balloon. Players that are standing on the platform are carried aloft even when not in the pilot seat. Synchronization issues make avatars seem as though they are clipping through the platform, making photos while standing on the platform a bit awkward. But it is functional. Rather than use the tried-and-true control method of SaccFlight, the flight direction of the balloon is controlled by a wind controller - a first for a SaccFlight vehicle. While in the pilot seat, players use their left-hand Touch Controller while holding the lower button to show a small blue arrow which shows the direction of wind. Rotating this arrow by moving an arm to the left or right will change the direction of the wind and the direction the balloon will fly. That sounds rather 'normal' when you think about it in terms of how airships actually operate, but for VRChat aviation it is an entirely new concept. I can appreciate this new effort towards a more realistic hot air balloon experience. The only real "problem" here is avatar synchronization, but that is pretty minor. Also, that may even be a temporary issue as Sacchan has done a few interesting updates to solve similar issues. Let's see where Test Pilots by Sacchan this goes in the next few weeks. Primary Gliders by JagaimoSkull While most world creators were pushing the boundaries of world distances, innovating new aircraft functions and adding as many aircraft as possible, JagaimoSkull went against 'the wind current' so to speak to create the Primary Gliders world. Back in February 2022, this world creator stripped away the excess from the standard VRChat aviation experience at the time to provide what is still one of the most distinct flight experiences on the platform even in 2025. The layout of this world is as simple as it gets. Two islands, multiple gliders and the wind. Launching from the side of a hill, players must figure out the wind currents around the island to remain a loft and climb ever higher. Primary gliders mainly saw use in the 1920s and 1930s when aviation was still a relatively new concept. These gliders were an inexpensive way to learn how to fly and to fly recreationally. Seeing such an old form of aviation available in VRCA is respectable. JagaimoSkull made a compromise since players cannot physically feel the updrafts and wind currents. A button toggle to also show the updrafts in the world as colored blocks in the sky is also in the world to let those that may not quite understand this concept to better visualize how they should be flying these gliders. This type of flying is very unusual and crashing multiple times before consistently succeeding is an inherent part of the experience. Players that gain a good understanding of how to fly these aircraft can even gain a surprising amount of altitude above the wind-swept hill or glide across to the second island that seems too far away for these oversized kites with a seat. Despite being released over three years ago there are very few other worlds that have incorporated gliders in a meaningful way. A further testament to how far off the beaten path Primary Gliders by JagaimoSkull this type of experience is. Skyward Night Flight by Cubeboyy Skyward Night Flight  is the third world from Cubeboyy , co-founder of Skyward Flight Media. This tropical themed world set to a calm night features beach equipment for relaxing, a floating dock for social gathering, a media player for watching videos and listening to music and other 'social hangout' related design choices. Of the two aircraft available, the ASK 21 sailplane is featured. Though this world was released on March 30th, 2025, the ASK 21 under Cubeboyy's direction has been one of the most high-profile sailplanes in VRChat aviation since January 2023. This glider has performed in multiple airshows in cooperation with The Black Aces. Large crowds of 80+ users were able to fly these gliders after each event, getting a limited time experience with a glider. For a time, it was the only frequently observed glider in VRChat aviation. As of 2025 it appears in two publicly accessible worlds. This iteration of the ASK 21 is a solid representation of what the modern glider experience in VRChat is like. It is both easy to fly in long-term unpowered flight and is capable of performing limited aerobatic maneuvers if the pilot is skilled enough and knows how to smartly deploy its stowed electric powered engine. The two-seat ASK 21 in this permanent night setting lends itself to the slower going night vibe relaxation. When players activate their battery powered engine for self-launch, their instruments show battery charge represented by green, yellow and red indicator light. The battery onboard is realistically shorter, as it is not meant to be relied on for extended flight operations. Upon take off players eyes are naturally drawn to what looks like upward moving streaks of air. These are the updrafts that gliders rely on for extended flight times, visualized in a thematic way that fits the setting. Rather than spiraling cloud-like wisps as seen in Skyward Island Resort, Skyward Night Flight seemingly asks players to ride moonlight. While other glider worlds incorporate wind and updrafts, with there being little to no indications, players usually need to rely solely on instruments like Varios to potentially find these updrafts. By providing a minor visual reference players are able to "get to the gliding experience faster". Once at a safe altitude and ideally within an updraft area, the Vario and speed indicator become the most important instruments. In airshows the ASK 21 has done formation breaks, barrel rolls, loops and hammerheads. Experienced glider pilots can also keep the sailplane aloft for well over an hour without ever coming down to land. Skyward Night Flight  by Cubeboyy  is one of the most accessible glider experiences in VRChat aviation to date. Small Island Beta 3 by Builder_1 Released somewhat quietly on October 14th, 2023, Small Island Beta 3 by Builder_1 is technically still in development despite its world creator moving onto projects focused on air demonstration teams and airshow flying. The world's setting is at a somewhat sizeable regional airport. The flight line features many types of unflyable aircraft and undriveable cars to fill out the scene between the hangars, support buildings and air traffic control tower. The world has a day and night cycle that feels natural. That is to say that the sun and moon don't scream by every 5 minutes for the sake of pushing the gimmick. Of the aircraft that can be flown, there are four Alisport Silent 2 Electro gliders. The cockpits of these gliders feature a limited function LX Navigation Zeus system showing the positions of other aircraft while in flight. A pretty handy feature in a busy airspace. Few aircraft in VRChat aviation, including most representations of fourth and fifth generation fighters, have a type of situational awareness display like this. These sailplanes are able to self-launch with their nose mounted front electric sustainer identified as the ENGINE function in the Sacc Flight function dials. When activated the propellers fold out from the nose of the aircraft and produce thrust. Players will need to taxi their gliders to the runway to gain enough airspeed to lift off, as the sustainer motor is only powerful enough to allow for a long takeoff roll with a very shallow climb to altitude before beginning gliding. While in flight and at a safe altitude, the sustainer can be shutoff with the propellers folding back into the nose of the aircraft. When this world was first released the gliders did not have updrafts / windzones. Something that was not obvious from the start. The glider experience was difficult because of this with many people relying on using the engine to fly them as you would normal aircraft with very short periods of gliding in-between. That being said, the experience was not great for gliding from day one. I have a memory of thinking the gliders were great while under their own power, then the experience immediately becoming rather difficult the moment the FES was shut off. On February 10th, 2024, the world creator pushed a sizeable update that did include an updraft system and a toggle to make the updraft zones visible as solid blocks, similar to the Primary Gliders world. The glider experience dramatically improved with the electro gliders still retaining very high battery capacity making long-term sustained flight with the engine activated very easy. Players not too accustomed to how gliders operate may find having ample engine power available appealing. These days Small Island Beta 3 by Builder_1 is now a decent glider experience. ドラード砂漠海岸 -Dourado Desert Coast- by Yakisaba dayo With both player vs player combat focused worlds and non-combat GA worlds, Yakisaba Dayo has established a reputation for themselves as a reliable VRChat aviation world creator. On October 13th, 2025, they released an unusual dusk dipped desert world with a rather ambitious pair of features centered around gliders. ドラード砂漠海岸 -Dourado Desert Coast- features biplanes, a single seat trainer with instructions on how to fly aircraft built into the cockpit and the JAG Assets JGT-21 glider. The newest glider for sale on BOOTH designed with VRChat in mind. The features listed on the JGT-21 product page include a winch and tow launch system based on the Sacchan Grapple System and an experimental script for thermals (rising air currents). The pilot of the glider has two dial functions for attaching their glider to either a tow truck with immensely high horsepower or any of the other propeller driven aircraft in the world. In the case of the truck, the tow vehicle should gear up to maximum speed with the cable either being detached by the pilot once maximum altitude is achieved or the cable breaks on its own. With a tow aircraft players will be following the same lift off and gradual climb sequence followed by real world gliders. Both