​ The third weekend of January 2019 was undoubtedly an important weekend for the Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown but also featured a landmark event for the Ace Combat series as a whole. This summary of event coverage is the first of a set of articles about PAX South 2019 as covered by Project Lighthouse (this is the name of the organization that preceded Skyward Flight Media). ​​The initial plan was to send a single representative to observe, record and later write an article about PAX South 2019 from January 18th to January 20th, 2019. Our focus would be on everything related to Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown. A few days before the event, others from the Ace Combat online community were confirmed to also be attending. The result of this was Aaron " Ribbon-Blue " Mendoza joining up with Ace Combat Fan  (Ace Combat-focused YouTuber),  F22Coleman  (USAF Aircraft Maintenance Officer, Long-time Ace Combat fan) and  Zetec  (the head of  r/AceCombat ) to collaborate on event coverage and meet with new and returning fans of the series. Ace Combat Fan, Zetec, Ribbon-Blue and F22Coleman at the AC7 booth. Attendance of Kazutoki Kono It goes without saying that any event attended by the Brand Director of the Ace Combat series is important. Having Kazutoki Kono attend PAX South on the weekend of Ace Combat 7's launch was huge. In comparison to other PAX conventions in the United States of America, PAX South is still relatively new. For this reason, along with the small window of travel before the event for Kono-san, no one was expecting him to attend before the announcement was made days before the convention doors opened. Especially not on the launch weekend of the latest main series release of the series. Kazutoki Kono autographing a postcard with the Trigger emblem. While at PAX South, Kono-san had casual interactions with the attendees, performed an interview with Ace Combat Fan and had an on-stage presentation before watching AC7 played live in an eSports style event. His two autograph sessions on Friday and Saturday were entertaining. As he signed merchandise presented to him by fans, he used his own personal cellphone to snap photos, autographed everything from postcards to video game consoles and saluted in photos with fans. He was very engaged with the event from start to finish. Fans expressed their own gratitude by presenting him with gifts . He also took the time to try a staple Texan fast food chain . The AC7 Booth In the landscape of PAX South 2019, the Ace Combat 7 booth was eye-catching in the mass of booths on the PAX floor. With a wall-sized banner as its background, the blue and white booth presented three clusters of PlayStation 4 game consoles. Eight player battle royale and virtual reality experiences we offered. Bandai Namco Entertainment USA staff and other attendants wearing flight suits consistently interacted with attendees as they came to the booth. It didn't matter if they were waiting for a chance to play or looked on from outside with curiosity, the staff there was courteous and always on standby to answer questions. Gamers at the AC7 demo area. The booth was also a meeting spot for new, returning and veteran Ace Combat fans. While there they discussed the current game and all facets of Ace Combat as a whole while networking with one another. Of note were long-time fans taking the time to teach new players quick tips to make their first flights with the Ace Combat series more enjoyable. ​Throughout the weekend three grand prizes for the individual that put up the highest score on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were available. These top scorers would win a PlayStation VR bundle that included two games, the PS VR headset, and a PlayStation camera. Winners would have their achievement commemorated with a photo of themselves with the grand prize and staff at the booth. Competition for this grand prize was quietly fierce with a handful of particularly skilled players regularly walking by to see if their score was outdone. ​ On Friday, January 18th, 2019, PAX attendees who won their battle royale matches at the Ace Combat 7 booth were registered to compete in the Air Force Ace Combat 7 Open Competition on the PAX Arena stage. A select few of them would later participate in an event on the same stage that was a landmark event for the public outlook of Ace Combat as a whole. Gamers at the AC7 demo area. Once in a Lifetime Chris Aguilar had one of the most interesting experiences any convention attendee could possibly have. During the weekend of his first convention visit ever, he won a PlayStation Virtual Reality headset for having the highest battle royale score in a day and competed in the first PAX Arena Ace Combat 7 competition. Air Force Ace Combat 7 Competition Live at PAX Arena ​​The headline event for Ace Combat at PAX South 2019 was both days of the Air Force Ace Combat 7 competitions done on the arena stage.  For those that do not know, PAX Arena broadcasts competitive game play from PAX events to thousands of Twitch viewers and a live audience. For Ace Combat, eSports style tournament play with commentary rarity but having it broadcast for the first time to such a wide audience has raised the curiosity of many. On Saturday, January 20th, Ace Combat 7 events at PAX Arena consisted of many rounds of battle royale made up of players that won matches at the AC7 booth the day before. Each victory on stage resulted in a short interview with the winner and a prize for their victory ranging from mugs, a copy of Ace Combat 7 and more (time stamp 00:00:00 to 01:53:00): After the battle royale matches, a change in programming occurred which resulted in the first-ever live team death matches for Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown. Unexpectedly, members and affiliates of Project: Lighthouse appeared on stage as Team Project: Lighthouse - announced as the first team to participate in an eSports style event for Ace Combat 7. Commentary by Ace Combat Fan and Matrym carried through the event (timestamp: 02:02:49): The final, headline event for Ace Combat at PAX Arena was the Air Force Ace Combat 7 Showdown on Sunday, January 20th. This pitted Twitch streamers Deejay Knight , Kyente , PmsProxy , and Tinmac against members of United States of America Air Force. After an on-stage presentation with Kazutoki Kono with translation by Ace Combat Fan, both the Twitch and Air Force teams were introduced, and gameplay began. Commentary for the event included a former F-15C Eagle pilot. Colonel Bradley Oliver of the United States Air Force is the Commander of the 369th Recruiting Group. His commentary discussed his own life experiences with combat aircraft in comparison to what he saw being played on stage.   The full event can be viewed here . 'Apex Predator' Known as ' Valk ' to the Ace Combat online community, Jonathon B. now jokingly self identifies as an accidental Ace Combat eSport personality.  At PAX South 2019 he flew with the title of 'Apex Predator' as his in game nickname. A fitting name for one of the best players attending the convention that weekend. Besides securing a top score and winning a PS VR bundle, he also won a copy of Ace Combat 7 during the PAX Arena battle royales and filled an open slot with Team Project: Lighthouse in the team death match competition on the PAX Arena stage. ​ Bandai Namco America Outreach Ribbon-Blue, Dmitryi Khlynin and Ace Combat Fan. I​​n the lead up to the release of Ace Combat 7, Bandai Namco Entertainment America performed a level of community outreach they had never done before in relation to the Ace Combat franchise in the US market.  The last high-level outreach was performed in 2011, in support of the release of Ace Combat: Assault Horizon. Outreach was directed at AceCombatSkies, one of the oldest English Ace Combat fan forums with roots extending back to the early 2000s. This contact resulted in a representative of the long-established fan forum attending E3 2011 with the Community Manager at the time.  In 2018 and 2019, Bandai Namco Entertainment America maintained a constant presence on social media, engaged directly with well-known hubs of Ace Combat activity and performed interviews and livestreams with notable individuals from the Ace Combat online community. While at PAX South their engagement and enthusiasm continued. From the AC7 booth, behind the scenes of the Air Force Ace Combat 7 events at PAX Arena, in support of Ace Combat Fan's interview with Kazutoki Kono and encouraging F22Coleman, Ribbon-Blue, and Zetec to engage with convention attendees coming to the Ace Combat 7 booth.  Let the record show that for Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown, Bandai Namco Entertainment America has put on one of the most, if not the most, extensive community outreach thus far for Ace Combat in the US market. Congratulations and thanks are in order for their staff for all they've done. Special thanks to Dmitryi Khlynin , Community Specialist. Many may know him from the December 2018 and January 2019  AC7 livestreams. While he may not have been on camera, his efforts were pivotal in the success of Ace Combat 7 related events at PAX South 2019 that weekend. About the Writer Aaron "Ribbon-Blue" Mendoza Co-founder of Skyward Flight Media. A lifelong aviation enthusiast with a special interest in flight simulators and games. After founding Electrosphere.info, the first English Ace Combat database, he has been involved in creating aviation related websites, communities, and events since 2005. He continues to explore past and present flight games and sims with his extensive collection of game consoles and computers. | Twitter | Discord: RibbonBlue#8870 |

​This report is written by Aaron "Ribbon-Blue" Mendoza who attended PAX South 2019 and experienced it all first hand. Written from his point of view, he describes some of the day by day events not mentioned in the Summary: PAX South 2019 article. Launch weekend of the long-awaited newest game from Project Aces with the brand director of the series in attendance and a live competition sponsored by the United States Air Force? It was undeniably a once in a lifetime event. ​In my opinion, some of what happened at PAX South 2019 was a landmark event for Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown and for the Ace Combat franchise as a whole. Preparation Two weeks before the convention doors opened, I had not looked too closely at PAX South. Just because I thought it was too far away and with Ace Combat 7 being released that weekend, a far off game convention seemed less critical. As time passed, and contacts were made, it became apparent that PAX South 2019 would be an experience with key people from Bandai-Namco USA, Project Aces (Ace Combat Development Team) and members of the Ace Combat online community. In the end, the final deciding factor for my trip was location. San Antonio, Texas, USA. My hometown.  ​Days of rushed prep work, buying supplies, researching camera equipment and booking flights and hotels paid off. By January 17th, 2019 I was landing in San Antonio still riding a wave of excitement and anticipation. All of those feelings weren't just about the convention itself. In the lead up to PAX South, I learned that Ace Combat Fan  (Ace Combat-focused YouTuber),  F22Coleman  (USAF Aircraft Maintenance Officer, Long-time Ace Combat fan) and  Zetec  (the head of  r/AceCombat ) were also going to attend. It would be one of the few times I would ever meet up with people I've spoken with on a computer screen, at a location that was sure to be full of new and returning Ace Combat fans.  In-flight entertainment. With agreements to support one another made and collaboration on media coverage established, the four of us were prepared for the weekend. Prepared for what we thought the weekend would be at least. Though my focus was on taking pictures and video, we were all pulled in much deeper than any of us had planned for.  On January 17th, at a time in the morning I may never travel during again, I was at Denver International Airport before the baggage check in kiosks were even activated. Three hours and one flight transfer later I landed in San Antonio, Texas. Midnight Pickup The same day I arrived in San Antonio, F22Coleman and I picked up Ace Combat Fan from the airport around midnight. Upon his arrival we were gifted Canadian Chocolates. My only regret is that I ate them far too quickly. San Antonio was unusually cold during the weekend. Day One - January 18th, 2019 ​My own experiences with conventions of all types and sizes have made me relatively use to them, but even for me, PAX South seemed to be larger than I expected. On the internet many people that attend other PAX  conventions talk of PAX South as though it is smaller and less important. That created a preconception before I arrived and saw it for myself. With F22Coleman at the wheel of his dependable vehicle, we picked up Zetec and met Ace Combat Fan at the Ace Combat 7 booth. ​After winding through PAX security and the various other booths, we arrived at the Ace Combat 7 area. As mentioned in the event summary article, it was eye-catching when looking at the different booths around it. The constant crowd of convention goers getting in line and looking on with interest kept the atmosphere active. After meeting with the Bandai-Namco staff there, the four of us spent the day challenging one another, interacting with fans while they waited in line, encouraged others to give the demo a try and frequently used the booth as a meetup point for the weekend. It became the unofficial event HQ for our coverage from day 1.   AC7 demonstration area. Throughout Friday, January 18th, the booth would run two unique events for attendees that played the eight-player battle royale. The winner of each round would be signed up to participate in battle royale matches for the Air Force Ace Combat 7 Open Competition to be held on Saturday, January 19th, live on the PAX Arena stage. The second event was a weekend-long high score challenge. The individual that put up the top score for each day of the convention would win a PlayStation VR bundle that included two games and the PS4 Camera. A select few skilled Ace Combat fans openly and frequently battled one another for the top prize all weekend. ​ ​ With the Saturday battle royale on the minds of the top scorers, Ace Combat Fan, F22Coleman, Zetec and myself played as many rounds as possible at the Ace Combat 7. We all felt as though we needed to gather experience quickly. No one wants to embarrass themselves in a live stream on stage. Little did I know that everyone but me brought a PS4 and a copy of AC7 with them to their hotels.  The final events of Friday rounded out with a midday lunch at Whataburger, an autograph session with Kazutoki Kono, Brand Director of the Ace Combat series and the rest of the four-man PAX South team supporting Ace Combat Fan during his interview with Kazutoki Kono. ​ ​ ​There are times when meeting the people behind your most beloved game series can be disappointing. After having conversations with Kazutoki Kono, taking photos of his autograph sessions, watching his interactions with fans and casually talking to him throughout the convention, I felt happy and relieved. He is a humble man with a genuine appreciation for those that have played and continue to support the Ace Combat series. During his autograph sessions he often took his own pictures of the merchandise fans asked him to sign and saluted with fans that asked for photos with him. You could tell he was genuinely happy to be there.  After a successful day at the convention, the four of us ended up at Denny's, the current in-joke restaurant related to Ace Combat ( ACF explains in this video ) to review the day's events and prepare for Saturday. Interview Wingmen F22Coleman, Zetec and I provided whatever support Ace Combat Fan, Kazutoki Kono and staff from Bandai-Namco Entertainment America needed for his interview. After relocating chairs, banners and personnel to an area away from the busy Ace Combat 7 booth, the interview went without a hitch. With Zetec on the camera (as seen in the photo) and myself taking separate photos, ACF's interview with Kazutoki Kono was an important part of the PAX South weekend. Day Two - January 19th, 2019 Arriving just in time to play on stage, F22Coleman, Zetec and I entered into the battle royale segment alongside new companions we met on Friday. With commentary by Ace Combat Fan and  Matrym ,  beneath the stage lights, with a camera high above roving around the arena, waves of contenders got on stage with only the winner of each round receiving a prize and a short interview. Though competitive, a casual atmosphere filled both the arena seats and the stage. As I walked around the arena snapping photos before and after my own battle royale round, an amazing chance appeared.   The decision to change the battle royale format of the segment came to us suddenly during a commercial break. With the immediate assistance from Bandai Namco staff on site, the final details were settled within minutes.  We found ourselves preparing for the first-ever, live on stage Ace Combat 7 team death match (TDM) exhibition . With less than forty minutes of overall game time on Ace Combat 7, I selected the F-15J with SAAMs and competed alongside the rest of what was be known as Team Project Lighthouse. The atmosphere of team-based competition felt like it had finally set in. This offset any nervousness or stage fright we would have felt. After four consecutive victories, Team Project Lighthouse was split, new teams were formed, and competition continued.  ​ Ace Combat Fan (right) and Matrym (left) providing commentary. Throughout the on-stage team death matches, we were told there were consecutively over 10,000 viewers on Twitch with a peak of 16,000 viewers. ​​No pressure, right?  After the on stage, on camera events ended, the post-game celebration between those that participated shifted back to the AC7 booth. You'd figure after roughly four hours of competitive game play we'd need a break. Instead, we were right back at it celebrating with our newfound companions with battle royale. It's hard for me to say if we're creatures of habit or a bit more diehard than I expected.  The second round of autographs with Kazutoki Kono resulted in him signing everything from copies of Ace Combat 7 to entire video game consoles. Zetec flew back to his home that evening, leaving Coleman and I to indulge Ace Combat Fan in a local Texan restaurant once again. Saturday's choice being Bill Miller's BBQ restaurant. With both this restaurant and Whataburger under his belt, we felt as though Ace Combat Fan could honestly say he had "been to Texas." Day Three - January 20th, 2019 USAF personnel (left), Twitch Streamers (right) January 20th, 2019. ​The final day for PAX South featured the main Ace Combat 7 event which pitted Twitch streamers  Deejay Knight ,  Kyente ,  PmsProxy , and  Tinmac  against members of United States of America Air Force. I found myself in the crowd with the other hardcore Ace Combat fans, as well as Kazutoki Kono in the audience. Cheering and commenting as we watched the tide of competition slowly rise. It was at this time, sitting in the crowd with fellow Ace Combat fans and new acquaintances that I found myself having to let this all sink in. A history of competitive Ace Combat gameplay from my time joining the online community in 2004 up to sitting in this crowd in 2019 came to mind. What a long way this has all come. Left to right: Matrym, USAF Colonel Bradley Oliver and Ace Combat Fan commentating. As my thoughts on this began to gather, F22Coleman said his goodbyes and began his drive home. This ended his weekend of being very popular with just about everyone that saw him or spoke to him for those three days.  ​Once again, those that had been involved with the live events found ourselves at the Ace Combat 7 booth. We exchanged contact information with new friends, I had reunions with members of Ace Combat online squadrons from over a decade ago and even met the representative of AceCombatSkies.com from 2011 in person. Throughout the event, I met many others that knew of Project: Lighthouse. In an interesting moment of "coming full circle," I met a younger individual along with their family. To be told that he was the same age I was when I signed up on my first Ace Combat forum in 2004 and that Project: Lighthouse was a significant part of what got him involved today was very special for me. The thanks I received from them are something I'll probably never forget. ​The final highlight of my personal PAX South experience with AC7 was using a MiG-21 with Machine Gun Pods for "the memes" as it were. The target? An advanced version of the X-02 Wyvern, one of the most well known fictional aircraft in Ace Combat. A random but hilariously satisfying high point.  With the main event hall closing at 6:00 PM on Sunday, January 20th, goodbyes were expressed, and thanks were given to Ace Combat Fan and the dedicated staff of Bandai Namco USA who truly performed above and beyond. Not only at PAX South, but in many other ways leading up to the launch weekend for Ace Combat 7.  The after effects of the meetings, interviews, live events, photos and videos of PAX South 2019 are still having an effect on the online community at large today. In the background of the energy surround in the release of Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown, plans are being laid for long term ventures created by and managed by various members and organizations within the Ace Combat community.  I look forward to seeing where it all goes from here. Kazutoki Kono and Aaron "Ribbon-Blue" Mendoza. About the Writer Aaron "Ribbon-Blue" Mendoza Co-founder of Skyward Flight Media. A lifelong aviation enthusiast with a special interest in flight simulators and games. After founding Electrosphere.info, the first English Ace Combat database, he has been involved in creating aviation related websites, communities, and events since 2005. He continues to explore past and present flight games and sims with his extensive collection of game consoles and computers. | Twitter | Discord: RibbonBlue#8870 |

Our interview with Ace Combat Brand Director Kazutoki Kono at PAX South 2019 was originally scheduled for Tokyo Game Show in 2018, but under went a rescheduling due to unforeseen circumstances. We give our special thanks to Bandai-Namco US community specialist Dmitryi Khlynin for assisting with the rescheduling of this interview. This interview is available in English and ​日本語 thanks to TaskForce23 who also assisted Ace Combat Fan in his  interview with Kazutoki Kono. Congratulations on the official release of Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown. What a surprise it was to have you present on the launch weekend of Ace Combat 7. Thank you for making the trip to San Antonio, Texas to meet with the fans in person. What did you think of PAX South? Were you surprised by how many fans were wearing flight suits? ​I was really surprised. (lol) It was a sight that you really don’t see in Japan. They showed that they were fans of Ace Combat from head to toe, and I was really pleased. What were your thoughts on seeing Ace Combat 7 played live on the PAX Arena stage in competition? For this event, we showcased the multiplayer and VR modes. Many times I watched from the booth, wondering “what kind of playstyle are they going for?” in the multiplayer mode. I laughed because first place for the daily rankings went to community members every day. Have you seen any events in Japan for Ace Combat similar to what you saw in PAX Arena? There aren’t that many events hosted in Japan. In contrast, PAX is an event that takes place in many locations in North America over the course of the entire year, and was an impressive event  where “real game fans” gather, with these communities and fans at the core. Looking at the differences in how these events are in Japan and North America, it was very intriguing as an example of what we [in Japan] should aim for. In AC7, Spare Squadron is a penal military unit, which is very unique for the Ace Combat series. The concept of using the 'Sin Lines' to represent how severe their crimes are is eye-catching. Why did you decide to use this kind of unit? When brainstorming scenarios for Ace Combat, one very important factor to consider is “what kind of name/designation will the player be known by from his enemies and allies?” In the case of this game, we thought “what about having scars on the tail [of the aircraft]?” as a design-like symbol. That became “diagonal strike lines,” and while this idea was moving towards “sin lines,” we also wanted the game scenario to put the player in a situation that differed from previous installments. Thus this concept [of a penal unit] was born and both of these ideas [sin lines and a penal unit] were created accordingly. About the mural "Skies Unknown". As you know, people find different messages or meanings when they observe art. When you view the mural, what do you think about it? Since I’m the person who instructed the artist to “make a painting like this,” I know all the meanings that were put into it. (Lol) But I still think about the virtue of aiming towards a so-called Utopia that goes beyond ethnicity and nations, and how it can be realized in “a painting,” but is something that cannot really be done in reality. "Skies Unknown" by Yukari Masuike. Unrelated to the main story of Ace Combat 7, the hero Mobius 1 from Ace Combat 04 and 5's Arcade mode returns for the PlayStation VR missions. How did Project Aces feel reintroducing this iconic protagonist? At first, I had doubts like “do we really need to bring back a protagonist from ten years ago?” I even had fears thinking, “will this ruin the dreams of all the fans?” In the end, I made the decision to entrust it to the staff’s strong enthusiasm. As a result, the fans were delighted, so I feel wonderful about it. It seems like the pilots flying alongside Mobius 1 are unsure of his exploits from the past conflicts. One of them even said they don't like "old timer pilots." What a change of tone regarding a former hero! What was the reason for this change around Mobius 1? One of Ace Combat 7’s themes is “the gap between the old era and the new era.” Even Mobius 1 cannot fight against this tide. However, through players flying as him, he was able to make those around him accept that he is a hero once again. Those actions themselves are our message. In your opinion, what is the greatest accomplishment the Project Aces team achieved during the development of Ace Combat 7? The fact that we developed the game with new members and a new [organizational] structure, overcame huge hardships, but was able to good results. This was especially true for the clouds. “Through the use of clouds, effects of  weather and air currents will be added, revolutionizing the environment in the sky, and the gameplay itself will become new.” There were some staff members that were skeptical of this, and we were even firmly told “NO” by the in-house product evaluation team. Even then, we believed in the concept, completed it, and actually received support from users and fans for the novelty this “revolution in the skies” brought. That [support we received] is proof that the development team carefully examined the vision that lay before them. Without visionaries, there won’t be a good development [period]. Implementing virtual reality is undoubtedly a landmark achievement for the Ace Combat series. When the team tested the final build of the VR component, what were your feelings and thoughts? We realized that this really elevated the fun of Ace Combat, “the experience of a pilot flying and fighting freely in the skies.” We really felt that revolutionizing entertainment shouldn’t be done solely on the software side of things, and that revolution will come from innovation in hardware. We are hoping that many more people get to experience VR. After seeing VR in its completion do you feel as though future Ace Combat titles could utilize VR on a larger scale? It is possible. Despite problems from a business point-of-view. We gained experience in the methods and know-how of how to create an Ace Combat specialized for VR. We’ve said this many times before, but if we were to create an Ace Combat game solely for VR, the storytelling and presentation will be completely different from previous installments. If it’s a product that requires that much effort, there needs to be a correspondingly high demand for it. In the past, you've said you're a fan of the Sukhoi Flanker series of aircraft. That being said, are you living your dream of flying a Su-30 Flanker with AC7 and PSVR? We didn’t include it just to suit my personal tastes. I think the dreams of a lot of fans have been achieved. Am I wrong? (lol) What is the process to translate the game and game materials to other languages like? First of all, we transcribe everything in Japanese. Then we translate those into English, which is then translated into other languages, but in the case of Project ACES, we work on the English wording within the team, and re-check and re-translate military terminology. With the release of Ace Combat 5, the series introduced the map of what would become known as the "Strangereal" World. How early in development did the decision to create an original world arise? For example, did the idea start with Ace Combat 04 development back in the year 2000? “Ulysses” and “a world with craters” were born when I was working as art director for 04. I thought in the Ace Combat world, a world where you look down at the ground from the sky, a “massive symbol” was required. This was to differentiate it from other flight games. At that time, I think instead of “creating a world,” we were focused on “creating a setting where battles between fighter jets are frequent and heroes are more easily made.” Afterwards, I personally named and called it a “Strange Real World.” That turned into “Strangereal” among fans, developed into common language, and thus became a world. A world map in 5 was shown because it was necessary to depict the cross-national war between Osea and Yuktobania. Map of the original world of Ace Combat. On the subject of Strangereal, what are some of your favorite additions from over the years? Any specific countries, characters, original aircraft or events? Hmm, this is a very difficult question. I want to know what’s going on in places like SOTOA where nothing has been talked about yet. (lol) I’ve checked the main stories over and over again, so I love everything equally. Rather, I like the “events not depicted in the main story of Strangereal” that are presented on the Japanese official website or Aces at War. Seeing those things, it really feels like Strangereal actually exists. Were there any original aircraft designs you wanted included in a game, but they were never used? Could you possibly describe any of them or tell us their names? All original aircraft should be included in one title or another. Even the ADA-01B “Adler” which had not been implemented for a long time was added in Ace Combat Infinity. Right now, I feel like there aren’t any [unused aircraft]. In games and books from series' past, there are references to unseen conflicts in the 1900s of Strangereal. Some Ace Combat games featured famous World War II-era aircraft as a part of their aircraft list as well. Has there ever been talk of a making a World War II-era Ace Combat game using propeller-driven aircraft? Even now, Producer Shimomoto frequently proposes ideas. We definitely have staff that want to make one within the development team. However, we, Project ACES is a much smaller team than what you imagine. We have our hands full with just 7 and the season pass. Another game by Project Aces, Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces, features wind and minor clouds in its gameplay. Did these mechanics have an influence in the early development of Ace Combat 7? There are no direct influences. The clouds and wind phenomenon seem the same, but the way of implementing things via “setting the concept’s focal point” and “adding features” varies greatly. In the case of setting the concept’s focal point, conforming to the concept affects the game system, scenarios, presentation, multiplayer, and everything else. The blueprint becomes something totally different. This is a feeling particular to [game] development, so it might be hard to put into words. Throughout the years the Project Aces team has interacted with the Japanese Self Defense Forces in many ways. Have you had any memorable experiences involving the JSDF? Have they taken you for a flight in one of their aircraft? Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to ride in one, but some development staff has sat in the cockpit of one their aircraft. We’re always so grateful for their cooperation when we collect data, but the most memorable experience was that they went out of their way to line up F-15s and F-2s at Matsushima and Nyutabaru Air Bases for the Ace Combat 7 exhibits. I was extremely moved on how the people on the bases came together to promote our work. Has your vision for Ace Combat 7 come alive with the game’s release? I don’t think everything has been fulfilled. There are probably users who weren’t satisfied. However, I think we have definitely moved the series forward. After experiencing 7’s skies, “the sensation of the sky” in previous works should feel like there is something missing. The fact that we were able to go one step beyond that ambient sense and revolutionize [the game] by appealing to the human senses makes me think that my vision has been achieved. Our final question: How would you describe your journey with this franchise as it has evolved? I feel like I’ll be like Mihaly soon. People like Producer Shimomoto, [VR] Producer Tamaoki, and Trigger and his allies have appeared. The times will change. I want to stand in their way as an obstacle that must be crossed and surpassed. We would like to thank you for this interview and meeting with our interviewer at PAX South. Thank you for everything you and the Project Aces team has done to create the Ace Combat series and continue moving it ever forward. ​ The original Japanese interview can be found here . About the Translator TaskForce 23 // Japanese to English Translation About the Interviewer 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. [Profile]

Our interview with Ace Combat Brand Director Kazutoki Kono at PAX South 2019 was originally scheduled for Tokyo Game Show in 2018, but under went a rescheduling due to unforeseen circumstances. The questions presented in this interview were gathered from various members and staff from Project: Lighthouse during the lead up to the convention, along with questions that were created onsite at PAX South. We give our special thanks to Bandai-Namco US community specialist Dmitryi Khlynin for assisting with the rescheduling of this interview. This interview is available in English and ​日本語 thanks to TaskForce23 who also assisted Ace Combat Fan in his  interview with Kazutoki Kono. エースコンバット７: スカイズ・アンノウンの発売おめでとうございます。ゲーム発売の週末に来てくれて驚きました。テキサス州のサンアントニオに来て、ファンに直接会ってくれてありがとうございました。 PAX Southをどう思いましたか？こんなにたくさんフライトスーツを着ているファンがいるのにびっくりしましたか？ とても驚きましたよ。(笑)日本ではなかなか見られない光景です。ACE COMBATのファンであることを全身で表現していて、すごく嬉しかったです。 エースコンバット７が生でPAX会場にプレーされていたことの感想は？ 今回は、マルチプレイとVRを出展しました。マルチプレイは「どういう遊ばれ方をしているのだろう？」と気にかけて何度もブースで見守っていました。デイリーランキングの1位が毎日、コミュニティのメンバーだったので笑いました。 PAX会場で行われたようなイベントは日本にもありましたか？ 日本のイベント開催数はそれほど多くありません。対照的にPAXは北米で数か所にわたって年間を通して行われるイベントで、また「本当のゲームファン」が集まり、コミュニティやファンが中心になっている力強いイベントでした。日本と北米のイベントの在り方の違い、目指すべきお手本としてとても興味深かったです。 7に登場するスペア部隊は懲罰部隊で、エースコンバットシリーズの中でもとても一意的な存在となっています。「罪線」を使って、犯した罪の重さを示すコンセプトは目立ちました。どうしてこのような部隊を使うことにしたのですか？ エースコンバットのシナリオを考えて行く際に、プレイヤーが「なんという呼称で敵と味方に知られるか？」というのが１つの大切な要素です。今回の場合、デザイン的なシンボルとして、「尾翼に爪痕」があるのはどうだろう？と考えました。それが、「斜線の取り消し線」となり、「罪線」という設定に進む中で、同時にシナリオもこれまでとは違った境遇にプレイヤーを置いてみたい。というコンセプトが生まれ、双方が一致する形で誕生しました。 絵画:「スカイズ・アンノウン」について。ご存知でしょうが、人は絵を見て色々なメッセージや意味を見つけますが、河野さんはこれを見てどんなことが頭に浮かびますか？ 僕は、「このような絵にしてください」という指示をした身ですので、込められた意味を全て知ってしまっています。(笑)ただ、民族、国家を超えて理想郷ともいえる世界を目指すということの尊さ、またそれは『絵』では実現できるが、現実ではなかなか実現できないということを考えます。 絵画: スカイズ・アンノウン 7のメインストーリーとは関係ないですが、エースコンバット04とエースコンバット5のアーケードモードの英雄、メビウス1がPlaystation VRのミッションにまた登場します。Project Acesの皆さんはこの象徴的な主人公の再導入にどう感じました？ 最初は、わざわざ本当に「十数年前の主人公を再び借り出す必要があるのか？」と疑問はありました。「ファンの方々の夢を壊してしまうのではないか？」という恐怖もありました。最終的にスタッフの熱意の強さに「任せてみよう」と決断しました。結果として、ファンの方々も喜んでくださったので素晴らしいと感じています。 メビウス1と一緒に飛んでいる仲間たちは彼の過去の成果に自信がなさそうですね。 「故老」はすきではないと言うやつもいました。元英雄になんという言葉遣い！どうしてメビウス1への態度が変わったのでしょうか？ ACE COMBAT 7のテーマの１つに「旧時代から新時代への狭間」があります。メビウス1もその波には抗えません。しかしながら、皆さんのプレイによって、彼は再び英雄であることを周囲に認めさせました。その行動自体が我々のメッセージです。 河野さんはエースコンバット7を開発している間、Project Acesの最大の功績とは何だと思いますか？ 新しいメンバー、新しい体制で挑戦的な開発を行い、大きな苦労を乗り越えて成果を出したことです。「雲」の表現１つとってもそうです。『「雲」によって、天候、気流が加わり、空の環境が革新されて、ゲームプレイそのものが新しくなる。』このことに懐疑的なスタッフもいましたし、実際に社内での製品評価チームにも「NO」を突き付けられました。それでもコンセプトを信じて完成させて、実際にユーザー、ファンの皆さんから『空の革新』がもたらす新しさに支持を得たこと。それは、開発チームがキチンと半歩先のビジョンをみて開発を続けた証拠になります。ビジョナリストなしには良い開発はありません。 バーチャルリアリティーをエースコンバットに導入できたことは画期的な成果で間違いないです。完成したVRモードをテストした時、Project Acesの皆さんの気持ちや思いはどんなものでしたか？ これはエースコンバットの原点的な楽しみ、「空を自由飛んで闘うパイロットの体験」の根底を格上げさせるものだと気づきました。エンターテイメントの革新はソフト側だけで行うことではなく、ハードの革新性によって飛躍的に高まるということを実感しました。もっとVRを体験する人が増えて欲しいと我々は願っています。 VRモードの完成を見たとき、将来のエースコンバットにもっと大きな規模にVRを用いることができると思いましたか？ 可能ですね。ビジネス的な課題、問題はあるにせよ。VRに特化したACE COMBATの制作のメソッド、ノウハウは溜まりました。何度もお話していますが、VR専用のACE COMBATを制作する場合は、ストーリーテリングも、演出も全て従来とは違ったものになります。それだけの大規模な作品であれば、それ相応の受け皿が必要ですね。 河野さんは前にSukhoi社の飛行機がお気に入りだと言ったことがありますが、Su-30をエースコンバット7のVRモードで飛べることができて夢が叶ったのでは？ 僕の個人的な趣味で収録したわけではありません。多くのファンの夢を叶えたと思っています。違いますか？(笑) ゲームやゲームの資料を英語や他の語言に通訳するときはどんな手順を取るのですか？ 先ずは日本語で全て書き起こします。それを英語化して、そこから各国の言語に翻訳していくのですが、Project ACESの場合、英語化されたものをチーム内で言い回しや、ミリタリー用語の再チェック、再翻訳を行っています。 エースコンバット5の発売で、シリーズは初めて「ストレンジリアル」と名付けられる世界の地図を紹介しました。開発のいつ頃から別世界を生み出すと決めたのですか？もしかしてエースコンバット04が開発が行われていた2000年頃からですか？ 僕がアートディレクターを務めた04で「ユリシーズ」と「クレーターのある世界」が誕生しました。僕は空から地表を見下ろすこの世界、ACE COMBATの世界には「巨大なシンボル」が必要だと考えました。それは他のフライトゲームとの差別化です。その時は「世界を生み出す」というより、「より戦闘機同士の闘いや、英雄が作りやすくなる設定を作る」だったと思います。その後、Strange Real Worldという名称で個人的に発信していました。それがファンの間で「ストレンジリアル」となって共通言語化し、世界となったのです。5での世界地図の公開は、オーシアとユークトバニアの国家間戦争を描くため必要になったのです。 ストレンジリアル 河野さんは「ストレンジリアル」の中の好みな国、登場人物、オリジナル機体や出来事はありますか？ うーん、非常に難しい質問ですね。まだ語られていないSOTOAとかで何が起こっているのか知ってみたいです。(笑)僕は、本編は何度も何度もチェックを重ねるので、すべてが平等に愛おしくなってしまっています。むしろ個人的には日本の公式ページや、ACES  at WARで発表されている「ストレンジリアルの世界で起こっていた本編で描かれていない出来事」が好きですね。あれらを見ると、より、ストレンジリアルの世界は実在するような気がしてきます。 オリジナル機体をゲームに含みたかったけれど、出来なかったことはありますか？もしあればその機体の名前やデザインのことを話せますか？ オリジナル機体自体は、全て何れかのタイトルに収録されているはずです。長年、実装されていなかったADA-01B”ADLER”もACE COMBAT INFINITYにて収録されましたし。今のところは存在しない気がします。 シリーズ過去のゲームや資料にはストレンジリアルの1900年代に起こった戦争や紛争が言及されています。有名な第二次世界大戦の戦闘機が登場したエースコンバットもあります。第二次世界大戦頃のプロペラ機をつかったエースコンバットゲームを開発する談話があったことはありましたか？ 今も下元プロデューサーからちょくちょく提案されます。開発の中にも作りたいというスタッフはいますね。ただ、僕らProject ACESは皆さんが想像するよりも小さな開発チームです。7とシーズンパスで手一杯ですね。 Project Acesが他にも開発したゲーム、Sky Crawlers: innocent Acesは立体っぽい雲や風が飛行機を動かす機能が含まれていました。この機能はエースコンバット7の初期開発に影響をあたえましたか？ 直接的な影響はないです。雲も風も、同様の現象ではありますが、「コンセプトの軸に据える」という考えと、「機能を追加する」では作り込む方向が全く異なります。軸に据えた場合は、それに準じてゲームシステム、シナリオ、演出、マルチプレイと全てに影響を及ぼします。設計図は全く違うものになるのです。これは開発的な感覚なので上手く言語化できていないかもしれませんね。 Project Acesのチームは日本自衛隊と色々かかわっていますが、自衛隊との忘れられない経験とかありますか？ 航空自衛隊の飛行機に乗ったことはありますか？ 残念ながら私は乗ったことがないのですが、開発スタッフの何人かは、コクピットに搭乗しています。我々の取材へのご協力にはいつも大変感謝していますが、最も印象的だったのは、松島基地や新田原基地など、ACE COMBAT 7の出展に際して、わざわざ本物のF-15やF-2を並べてくれたことです。基地の方々が一致団結して我々の作品を盛り上げてくださって、すごく感動しました。 ゲームが発売してから、河野さんのエースコンバット7のビジョンは叶ったと思いますか？ 全てが叶ったとは思いません。賛成できないユーザーもいらっしゃるでしょう。しかしながら、我々は確実にシリーズを前進させました。7の空を体験した後に、過去作の空を飛んだなら、「空の感触」に物足らなさを感じるはずです。そういう、臨場感より一歩踏み込んだ、人間の感覚に訴える革新ができたことは、ビジョンが叶ったと考えています。 最後の質問です。このシリーズが進化していく中、河野さんの「旅」はどのようなものですか？ 僕はそろそろミハイかと。下元Pや玉置Pなどトリガーたちが現れました。時代は変わっていきます。彼らの障害として、越えなければならない存在として立ち塞がりたいと思っています。 Project: Lighthouseはこのインタビューに参加し、PAX Southで私たちの会見者と会ってくれた河野さんに感謝を告げます。あなたとProject Acesの皆さんがエースコンバット    シリーズを生み出し、それを進歩し続けてくださって本当にありがとうございます。

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 ]

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 .