tow capable aircraft have low engine power, making the process to gain altitude a slower, more deliberate process. While in flight the JGT-21 has a clean dash of instruments providing the necessities for navigating and remaining airborne. This glider is not highly aerobatic but is stable for longer flight sessions. The experimental thermal system, while interesting in concept, does need a bit more testing. After a few flights it was difficult to reliably find thermals leaving most flights to rely on high altitude than thermals to remain aloft. However, if that system can be refined, having an easy to access thermal script for gliders along with a glider that can be easily purchased from BOOTH, there is a potential for other world creators to start experimenting with including gliders in their future projects. ドラード砂漠海岸 -Dourado Desert coast-  by Yakisaba Dayo occupies an unusual space in terms of VRChat glider operations. Unlike all other current worlds which rely on different methods to self-launch the gliders, this world relies on having at least two people in an instance to get a glider airborne. On one hand this requires players to either bring friends or be social with others to get airborne. On the other hand, this experience of multiple people working together to get an aircraft airborne is yet again another sort of "only in VRChat" experience. With the process of aligning aircraft and tow vehicles, coordinating the flight path to gain altitude and decoupling the aircraft mid-flight is all done by humans with no in-game assists. While it is highly unlikely that gliders will suddenly take up the "airspace" in VRChat, there does seem to be potential for them to appear in freely accessible worlds and further airshows in 2026. About the Writer Aaron "Ribbon-Blue" Mendoza Co-founder of Skyward Flight Media. After founding Electrosphere.info, the first English Ace Combat database, he has been involved in creating flight game-related websites, communities, and events since 2005. He explores past and present flight games and simulators with his extensive collection of game consoles and computers. [Read Staff Profile ]

Thoughts on the limited time demo I can finally say that after flying and sliding through the sprawling city of Daevos, from its tightest roads to its open skies, I feel optimistic about G-Rebels  by Reakktor Studios .  Timeline Reakktor announced the start of development of G-Rebels on October 8th, 2024, on social media with an announcement teaser posted on YouTube. On June 24th, 2025, access keys for closed playtests of the work in progress game were distributed. While the demo is set to appear at in Indie Area, Hall 10.2 at Gamescom 2025 in August, the demo appeared briefly on Steam from July 24th to July 31st, 2025. This limited time demo using the still in development alpha build of the game came as a part of the Games Forged in Germany  Steam sale and showcase event. Since 2022, this event organized by Games Germany  promotes developers, publishers and studios headquartered in Germany. The development team has stated that the main point of the demo besides an introduction to the world is presenting what they have for art style, controls, gunplay, UI/UX and flight physics. They are ready and waiting for direct feedback in their Discord server. The World G-Rebels takes place on Earth in the year 2684 after it was almost completely flooded by catastrophic events. Floating megacities were created by survivors with these city-states competing for remaining natural resources. In this dystopian world the player flies a prototype X-Type Skyblade as a part of an elite unit in Daevos, the capital city of the Okktane Empire. The player's job is to ensure law and order while the events of the story unfold. G-Rebels is being advertised as an open world game with a 12,000 square kilometer map. With this in mind players could fly from city to city in real time. There are a few far off buildings in places outside of the sector players can explore in the demo. Not all of them look like the amazing mega cities, so it does make you wonder what else is out there. According to the ending video of the July 2025 demo besides Daevos there are at least three other cities that will be seen. Preview video at the end of demo. I have longed for more open world flight games since I first played one back in 2011, so this is a feature of the game I am especially excited for. When trying a demo, it is always good to approach it levelheaded with a bit of a critical eye to see what exactly the product is providing thus far. The gameplay mechanics and the finer details of the player's experience are the most important part of any demo, but, man, it was hard not to be dazzled by the visuals. The city sprawling out in front of you after taxiing out of a hangar was impactful. The sped-up day and night cycle with occasional thunderstorm looks amazing in the visual feast of the city. Even the emptier parts of the city still buzz with enough land traffic, air traffic and ambient lights and noise to drive home the packed mega-city atmosphere. Acknowledging Kindred Before I bring this up, I want to state that G-Rebels is presented as a standalone title not directly tied to any other games. It should stand on its own identity and its own merits. That being said, for those that do remember it, there was a was a pair of games on the Sony PlayStation 1 back in the late 1990s with a similar name. Known as G-Police , that two-part series also had themes of futuristic corporations and nations wielding great political and military power as they competed for resources and influences across different planets. In those games, players were members of a type of colonial police force while events of that story unfolded. The comparison to the PlayStation 1 games has been made time and time again in comments, so I wanted to state that for the record. However, as someone that played the aforementioned games and G-Rebels, I feel like there is not a heavy reliance on the identity of the old IP to help this new game define itself. Demo Overview There are two mandatory multi-part missions where they meet characters and get a better understanding of how this world works. The basics of flying their Skyblade is taught as a test flight before players get taken on patrol with an Okktane agent. They search for and destroy deviant synthetic individuals who are hostile towards humanity for reasons yet unknown. More capabilities of the Skyblade are unlocked as the story proceeds as a way to not overwhelm players with an extensive tutorial from the moment the demo starts. After those planned missions, players can wander Daevos taking on a few optional tasks. Like getting equipment upgrades, air racing and visiting organizations across the city. Some locations are unavailable in the demo but will be important in the full game. Flight Model My main goal of interacting with the G-Rebels demo is to get answers about its flight model. It is definitely not a game where you should expect common flight physics similar to your favorite combat aircraft games. The Skyblade players use have a reaction control system (RCS) similar to that on a spacecraft and an anti-gravity system that lets them hover effortlessly. These two factors made me consider the flight model more akin to six degrees of freedom model found in space flight game or sim. However, the Skyblade is operating in an atmosphere so you would think momentum and energy that would come with a large craft moving at high speed through the air is still a factor somehow. I was intrigued in the mix of flight mechanics that could be at play in G-Rebels. After a decent amount of time flying in combat and zooming recklessly through the buildings and streets of Daevos, I was satisfied with the decision of the developer. Most notable was how the RCS is best used. The Skyblade can be flown without relying on the RCS at all if desired, but using it in a way more akin to a rudder on a traditional aircraft yielded some interesting results. While a traditional aircraft would use rudder inputs to coordinate their turns for more efficient horizontal maneuvers, the Skyblades seem to fly most efficiently in every flight regime by coordinating RCS controls. Flying without consciously coordinating can cause situations where the nose of the craft is pointed in the desired direction of flight while a majority of its momentum is continuing forward, gradually changing direction as the main thruster follows the nose of the craft. Instead, using RCS to counter the momentum can greatly lessen the somewhat uncontrolled drift. At low speeds or near hover, the RCS is helpful for maneuvering in a small space while engaged in combat or to make minute adjustment while in forward flight. A small amount of speed can be lost by having the craft move a bit vertically or horizontally to evade an obstruction while continuing at full thrust in one direction, rather than losing a large amount of speed maneuvering the entire Skyblade off of its axis of travel. Combat near Daevos city. Initially I tried to engage in combat relying mostly on hovering with rapid movements, but I quickly learned this would lead to the energy shields and armor of the craft to be diminished. The enemies players fight against are decently mobile and the areas that combat happened in are much larger than players probably expect. Engaging in brief close-range combat, then powering away to engage from a distance or evade to recover shield power is a valid tactic. Also, moving at higher speeds does effectively reduce the accuracy of enemy attacks and reduce the chance of being swarmed while taking full advantage of the battle space. I think I was expecting a flight model where the craft in G-Rebels seemingly weighed nothing and would effortlessly change direction with just the flick of a single stick. I expected that type of deeply arcade style combat to be something more akin to a fast paced first person shooter. Where fast, twitchy movements in a relatively small area would define combat. Instead, there were a few more layers to it. I appreciate that. Suggestions As far as hardware support goes, the demo includes a somewhat rough ability to support head trackers via TrackIR. The current head position with the in-game pilot model causes a few more problems than its worth, so maybe just disabling the pilot model for easy headtracker use would be advisable. Ironically, while G-Rebels has been shown as a virtual reality capable game via some non-developer supported modifications, the demo is not VR compatible. Though it seems like the developers are now taking this steady interest in VR to heart. The demo can support HOTAS and HOSAS flight gear, though this was added on what could be considered an experimental basis. For the demo we did not try and flight sticks or throttle quadrants since it was not completely prepared for those controllers. While the game is a cockpit focused experience, the external design of the Skyblade X-Type seen in the video cutscenes does seem like it would be a shame to not be seen more often. There is also a set of players that prefer to play flight games like this only in third person view, so the addition of this point of view could be beneficial. I have seen a few suggestions in the official Discord and other places about tweaking the flight model to be more subdued in a few ways, but I hesitate to suggest any major changes to the default version of the flight model. While it feels fine for now, there is an upgrade system in place to encourage players to progress save credits and invest in certain aspects of them. I question if increasing the overall sensitivity of the flight model would be detrimental in the early game in terms of making engine related upgrades unimportant. For now, the flight model seems serviceable. I'd say my overall experience with the demo in this past week was positive. The few complaints I did have were related to the default colors of the heads up display during certain times of day and size of text within the cockpit and in the user interface being slightly too small to read depending on where the text is in the UI, but there were no real low moments in the experience. I'm eager for more! I wonder if Reakktor Studios will have an updated demo for Gamescom 2025... Connect with 'G-Rebels' Discord Facebook Steam Website X.com YouTube About the Writer Aaron "Ribbon-Blue" Mendoza Co-founder of Skyward Flight Media. After founding Electrosphere.info , the first English Ace Combat database, he has been involved in creating flight game-related websites, communities, and events since 2005. He explores past and present flight games and simulators with his extensive collection of game consoles and computers. [Read Staff Profile ]

Indie Demos from October 13th through 20th Whether they are indie developer game jams or full-on game festivals, events that showcase demos for upcoming games are great. For years now we have made it a point to cover them here at Skyward Flight Media. It is time once again to see what interesting flight games have demos available for Steam Next Fest October 2025 . While our compilation article about a selection of flight game demos comes just two days before the current Steam Next Fest ends, we did push the event on social media to ensure people knew of the flight focused devs that are participating right at the start of the event. If you have a free weekend, be sure to get some game time in with these demos! Death in Abyss There are many spiritually inspired by Star Fox style games these days. Some play is closer to the original with a vibrant cast of andromorphic characters and futuristic settings. Instead of that Death In Abyss by Agelvik travels deep into dark horror. As deep as the uncharted seas and maddening depths that players will fight mind bending monsters infected by a mysterious outbreak. Let me tell you, when I say I had to enter "full sweat mode", I mean it. There is not really a sliding scale of difficulty in this game. Players will die fast and learn even faster. After a brief period of letting players explore the controls during the first level, waves of some genuinely horrific enemies appear. First in swarms of parasite like piranhas. Eventually much larger horrors appear with spear like tongues and energy weapons. Only consistent, accurate fire, well timed dashes and dodges and knowing when to absolutely hammer down on key enemies will bring players to success. Fortunately, as enemies are defeated the player's ship recovers energy and health. "Unfortunately" this also means that constantly remaining engaged in combat is the only way to survive. Even disengaging from an area overwhelmed with enemies by boosting to a safer area only provides a handful of seconds of non-combat. By my third attempt I started getting the hang of it. Embracing the chaos, staying highly mobile and learning how to maintain good aim with blasters while dashing and rolling leads to a frenetic playstyle that is truly the only way to survive against the beasts within. While I can understand the gameplay style referring to Star Fox, Death In Abyss truly strikes out on its own. Between the relentless visually disturbing enemies, sudden jump scares of new horrors for the deep-sea darkness and sustained combat, I truly want to see what else lies ahead. This was a refreshing take on a storied genre. Freelancers: Rogue Skies All I needed to see was "open world" and about 60 seconds of gameplay for me to immediately want to play Freelancers: Rogue Skies by developer by ExodusIndie, published by GameLab. I find myself playing more roguelites / roguelikes in flight games lately. A game that encourages exploration while also denying long-term persistent power build up and still having a narrative story is rather unusual. In the demo the primary focus is gameplay. I would recommend playing with keyboard mouse for now. During combat the aiming precision needed to hit maneuvering targets at near maximum distances is very important. So far that precision is only achievable with a mouse. You could use a gamepad, but the sensitivity is quite high and hard to manage. Looking around at the celestial bodies of this unknown solar system gives a general sense of the play area. Even proceeding along at full afterburning thrust the planets seems like it would take hours to reach. Alternatively, the warp function to travel large distances in just a few short jumps, without an elaborate need to resource manage it, makes traversing the solar system very engaging. With little direction from the start (which turned out to be a choice), players wander the solar system purely by whatever catches their eye. Who knows what each planet, cluster of space objects or elaborate space station holds? As players explore, they find objects and locations they can scan to gain more information. Most commonly objects that can be added to their cargo holds or more mission critical objects like refueling cells and repair kits can be found. While there isn't a way to store those types of items for use later (for now), scanning them and leaving their locations active in UI is an easy way to find them quickly for use later. The official website for the game discusses eventually taking materials to trade, completing tasks and some other things to further gain upgrades. Combat in Freelancers: Rogue Skies is unexpectedly fast paced since the time to kill is decently low for non-upgraded ships. An accurate two second burst can be enough to defeat an enemy fighter. Likewise, one bad head on pass between the player and an enemy can result in the player being destroyed equally as fast. Learning how to speed boost, side strafe and even short-range warp out of bad combat engagements is vital for survival. This is going to be a game I plan on returning to for a more detailed playthrough on its launch day for sure. I am interested in seeing the more detailed parts of its exploration, ship upgrades and seeing just how far the open world will let a player wander. I've been bit by the wanderlust bug. House Fighters: Total Mess I may sound insane, but there is actually a strangely well-established niche of flight games set in fantastical toy-like settings. Recalling off the top of my head, one of the earliest instances of this I can think of is the extra content discs for the Aero Dancing series starting as early as January 2000. Aircraft flying inside houses or in backyards have appeared from time to time since then, but usually as a one-off game level. House Fighters: Total Mess by Revulo Games goes all in on the concept; you could even say they went a lot further with the concept. The controls of this game are easy enough to use with keyboard mouse or a gamepad. Needless to say, it is a pure arcade experience, but the easy-going manner that aircraft can be flown contributes itself towards the theme of the game. Controls do not let players roll fully inverted, but performing maneuvers like The Immelmann and Split-S will automatically flip the aircraft right side up. Colliding with an object is forgiving enough to not instantly destroy an aircraft that collides with an object, but players still take damage. In each mission players can wander the home to complete their objectives, but also pick up necessary items like repair kits, gun ammo and rockets. This arcade flight shooter puts players in control of a few characteristically different, aesthetically customizable pint-sized aircraft charged with winning the 'war at home' - literally in a home. Using guns that have a bit of aim assist, short-range missiles and bombs, players play through a series of narrative driven missions set throughout a house. Some missions are as simple as defeating a set of enemies after flying to a specific room in the house. Others involve gathering materials in a kitchen to help bake a cake for a party. Helping a toy construction team finish a RC racetrack