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 .

I was vaguely reminded of something during a discussion about childhood flight games and sims. A classic "what sparked your interest in simulated aviation?" conversation. Many late nights ago, I searched for a helicopter game for Amiga personal computers produced by Commodore in the mid-1980s and early 1990s. To my surprise, I found what appeared to be the entire first level of the game uploaded to a website. Trying to figure out if this was piracy or video game preservation, I was confused to see that it was released on the PICO-8 game console, a platform I had never heard of in years of video game collecting. You can imagine my face when I finally realized this was a demake of the original game I remembered on a "fantasy game console." A brief search for more flight-related games pushed me deeper into the platform and left an impression on me. Front page of the official PICO-8 website. The development of PICO-8 as a platform is an unusual one. PICO-8 was created by Joseph "Zep" White and is a product of childhood nostalgia, combating boredom, and life of programming from New Zealand to Japan. It evolved from a design exercise referred to as LEX500 to practice for a general scripting component in its sister platform to an easy to access and program fantasy game console. Quoting the official website will describe what this concept is better than I can: "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." Example of cartridge While remaining within the limitations of a 16-color display of 128x128 pixels and 4-channel audio output, PICO-8 programmers have created games in just about every genre possible. With either keyboard and mouse or USB gamepads, most of the flight titles in the PICO-8's cartridge library are flight-themed shoot'em ups or flight arcade games that are demakes of existing retro games or are inspired by those same games. In my case, the title I was reminded of was Zeewolf (1994) for the Amiga. What I found instead was Zed Wolf (2020), which was so similar it genuinely fooled me for a short time. Try it for yourself below: Other notable flight titles include a near-perfect demake of X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter: Attack on the Deathstar from the Sharp X68000, Comanche 1/2 inspired by the series of the same name from NovaLogic and Endless Sky , an original arcadey flight shooter. However, I can't discuss this subject without mentioning Tiny Sim by Frederic Souchu and Thomas Cueni . Tiny Sim is the first flight simulator for PICO-8 based on the Cessna 172R Skyhawk with a Garmin G1000 glass cockpit. The flight model was designed using observations of an actual pilot of the same aircraft throughout the game development process. The flight model is a bit more advanced than most would expect, as even the effects of wind on the flight path and indicated airspeed. As detailed in its 34-page manual , the aircraft has many of its vital systems in working order. Horizontal Situation Indicators, navigation radios, glideslope indicators, GPS waypoints, instrument landing equipment, and similar systems are available on the Primary Flight Display screen and Multi-Function Display screen. Certain airfields have very high frequency omni-directional range (VOR) equipment and precision approach path indicator (PAPI) lights to further assist with landing. The manual also includes a flight school section to help players get familiar with their aircraft systems and practice exercises to prevent stalls, different landing approaches, and coordinated turns. Basic airport information and an aeronautical chart are also provided. In its own way, it is charming how the flying games on this fantasy console invoke feelings of nostalgia. Though this article mentions a small selection flight themed games, there are a few other titles beneath specific search terms (flight, plane, jet, etc.) on the official website. But, developers who create games for this console can distribute or sell them as they see fit, anywhere they want to. Who knows how many other flight arcade or flight simulation releases are out there for the PICO-8? 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 ]

It wasn't until just around a decade ago that VR started becoming accessible to enthusiasts, and with that came a growing and untapped market for flight simulators that advertised their VR implementations. They boasted the added immersion and unparallel feeling of flight as the main selling points of flying in VR; so, as someone that has been a VR user for over 5 years now, are these statements true? What are the drawbacks of flying in VR? FEELING OF FLIGHT This aspect is, most likely, the truest one of flying in VR. There just is not a better way to feel like you are in a cockpit than seeing it in full 3D right in front of you. All the dials, details and the visibility all intertwine with each other into a feast for your eyes. I have personally flown in VR in around 5 to 6 different titles, from dedicated VR-only games like VTOL VR, to others where VR feels a bit more of an afterthought such as DCS World; and regardless of in which game I have flown in, the immersion is always astonishing. Flying on flat screens or even curved monitors just does not feel as immersive anymore once you have tasted VR flying, but that also comes with a cost, both monetary and quality-wise. COMFORT, VISIBILITY AND READABILITY In terms of comfort, it will depend on your headset and the environmental conditions in your room. For someone like me who has a Quest 2 and lives in a quite humid place, sometimes playing during the day will become quite uncomfortable. The lenses will fog out, and it will be quite difficult to just clear them every couple of minutes. This will stop after a while when the inside of the headset gasket has reached equilibrium with the outside, but that awkward feeling of the fogged lenses will not fade. Visibility and readability will also greatly depend on your headset. The two main determining factors are your Field of View (FoV) and your internal headset resolution. For example, my Quest 2 has the equivalent of 2K per eye and 97 degrees of horizontal FoV. So, when you are flying it can feel a bit like looking through binoculars, something that could definitely be improved with higher-end headsets such as the Big Screen Beyond 2, or even the more accessible Quest 3. USABILITY Something we take for granted when we fly on desktop is how visible our controls, panels and keyboard are. When you are in VR, you will lose track of what is where, and you will be constantly peaking below your light brick to glance at your peripherals. There are a couple of ways to mitigate this issue, such as using pass-through features available in a couple of headsets such as the Quest 3, or the more unrealistic one which involves you making a 1:1 replica of a real cockpit. Both options have been tried and both work, with the most impressive one being Warthog Project's 1:1 A-10C cockpit replica that has allowed him to play DCS in a way we all dream we could. His set-up is fully physical, with every single panel functional. Have a gander yourself: Of course, this is something 99.9% of users would not be able to use, or create, but it is certainly an option that some of us have opted for to solve this problem. FINAL THOUGHTS VR flying is becoming more and more accessible, and the technology has definitely improved. I have my gripes with it, such as the weight and comfort of some headsets, as well as application specific difficulties such as the ones described in the above section. I quite enjoy games such as VTOL VR and even flying within VRChat, but my VR flight time on dedicated simulators has been quite limited because my current set up does not cooperate well with my peripherals in VR. Were I to have a dedicated room for VR or a simrig, I would probably fly a lot more in VR, but, here I am. 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

With the currently ongoing Flight Week event, we felt it was the perfect time to release an update on what we have been up to and our current plans moving forward with VRChat Aviation. There are a couple of projects we have been working on, so let's get to it. NEW VRCHAT AVIATION HUB WEBPAGE Aaron "Ribbon-Blue" Mendoza has worked on an amazing webpage that will be the hub for all of VRChat endeavors. You will be able to find everything from information about our original aircraft, direct links to our worlds and our VRChat articles in one place. Make sure to give it a look, especially those product pages that we made for each of our current aircraft. They are amazingly built and can give you insight as to how much thought and effort has been put into making these planes. WORLD DEVELOPMENT Currently, we have one world in active development and one in maintenance. This new world will include planes that Santiago "Cubeboy" Cuberos modeled for At Skies' Edge, the indie flight game being developed by Mackerel_Sky, with his permission. The idea is to have at least two planes available in the world, with a third one possibly coming at some point. Here are both aircraft coming to one of our worlds in the near future: F.GR-4: K.F-21A Markings and liveries are subject to change, since they were made for At Skies' Edge. Aside from these two aircraft, we have been working on another Skyward original aircraft designed by Caio "Hueman" Barreto. This one is going to go by the name of "Caravela", here is a WIP of its current form inside of CAD software: Do not expect this plane anytime soon, but we will make sure to keep everyone informed of our progress as we approach completion. It will be made flyable within VRChat, of course. COLLABORATIONS We are in the process of planning at least two events alongside Dogfight Central. One tournament and one airshow. There are no current dates or timeframes, but we will inform you as soon as we can confirm and coordinate with the DFC admins. DFC held an airshow last Sunday, September 14th, in a very similar style as what we want to host alongside them. You can expect our civilian and training aircraft to take part in it, with several solo and team displays to be flown during the event. We have more content in the oven, but it is a bit raw to share at the moment. Stay tuned!

September 12th - 19th, 2025, an official platform wide event Five years ago, aircraft took to the skies of VRChat . After years of new worlds created, flight model updates, air combat tournaments and airshows, the first official platform wide VRChat aviation event is here: VRC Flight Week. On September 12th, 2025, this event was announced with official posts on the VRChat social media accounts at Bluesky and X.com . A livestream on Twitch with the VRChat community management team and development team included representatives of the organization behind making this event possible: At its core, this event is driven by Negentropic working with Boeing and the Australian Government to create educational aviation worlds in the VRChat platform. Players will know 'Team Negentropic' from the Space Jam event in the platform. In the livestream, this organization as represented by the leader username 'Negantropic' and Cubeboy. Official event poster. For Flight Week, they have created two flight focused worlds with an educational focus: Flight Week - Hangar and Flight Week - Test Flight . Notably, there are private versions of the aforementioned worlds created for use in High Schools across the Commonwealth of Australia. Alongside the Negentropic contribution, many existing worlds (e.g. flight experiences) from throughout the international VRChat aviation community were selected to be showcased. These worlds feature a variety of experiences to show what is possible on the platform. Special attention was taken to not only show off the well-established, most popular flight worlds, but also introduce many other worlds known to the international community. Players visting the Flight Week featured worlds will be able to experience modern fighter jets, player vs player experiences, gliders, air-to-air refueling, aircraft carrier operations, World War 2 warbirds, airliners, small private aircraft, transforming robot aircraft, flight simulation level aircraft, player vs environment missions, sci-fi aerial battles and so much more. In-game example of the Flight Week menu. In the first day, it is hard to track the exact numbers of visits and how many of these worlds have now become favorites to users, as baseline numbers before this event were not recorded. However, monitoring the activity in the Flight Week menu from time to time does show consistent increased activity. One metric that can be confirmed is related to Skyward Night Flight , an official world from Skyward FM featured in VRC Flight Week. Within roughly 24 hours, this world saw an increase in activity in thousands more visits and hundreds of new favorite world listings. Community activity related to this event can be tracked on social media platforms, searching for terms like VRC Flight Week and #VRCAviation. For the duration of this event, Skyward will be posting or reposting media about community activity on our social media accounts at X.com and Bluesky . In VRChat itself, public instances can be joined to experience the featured flight worlds with others. The option to check out these worlds alone or with a close group of friends is always available by opening Friends only and Invite only instances. For the international aviation community in VRChat, VRC Flight Week is a massive milestone. With platform wide events like this now possible, it will be interesting to see what other events will appear in the next year. 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 ]

A relatively unknown bastion of air defense If there is one thing that Project Aces does not get enough kudos for, it is the addition of the latest technology or real world concepts to its Ace Combat series. Even the most outrageous anti-asteroid weaponry and energy weapons are based on real world concepts, existing technology or in development projects. Heck, even backwards firing missiles were real! From a gameplay point of view, anything that complicates the player's ability to reliably deploy weapons can be a welcome challenge. Rather than every weapon with a target lock reliably guiding to a target, having occasional interference caused by electronic warfare interference or missile interception systems adds a temporary layer of difficulty. To players, it makes interacting with the unit responsible for the complication a notable experience. Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown (2019) has a relatively unknown air defense system with overwhelming capabilities that comes to mind. In the perceived final mission of Ace Combat 7, the time to storm the opposing nation's capital city puts players in the leading force. As they fly throughout the airspace, dogfighting and bombing forces ahead of the allied amphibious advance, an Aegis Ashore ballistic missile defense system (AABMDS) activates. So threatening is this system that even allied non-player controlled units call for bombardment from the invasion fleet to knock the system out of action. And for good reason. Aegis Ashore in Romania (US Navy) In the real world, Aegis Ashore was proposed by the United States Department of Defense Missile Defense Agency. The project utilizes the well known Aegis combat system deployed on warships and places its components in land based facilities. These include AN/SPY-1 passive electronically scanned radars and vertical launching system cells carrying various types of interceptors (made only to knock other missiles out of the sky) and missiles (can either intercept other missiles or be used to destroy aircraft). The idea is to protect especially important areas on land with this system. A single AAMBDS can free up a few Aegis equipped naval vessels for operations elsewhere. It can track more than 100 targets at a time, with the ability to intercept flying objects across a wide range; from sea skimming missiles to low earth orbit satellites. Even a hypersonic missile interceptor is under development as of 2022. Aegis Ashore in Hawaii during a test launch. (Missile Defense Agency) The first Aegis Ashore system began testing in Kauai, Hawaii in 2002. The first operational site was constructed in Deveslu, Romonia in 2016 with a secondary site planned in Redzikowo, Poland. The site in Poland was planned for completion by 2018 but was delayed multiple times; its new completion date is the end of 2023. Japan also had planned to construct two AAMBDS, but these plans were cancelled in 2020. The control building as seen in Ace Combat 7. In Ace Combat 7, the first Aegis Ashore system is seen in mission 15, "Battle for Farbanti". Two other systems are in downloadable content mission 2, "Anchorhead Raid". It should be noted that the two systems in Anchorhead Raid can be taken out of action before they activate due to the surprise raid conditions. Though there is a short window of a few minutes to do this in. In the game, the central control building of the installation controls multiple surface-to-air missiles units and Phalanx Close In Weapon Systems (CIWS). No VLS missile cells are present. This is unlike the real world version of it. When active, these sites are able to put up waves of 20mm cannon rounds into the air to shred incoming guided missiles, while launching medium range air-to-air missiles at all aircraft in range. Unlike lone air defense tanks that can be overwhelmed by a few missiles, Aegis Ashore can swat down multiple airborne weapons while deterring incoming aircraft from following up on attacks with its own missiles. Ace Combat 7 AAMBDS Intercepting a missile over the military HQ in Farbanti. The two methods recommended by the game itself are either to approach the AAMBDS at extremely low altitudes to make the player's aircraft harder to track on radar, or to launch a large quantity of weapons from higher altitude and long distance. Flying at short-range within the firing envelope of its CIWS does reduce the window of time interception is possible, but this also places the players within the firing arcs of four or more radar guided autocannons. Bold players that are willing to close distance and use large blast radius unguided weapons like dumb bombs and rocket pods will find that their weapons cannot be intercepted. Alternatively, things like lasers and rail guns are always effective since they cannot be physically intercepted by live munitions. Destroying the central control building of this site knocks out all of its capabilities immediately; it is the most efficient way to do it, but certainly the most risky way. Ace Combat 7 AAMBDS defending Anchorhead Bay. I have always appreciated the small ways Ace Combat has interfered with player launched guided weaponry. It does not consistently appear in each title, but Ace Combat 7 leaned into it the most with various anti-aircraft interception units. Seeing a somewhat unknown but now more relevant than ever Aegis Ashore installation in game is a welcome challenge and an interesting nod to the initiatives of real world militaries as the focus on missile interception over a large area is once again en vogue. 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 .

When Sim Update 11 launched for MSFS 2020, it brought one feature to the table which made it unique compared to previous Microsoft Flight Simulator installments: Soaring. True, there was nothing stopping you from flying a glider in FSX, but MSFS 2020 now had all of the building blocks to really support them: tow planes, winch launches, and the modelling of thermals all created an ecosystem in which sailplanes could truly shine. It will come as no surprise to long-time readers that we are big fans of unpowered airplanes with really long wings , and that we’re definitely biased when we say soaring in MSFS is an incredibly fun experience you should try out if you haven’t already, but there’s a problem with it: The selection of sailplanes in the base game is rather limited, with only two models to choose from. Both options are also very modern, high-performance sailplanes - which isn’t a bad thing, but if you want something more old school, it leaves that itch unscratched. One day, while looking for new aircraft to try out in MSFS, I came across a really good-looking model of an old Polish sailplane on flightsim.to - and it was free. To my surprise, I discovered an entire section of freeware gliders on that website! We’ve decided to try a number of these freeware gliders out and share our thoughts on them - and hopefully get you to try some of them out yourself! Check out our video showcasing the gliders discussed here! SZD-30 Pirat By Yanosik This Polish single-seat glider from the 1960’s features a unique mixed construction, being built mostly out of wood but with a fiberglass nose section. It’s not exactly high performance by today’s standards but still boasts a rather respectable glide ratio of 33, plenty enough to have some fun cross-country flights in MSFS. The first thing which caught my eye on this was the external model - I wasn’t expecting a freeware mod to look this good. Everything from the quality of the 3D model to the details and specular maps on the texture just looks right. The only thing that’s lacking in the external model is a pilot, which makes the aircraft look like a “ghost ship” from certain angles in external view; but this is, of course, a minor nitpick which by no means detracts from the incredible work which has been put in this model. Take a look at how the wing looks under reflection: The cockpit is likewise very nicely modelled, down to the reliefs in the internal walls - I’d risk saying it has the best modelling and textures out of all cockpits on this list. True, the textures are a bit flat in some places, but for something you’re getting for free it’s downright amazing. The attention to detail shown here is commendable. As you get acquainted with the SZD-30’s exquisitely modelled office, you’ll notice a very simple, easy-to-read instrument cluster: airspeed, altitude, slip indicator, magnetic compass, and two variometers, one “standard”, vertical velocity indicator vario, and one Total Energy Compensation vario. Commenting on the accuracy of the flight model is beyond the scope of this article, as I have (sadly) no experience flying an SZD-30; but what I can say is that this mod is definitely fun to fly in MSFS, and apart from a strange tendency to pitch up right after takeoff, the flight model generally behaves as you’d expect from a glider. This is the aircraft which first brought our attention to the existence of freeware gliders for MSFS, and it did not disappoint. The fact we ended up writing this article should tell you all you need to know! Schleicher K7 Rhönadler By GlideSimmer67 Devised by legendary sailplane designer Rudolf Kaiser, this old-school, two-seat training glider is a classic of the post-war gliding scene. Being from the 1950’s, an era before fiberglass fuselages were commonplace, the K7 is built in the old-fashioned way: steel tubes, wood, and fabric. Widely successful and exported worldwide, at the time of its introduction this was arguably one of the best performing two-seat sailplanes in the world. The 3D model very nicely represents the aircraft’s tubular steel frame structure, and while it’s a bit low-poly and the textures are flat in some places, in my opinion it still looks really good. The wooden instrument panel, typical of German gliders of the era, adds a touch of charm. The instrument cluster is simple, but it’s got everything you need - airspeed, altitude, a magnetic compass, turn and bank indicator, and two variometers, with one being a total energy compensation vario. Externally, just like with the SZD-30, the lack of a pilot model can make it look a bit uncanny from certain angles - but that is, again, a very minor nitpick.  This add-on has been consistently updated since its release, with the mod’s author tweaking flight model values to make it as accurate as possible. The combination of the unique, vintage look of the aircraft’s steel frame structure from the cockpit, beautifully replicated in this model; the docile, trainer-like handling; and the aircraft’s performance, more challenging than modern gliders but still plenty enough for basic aerobatics, make this freeware mod an absolute joy to fly, and probably the one I’ve had the most fun with on this list. Slingsby T.31 Tandem Tutor By Klem Designed just after WWII, the T.31 (or Cadet Mk. III) was designed as an affordable training glider to teach the young cadets of Britain’s Air Training Corps the basics of flight. However, the “affordability” part might have been taken a bit too far by Slingsby engineers: with an abysmal glide ratio of 18.5 (less than the side-by-side T.21B!), it's no wonder the Cadet Mk. III was referred to as the “Brick” by the cadets who flew it.But let’s be honest here - we’re plane nerds, and this is the stuff we’re here for. This MSFS representation beautifully reflects these less endearing attributes of the Tandem Tutor: it soars like a brick alright, and should you elect to use a tow plane for takeoff, make sure it’s in an airfield with low elevation and in a cold day; The game’s default tow plane (Cessna 172) struggles to pull the draggy Slingsby along, and under some conditions it might not be able to take off at all (a behavior which is likely a bit exaggerated). In terms of looks, while the external model looks decent, the internal cockpit model and textures leave something to be desired - but remember, you’re getting this for free! Besides, this made me fly the aircraft in external view more often, which is a great way to appreciate this unique aircraft. It is the only sailplane on this list with an open cockpit, and it’s a nice change of pace to fly such an old-school “ab-initio” glider in MSFS. The Slingsby Type 31 isn’t the sexiest glider out there, and it’s definitely not the best performing, but it’s a classic which was the very first contact with aviation for many - former cadets across the UK fondly remember the “Brick” as the aircraft they first soloed in. If you’re interested in this “seat-of-your-pants” era of aviation, definitely check this one out! Rolladen-Schneider LS4 By MADoloSimulations The favorite of many a soaring club and one of the most produced gliders of all time, with over a thousand built, the LS4 owes its longevity to a remarkable combination of high performance and docile, beginner-friendly handling.   This sleek single-seat, glass-reinforced plastic design was one of the aircraft which set the standard for sailplane design and performance in the 1980’s. How well does this freeware mod represent such a legendary aircraft? Well, as this happens to be the first of three entries by MADoloSimulations on this list, let’s take a moment to address a common trait between all of their gliders: The quality of their work is downright incredible for a freeware product. Nearly everything, from the attention to detail in the external 3D models to the cockpit functionality, leaves nothing to be desired in comparison to payware modules. The only area where they noticeably fall behind are the internal models and textures for the cockpit - but that's in comparison to paid alternatives, and even then, they’re more than good enough. There’s custom animations for dumping ballast, a custom navigation computer display which integrates rather nicely with the route manager in MSFS 2020; and since these traits are all shared among all three MADoloSimulations mods we’ll be covering in this article, from now on we’ll be focusing on the additional or unique features which set them apart. As for the LS4 specifically, this model comes with a very interesting instrument cluster: apart from the small navigation display in the center, all instruments are analog, but with digital readouts for airspeed, altitude and the vario. I’ve found it to be an intuitive combination which adds to the experience of flying this beautifully crafted mod. My only complaint about this add-on is the fact that the pilot model stays on in cockpit view, which sometimes causes weird visual effects as you can get “inside” the pilot model when using head tracking. Apart from this very minor drawback, this bird is an absolute pleasure to fly, and one we certainly recommend checking out. Jonkers JS-3 Rapture By MADolo Simulations Jonker Sailplanes is a curious case: they’re one of the very few manufacturers of high-performance sailplanes outside of Europe - and arguably the only one in the southern hemisphere as of the time of writing: as much as I’d like to talk about the KW-1b Quero-Quero or the EMB 400 Urupema, they’re not exactly high-performance by today’s standards, and being positively jurassic, have long been out of production. Built in Potchefstroom, South Africa, Jonker’s sailplanes have been flown to victory in several international competitions: the JS-3 in particular has the 2022 World Gliding Championship and three Women’s World Gliding Championships - 2020, 2022 and 2023 - under its belt, all in the 18-meter class. Speaking of which, this mod comes in two flavors - one with 15-meter wings (Standard class), and the other in the 18-meter configuration (18-meter class). Just like with the previous MADolo Simulations entry, the overall quality of this add-on is very impressive for something you get for free. The big novelty in comparison to the previous MADolo entry is the flight computer - with a massive display taking up most of the instrument panel's real estate, this feature will be familiar to those used to MSFS 2020's base game DG-1001E Neo. Far from being a mere replica of the base game's features though, this add-on's implementation is far more powerful and complete - it can even keep track of the glider's total energy variation over time and plot it on a display so you can visualize the thermals you've found along the way! It was very surprising to see such a system implemented from scratch in a freeware module. Apart from the center display, this aircraft features a complete set of flight instruments - including a digital ADI and HSI, the latter doubling as a trim indicator. If you enjoy gliding in MSFS but don't want to give up your digital displays, and you're looking for a high-performance sailplane with state-of-the-art flight instruments - then this add-on is the one for you! Schleicher AS 33 Me By MADolo Simulations As of the time of writing, the Schleicher AS 33 is one of the most modern and high-performance sailplanes in the world; with a glide ratio of 56 when in 18-meter wingspan configuration, its performance is rivalled only by the very best 18-meter class gliders, and clearly exceeded only by those in the Open class. The AS 33 Me is a self-launching variant, boasting a 35 kW electric motor mounted in a retractable frame. As is typical with high-performance powered sailplanes, the motor and propeller fully retract into the fuselage when not in use. Its MSFS representation by MADolo simulations is just as complete as their previous entries; it's got the same digital flight computer as their JS-3, with the same features as described previously. The other flight instruments are also the same, with one notable exception: the airspeed indicator. MADolo modelled a digital airspeed indicator for the AS 33 Me, and while it takes getting some used to (especially if you're a steam gauge appreciator), it must be said that it's a rather convenient piece of kit: the colored V-speed arcs automatically adjust based on conditions such as altitude and air temperature, and it even features an overspeed warning should you end up being over-enthusiastic on a dive. There's also a gear position indicator, as well as a flap position indicator - a very helpful addition since you have a grand total of 8 different flap settings. My only complaint about this module is that the engine control/display unit at the bottom of the instrument panel seems rather flat looking, and not up to the same standard of quality present in every other part of the cockpit. However, the only thing this will have any impact on is the eye candy factor of your screenshots; the display gives you all the information you need, and the controls are intuitive and clearly labelled. This is by far the most feature-rich out of all freeware gliders add-ons we've tried out. It's got it all: self-launch capability with a deployable motor, a digital flight computer, fully functioning ballast system. One might even say it detracts from the fun of soaring by making it too easy; but what's beyond doubt is that to have such an uncompromising collection of features in a freeware product is truly remarkable. So, just how good are they? One of the questions which will inevitably come up when looking at freeware models is how well do they compare to their paid counterparts. While one could argue such a comparison is fundamentally flawed - you are, after all, getting one of them for free - it’s still an interesting exercise, if only for curiosity's sake. It just so happens that Got Friends , an add-on developer specializing in aircraft for MSFS, has a payware AS 33 Me, the exact same model of the last entry in the freeware add-on list above. Faced with such an opportunity - and such a perfect excuse to try this add-on out - we decided to buy this add-on so we could compare both versions. Right off the bat, an area where Got Friends’ model immediately stands out is the visuals. The 3D model and the textures are absolutely immaculate - and while you could say the freeware’s external model comes close, once you look at the cockpit the difference is staggering. The textures, and particularly details such as the engine’s display in the lower part of the instrument panel, look much better. Another area which Got-Friends has modelled with painstaking attention to detail is the AS 33 Me's electric motor. You could argue they went too far with the internals, but in this case you’re paying for it, so the extra quality is definitely appreciated. But looks alone do not a good module make; so let’s take a look at the functionalities. One of the main perks of the Got-Friends AS 33 is that it includes new launch options, including a bespoke tow plane - the PZL-104 Wilga 35A, which you can then use for any other gliders you own as well. A neat feature is that you can adjust the placement of the instrument gauges to your heart's content. Surprisingly, they're more analog than the ones in the freeware version; for instance, the airspeed indicator, which is digital in the MADolo Simulations model, is instead an analog gauge in the Got-Friends model. This isn’t a good or a bad thing; just an interesting difference to keep in mind. As for the piece of hardware taking up most of your instrument panel, the massive LX9070 flight computer display in the center offers the same features as the one in the freeware version, with a few minor differences. And last but not least, the Got-Friends AS 33 comes with a fully functioning FLARM! While it doesn’t really add much to the gameplay experience outside of multiplayer, it’s a nice novelty to have and shows how much effort the developers put into paying attention to every detail. A necessary disclaimer is that I’ve never flown an AS 33, nor any of the other sailplanes showcased here (a shortcoming I’m happily willing to remedy, in case the reader has access to such machines), and therefore I cannot comment on the accuracy of the flight model; but qualitatively, the Got-Friends version does feel nicer in subtle ways, with a smoother response to control inputs. This does not detract from the freeware model, which still feels great to fly. As far as the external model goes, the quality of the freeware model (left) is remarkably similar to that of the payware one (right) The most striking difference is the modelling of the moment arm of the engine’s thrust in relation to CG in the Got-Friends version; if you carelessly push the throttle forward too fast upon deploying the engine, you will be greeted by an expeditious pitch down as Newton reminds you that your propeller is sitting at the end of a really long arm, way above the fuselage. Overall, while the payware add-on is clearly better as expected, the difference isn’t massive - the only truly noticeable difference is in the visual arena, especially the internal cockpit model. In terms of functionality, both are extremely close, with the freeware option offering the same features as the paid one.  What this paid option really gets you, apart from the improved visuals, is an extra layer of refinement: it has the same features, but with a higher level of quality in their implementation. The differences are mostly apparent in details, such as the water ballast effects: MADolo on the left, Got-Friends on the right This is great news for the player, as you can try out MADolo Simulations’ freeware AS 33 and see if you enjoy flying it around - and if you do, and decide you want to take it to the next level, then you can confidently go for Got-Friends’ expertly crafted payware model knowing you won’t regret your purchase. So, to answer the question posed earlier: Yes, the freeware options are really, really good! In this case we've looked at, both models - freeware and payware - are very impressive. Naturally, Got-Friend's version will give you a higher level of fidelity; but most remarkably, in terms of functionalities MADolo's free module is just as complete as any paid option. Conclusions My initial expectation when first stumbling into the world of freeware gliders for MSFS was that they'd be at most a fun change of pace. What I found instead was a series of surprisingly high-quality models which have nothing to be ashamed of in comparison to Asobo's base game assets - and in certain areas, even surpass them. As anyone who's ever worked with implementing an aircraft into a game will tell you, this takes a lot of time and effort. 3D modelling, texturing, coding, finding sources for flight parameters - none of these are things we should take for granted. The fact we're able to enjoy these aircraft for no cost is the result of a true labor of love by their developers, born out of a desire to share their passion for flight simulation - and their favorite gliders - with as many people as possible. This unsung, selfless effort is truly commendable, and well deserving of your attention. If you have Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and enjoy gliding, we strongly encourage you to check these add-ons out - it’s the best soaring you can have for free! About the Writer Caio D. "Hueman" Barreto An incurable aviation fanatic since childhood, fascinated by the design and history of practically anything that flies. A long-time fan of flight games, he holds a bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering and pursues his hobbies of drawing, writing and flight simulation on his spare time. See Staff Profile .

The start of an idea that was long time coming SERIES INTRODUCTION I am proud to say that coverage of indie flight games is a considerable part of our content on the website. We now plan on increasing that ratio a bit more with this new series: Indie Highlight . The origins of this type of article can be directly traced to our Steam Next Fest compilation articles. In those we briefly cover multiple new indie games that have active demos during those events to try and direct more attention to the devs showing off their progress milestones. This series follows a similar spirit by discussing multiple indie flight games at once while presenting direct links for readers to get in contact with teams and community around each game and purchasing every indie game we can while providing coverage. Going forward, we are making it a point to do this type of article more frequently to look at the efforts of indie developers outside of those festivals as well. There is also an entirely new part of the website being prepared to further represent indie games. But for now, let's get to it! QUICK UPDATES Supermaneuver This is going to sound crazy, but a lot of people may have first seen this game because of a few videos of a Tu-160 Blackjack the size of a city block. This game was officially named Supermaneuver on January 22nd, 2025 by developer and 3D artist Gabriel Solon. At this stage of development the game visually reminds us of Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere and uses a level inspired by that game in its early development phase. With aircraft able to perform post stall maneuvers, a hangar interface not seen in the original Ace Combat game and mentions of fictional countries like Karazinov, Levaria and Anglia this doesn't seem to be a fan remake. There are videos of combat, aircraft selection and now supersonic flight as of just last week. | Links: X.com - YouTube Nova Squadron According to indie developer Clara Gale, May 8th, 2025 was the fifth anniversary of the beginning of Nova Squadron development. The original plan was to release major update 0.4.0 on the anniversary, but it is now being moved to July 2025. This is for the sake of ensuring quality, improved graphics, new missions and locations and an all new fictional Attacker aircraft - the Valkyrie. An aircraft that is easily one of the more visually interesting fictional designs to be seen in an indie flight game in a bit. | Links: Bluesky - Steam - X.com Tiny Combat Arena The beloved retro aesthetic flight sim lite circa 2020 had its X.com account publicly announced as inactive on February 17th, 2025. Now, of course Tiny Combat Arena as a game is still alive under publisher MicroProse, but the decision of developer Why485 to leave social media was jarring for his following on social media. Not to fear though. Besides being active in the official MicroProse Discord, Why485 is continuing to provide development updates on their new Bluesky account, opened on April 16th, 2025. Feel free to continue showing support for them directly on Bluesky as well, if able. | Links: Discord - Bluesky - Steam At Skies' Edge This shadow dropped flight game hit a massive milestone on October 3rd. 2024. Developer Mackerel Sky made the decision to pursue developing this title into a full game, rather than an increasingly complex demo after the demo saw consistent success starting in May 2023. It should be noted that the Itch.io iteration of this game is still available for download, but it will not represent the future of the final product. Development progress since then can be tracked on their Bluesky and X.com accounts. New aircraft and weapons are being modeled, new terrain, new VFX and further core game development - all can be found on their social media accounts. There is no new demo to try out these improvements at this time. | Links: Bluesky - Itch.io - X.com Project Red Sun AOA Productions continues work on this upcoming title with a few known individuals from other flight arcade games rumored at being involved in the project. The demo for the game was confirmed as feature complete on February 3rd, 2025 with refinement underway for an eventual Kickstarter and Steam demo; something mentioned in the description of their March 10th, 2025 Dogfight Refinement video. Project Red Sun is a project I would love more information about, but for now public facing information is best found on their social media accounts and YouTube channel. | Links: Bluesky  - X.com - YouTube Helio Stratos A curious in development title that labels itself as a third person jetfighter game. Its developer, Amalgam Studios, is still deep in the trenches with core game development, but what has been shown in written and video devlogs has been interesting. We see flashes of aim down sights style camera angles during close range combat, "jet drifting" aircraft whipping energetically to intercept passing aircraft and lore that sounds like it would be right at home in something like Destiny or Halo. On May 8th, 2025 a test build was uploaded to Patreon for initial feedback while supporting the developer directly. | Links: Linktree IN FOCUS FEBA Gunship R  by rucsgames  is an attack helicopter focused combat flight game that had some rather interesting extra features unrelated to flight itself. Its developer describes the game as having simple controls that are easy enough to use without having any experience with flying helicopters while also being "unforgiving" with "even a moment of carelessness" leading to defeat. I started out planning to do a "quick playthrough" of the game to get a feel for it... and I found myself turning the game off about five hours later! I was sucked in rather quickly. I feel as though I want to write a full article about this game. The way the gameplay is balanced certainly allows for both in a way that seems daunting at first, but is highly reward within 10 to 20 sorties from my experience. The flight model of the game is decidedly arcade. Altitude is controlled with two face buttons on the game pad. There is an altitude limit that does not let players crash into terrain and does not let them fly at the theoretical maximum altitude of whichever helicopter they are flying. Not a big deal considering that most of the combat happens fast and primarily focuses on land and naval targets. Players are able to climb, strafe, yaw and other familiar rotary-wing flight controls, but do not expect to pull a scout helicopter through a full loop or a barrel roll. Thus far the signature feature of FEBA Gunship R adds immense replayability is its system of unlocking, crafting and purchasing weapons, vehicles and even bases and base defenses. This entire customization system is tiered with what feels like game mechanics similar to mobile games. Items in the item shop rotating every 15 minutes or so, purchasing items outright or gradually building them scrap parts and blue pints gathered via combat. As more airframes and weapons are purchased by the player, their helicopter can be assigned to up to three wingmen that can receive basic orders from the player mid-combat. Even the very military base that players must defend from attack each mission can be customized with specific types of support functions and hand picked defense weapons ranging from machine gun emplacements up to surface-to-air missile launchers. With each enemy destroyed giving points, random chances to find parts one the map during combat and a reasonable "grind" to gather currency and improve equipment is actually enjoyable once players learn the finer parts of how to be selective in which battles they jump into and how to manage their currency. The deciding moment in me feeling as though I want to write a full article on FEBA Gunship R was when I bought a noticeably better attack helicopter with newly crafted radar guided anti-tank missiles while commanding two lower power AI wingmen from a customized heliport. While I have reached a point in the game where I can access more advanced game functions, it still feels early to write a full piece on this game. I need more time with it and look forward to putting in the effort. Connect with 'FEBA Gunship R' Steam  - Website  - X.com  - YouTube   REVISIT Project Skyscape was an ambitious flight game that incorporated first person view ground movement and original aircraft with somewhat simplified but fully interactive cockpits. At the time it was being developed game testers drew parallels between it and VTOL VR by Boundless Dynamics in terms of cockpit interaction. Flyleap Studios, the developer of this game, announced its closure on June 11th, 2022 citing a career change of its lead developer, their opinion of the flight genre being a competitive field and the realities of being a solo dev attempting to make this line of work their only source of income. Skyward Flight Media wrote an article about its use of an in-game gyroscope flight simulator. This is still an interesting way to teach players how to fly and fight without without building out a series of tutorial missions. While a dedicate flight game where players never leave the cockpit of the aircraft could not benefit from this, a game with first person or third person movement outside of an aircraft could capitalize on this concept. Thanks for joining us for the first installment of our Indie Highlight series. The format of this series is bound to change a bit over time, but it is great to take the next step in supporting indie flight games and their developers. Until next time! 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 ]

Few things are as fascinating as aircraft design. From a very young age, I'd marvel at books showcasing the evolution of aircraft throughout the years, and then proceed to take all these ideas now brewing in my head and sketch dozens of different designs. And I know I'm not alone - this childhood dream of creating one's own flying contraptions is likely what gave rise to one of the most unique sub-genres in gaming: Flight (and space) simulation games focused on craft design and building, such as Kerbal Space Program and SimplePlanes. Released in an Early Access state in November 17th, 2023, Flyout sets out to put another name on this small but decorated list, and it brings many novel features to the table. Let's take a look at this new aircraft design flight sim and see what it has to offer! BUILDING YOUR CRAFT To design something, one must first have a goal in mind. In order to explore enough aspects of the game to cover it in this article, I set out to create two basic aircraft: A piston engine-powered aerobatic aircraft, and a 1950's-era jet fighter. When booting the game up and loading the editor, you will be greeted by a sight familiar to anyone who has played a similar game before: An empty space with a single cockpit in the middle. In Flyout, this sight is made all the more daunting by the fact that there is currently no in-game tutorial due to its Early Access state - something the developer himself points out on the game's Steam page. Ah, the endless void. In this empty space, it is our goal to summon an aircraft out of nothing - that's the magic of this type of game, after all. If you have experience with similar games and know the basics of what makes an aircraft fly, then you should be good to go - however even KSP veterans might be initially challenged by their first contact with the game's mechanics, which have a rather steep learning curve - and in exchange, allow for a level of flexibility not seen in any other game of this genre. Early stages of building. One of this game's best features is being able to turn fuselage "panels" into holes, allowing for the creation of cockpits with comparatively little effort. The game's flagship feature is its procedural fuselage parts , with their unique cross-section editor. This tool grants the player fine control over fuselage shapes - those familiar with XPlane's Plane Maker should feel right at home, as this works in a very similar way. The player creates fuselage cross-sections - or stations as they would be called in industry parlance - defined by a set of points, initially circular in shape, and then moves these points around to attain the desired shape. Example of a cross-section as seen in the fuselage editor. Careful shaping and placement of each fuselage section is key to make your aircraft look the way you want - and to fit all the stuff you need to put in it! Open fuselage sections are also available, ideal for canopies. Notice how fuselage panels can be made into glass, and how sections can be angled at will, allowing players great control over canopy shapes. The player can also select certain properties such as material and thickness - although the material properties seem to be purely cosmetic, thickness most certainly has an impact on the craft's performance, as it directly affects the fuselage's weight. For this reason, I strongly recommend players tone down the game's standard thickness of 12mm, which is way too thick for aluminum aircraft skin and will usually result in an overly heavy fuselage, even when accounting for the lack of other structural elements such as frames and stringers in-game. Parts such as landing gear are provided by the game and can have parameters such as length, thickness and angle of retraction set by the player - but if you're making fixed landing gear, the fuselage editor tools make it pretty easy to cook up some rather good-looking custom gear legs. Landing gear fairings are delightfully simple to make with the cross-section editor. For the wings, the player places the wing part on the aircraft and then edits its shape as needed - there is currently only one symmetrical airfoil available, but the player is free to shape the planform in any desired manner, including the chords of control surfaces. The player can also change the thickness of the root and wingtip independently - although it is unclear whether this affects the game's aerodynamic calculations, it most certainly makes getting the looks you want much easier than in other games in the genre. Yes, these wings are using only stock parts from the game. The wing editor gives the player great freedom to shape the wing planform as desired, making things such as the semi-rounded wingtips seen here easy. Something which most definitely does affect the game's aerodynamics, though, is the wing's angle of incidence , and this can also be set independently on the wing root and wingtip, allowing players to effortlessly incorporate washout into their wings. I was ecstatic when I realized the game allowed for this kind of possibility - it's one of those small things which really show the attention to detail in this game. The feeling of seeing a whole aircraft where there was once nothing is one of the things that keeps me coming back to games like this, and Flyout certainly delivers in that regard. It is far more complex than other games in its field, but in exchange that feeling of accomplishment when you finally complete an aircraft is made all the more special - compounded by how visually impressive creations can look with proper use of the cross-section editor. Almost everything in this game affects your aircraft's weight, so keep tabs on the specifications while building! ENGINE CUSTOMIZATION An aspect of this game which greatly surprised me is the complexity behind engine selection. Unlike similar titles, you do not have a selection of different engines with preset characteristics - rather, you must define values for each characteristic of the engine, such as the number of cylinders or fan blades - all of which have an impact on the engine's size, weight and performance. In other words - you must design your own engines , which increases the complexity and difficulty of the game exponentially, but also grants the player the freedom and flexibility to build powerplants to whatever specification they might desire. In this regard, it reminds me of Sprocket, a tank building simulator with a similar penchant for deeply customizable, procedurally-generated parts. If you like fiddling around with settings in that game, you will most likely appreciate this feature. Engine size being affected by its parameters means a key constraint in aircraft design is introduced to the players: Finding a home for the engine. Note the plethora of options on the right side tab! Piston engines in particular are simulated to excruciating detail. Apart from the number of cylinders and their disposition, one must set parameters such as bore, stroke, compression ratio, and even valve diameter. Even some adverse effects, such as knocking if you end up with too high a pressure in the cylinders, are simulated. A complete powerplant assembly. If you opt for a liquid-cooled engine, you must manually place a radiator and link it to the engine. Want a turbocharger? Better set up an intercooler. The engine doesn't magically provide power to the propeller - instead, you must link the two through a gearbox, whose ratio can also be adjusted as required. The result is that powerplant selection and setup becomes a far bigger deal than in most similar games. The game even provides the player with Torque x RPM and Power x RPM plots! While this is an impressive addition which adds a whole new layer of depth to the game, it could be overwhelming for inexperienced players. I'd like to see a selection of engine presets to make this process quicker for players who do not want to design their own engine, and to serve as templates for new players who do - the game does allow players to save their own engine presets, but does not currently offer any. As the game is still in Early Access, perhaps those will be included in a future update. INSTRUMENT PANELS Remember having to find novel and interesting ways of messing around with basic game elements to make functional instruments in the early days of SimplePlanes? Well, you're not going to need that kind of wizardry here. Flyout comes right out of the box with a whole set of working instruments and customizable dials, so it is possible to create functional instrument panels with minimal effort. There's even a programmable AoA indexer! Some of the instruments have certain quirks or work in unnatural ways (such as the altimeter lacking the usual two or three pointers), but for a game in Early Access, this is to be expected. These instruments are an incredibly useful and welcome addition I was pleasantly surprised with. FLIGHT AND ENVIRONMENT What would be the point of a game where you design airplanes if you couldn't take them for a test flight? Flyout lets you test your creations starting either at an airfield or at an initial altitude and airspeed of your choosing. Jet ready for its first test flight Testing the aerobatic airplane out - look at those sweet working instruments! While we do not know exactly which aerodynamic modelling is used, it is safe to assume it's a highly simplified model - I've seen some players with wild expectations of something like CFD being implemented, and well, if you've worked with fluid simulations you know how unlikely that is in an application which requires real-time rendering. Nevertheless, the flight model feels good and it's got everything you could ask for in a game like this. Showcasing the game's flight model with some aerobatics There's even an option for visualization of lift and drag forces acting on your aircraft. Notice how you can even see the lift distribution on the wings! While testing your creations, in-game menus provide a plethora of options, such as spawning practice targets, activating "cheats" for infinite fuel or looking at real-time data on your aircraft's performance. The Flight Data menu displays all sorts of parameters in real time. With regards to the environment, Flyout's world is an earth-sized planet with procedurally generated terrain, featuring an atmospheric model based on the earth's. It works excellently for the purposes of test-flying your airplanes, and looks pretty good from above. However, my greatest complaint about this game is that the environment feels a bit bland - Using your creations to explore the world and discover new places is one of the major driving factors in other games of this genre (such as reaching new planets in KSP), and Flyout currently lacks major incentives to do so, leaving players to fly their creations in a vast expanse without much interesting going on. There are a handful of other airfields scattered across the map, but no clear directions on how to reach them. The large size of the map means one is unlikely to come across them by chance, just flying around. In my opinion, the addition of even more airfields, as well as navigation aids and landmarks linked to achievements, would greatly benefit this game. Here it is important to point out that one of the planned features listed by the developer for the full release is the addition of missions and combat, so consideration is being taken for giving player creations a "home" in which to perform, at least for combat aircraft. In the current Early Access build, testing out weapons is already possible in a limited fashion: Players can spawn enemies for practice, such as tanks and target drones. COMMUNITY Veterans of this particular subgenre of flight simulators will know that for such games, the community can be just as important as the developers in shaping player's experience, adding and expanding content, and overall keeping the game interesting and alive. Though Flyout's community is still relatively small, it is already starting out promisingly strong. A quick search in Youtube reveals a plethora of tutorials made by fellow players, covering the gaps left by the game's present lack of tutorials. And, despite the lack of a Steam workshop or other built-in method of sharing one's creations, players have been eager to show and share their creations with the world through other means, such as the Flyout Discord server. In the interest of contributing to this nascent community, and especially to new players just getting into Flyout, we'll be making the two aircraft I've made for this article available for download. Fly them around, reverse-engineer them to get a grasp of how to make basic creations in-game - it's up to you! CONCLUSIONS With its procedural fuselage tool and in-depth engine mechanics, Flyout is a promising title which brings a plethora of new features to the world of "builder" flight simulation games. Nevertheless, when looking at this game in its current state, it is important to remember it is in Early Access, and is missing many of its planned features. Flyout isn't an easy game, and the lack of in-game tutorials and presets for critical parts such as engines means the learning curve is very steep. If you wish to play this game as it currently stands , please bear in mind you need at least some understanding of basic aircraft design principles or experience with similar games. Even so, I have been pleased to see multiple updates being released in the timeframe of slightly over a month ever since this game entered Early Access, some of them bringing much needed quality of life improvements. It is clear the developer is putting a lot of care into this game - and the fact this is a one-man project makes its achievements all the more impressive. Games such as this are passion projects, driven by the time and effort put in not only by the developers, but also by the players themselves. I look forward to seeing what the future holds for Flyout, and once more features are implemented and fleshed out, I fully expect this title will earn its place alongside the classics of this unique genre. About the Writer Caio D. "Hueman" Barreto An incurable aviation fanatic since childhood, fascinated by the design and history of practically anything that flies. A long-time fan of flight games, he currently studies aeronautical engineering and pursues his hobbies of drawing, writing and flight simulation on his spare time. See Staff Profile .

The indie flight game focused series continues with a new contributor Hey, howa’ doin. My name is Matthew Nguyen, otherwise known by my online handle: FlyAwayNow. I am the writer and producer of Project Wingman and its ongoing developments, as well as beyond. I think I can fairly say that I understand combat flight action, arcade flight sims, Acelikes, Ace Combat, at least better than most, and I have from a young age. I’ve been working on games that involve easy access combat dogfighting since I was 15, and I’m 28 now, and if it means anything, me and Ace Combat share a birthday, separated by only two years. This wasn’t what I set out to do as a young man; in college I dual majored in both Political Science and American Studies in order to serve the political campaigns that I knew would always come around every few years in the United States, but an offhand conversation I had, along with my pre-history of also working on another combat indie game flight project as a young teenager, lined up for me my part in Project Wingman, and well, the rest is History. In the time since Project Wingman has released, I’ve traveled far and seen many things, and I’ve seen the beginnings of many more combat flight indie games and I’ve come to know quite a few of the devs behind them. The series that I present to you with the help of Skyward Flight Media is a unique insight to perhaps what would be the next generation of combat flight games, inspired by all that came before, and even things that have yet to come to pass. Ace Combat’s eighth entry is yet to arrive as we crest over the 30th anniversary of the series, and indeed for as much as they define what we know in this arcade segment of flight sims, there are still yet other factors yet to consider: other games that might very well leave a mark that as all things must, upon this genre in its broadest definitions and then its narrower focus. This is why in these following articles I offer questions, answers, and then insight for those that could very much change the landscape, or the sky more rightly speaking, of the games to takeoff. I sat down with multiple developers in this genre, some of whom I work with even now to bring their games to you, the player, and started a dialog so you can get to know both game and developers behind what might be your new favorite game in the future!  - To start us off, we have to get a good idea of who we’re working with, and, in the indie space more than anything, the person making them is far more of a consequence than institutional or studio-based productions. Indie projects are very much advised by the people making them just by reality of the lesser amount of hands in their creation, and therefore, the tighter control one would have over what is made. The particular main creator identity of Undertale, as an extreme example, is far more apparent in this way than, say, the creators of Call of Duty’s entries. You can identify game elements specific to a person, and just as much you would learn about them through the game, vice versa is also true. Now not all creators are particularly illuminated by this relationship between the Thing and then Themselves, but it is a place to start. So I approached this mostly new generation of flight devs, and I asked them these, or at least variations of, these questions: Who are you? Why did you decide to start working on your game? What do you want your game to be? Here is how they answered. Some had more to say, some had less to say, and some I was compelled to push a little further, but it just shows you the diversity of thought we have in the future for us! Enjoy! Aggressors: Fantasy Air Combat Website Links: Game | Developer Who are you? My name is Sani , and I'm primarily a 3D artist. I really don't know how to describe myself, but people have told me I'm an eccentric individual who is passionate about many things, but above all else, I simply love to create things. Why are you making this game, and this type of game specifically? The core idea for Aggressors came from my experience switching back and forth between simulator flight games like DCS World and the arcade gameplay of Ace Combat. I found myself thinking about what I loved and disliked in both and began to wonder what would happen if you combined them. This led to the game's central concept: a fascinating contrast between grounded realism and imaginative fantasy. I'm a huge fan of military aviation, and real-world history. but I'm also an otaku who loves sci-fi and fantasy anime settings. Aggressors is my attempt to make a setting that is just everything I love. I'm want a game with mechanics that are a line between true-to-life and not because I want to explore an interesting form of gameplay: in a realistic scenario, how would one actually deal with the fantastical, over-the-top threats you see in games like Ace Combat, and how can that translate into fun, compelling gameplay? I believe that experimentation is what pushes games forward. I am not the first to attempt to make a game like this, in the past during the early 2000s there were many older aircraft games that tried to tackle this- but they often had poor sales due to the nature of video games back in the day. However, in the modern day, If you do things too straight, you just end up making more of the same and it does not stand out. By doing something unexpected with the setting or gameplay, you might just create the next fresh experience, and it might sell well. This philosophy also extends to the game's setting itself, which is based on a science-fantasy universe I've been writing for years with a friend. This game is my first opportunity to share a part of that universe with people. I don't expect my game to do well, but I think this is a blessing as it encourages me to try many new things. What do you want this game to be? Aggressors is simply my dream game, that's all I want it to be. But my ultimate hope is for the end result to inspire at least one person to passionately create something of their own, just as I have. This is my first real attempt at developing a game, and it's a journey I've undertaken mostly by myself, with occasional help from a small number of friends. I believe we have to create our own purpose in life, and I want mine to be building things that inspire others. If Aggressors can leave a lasting mark on even a single person and encourage them to create, then I will consider it a success. Hyperlink to post. From what you've put out there and from what you've shared with me, yeah this gameplay, if it's not more "realistic", I would say it's rather more tactical and conservative in terms of the absolute capability of the player. As in, just for example, in Ace Combat you have at base an aircraft with nearly 100 all aspect missiles that can deal with literally every target in those games. You've avoided something like this. How far do you think you'll push that aspect of Aggressors? Firstly, I want to clarify my philosophy on "realism." For Aggressors, it means modeling the real-world elements I find fun and discarding anything that obstructs that fun. A perfect example is missile defense: you can notch and beam an enemy's missile to evade it instead of using countermeasures, but for the sake of keeping things fun the player, your own missiles can't be notched or affected by ground clutter. Similarly, the game has a simplified flight model that allows for intense, low-speed dogfights and high AOA maneuvers, but I refuse to model things like G-force damaging the aircraft, as that's just an obstacle to the fun. This creates a unique dynamic I'm already feeling happy with as it makes the game incredibly fast paced due to the unrealistic gameplay meshing well with the semi-realistic elements. Though to answer your question directly, Aggressors is absolutely designed to be more tactical. You need to prioritize targets and effectively manage your wingmen. The gameplay becomes a balancing act of asking yourself, "What should I focus on killing?" versus "What can I afford to ignore?" or even "I'll let my wingmen handle that." While missions will still feature large-scale battles, the core loop is about completing your objective while simply trying to survive and doing as much damage as possible along the way. You will almost always have the option to return to base to rearm and repair, but you have to be mindful of ammunition costs also. I know this more deliberate style of gameplay won't be for everyone. That’s why I’ve already implemented optional modifiers, like an "Arcade Weapon Load" for those who just want to shoot things down, as well as toggles for other hardcore mechanics. But you are right—at its core, my approach is a more tactical take on it. What do you think you'll keep from Ace Combat to put across from your take here. The control scheme. It's perfect. For a gamepad, the way those games handle is something I've grown to love, and I see no reason to change it aside from adding extra inputs for the manual airbreak control and counter-measures. I'm also taking some general inspiration from its UI layout. Worth to mention, the game will be able to be played without a gamepad, but I think the experience greatly benefits from anything with an analog input. Beyond that, however, my goal is to diverge significantly from the Ace Combat formula. My approach to storytelling, for instance, will be far less direct instead of it being essentially an audio drama. The game will feature a hub world where the larger narrative comes together, while dialogue during missions will serve more as small-scale banter or clues to the bigger picture. Ultimately, it will be entirely different. The most accurate comparison isn't another acecom-like game. Instead, a closer description would be a 3rd-generation Armored Core title that plays like Ace Combat with a JRPG style of story telling. Which sounds actually not that great when I put it to words, but I think it can work great.  Hyperlink to post. Any closing thoughts or things you want to say? Thank you so much for the interview. I'm incredibly grateful for the chance to be given a chance to talk about my project. It means a lot to be able to be on some people's radar. I'd also like to take this moment to give a huge thanks to the friends who have supported me. While this project has largely been a solo endeavor, it wouldn't be what it is without the help I've received along the way. A special thanks to my best friend "N", with whom I've been building this science-fantasy universe for years and is a huge contributor; this game is the first real opportunity to share a piece of that world, and I'm so excited to finally do so.  To everyone who has followed the development, offered encouragement, or shown interest in this passion project—thank you. Your support, no matter how small, has been invaluable in keeping the motivation going. There's also a few who have given me financial support; don't worry. You are not forgotten. This game is my dream project, a combination of everything I love. My greatest hope with it is that all this passion and experimentation results in something that might inspire at least one other person to go out and create something they want to make. Thanks again for everything. Modern Jet Fighters Online Website Links: Game Who are you? I'm wh00ps with Freak Games, the developer of Modern Jet Fighters Online . I grew up playing IL-2 Sturmovik, DCS, War Thunder, and Ace Combat. These games shaped my vision of what air combat should feel like in games — where every attack is a decision, and every victory is earned through skill, not luck. Beyond games, I’ve always had a deep fascination with real-world aviation — especially jet fighters. There’s something timeless and powerful about these machines: the speed, the precision, the danger. That passion is the foundation for everything I’m building.  Why are you making this game and this type of game? Because there’s still no truly compelling air combat game on mobile devices. We’re taking the best elements from PC simulators and arcade shooters and making them fast, tight, and most importantly — exciting and intuitive to play on a mobile platform. You don’t need to buy a joystick, sit down at a PC, configure TrackIR, or spend time “preparing for a match.” In Modern Jet Fighters, you launch the game and you’re in the sky within 30 seconds, facing other players. Whether you have five minutes or half an hour — you’ll get a real battle, powerful emotions, and that unmistakable feeling of being a fighter pilot. What do you want this game to be? I want to create the best flight combat game on mobile. A game where, with just a tap, players can drop straight into the heart of a dogfight — no waiting, no loading screens, no unnecessary prep. What matters to me is that every battle feels like a scene from iconic movies (Top Gun, Independence Day, or Stealth.) As a kid, I was filled with excitement and awe watching those films — the aircraft, the tension, the spectacle. Modern Jet Fighters Online is a reflection of those childhood emotions — brought to life and made playable. And if the game can pass on even a fraction of those feelings to players — then I’ll know I’ve done it right. MJF Online very much punches above its weight in terms of the visual and audio design of it; I have to ask if you do have wider experience developing games or productions like this. Yes, I’ve already developed and released several mobile games, for example: Sector Invaders, Pests Buster. However, I’ve always been drawn to session-based online shooters with competitive gameplay. That passion led me to create StarCombat and Zombie Legends later. StarCombat gave me the technical and creative foundation to build a high-quality air combat experience. Modern Jet Fighters is a natural evolution of that journey. I’ve had a fascination with modern aviation since childhood, and this project let me finally bring that interest to life in a polished, competitive mobile format. As for the audio design—music has always been a part of my life. I play guitar, write instrumental tracks, and have a strong background in audio engineering. That definitely helped shape the game’s sound direction and gave me the tools to craft an immersive, reactive audio environment around the action. Hyperlink to post. So what is the typical gameplay loop of MJF Online? Is it similar to War Thunder's PVP experience for comparison? Is there a place for people in your game that don't enjoy PVP gameplay? I didn’t try to reinvent the wheel—I build on proven, familiar gameplay systems, but tailor them specifically for mobile and try to bring our own flavor to the genre. The core gameplay loop, especially in early progression, revolves around short, intense battles where players earn experience and currency to unlock upgrades and new aircraft. As they rank up, the gameplay expands with new maps, advanced gear, and competitive features. At the high end, the game introduces systems like weekly tournaments. Every player is automatically entered, and at the end of the week, the top 10 performers receive premium rewards, exclusive titles, and unique skins. Their names are added to the in-game Hall of Fame—a permanent place in the game's history. Example of gameplay on a mobile phone. As for PVE—while I don’t offer traditional offline missions, try to make space for PVE-focused players within live sessions. For example, destroying all ground targets can lead the team to victory. Players who prefer a more tactical or support role can make a real impact without having to chase air-to-air kills. That said, I am actively listening to players who want offline missions or narrative-driven campaigns. Exploring ways to integrate these into the experience without breaking the competitive spirit—or the economics—of a free-to-play game. But for now, our focus is firmly on delivering the best possible session-based online combat. I would also like to draw your attention to the fact that the result is not just mine, since I use the services of freelancers, purchase music, ready-made sounds and game assets on the appropriate sites on the Internet. All this is done by very talented people and the way the game looks, sounds and feels is also their merit.  Any closing thoughts or things you want to say? Thanks so much for the opportunity to share the story behind this project and the ideas that inspired it. Over the years, I’ve had the chance to collaborate with all kinds of people — freelancers, early te sters, and passionate community members across our Discord , TikTok , and X . Interacting with the audience has always felt like a breath of fresh air and a reminder that what we’re building truly matters to others.  I’d also like to express my gratitude to my partners at MicroProse. I’ve been fortunate to receive support and guidance behind the scenes, which has played a major role in shaping the project’s vision. Their involvement created the conditions that finally allowed me to bring many long-standing ideas to life — ideas that have directly influenced what the game looks and feels like today.  Now, after five years of development — and thanks to a bit of luck and a lot of support — the game is finally nearing its next big milestone: closed testing, planned for the coming months. Looking back, it’s been a long, sometimes chaotic, but deeply rewarding journey — and I’m incredibly excited for what’s ahead. 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 ]

One of the best "mistakes" I have made in this simulator This is a story that I'm somewhat embarrassed by, but proud enough to tell in public. Back in November 2022, some of the Skyward Flight Media staff were eager to get their hands on the Aermacchi MB-339A created by IndiaFoxtEcho for Digital Combat Simulator. As always, when a new official module or unofficial mod is released for this simulator, we coordinate content ahead of time. After a bit of a mix-up, we missed our usual window to acquire the aircraft. It was during a pre-planned night of fun with friends and stiff drinks that we realized this, and I accidentally acquired a copy of the MB-339 for myself and not our primary DCS content creator, Santiago "Cubeboy" Cuberos . After some laughter, Cubeboy got his copy for the review he wrote, but I found myself now owning an aircraft that I previously had little to no interest in. Making the best of it, we decided to test multicrew functions as a part of Skyward's review of the MB-339 . With me flying in the trainee seat, studying the aircraft seriously for the first time, I found myself genuinely having a great time. Despite my roughly two years of experience with DCS, in a way, the "Macchi" is teaching me some new things. With the bulk of my experience being with 4th generation naval aircraft and dabbling in a few mods, the flight characteristics and capabilities of the MB-339 are training me to fly a bit differently. It represents the basics of land based fixed wing aircraft operations. With less thrust, fewer flight systems and limited armament, the finer details of each sortie were now more important than ever. Having no radar warning equipment or radar at all forces me to revert to better flight planning and more reliance on visual scanning while in combat. While this jet trainer/light attacker is technologically limited, it is still combat effective when flown in missions that are within its ability. Using gun pods for a SEAD mission may not be the best tactic, but it excels in quick strike missions that dump bombs or rockets onto a target in one or two passes. I've also had success with loitering in an area, using smoke rockets to mark targets for allied units to obliterate a short time later. Thanks to the simplicity of the MB-339, it's easier to learn while still having relevant flight control and navigation systems in the cockpit. The cockpit flow is easy to understand with clear labelling. Within three or four sorties (and two tail strikes on takeoff), I was airborne, navigating and fighting. With weapon deployment in particular being more hands on than usual as I had to maintain specific speeds, dive angles and altitudes to ensure the reticle depression setting of my gunsight remains accurate until the attack is complete. Maintaining the correct launch parameters from the start to the end of the attack is a very different experience. Even aged attackers like the Su-25 Frogfoot have laser range finding equipment and guided air-to-ground weaponry. In the MB-339, it's all down to the pilot. Pilotage and fine control dictate everything the Macchi does. The way I learn to fly aircraft in flight simulators is slow. Before trying to learn a new aircraft, I prefer to understand at least 80% of all systems and armaments and have enough experience to reliably use them. This is something that's relatively easy to attain with the MB-339. Within a week of seriously focusing on the aircraft, it can become an easy to reach for airframe. It's a lot of fun for relatively little effort in comparison to learning many other modules in Digital Combat Simulator. I can now personally recommend this aircraft for people looking to change things up, and even to newcomers that are in the market to purchase a genuine jet trainer to begin their DCS world experience. 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.

Hoping a Simple Addition Becomes a Consistent Trend One of the hardest parts about mission editing in Digital Combat Simulator World (DCS) is knowing where to start. Even the free Caucasus and Marianas maps are highly detailed with hundreds of miles of fields, oceans, buildings, railways... all without much of a way to find them easily. At most the map layer in F10 may have a few hints at useful locations if you know what you are looking for. Which map? Where to start? Are there unmarked military facilities in the grid square you randomly chose, or will you commit to the arduous task of building custom villages, revetments and bases from scratch? Are you willing to do some research of the countries and regions of each map to find what you are looking for? There were some maps in DCS that offer fast references important for easier mission building. Not enough to effortlessly create missions like 107th Joint Aviation Squadron's Through The Inferno multiplayer servers or Reflected Simulations single player campaigns, but a solid building block towards greatness. In a simulator focused on combat aviation, nothing is more important than air defenses. F/A-18C deploying multiple ADM-141 decoys into air defenses. TRADITIONAL METHOD Here is an anecdote on this subject from my time mission editing. One of my tried-and-true methods in creating new missions is scrolling through maps grid by grid. Zooming in and out constantly to see individual buildings, fields, vehicles etc. Cycling through the different map layers to see all details. Any notable areas or objects I see are then added to a text file, spreadsheet or some other type of document for later reference. While planning a scenario in the Syria Map by Ugra-Media , I found an important historical part of the country's military history. Deep in the open terrain of the southern half of Syria, near the borders of Jordan, Iraq, Israel and Lebanon I found a pair of circles made up of smaller circles. In no way was this a natural landform. The "mysterious circles" that started it all. Reviewing the F10 map also yielded no information. This mystery structure had all the markings of a traditional Surface to Air Missile (SAM) Site. Specifically in the SA-2 Guideline configuration, but by standard doctrine, it had too many TELs or "missile rails". Mouse dragging my way through grid squares of surrounding desert, similar circles were revealed. Each of them strategically placed across the southern part of the country. Upon finding a second double ringed complex with no references on map, I took to the internet for days to research. Eventually I found declassified documents from the American Central Intelligence Agency Freedom of Information Act Electronic Reading Room. In particular the " SA-5 SAM Complex Construction " and " SA-5 Complexes and Associated Facilities in Syria " were very illuminating. More research and declassified documents later, I had an entire portion of the Syrian Integrated Air Defense System (IADS) reasonably modeled within the simulator. Samples of information from declassified documents. Now of course DCS World itself is not 1 to 1 real world accurate in many aspects, exact GPS coordinates on maps being one of them. However, all of this got me close enough to model things out as needed. Now for this part of the Syria map I have a go-to set of large-scale air defenses to increase or decrease, augment with other air defenses or use as a backdrop for smaller missions that can occur in that area. It is a starting point any mission in a combat flight simulator could use. THE NEW WAY Fortunately, DCS: Sinai Map by OnReTech and DCS: Cold War Germany Map by Ugra Media are providing a new, simple in-game feature that streamlines this process. As much as I could go on about the unbelievable amount of human level detail in the Cold War Germany map, players are definitely more interested in the more combat oriented aspects of the map. Understandably so. The Fulda Gap isn't going to fill itself after all. Though, the baseline of every potential mission on the map could include the larger parts of the Integrated Air Defense networks in both North Atlantic Treaty Organization controlled West Germany and Warsaw Pact controlled East Germany. If even a quarter of it was modeled in a mission, it would be a significant backdrop to all air operations. Important military facilities, such as SAM sites and early warning radar locations, are marked on the maps with easy-to-understand icons. Missile Icons for SAM sites and Radar Icons for radar stations. In the mission editor these icons occupy the Geo Names layer, where the names of cities and towns are displayed. Sample of Cold War Germany Map radar and SAM site icons. Without doing any research, these sites can be populated with mission appropriate air defenses at the discretion of the editor. Feel free to switch out those old MIM-23 HAWK batteries for new IRIS-T launchers if your modern scenario calls for it. Though, with a bit of entry level research (e.g. search terms like "West Germany HAWK Sites", "East Germany cold war early warning radars", etc.) these positions can eventually be populated with era appropriate units. My favorite example of this being the keystones of the Warsaw Pact SAM Belt: the SA-5 Gammon bases. Mission editors will need to manually place units into the correct positions for each location, but this is a welcome change from the traditional method. Once the medium and long-range air defenses are in place - as many or few as the editor chooses to include - missions can be created beneath their air defense umbrella with editors knowing they can focus up on the finer details of their primary objectives. Map icons, and by extension air bases and heliports at notable locations, are something that I hope other third-party companies that create terrain include in future and current maps available in this simulator. SALUTING USER FILES Digital Combat Simulator has been around for over a decade now in one form or another, so it should come as no surprise that devoted users that go above and beyond to enhance their preferred flight sim have tackled this subject before. The User Files section of the official website for DCS world is mainly compromised of liveries and downloadable missions, but unit and location templates can also be found. In fact, in the File Type dropdown menu there is a Static Template sub-category. Further templates outside of that category can also be found with the search bar using terms like "Persian Gulf Template". These templates are jam packed with units - both static and active units. They are placed in known real world locations or contain pre-made areas to fill out parts of maps. While running these templates as is could be problematic as they are quite heavy. Mission editors are encouraged to save a copy of the template as a new mission. Afterwards they should trim out parts of the template they do not want to keep, then add their desired units for the scenario they have in mind for the sake of maintaining in-game performance for players. I send my regards to the dedicated experts that build these templates in the 'traditional way'. As shown in my personal example, it takes hours or days of research. 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 ]

Following the biggest-ever FlightSimExpo in June, Flight Simulation Association is excited to welcome the community to Saint Paul, Minnesota in 2026! Deals on flights and hotels are available now at flightsimexpo.com . Attendee registration opens in December. Flight Simulation Association (FSA) published travel details and discounts for FlightSimExpo 2026, taking place June 12-14, 2026 , at the Saint Paul RiverCentre, just 15 minutes from Minneapolis/Saint Paul International Airport (MSP) in Minnesota. FlightSimExpo is one of the world’s largest dedicated flight simulation events and has welcomed almost 10,000 attendees to shows in Las Vegas, Orlando, San Diego, Houston, and Providence since 2018. The convention features developers, non-profits, virtual airlines, live ATC, seminars, product announcements, off-site tours, and much more. 2026 Schedule As in past years, attendees can expect a jam-packed weekend of announcements, hands-on exhibits and demos, product updates, developer Q&As, workshops, and more. FlightSimExpo will begin on Friday, June 12 and end on Sunday, June 14, with optional add-on tours happening on Friday, June 12 and Monday, June 15. “At our past shows, attendees have enjoyed behind-the-scenes access to air traffic control towers, airports, aerial dogfights, museum visits, and more,” says FSA Co-Founder Phil Coyle. “We’re working on offering similar experiences for FlightSimExpo 2026’s attendees, with more details on these to come in early 2026.” For the full event experience, attendees should plan to arrive in Saint Paul by Thursday, June 11 and leave on Monday, June 15. The Venue FlightSimExpo 2026 will be held at the Saint Paul RiverCentre, an 8-mile drive from Minneapolis/Saint Paul International Airport (MSP) in Minnesota. MSP airport offers more than 130 non-stop destinations across the country and around the world. Saint Paul is also served by Amtrak's Borealis and Empire Builder routes. Located on the banks of the Mississippi River, Saint Paul—Minnesota's Capital City—features stunning venues, full-service hotels, and a sustainable convention center. Over 100 languages are spoken in this diverse city that cares for its heritage, its people, its natural places, and for those who come to visit. Amongst many other attractions, the venue is just 20 minutes from the Mall of America®, a leading retail, entertainment, and attractions destination, welcoming millions of visitors from around the world since 1992. Travel Discounts for Attendees Discounted hotel rates are available for FlightSimExpo attendees, with options ranging from $149 to $159 per night, plus local taxes. For 2026, the primary hotel is the InterContinental Saint Paul Riverfront, which offers elevated accommodations with sweeping views of the downtown skyline and is a 8-minute walk from the event venue. Alongside the InterCon, FlightSimExpo has secured discounted rates at a variety of nearby properties, including Hilton and Hyatt brands. Attendees can also use links from the FlightSimExpo website to save on flights from Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and codeshare partners like Air Canada and WestJet. Learn more at flightsimexpo.com/discounts . Event Registration Opens in December Attendee registration for FlightSimExpo will open in December, with special rates available to FSA Captains for a limited time. For more information about registration and to be notified when tickets become available, join the FlightSimExpo mailing list . Recordings from FlightSimExpo 2025 Each Friday, FlightSimExpo will be publishing 2025 event seminars on YouTube , free for everyone to enjoy. These community-inspired seminars feature tips and tricks from simmers, developers, content creators, and more. Dropping Friday, watch “Simulating our Real-Life Trip to FSExpo 2025!”, where YouTuber FlightChops shares how he his simulator to match the actual avionics of a real-world RV-14, and how he uses it for training. About FlightSimExpo. FlightSimExpo is one of the world’s largest flight simulation conventions. The event has welcomed almost 10,000 attendees to events in Las Vegas, Orlando, San Diego, Houston, and Providence since 2018. FlightSimExpo is produced by Flight Simulation Association, a community-driven organization of developers, simmers, and real-world pilots working to make it easier to get started in home flight simulation. Join the community today—free—at flightsimassociation.com for resources, learning content, webinars, and discounts on top add-ons and simulation hardware.