while fending off the enemy forces. There is even a battle against an enemy ace pilot - Baron Von Speilzerg! Someone that only appears once in the demo, but I hope is a recurring character in the main game. I appreciate that this game embraces this more whimsical setting seriously. It does not get too tongue in cheek about it. It felt like a fun breakaway from the usual flight games and simulators I frequently partake in. It is easy enough to have a fun time without feeling as though things have been made so basic it doesn't feel "fun to fly". A bit of a hard concept to explain, but I am sure some of you understand the sentiment. I believe that the decision to focus on a singleplayer experience for House Fighters: Total Mess rather than finding a way to work in multiplayer may have been a solid long-term choice for this game. The handful of levels I played through seems to contribute to that, but fortunately for me, the full game is already available to play. I can test that theory for myself a bit more extensively. Kamikaze Strike: FPV Drone For about two years now Skyward staff has debated whether or not FPV drones are a type of flight game that we should cover or not. With the proliferation of this type Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) both in the real world since 2017 and now throughout specific video game genres, it does seem to be time to start coverage. Kamikaze Strike: FPV Drone  by Dinomore Games is now the first FPV dedicated game that we have ever tried here in Skyward Flight Media. The demo for this game is quite short, but with a tutorial and two missions, it does give a good feel for what the game is about and what the combat FPV genre as a whole generally aims to portray. Whether you are using the Arcade controls or Simulator controls, the feeling of flying these drones is both immensely twitchy and reliant on momentum in forward flight more than anything else. With no fancy avionics or external stores to rely on, piloting these FPV drones relies on a surprising amount of just feeling them out. Doing mental calculations on how gravity and the weight of the drones will carry them towards their targets. Flying an aircraft that is the munition rather than an aircraft that needs to stay aloft to deploy munitions is a bit of a mentality shift. Much like in videos that circulate through certain websites, the most common flight path of FPVs is a brief dive into targets in an effort to increase accuracy during the terminal dive and also decreased the amount of time to target has to potentially evade the incoming FPV. However, the enemies are not always just standing out in the open. Learning how to slowly, but deliberately maneuver a drone into buildings or behind terrain increases survivability and ensure that even targets hiding in rooms upstairs can be found. Players that learn fine control can also maneuver their FPVs behind buildings to bypass lower threats to hit higher priority objectives. Thus far enemies consist of drone jammers, logistics vehicles, battle tanks and assault rifle equipped infantry. In gameplay, infantry is the most prolific threat able to shoot down a drone with their rifles. The drone jammers have a rather short distance around them to disrupt the player's control over their FPV drones, but they are often placed in strategic areas. Flying into their jammer range disables vertical and lateral control, but players can still control the throttle. Predicting how a drone will lose control before entering a jammer's effective area lets player still somewhat steer it using throttle torque, allowing the drone to arc on a ballistic path and still potentially hit the intended target. Sneaking a drone through a contested area to strike a high value target before they boarded a helicopter and left the area was a good culmination of the demo by the end of it. While Kamikaze Strike: FPV Drone does not have a date for full release of the game yet, the developers have announced the addition of two new drones inspired by Chinese and Ukrainian designs, adding to the current roster of five drones in the base game. Other Notable Demos There are many other flight focused demos that are a part of Steam Next Fest that we did not cover in detail here but did spend a good amount of time playing. In fact, it is likely they will appear on Skyward Flight Media at some point in the near future. Drone District G-Rebels Hijong Park's Defender Patrol In the Black Paper Wars Wrath and Retribution About the Writer Aaron "Ribbon-Blue" Mendoza Co-founder of Skyward Flight Media. After founding Electrosphere.info , the first English Ace Combat database, he has been involved in creating flight game-related websites, communities, and events since 2005. He explores past and present flight games and simulators with his extensive collection of game consoles and computers. Read Staff Profile .

One game that I have been keeping my eye on for quite a while has finally left itch.io and is now participating with their very own demo during the ongoing October Steam Next Fest: Hijong Park's Defender Patrol. This retro-inspired sim has been in development by the solo developer, Hijong Park, for at least a year. Originally published to itch.io , this game has seen quite the evolution throughout its development. With its simplistic, retro-inspired art style, the developer was able to focus on what matters most for us flight enthusiasts: gameplay feel and the sensation of flight. This article will focus on the basic aspects of the title, seeing as this is only about the demo available during the October 2025 Steam Next Fest. This build is equivalent to the last version uploaded to the game's itch.io page, so everything said here applies there as well. FLIGHT PHYSICS AND CONTROLS The game feels amazing to fly in VR , especially if you come from games such as VTOL VR and even VRChat's Saccflight flight system. You have physical controls that you can manipulate directly, with physical movement being required to fly. Yaw is done through a twist-stick solution, or otherwise done through pedals, but that is something I could not get working reliably. If you do not have VR, it is playable on flatscreen as well, with TrackIR compatibility. I was personally unable to get my FreeTrack software to work with it, but I have seen that others have been able to without major issues. So, it is a bit hit-and-miss in that regard, for now. My main issue was that I was unable to use controller inputs when I held the cyclic or collective with my VR controls. The moment I let go of either with my VR controllers, I could use my pedals again. I am sure this could be solved through mapping, but I would have to check that out better during the official launch and not the demo. In general, the controls and cockpit interactions are fantastic. I loved the feedback I get when I click on buttons and flip switches . It is very similar to what is considered to be the golden standard of VR cockpit interactivity, VTOL VR, with the addition of having the capability of using physical controls alongside your virtual ones. You have to properly manage your engine torque, collective and apply anti-torque pedal input to control your MD-500. Most forces that you would expect to be present on a simple but realistic flight model are there, which gives the helicopter a tactile and grounded feeling when flying. It is something better experienced by yourself, so I would recommend you try out the demo and get that experience yourself if you have any doubts about the flight model. GAMEPLAY In this aspect, I think the demo overdelivers! It provides a mission generator that is constantly able to put you on interesting scenarios for you to fly in, as well as a full suite of tutorials that are surprisingly easy and fun to go through. Using the weapon systems is very straight forward, as well as entertaining. You have everything from several types of gunpods, rocket pods, ATGMs and even air-to-air missiles; all of which are as easy to operate as you think they are. The most "complex" systems come in the form of the ATGMs, as they also might need assistance from your "co-pilot", which just means you will need to occupy the seat yourself, and use the display available to you as you track the target and guide warheads into foreheads. If you have ever played VTOL VR, then that is the best analog I have to how entertainingly simple everything is. Aside from being solely an offensive platform, you have the capability of carrying door gunners and deployable troops that you can insert as mission-critical assets into an AO. Enemies range between infantrymen, MANPADs, AAA and BTRs , as well as allied assets and artillery pieces. You also have friendly wingmen that you are able to guide, which will follow you and support your attack on objectives. You are also able to customize your loadout from an interactive rearming menu . It gives you the freedom to equip or unequip your gunsight, and replace it with a grease pencil dot, or even just have no gunsight at all. Aside from that capability, you can load your gunner positions, balance your fuel load and even give all your wingmen your loadout! This brings the amount of content and gameplay available on this demo to the same level as the equivalent title's full releases! It is actually kind of amazing to get all of this content just from a demo, and I cannot wait to see what the full game will be like. TRY THIS TITLE OUT! I cannot recommend this demo enough. It allows you to get a solid, non-time constrained look at a very interesting upcoming flight sim. One that does not pride itself on graphical fidelity, but it does on gameplay, content and style. I will be check out the full release and writing about it, too! Be on the lookout for that content. About the Author Santiago "Cubeboy" Cuberos Longtime aviation fanatic with particular preference towards military aviation and its history. Said interests date back to the early 2000s, leading into his livelong dive into civil and combat flight simulators. He has been involved in a few communities, but only started being active around the mid 2010s. Joined as a Spanish to English translator in 2017, he has been active as a writer and the co-founder of Skyward ever since. Twitter  | Discord : Cubeboy