After several months of being grounded for one reason or another, I decided to finally dust off my controllers and start retraining myself to fly in DCS, which I knew was going to be quite the process depending on if I had actually retained the information from the last time I flew. I stopped flying consistently around January, and spent months without a proper flight on an actual simulator, leading to me feeling as if I had lost a part of myself. I yearned to get back into the rabbit hole that is learning systems on aircraft I would never get to fly IRL. My boys and I got together and actually, for once, booted up the simulator and started flying. At first, I was a bit shocked at the fact that I somehow managed to convince my friends to fly again in DCS. We hadn't gotten a proper flight in so long that I thought it would have been an impossibility, yet, here we are. I focused all of my training hours to reacquainting myself with Heatblur's masterpiece, the Phantom. If any plane would knock the rust out of me, it would be the archaic flying brick. I didn't even need to learn the start-up again, thankfully I remembered everything and I had my bird in the air in record time. Now, the issues started when I tried doing anything that wasn't just flying. Weapon deployment was easy enough to relearn, especially the superficially-complex but practically-simple AGM-65. With a bit of patience, I was putting warheads on foreheads in no time. I did struggle a lot to start rippling them at several targets in a short span of time, but I got pretty confident at handling one target per pass. The sight certainly doesn't help with its atrocious image quality, but it gets the job done. Bombing-wise, I got some proper practice with DT mode and Direct bombing modes. For the latter, I practiced buddy lasing with Blue and dropping GBU-12s. Coordinating with another aircraft to get ordinance on target was extremely refreshing. It reminded me that DCS is not just training hell, but an experience better enjoyed together. As for DT mode, oh boy. I had to basically relearn everything. From telling Jester my parameters, to locking the ground to acquire the position, and then the smooth pull-up after hitting the pickle button to get the bombs on target. It was such a pain, but it was well worth it. After that, I even hit up the tanker for my first refuel in 5 months, which actually ended up with me successfully refueling most of my tanks after the tanker decided to turn way too sharply. In the end, it ended up being one good, successful restart of my life as a dumb virtual pilot! The next step is just getting back into public multiplayer servers and doing the same missions I used to do. To answer the question I posed on the title: No, it is not. Go do 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

Feisty AI and Quality Dogfighting from a Resurging Indie Game Just a short time ago a scrappy dogfighter has entered the scene. Its developer has been hitting the indie game focused social media accounts hard, making all the right moves to gain exposure. You may have seen it by now as well. Videos of propeller driven warbirds evading missiles while flying beneath floating islands. That was enough for me to happily download the free demo and see what was going on. At first glance, Sky Aces by Fireruner seems like a quickly put together arena-esque shooter with not too much else going on. My initial perception of it being this way went straight out the window after one particular dogfight. While losing a rate fight, I found the right chance to attempt to zoom climb out of the fight against the fighter with superior maneuverability. As I climbed with a few evasive maneuvers, the pursuing fighter stalled. Unable to follow me, the enemy fighter began to pitch its nose down, only to be strafed by two of my bot teammates before it could fully recover. Tangible energy management? AI teammates taking advantage of a situation? I'm interested. The demo for Sky Aces was released before the game enters Early Access. The demo is a vertical slice for what the solo indie developer is trying to do with the game. A brief conversation with the dev revealed that they had been working on this game over the past three years as a hobby. After a break with life getting a little busy, they are back to developing Sky Aces and making quite a bit of progress as of roughly a month ago. This is a straight up dogfighter game pitting teams of up to five people or bots per team against each other. In the demo, single player 5 vs 5 player vs environment is currently available. Player VS player and other PVE modes have been discussed. This game is set to allow for online co-op gameplay with human players working together to shoot down bots on the other side. A nice inclusion to go along with its online PVP experience. In games that do not have a lot of detailed story or extensive systems outside of combat, the quality of the enemies that players fight takes center stage. On the Steam page, the developer describes their AI units as: "The AI isn’t just a target dummy. It’s dynamic, aggressive, and responsive. It will adapt to your tactics, pressure you at the worst possible moments, and punish your mistakes all while using real life air to air combat tactics!" And you know what? Confirmed. The skill level of the friendly and enemy bots is high enough for them to be a nice challenge without being the classic hyper accurate, always perfect sort of way only bots could be. If you provide them with a perfect pursuit position and lazily maneuver, the bots will absolutely dump a few dozen cannon rounds into your aircraft. But actively maneuvering in dogfights with rapidly changing airspeeds, altitudes and directions is effective against the bots. These are genuine dogfights against enemies that will both gang up on a single aircraft and spread out the fight for multiple 1-on-1 engagements. They will enter rate fights when advantageous while sometimes doing unorthodox maneuvers that seem less than ideal in certain situations. Each battle is different. The bots can both be effective in combat and make mistakes within just a few seconds. The two aircraft currently in the demo represent different flight styles to a degree. At the most basic level, the Blowgun (right picture, single aircraft) is fast and nimble. Its lightweight makes it easy to perform hit and run tactics with minimal firepower. The Buccaneer (left picture, blue and red aircraft) is an overall heavier fighter with a large concentration of cannons capable of ripping other aircraft to shreds in a second. It is still very maneuverable but with more armor. As far as damage model goes, while there is no visceral damage showing the aircraft torn apart, they can have specific components damaged and disabled. Engine, cockpit, fuselage, specific wings, etc. Even each onboard machine gun can individually be knocked out due to battle damage. All it takes is one unlucky strafe from an enemy fighter to downgrade your firepower from a burst mass machine to a single barrel hole puncher. On the subject of weapons, the inclusion of a guided missile in a game full of prop driven warbirds sounds like it would be a massive problem. With no flares or chaff to ward off an incoming missile, it could be game breaking. The balance the developer has struck is to make it so players have one missile per life. Each time players spawn they have a single missile to use and do not get a reload until they are destroyed and respawn again. The missile's maneuverability is low enough that it could be outmaneuvered if players react fast enough. Also, frankly, the audio for the missile's rocket motor is so loud it is a valid warning cue even without a radar warning receiver. Players that use the missile frequently can learn the best angles and distances to launch it from, being able to one-shot other aircraft when they least expect it. Landing a well-placed missile shot into an ongoing furball is a fine opening blow. As deadly as a hail of bullets are, I was definitely defeated by the ground just as much as I was by the enemy. Why? Over speeding my aircraft to the point of aerodynamic compressibility. Losing significant flight control input while screaming nose down at the ground at high speed. Only bringing the throttle back to idle and deploying a speed brake if available can possibly help recover. Even in high altitude air battles, diving to escape is something that needs to be done carefully. The bots are exposed to this danger as well and they do fall into it. Sometimes crashing into hills or being stuck flying in a relatively straight line while deaccelerating, making them vulnerable to attack. In an arcade leaning title like this, having a flight sim lite style restriction towards not flying everywhere at maximum throttle with no penalty is refreshing. The quick gameplay style, frequent deaths, fast respawns and engaging bite sized dogfights have been a good experience in the current flurry of development for Sky Aces. Its developer, Fireruner, has also been actively engaged in feedback with players in Steam discussions, the recently made Discord server and social media. I look forward to trying out the multiplayer game modes with a few friends in later versions of the demo to get a better feel for what this game could look like in the long-term. This article will most likely be updated in the near future with information about the multiplayer experience. Connect with 'Sky Aces' Discord Steam X.com 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 a decent representation of a modern battlefield decoy The EF-24G Mischief  has changed VTOL VR forever. After this aircraft's introduction as purchasable downloadable content on December 21st, 2023, the virtual reality battlefields of VTOL VR  by Boundless Dynamics  now have to contend with a high speed, swing-wing electronic warfare (EW) platform. The AN/ALQ-245 advanced electronic warfare pods are the primary means to deploy defensive and offensive radar jamming capabilities, utilizing three jammer modes with three EM bands. The addition of this aircraft came with an EW game mechanic that is documented in the community made unofficial NATOPS Flight Manual for the Mischief, but for now I would like to discuss the lesser known ADM-160J Miniature Air-Launched Decoy (MALD). ADM-160J in flight. "Trojan" The EF-24G Mischief primarily deploys the ADM-160J as an extension of its electronic warfare capabilities, rather than a mindless gliding body missile sponge. Each jet powered decoy can remain airborne for up to eight minutes, following GPS coordinate flight paths programmed by the Mischief aircrew. Decoys can either follow complex flight paths or orbit around a single waypoint until their fuel runs dry. These flight paths can be updated in real time as the situation on the battlefield changes. At the most basic level, it can use DECOY mode Signature Augmentation Subsystem (SAS) jamming to appear on radar as a different aircraft. From the size of a recon drone to manned fixed-wing fighters to combat support aircraft. Appearing as an aircraft, the MALD then operates in enemy controlled air space to hopefully cause hostile radars to activate, revealing the positions of air defenses to make them vulnerable to attack. Any sensor detected by the MALD is passed to the EF-24G controlling it, which in turn is shared with other allied aircraft via datalink. More advanced use is done in the form of stand-in NOISE jamming. Each decoy has jamming capabilities similar to the advanced EW pods carried by the EF-24G. An ADM-160J can jam across three EM bands: low, medium and high frequency. Different frequencies work better on different types of sensors. They can be set manually by a player that has a solid understanding of the EW. An AUTO mode is also available to let the MALD select the correct frequency for targets it has detected closest to each decoy without aircrew interaction. Nearby friendly aircraft can utilize the NOISE jamming from the decoys as they ingress, egress or operate in an area to enhance their own survivability. This effectively lets the EF-24G aircraft provide EW support closer to the combat area while keeping the aircraft and aircrew as far from danger as possible. EF-24G electronic warfare officer cockpit. Decoys can also be launched In COLD mode. With no pre-planning of waypoints or jamming modes selected, they will leave the aircraft, following its last launched vector of flight. Advanced electronic warfare tactics could utilize the undetected MALD in a few ways. For example, as an unexpected pop up jamming source or false contact after it penetrates enemy airspace. Similar to mimicking an unexpected fifth generation stealth fighter appearing on radar as it nears radars that burn through its stealth abilities. Making the false radar contact of a stealth fighter behind enemy lines more believable. Though each EF-24G Mischief electronic warfare aircraft can carry up to six of these decoys, it would do so by giving up its AN/ALQ-245 EW pods. While the ADM-160J is useful on its own, it should be seen as a supplement and extend the core capabilities of the EF-24G to better support friendly forces in the theater. The Mischief in flight. Representation vs Documentation I feel like I always have a lot to say about how VTOL VR provides a reasonable example of current year aerial combat. The ADM-160J Miniature Air-Launched Decoy (MALD) and its place in the electronic warfare environment in this flight game might be one of the best representations of a modern expendable decoy in a civilian accessible flight game/simulator. I have long had an interest in the emulation of decoys such as the MALD in flight simulators and their use in the real world. Recent uses of modified Azerbaijani An-2 Colts to defeat the Armenian integrated air defense network in the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War (2020) and older ADM-160 variants in the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War keep me ever engaged in reading up on this subject. When I think of other flight games and simulators that have air launched decoys, I quickly run out of examples. For now the most high profile example would be the ADM-141A Tactical Air Launched Decoy in Digital Combat Simulator. Besides the ADM-141 being a less capable munition in comparison to the ADM-160J, DCS as a platform is hindered by the need to adhere to official, declassified documentation for the sake of realism of legal coverage. Also, this is something the simulator prides itself on and sells itself on. As such, something like a still in service and rather classified ADM-160J MALD could never be 1:1 accurately represented in a civilian accessible flight simulator. So far, VTOL VR gives the most reasonable representation of this decoy by showing a decent portrayal of its publicly known abilities, while being fine with not adhering to a 1:1 accurate simulation. Providing a good example while side stepping pure realism at least gives the opportunity to gain a working theory of how munitions like this operate, rather than completely forgoing the experience simply because the right permissions and clearances cannot be acquired. I can appreciate this. EF-24G with heavy MALD layout. Future Flights A member of the Skyward Flight Media staff is to acquire a virtual reality headset soon and of the short-list of flight games we are to experience, VTOL VR is one of them. I had long planned to put in more flight time into this game, specifically into the EF-24G Mischief. More VTOL VR content can be expected in the near 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 Profile ]

Okay, dead honest—my first impressions when I saw the first screenshots of this game were “what kinda blatant Ace Combat ripoff am I looking at?” Between the “totally-not-Kei Nagase” on the cover title and the brackets around the transmissions, it was kind of hard to go into this seriously. But… you know, maybe keeping my expectations low helped me warm up to the ideas I see here in Aurora Flight by Studio Wakaru (すたじおわかる). “Is that an EF2000 with elevators? SUPER EUROFIGHTER?!” From moment one, I can tell you that I struggled to navigate the game menus. I’m still not completely sure what the “equip” feature does. Pulling the trigger on this review relied on the fact that it very recently came out with an English sub patch, but it’s not complete. Thankfully the main menu is all the English you need to get rolling, and thankfully the game is fully Steam compatible with all the controller support that comes with, so no extra configuration was required. “Click this box. Or don’t. I’m not your mother.” What to make of the lackluster story I’m presented with? Would it even be considered spoilers to put a screenshot of the briefing of the third mission of the game right here? Well too bad, here it is! Bam! “Unfortunately I am also unable to read English. In fact, I’m completely illiterate.” The fact is that there’s nothing engaging here at the moment. The story starts with following a conflict on a far away planet where resources are being claimed by rival corporate factions. You fight for Terracom, an Earth-aligned corporation that has deployed your squadron on the frontier planet Zenoa. As you advance through you can feel this being an excuse plot for the time being. Perhaps someone will be able to make something of it right now, but it could use some further work. The first mission is so cliché that I groaned. Down the bombers. Kay. Fine. Got it. Tutorial time. We’ll live. It’s disingenuous to put this down. Every single flight shooter does this to get their new players acquainted with the gameplay style. And frankly, it’s darn good it did. Given all the Ace Combat signs I’ve been presented so far, I didn’t expect a true sim-lite flight model and the throttle mapped to the side stick and weapons mapped to the triggers. I needed a bit to get my bearings, and the time was appreciated. “Finally, a game to take advantage of my absurd monitor refresh rate.” The flight model is competent, if very jerky. I was stuck in a third person mode for the entire flight and I kinda wished I could switch to first-person in flight, but I wasn’t able to find a way. This feature may be available in the options menu but I refer back to my inability to read the script of the Land of the Rising Sun. It took me a bit to find out that yaw was mapped to the X axis of the side stick, which is not a default I support due to the layout often inadvertently pushing throttle inputs, but I will give credit that the default deadzone for the stick seemed to prevent it for the most part. I couldn’t get over how sensitive the control inputs were, though. I was recoiling my not-a-Rafale through the air constantly, and though I got better with time, I think a sensitivity adjustment is in order. Weapons are simple, and honestly I think the decision to simply forgo on magazine limits and give all offensive and defensive options recharge rates was a wise one. I’ve been coming around on this as an option in an evolving flight shooter landscape where ammo number inflation has been a steady creep making the numbers effectively meaningless. I was thrilled when I got my first gun kill. The tutorial talks about how the gun is for advanced users only, and frankly, they’re right, as getting a gun kill is a challenge. The throttle suffers from some of this inflation, as you do properly bleed speed in a turn, but it’s more of a trickle, and accelerating in level flight will get you that energy back in a heartbeat. “I am Mobius Gun.” There’s not much to say about the sound effects and music at this time; I chalk some of that up to the beta-status the game is in, and some of it to expectation for the target audience. Though I do get a little bit of Ace Combat 3 vibes from the low-tempo atmospheric choir-like track of the third mission. Missiles fire off with a “whoosh”, and the gun sounds like I’m shuffling a pack of playing cards. Voice acting is present, but you’ll hear a cacophony of identical voice lines as you engage enemy aircraft and you or your wingman get a missile impact. Graphics are similarly underwhelming. The cityscapes rendered in each mission I played in were nothing more than featureless blocks across an endless landscape. Because of the control jank, I was unable to get a fix on the models of the aircraft I was flying against. The second mission claims that you’re fighting old Earth-model prop planes, but beyond the sound effects, I wouldn’t have been able to confirm that. Colors are muted, unless you make a close range hit on an aircraft during the night, then you’ll be blinded by the light. “Revved up like a deuce, another runner in the night…” So… The game needs work. I’m convinced that the radar doesn’t actually function, despite being able to manipulate it with the face button controls. I would be facing down incoming enemy aircraft but nothing would appear on screen. I suspected tuning for range at first, but I couldn’t get it to show anything of value in any mission I played. Given that this is 2025 we of course have to have clouds in the game, but they behave somewhat oddly here, almost acting more like ocean waves rather than a Stratus system. But despite it, I can’t help but be somewhat enamored by what I’ve seen. We have a good base system here, and honestly I got some of the same comfortable gameplay flow that I’d get from a good flight shooter. Of course it’s a beta—I can’t call this ready for primetime or recommend it to someone looking for a complete experience. I’ve been bitten in the past by early access games too much to tell someone to rush out and buy this. But keep an eye on it; put it in your wishlist. I have cautious optimism towards this humble sortie. Connect with 'Aurora Flight' DL Site Steam X.com Writer T.J. "Millie" Archer T.J. "Millie" Archer is Life-long realist and aviation enthusiast. Once the co-founding Administrator of the Electrosphere.info English Ace Combat Database. In the present day he is freelance, roving the internet in search of the latest aviation news and entertainment. [ Read Profile ]

Forward Air Controller-Airborne (FAC-A) is one of the most complex roles a modern-day military pilot could engage in. Forward air control with two feet planted firmly on the ground is challenging but doing it while managing a high-performance aircraft in hostile airspace is on an entirely different level. While single-seat aircraft with targeting pods are perfectly capable of fulfilling this role in Digital Combat Simulator, having a second aircrew member that could take over a few tasks would ease the burden. Thanks to the Jester LANTIRN update, solo pilots of the Heatblur Simulations F-14B can efficiently conduct FAC(A) operations. Weeks of fulfilling this role in PVE and PVPVE multiplayer missions with friends and random people have solidified my opinion that the F-14B is becoming one of the finest FAC(A) platforms in DCS. A summary of FAC(A) For those that do not know, in short, ground-based Forward Air Controllers identify hostile forces and guide fire support from friendly forces outside of the immediate area to strike those targets. Their tasks include managing the direction that support comes from, deconflicting assets, requesting specific weapons for the task, accounting for weather conditions and visibility, and safely guiding in fire away from friendly forces. Pilots that fly FAC(A) fulfill the same task as their ground-based counterparts but do so from an aircraft. This makes them a fast platform capable of finding hidden targets from high above while bringing their own weapons to bear if needed. They must do all of this while being competent enough to fly and fight in any condition effectively. An entire article on FAC(A) in Digital Combat Simulator could be written, but for now, let's leave it at this. FAC(A) F-14B in transit to area of operations. F-14B Design Benefits Despite FAC(A) being an unusual role for this aircraft, the F-14B's capabilities and design are beneficial. Its pair of F110-GE-400 turbofan engines give it enough power to sprint at well over Mach 1 to the area of operations if needed and use that same speed to break away from unexpected threats. Its variable swing wings sweep to more easily fly at lower speeds when needed. Though it does not have a fly-by-wire flight control system, placing the Tomcat into an easy right-hand orbit with a mixture of stick, throttle, and trim. When an orbit is established, the pilot only needs very light inputs to change the height and shape of the orbit. The large fuel capacity can translate to extended FAC(A) loitering time, assuming the pilot flies the aircraft efficiently, without frequently selecting afterburner. Unlike aircraft that use wing-mounted fuel tanks, the fuel tanks on the Tomcat are unable to obscure the targeting pod because of their position beneath the engines. Most importantly, the second crew member can independently search for targets and manage radios while the pilot concentrates on flying and the surrounding airspace. The second crew member can make all the difference. This is where Jester LANTIRN comes in. Restrictions Whereas aircraft like the A-10C, JF-17, F-16C, and F/A-18C can employ their targeting pods easily, the F-14B Tomcat has been hindered. Since its release on March 13th, 2019, the Heatblur Simulations F-14B could only use its LANTIRN pod (Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infrared for Night) if the aircraft had a human Radar Intercept Officer in the backseat. And, let's be honest, how many DCS World Tomcat drivers have a consistent human backseater for every sortie they fly? It's a low percentage. This means that since its release, the most advanced air-to-ground capabilities for the aircraft have been locked away from a majority of its users. Players flying the F-14B alone could access their targeting pod by switching from the front seat and back seat manually or through the use of the Pilot LANTIRN Pod Control mod. With the Jester LANTIRN October 2021 update, all capabilities of the F-14B are universally accessible, which in turn made FAC-A a possibility for all that own it. FAC(A) with Jester Before attempting anything as a Forward Air Controller (Airborne), be competent enough to use Jester LANTIRN. As capable as Jester is as an automated RIO, he obviously isn't capable of passing information to other human players or searching for hostiles without player input. It's best to think of Jester as a semi-self-guided targeting system capable of sorting targets by certain categories while maintaining laser guidance and providing basic threat detection. The human pilot of the Tomcat will still be in charge of getting Jester looking into areas where targets may be, forwarding that information to allied forces, and coordinating attacks against the hostiles. There are multiple sections to this topic: Visual example only, not to recommended scale. F10 Map Marker Placement Placing map markers in the F10 map is essential for navigation and target acquisition in the F-14B Tomcat. These markers can be placed on the map both pre-mission (during the briefing) and mid-mission. The markers can be given custom labels typed out by the players. Short names are ideal, but the markers can have longer labels if needed. Make as many markers as needed for navigation, target areas, locations of nearby friendly forces, and other relevant marks. While the Tomcat does have a limited number of waypoints that can be stored within its systems, the map markers can still be used by Jester through LANTIRN Q Modes. Add as many target-related markers as needed. As a side note, the marks on the map are also visible to other players looking at the F10 map, improving their situational awareness as well. RIO Navigation Menu The F-14B can store three navigation waypoints, one surface target waypoint (location of enemy units), hostile area waypoint, initial point (beginning of bombing run), and defended point (location of friendly units). Map marker coordinates can be input into these waypoints by using Jester's Navigation Menu to select Steer Point From Map and assign map markers to the waypoints desired. Jester LANTIRN Q Modes Use Jester LANTIRN Q modes to quickly begin the search for targets. Select either waypoint (QWP), which were set in the RIO Navigation Menu, or cue map markers (QMAP MARKER). Jester will immediately slew the LANTIRN onto the selected point. Unanticipated targets can be acquired quickly by using the menu's Head Control subsystem and using either QEYEBALLS to look out the canopy and tell Jester to look at a specific area or using Direct Head Control to make small adjustments to what the LANTIRN is currently looking at. Getting Jester's attention back onto areas of interest is as simple as reselecting a waypoint or map marker, letting Jester handle the process of returning the targeting pod onto those locations. Example of pilot view of LANTRIN. Note target location information on bottom right of display. Target Spotting and Guidance After Jester finishes slewing the LANTIRN onto the desired location, immediately select SEARCH FOR TARGETS and begin searching either for units of a specific type (SAMs, Armored Vehicles, Aircraft, etc.). After the first target is located and automatically designated, new targets of that type can be found by using the Jester menu to search for Next Target or Previous Target. Once the desired target is selected, Jester will continue tracking the designated target but will begin giving steering cues to bring the F-14B onto an attack run. It is at this point Jester's steering cues should be ignored, and the pilot can settle into an orbit and begin guidance for other aircraft. These options include: Begin generating Nine Lines or establish parameters for buddy lasing of a target. Talking an allied aircraft onto the target using terrain landmarks and visual cues. Using laser designation to guide other aircraft capable of laser spot search/laser spot tracking to get their targeting pods looking at the same target area. Relaying coordinates of the designated target (bottom right of LANTIRN display while a target is designated) by radio or text for other pilots to input into their navigation systems. When other aircraft are ready, having the FAC(A) Tomcat launch the initial attack, visually marking the area with a column of smoke from the first destroyed target. FAC(A) can then return to orbit. Creation of further F10 map markers as needed. LANTIRN Lasing Details Normally Jester only lases a target while the F-14B is attacking a designated target. For FAC(A) and buddy lasing purposes, using the second page of the Jester LANTIRN menu is vital for these operations. Jester can be ordered to turn the laser from Automatic (for the F-14B's own attack runs) to Always On (laser on at all times). As friendly aircraft get the information they need or use the FAC(A) laser to get their weapons on target, once the task is complete, switching the laser back to Automatic shuts it off, preventing a potential overheat of the LANTIRN. The laser code of the LANTIRN can be changed while in flight, but any laser-guided bombs on the F-14B can only have their laser codes changed while on the ground. This is the same for many other aircraft in Digital Combat Simulator. While coordinating laser codes and weapons pre-mission is ideal, in the event this is not possible, keeping the LANTIRN pod's default 1688 code is fine. Just keep in mind that multiple lasers using the same code in the same area could cause problems. Threat Detection While Jester's steering cues should be ignored, muting him is an unwise decision. He still gives callouts for non-laser designation-related events. These include the location of friendly aircraft close by, new radar warning receiver hits from air contacts and surface contacts, and warnings about incoming missiles. The missile warnings, in particular, are useful in the case of short-range surface-to-air missiles like MANPADs being fired at the aircraft. "Armor captured." Jester spotting a target through a building. Quirks and Bugs As of the time this article is being published, there are a few known quirks and bugs of using Jester in this capacity. A voice glitch can occur where he constantly lets the pilot know a target has been lased or designated. Using the LANTIRN reset utility stops this but requires the target to be re-acquired through Q Modes. Jester's ability to spot targets can underperform if the area of interest is too far from the aircraft (over 20nm, estimated) or overperform to the point where enemy units are spotted through solid objects like buildings. This could be a problem because though Jester sees the target through obstructions, the laser from the LANTIRN will designate the obstruction and not the target in question. As stated in a comment from a Heatblur developer, Jester's target sorting is limited by the way DCS groups units. While the mission editor has sub-categories for unit types, these categories are not present while a mission is running. For example, anti-aircraft guns appear under "SAM" search, while armored personnel carriers, main battle tanks, and infantry fighting vehicles are classified as "Armor." Some units have an odd crossover, like some parts of the HY-1 Silkworm anti-ship cruise missile launch site appearing under the "SAM" designation. Normally this is where visual confirmation of the target is needed. While Jester is able to change the LANTIRN's field of view to zoom the camera in and out, he seems to only do so momentarily. Jester has no issue seeing targets in this regard, but there is not a function that allows the pilot to adjust the field of view. While Jester may not need this, giving the pilot the option to have Jester adjust FOV would be beneficial to the pilot in certain situations. Tomcat switching to FAC(A) role with Viper escort. In the real world, the F-14B "Bombcat" has served as FAC(A) in actual combat despite it not being its primary role. The F-14B of Digital Combat Simulator certainly has more hurdles to leap and bugs to squash in relation to this role, but with further development, it's possible that Forward Air Controller (Airborne) in swing-wing fighters won't be a rarity in multiplayer servers. 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 .

Our VRChat Colibri Dogfight Tournament ended this past Saturday, we had around 60 pilots enroll to the event and three tournament winners which fought tooth and nail for the win. As we put this event behind us to focus on the future, we would like to have one last review of the event from the perspectives of everyone in Skyward that had a part in it from an organizational standpoint. Cubeboy's POV As the aircraft and world creator, this tournament was something special and terrifying at the same time. It had been more than a year since I had last made an event world like this for VRChat, so I had to readjust myself to the workflow and the way that this system works. The match system that KitKat made a couple of years ago was never truly documented properly, which means that we rely on magical mystical knowledge from her and the other tournament world creators to set up the system properly. This means that I ran into a lot of issues that, in reality, had been nothing but an improper set-up of an object or a parameter. Tournament World Unity Project Screenshot Setting up a tournament world properly truly feels like discovering some ancient puzzle made by an advanced civilization, and solving it by throwing stones at it until it solves itself. Jokes aside, KitKat and VTail were extremely helpful and saved me several times. Sournetic was also very much an important part of the project, and helped me until the very last second and made sure that everything was running well. A moment I think was very much worth it, at least to me, was seeing people become as competitive as possible during the tournament. Everyone was not only trying their best, but making it a point to want to win no matter what. We had some absolutely insane matches that went on for maybe far too long, but they kept me at the edge of my seat the entire time. We had a lot of technical difficulties, including VRChat's servers completely crashing and going offline the night we were supposed to have our finals, but with a quick reschedule and proper testing; we pulled it together, and we allowed our pilots to go ham. The tournament ended with a bang as our friend Sournetic made a very fancy animation to present the trophy to the tournament winner, who ended up being CriticalForce. The animation combined the design elements of the trophy with the classic animation style that Sour has had for the past couple of years Personally, I quite liked the tournament. It was a fun event to run and make, and even more fun to watch. Stayed tuned for more tournaments and events in VRChat, this is just the first of many events we want to do as collaborations or as the sole developers and organizers! Hueman's POV One of the unique challenges of this tournament was the need to establish our own visual identity - while Skyward has taken part in many tournaments before, they had always been organized primarily by other groups. This was the first time we’d be the primary organizers of the event. This meant we had complete free rein over how the aircraft’s liveries looked. Well, almost complete - as a tournament livery, it had to be color-coded, so the crowd could distinguish between the contestants at a glance. It also had to reflect Skyward’s visual identity, and due to time constraints, preferably be simple and easy to implement in a 3D model. The livery ended up as a two-tone, Ferris-inspired paint scheme, with two highly contrasting shades of grey as the base - following the same design language of Skyward’s liveries for DCS aircraft, and with the added bonus of also being similar to the color palette used by Dogfight Central, our partners for this event. For the livery’s color trim - which identifies in which “side” the aircraft is on - I wanted to do something slightly different from the usual for VRC aviation tournaments. Instead of highly saturated, bright blue and red colors, I opted for more muted, desaturated tones instead, which we found better fit the livery base. For the finals, however, I wanted something special - something which told the finalists and the audience watching them that this was a completely different stage. And thus, the bright colors were back in - but not red and blue, no, that would have been far too pedestrian. Instead, I wanted a different set of opposing colors, one warm and one cold. Hi-vis orange was the substitute for red - a color with a long history of use in aircraft and which perfectly fit the livery. And as a substitute for blue, after trying out many cold colors, I found the one which best fit the livery was a slightly muted teal - in between blue and green. This unusual color turned out to be a fan favorite during the competition! Having settled on these colors, I wanted to integrate them into the trophy design somehow. After discussing some ideas with Benjamin_Yes, Dogfight Central’s artist who was going to model the trophy; and Reason2Die4, the Black Aces’ veteran trophy designer, a lightbulb eventually lit up in my brain and resulted in this very rough sketch: It combined elements from Skyward FM (the arrow logo), Dogfight Central (their challenge coin in the center), and the Colibri jet trainer itself, the star of the show - as well as the final’s livery colors. Benjamin set out to model it with his own twist in Blender, and the result is this gorgeous trophy - which, in keeping with VRC aviation tournament traditions, received its very own reveal animation by Sournetic, who contributed with his 3D animation and particle work skills. RibbonBlue's POV Colibri Tournament May-June 2025 was an important event for both Skyward Flight Media and VRC Dogfight Central (DFC), whom we recently partnered with. For all details on this tournament, see our blog post about it. Preparation for this event outside world creation and aircraft development also spurred on an effort to expand our own VRChat content on the website, standardize promotional imagery and all the usual tasks that come with hosting a tournament. This process was further streamlined with the use of the VRChat Flight Tournament & Airshow Checklist created by Stagnation of The Black Aces VRChat aviation community. It should be noted that this community provided 50.00 USD towards the combined 350.00 USD pool which competitors drew their cash prizes from. During the build up to the event it was great to see competitors fervently practice in the recently made Colibri Dogfight Center featuring the SW-210 Colibri in jungle and snow camouflage for both organizations. While that world was built, the flight values of the armed Colibri were refined by staff from Dogfight Central and Skyward Flight Media, making this our first collaborative effort even before the tournament began. DFC staff analyzed the aircraft in air combat, producing a Rate Graph competitors were given access to shortly before the prelims began on May 31st, 2025: SW-210 Colibri Rate Graph created by Dogfight Central. Now that the tournament is over, the Skyward x Dogfight Central Tournament World is now available for use. Tournament worlds like this are often not freely accessible, so it is great to see it become a resource for people interested in competing with their friends or for other organizations to host their own event. Media of the practice sessions circulated around the DFC Discord and X.com. Some competitors even posted videos of their matches throughout the tournament. For broadcasting and promotion, the DFC YouTube channel is hosting VODs of two of the preliminary blocks ( Block A , Block B ). The semi-finals and finals were hosted as a livestream, with the VOD available below:  DFC x SFM Colibri Tournament Finals While providing my own commentary with the basic fighter maneuver experts of Dogfight Central, I found myself genuinely enjoying the air battles that took place. Largely because of the flight characteristics of the weapon equipped version of the SW-210 Colibri, a majority of the battles were notably different from the type of air combat we normally expect between fourth generation fighters in these events. With the aircraft's engine able to be disabled by combat damage but with it possible to glide them back to the center stage runway for rearming, refuel and repair of the aircraft, all manner of exciting and unusual battles took place. It was hard to predict at times, which was very appreciated. While the unfortunate mass failure of the VRChat platform on June 7th, 2025 forced a one week-delay to the event, the tournament still concluded with few hang-ups. This event gave both parties more experience with preparing material for large-scale events and hosting future events together. Engine disabled SW-210 attempting to glide to safety. Picture by VTail64. Event Pictures Well known VRChat cameraman VTail64 took pictures during the prelims and finals of the tournament. Promotional media images used for social media and livestreaming by benjamin_yes have also been gathered. All pictures have been put into a Google Drive Folder : Event Winners First Place CriticalForce Second Place Savory Three Place fuwamon Event Credits Commentary benjamin_yes, CRDM and Jono from Dogfight Central. Cubeboy, Hueman, KOSMOS and Ribbon-Blue from Skyward Flight Media. Last but not least, Reason2Die4 from The Black Aces, and KitKat as a Special Guest Broadcasting, Promotional Material benjamin_yes, CDRM, Jono, RIbbon-Blue Event Photography VTail Colibri Aircraft Design Cubeboy and Hueman. Colibri 3D Modelling and Adaptation to VRChat Cubeboy Colibri Porting to SaccFlight Version 1.7 VTail Colibri Flight Model Refinement benjamin_yes, CDRM, Cubeboy, Hueman, Jono Match System KitKat Tournament World, Match System Implementation Cubeboy Trophy Design Hueman and benjamin_yes Trophy 3D Modelling benjamin_yes Trophy Reveal Animation Sournetic Special Thanks The Black Aces for prize pool contribution. KitKat, Sournetic and VTail for assistance with various technical aspects making this tournament possible.