In the current state of VRChat Aviation, it has become increasingly rare for me to find new and exciting experiences that hook me to it like the old worlds used to. With certain authors stopping work on their projects, or others just taking ages with their creative endeavors, finding that one gemstone that outshines the classic worlds is now harder than ever. That was my opinion, at least until I finally found a world worth visiting. Pictures in this article courtesy of VTail64, thank you for your support as always! Straying away from the jets and most conventional flight world themes, White Cliffs; Battle of Britain by Mia is a world that brought back some of those feelings I used to have. Feelings of excitement and the thrill of flight that I missed from a VRChat world. Let's talk about this experience for a bit and how it helped me see the great side of VRC Aviation again. The one clear aspect that defines this world is its time period, which is set during the Battle of Britain in the early stages of World War II. It takes place in what seems to be a miniaturized version of the Straight of Dover, which is part of the English Channel; this miniaturization was done so that the map could fit within the bounds of a regular VRChat world. Plane selection in the world is very much on point for the era. There are two main fighters, the classic Spitfire Mk.1a and the Bf-109E-3, a British twin engine in the form of the Westland Whirlwind, a German bomber in the He-111 and a unique plane in the form of the Fairey Swordfish. Most of the action is usually between the Spitfires and Messerschmitts, but the added variety is very welcome. There is also an additional vehicle, the R-41 Gunboat and an emplaced 40mm Bofors cannon, which is usually in range of most dogfights as long as they are near the harbor area. While these two vehicles could seem to be odd choices, it is hard to not justify their addition. Vehicles like the patrol boat are usually simpler to make in VRC, since the prefabs are not as complicated and a lot of stuff can be carried over from the samples without major modifications. As for the Bofors, the addition of flak rounds was very nice. The aircraft handle wonderfully, with the two highlights being the Spitfire and the BF-109. Both felt extremely responsive, with noticeable torque on takeoff, making piloting them a much more engaging experience. The Spitfire's maneuverability is on point, performing in the way I would from an early-war, elliptical-wing version of the aircraft. It turns beautifully, its engine responds quickly and doesn't leave the pilot wanting for more, aside from its lack of cannons. You have a full set of .303 machine guns, 8 of them in total, that are nothing but peashooters. The BF-109E-3, being an early-war version of the famous Messerschmitt, handles like a dream. Its engine is capable, with a lot of torque, just like the Spitfire's, and its maneuverability is on point. Speaking of maneuverability, I have found that the aircraft might be over-performing just a little when considering that you are fighting an early-war Spitfire with its full elliptical wing. Historically the Bf-109E-3 was able to outclimb both Spitfires and Hurricanes, it lacked just a bit in maneuverability when compared to its contemporary adversaries. You can keep up with Spitfires in almost every turn, and you do much more damage to your adversary thanks to the addition of the wing-mounted 20mm cannons that this version historically carried. Its loadout of two 20mm and two 7.92mm guns leaves you with an advantage in firepower compared to every aircraft in the world, except for the Whirlwind's quad-20mm mounts. All the aircraft are excellent, with their own unique quirks. The 111 has multicrew slots and can unleash its bombs on the British open-air hangars, the Whirlwind feels heavy but packs a punch and the Swordfish is just fun to fly off of the deck of the carrier. Overall, this world is one worth visiting either in public instances or, preferably, with a group of friends. To test this world more thoroughly, I decided to invite some friends to test it together, but I kept the instance open for anyone to join. By the end of the night we had more than a dozen people in the world, and all the aircraft were taken and flying, except for one of the 111s. We all had a blast flying and fighting one another. Give this world a try, you will not regret it. About the writer Santiago "Cubeboy" Cuberos Longtime aviation fanatic with particular preference towards military aviation and its history. Said interests date back to the early 2000s, leading into his livelong dive into civil and combat flight simulators. He has been involved in a few communities, but only started being active around the mid 2010s. Joined as a Spanish to English translator in 2017, he has been active as the co-founder and writer ever since. Twitter  | Discord : Cubeboy

As someone that collects and plays retro video games as a hobby, the Atari 2600 has a special place in my collection. Something akin to honoring an ancestor. Getting my hands on a physical copy of Dan Kitchen's Tomcat: The F-14 Fighter Simulator (1989) for this game console felt like recovering an artifact of simulated aviation. It was rather impressive for a flight game on a second-generation game console. Its development team squeezed out every ounce of hardware performance, even using the game console itself as a controller. To build a perspective of when this game existed, it came out very late in the Atari 2600's life cycle. The Atari 2600 was released in 1977. Its fellow second-generation consoles included the Vectrex, ColecoVision, and Magnavox Odyssey². In 1989, the Nintendo Entertainment System had been around for a few years, and the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis had barely been released in Japan in 1988, with overseas models arriving in mid-1989. And yet, across all of those game consoles, the flight games on them did not pursue simulation as this title did. Most sought to emulate the insanely high speed, pure action titles like After Burner from the busy game arcades of the day. Image source: Atari Mania Rather than take that approach, Dan Kitchen's F-14 Tomcat Simulator grades players on how efficiently they fly and fight. Both during the day and at night. Its most notable feature is the management of aircraft systems for navigation and weapon systems. Navigation, weapon systems, and electronic countermeasures must be worked in unison for mission success. Approaching the aircraft carrier at the right speed and angle is paramount, and retaining as many weapons as possible increases player score. Takeoff, combat efficiency, and landing are all graded. Of course, it's still playing on an Atari 2600; having 1:1 simulated system accuracy is just not possible. Furthermore, managing everything with a single joystick and single-button controller sounds impractical. However, this lack of controls was overcome by utilizing both the physical switches on the console and combining button functions on the controller. You could say it is a "hands on console and stick" control layout made out of necessity. Most impressively, the switches on the top of the front and top of the Atari 2600 controlled a majority of the game's systems and functions: Atari 2600 game console. Game Reset : Starts the game. Enters function selection mode from the Threat screen. Holding reset for three seconds eventually causes the console to reset the game. Game Select : Cycles through computer display screens. Right Difficulty : Arresting hook toggle. (top of console, center-right) Left Difficulty : Landing Gear Toggle. (top of console, center-left) Atari 2600 joystick controller. When in the game's Threat screen, the joystick button acts as the launch button for the selected weapon. When not on the Threat screen, pressing and holding the joystick button while moving the joystick forward or backward controls the engine throttle. While the joystick button is not held down, the joystick is used for pitch and roll, with the engine throttle position remaining unchanged during maneuvers. Using these control methods, this F-14 Tomcat simulator suddenly had five buttons and one joystick with the equivalent of a computer modifier key to double the function of the joystick as a throttle . Scanned images of the game manual provide more detail: Image source: Atari Mania In the 2020s, most people would likely have played Dan Kitchen's Tomcat: F-14 Fighter Simulator through an emulation service or maybe from a compilation release like the absolutely excellent Activision Anthology (2002) for the Sony PlayStation 2. Unless someone owns an Atari 2600, a region-specific copy of the game cartridge, and a CRT television old enough to have a coax input and/or RF adapter, the experience cannot be recreated. It is genuinely a control method from a bygone era. Having to reach out and flip buttons on a game console to manage simulated systems is still a memorable experience. From the eyes of people interacting with this control method for the first time back in the late 80s, flipping the switches on their Atari 2600 was as tinglingly exciting as hitting the buttons on our Thrustmaster throttles, WinWing flight sticks, and BlackHog button boxes. About the Writer Aaron "Ribbon-Blue" Mendoza Co-founder of Skyward Flight Media. After founding Electrosphere.info , the first English Ace Combat database, he has been involved in creating flight game-related websites, communities, and events since 2005. He explores past and present flight games and simulators with his extensive collection of game consoles and computers. Read Staff Profile .

New SAM Behavior Means Renewed TALD Tactics The release of DCS 2.9.6 on July 12th, 2024 was exciting for many reasons. The release of the southwestern area of the Afghanistan Map, a new feature for DCS Supercarrier, Flaming Cliffs 2024, a proper app launcher for the simulator, and a toilet paper roll sized list of changes in the changelog. Nestled away in the updates is, in my opinion, one of the most important out-of-the-box improvements to AI unit behavior in the simulator. Under the DCS Key Updates was listed: "SAM units are smarter now, and based on their skill level, can turn off their radars and reposition if they detect an incoming anti-radiation missile." The Old Way For now I will set aside the inevitable new DCS World Mission Editor Series article I will be writing about this. In the mean time, I have to say that the new behavior of surface-to-air missiles (SAM) units without the need of intense .lua code running in the background of a mission is a fantastic upgrade. This new ability of SAM units to cycle search and track radars on and off as a skill level based reaction immediately breathes new life into all existing single player and multiplayer missions since it is turned on by default. Gone are the "easy" days of suppression of enemy air defense and destruction of enemy air defense in Digital Combat Simulator. The days where just getting into range with the right launch parameters for an anti-radiation missile (ARM) are almost guaranteed radar kill shots; unless another weapon system capable of point defense is nearby. Back in April 2022, I wrote an article about the utility of the ADM-141 TALD (Tactical Air Launched Decoy) against the then default representations of surface-to-air missile sites in DCS World. Previously, dumping many of these unpowered, gliding decoys from a Heatblur Simulations F-14A/B Tomcat or a Eagle Dynamics F/A-18C Hornet in the direction of a SAM site was enough for them to be effective. An active SAM unit with enough range to intercept a TALD would immediately launch as many missiles at them as possible. A pair of TALDs was enough to spur on the launch of at least four or more missiles from SAM sites laying in wait. Introduction to New Behavior Since July 2024, SAM sites in DCS not only take defensive measures against ARMs like the AGM-88 HARM, AS-17 Krypton or Laiden LD-10, but also ADM-141 TALDs. Depending on the skill level of the surface-to-air missile site and the type of unit they are. I first noticed this change in behavior while testing a mission which uses locations of historic strategic surface-to-air missiles sites in the Syrian integrated air defense system (IADS). SA-2 (green), SA-3 (yellow), SA-5 (red), SA-6 (blue). I had aircraft deploy decoys to test the reaction of static SA-2 Guideline, SA-3 Goa, and SA-5 Gammon SAM sites backed up by mobile units like SA-6 Gainful and SA-8 Gecko. It was notable that the more TALDs were in the air space the more the behavior of the SAMs changed. The amount of missiles launched to intercept the TALDs changed. When a large amount of decoys were in the airspace something truly unexpected happened. This led to an entire experiment with release altitudes, quantities and distances that made me re-examine just how these decoys could be used against new AI reactions. In my opinion, this has resulted in a change of effective TALD deployment tactics. F-14A beginning TALD deployment. Long-Range SAM Exhaustion Aircraft deploying the ADM-141 TALD are best used to force long-range SAMs to expend their missiles at near their maximum engagement ranges. Neutralizing their signature deterrent ability and opening them up to counterattack. For example, the standard SA-5 Gammon site includes six missile launcher rails with an on paper launch range of 150 to 300 kilometers. As impressive as this seems, once the SA-5 launches these missiles it is unable to defend itself or deter the ingress of enemy aircraft as it will need to take a long time to reload its missile launchers. The same is true for units like the Patriot Battery and SA-10 Grumble. One aircraft maintaining high altitude, at a safe distance, deploying one or two TALDs in intervals of two to five minutes, can force a SAM site to waste its missiles. But it is a process of patiently waiting for the decoys to be engaged, monitoring sensors to confirm their destruction, then sending the next wave of decoys in. Eventually, when the SAM site begins its reloading process, other friendly aircraft can begin their attacks. This extended time on station for the TALD aircraft does expose it to mobile enemies like combat aircraft to try scrambling to intercept it, so maintaining good situational awareness throughout the process is recommended. Point Defense Isolation Units capable of Point Defense can intercept anti-radiation missiles, glide weapons and air launched cruise missiles while simultaneously attacking incoming aircraft. They are high level obstacles. Even when not attempting to attack them directly, so long as any aircraft or weapon passes in their engagement range, they will launch their interceptors to defend their allies. For example, when directly targeting an SA-15 Tor, intermixing TALDs with other conventional weapons to attack it is highly recommended. Launching two to four TALDs at medium altitude to ensure the Tor can fire upon them will force it to begin launching its missiles in rapid succession. However, unlike a large, highly visible surface-to-air missile site that requires many types of support units around it and is unable to move, an SA-15 is a single, mobile unit capable of shutting down its radar while reloading its missiles - it is much harder to find on the battlefield in comparison. The best time to strike a point defense system is while it is actively defending against an incoming attack as it will be detected on radar warning receivers and electronic warfare sensors while being visually identifiable by missile contrails leaving the ground. While the TALDs are being destroyed, the point defense system should be attacked. F/A-18C Hornet with full "TALD Truck" loadout. Mass Attack Suppression The newest, most unexpected use of the decoys relies on the appearance of a saturation attack. In the real world, the TALD is designed to enhance its own radar signature to appear as larger aircraft or other potential threats when observed on radar. This is what makes SAM radar operators have to decide whether or not they should attack the decoys. In DCS World, SAM sites like the SA-2, SA-3 and SA-5 shut their radars off when eight or more ADM-141 TALDs are airborne and flying towards them. Even when a swarm of decoys flies directly over some of the SAM sites, their radars remain off. In the face of what seems to be a massive attack, the larger SAMs remain powered down while short and medium range SAMs are left to engage the TALDS. Hornet completing full TALD saturation attack. On its face this seems to be an ideal situation. With all long-ranged SAMs shut down, they are not firing their missiles at approaching friendly aircraft. But once the decoys either impact the land or ocean or are shot down by other air defenses, the long-ranged SAMs will be back online with their lethal missiles still available. The TALD swarm opens a window of opportunity to attack but once that window closes, any friendly aircraft in the SAM engagement range will immediately come under attack. While the large SAMs are powered down, friendly aircraft will need to either strike their pre-planned targets, then begin leaving the area or they will need to rush to attack the dormant SAM sites. Swarm of ADM-141 en route. Future Tactics There are many other surface-to-air systems on land and at sea that need to be tested to analyze their new behavior against the ADM-141 TALD. Expect this article to be updated sometime in the future. About the Writer Aaron "Ribbon-Blue" Mendoza Co-founder of Skyward Flight Media. After founding Electrosphere.info, the first English Ace Combat database, he has been involved in creating flight game-related websites, communities, and events since 2005. He explores past and present flight games and simulators with his extensive collection of game consoles and computers. Read Staff Profile .