Game Jams are magical places where vague concepts need to be distilled to create a working game loop in a short amount of time. They are a mixture of personal challenges for indie developers to better their skills and find motivation, while also having their works submitted for judgment in competitions. From time to time, I love digging through the smallest of the smallest, most niche flight games. There are fewer places better to look than game jams. This time around I was digging through Game Maker's Toolkit Game Jam 2025 . Running from July 30th to August 3rd, about 9,614 games were built and entered for competition in just those five days. The developers were given the loose theme of "Loop" to build their games around. The different teams took this theme and interpreted it in literally thousands of different ways. I now have a nice list of death loop games, music/rhythm games and some heart jerking love stories. While sifting through the 40+ pages of games, the image of a sky writing aircraft flashed across my screen. Skywriter Academy was created by team Trash Pilots (an amazing team name). When asked about how this game fits the Loop theme of the game jam, the team said: "In Skywriter Academy, you're tasked with writing messages in the sky by using smoky loop-de-loops to pass challenges!" All controls are done with basic keyboard inputs for maneuvering the aircraft, throttle selection and an interact button to click specific controls in the cockpit. This was a quickly assembled game, so it's fair to not expect full controller support here. I suggest downloading the game to get the best experience. From the beginning the dev team intentionally designed this 3D flying game to be difficult . While the flight model is very arcade-y with the aircraft more than capable of performing unbelievably tight turns in just a few seconds with little to no risk of departing from flight, the cockpit is where the game design intentionally overrides aircraft functionality. The cockpit was purposefully designed with a somewhat problematic layout. The aircraft has unusually low visibility and the bare minimum amount of flight instruments. Even the switch activating the smoke generator is placed behind the pilot seat, forcing players to look away from the direction of travel to turn it on or off. The screen in the lower-center console of the cockpit is the game defining flight instrument. That screen is showing a live camera feed from the hangars of the runway players takeoff from. The shapes or messages players must sky write, as referenced in their document folder, are to be drawn above the runway according to the perspective of that camera. This creates a pretty wacky dynamic where players both need to look straight down in the cockpit to monitor their progress. Looking forward out of the cockpit while skywriting is actually a detriment. The camera feed is vital for getting the shapes as correct as possible, but it is also the only way players can ensure they will not collide with terrain while flying. This is probably one of the most awkward ways to attempt flying an aircraft through aerobatics I've seen. Collisions are bound to happen, and squiggly shapes are expected. Though, after a few attempts this odd style of flying becomes easier to understand and the game itself is decently lenient with its grading system. So don't sweat failing a few times. A key part of the experience is the challenge of trying to succeed in intentionally difficult conditions, rather than revel in the accuracy of how real-world skywriting is done. The Trash Pilots team made a pretty odd little game in a matter of a few days. While I do not expect this style of game to "take off" anytime soon, I do think that Skywriter Academy could probably get away with a standalone, paid game release if it added more shapes to draw and a consistent grading system and maybe some unlockable aircraft with different flight characteristics. Using these aircraft could also act as a score multiplier for shapes drawn. That is just me thinking out loud though. If you have a few minutes and a working keyboard and mouse, try something unusual. Take a look at Skywriter Academy. Connect with 'Skywriter Academy / Trash Pilots' Game: Itch.io Art: Ties Groen Music & Sound: Nik Buchowski Programming: Bart van Egten Programming: Victor Ghys . 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 ]

Ask anyone who’s ever played Ace Combat - video games can be far more than mere entertainment. When intended as such by their developers, they can be incredibly powerful vessels for storytelling , possessing a trait unique to interactive media: while a well-written book will certainly immerse you in the story, a video game allows the author to place the audience directly inside it. This format’s potential for storytelling is in fact so great that, sometimes, a story will be told even though it was never really intended to have a story at all. Many years ago, when I didn’t yet have a PC powerful enough to play DCS or one of the newer IL-2 games, Strike Fighters 2 was my go-to combat flight sim. We’ve covered this old gem before , but suffice to say that while it does have several campaigns, there’s not really any narrative. No characters, no cutscenes; no storytelling. It does, however, have two features which in conjunction resulted in an experience I’ve been wanting to talk about ever since. Of Rosters, Rookies, and Aces The first is the game’s Custom Campaign feature. Players can take one of the game’s campaigns and change settings such as your unit’s aircraft and even the country it’s from - you can even pick certain squadrons from air forces around the world. In conjunction with the game’s vast modding scene adding more aircraft and maps to the game, this allows the player to create almost any scenario imaginable, from French Mirage IIIs intervening in the war between the game’s fictional countries of Dhimar and Paran, to JASDF F-4EJ Kai fighting Flankers over the Kuril Islands. Apart from having unique ammunition cost mechanics, custom campaigns in Mercenary mode let you really feel like Shin Kazama with these terribly mix-matched formations. The other feature of note is the pilot roster system. Pilots in your squadron are given a name and surname at random, picked from the game’s remarkably expansive list of available names for each country - and if it’s a mercenary campaign, you will have a hodge-podge of names from all over the world. They each have their own set of stats for various skills, and even fatigue - which forces the player to constantly rotate which pilots go out on sorties. The combination of these stats change the way in which individual pilots behave, fly and respond to threats. As pilots gain experience in combat, they sharpen their skills and can also be promoted. The simple fact that these NPCs have names and their own behaviors changes how the player interacts with his wingmen as opposed to flight sims where they remain nameless. You will certainly end up having your favorite pilots to fly with, that one inexperienced rookie you always have to take care of at the start and ends up growing into a solid pilot - and, because this is a combat game, some of them will almost inevitably be shot down. If they manage to eject, they might be rescued by friendly forces, hospitalized due to injuries, or go missing in action; if they don’t, they’ll be KIA, and be permanently crossed out on your roster. This is of course not unique to SF2, and the fascinating phenomenon of player attachment to characters simply because they have a name has been explored at least since 1993’s Cannon Fodder. What is interesting though, is that under the hood, the same system is being applied to all pilots in the campaign - not just to the player’s squadron roster. This means that each NPC has their own skill stats, they also earn experience, they can also get promoted, and their number of kills is tracked - even though you can't see it. That is… until one of them gets five kills. When an NPC becomes an ace, their name becomes visible to the player. Every time you come across them while flying, you will be able to see their rank and name; and in the pre-mission planning map, when looking at an airbase, it’ll tell you which squadrons are stationed there - as well as listing out known aces belonging to these units. In certain base game aircraft, aces even get their own kill marks! The thing is, for the longest time, I had only seen friendly aces ( I guess the poor Fishbed pilots never lived long enough to get five kills...) and thus I thought this feature applied only to pilots on the BLUFOR side. It made sense to me at the time - this is a flight sim, after all. It doesn’t have the narrative drive of an arcade game like Ace Combat; the whole point is that it’s attempting to simulate aircraft behavior to a point where you must use the appropriate tactics when fighting them. In this context, enemy aircraft are simply targets for you to practice against; there’s no need for characters to be attached to them. There’s no use for a story. This is the story of when I was proven wrong, and all of that changed. Setting the Stage SF2’s custom campaigns gave me many memorable moments - like that one time in a Starfighter campaign, when I took a rookie pilot along for an easy recon mission to get him some experience, only for my F-104G to end up being blue-on-blue’d by a Sidewinder when we came across a pair of MiG-21PFs and the rookie turned out to be dangerously trigger-happy. Goddamnit, Lt. Banzhaff. However, of course the most memorable one of them all had to involve Northop’s masterpiece: the F-5E Tiger II. When starting this campaign, I wanted to fly the F-5E in the classic matchup of Tiger II versus Fishbed. For the squadron, I picked Brazil’s 1º/14º GAv/Ca (Grupo de Aviação de Caça - Fighter Aviation Group), “Pampa”; all that was left was to pick the area where the campaign would take place. But where would it even remotely fit? There was no South America map. And then it crossed my mind - during WWII, Brazil sent an expeditionary fighter squadron to fight alongside Allied forces in Europe - what about a what-if scenario where the same happens in a Cold War gone hot? A completely insane proposal, but it was enough for me - and so, the campaign would be set in Europe. This scenario would’ve been set in the mid to late 70’s (the F-5E first flew in 1972, and entered operational service with the FAB in 1975) - however, this would mean facing tons of MiG-23s with their semi-active radar homing R-23s. What I wanted instead was to face MiG-21s in close-range dogfights, some classic Fox 2 and guns only action; and to achieve this, I cheated a little bit, and set the campaign’s year to 1968, a time-travelling journey for the “Echo” Tigers which SF2’s campaign editor happily allowed. This was, after all, a completely casual campaign - just to have some fun. Little did I know I would get way more than what I’d bargained for when asking for dogfights against MiG-21s. The Story Begins The campaign starts with 1º/14º GAv/Ca (Grupo de Aviação de Caça - Fighter Aviation Group) “Pampa” being forward deployed to Brüggen airbase, West Germany. On the 21st of August, Warsaw Pact forces cross the inner German border, seeking to unify the two countries under the GDR’s banner. What shall be the F-5E squadron’s first assignment as this conventional conflict deflagrates? SF2's automatically generated missions are always a box full of surprises, after all. I look at the game’s briefing screen: we’re being sortied as a four-ship, callsign Kingfish. Mission objective: “Provide close air support to friendly units defending Fulda.” Oh. Oh no. Looking at the squadron’s roster, I pick the three other pilots who will be heading straight into the jaws of the Pact’s armored push alongside me. Armed with a pair of Mk 82s and two 70mm rocket pods each, the four little F-5Es head towards Fulda, where the battle already rages on both in air and ground. There are F-104Gs dropping bombs on columns of advancing T-55s; on the other side, Su-7 Fitters lob rockets at the defending NATO forces. Heading to the gap. In the ensuing onslaught, two of my wingmen get shot down by anti-aircraft gunfire. One of them bursts into a fireball after being hit by 23mm gunfire from a ZSU-23-4; the other one manages to eject, and parachutes straight into the battlefield below. The scenery of the onslaught. At the end of the day, NATO forces succeed in repelling the assault. The fields of Fulda lay covered in smoldering hulls of T-55s and BMPs; and apart from strafing armored columns with rockets and guns, the 1º/14º gets its first air-to-air kills when, spotting an opportunity, I slot behind a pair of Su-7 Fitters setting up for an attack run and let off a pair of AIM-9Bs - one of which surprisingly connects, while the other misses entirely, leaving me to finish off the lead Fitter with my two 20mm M39 autocannons. Strafing run at the Fulda Gap. However, for me, this victory was a bittersweet one. Of the four F-5Es which sortied out, only two are coming home. On its very first sortie, the squadron lost two aircraft and one aircrew; while one of the pilots was rescued by friendly forces after the battle and returned to the squadron’s roster, 2nd Lt. Janelson Monteiro is KIA. The following sorties went a lot smoother; however, it was perhaps because of this initial shock that, after a successful armed reconnaissance mission, I ordered my wingman to return to base while I searched for targets of opportunity. I still had nearly all of my weapon loadout - two Mk 82s and two rocket pods - and sure enough, after a while I came across the mother of all targets of opportunity: an airbase with most of its air defenses knocked out, and a bunch of MiG-21s just sitting there on the flight line. I look at my map - Merseburg Airbase. Not exactly near the frontline, but not super deep inside East Germany either. I figure I can make a run for it if something goes wrong; and after looking around to make sure no bandits are in the area, I line up for my attack run on the airfield. Look at them all lined up! It was just too tempting! A barrage of rockets rains down on the parked MiG-21s. Very little AAA fire comes to meet me in response. Emboldened by this success, I decide to go for a second pass, and my two Mk 82s vaporize a section of revetment where Fishbed-Js had been parked. This MiG-21S is about to have a very bad day. Thankfully, no one's in it. However, after I pull up from this attack run, I notice I've got company. Approaching fast from my east is a lone MiG-21, armed with four heatseekers and a massive 23mm gunpod on the centreline - it's a Fishbed-J. I figure he must be from this airbase, and he's probably not very happy about what I just pulled off. But something else caught my eye immediately and sent chills down my spine: This guy had a name. Instead of "MiG-21S Fishbed-J", the red letters on my screen read out: "K-n Dmitri Kostilev" . My heart races. What on earth? A named enemy ace? I didn't even know that was possible in this game! What is this fight going to be like? How different will it be from a common enemy MiG-21? As I tried to process what I was looking at, the distance between us was closing fast. I didn't have an escape window to bug out of this fight - I had no option but to face him on the merge. The dance begins. I do not remember the details of this fight as much as how it felt - this guy was a lot more difficult to deal with than anything I'd been across before. Most SF2 enemies are nearly trivial to fight - but this guy knew how to move his Fishbed around, and most importantly, he was aggressive . And, this being an F-5E versus MiG-21 fight, our performance was very evenly matched. Whether it was due to the shock of this being the first time I'd seen an enemy ace, or whether it was actually that good, the fact of the matter is: for the very first time in a Strike Fighters 2 playthrough, I actually felt like I could end up losing a 1v1 dogfight against the AI. After a good few minutes of the most tense fighting I'd ever had in this game, I finally managed to get him in a rolling scissors, where the low-speed performance advantage of the F-5E over the Fishbed gave me enough of an edge to put him in my gunsight. Gotcha! As the twin 20mm cannons roared to life, the Fishbed-J's right wing was sawn clean off. Flames erupted from the wing root; and a second after the canopy blew off, the plumes of the ejection seat's motor dashed out of the cockpit. Splash one Fishbed! I circled around as I watched the smoking MiG-21 plummet to the ground, and sure enough, a white parachute canopy opened up. Mr. Kostilev would live to fight another day. My victory came right in the nick of time, as two East German MiG-21PFMs showed up to the party - thankfully too late. "Hallo, ist hier der Luftkampf?" After returning home with barely any fuel left, I went straight to the game's planning map. Sure enough: at Merseburg Airbase, there was an unknown Soviet unit, and in the list of known aces: K-n Dmitri Kostilev, with five confirmed kills. Unfamiliar with Soviet rank abbreviations, I did my best to look up what "K-n" was supposed to stand for - and, while inconclusive, my best guess was that it indicated the rank of Kápitan - or Captain. Though he had appeared alone this time, it was very well possible I'd see him leading a flight. My next sortie, a combat air patrol over friendly territory, was uneventful - but, in the second sortie after that encounter, our mission was to attack the runway at Neubrandenburg Airbase in a two-ship formation. I figured we'd have escort, so our loadout was full air-to-ground - all Mk 82s. As we approached the target, however, it became clear there would be no escort - the enemy air defenses were cleared out, but if someone jumped us, we'd have to fight our own way out. And what would you guess - as we're just getting ready to line up on the runway, Red Crown comes through the radio: Bandits at 12 O'Clock. Fishbeds - no less than eight of them , heading straight for us. And on the lead MiG-21S, was none other than Dmitri Kostilev. 8v2 isn't even close to a fair fight to begin with, but running away is hardly an option - we're deep inside GDR territory, and the Fishbeds are faster than us. We wouldn't make it to friendly lines in time. I order my wingman to jettison his payload and head back home; as he does so, I fly directly at the Fishbeds, the four Mk 82s still bristling under my wings. My plan is to push straight through and head for the target - faced with the option of an F-5 that's running away and one which is heading for their airbase, I figure the MiG-21s will choose me and leave my wingman alone. I just need to survive the head-on pass; whatever happens later, we'll see. I had no reason to fear crossing the bandits head-on: their missiles, just like mine, were rear-aspect only. SF2 AI also typically only uses guns when they have a textbook firing solution - I had never seen one go guns head-on. But, of course, there's a first time for everything. As the eight dots in my windscreen grow larger and larger, I see bright yellow shapes coming from the lead MiG-21. "WHAT!? They can do that?" "What the?" Instinctively, I roll hard to the right and pull back on the stick; the tracers fly screaming by, just barely missing my poor F-5E. Just barely missed it! Completely astounded, I try to keep my focus on the runway as the Fishbeds streak by - none of the others tried pulling off something similar. I had never seen an SF2 AI being anywhere close to that aggressive - I now dreaded the fight that awaited me. Got the runway, though! After successfully dropping my bombs on the runway, I weigh my options. Should I try to disengage? But there's no way - trying to run away would only put me deeper in enemy territory, and accomplish nothing but delaying the inevitable as the horde of Fishbeds catches up to me. Once again, Kostilev has left me out of options - I must turn and fight. Look at this madman, full afterburner, guns blazing. What a vibe. After dodging another nasty head-on cannon burst, the mad furball began. I remember dodging more than a couple missiles, but overall, apart from Kostilev the other fighters thankfully presented little challenge. After shooting down two jets, I finally managed to down Kostilev again - and once more, he ejected. After that, the enemy fighters disengaged and returned to base. I took the opportunity to head straight for friendly lines; nearly out of fuel, I opted to land at the closest friendly airbase I could find instead of trying to reach home plate. This pattern continued for several sorties - we'd have a handful of uneventful sorties, and then Kostilev would appear and force me into a situation that completely ruined my game plan. Kostilev and his gang showing up to ruin everyone's day again. He'd somehow manage to show up at the most terribly inconvenient times - such as when I was going back home after a deep strike into enemy territory, in an area covered by a bunch of SAMs; or to attack a flight of friendly bombers I was escorting just as another enemy unit had drawn us away. Kostilev throwing everything at two defenseless B-57 Canberra bombers. Every time, I managed to shoot him down after a long and difficult fight; and every single time , he ejected successfully, a parachute popped up, and he lived to fight another day - preferably, at precisely the worst possible time for us. Usually he'd show up with a two-ship, sometimes with a four-ship; but luckily, he never showed up with the massive eight-ship formation again. That is, until he did. We were scrambled to intercept an incoming attack; A group of Tu-16 Badgers was headed straight for our airbase. Eight F-5Es went up in full air-to-air loadout. Usually these bomber interception missions were fairly easy - but this time, one of their escort groups was none other than Kostilev's squadron - an eight-ship formation led by the man himself. It was a cliché at this point - Kostilev always showed up head-on, letting rip the 23mm gunpod. By this time, Kostilev's rank read "P-k", which i can only guess means Polkovnik - Colonel. Somewhere along the line, he'd been promoted - presumably for successfully managing to be the largest possible pain on my squadron's butt. But this time, it was an even fight. It was 8v8 - and my squadron was full of experienced pilots. Confident, I ordered one of my four-ship flights to deal with the bombers while me and my three best pilots dealt with the Fishbeds. I managed to shoot down Kostilev once more - and once again, he ejected successfuly. The poor guy's spine must have been compressed a few centimeters by now. At the end of the day, the bombers were destroyed, and all of our F-5Es came back home safely. It's hard to believe, but Kostilev managed to get out of this unscathed - he always does. You can see the whole three pixels of the ejection seat near the top right corner. For several sorties after that, I waited for Kostilev to come back, as he'd always done before. But he never did. I wondered how could that be - after all, I saw him eject, and he had a good chute. But then it hit me - of course! If the game applies the same system for enemy pilots as it does for the player’s squadron roster, then that means the same logic applies for what happens with them once they're shot down. And, since Kostilev bailed out well within NATO-controlled territory, that meant he was now a POW. I felt a sense of relief knowing Kostilev - this fictional character who didn't even have a face, nor a backstory, nothing but a name - was still alive; and a slight hint of sadness knowing I’d never see him again. As it turns out, this was the last dance. Flamenco guitars, please. The fact is, after the enemy ace which had long been my nemesis was no longer a factor, the campaign felt... empty. It was like something was missing. No longer did I go into every sortie wondering whether he'd appear; no longer did I have to worry about him showing up with a four-ship and forcing me to abort a ground attack mission. After Kostilev left the stage, I became the head-on menace. A few sorties later, I encountered another enemy pilot which had become an ace - from the same unit as Kostilev. However, it just wasn't the same. For the readers who played Ace Combat 04 - do you remember how it felt like to fight the fraud that was Megalith’s “Yellow Squadron” after defeating Yellow 13 over Farbanti? That's how it felt to face this new ace after Kostilev was gone. Sure, he put up a slightly harder fight than the average MiG-21, but compared to Kostilev it was laughable - so much so, that I don't even remember the bloke's name. There was none of the challenge, none of the thrill. “You’re not him” , I thought to myself. “Here, catch this Sidewinder. See? Kostilev would’ve dodged that.” A few more missions came and went. With one of the only enemy pilots which posed a genuine challenge out of the way, the experienced pilots in my squadron and other BLUFOR units - some of which had become aces themselves - established complete air superiority over East Germany. As NATO forces pushed into East Berlin, and it becomes clear the Soviet plans of a quick takeover of West Germany have failed, the campaign ends with talks of a peace treaty, and thus we come to the end of our F-5E saga. At the campaign's end, NATO air forces had five aces up their sleeve: apart from the maniac F-5E driver (the player), three USAF Phantom pilots and one RNLAF Starfighter pilot had achieved over five kills. I came across them in several sorties, and the game even made it so the F-4 aces escorted some of our strike missions. Look at this absolute legend who managed to live long enough - in a Starfighter - to get five kills! And yet, the only ace from this campaign whose name I remember off the top of my head is Polkovnik Dmitri Kostilev. In a game where there is no fixed story, where names are semi-randomly generated and where nothing is scripted, it is impossible for me to share this experience as one would with facing off against Yellow 13 in AC04, or against Pixy in AC Zero. But despite this inherent limitation of a story which is by definition personal, I've always wanted to share it because I cannot deny it: Kostilev left as much of a fond memory to me as any of these legendary Ace Combat characters. So much so that, years later, I even decided to draw that fateful first encounter. Sometimes, a name is all it takes for a story.

A look at our training mission to be released in the future I can confidently say that when it comes to Digital Combat Simulator (DCS) , pretty much all the Skyward Flight Media staff prefer multiplayer experiences over single player experiences. Not to say that we dislike well-made solo pilot missions and campaigns. We just deeply enjoy the teamwork aspect of online multiplayer missions. Instead of solely learning by offline independent study, our lead DCS mission editor, Caio D. "Hueman" Barreto , created a controlled training environment that can be used in multiplayer servers or for offline play. Known as the Skyward Marianas Training Range, it features various training tools players of all levels could use to learn any module (aircraft) in DCS world with other human participants. These include valuable bombing ranges and a strafe pit that uses in game assets and .lua scripts, not requiring the download of mods , to provide users with information they can use for training. While the Skyward Marianas Training Range has been operational for many months now, a version specifically made for public release is still in development. Consider this a preview of something good to come. F-5E on approach to the Skyward Marianas Training Range. The Traditional Training Process In November 2020, when I started my serious effort to get started in DCS, I did plenty of offline study and practice. Reading the provided manual, single player tutorial missions included with the module (aircraft) I purchased, video tutorials, expansive PDF guides - I spent a lot of time just trying to wrap my head around it all. But when you have other friends that are online slinging AMRAAMs and landing on aircraft carriers, the desire to get out there yourself often overtakes the "traditional" study approach. The same certainly happened to me. At the time, we thought the best compromise would be to find public servers running 'training missions' for me to learn while flying along them. I learned quickly that calling these missions "training missions" is a bit of a stretch. It is hard to learn and retain knowledge when there is a sprawling battle taking place against an opposing force. You could potentially have new players that can barely take off from the airfield, fumbling through basic aircraft systems while there is an unforgiving AI enemy actively trying to destroy them at every moment. Learning something new while under enemy fire is always less than ideal. While I did persevere through the dozens of deaths during that time and until I was finally comfortable with DCS, I have never forgotten the grind and how few training environments there are in DCS multiplayer servers. AV-8B Harrier firing its underslung cannon. Training Environment To clarify, when I say "training environment" I mean a scenario that does not force players that are trying to learn their first aircraft or their latest aircraft while in the middle of a full-scale wartime scenario. A training environment would be something where players could learn how to aviate, navigate, manage aircraft systems and become familiar with weapon capabilities long before being fired at themselves. A place where they could get comfortable enough with their aircraft with other players around, if desired. This same environment would also have the option for players to voluntarily enter into limited combat scenarios when they felt as though they were ready. That is a basic idea of what I would consider a training environment. Skyward F-16CM dropping practice bombs. The Skyward Marianas Training Range includes every aspect of what I've described a training environment to be (for the record, I personally had nothing to due with its development, all credit goes to Caio D. "Hueman" Barreto). Since this is a preview of sorts, I will not be detailing them all just yet, but my personal favorite features in this mission are the Bomb Range and Strafe Pit. Preview: Bombing Range The Rota Island Bombing Range is designed for guided bombs, air-to-ground missiles, unguided rockets, air launched cruise missiles, guided rockets, glide weapons, and unguided bombs. Using a .lua script, munitions that explode within its range provides specific players with their accuracy in the form of in-game text messages. For unguided weapons, this is especially useful. As pilots practice CCIP or CCRP weapons delivery, they become more familiar with the dive angles, air speeds or distances they need to maintain to consistent hit targets. While multiple bombs can be dropped at the same time onto the bombing range, the ideal application is to drop one bomb at a time to truly practice refining accuracy. Preview: Strafe Pit 6 nautical miles north-east of the Rota bombing range is the strafe pit. This pit is set for West to East gun only attack runs when aircraft roll in below 5000 feet MSL. As long as aircraft stay within the valid strafe pass zone, information on the number of hits on designated targets and the accuracy of those impacts are also communicated via in-game text messages. Coming Soon ™ The public release of the Skyward Marianas Training Range will be handled similarly to how we provided the Syria COIN mission. When the time comes, a similar product page will be setup with an online event scheduled. There is no hard date for release of this mission file, but work is actively being done to prepare the public version for release. 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 .

In a simulator designed for combat and high action flying, one would think that something like a big, slow and "unamusing" aircraft such as the C-130 would not even be able to participate in basic scenarios. After all, this is Digital "Combat" Simulator, right? Well, it turns out that I have been finding myself flying such an aircraft inside actual combat missions, and in multiplayer too! But before we talk about that, let's talk a bit about the mod itself and how it works. ORIGINALLY POSTED: 08/27/2021 MINOR UPDATES 1/20/2024 A UNIQUE EXPERIENCE IN DCS: WORLD As a mod, the C-130 is pretty well-made, except for the cockpit model and textures. It is impressive how much work went into the systems and displays inside the cockpit. Aside from only a couple of mods such as the T-45C, this one has got to have one of the best implementations of digital displays, even the Heads-Up Display (HUD) has its graphics done with .svg files, which increases their definition by quite a bit ("a bit" being infinitely scalable)! The textures are quite plain and lack depth (same goes for the model), but the displays more than make up for it. Additionally, she does fly the way you expect her to. She is heavy but not maneuverable, making flying this bird quite a joy. I suppose that is natural when you have a pretty decent external flight model (EFM) and not a simplified flight model (SFM) driving the aircraft. Is the handling a 1:1 replica of the Hercules? No, but that is ok. When it comes to features, the Hercules has some of the most interesting ones I have seen in quite a while. From deployable paratroopers to droppable pallets with spawnable cargo inside that bring the airlift powerhouse that is the C-130. It also has a functional navigation computer that allows for waypoints to be entered. The computer can also calculate reference speeds for landing and take-off according to your weight and flap configuration, cool, huh? External model's good, nothing spectacular but it does its job! The external model is pretty good, too. It is properly animated and has enough texel density to look good while not taking up hundreds of megabytes of textures. It is not the highest poly model you will ever see, but it is just enough to look excellent with the help of the amazing texture work that it has, which was made by other community members! Although it might not be able to directly attack air targets and despite it having some ground attack capability thanks to its mounted cannon option, that does not mean that this bird is completely defenseless. It has the largest amount of chaff and flares dispensers that I've seen in DCS World (840 of each). Something that is beautifully represented by the attention to detail that the devs had in implementing these, seeing as even the dispersion pattern is spot on. Check this angel out, quite the looker: Now that you know a bit about the mod, let's take a look at how I've been finding myself using this bird in a multiplayer scenario! THE RIGHT PLANE FOR THE RIGHT JOB Lately, I've been playing a lot with my group of close friends on a private server. In that server, we are currently running a sandbox-like mission which utilizes scripts and dynamic triggers to make the battlefield more alive. We also run mods in the server, such as the A-4E, A-29B and of course, the Hercules. If we are victorious, we are usually left with a capturable airbase! Prior to us setting up the Hercules for the mission, it was usually the AI who randomly chose to capture the airfield whenever it wanted. We kind of got tired of that, which is where the C-130 comes in. After the clean-up is done, one of us (usually me) gets into the C-130 , starts it up, and heads straight for the airfield that we just freed. This part is usually fun as the rest of the players will have to escort this slowpoke of an aircraft for hundreds of miles , usually having to defend me from enemy fighters that are trying to intercept me. This has led to some pretty exciting and interesting scenarios, some of which have ended with me dead in the middle of the desert. Let's say that, after a long flight, I reach the airfield with my Hercules. As long as there are no enemies inside the zone and I land safely, bringing the aircraft to a halt, the neutral airbase will be captured, and allied ground forces will spawn! This, in turn, has made our experience much more gratifying as we have direct control over what happens and how it happens. This is the kind of scenario in which a cargo aircraft such as this shines bright like a diamond. After capture, we can now safely spawn and enjoy the protection of our SAM network in the airfield. This gives the mission a much-needed sense of progression that only the Hercules could bring. It truly is the right plane for the right job. A HERCULEAN CONCLUSION While it might not be the ideal platform to fly in the middle of a contested airspace, this aircraft and many more of its kind have a definite place inside DCS: World. They present the player with a completely new experience and one that no other sim can offer today, with the closest game that has something similar to it being Bohemia's ARMA 3. Give the Hercules a try, you will not regret it. You can even cold start it, that's always a plus! 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

Introducing an early project, touching base with a familiar face Hey howa' doin, FlyAwayNow here again with the third indie highlight article, brought and produced by yours truly. Nova Squadron and Supermaneuver are the next of the indie flight games we'll be looking at today: One of them has been a known contributor to Skyward Flight Media, and as for the other, it's their first time through! So before we get to it with direct questions, I'll lay both of them out from the top down: Nova Squadron , the synthwavy, rougelity, Jupitery acelike, whose demo has been available and continued to be updated as it works up to its 1.0 is a game that I have known ever since my own work Project Wingman: the neighbor over the fence, and in many ways still a few steps ahead with ideas and notions about roguelite integration and location and even flight characteristics that comes with the higher sci-fi setting. Once you know what Nova Squadron is, you'll always recognize it when you see it between floating installations, aerial navies, and the tooth and nail rougelite climb that is ripe for the taking in our genre. Speaking of unmistakable, Supermaneuver at a casual glance, for Ace Combat fans out there, you will know the aesthetic immediately: This project by developer Gabriel Solon is, and I don't use this term lightly, the spiritual successor to the Ace Combat game made at the End of History; the game that confronted the oncoming future of technology. The internet was a thing not yet truly known of its nature and formation, and in that surreal weave of danger, War, as a constant fixture, was made partner with it. Supermaneuver then therefore will take us back in time to the days of the Electrosphere. As a general disclaimer before we get underway, I am a producer on both of these games, as I was on Project Aggressors in the prior article, and in games to come, hence my ability to provide you these insights! However, the questions I ask are not those offered by these developers, and some of them are even interrogative in nature; the project of this genre demands that all of us collectively ask these questions, so that, in some very funny form of the Socratic method, we get closer and closer to a more perfect union of plane games. Nova Squadron Website Links:   Steam  | Bluesky  | X.com Who are you? Hey, I’m Clara, I’ve been a professional games programmer for 4 years and, in my spare time, lead developer of Nova Squadron for 5. Why are you making this game and this type of game? Back when I was in my first year of university, we had an assignment to make a small game where you flew a plane in 3D; we were only given a few weeks to make it, so I wasn’t able to fit in everything I would’ve liked. The desire to revisit that assignment and do everything I originally hoped to (and, dare I say, some feature creep) eventually blossomed into Nova Squadron a couple of years later! What do you want this game to be? I always aim for Nova Squadron to be “baby’s first acelike”, so to speak - something with a solid tutorial and forgiving mechanics. It’s definitely not there yet, but I think some of this ethos shines through with things like the shield generator and fire support request system. I’m looking to start simpler than other games, and gradually build the player up to higher complexity gameplay. Acelike Rougelite, then. As opposed to acelite roguelikes, where the enemy planes can only move when you move.” This does raise a few questions in me then, what do you consider that simple floor, and what do you consider higher complexity than that? I’d say the core of it is that the player is free to make mistakes without being punished for them. For example, in most games where you’re in a plane, if you fly into something, that’s the end of the mission - not pulling up at the right time resets you back to the start, something I think we’re all painfully familiar with from ground-attack missions! The floor I want to start the player at is one where they’re free to learn the ropes and figure out how to control a plane in 3D space, and the game will give them the breathing room they need to do that. Then the complexity builds up as I stack more on top (weak points on ships requiring specific attack vectors, roguelite upgrades adding extra mechanics, and so on). Well, if we go all the way to the very end of the campaign, you’re going to have to fly through a tunnel. In fact you’re going to have to dogfight inside one! The more upgrades you stack on, the twitchier and less easy to control your plane’s going to be; and the most powerful upgrades are ones with trade-offs that force you to hone your playstyle. There’s an upgrade with a trade-off that prevents your shield from recharging until you get a kill, for instance, which forces the player to play more aggressively and deal more damage to stay in the fight. Nova Squadron is also mentioned to have a campaign, how does that work into the rougelite formula? In the demo, you can work your way through a series of 4 missions - for the first three, you can pick what type of mission you sortie into from the tactical map, but the fourth is fixed. A demo run always ends with a massive naval battle between your forces and the enemy, which is then interrupted by the appearance of Sceptre Squadron (or a certain suborbital superweapon...but that's a secret!) The full campaign takes this and expands it into a series of 3 mission sets, each 3-4 missions long, each ending with a fixed climactic battle. In the first set, you'll be ambushed with a random boss enemy; in the second, you'll chase after that same boss and eliminate it; in the third set, you'll charge deep into enemy territory for the final battle. We're talking tunnels, superplanes, antimatter reactors, the works! And everything you accomplish in each campaign run before your plane explodes will then link back into Renown you can use to request R&D on your planes, as well as conversations and bonds with your wingmen, allies, and even certain enemies.  What type of tone and writing are you looking for in this story then? We’re looking to make something light-hearted and filled with goofy over-the-top moments, but still with enough stakes and internal logic to keep you invested! To give an example, Nova 5 got their callsign by taking out a battleship via a controlled orbital dive at Mach 8, using their shields to absorb the impact. That’s the kind of “logical silliness” we’re pursuing. I’ve brought in a second team member to make sure we absolutely nail this. Robin  is busy writing the script and in-game archives and polishing them until they sparkle. Some of her work’s already in the demo - she rewrote all of the mission briefings for 0.4.0! How's development going since we've heard from you last? Slow and steady! I’ve been taking some of the oldest systems in the game, reworking them, and locking in their “final” versions - so with each new feature I add, it gets exponentially easier to add the next. The patch I’m working on now for July leverages all of those systems to add the craziest missions and weapons I’ve made so far, and moving on from there on I’ve got my eyes set on the metagame outside of regular missions - collectible dossiers, interactions with other members of your squadron and so on. Are there any gameplay decisions that you're on the fence about adding in? The core gameplay loop is pretty much set in stone at this point, I think (in design, at least - there’ll be a lot of changes to the demo in 0.5.0!) What’s still up for debate is a lot of the weirder prototype upgrades and mission objectives. Train heists, EMP fields, that kind of thing. What do you say about people who are otherwise turned away from NS due to its visual identity? Please bear with me, I’m working on it! 0.4.0 kicked off the visual overhaul with new shields and exhausts, and I’m moving on to clouds and explosions soon. Or cloudy explosions, maybe. Best of both worlds! It's been some time since Nova Squadron has been out there, and, as a dev myself, I know that the core of the vision can often change as we keep hammering away at the final creation. Has Nova Squadron changed fundamentally from what you wanted originally? Do you know where you're going? I think the core of the game’s stayed where it is since the first 6 months of development back in 2020 - peripheral design elements move around and get replaced, sure, but nothing that would have huge ramifications across the entire game. The biggest change is probably the narrative push you’re going to see in 0.5.0: a fake PC you can send messages with, read bizarre in-universe propaganda articles on, and…crash using terminal commands? The Song of Eventide ’s IT department would prefer it if you didn’t do that last bit though. You’ll get some pretty irritated messages from them if you’re not careful! Some developers have limited time demos to show their progress. The Nova Squadron demo has been consistently available for over half a year. What do you think are some of the benefits of maintaining a long-term publicly accessible demo? One of the main reasons to have a limited time demo is to build hype and fear of missing out - more people play the demo short-term because they don’t want to lose their chance to do so. I don’t want to do any of that. NS is a long-term project. I don’t want to build up a load of hype in a week and then leave people lost and confused for the next 3 years - I want to have you all along for the ride with me, and I want you to have faith that yes, this game is actually going to come out one day! Each update brings us one step closer to that lovely 1.0.0 release. What has been the biggest blocker for you in developing the game after all this time? Exactly that, really - time! I’m a programmer by trade and I don’t think anything could have prepared me for how long it takes to make all the models, textures, UI art and music that actually goes into a game. I’ll get there though. It’ll happen. Any closing thoughts or things you want to say?  I hope you like androids and fluffy ears. Not at the same time though. Supermaneuver Website Links:   X.com  |  YouTube Who are you, why are you making your game and this type of game, and what do you want this game to be? All in one go! I'm a 32 year old Brazilian gamedev. I've always had a passion for game design since forever, particularly vehicle based games. I grew up playing LOTS of Gran Turismo and Ace Combat on the PSX. I got this interest in airplane games when my dad got Ace Combat 3 Electrosphere and fell in love with everything. Ended up playing the game way more often than him. I remember some words from Stephen King that went something like this: "don't write down your ideas as you could end up clinging to bad ones, good ideas stay in your head and keep returning". I personally don’t think it's bad to write your ideas down, but he has a great point about good ones. This Simcade style flight combat game based on Ace Combat 3's design is one such idea. My plan for Supermaneuver is to pick the whole aesthetic of Ace Combat 3, borrow ideas from the whole series and other games like Project Wingman, deliver the political intrigue Ace Combat is known for and make a fast paced action game that requires careful plane and loadout planning. Before you were developing Supermaneuver, you were a 3D modeler who often posted your work for sale for other developers. How did you get into that? It's an interesting story as I started at 12 when I downloaded blender to make games, didn't even know what modeling was, and things evolved from there, but my focus was always modeling in the context of gamedev. I still sell some premade models on cgtrader and used to do some freelancing on Wildcat. Why get into game dev after that? I think the best ideas to invest on are the ones that keep getting back to you, so I've decided to fully turn to gamedev as I felt confident in my dev skills and always wanted to do a plane game. You can check my channel  to see some other game projects I did before. How long have you been working on Supermaneuver? It's a complicated question to answer because the dev work was really on and off for a year as I was doing a lot of freelancing and was really unfocused - depression can be a b**ch. But then I realized that the passion project was the way forward and the support/guidance you offered really helped a lot. Are you worried about people who are turned away from the "older" style of graphics that Supermaneuver has? It definitely would help to have shiny visuals like Project Red Sun on PW but Supermaneuver is first and foremost about my retro vision so this doesn't concern me too much. The interesting thing is that the gameplay itself is quick and modern. What makes Ace Combat 3 look like Ace Combat 3 if I can ask, then? Because you have the aesthetic nailed down from what you've shared. The things that make Ace Combat 3 are great pixel art for the planes but also, more importantly, the quality of the terrain sprites. The terrain was the main reason I chose the second mission from Electrosphere, “Bravado”. It has a simple (or I thought it was) ground sprite texture variety. It's "just" Rock and Forest. Of course when I started actually making my terrain I came to the realization that there were quite a few types of in-betweens and variations, so that was neat. While I was studying the map geometry I also noticed how restrictive the map's design was without being noticeable. There are some set tile elevations that repeat, the mountains have the same geometry repeated but it's all convincing thanks to good texture design and limited draw distance. Adding a lake to the Bravado equivalent mission in my game wasn't easy because of that. My reference didn't have this lake, so I had to get creative and load up the "Guardian Angel" mission that had islands transitioning into the sea so I could study the transition. Color balance was another very important step as every level has a characteristic tint, usually green or blueish, so I had to make sure all sprites were in the same theme.  I feel like if it wasn't for the work of Krishty   my job would've been at least 10 times harder. They ripped and organized all the textures and models/maps from Ace Combat 3 neatly in a way that made the process of studying and replicating the results far easier. How close is Supermaneuver to Ace Combat gameplay?  That is a dicy one because I'm inspired by the whole franchise but to be honest, I think it's an Ace Combat/Project Wingman Frankenstein. It has the agility from PW but the equipment selection will probably be simpler akin to Ace Combat Zero. Both games are about mercenaries, you can notice a pattern of taste there. Is there anything different you're doing with the flight model and gameplay you're doing, or do you want it to be close to Ace Combat? I don't really intend on mimicking anything specific as the fun factor will be king. The same can't be said about the visuals though. I’m really trying to emulate that Ace Combat 3 look. Would you want to share a bit more about your idea on the world or the story of this game? The story is just a rough draft at the moment as making a game involves so much work on so many different areas, but what I can say now is that it's a fictional world like Strangereal and is focused on mercenaries. Two rival companies to be precise but  I don’t want to say too much as these things change a lot. Are you interested in putting out a public demo? And if so, when? It's a secret shhh. Any closing thoughts or things you want to say? Again, shoutout to Krishty  for ripping and organizing the Ace Combat 3 files, Supermaneuver probably wouldn't exist. And shoutout to you Matt for the huge support. 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 ]

It’s clear that I have a penchant to review and speak of games far past. What can I say? I’m drunk on synthwave, Frutiger Aero wallpapers, and badly-normalized voxels. But perhaps the greatest challenge of creating these reviews is determining whether these dinosaurs are actually worth playing today. So often I’ve found myself having to put an asterisk next to what would otherwise be a glowing review, because it would be dishonest to not point out how much the playing field has changed, and even the greatest of innovations are quickly superseded by something better. Sometimes though, the game still just… works. It’s rather amazing how well After Burner Climax still works, and how well it shamelessly takes the high-energy, rapid-paced, score and time attack arcade rail shooter into the 21st century for what may be its last hurrah. Honestly, I don’t think the original After Burner aged well. I have nostalgic feelings for it of course, but as it and I have aged, it’s not something I would be willing to show off as a jewel of the rail shooter—if I want that on a console, I’d point someone to Star Fox way before After Burner. And where Star Fox’s upgrade from its SNES debut to Star Fox 64 remains legendary, Afterburner’s generational uplift resulted in After Burner II, which pushed on into the realm of the Sega 32X but didn’t really result in enough innovation or, frankly, affordability to keep one of Sega’s self-proclaimed stars afloat. And it’s pretty clear that they knew it. Over ten years had to pass before they decided to bring it back for one more explosive, penultimate release. So… I wanted to approach it as faithfully as I could without getting my hands on the arcade cabinet itself. That took the form of taking, ripping, and hopefully emulating the actual Sega Lindbergh media disc for this review. I had hope for this; a Lindbergh emulator does in fact exist, but it’s been unsupported and incomplete for some time, so I gave up hope in getting it emulated… …right up until I was literally looking for a picture to demonstrate this lack of support and discovered that a new emulator called Lindbergh Loader was released just one month ago and apparently supports After Burner Climax pretty well. Well... dang. I already got the CD back to its rightful owner. I guess we’re going to move forward with the next best thing: the Xbox 360. This is truly where I’ve played this game the most anyway. After Burner Climax made a wide home release four years after it dropped into arcades and was downloadable on both the 360 and PS3 for a very approachable ten dollars. Bringing in two new aircraft alongside the F-14D, you can also select the Super Tomcat’s successors (Or contemporaries depending on how you feel) in the form of the F-15E Strike Eagle and F/A-18E Super Hornet. Immediately its clear the game is a more than faithful port of the Lindbergh disc. It adds earnable cheats and the ability to have a console-style constant play mode that keeps the quarters (dollars?) in your pocket where they belong.  Pressing start after an in your face title screen that transitions into an attract mode/ranking screen blaring with an awesome modern update to the After Burner theme song, you are given a selection of the three aircraft above with a set of different paint schemes and 20 seconds to make up your mind. The game literally explodes off the deck/flight line into a fantastic guitar riff and never lets up. Story? Z is preparing a nuke. Stop them. That’s all you need to know. Get to it! “Plane Jesus has got nothing on the Brave Fangs.” The game’s feature claim to fame is the “Climax Mode”, which functions as a bullet-time slow down and reticle widener that allows you ample time to maximize score and damage on the level for a short time. The meter is refilled as you destroy targets and is depleted as you hold down the triggers. This is still the score attack game we had all those years ago, and as you progress through levels, you want to keep that score up along with attempting to destroy special objectives to change your trajectory on the level select map. It’s very easy to trigger Climax Mode in the panic driven flying you’ll be doing though. There’s a learning curve to its operation, but that adds to the skill-building you’ll be doing to master the traditionally twitchy After Burner flight model. “Super Tomcat! Getready…” The graphics were top-notch, and honestly still are. Not that you’ll have much time to admire them with how fast the screen comes at you. You’ll occasionally catch glimpses of the who’s who roster of enemy aircraft, which includes F-4’s, F-5’s, F/A-18’s, B-52’s, and many others, all of which are easier to observe once you’ve inevitably gotten yourself blown up by a wayward missile or twenty.  “FLIGHT CONTROL, FLIGHT CONTROL” As the terrain blows by you’re being constantly yelled at by your invisible teammates who just won’t stop talking; and I wouldn’t have it any other way. This is a prime example of the in-your-face never shut up 90’s arcade energy that ports itself so flawlessly into the 21st century that I can’t help but take it seriously. The way your two teammates make off-color remarks about the terrain you’re flying over on or the over-the-top bogey calls or the panicked odd sentence structure in their radio-crackled voices when you get hit by a missile just keeps the balls-to-the-wall atmosphere flowing. Oh, and have I mentioned that they call enemy aircraft by their actual model names? What’s your excuse, Ace Combat 5? But I have to emphasize that this is an After Burner game. You’re going to get yourself blown up over and over again until you get good and start recognizing the patterns to dodge the missiles and down enemy aircraft efficiently. Thankfully the aforementioned console-exclusive EX Options (cheats, if we were to be honest) will make that easier for you, and the more you play, the more you earn, so if you want to eventually just finish the games, these options should get you there in short order. This is a short game—it’s 14 or so levels blow through as rapidly as you might think, but the replay ability is through the roof. By the end you’re clearly getting some traditional flight-shooter inspired tunnel and canyon chases. The monotony is also broken up by pursuit or friendly-fire challenges to keep you on your toes. Wait ‘til you get to the laser fences. It truly is refreshing to revisit this game every so often and enjoy it more and more each time I play it. Honestly, I’m not much better at it now than I was back then, but it gets the blood pumping and keeps your attention front and center. I love this game so much; it flies in the face of changing tides in game design and defiantly drops itself into an era where game length and story complexity was rearing its head. I’d wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who wants a fun flight romp and an escape back to the simplicity of arcade gameplay with a modern veneer.  … TOO BAD YOU CAN’T BUY IT ANYMORE! About the Writer T.J. "Millie" Archer A Life-long realist and aviation enthusiast. Once the co-founding Administrator of the Electrosphere.info English Ace Combat Database. In the present day he is freelance, roving the internet in search of the latest aviation news and entertainment.  Read Staff Profile .

One of the most unique pieces of flight sim gear ever seen The Yawman Arrow  handheld flight controller is one of the most unique flight simulation devices I have ever put my hands on. This review took a bit of an unexpected turn. Turning from the standard “how does it feel and fly” review and into more of a deeper analysis of the device and its concept. This review will certainly be going off of the beaten path, as we tested it in many flight games and simulators it has not previously been advertised for.  This review was created without any input from the Yawman team. There were no embargos or restrictions in place, though Yawman did ask that if I ran into any technical issues or needed troubleshooting advice, they would be contacted first. No major issues occured, but for the sake of transparancey, this was the agreement. A part of the FlightSimExpo 2023 Infinite Flight Booth Meeting The Arrow  This certainly is not a case of shiny new product excitement. Skyward Flight Media first went hands on with the Yawman Arrow at FlightSimExpo 2023 . This was the debut event for both the company, Yawman, and their one-of-a-kind controller, the Arrow.  Yawman Arrow prototype at FlightSimExpo 2023. This controller had its own display at the Infinite Flight  booth, where anyone could walk up and try both Infinite Flight and the Arrow at the same time. At first glance, the Arrow somewhat confused me. Its layout incorporated a familiar set of flight controls with the form factor of a well-known game console controller. But after successfully orbiting an airfield and landing a Cessna 208 Caravan with ease while using the Arrow and a PC tablet, it had my intrigue.  We met with the Yawman team on the last day of the expo, which resulted in exchanging emails and Skyward receiving a review unit in January 2024.  The Concept  The company Yawman LLC is based in Carmel, India, United States of America. It was created by Dwight and Thomas Nield (aviation and airline veterans) and Jon Ostrower (Editor-in-Chief of The Air Current). Designed, manufactured and packaged in the USA, the Arrow handled flight controller is the first product from Yawman.  According to official blog posts from the website, the concept of the controller is ease of access and travel ability while incorporating well known flight control designs such as a trim wheel, trim hat, vernier-style poles and mechanically linked rudder pedal triggers. With 7 axes and 21 buttons to back up the more specialized flight focused components, the Arrow really is standing in a class all of its own.  That being said, the concept of this controller is so anomalous when it comes to the established expectations of what flight simulation gear is and/or should be, it is something that requires a close analysis to really understand.  Acknowledging the Price Point  The Yawman Arrow was originally priced around USD $250.00 during pre-release. For many this was the main point of contention, primarily since the controller itself is so anomalous the price point added to uncertainty about this device. 10 days after its official launch on January 8th, 2024, the price was further reduced to USD $199.00. Within the announcement of this price drop, Yawman acknowledged that they heard concerns about its price point being out of reach for some people, the uncertainty expressed because of its unproven design and Yawman wanting to keep this controller competitive with existing flight simulation gear.  However, you cannot say this was caused by failure. The initial batch of Arrow handheld flight controllers sold out the same day it launched. A second batch of controllers was released for sale on January 15th with the price drop happening on January 18th. Customers that purchased the Arrow when it was at its higher original price were automatically given a USD $50.00 refund with no actions necessary from the customer. This certainly does not sound like something a company with a failing product would do.  At the end of Skyward’s review process for this controller, I can say that the Arrow is worth the price point. There is a lot to explain as to how I came to this conclusion. Let’s continue.  Design, Unboxing, Feel  The design of the Yawman Arrow is absolutely unusual for a handheld controller. To those that are familiar with flight controllers, the sliders, vernier style poles, five-way Hat swtich and multifunction wheel are immediate eye-catchers. At a glance, they let you know what the purpose of this controller is. Media showing its mechanically linked triggers in action further raise eyebrows as they do effectively act as traditional foot rudder pedals. This controller is essentially offering the functionality of three major pieces of flight simulation equipment in a single device, for a price point lower than the cost of purchasing all of those devices and needing the space to use them and store them. That is a tall order.  People should remember that while this controller is trying to provide the functionality of three devices in one, it can still be used in conjunction with hardware like head tracking to further enhance the experience.  The package of the Yawman Arrow is simple and effective. The box being decorated on all sides with non-labeled diagrams is definitely one of the more memorable packaging designs I’ve seen in a while. In fact, this box is so sturdy and good-looking, I’d recommend keeping it long-term for storage of the controller itself when it is not in use. Heck, you could even use it during travel to keep it protected, since the foam mold in the box does fit the controller like a glove.  The 2024 release version of the Yawman comes in the color White Sands  - a reference to the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico in the United States of America. Personally, I prefer any handheld device I use to be darker in color since it is less prone to show staining from dirt, grime, grease that any handheld device eventually gathers. I would have loved to get my hands on the dark blue colored Arrow that was shown in pre-release promotional material, but I digress. This isn’t really a huge deal.  Taking it out of the box and holding it for the first time, its weight is comparable to any game pad for game consoles currently on the market. I was expecting a bit of a lead weight controller because of all the flight specific controls that have been incorporated. I was definitely wrong about that.  The click, rotation, slide and pull of just about everything available felt good with two exceptions.  The shoulder buttons felt strangely mushy. It simultaneously feels like I need to press them with a bit more force than you would think is required, while the tactile button click feedback was so minimal I sometimes had to double-check if the buttons were depressed all the way.  The vernier style-poles are both one of my favorite parts of its design and the most likely to be accidentally snapped off parts of the design. These poles are made of the same plastic the other buttons are. When fully extended, there is a bit of a danger of accidentally damaging them by maybe putting the controller down in the wrong way or the poles getting wrapped around something within the play space. In a future Arrow updated design, I would like to see these reinforced, possibly made of some type of metal.  The linked mechanical triggers have their own dedicated section within this review, but I can say that these are the signature feature of this controller. They worked quite well, even during intensive use. They mimic the familiar feel and function of rudder pedals well.  The five-way trim hat switch does feel a bit more fragile than the study thumbstick with center press, but I have no worries about breaking it. Having it used for trim, aircraft camera controls and similar functions is recommended.  The multifunction six-pack button layout took a bit of getting used to, as just about every game controller since 1995 has stuck with the traditional four button cross layout to some degree. That was more of a mental adjustment for me. Within a few flights using the Arrow I was happy to have these buttons readily available. A big part of this was because they could be reassigned to new functions as needed.  The position of the USB-C connection was good as it is high away from the triggers, and not in the way of controls I would need to cross my fingers across the pad to reach. By being positioned high on the back of the controller, the USB-C cable also remains out of the way during use.  Because there are so many non-standard moving parts - the vernier poles, twin sliders and triggers - I would say paying attention to cleanliness and storing this controller properly would be a good move. Do not eat crumbly snacks that could potentially get jammed into this controller or let too much grime build up in these parts. The Arrow requires less maintenance and cleaning than full sized flight equipment, but it is still good practice to make an effort to keep it clean.  Thorough Testing The review process for the Arrow was something we really wanted to do in our own way. Since the earliest public introduction of this handheld flight controller, there have been a handful of popular flight simulators the Yawman team paid special attention to support. The frequently mentioned titles are Digital Combat Simulator World, Infinite Flight (Android), Laminar Research X-Plane (PC, macOS), Lockheed Martin Prepar3D, and Microsoft Flight Simulator (PC). It is safe to say that the main demographic of customers are semi-pro or professional flight simulators for this device would primarily find themselves flying in these titles. So these are safe bet titles to ensure compatibility with. They even have well documented profiles  for Microsoft Flight Simulator and X-Plane 12.  Example page from Yawman Arrow documentation. In fact, compatibility is a focal point in what the Arrow offers. It touts the potential to have every button on the controller reconfigured as needed. This allows the controller to easily assign functions that are specific to each aircraft. A very handy feature. You could assume that any personal computer game or sim that could recognize the Arrow via USB could be played with the controller. This is where Skyward Flight Media’s testing focused. Certainly to test the hardware and functionality of the Arrow, but also to challenge the concept of the Arrow itself. More on this later.  Here is a list of titles we tested the Yawman Arrow in: Absolute Territory Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown At Skies Edge Comanche Digital Combat Simulator World Flight of Nova Frontiers Reach GroundFall Infinite Flight Manta Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 Nova Squadron Nuclear Option PCSX2 (Emulation Software) Project Wingman ReDream (Emulation Software) Roger Meatball Simple Planes Strike Fighters 2 Tiny Combat Arena The Brew Barons Underspace Xemu (Emulation Software) World of Aircraft Glider Simulator Many of these titles are clearly not flight simulation titles. Some of the listed names are actually emulation software that lets people play old games and simulators from game consoles from long ago. We tested even more titles through those emulators that are unlisted. The Yawman Arrow worked with every one of them.  Justifying the Arrow Skyward tested the Yawman Arrow in a solid block of unusual titles to use flight simulation gear in. Some may even view it as unnecessary. Many of these are decidedly not flight simulation titles. However, Skyward reviewed the Arrow from the point of view of a potential buyer that is outside the dedicated semi-pro or professional flight simmer demographic.  Someone that has an interest in simulated flight, may or may not have some flight simulation gear and is having a bit of a hard time justifying the cost of the Arrow, when there are similar sized controllers that could potentially be pressed into service to fly in these same titles.  A frequent question we have heard about the Arrow since its introduction is whether something niche like a handheld flight controller is a viable purchase. References to larger units of flight simulation gear, like flight sticks, throttles and rudder pedals, could be purchased around a similar price point. Or if the controller is so specialized, you would only be able to use it on what less flight simulation focused users would consider “one or two games”. This is what shaped our perspective when we tested the Arrow.  After many hours in various titles with a variety of aircraft, I do feel like the Arrow does justify its concept. There is a place for the Yawman Arrow as it made the smart move to be versatile enough to be compatible with non-pure flight simulation titles, while being purpose built for full-fledged simulation titles.  It is hard to rationalize plugging in a full hands on throttle and stick setup with 30-something buttons to a flight sim lite that could be played with an Xbox Controller. The Yawman Arrow offers similar functionality with the small footprint of a game pad, while being easy enough to use by just plugging in a single USB.  Also, keep in mind that this controller does fulfill the same functions of a dedicated rudder pedal, dedicated yoke / flight stick and dedicated throttle. Individually buying all those units would cost around USD $800.00 to USD $1000.00, depending on the manufacturer.  Mechanically Linked Triggers The star of the Yawman Arrow is undoubtedly the patent pending mechanically linked triggers. Back in 2023, I was obsessed with their feel and functionality. While my feet were accustomed to rudder pedals moving in concert with one another, my fingers certainly were not. I am not certain about how exactly the triggers are linked (nor do I want to dismantle the controller to find out!) but it does feel like there is some type of heavy-duty compression spring in the device. The constant level of opposing pressure while pulling these triggers contributes to the accuracy of rudder pedal inputs. Rather than being able to perform 100% deflection rudder inputs with no resistance or feedback, the counter-pressure in the mechanically linked trigger makes rudder inputs more deliberate and accurate.  Example of mechanically linked triggers. This is great for flight simulators, which are inherently slower paced and rely on precise inputs for smooth flying. Does it work for fast, action packed flight arcade titles? Certainly. I have no doubt that the mechanism itself is designed well and can withstand constant heavy-duty usage. Just from a press or two, you can feel that its build quality is very good. I do not feel as though this part of the controller would fail very easily, even with me rapidly pressing either trigger back to back.  Personally, I always ask myself if I would want to use these triggers - or more traditionally a rudder pedal - heavily in a flight game that really does not require high precision. It becomes a question of long-term use. As I continue to use this controller for the rest of the year, I will most likely circle back in on this subject specifically.  A Controller for Adults While it does look like a controller you would see plugged into a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X, I would not recommend letting young people use unsupervised. The D-pad, six-pack buttons and left joystick are quite sturdy. My concern lies more with the trim wheel, vernier style poles, twin sliders, five way hat switch and linked triggers. Setting the linked triggers aside for a moment, the rest of these buttons and switches do feel like they would break if maximum hand strength inputs would be made to them frequently.  It is not that the build quality is bad, it is because this is something adults would never do; especially those that are familiar with flight simulation equipment. They know it does not take a lot of force to adjust trim, fuel mixture or throttle settings. For example, someone familiar with a flight stick knows they would not need to slam the stick fully to the right to roll, but someone unfamiliar would frequently do this. That increases the rate of wear and tear on the device.   Someone younger that may mash or pull too hard has a real chance of damaging the more specialized parts of the controller, in my opinion. If a younger person is to use these controls, a bit of guidance to help them understand how to properly use it is recommended. The Arrow really could be used as introductory flight sim gear, but again, some guidance would be needed.  Higher Fidelity = Better Experience Something that became clear after three days of testing was that the experience was better the more high fidelity the aircraft being piloted was. This has less to do with the design of the controller itself and more to do with how many systems people can interact with in the aircraft cockpit. The Arrow can keep the most important controls and systems at your fingertips, but attempting to map every function available in something like an Airbus A320 is neigh impossible. Unless you have a full sized flight deck in your home, any device would have problems with this. But, the Arrow does very well since the core systems can be easily managed while looking around the cockpit in sim and manually clicking the systems or using a keyboard.  Functions like trim wheels, thrust reversers, fuel mixture settings, etc. feel very good on this controller, so being able to use them to their fullest is great.  Spaceflight We also tested the Arrow in fictional space environments. Space sims often require even more lateral, vertical and diagonal control than any atmospheric aircraft simulator would. Space simulation rigs regularly have two or more flight sticks, which function very differently from standard aircraft. This can be addressed by assigning some of the buttons on the D-pad to be modifier buttons that activate a second layer of controls (or more layers if needed) when depressed. The vernier-style poles were helpful as reverse thrusters, the trim wheel helped during reentry as we used it for minor pitch corrections, 5 way hat switch was used for the reaction control system to make fine adjustments during flight.  The most realistic simulator we used to test space flight with the Arrow was Flight of Nova . It presents newtonian mechanics, realistic gravitation and orbital physics, atmospheric density inspired by Earth data, aerodynamic drag corresponding to vessel shape, drag / air friction energy calculations, real-time accurate orbital data and a full-scale body diameter 12’700 km planet.  With the Yawman Arrow we were able to launch from the surface of a planet, go into orbit, plot a course for rendezvous and successfully dock with a space station.  Space simulation is not something I have an extensive amount of experience with, but the Arrow supported me enough to be successful. This is an interesting thing to note.  “Desktop Mode”  It is not talked about a lot in their promotional material, but Yawman does mention that the Arrow has a “desktop mode” of sorts. They released a short video about this on January 26th, 2024. Holding this flight controller in your hands is the preferred way to use this device, but unlike game controllers of similar design, its triggers and even the multifunction wheel have enough clearance to let the controller lay flat on a hard surface and still have all of its buttons accessible.  A few cross-country flights I did in Microsoft Flight Simulator demonstrated the usefulness of this feature. During taxiing, takeoff, landing and parking, holding it in my hands felt necessary to me. But during the long legs of the flight itself, laying the controller down onto my desk and flying in this way allowed me to relax my arms and hands while maintaining full control. This was an unexpected way to use the Arrow, but I cannot deny that it worked well.  Closing I am a bit surprised at how much I came to enjoy using the Yawman Arrow handheld flight gaming controller. While this was a review, I did not feel as though I was forcing myself to use it. It became very natural to plug this controller in, take a few minutes to assign some functions for the first time and go flying. I am someone that frequently preaches the effectiveness of desk mounts for flight simulation hardware, and I must admit that it was nice using the Arrow in lieu of constantly having to shuffle all that equipment around.  With its current functionality and price point, it does seem valid to me after a little over three weeks of testing it in titles it was both built with in mind and titles it probably never would be used in normally. I cannot say that I am about to throw out all of my flight simulation gear to solely fly with the Arrow, but I can say that it will be a frequently used part of my collection for sure.  Skyward Flight Media would like to thank the Yawman team for presenting us with a review unit to create this review and giving us all the time needed to do it in our own way.  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.

Taking a Closer Look During Steam Couch CO-OP Fest 2025 Back in Steam Planes, Trains and Automobiles Fest 2024 I briefly interacted with a demo for Mirage: A Biplane Adventure by Blitzwood. At the end of the section I wrote about Mirage I had mentioned that I was curious about whether or not the demo represented the full game. Admittedly, with digest style articles like those that cover multiple games in a single piece, you definitely cannot spend as much time with a game to give it a more detailed look. Unexpectedly, we recently were contacted by the developer of Mirage to try the full game out during the ongoing Steam Couch CO-OP Fest , running between February 10th through 17th, 2025. I'd like to thank Blitzwood for reaching out and offering this opportunity to us. World Setting I mentioned previously that the world of Mirage: A Biplane Adventure  was one that gave me the feeling I wanted to explore and understand what exactly is going on. For a genre where the focus is traditionally aircraft doing cool things under the player's control, having decent worldbuilding and/or an unusual story also exists is enticing. This is going to sound odd, but it is a very specific feeling I have had with a few other flight games. Games like Sky Odyssey , The Brew Barons , Sky Gunner and even Aviassembly  come to mind. World map. The world of Mirage has been invaded by unknown robotic entities. They can be found in towns and around strategic locations in the form of static, land based anti-aircraft units and small, high speed blimps with turrets able to fire in any direction. The player is a first-of-its-kind biological-mechanical drone created to fight the robots at the direction of its creator. Using an in-game compass to navigate to story driven objectives, backed by radio communication with in-game characters, players fly to new towns, crisscross the continent finding unusual landmarks. These landmarks include monuments, towns, ports, challenging terrain and portals that players fly through, transporting them to mini-game levels that are still story related, but are based on time attack or score attack game modes. The geography of Mirage is unusual. As progress is made more of the story unfolds. Overall the tone of the game is one of mystery. To be transparent, I have not completed the full story of Mirage as I chose to discuss more of the gameplay aspect of it. Fully CO-OP If the inclusion of this game in the Steam Couch CO-OP Fest is not enough of a give away, Mirage joins the ranks of relatively few modern flight games that are full game co-op. Fellow Skyward Flight Media staff member T.J. "Millie" Archer and I tested this functionality over the course of a Sunday afternoon, sitting side by side in true Couch Co-Op fashion. While Player One is in game they can activate the second player, Player Two, by pressing P or Back on the keyboard. Player Two is free to fly anywhere on the map with no distance restriction from Player One. During testing T.J. and I operated separately looking for landmarks we were on opposite sides of the world map. Resources like currency, ammunition and fuel are not shared between both players. Both players will need to manage their resources independently. Of the few things that are shared is save points/waypoints set by making progress in the game or flying through the resupply Rings. In the event player two crashes or is shot down in combat, they respawn near the last ring Player One utilized. While in mini-games based on time attack and score attack, the death of Player One can cause a restart of the mini-game for both players, whereas the death of Player Two occasionally respawns them completely outside of the play area. In our experience the best use of having a second player was coordinating attacks against the robotic invaders in the land of Mirage. Using basic World War II era flak suppression tactics with Player One evasively flying through areas full of known hostiles, drawing their fire while Player Two flies in seconds later, destroying the distracted enemies. The level of difficulty in combat is noticeably lower when two players are active just because of this. T.J. would argue that the most entertaining part of the co-op experience would be that friendly fire is on. Players can shoot at one another or ram into each other. The occasional random betrayal or aggressive bump in a time attack can bring out hilarious interactions between each other. The Learning Curve T.J. and I initially struggled to adapting to the gameplay style of Mirage. Partially because we jumped straight into it concentrating on immediately accessing the flight and action, as the developer intended. After a brief reset and taking time to adjust all controls and remap buttons to something more familiar to ourselves - a feature added to the game just back in November 2024 - we found ourselves getting better at the fast paced gameplay. Highspeed Gameplay Something that I can now confirm is a core part of this arcade flight game is high speed. In every moment. While the aircraft players control is capable of hovering in mid-air, even while it is hovering it consumes its Coal Fuel at quite a high rate. An entire fuel tank is expended in roughly 60 seconds. The pressure of needing to refuel once a minute is considerable. This is somewhat offset by picking up in-game currency floating around the map at random locations. Picking up these orange glowing coins does give a slight increase in fuel capacity, but the coins do not reliably reappear at a rate that would replace the need to always know where the nearest resupply ring is and be ready to fly there within 30 to 40 seconds. This makes even a few moments of non-combat feel as though you are wasting time by not being purely fixated on flying straight from objective to objective. On one hand I wish the fuel consumption rate was a bit slower to allow players some more time to strategize and fly around the map, but I can respect the concept of mind high speed, skill based gameplay where so much happens in 60 seconds you are constantly mentally engaged with what is happening in the game. An important part of this highspeed gameplay style is to accept is that the player(s) will most likely crash, run out of fuel or be destroyed frequently when they are new to the game. Very similar to rouge-like games, in a sense. While there is technically a punishment for this, it is a relatively small punishment. If you are someone that takes seeming to "lose" rather hard, I would keep in mind that the setbacks that come with it are quite small. Instead, focus on simply getting experienced with things and you'll notice that the amount of times you go down decreases quickly. Mini-Games It should be noted that the mandatory mini-games could be a point of contention. It certainly was for my dearest wingman T.J. As mentioned in the sections Fully CO-OP and Highspeed Gameplay, when Player One dies it causes Player Two to restart. With limited fuel and short timers, these mini-games require immense speed and precision to clear. We failed almost a dozen times each before we got it right, to be honest. With these mini-games being requirements, they are not impossible to complete but do expect to dedicate more time than expected to these. Example of portals to story related mini-games. Flight, Combat The flight model is decidedly flight arcade. With Mirage not allowing for full pitch control above 80 degrees nose up or down and rudder and yaw controls coupled together, adjusting Turn Speed to its near maximum greatly enhances the players ability to survive in combat and increase their chances to complete score attack and time attack mini-games. There is very little in the way of physics halting players from zoom climbing and speeding away from danger while also being able to snap turn through tight valleys or abstractly designed tunnels running up the sides of mountains. Destroying an air target over an occupied town. The aircraft is able to absorb three glancing blows or minor terrain impacts, but cannot take even a few seconds of sustained direct fire from enemy forces. Because of this high speed and high maneuverability to avoid taking damage is more important than anything. Both the player and enemy forces use types of rapid fire cannons that explode with anti-aircraft flak cannon style ammunition. This limited amount of splash damage can be utilized by players to hit small groups of enemies in a single pass. I'd say the general rule of thumb is to focus on slashing attacks or Boom and Zoom tactics. Whether they are air targets or land targets, avoiding getting into low speed turning battles and focusing on eliminating the enemy one or two units at a time while flying at maximum speed. Strafing anti-aircraft turrets. Though, the player's cannon has a range that reaches farther than the hostile robots can return fire. Using patience and being willing to burn quite a bit a fuel, it is possible to fly high above land forces and hover outside of their range firing down on them, destroying them outside of their counterattack range. Time consuming, but an effective alternative. Closing Thoughts Even after the afternoon co-op session with T.J., I have continued playing Mirage: A Biplane Adventure between assignments for Skyward Flight Media. I genuinely am curious about what the full story of Mirage is. Now that I have adjusted to the gameplay style I am more wiling to to pursue this game to its end. I'll be sure to report back. Connect with 'Mirage: A Biplane Adventure' Steam : https://store.steampowered.com/app/2909720/Mirage_A_Biplane_Adventure/ T.J. and Aaron somewhere in the unknown. 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 .

After a long time in development, it is now the time to shine for Polychop Simulations' newest helicopter: The legendary OH-58D Kiowa Warrior. A smaller, heavy and somewhat underpowered platform, the Kiowa was made with observation and scouting duties in mind. It serves quite excellently in these roles, as well as CAS duties during Iraq and Afghanistan. Additionally, it now serves with several different nations, such as Greece and Taiwan. It is now time for us in DCS World to enjoy this fabulous aircraft in all its glory, and that is something we say seriously. This release is a rarity for DCS World standards, as it was released into the game as a complete module. No early access, no tricks. Just for doing this, we have nothing but respect for Polychop, as this is proof of how confident they are in the quality of their products. EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL 3D MODELS Externally, the Kiowa looks mighty fine. A lot of detail has been packed into this model, with everything from the different fuselage-mounted sensors to the mounted weapon assemblies and harnesses. Depending on the livery, the weathering on the fuselage can go from very mild to extreme, to reflect where some of these birds were and the conditions they flew under. It feels like a definite step up from the Gazelle, and I am proud of what the devs have done with this model. A notable addition to this model is the wide range of customization available to the mission editor. They can add or remove the IRCM (Infrared Countermeasure) system, equip two different sets of skids, and so much more. Here, take a look at the model yourself: As for the cockpit, the quality shown on the external model persists. It is weathered, but not enough to look like a museum piece, like some other modules currently available for purchase. It looks roughed up and beaten, but also taken care of by maintainers that need the bird up in the air at any time. Additionally, all the changes to equipment are reflected in the cockpit with the removal or installation of several different panels. The pilot and co-pilot models are the most alive any of these have ever felt in DCS. They have a bit more character than we are used to and their animations, while somewhat stiff due to limitations, do bring these models to life more than any other ones we have seen in the game. Everything from holding the M4 out of the window to grabbing a smoke grenade, pulling the pin and throwing it out of the door. These are the points that make a difference with modules in DCS, and Polychop has outdone all other helicopters in DCS with their addition. Here, take a look: VISUAL AND SOUND EFFECTS The Kiowa is not really a visually impressive aircraft in the same way that something like a Phantom would, or any other fixed wing aircraft. It cannot pull vapes when you push it, or have a spectacular afterburner effect. What it can have, it has. This comes in the shape of what seems to be the inclusion of ED's rotor blur technology that gives the rotor assemble an amazing sense of movement, as we have seen previously on the Apache and Hind. Night lighting is pretty spot on, and it certainly can become a bit of a Christmas tree with all the external lights on at night. Cockpit lighting is on-par with the external lighting, as well as how it is reflected on the latter when you turn on your lights in-cockpit. It is an alright bird in this category, and we cannot complain much. A category we can applaud them on is sound design, as this has that "spark" that is so rare in DCS modules. We can tell what my aircraft is doing just by listening to the way the rotor sounds, and that feedback is precious when we cannot rely on all of our other senses. You can hear the air rush by when you pick up speed, as well as the difference in rotor sound when you enter a roll or start pushing the aircraft a bit. Polychop have created an excellent sound environment that compliments the flight model perfectly, and we have nothing but good things to say about it. Well done! FLIGHT MODELING DISCLAIMER:  This is always a tough category, as like with any other aircraft, there is a lot to take into consideration other than just the feel of the flight model. This category is the most subjective one in this article, as we do not have any real world experience with this craft. We will only base our opinion on practical experience and knowledge of practical aerodynamics and the theoretical behavior that a OH-58D should have under certain scenarios. If you want to talk about realism, please refer to CasmoTV or Barundus , two of the SMEs with thousands of hours logged on the Kiowa each. With the disclaimer out of the way, we will start by saying that this is the best feeling helicopter currently in the game, period. It is the closest we have felt to properly flying a real helicopter in DCS, and that is something we do not say lightly. The flight model is a thing of beauty, and we cannot get enough of flying this helicopter. It behaves exactly how you think a helicopter would, with none of the usual quirks that come with simulated flight characteristics. It feels stable on the hover without force trim, and hand-flying it is easier than riding a bike. Applying torque with the anti-torque pedals results in predictable motions that you can control appropriately. Additionally, falling on VRS (vortex-ring state) situations is a rarity, as long as you fly it within parameters and control your descent rate properly. During landings and take-offs, you can also distinctly feel the aircraft settle on ground effect, which is something that took us by surprise. RBS (Retreating blade stall) is also manageable, as this aircraft doesn't really have a lot of power to begin with in order to get you going that fast, especially when fully loaded. The Kiowa is a delight to fly, and we cannot get enough of it. Polychop, Kinkku, well done! You've shown everyone why PC are the kings of helicopters in DCS. MISSION CAPABILITIES If you come into the Kiowa thinking it will be as capable and/or well-armed as an Apache or Hind, well, you are not going to enjoy what I have to say. The OH-58D Kiowa Warrior's main role is that of a scout and observer. To understand this, one has to understand where the Kiowa comes from. It is essentially the militarized version of the Bell 206 that initially entered service during the Vietnam War in the late 1960s, one which has seen a plethora of modifications throughout the years going from the OH-58A to the OH-58D, and some prototypes here and there. It was meant to be an observer aircraft capable of directing artillery fire and performing Aerial Forward Air Controller (AFAC) duties. It was never meant to be an attack helicopter. With that being said, the version we have is a OH-58D from around 2012-2016, one of the last versions ever to see service with the U.S. Army. It includes a fully digital/glass cockpit, as well as INS/GPS navigation, advanced survivability equipment and the iconic Mast Mounted Sight (MMS). This also includes a first for DCS, a set of functional airbags upon crash! This bird is capable of performing AFAC duties sublimely, as well as enacting its own light-attack missions thanks to the use of the MMS in conjunction with the laser guided weaponry it can carry. Additionally, it can perform these duties during the day and night, thanks to its modifications that made night flying a breeze for pilots. This bird does excel in low-threat environments similar to those in which it saw most of its action, such as Afghanistan and even Iraq. Thanks to its ability to equip relatively cheap weaponry, as well as having a low operational cost, this bird was a soldier's ally when it came down to receiving Close Air Support (CAS). It might not be as famous as its bigger brother, the AH-64D Apache, but it certainly saw plenty of action and is an aircraft cherished by those that flew it and those it protected on the ground. ARMAMENT M3P .50 CAL MACHINE GUN One of your main means of sharing your love with your enemies. 500 rounds max, 100 min. M260 HYDRA ROCKET PODS Your classic 70mm rocket pods capable of carrying 7 rockets each, from guided to unguided rockets. MAX of 2 pods for a total of 14 Hydra rockets that come in two unguided types: M151 10 pound HE rockets M229 17 pound HE rockets M151 ADVANCED PRECISION KILL WEAPON SYSTEM ROCKETS The laser guided version of the M151 10 pound rockets. They are accurate, lighter than Hellfires, and you can carry a total of 14 of these in two pods (7 per pod). AGM-114K HELLFIRE MISSILE The most capable long range weapon that the Kiowa can carry, this missile will delete everything you point your laser at. You can carry two per pylon for a total of 4 missiles, but that set-up is not recommended. Instead, carry two of these alongside a rocket pod or your trusty .50 cal. FIM-92 STINGER MISSILE The Kiowa can also defend itself in the air-to-air arena, all thanks to the Stingers. These missiles can be equipped in pairs for a theoretical total of 4 missiles, but that is a set-up we wouldn't recommend. M4 CARBINE A first in DCS, you are able to whip out your trusty 5.56 carbine and throw lead out the door. You have a total of 5 mags with 30 rounds each, for a total of 150 rounds. It can only be used by the left seater. This is also VR compatible! M18 SMOKE GRENADE A Kiowa-classic, the M18 smoke grenade can be tossed out of the window or door to mark objectives during a fly-by. It comes in these colors: Blue, Green, Red, Violet, White and Yellow. EASE OF USE AND LEARNING CURVE This is one of if not the easiest helicopter to fly in DCS thanks to its predictable flight dynamics, as well as its stable yet very fun flight profile. It is not as complex to fly as the Apache, but not as simple and analog as the OH-6A Cayuse. We think it is the ideal starter helicopter for those that want to take a step up from all the flyable helicopter mods. Having issues? Then you have to have seen these airbags pop! Additionally, this module comes with an AI-Pilot! This system can fly the helicopter for you in a number of situations, including hovering in relatively strong winds and even navigation from waypoint to waypoint. If you are a solo-pilot, you can rely on this system to keep that hover for you while you employ your weapon systems at a distance. It is easy to manage and very reliable, so it can only add to the accessibility that this module already has. IS THIS AIRCRAFT FOR YOU? If what you want in a module is: A wonderfully crafted flight model. A unique experience while flying. To be able to spot for your friends that only fly fixed-wing. To fly the most enjoyable helicopter in DCS. If you don't mind: Not having 16 Hellfires under your wings. Being relatively slow compared to other helos. Having fun. See above. If all or some of the above is what you want, then Polychop's OH-58D Kiowa Warrier is for you.