Aviation Jobs, 16km x 16km map In 2023 I wrote about my first interactions with the PICO-8 and some of its flight focused games. I purchased the software back then and have gone back from time to time finding and playing games of all types. Once again, a flight game on this platform has caught my attention. PICO-8 Fantasy Console The PICO-8  is one of the coolest retro game consoles to never exist. And like the early game consoles of the past, it too has passionate developers willing to do a lot with very little file size. Most games on the platform come in well beneath 1 megabyte. What is a "fantasy console?" The FAQ page of the official website explains it as: "A fantasy console is like a regular console, but without the inconvenience of actual hardware. PICO-8 has everything else that makes a console a console: machine specifications and display format, development tools, design culture, distribution platform, community and playership. It is similar to a retro game emulator, but for a machine that never existed. PICO-8's specifications and ecosystem are instead designed from scratch to produce something that has its own identity and feels real. Instead of physical cartridges, programs made for PICO-8 are distributed on .png images that look like cartridges, complete with labels and a fixed 32k data capacity." Air Pico Recently my go-to flight simulator on this platform has been Air Pico by Tom Mulgrew . Taking a look at their Bluesky timeline, in April 2025, Air Pico's conceptual stage started as an offshoot of a textured ground rendering experiment that started for development of a different game from the same developer, Combat Chopper . On April 15th, 2025, the experiment resulted in the base map of the future game and spurred specific development of the expansive 16km x 16km map into a dedicated flight simulator. In terms of PICO-8 flight games, this is pretty massive. The next two embedded posts from the developer explain in more detail. Tom Mulgrew mentions that the inconsistency caused by repetition and tile variety causes the tiles to not always connect seamlessly. For a land-based game like a driving game or an on-foot game, these errors would be forefront. His logic is that a faster moving game like a flight simulator while the errors are visible but less of a factor seems to have worked out fine in this application. Air Pico would release for the PICO-8 on May 31st, 2025, with a few updates to follow shortly afterward. Story Mode The task driven Story Mode has players taking on different tasks and jobs that take them across all islands in the Pico Isles; the in-game world. Story Mode has 15 missions that will take players from simple tutorial missions for learning how to fly in Air Pico to performing specific jobs. The actual missions ask players to do specific tasks like charter flights, sports game fly overs, delivering USB cables to stores on another islands, etc. These tasks are explained by an assistant at the start of each mission and who also provides mid-flight updates. Some of these missions have requirements that can be met for higher rewards in the form of gold stars. Let us use crop dusting as an example. Players fly out to a designated area of farmland at altitude, then descend to a specific height (below 100 feet) and airspeed (below 70 knots) limitation above the fields. This challenges players to fly near stall speed at low altitude, mimicking agricultural operations. I say mimicking because there are no controls for dispersing any type of chemical or the need to load the chemical agents onto the aircraft. Free Flight Free Flight lets players wander around the map without any guidance. Players can select one of three aircraft to fly, though two of them do need to be unlocked through the reward system. In Story Mode each mission completed will give players Gold Stars as a reward. The more stars players get, the more aircraft are unlocked. Aircraft, location and flight model selection. Free Flight begins by letting players start at any airport on the map to then take off and wander the skies. Not infinitely however, as the aircraft does have a fuel tank. Though fuel state is not represented in the game's UI, extended periods of flying will eventually run the tank dry causing a sudden crash. Flight Model Whether they are in cockpit view or one of the external views, players have UI for instruments that show speed in knots, height in feet, vertical air speed in feet per minute, flap position and throttle. Air Pico does not have complex systems more akin to a traditional flight simulator, but the Full Simulation flight model is not as unrestricted as the retro look of the game may portray. Like in many GA aircraft, the airplanes do require stable turns, proper energy management and a light touch. Even in aerobatic aircraft like the Pitts Special, simply setting full throttle and throwing the flight stick around can lead to problems fast. Being more intentional with maneuvers is the key to success in Air Pico. In both Story Mode and Free Flight, the flight model can be changed to Simple or Easy to negate the more restrictive parts if desired. Pitts Special plane crash. Air Pico is one of the latest flight games to appear on the game console and its developer, in true PICO community fashion, pushed the boundaries within the platform to provide yet another innovative PICO-8 game. Take a few minutes to try it yourself in any web browser or mobile device. Connect with 'Air Pico' PICO-8 Game Page Developer Bluesky Developer Itch.io About the Writer Aaron "Ribbon-Blue" Mendoza Co-founder of Skyward Flight Media. After founding Electrosphere.info , the first English Ace Combat database, he has been involved in creating flight game-related websites, communities, and events since 2005. He explores past and present flight games and simulators with his extensive collection of game consoles and computers. Read Staff Profile .