World War II multicrew night raids against vital supply lines In the overall landscape of aviation worlds on the  VRChat  platform, the most common types of experiences available revolve around 3rd or 4th generation combat aircraft and quick player versus player gameplay. Because of this, worlds like  BlackCats: Maritime Interdictor  by  5Sori  stand out. On the surface it is mainly because they are player versus environment experiences that benefit from players working together. Going deeper, it is the build quality and concept behind the world that gives it a special place among its peers. Development BlackCats: Maritime Interdictor is a World War II era VRChat aviation world based on Pacific Theater of war operations. Specifically on notable operations of the "Black Cats", US Navy patrol squadrons who flew nighttime combat missions against Imperial Japanese Navy throughout the war. Their Consolidated PBY-5 Catalina amphibious flying boats painted in black became an iconic part of their image. 5Sori, the world creator / developer first posted a video about development of this world in  October 5th, 2024   with them acknowledging their inspiration for starting development was the "Black Cats" mission from Call of Duty: World at War (2008). They had previously 3D modelled a PBY-5 for sale and use in VRChat, so creation of this world fit the aircraft they had modeled perfectly. Development and private testing continued while the developer also worked on other project. The Black Cats world was released to the public on May 31st, 2025. The Setting Players are tasked with flying their aircraft into battle against flotillas of NPC controlled transport ships with Nakajima A6M2-N Rufe aircraft in the airspace. The transports have multiple gun positions and searchlights to spot attackers and increase the accuracy of anti-aircraft fire. Upon loading into the world, players spawn in a tent in the middle of an island military base. Within the tent is a briefing room to explain the concept of the world, handheld models of vehicles seen in the world and options to control in-game settings. A map with a compass rose somewhat doubles as a radar system, as it identifies the general locations of far-off enemy forces and shows the positions of allies. This table is useful for speaking to aircrews in flight, monitoring the battle space and choosing which vehicles to spawn in mid-flight to join others while they are in combat. This is a good starting point to give players that will be flying a general idea of what is happening in the surrounding area, while players that remain on the ground can give navigation assistance via the radio system if needed. Outside of the tent is a small airfield with limited support facilities like hangars, support buildings and a tower mounted radar. There is also a steel grate runway and smooth beaches that allow players to operate their aircraft purely in the ocean or from land.  Aircraft can return to the island for repair, refuel and rearming by landing in the sea or on land, or flying low over the island for a much faster resupply process. Honestly though landing on the ocean is recommended as the aircraft is designed for that. The world creator has a good set of animations for the aircraft on water, retractable floats and the audio of landing on the water and travelling on water are good parts of the experience. The Aircraft Players have access to two PBY-5 Catalinas housed in the hangar. Each PBY-5 is equipped with a surface search radar to find the convoys of transport ships. The first aircraft is equipped with two air launched torpedoes and the second with six unguided bombs. It is possible for a player to fly on their own and be successful in completing this PVE scenario, but it is made much easier with the inclusion of more players. Why is this? Besides the pilot and co-pilot seats, each aircraft has four gunner positions. The pilot has authority to launch torpedoes or drop bombs and has control over a pair of nose mounted 20mm cannons. The nose gunner is also particularly important as they have a bombsight that is used for level bombing at altitude if the pilot and nose gunner work together. Coming into a fight with multiple crewmen in gunner positions is ideal, but there is a second, albeit more physically involved option.  In a somewhat amazing feat, players can also leave their seat stations mid-flight, walk to a different part of the aircraft and take up a new position. This is an extremely rare ability for the SaccFlight system in VRChat. Few aircraft have colliders that stop players from phasing through vehicles. Even fewer let players be able to leave a seat station while in flight without them being flung around the aircraft. It would be interesting to see the Unity code that made this possible. The flight model of each Catalina is more forgiving and arcade-like than the real-world example, but not to a point that you will be performing fighter jet-like maneuvers with little to no danger. Also, the aircraft is able to receive a decent amount of gunfire before exploding, making consistent attacks against convoys a viable tactic. While staying in a rolling gun fight is fun for entertainment, the most effective way to attack is of course slashing attacks through the convoy not remaining within its range of attack for extended periods of time. Examples of combat in the world. The Experience While airborne the pilot of each Catalina wanders the ocean searching for radar contacts on the water's surface. Because of the nighttime setting and the haze over the water, the radar is the best way to detect potential targets farther than players can visually spot them.  Upon finding and approaching these transports, their spotlights activate to find the Catalinas and direct anti-aircraft fire onto them. The ships themselves are not easily destroyed. If only relying on machine guns and cannons, the transports take a substantial amount of damage before they explode. Specific parts of each vessel, like the searchlight and anti-aircraft guns, can be targeted and disabled making follow up attacks easier.  The occasional intercept by small numbers of A6M2-N Rufe complicates the players’ attacks. Of course, a Catalina being attacked by a much more maneuverable aircraft that can pursue them a moderate distance is a genuine problem, but it seems as though the seaplane escort fighters are susceptible to the anti-aircraft from their own ships. So it is possible for them to be destroyed while pursuing the Catalinas.  The most effective means of attack are of course torpedoes and unguided bombs, each of those capable of sinking a vessel in just one or two successful hits. Though their ammunition is realistically limited and their accuracy is not guaranteed. Learning how to lead a target with slow moving torpedoes or drop bombs onto a moving target while in a dive or flying straight and level is a key part of the experience. With there being no chart for ideal airspeed and altitudes available, players will be learning this literally on the fly. Lost at Sea A few flight sessions ago, a pair of Skyward staff members were stuck in a rare moment in VRChat aviation. This is not a standard occurrence that everyone who tries this world out should expect, but the story contributes to the uniqueness of this world. The pair of staff members became genuinely lost at sea. After multiple engagements pursuing transports as they appeared, the two flew for nearly 30 minutes unable to spot their home base visually or via radar. The first reason this is so unusual for VRCA is because it is easy to navigate back to other players because their nametags, when visible, show where clusters of players are located. Secondly, the terrain of these worlds usually give plenty of landmarks that can be used to return to known airfields. Getting lost in a world that does not use the Open World Movement Logic system by Zhakami Zhako is exceedingly rare. However, out on the open ocean with no land to refer to and no other players back at base to use as navigation beacons, their PBY-5 Catalina was lost for almost 30 minutes. Capitalizing on this rare occurrence, the two attempted to navigate back until they hit the world border. Using this artificial landmark to triangulate their position, they eventually made it back to base with no ammunition and a dwindling fuel supply. A truly VRChat style solution to a VRChat style problem. After finding two edges of the world border, the lost PBY-5 cut to a 45 degree angle to return to base. Closing Thoughts Black Cats - Maritime Interdictor is a bit of a shining example of what is possible with player vs environment VRChat aviation worlds. A seemingly basic premise of hunting down ships navigating through the night can become a dynamic experience with a crew of up to 6 players per aircraft coordinating their efforts. We recommend giving it a try soon.  Connect with 'BlackCats: Maritime Interdictor' VRChat.com (all options) World Quick Launch Link World Creator, 5Sori (X.com) 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 ]

A Slew of Website, Social Media Updates to Prep for Future Content As we begin making moves towards the next wave of more complex content, we also must make sure to take care of the "less sexy" side of managing our various online points of presence and the website itself. Of course, there are always so many notes in our changelog for things like this they are only really interesting to a few of our staff members. However, we want to point out the big stuff that will improve our user's experiences. Website Content Numbers During the updates some great numbers were revealed within concerning the content on our website. Here are two big juicy factoids we would like to share. As of the time of this posting, Skyward Flight Media has posted: 483 website releases about 83 flight games and simulators . As we near the milestone of 500 releases, we begin to wonder what we should do to celebrate. Desktop and Mobile Website Improvements Key changes to the main menus of the website have happened in the past few weeks, but we have not pointed them out. Front page now has a scrolling banner which will have certain types of content or flight sim related ad rotated over time. On Mobile view, the main menu has been decluttered and organized for efficiency. On Desktop view, the main menu uses more image-based menus to visualize choices while incorporating buttons to reach specific parts of our catalog. Many dead webpages were removed with further pages trimmed. Dead hyperlinks in older parts of the websites removed. Tabs Added to Select Pages Certain webpages are now gaining tabbed interfaces to expand on content available while remaining on the same webpage. Examples can be seen at the following places: front page , indie flight , VRChat aviation . Over time we will be adding more of these tabbed menus to larger sections of the website. Indie Highlight Series Gets Formal Page The signature series for the website right now is undoubtedly the recent Indie Highlight Series. To further support the series and concentrate its content, it now has its own area on our website with quick access added to the existing Indie Fight Games section of our website and banners in certain high traffic areas. See it yourself: https://www.skywardfm.com/indie-highlight-series Link In Bio Section Title Our social media channels are gradually being updated with a link in bio style aggregator like Linktree or Cardd. However, this is a webpage on our website simply designed to match that style of rapid access to our many links and certain parts of our content. Check it out: https://www.skywardfm.com/bio Social Media Updates Cross posting for Skyward Flight Media has become slightly more complicated with the addition of our long-lost Facebook page. The mismatches between Bluesky , Facebook and X.com (Twitter!) are more prevalent than ever, even with the use of the very handy Fedica service. We continue to explore options to keep posting consistent across all platforms while avoiding media incompatibilities.

Gelb Su-37 Ace Combat 7 skin mod by SkylineGTRFreak; click image for mod link. Ace Combat Zero, mission 6, Diapason: you’ve just liberated the Ustian capital of Directus. Ready for your victory lap, your celebration is rapidly cut short by a pair of bogies. A pair of Belkan Air Force Su-37 Flankers of the aptly-named “Gelb” squadron. You rush to engage at close-range. Their maneuvers are familiar to you—in Ace Combat these super maneuverable fighters are always helmed by pilots too eager to exploit post-stall maneuvers, slowing into a “Cobra” to force an overshoot or slipping into a Bell to drop a missile on the pursuer. Besides, just two bandits? You feel confident having faced five-on-one odds in a previous life—this is a cakewalk. You draw no quarter in your pursuit and drag the first Su-37 into your HUD. But just before you fire, your radar warning receiver catches alight. You quickly scan the skies, but the only other bandit is being hogtied by your buddy. Ground forces have cleared surface-to-air missiles on the ground. The light becomes a solid tone. You look forward just in time to catch the smoke of a launch from the fighter you are pursuing. In a split-second comes the impact of the missile against your airframe, and you go down in a ball of flames. What kind of fake Ace Combat skullduggery is that? Aft launched missiles? Seriously? Were they so desperate to make the game a challenge that they had to resort to something so outlandish? Well… let’s back up a bit. If you’ve been following the Ace Combat series since the PlayStation 1, you might have come to the conclusion that this was a callback to an old fight. The final mission of Ace Combat 2 featured a ZOE fighter that did the same trick: the ADF-01. This was its signature move before it was given a laser weapon for its reintroduction as the Falken in Ace Combat 5. But you would be forgiven if you said that Ace Combat Zero and the Su-37 was a really strange game, and a peculiar aircraft to make such a callback with. Despite it all, it still belongs in the realm of fiction. Right? The 2006 release of Ace Combat Zero had been during an explosion of information and interest in advanced fighters breaking cover all over the world. The Americans were on the cusp of initial operating capability with the F-22A Raptor and had just revealed the EMD configuration of the F-35. The Eurosphere was ramping up production of its delta-canards, and the Russian Federation was well into a recovery of its post-Soviet economic slump. With this came a rapid re-organization and rush to redevelop aging Soviet equipment. In professional circles, the F-22 was rightfully seen as a fighter aircraft second-to-none. A king of many roles, it seemed like there was no other fighter that could best it on the horizon. But on the internet, with a young and budding community of aviation enthusiasts, there seemed to be room for debate. A dump of information became quickly accessible about Russian fighters, and a host of unusual and interesting details about their MFI programs came with it. Three fighters stood out at the time: The Su-47 Berkut, the MiG-1.42/1.44, and the Su-27M. For years known in the west as the “Super Flanker,” the Su-27M was developed into a number of different technology demonstrators, the most famous of which is the Su-37—also known as Su-27M Bort 911, the yellow and brown splinter-painted fighter dazzled press and enthusiasts at airshows, demonstrating the pinnacle of what was termed “super maneuverability” or the ability to continue in controlled flight post-stall. The most famous of these maneuvers remains the “kulbit” or “Super Cobra,” where the Su-37 would execute a flat-planed somersault in mid-air. With this maneuver, a new appreciation for older fighter designs developed, and a new debate started raging amongst those new aviation enthusiasts: “F-22 vs. Su-37: Who would win?” These debates have since died down, but it still occurs to the present from time-to-time. Today it might seem sort of silly with what we now know about the Su-37. Though perhaps more combat capable than western prototypes, it was at its heart a tech demonstrator. With its outdated proto-PESA radar, Soviet-era electronics, and redlined AL-37FU engines, it was never meant to be anything more. The loss of the prototype in 2002 terminated the program. But why make a more combat-capable fighter if not to expect it to enter production? That seemed to be Sukhoi’s question—it’s why they pushed for the Su-35 and Su-37 designations for their uprated Flankers to begin with. But Russia had other plans for these fighters. Rather than evaluating the airframes for their own merits, instead, they used them and their at-the-time advanced avionics to experiment with novel ideas to keep their air fleets relevant. The Su-37 acted as the ideal flying laboratory. An advanced, but relatively inexpensive and familiar airframe to equip any number of prototype weapon systems in its enormous internal volume. There were reports that the aircraft’s rear-stinger was reconfigured as a Kevlar-constructed radome, and a small fire-control radar was held within. But such a radar would have been too small to serve the purpose for detection. Russian radar technology was still several years behind the west, and AESAs were not yet available, so radar warning detection or IFF was unlikely. So why perform such a modification? Rearward firing AAM research document. There were reports of a new Russian missile: An R-73 that could be mounted on either rotating gimbles or fixed backward on wing pylons, which could be used to attack pursuing aircraft. This seemed outlandish, but there was photographic evidence to go along with it. The previous reports of a rear-facing radar would bring new credence to both claims. It would fit snugly in with Russian missile engagement doctrine, launching both a radar-guided and infrared-guided missile per salvo against an enemy deploying countermeasures to increase the chances of impact. Evidence that the system would ever be used with the R-27 does not appear easy to come by, but it is possible that the radar could have been used to hand off guidance to the semi-active radar receivers in these older designs to perform such a feat. But it was hard to deny that the rear-firing R-73 was a real system. Though appearing to hold a new designation of R-73R[1], it is difficult to determine whether it was truly a new model or merely a new designation. Being a short-range infrared platform capable of firing at ranges as close as 1 km and as far as 13 km, it shares the specifications of its host platform almost identically. It has a mass of 115 kg, measures 3.2 meters in length, 0.17 meters in diameter, with a 0.404 meter wingspan. The R-73R is equipped with the advanced seeker head of the R-73M, mounted on a gimbal enabling a 60° to -60° search cone. When it acquires the target, a loud buzz is generated as a notification for the pilot (typical of IR missiles), and the pilot is ready to fire. The pilot presses the release button, and the missile ignites its booster, at first, the missile airspeed is slower than the launcher aircraft. It accelerates and matches the speed of the aircraft, and finally, it turns in pursuit of the target at a higher speed than the launcher aircraft. The combat loadout of these missiles was only theoretical; we can’t be sure how many would be equipped per aircraft, or if it would be used as a standard air-to-air loadout. With the perfection of off-boresight maneuvering and automatic target handoff, the interest in a rear-firing missile faded away. Modern missiles from NATO and the CIS now have the ability to engage to the rear using advanced motors and missile approach and warning sensors. They can effectively fire at the merge and expect a kill without having to turn their aircraft. This leads into a logical realization: in 2006, the fight over Directus in Ace Combat Zero might have felt like you were hit with a slap to the face—a fictional weapon meant to make a fight harder with a stupid AI. But it reasons that even a generic representation of modern air combat would make such a game mechanic nearly universal. Sometimes reality is stranger than fiction. [1] Note the R-73R (Source: Air Power Australia Technical Report APA-TR-2007-0101) About the Writer T.J. "Millie" Archer A Life-long realist and aviation enthusiast. Once the co-founding Administrator of the Electrosphere.info English Ace Combat Database. In the present day he is freelance, roving the internet in search of the latest aviation news and entertainment.  Read Staff Profile .

Sometimes the ever enigmatic internet algorithm can provide introductions to great video content creators that may not always be "staple" channels for Digital Combat Simulator World. Back in 2022, I remember randomly flipping through YouTube Shorts and suddenly learning how to use AGM-65 Maverick anti-tank missiles in VIS mode in the DCS World F-16C 'Viper' in 60 seconds. Definitely not the type of content I was just semi-mindlessly swiping through. Since this random encounter, Bogey Dope has become one of my favorite YouTube channels producing content for DCS. Recently his playthrough of First In - Weasels Over Syria by Ground Pounder Sims became, in my opinion, one of the better recorded playthroughs of a single player DCS campaign. Skyward Flight Media reached out for an interview to learn more about this creator. A stylish picture of an illustrious F-16C 'Viper' (Bogey Dope). Thank you for accepting our interview request. I do have to say, I am a bit of a fan. I’ll keep it together. Well, thank you, I appreciate it. Thanks for having me. For those of your readers who don't know me, my name is Bogey Dope. I'm an ex F-16 Crew Chief, and I'm currently running a YouTube channel by the same name where I make DCS tutorials, reviews, and general information about the simulator. I try to make DCS a little more digestible for newer players. Starting at the beginning, how did your interest in aviation start? It's actually pretty corny. My Dad let me watch Top Gun with him when I was about 5 or 6 years old, and from there, I was obsessed with aviation. I wanted to go to airshows and I made model airplanes with him, and the house was suddenly littered with paper airplanes everywhere. I still can’t believe how influential the first Top Gun movie was. Seems like anyone with even a minor interest in aviation was touched by it in some way. Are there any flight games or simulators you especially enjoyed when you were growing up? My family didn't get a computer in the house until I was well into Jr. High. Once we did, that was one of the first things I did with it. I found a flight simulator. I can't remember the name, but I had to learn how to work MS DOS so I could fly it. It was just a Pitts sim, but I spent many hours a week flying the one sim I had. From there, I would save money and buy my first JANES flight sim, and that opened up my fantasies of flying fighter jets since I was 5 years old. It just progressed from there until I was flying Falcon 4.0 later on in High School. My favorites were definitely the JANES series and Falcon, when I was growing up. I stumbled onto your content via YouTube Shorts in 2022. That is definitely not a medium I was expecting to see some pretty solid Digital Combat Simulator tutorials. As I started to check out the rest of your channel, I saw the series “ Stories Of A Crew Chief ”. Can we talk about your time in the military a bit? Absolutely, what would you like to know? I joined the Air Force fairly soon out of High School. I was seduced by my recruiter with the idea of having my name on a jet. Once he told me that, I was reaching for a pen. I had a very small idea of what I was signing up for, but couldn't wait to get started. At the time, my favorite jet up until then was the Tomcat of course, but once my name was literally on a Falcon, that changed. There is definitely pride that comes with the job.  You know, this is something I've wanted to ask a former or current member of an air force. I’ll take this chance. When you signed up, did you explicitly go in wanting to be a pilot?  I knew before I signed up that the main prerequisite for being a pilot is that you have to be an officer, and to be an officer, you have to have a college degree. I signed up right out of high school, so I didn't sign up with any intention of being a pilot. Though it was my dream, it wasn't what I ended up going for. Crew Chief "Bogey Dope". Do you have some advice you could give to others that may be considering signing up for a specific position in the military, but are concerned about ending up with a different “job” they did not expect?  I can only speak to when I signed up. Back when I joined, you got to pick your job. I'm sure there was a way you could just sign a paper that put you in a random job, but I had the option to pick my job. The list of jobs you have available to pick from are completely reliant on your ASVAB score. If you want to have the largest spectrum of jobs to choose from, I recommend studying for your ASVAB. The higher the score, the more jobs you have to choose from. If you get a lower score, you'll only have a few jobs to choose from. Honestly, though, my biggest advice I can give is, choose a job that translates to the civilian world well. When I joined, the USAF didn't give Crew Chiefs A&P Licenses. Which I thought was stupid because that's what we did! However, the last I heard, the USAF now gives Crew Chief's A&P licenses. Now, if you are a Crew Chief, and you finish your enlistment, you can go right into the Civilian sector and continue to work in Aircraft Maintenance. Same with other jobs like Cyber Systems Operations Specialist. I'm fairly certain the Air Force gives you all the Microsoft certs that you would need to continue to be a server admin when you get out. Do your research and find a job that you would like to do when you finish your enlistment. That way you have options when you get out. Crew Chief "Bogey Dope" (right). Apologies for the sidebar, thank you for your responses. Getting back to it, where did your career as a crew chief take you? I hear you were even involved with setting up a divert base in Iraq at some point. Yes, typically as a Crew Chief, you follow your squadron wherever it goes. If the squadron deploys, you go with them to maintain the jets. My time in Iraq was actually not with my squadron, however. I was there on TCN duty, basically just escorting local nationals around base while they worked. While we were there, they had a couple F-16's divert to that base, and the base commander at the time had called us in because he knew we were Crew Chiefs. He asked if we could get the jets turned around and launch them home. From there, we set it up so that Balad could divert more jets to Kirkuk if needed. Prior to us doing that, it was a little bigger operation as Crew Chiefs would have to fly from Balad to Kirkuk to recover the jets and send them back to Balad. I made a " Stories Of A Crew Chief " video on it, as you previously mentioned. I plan to make many more. I've been stationed at a few bases around the US, including Alaska at Eielson AFB. I eventually switched over to the MQ-1 Predator. From there, my deployments became much more frequent, as the pentagon LOVES drones, and used them as often as possible in theater. As a result, I spent the next four deployments in Jalalabad (J-bad) Afghanistan. FOB Fenty. More stories to come in the Stories of a Crew Chief series. I'm hoping Eagle Dynamics models FOB Fenty in the upcoming Afghanistan map (The base that Operation Neptune Spear launched from). I'll definitely be making some "Stories Of A Crew Chief" videos centered on that base. Digital Combat Simulator has been your primary platform for roughly the past three years. There is a good mix of tutorials and general flight footage, but I absolutely want to talk about the Virtual F-16 Crew Chief mod. When people talk simulation, they are usually thinking about the aircraft while it is in flight. This mod brings realism to pre-flight operations as well? It does to me, in my opinion. I felt that DCS was missing a big aspect of Air Force ground operations. Eagle Dynamics has put a ton of effort in the ground ops on a carrier. Yellow Shirts, Green Shirts, Brown Shirts, etc. all moving around the deck, marshalling you in, connecting you to the catapult, and launching you out. It increases the immersion enormously. This immersion is simply missing for the land based jets in DCS. In real life, pilots don't just walk out on the flight line, and grab a jet and take off. The Crew Chief is always there to greet the pilot when he steps to the jet. The Crew Chief is responsible for making sure the jet is safe to fly and launches the pilot out. There's a back and forth that goes on between the Crew Chief and the pilot during launches, hotpit refuels, red balls, etc. I felt that providing a little bit of that experience, that back and forth "team effort" of pilot and Crew Chief to get the jet ready to fly, would even further the immersion in the F-16 in DCS. I wish we had animated Crew Chiefs/Weapons/Specs troops in the sim like the NAVY birds do on the carrier deck. Unfortunately, that may be a long way off on the development road map. I've heard it's something ED devs have talked about in the past, but I have not heard of any timetable of such a thing. So, the next best thing, in my mind, was to create an "audible" virtual Crew Chief that would talk to you, and walk through the startup and launch procedure with you like you would if you were to launch an F-16 in real life. It was fun for me to make. Brought back a lot of memories. A lot of nostalgia going through that procedure again.  The fact that Virtual Crew Chief invoked nostalgia for you is telling about how realistic it is. On the video content creation front, I believe that your entire series for ‘First In: Weasels Over Syria’ is one of the best examples of balancing input from a creator while not compromising the atmosphere of the campaign. Can I get your thoughts on that campaign and how you are presenting it to your audience?  I actually just finished Mission 12 (the last mission in the campaign) last night and am in the process of organizing and editing all the footage now! I absolutely loved the campaign. It was a lot of fun. Even for someone like me who has spent countless hours in DCS flying the F-16, I enjoyed it and found it to be very engaging and challenging. I'm hopeful that this series is helpful for those who are looking for a "guide" so to speak. When I looked online for help with other campaigns when flying them, I found very few videos out there with people explaining what they were doing and why. It seemed odd to me that the only real DCS campaign walkthroughs (that I found) were just videos of someone flying the missions, but not talking. So you have no idea what they're thinking or why they're doing what they're doing. I wanted to change this and create a series for the FIWOS campaign, where I explain everything I'm doing (or at least as much as I can) and talk the viewer through the mission, so they understand what, why, and how. I created my channel to help newer DCS players, and I figured I could continue this with the FIWOS walkthrough series because, even if they aren't interested in flying the campaign, they would be able to learn some things and be entertained at the same time... hopefully. Once your series on First: In Weasels over Syria is complete, do you have any other DCS World campaigns you are considering recording in the future?  Yes. I would like to do this again. I've struggled to find time, as is evident by my video post tempo as of late. However, there are a couple of campaigns coming out soon that I want to fly. The Gamblers campaign and the Arctic Thunder campaign. Baltic Dragon gave me a preview of the Gamblers campaign and it was a lot of fun. Very intense scenes in it. I made a quick video on it recently. I've been able to work with Reflected Simulations on his Arctic Thunder campaign recently, and it's sounding like it is going to be another very fun and intense campaign as well. I'm anxious for both of them to come out! What are some considerations and hurdles you experience creating content for flight simulators on YouTube? I know that flight sim is not exactly a top genre on YouTube.  The biggest consideration that I look at when creating content is what will be helpful to the community. Sometimes, I take liberties and just create what I want, instead of a tutorial, but I typically want to find ways to create things that help either grow the community, or help those who are new. I feel when someone tries something as complicated as DCS can be, they become overwhelmed and quit almost immediately. I try to create content that shows it is not as difficult as it seems, and is quite rewarding once you get the hang of it. Sometimes I have an idea on a video that would be entertaining, not necessarily helpful like a tutorial or anything. Just something that is fun to watch. Like a cinematic, or a mission, or a quick short I came up with in my mind. I try to find ways to make DCS look fast paced and fun to watch, in hopes that some viewers who have never heard of DCS or seen anything on it, would find it intriguing and maybe look into it. The flight sim world can only get better if we help grow the community. What better way, than to make fast paced, fun combat sim videos if you can. The biggest hurdle of mine lately has been time. I spend hours and hours just recording the things I want to create. Then hours upon hours organizing it all and editing it into something that I find useful. I've kind of created an expectation for myself, in the quality of my content, and I don't want to deliver anything less on my channel. So, it requires a lot of time. Finding that time, can sometimes, be very difficult because I have my real job on the weekdays, and family things on the weekends like baseball tournaments, and practices, etc. As you are clearly a ‘Viper’ focused simulator pilot, I have to ask your opinion on Falcon 4.0 / Falcon BMS. Have you revisited it since the major update in June 2024?  I have not. I intend to though. I recently bumped into " Aviation Plus " at the Flight Sim Expo , and got to talk a little about BMS. I need to get back into it. Falcon was a huge reason I got into more intense combat flight simulators. Before that, I played around with the JANES flight sims, but after Falcon came out, I was more interested in the details than just screwing around firing missiles off into the air.  Do you have any observations on the simulation of the F-16C in Falcon BMS versus Digital Combat Simulator?  The BMS F-16 is more complete. There are more pages in the DED that don't exist in DCS's F-16. There are some things that are modeled and simulated in BMS that DCS has not yet.  Obviously BMS has the dynamic campaign, and DTC (Data Cartridge), but when it comes to the F-16 itself, BMS also provides more "blocks" to fly. In DCS, we are only given the block 50. In BMS, you can fly a number of different blocks of the F-16. Which is fun because you have different systems and capabilities in the different blocks. Among many other things. I need to get back into BMS... it's been a long time. Your most recent trip was to Flight Sim Expo 2024. Have you ever been to a flight simulation focused event like it before? How was your experience?  I've never been to anything like that before. It was a ton of fun! I got to meet some fans. I got to meet some creators like Juice from the Air Warfare Group , Tuuvas , Aviation Plus , GD Viper Works , etc. An entire expo, full of like minded people. It was great. Being able to see things that haven't been released yet, and touch and feel new sims and equipment was thrilling. I enjoyed it a lot.  Thank you so much for your time with this interview. Good luck on your future endeavors. I know I will be watching for sure!   Thank you for reaching out and for all the kind words!  About the Interviewer 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 .

Skyward Night Flight is the second non-combat, general aviation world created by Santiago "Cubeboy" Cuberos . This world was surprise released on March 29th, 2025 and is ready to fly now! This more relaxed flight experience focuses on a high quality flying experience with aircraft during a well lit night. It maintains the tropical island theme other Skyward worlds and airshows have had. For ease of night landing operations a Precision Approach Path Indicator (PAPI) light system created by VRChat coder KitKat was added. Welcome Area The player spawn area of the world includes a small hut with a few amenities for those that do not fly or want to relax between flights. Just outside of the hut is an area with beach equipment for lounging while taking in the scenery or watching others fly high in the night skies. Welcome hut as seen from outside. Indoors a world control setting board includes background music volume control and settings to adjust graphics. A common area has furniture like a sectional couch, potted plants and bean bags. A ProTV  video player provides the main source of entertainment with users able to input video URLs for others to enjoy. A special birthday gift also adorns a wall of the welcome area. Caio "Hueman" Barreto , an actual aerospace engineer, provided a highly detailed hand drawn picture of a SW-210 Colibri, another original Skyward FM aircraft. Floating Dock Players can also enjoy a floating dock to hangout and chat after landing their amphibious aircraft and pulling into the dock. This dock in particular is a reference to the Wii Sports Resort video game from 2009 which also featured a seaplane in game. Dragonfly in a floating dock. ASK-21 Glider A German-designed, self-launched, two-seat glider that will allow you to experience the sky in a way unlike anything you have experienced before in VRChat. Use the power of wind and your piloting skills to stay in the air for as long as possible, and experience what it feels to fly in absolute silence. Dynamic Wind Zone System The Skyward Night Flight world features a dynamic wind zone system created by KitKat , a VRChat coder. It is thanks to this system that flying gliders is not only possible, but enjoyable. Dynamic wind zones are marked by visible wind currents that appear as small streamers of light showing the movement of air vertically. Keep an eye out for them while you are in a glider to gain altitude and travel even longer distances. This same feature was seen in Skyward Island Resort . Note the vertical light sources indicating wind zones. SW-201 Dragonfly An original design by Caio D. "Hueman" Barreto , the SW-201 Dragonfly is a fictional seven-seat civilian aircraft designed with speed and observability in mind. It was modeled by Santiago "Cubeboy" Cuberos, and it is only available in VRChat. It is an amphibious aircraft, which means that it can land both on water and in land, with the ability of transitioning between the two with no issue at all. Perfect for island hopping flights! This cockpit instruments are now backlit and the cabin features new lighting for passengers. Thanks to the Dragonfly having colliders throughout its airframe, players are able to stand on the aircraft. Something a bit unusual in VRChat aviation. Skyward staff and friends often float two of these aircraft on the ocean surface within touching distance of one another to enjoy "boat parties" where players can walk from one aircraft to the other. Learn more about the story of this aircraft here . PLAY NOW!