Multirole Utility Helicopter Nuclear Option by Shockfront Studios is truly a shining star in the indie flight game genre. A significant portion of this success being its stout, but quality selection of original design aircraft. Each aircraft represents specific types of common aircraft types and roles. Strike bombers, heavy lift aircraft, counter insurgency aircraft, and others. On September 18th, 2025, the 10th aircraft has joined the roster. The UH-90 Ibis represents the utility helicopter portion of military aviation. Shockfront Studios revealed its development public on April 2nd, 2025 with the aircraft appearing in multiple developer livestreams up to its release in September of the same year. Design Nuclear Option has a heavy lift vertical lifter in the form of the VL-49 Tarantula, but the UH-90 now brings aircraft operations more in line with common rotary wing transports. Similar to the Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawk or the NHIndustries NH90. However, in the now classic Nuclear Option fashion, the developer has taken design cues from other uncommon aircraft and enmeshes them into a new, fictional design. The design is inspired by aircraft prototypes developed for the now cancelled United States Army Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) program and aircraft that took design cues from that program. Features of the Sikorsky X2 coaxial rotor compound helicopter lineage of aircraft, like the S-97 Raider, the SB>1 Defiant. The in-game encyclopedia entry for the aircraft mentions a 'fast vertical lift program', most likely a development program similar to FARA. The rear of the fuselage is more cargo helicopter style. Like that of the Russian made Mil Mi-8 and Mi-26, capable of storing vehicles and large cargo pallets inside of them. The UH-90 can transition from traditional vertical lift to cruising speed in forward flight in 30 seconds, reaching speeds as fast as 260kt. The two pusher props at the tail of the aircraft facilities stable hover and seem to negate vortex ring state, but do not prevent it completely. In forward flight, they are the primary propulsion system. At the top of the aircraft is the compound rotor system, its most important facet. Even if the pusher fans are lost in combat, the aircraft can operate as a standard helicopter. These stacked, sturdy counter rotating main rotors can be folded, allowing the Ibis to operate from the hangars of Dynamo-class Destroyers. The aircraft is compact enough to land and resupply from Hyperion-class Aircraft Carriers, Annex-class Assault Ships and Shard-class Corvettes. This makes the Ibis a key part of large-scale naval operations. During early testing, it was found that the rotors needed reinforcement as the top rotor assembly could rip away from the aircraft during high-G maneuvers. Prototype Rotor Failure (Shockfront Studios, X.com) The cargo hold is split into a Front Cargo Bay and Rear Cargo Bay. Depending on internal load, each bay can be configured differently. Some configurations require both bays to be occupied. This will be expanded upon in the Capabilities section of this article. The outboard weapon stations can equip anti-tank missiles, laser rockets, 25mm autocannon gunpods or MANPAD style infrared missiles. These stations can also hold a pair of self-protection electronic countermeasure pods, which are vital for the aircraft to survive in high-end conflicts where active homing air-to-air missiles and radar guided surface-to-air missiles will be frequently present. The middle of the fuselage has symmetrical door gun positions that can equip 12.7mm heavy machine guns or 40mm automatic grenade launchers. It should be noted that the AI crew of the UH-90 will operate the door guns and the gun pods automatically, without player input, unless the player selects these weapons and manually operates them. CAPABILITIES The mission roles the UH-90 Ibis can take up primarily rely on its cargo hold. Cargo Hook The belly mounted cargo hook can be extended up to 20 meters (65 feet). When deployed, the heads-up display shows a unique UI. First, players must target the item they want to carry. This will appear as a white hook icon on the screen. The center of the hook bullseye is the position of the hook beneath the aircraft. Lining up the hook icon in the bullseye will lead to a good hook if the players are also at the correct altitude. Be careful to not enter a vortex ring state situation while in hover during sling load operations. Vehicle Transport An M12 Jackknife remote controlled combat engineering vehicle can be stored internally, but due to its size it will occupy both the forward and rear bays. The ability to deploy the M12 is a strategic one, allowing the aircraft to support allied bases long-term. The front and rear cargo bay can carry one Hexhound Uncrewed Ground Vehicle per bay. These remote controlled vehicles are harder to detect compared to human crew served vehicles. The Hexhound comes in two configurations. SAM configuration with four short-range infrared missiles to attack air targets, or GMG configuration with an automatic 40mm grenade launcher capable of indirect fire against targets identified on datalink up to 2km away. Multiple Hexhounds can be placed at allied bases to increase their defenses, or they can be placed along overland routes to ambush hostiles. Vehicles of certain weight can also be sling loaded beneath the aircraft with the dorsal winch. Munitions Supply The UH-90 Ibis can carry munition crates, which take up both cargo bays. This includes navalized containers with floats to keep the container on the ocean surface to resupply ships at sea - a vital function in Nuclear Option, as warships do not have the ability to rearm themselves at naval ports. As of update 0.31, munitions containers can be air dropped with parachutes or offloaded manually by landing on the ground to deliver them or hovering above the ocean surface to offload them. Combat Search and Rescue The size of the aircraft enables it to easily and quickly land near pilots that have ejected from their aircraft. The cargo winch can be used to pull pilots from the ocean or from especially hard to reach areas on land as well. The Ibis is a much better suited to this role as compared to its only other heavy lifter at this time, the VL-49 Tarantula. Gunship The Ibis can be pressed into a gunship role to remain in combat, but it does not have the armor to sustain direct hits even from small arms fire. It's best to engage from as much distance as possible. While it does have door gun stations, they should be considered light attack weapons, if not defensive weapons. The external weapon pylons are best used to assist the aircraft while it is loaded with cargo to enter contested areas. However, in a pure gunship configuration, it would be best to equip something besides anti-armor missiles. Why? It's primary means of attack is the internally mounted AGM-48 missile launcher. When equipped, it takes up an entire cargo bay. This peculiar device is a rotary missile launcher which fires missiles out of the left side of the aircraft via a side kicking door. It jetisons the missile horizontally away from the aircraft before the rocket booster activates. Base Capture Before update 0.31, bases and buildings could only be captured by ground forces. Even after winning a hard won battle for a strategic area, players would need to hold the area until the next convoy of vehicles would trundle in to capture it. That or a VL-49 Tarantula would need to land and offload a light armored vehicle in the capture zone to capture and enemy or neutral location. Now with the UH-90 the, the forward or rear cargo bay can be loaded with platoons of infantry. This utility helicopter can land and capture before land forces arrive. In tight battles to hold territory, this is a clutch capability. Mixing one bay with an infantry squad and another with a Hexhound UGV, a single Ibis can capture a location then immediately deploy at least one unit to defend it. FLIGHT MODEL Compared to the other rotary wing aircraft in the game, the Ibis is decently responsive on the throttle. Not as instant and powerful as the SAH-46 Chicane attack helicopter, but certainly more suited for combat maneuvering than the lumbering VL-49 Tarantula. In full forward flight, the UH-90 maneuvers smoothly with easy to use roll and yaw characteristics. While its high speed can get it into combat faster than the attack helicopter, it's best to not over commit to a full-frontal attack. While near top speed, it can more easily radar notch incoming missiles. Carrying an ECM pod in this situation is preferred, but with speed and low altitude maneuvering, it can be done consistently. While it can lose lift when hovering by entering a vortex ring state, it's relatively easy to get out of by side slipping or gaining a few knots of speed. Despite its complex propulsion systems, it is a rather stable aircraft. Its smooth flight handling makes it easy to fly and land, but it's not well suited for hard, immediate maneuvers. Transitioning from forward flight to hovering, it's built up kinect energy can be used for a single high energy maneuver like a high G turn to evade or a J Hook turn to land rapidly. The UH-90 Ibis was a long-awaited addition to Nuclear Option. The nuclear weapon friendly skies of this early access indie flight sim lite are now a home of - of all things - a utility helicopter. It is amazing to see how specialized aircraft continue to be added to this game's roster, allowing players to experience a variety of flight operations without needing a 40+ aircraft roster. I look forward to seeing the next aircraft. About the Writer Aaron "Ribbon-Blue" Mendoza Co-founder of Skyward Flight Media. After founding Electrosphere.info, the first English Ace Combat database, he has been involved in creating flight game-related websites, communities, and events since 2005. He explores past and present flight games and simulators with his extensive collection of game consoles and computers. Read Staff Profile .