The first original aircraft from Skyward Flight Media There comes a time that, sometimes, your creative side needs to take priority. That time came for both Caio "Hueman" Barreto and I came the moment we realized that we shared a goal: to make a fictional aircraft of our own. It was that idea that led us into one of the deepest rabbit holes that I have ever gone down to, all in order to take this idea and materialize it. THE ORIGIN OF THE DRAGONFLY The Libélula, or Dragonfly in Portuguese and Spanish, is the original design of Hueman. It was not originally meant to be a VRChat aircraft, but I think that he should be the one telling you this story. Take it away, Hue: " The story of the Libélula begins in 2019, when one afternoon I was chatting with a professor at university. Looking around his room, decorated with a vast collection of scale models, I spot some unusual silhouettes atop a locker - a bunch of conceptual seaplane designs. One in particular caught my attention: a sleek-looking pusher aircraft with inverted gull wings, the floats sitting under the wings and extending all the way rearwards to form a twin tail boom - It looked awesome. It was a unique and interesting configuration. That started giving me ideas, and being hopelessly addicted to pencil and paper as I am, as soon as I got home that day I knew I had to sketch these ideas out. Now, I’m a bit of an oddball in that despite studying engineering, I’ve always had a bit of an artistic inclination, for want of a better way to put it. With this design, I wasn’t overly concerned with the engineering aspects of it - it was more of an artistic exercise, because I really liked the way that configuration looked. So, the result was this sketch, originally in a four-seat configuration: Those of you with an eye for aircraft design can probably already see the biggest flaw with this particular design - the propeller sits way too low, which means the blades will be dangerously close to the waterline. This is something which bothered me, but as this was intended solely for artistic purposes, I decided to keep it that way instead of installing the engine and propeller on a raised fairing as one would do if this were a real project, as I really liked the streamlined look of the fuselage. At that time, I was also playing around quite a bit with SimplePlanes, a game one could compare to Kerbal Space Program without the “space” bit. I decided to have a go at turning this idea into a flyable aircraft in that game. I wasn’t nearly on the skill level of the more advanced players though, and thus the result ended up falling short in several aspects, but I still quite enjoyed flying it around. During this time, it also gained a name - Libélula, or Dragonfly in Portuguese. The large round canopy glazing and wings sort of reminded me of the insect’s looks. It had a rudimentary animated cockpit - this was done long before the SimplePlanes update which added proper cockpits, instrument gauges and other such features to the game - and as I was making it with the intention of flying around in-game, during that time one of the aircraft’s defining characteristics was decided on: Visibility. I wanted this to be a sightseeing aircraft of sorts, so excellent visibility was required. It would have a “greenhouse” flight deck, like in a Heinkel 111 or an Edgley Optica. The instrument panel would be small - it would more resemble that of a helicopter than an airplane’s, “suspended” in front of the crew with a central console connecting it to the flight deck’s floor, allowing for plenty of windshield real estate. The massive floats would spoil visibility on the sides a bit, but the wing’s location way behind the pilot would make up for it. Still a bit unhappy with some aspects of the design but overall satisfied enough with how it had turned out for the game’s purposes, I published the design on the SimplePlanes website and didn’t pursue this idea any further. That is, until a fateful conversation with my dear friend Cubeboy. It was late 2021. He had just recently started covering VRChat aviation worlds in articles for Skyward FM, and had this idea about making a flight world in the game. I didn’t know what any of this meant, other than having passing knowledge about VRChat being overall quite the unique experience, in diplomatic terms. Still, it was amazing that players had managed to essentially turn it into a flight game. Screenshot of VRChat's most popular world: Test Pilots by Sacchan. What really caught my attention, though, was when he started describing the overall purpose and atmosphere he wanted for the world - a scenic island resort where players would fly around purely for the sake of enjoying flight itself - and the necessity of a seaplane to carry players around the place. He was getting into 3D modeling, and the initial idea was to make something like a Turbo Beaver float plane. As we brainstormed, though, it suddenly came to mind - A seaplane, for a game environment with scenic backgrounds, and seating around 4–6 people - this was it. This was what the Libélula was made for. “Hey man, I might have a design I cooked up a while back…” It was a perfect fit. A unique-looking seaplane, with great all-around visibility for the players. It was decided - I would refine the design and turn it into a blueprint which could be worked with, and Cubeboy would do the 3D modeling and integration with the Saccflight environment. For a while, I had considered changing the aircraft’s name to something more palatable to the English tongue - however, since Libélula coincidentally exists as a word both in Portuguese and Spanish (our respective native languages), and plus sounds kinda cool once you know what the accent does to the sound, we decided it was the right name for our bird." That is the moment where this journey truly started. MODELING THE DRAGONFLY I want to start this section by saying that, prior to this project, I had not even looked at Blender or knew anything about 3D modeling. This was my first ever model and project, so I had to learn everything from scratch and build up a set of skills that I would use to the fullest. Sacchan and Sagi, two of my friends, were the most involved with helping me so I want t thank them for their support and wisdom. That went for Hueman, who had never designed anything to be used in this sort of way: "For this purpose, it would have to be almost completely redesigned. Decisions and estimates would need to be made with respect to design details such as engine selection and cockpit layout, and at least some of the most glaring flaws would have to be addressed. Again, the intention was never to make a true engineering project - there are far more efficient ways to design a seaplane - but we did want it to feel as if it could be a real aircraft." Initial sketch. We put a massive emphasis on the feeling of realism rather than the numbers themselves. That meant that the "ergonomics" of the aircraft were the key element to focus on, which meant that some aspects of the aircraft had to be redesigned on the fly to better translate the feeling we wanted the aircraft to have. That also meant that we had to sacrifice a couple of design elements, either to simplify the model or because some measurements did not fit. Hueman explained the ergonomic aspect in an excellent way: " The “ergonomic” part might sound strange, as it’s made for a game where players will be comfortably sitting in their chairs and having their controllers in hand, so ergonomics look like they shouldn’t be an issue at first - however, despite not having a VR headset myself, I had heard from those who did that far too often you’d see in VRChat cockpits with dimensions that just made sitting in them feel wrong. They were too small, too cramped, and the controls were far out of reach, breaking the immersion of feeling like you’re in an actual airplane." When setting up the aircraft for modeling, the first pieces that must be placed are your references. That is where Hue's excellent design skills started to shine, as the schematics he provided were all "modeling-ready". I threw them in place and went full-speed ahead. These references were replaced several times as the design evolved. I decided to start by separating the aircraft in multiple, separate sections that would be modeled one by one and then assembled together. That is mostly due to my inexperience dealing with extremely complex meshes, but also because I needed a way to make it easier for both Hue and I to work piece by piece to ensure that both of us were happy with it. The part I tackled first was the fuselage, which in hindsight was not the wisest decision. It took me three different attempts to get it right, as I had to completely remodel it once I had accurate cross-sections for reference. Once it was done, then I prepared myself to work on the wings and their semi-complex geometry. It was kind of refreshing to work on something that wasn't the fuselage or any of its complexities. I used the airfoil that Hue provided, modeled it and used the top and front view to model the beautiful gull wing that this aircraft has, including its wingtips with anhedral. Once that one was complete, including the separation of the ailerons and flaps from the main wing mesh, I decided to tackle modeling the floats. This part was both a joy to model but also a challenging experience, primarily due to the complex shape of the hull. The part that curves between the float and wing was a point of debate between Hue and me, but we found a middle ground where both of us were happy. The process of modeling both the tail and the propeller blade was very similar. Hue made sure that I had all the material that I needed to model them appropriately. They took a bit of work, but I am sure that what I did to get them accurate was worth it. This is the moment where I started work on what was the most difficult part of the model: its interior. This is the part that would be noticed the most by the users and one that needed to be as polished as possible. Hueman thought about every aspect before I started this part, though, so here are his thoughts: "The very first thing was to estimate the size and location of the seats, so the size of the cabin could be estimated. This was then used as a basis for the dimensioning of the whole aircraft, and after running a bunch of quick and rough (seriously, very rough) calculations on a spreadsheet, we had basic dimensions and a weight estimate. After coming to the conclusion this would likely have weight and wing loading roughly similar to those of a P-47 Thunderbolt, we decided the obvious and delightfully overkill powerplant choice would be a Double Wasp-equivalent radial engine sitting on the round fuselage. With this at hand, the next step was to actually draw the aircraft, and again the initial focus was on the cabin. Now it was time to detail the seat dimensions and positions, exactly where the controls were, the pilot’s sight line, etc. - while doing this, we realized a seventh seat could fit between the two rearmost seats, so the Libélula became a seven-seater. Just like with the first “iteration” of this aircraft in SimplePlanes, the biggest goal here was to ensure maximum visibility for both flight crew and passengers. I’m sure those of you with an engineering mindset are probably screaming right now at things such as the lack of headrests in the seats, absolutely terrible for crashworthiness - don’t worry, it hurts me too, but it does make for a much cleaner, panoramic view for the passengers in-game. A final point I want to draw attention to was the instrument panel layout. Not only was this the part I personally had the most fun doing, but it was also the one where the challenges of integrating this into a game were most apparent. Here’s the basic layout as originally designed: If you look at the aircraft in-game, you will notice several differences between this layout and the final product. Throughout the whole project, compromises had to be made due to modeling challenges, time constraints, and limitations of the game itself. Cubeboy had to warn me that several things I wanted to do were either impossible or unfeasible in the game, and it was a truly humbling experience to realize these challenges and work together to figure out the best way to adapt and tackle them. " Thanks to the amount of effort that went into the design, I had a much easier time modeling everything necessary for the interior. It took me way too much time, but in the end I made progress at a very steady pace. This meant that I modeled the yoke one day and the base for the dash another, with breaks in between. The seats took the longest to model from scratch as I had to do it without any real references, same goes for the yoke and most of the instruments. The interior was a royal piece of work, but I sincerely had fun making it. I felt like I was giving life to a place that many people would use to fly, the place where they would spend most of their time while visiting my world. That was my main motivation while I was working on this aspect of the model. The instruments and the consoles were extremely difficult because we used real instruments with true-to-life dimensions which forced me to be extremely precise with my models. As soon as all the models were set, the empties placed and the normals fixed; it was time to tackle what most 3D modelers fear the most: UV unwrapping. I had to unwrap around 16 meshes with consistent texel density to make sure that the model looked right regardless of the area that you looked at. I started by unwrapping the instrument panels, the switches and the flight controls. Those were the easiest since the geometry was not as hard, it was mostly composed of flat surfaces and simple curves. Then came the extremely complicated job of unwrapping the exterior of the aircraft. This task was difficult not because it was complex, but because I had very high standards that I set for myself when it comes down to this. I decided to separate the exterior in 5 different textures: Main fuselage outside, main fuselage inside, left wing, right wing and floats. This way I could guarantee the highest texel density possible while keeping textures to the minimum. At last, the most annoying part was done. That meant that the fun part could begin: texturing. This is the part that I found to be the most satisfying as it felt like putting the cherry on top. Texture always tie everything together when it comes to models, at least that is how I see it. As an artist your task is to make textures that fit the model and where it will be used, so you have to follow an art style. I am not going to lie, the moment I saw the complete Libélula for the first time I got a fuzzy feeling that I hadn't had in years. That type of feeling that is indescribable. But the work wasn't over; in fact, it was just beginning. TO MAKE A DRAGONFLY FLY It was not difficult to make this aircraft fly, if I can be completely honest with you. It was much more challenging to make it fly the way I wanted it to fly in VRChat. Sacchan and RaptorItasha alongside Riko, VTail and NON were invaluable as they taught me everything I needed to work with Saccflight and the physics behind it. There is not much I can say from this part of development as it was all a blur. Everything from me setting up the float script to Zhakami Zhako helping me set up proper gauges and systems for the aircraft just became one big continuous event in my memory. After a lot of testing, I decided to give it a makeover with a proper livery. That is when I had the idea of showcasing this plane, alongside with my ASK-21Mi glider, in an airshow. I am also a member of the VRChat Black Aces, so I brought up the idea to the owner of that group, Riko. That ended up materializing in the January 2023 Showcase where both KOSMOS and Ribbon-Blue flew it in a spectacular airshow in front of a full instance. We flew three different types of aircraft there: T-38A, ASK-21Mi and the SW-201 Dragonfly itself! The display was a success and everyone involved did an amazing job. If you want to take a look at the work that went into the display, then you need to watch this video. FROM PAPER TO VIRTUAL REALITY I want to end this article by quoting Hueman: "...we both had to deal with our lives as we worked on this project. Real life and university takes priority, and coordinating efforts on the Libélula was sometimes difficult. I had a lot of fun doing it though, and now with everything said and done, I believe I can confidently say we worked pretty well as a team and managed to overcome all these challenges, and our reward for doing so is being able to see an airplane which started as a whimsical idea in a college room, nothing but a napkin drawing, turned into a blueprint and then into a three-dimensional flying machine, even if only in a game. I truly hope players will enjoy the experience of cutting through the skies in our Dragonfly." FLY THE DRAGONFLY TODAY! The SW-201 is now available for the public to fly. It first appeared in our Island Resort flight world released on April 13th, 2023. However, the best flying experience is currently the Night Flight world released on March 29th, 2025. The Dragonfly can also be seen, but not flown in the Hangar Hangout , which acts as a home world for the start of VRChat sessions, friend group gatherings, etc. 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 2000's 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 2010's. Joined as a Spanish to English translator in 2017, he has been active as the co-founder and content manager ever since. Twitter | Discord : Cubeboy#9034

Starting July 26th, 2025 Matthew "FlyAwayNow" Nguyen has joined with Skyward Flight Media to provide exclusive indie flight game developer content as a part of the Indie Highlight Series. The series is guaranteed to run through December 2025 on a monthly release schedule. Matthew's PFP done by https://x.com/atrousyolks Content from the Project Wingman producer / co-writer, now turned indie flight game producer, will start on Saturday, July 26th, 2025 with the release of Indie Highlight Series 002 here on Skyward Flight Media (Skyward FM). Indie Driven Evolution The organization that preceded Skyward FM was primarily focused on a single flight game series. I'm January 2019 one of our first highly popular interviews was with an indie game developer. The interview with MuddyPixel, developer of Worlds at War, showed us that a variety of content could lead us a new direction. When Skyward FM was founded in 2020, indie flight game coverage was going to be a key part of our identity from the start. We have proudly maintained that for over five years now with articles, impressions, reviews and interviews about indie flight games on our website. On May 17th, 2025, we released the first entry of a new series: the Indie Highlight Series. Indie Highlight 001 was a success and unexpectedly opened new doors with a new individual that is volunteering to contribute to the series. The Addition of FlyAwayNow The involvement of Matthew "FlyAwayNow" Nguyen was first proposed in a public text chat channel on May 17th, 2025 following the release of Indie Highlight 001. Matthew inquired about how he could join to contribute to this indie focused series and further push awareness of indie flight games. Working directly with individuals experienced and well known in a certain field is an uncommon opportunity in any industry. After weeks of communication, establishing a work flow and beginning to create content, a schedule for a long-term series has been set. We look forward to continuing collaboration with Matthew to bring this new coverage of indie flight games. Series Start As of July 26th, 2025, all releases for the Indie Highlight Series can be found both on our Indie Flight Games page and the newly created Indie Highlight Series page.

A perspective changing in person experience The world and I are a lot different since the last time I traveled to an aviation related event in person. The last time I flew to an event and provided media coverage was for PAX South 2019 , during the launch weekend for Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown. In retrospect, that turned out to be something of a defining event in my ongoing journey with flight games and simulators. It changed the way I approached things, Skyward Flight Media was eventually formed and my interests in pursuing high fidelity flight simulation increased rapidly. That exposure to something that was a next level event also made me "level up" so to speak. From my early morning flight from Denver International Airport (KDEN) to Hobby Airport (KHOU) on to the quiet night of June 22nd, listening to aircraft depart in the distance, I wondered if Flight Sim Expo 2023 would have a similar effect on me. Many months ago, Skyward Flight Media officially became a media partner for Flight Sim Expo (FSE) for a second year. This year was our first time attending in person. In the aviation themed DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, the tone and energy of the convention was set on the first day of the convention: Friday, June 23rd. If you were to ask the internet at large what the main draw of Flight Sim Expo is, they would probably say it is the product announcements. The newest hardware, vital software updates, upcoming aircraft and eye watering add-ons - the types of things flight enthusiasts of all levels universally look forward to. On Friday, I chose to forgo some of the extra activities to took a closer look at the attendees as they arrived to the hotel. Spending most of Friday just chitchatting with who I could, it was interesting seeing the wide reach of the people attending. From retried or active duty aviators all the way to first time attendees that just barely began flight sim activities the week before. The type of person I thought attended something as serious as Flight Sim Expo was not what I was expecting. The ballroom that sat the audience attending the product announcements was rather large, but nearly every seat was full by the time the introduction to FSE 2023 segment began around 1:00 PM CST. Evan Reiter, co-founder of the Flight Sim Association and Flight Sim Expo, confirmed that in that room alone there were more attendees than the entirety of last year's expo. Crossing this milestone at the start of the event put things in perspective about how far they've come. Being there in the room, I can tell you that the amount of people in that single location was impressive. On Friday, Flight Sim Expo provided professional grade broadcasting and live updates were provided by other media outlets like our buddy over at Stormbirds blog . Flight Sim Expo itself has videos on demand of the presentation available on the official website, with these same videos eventually available on their YouTube channel . There were some major announcements from companies like Microsoft, Honeycomb Aeronautics, Thrustmaster, A2A Simulations and others. Some of these products elicited cheers, gasps, laughter and general buzzing commentary from all attendees. Things like Thrustmaster’s Viper TQS throttle, HoneyComb’s Delta Panels, details on Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 and other great simulated products. I have thoughts on some of the announced products, but I’ll be writing about those in varying degrees for the rest of 2023 as separate articles. If I were to write them all here, this piece would easily be 30 something minutes long - haha! Following the end of the buzz of the product announcements, the people and energy spilled throughout the hotel that evening. The formal question and answer sessions of yesteryear, that usually follow each company's presentation, were replaced by an attendee social. Every badge holder at FSE 2023 had a complimentary drink and snack ticket. With food and drinks in hand, exhibitors had small tables dotted around two or three areas of the hotel. This enabled casual conversations directly between the attendees, developers, content creators - heck, even CEOs of companies. Something I witnessed multiple times were everyday simmers striking up conversations and asking all manner of questions with the very people behind the platforms, virtual aircraft and manufacturers of brands we all know and respect. Perhaps because Flight Sim Expo is community driven at its core, the entire event was easy to approach, easy to strike up conversations with just about anyone and easy to connect with like-minded flight simulation enthusiasts. Whether that was in the official expo locations or at restaurants, hotels or anywhere else, my attendance to this event truly made me feel as though I was a part of the larger flight simulation community at all times. Lone Star Flight Museum. Saturday and Sunday were the primary days for attendees to interact with more than 50 exhibitors at the very appropriate venue, the Lone Star Flight Museum . Among various vintage war birds in wonderful condition were some of the most elaborate displays of professional and recreational flight simulation hardware and software I've ever seen. FSE 2023 convention floor #1. This particular pastime of ours isn't one that commonly has conventions in every city or yokes and HOTAS on display in common, massive shopping centers or electronic stores. On their official website, Flight Sim Expo mentions that it is the ultimate "try before you buy" experience, and it absolutely lived up to it. FSE 2023 convention floor #2. Thrustmaster Viper QTS. Being able to physically pick up the latest hardware, sit in full cockpit simulators for commercial aircraft, GA aircraft and combat aircraft and get flight time before even considering buying products in the future is a rare experience in flight simulation. And everything was on the table for testing and scrutiny. For example, the aforementioned Thrustmaster Viper QTS that was announced that weekend was available in simulators and just for people to pick up, examine closely and try all buttons, axis controls to test the material quality of the unit itself. Entire airliner style cockpits which easily cost tens of thousands of US dollars were open for anyone. People of any skill level were invited to try a guided flight with an expert, or just sit and stare in awe while receiving a guided tour of the instruments. Even more pointed questions about build quality or concerns with performance and maintenance were fielded directly with representatives. That is a world away from receiving a reply from a company via a social media comment. Admittedly, as someone that has been focused on combat flight simulation for the majority of my time, I was concerned that I wouldn't necessarily "fit in" with what I thought the demographic of the expo would be. Going into it, it's no secret that the event is very focused on general aviation or commercial aviation. I thought my lack of intimate knowledge of every airway in North America or exact start up procedures for multi-engine wide body aircraft would be some type of embarrassing black mark against me. But this was not the case in any situation. I definitely found myself sitting in the flight deck of 1:1 airliner cockpit simulator, intrigued by entire rows of equipment that were familiar but still somewhat foreign to me. There wasn't a hint of judgement or refrain no matter what my question was. I observed the same for other attendees as well. This welcoming atmosphere was encouraging. That's not to say that everything went without a hitch. There were some technical issues on the show floor that took time to be resolved. Hurdles with exhibitors struggling to maintain a stable Wi-Fi connection for products, occasional display teardowns and errors with head tracking equipment did happen. At a time, there was even a mix-up with the all important shuttle buses that transported everyone to and from the host hotels to the event venues. But all problems were solved relatively quickly. A quick five-minute walk around the site would often give enough time to let staff figure it out. The Flight Sim Expo staff in particular were constantly helpful, with the Flight Sim Association's Discord server being a primary communication hub between attendees and staff to quickly flag issues and find solutions. My overall experience at FSE 2023 was not what I was expecting in the slightest. As I think about it, I feel as though watching the VODs of the past events that only show the seminars and announcements gives the expo a strangely clinical feel. Like it's more of a polo shirt industry insider event. But in reality, the sense of community is something that can't be captured in product presentations or from the show floor one-on-one interviews. As I thought, my time at Flight Sim Expo 2023 was very enjoyable and did in fact change the way I view flight simulation once again. Since the expo's end, I've found myself researching more topics I previously had no interest in, and have made some interesting purchases that I'll be talking about in the near future. Now more than ever I feel that my interest in flight simulation has reached new heights after putting faces to names and truly immersing myself into the community. I sincerely look forward to attending next year's expo. 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 Profile ]

New Sponsor, Museum Corporate Membership, Upcoming Events, and More As mentioned in our perspective piece about Flight Sim Expo 2023, we wondered if our exposure to a new level of flight simulation would impact our organization the same way we were impacted in 2019. We are proud to announce that August 2023 will be marked as a pivotal month for the operations of Skyward Flight Media going forward. Heads Up View LLC Sponsorship While at Flight Sim Expo 2023 as a media partner, one of the companies we made contact with immediately caught our eye with their product. After weeks of communications, today we announce that Heads Up View LLC is a sponsor of our organization. Heads Up View creates heads up displays for flight simulation that uses the same projection techniques found in the real world cockpits of well known military aircraft. Their units are not stands for a computer tablet superimposing data over a recorded image, but rather, actually projecting data using beam splitting glass. Going forward, Skyward will be using these displays for flights in various simulators. Reviews of their products and hardware focused articles that include their heads up displays are planned for posting this year. We would like to thank Heads Up View for their long time support of our efforts and thank their founder and CEO, Dan Hall, for the opportunity to evaluate their products. Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum Corporate Membership Formed in 1994 and recognized as the official air and space museum of Colorado in the United States of America, Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space museum has been a consistent facet in the love of aviation held by one of the Skyward co-founders. Skyward Flight Media is now a corporate member of this museum. Going forward, we plan on creating content based on exhibits at the museum, its educational programs, onsite flight simulators and live fly-in events. This is essentially the beginning of real world aviation coverage appearing on our website and other media channels to varying degrees. This new coverage will not begin immediately, however. Besides planning the type of content we would like to create corresponding with the schedule of the museum's operations, there is also paperwork for news media guidelines, filming requests and related topics. We expect our first content of this type to appear on our website in 30 to 60 days. Sponsoring VRChat Aviation Rookie Tournament 2023 After three years of dogfighting tournaments, the competitive VRChat Aviation scene can be hard to get into. Some of the larger organizations even limit how many events pilots that frequently win tournaments can participate in, for the sake of giving less skilled pilots a chance. But even then, it is a somewhat high hurdle for newcomers. In 2021 and 2022, VRChat aviation organization, the Black Aces , hosted rookie tournaments for first time competitors to battle others of a similar skill level with no risk of veteran pilots potentially ending their interest in competing in future tournaments. This year, Skyward Flight Media will be sponsoring Rookie Tournament 2023 with a combined 150.00 USD prize pool. With 1st Place receiving 75.00 USD, 2nd place receiving 50.00 USD and 3rd receiving 25.00 USD. The top three competitors also earn ranks within the Black Aces, which appear in their Discord server. Sign-ups for the tournament begin on August 9th, 2023 . Preliminaries begin August 19th, 2023 at 10 PM EST / 9 PM CST . Semi-finals and finals happen on August 26th, 2023 at 10 PM EST / 9 PM CST . EDIT: To participate in this tournament, it is required for you to join the Black Aces Discord server , since that is where the organizers will interact with participants directly before and after the tournament. You are not required to interact with any other users or the larger community to participate in the event , but you will still need to be in the server by the time of the event. You can use the following button to join: Tournaments with new pilots that are using their unproven skills and untested tactics at a competitive level are often some of the most memorable air battles in VRChat. We do plan to discuss this event in an article in the near future. About Page Updated Our About page had been updated. Our contact and staff pages have been combined onto this webpage. A list of our organization's memberships, partnerships and sponsorships will are also available on this page. Mobile View Updated The quick menu in mobile view (smartphones, computer tablets) has changed in design and simplicity. It is easier to access and understand. New mobile view example. Other website updates have occurred. They are as follows: Rotating content thumbnail galleries on key webpages: home, content, articles, interviews, reviews, etc. This feature will most likely not be used on all categories. Home banner format and dimension adjustments. Various minor quality of life adjustments. Throughout the month of August 2023 further minor adjustments will be made. In closing, we once again would like to thank everyone that has supported us or has followed our content for so long. It is thanks to this active and passive support that Skyward Flight Media continues to progress and gives us the confidence to continue to strike out and see what is possible. Please look forward to our upcoming creative efforts!

The first VTOL VR mission from Skyward Flight Media Operation Boitatá (Flame Serpent) is the first original mission from Skyward Flight Media created by Caio D. "Hueman" Barreto for VTOL VR by Boundless Dynamics. FEATURES 1 to 4 Players Player VS Environment (Co-op) Fixed-Wing and Rotary Wing Aircraft Inspired by real world anti-criminal operations in Brazil Massive map based on Belém, Brazil Optional custom liveries available for download BRIEFING SITUATION Intel reports multinational criminal organizations are using the waterways in the Amazon river basin to transport heavy weaponry acquired from cartels in neighboring countries. This ever-growing network of criminal activity is largely funded by smuggling and illegal mining activities. The damage, both to the local population and the environment, grows day by day. In response to this emergency, government authorities have decided to employ air power to deal a crippling blow to their operations. As of today, Operation Boitatá (Flame Serpent) is on. The objectives of this operation are to dismantle illegal mining operations in the Amazon River Basin, as well as destroy key criminal infrastructure facilitating smuggling operations. We're being deployed to Belém Airbase, near the northwestern coast of Brazil. Just north of here, the Pará river, which connects the Amazon and Tocantins rivers, meets the sea - making this location ideal for flowing supplies out of the country. The Brazilian Navy has deployed a helicopter carrier, the A19 Arapaima, to the river in order to assist in this operation. OBJECTIVES Today we have two main targets. First is a clandestine dock housing several LPVs (Low Profile Vessels). Smugglers use these to transport contraband from all across Latin America all the way to the US and Europe, with the Amazon river as their gateway to the Atlantic ocean. This installation serves as a warehouse, refueling stop, and maintenance facility. Expect anti-aircraft guns and MANPADs. Disable the warehouses and maintenance facilities, and sink the LPVs. The second target is an illegal airstrip, with a dirt runway cut out in the heart of the forest. Smugglers use these to transport contraband in and out of the country with low-flying aircraft. This particular one is the largest we've seen. Disable the runway and destroy any parked aircraft on the airstrip. Additionally, four illegal mining sites have been selected for targeting. They are designated: Objectives Tango, Romeo, Sierra, and Uniform. Destroy all equipment and storage facilities at the illegal mining sites. In case there is an attempt to move the equipment out of these sites, you are authorized to seek and engage the fleeing targets. FRIENDLY ASSETS The A19 Arapaima helicopter landing ship is on station at the center of the AO. They have deployed Marine landing teams which have established FARPs near the river shorelines. Helicopters may choose to deploy either from the Arapaima or from any of the FARPs. (The FARPs are marked as completed mission objectives, so you can set waypoints on them for landing.) Additionally, a tanker will be on station over Arapaima to support the fixed wing aircraft deployed at Belém AB. This concludes the briefing. Good hunting. MISSION DOWNLOAD Operation Flame Serpent V1.1 is available for download via Steam Workshop for VTOL VR. The mission can be found created by user Hueman Of Hue . OPTIONAL LIVERIES The mission editor has also created a pack of aircraft liveries to match the setting of the mission. These are also available for download in the Steam Workshop for VTOL VR. Brazil Navy AH-94 Grey Brazil AF AH-94 Std Camo Brazil Navy F-45A Grey Brazil AF T-55 - Std Camo Brazil AF T-55 Vintage SM Brazil AF T-55 Vintage SC

As we remember Ace Combat Infinity’s 11th anniversary, it’s hard not to feel a sense of nostalgia - of yearning for something we lost along the way. Its multiplayer experience was something not seen before - or since - in the Ace Combat series, and as imperfect as it was, with the fuel system and other flaws inherent to a monetized free-to-play game, it could be argued that it remains the series’ most successful foray into online multiplayer. When Infinity's servers shut down, on March 31st, 2018, we lost not only a game, but also the ability to go back and review it - to see it for what it is . We can only see it for what it was - in our memories of the nearly four years of gameplay, and the videos and pictures taken during that time. And since we can only see it through the lens of nostalgia, it follows that any analysis will be inherently flawed. While acknowledging this limitation, let us try and look at what made Ace Combat Infinity special, and why it is remembered fondly by so many players to this day. The final video trailer for Ace Combat Infinity. Released on May 20th, 2014 for the PlayStation 3 in Japan (and May 27th in North America), Ace Combat Infinity was paradoxical from the very start; On one hand, its always-online, free-to-play nature and monetization system were a complete departure from anything the series had done before, but at the same time, it was also a return to form - something with a gameplay experience closer to the "holy trilogy" of the PS2 era, and further from the controversial "Dogfight Mode" of its predecessor, Ace Combat: Assault Horizon. And it couldn’t have been launched with better timing - it arrived exactly at the point in time when the Ace Combat online community was growing exponentially, with old-time players of the series during its PSX/PS2 days coming together in social media platforms to exchange experiences, fan art, lore, and horribly overused Belka memes. When Ace Combat Infinity was announced, it didn’t only stoke the flames of a fan base which eagerly awaited new content after the mixed reviews of Assault Horizon - Infinity’s co-operative multiplayer focus also provided the perfect place for these fans to play together and interact with each other. And it truly felt like a love letter to the series - it was chock full of references to previous games, featured a roster with nearly every single iconic aircraft from the series (including liveries and sometimes even special aircraft variations for aces), and little details like being able to choose an emblem and nickname - sometimes even with a theme song attached, which would play for the top-scoring player of the winning team. This meant players could not only fly the aircraft of their favorite characters, but also bear their colours and titles - you could see a team led by Mobius One in his Raptor, followed by Yellow 13's Su-37, Pixy's Morgan and Cipher's F-15C, while the other team would have two Belkan aces from Grun and Indigo squadrons, a time-travelling Night Raven from Ace Combat 3, and a presumably lost, bright pink B-2 covered in anime idols. It was truly a magnificent sight to behold. But bells and whistles alone a memorable game do not make - so let's jump into the gameplay mechanics of Infinity. MAP AND MODE VARIETY Even though Infinity took place in the real world instead of Strangereal, the vast majority of the maps were references to previous Ace Combat installments. There were more than enough to cover almost every previous game in the franchise, but this variety wasn't just for the sake of nostalgia; the different flows of each map, as well as the mission updates typical of Ace Combat, made sure that the gameplay never felt stale. Even the superweapons of past games were brought back for the ride - in the Special Raids, players would be pitted against such classics as Stonehenge, Excalibur, SOLG, and the Aigaion's aerial fleet. There were plenty of game modes too, from the classic team deathmatch to the unique new take on it, NTDM (Naval Team Deathmatch) - but the main star of the show was Online Co-Op. This mode was where the game's events and raids took place, and can be considered as its main game mode; it's also where one of Infinity's most memorable characteristics comes into the spotlight. Example of over-the-top, high level gameplay by Dantofu. TEAM WORK When it comes to multiplayer flight games, from the simulators to action arcade games such as Ace Combat, Player-Versus-Player modes have historically been the most prevalent. There's something that drives humans to want to compete with each other, and when it comes to aviation media, there's an allure to the romanticized idea of the dogfight; a test of skill and nerves between two pilots. In light of this, Infinity having Co-op PvE as its main game mode seems quite unusual. But Project Aces had a clever way to make this game mode interesting, even in the fast-paced, chaotic arena of an arcade flight game. In keeping with the game's lore of a private military corporation fighting under contract, players are incentivized to compete with each other, even though they are on the same side. Players are assigned to two four-ship flights, Alpha and Bravo; and the team with the highest score wins, being rewarded with a victory cutscene and, in the case of the MVP, their very own theme song - should they be carrying an emblem worthy of that honor. However, what makes this work as a co-operative game mode is that winning the mission - and the completion rank achieved upon doing so - still depends on the efforts of both teams, and at the end of the day, and this directly affects the amount of credits earned and how many research points players get at the end. This implementation creates a unique gameplay dynamic where players are incentivized both to work with and compete against their allies for the the highest score, adding in that layer of rivalry while still making sure that the most important thing - what actually affects your credits and progression in the game - is still inexorably tied to the success of both teams as a whole. The resulting effects could clearly be seen in more difficult missions, where getting an S-Rank was difficult; on Hard mode missions, where this was doubly true, and enemy air defenses posed a genuine threat; and most explicitly of all, in the Special Raid missions. Relatively rare to come by and occurring at random, these special events temporarily eliminated the boundaries between teams altogether, and the massively increased rewards bonus made sure all players worked together to defeat these boss battles. A mixed formation of aircraft. Picture by Benjamin Bortkiewicz. This dynamic made it a perfect game to play with friends, even if they ended up on the other team - the lack of a super-competitive environment kept it casual enough for just chilling out after a long day at work, while still rewarding players who were more inclined towards being ruthlessly efficient. PEAK ELECTRONIC COUNTERMEASURES One unique example of how Infinity encouraged and rewarded teamwork was its implementation of ECM pods in Co-op gameplay modes. For most of Ace Combat's history, this special weapon had been relegated to a fairly minor role - and we have a whole article on the history of ECMP in Ace Combat if you're interested in a more in-depth look. Long story short, there just wasn't much of a reason to choose the pods over other SP Weapon options in a single-player game. The pods had appeared on multiplayer settings before, namely in AC6 and Assault Horizon - but their PvP nature required heavy restrictions in range and emission time to be placed on the pods' effects for balance reasons (Infinity's PvP modes had similar restrictions as well). It was Infinity's co-op modes which truly allowed the ECM Pod to shine. A flight of Su-24M Fencer. (Picture by Benjamin Bortkiewicz) Players equipped with one could create what was effectively a protective field around themselves, disabling the guidance systems of any enemy missiles which entered it. The decently large radius of this field, and its 20-second effect time, meant this wasn't just useful for self-protection - it could also be used as an "escort jammer", protecting several teammates (or indeed a whole team) from enemy weapons. Higher levels and performance-enhancing parts further increased range and reduced reload time, and the net result of this was that with a Level 5 ECMP and a jamming-focused build, players could provide consistent, nearly constant ECM coverage to their teammates, allowing a team to blaze their way through a mission with little concern for air defenses and other missile-based threats. When playing on Hard difficulty, this had an enormous effect - a single competent player running a max-level ECM platform could change the course of the entire game. Since the main feature of the harder difficulty settings was vastly increase damage dealt by enemy units, the ability to shield teammates from missiles effectively allowed a team to fly as if they were on a lower difficulty setting. If both teams had one such player, an S-Rank was almost guaranteed. This resulted in a curious phenomenon - even when playing alongside groups of random people with no communication, as soon as someone deployed ECM on a Hard map an impromptu team dynamic formed, with players naturally congregating around the jammer's protective bubble. Seeing this happen for the first time felt like a truly enlightening experience - the bonus of being able to strike down targets with impunity was too alluring for even the most individualistic players to ignore. AIRCRAFT SELECTION And what exactly made a viable jamming platform in Infinity? Well, the answer is, pretty much anything that could carry an ECM pod - provided you had some performance-boosting parts to go with it. Therein lies one of the most beautiful things about Infinity - pretty much any aircraft in the game's vast roster could be made viable if you spent the time and effort to upgrade it. Sure, the high-tier special aircraft would still be the top performers, but there was absolutely nothing keeping you from taking a page from Brazil's or Thailand's book: shoving a bunch of shiny new parts in your old F-5E, and then somehow keeping up with your teammates flying much fancier aircraft. This meant players could stick to their favorite aircraft and remain effective with it even if their jet (or prop!) of choice didn't have particularly flattering base stats; this was doubly true if you happened to have a special version of said aircraft. A player in a fully kitted-out Jack Bartlett or Shin Kazama F-5E was a force to be reckoned with, and let's not even get started on the min-maxed stats of the Idolmaster collab aircraft . Typical multiplayer gameplay by Pandazooka. There was no lack of options to choose from when it came to aircraft. Featuring what is easily the largest aircraft roster in the series, Ace Combat Infinity had almost every aircraft ever featured in Ace Combat (With some notable exceptions, such as the poor, forgotten Skyhawk), including the first (and so far only) appearances of Ace Combat 3 original aircraft - the Night Raven and Delphinus - since AC3 itself. Whether it was a real life design or an AC fictional, chances are you would most likely find your favorite aircraft somewhere.It also featured first-time entrants into the series’ playable roster, such as the ATD-0 Shinshin and Su-24 Fencer. There were also some more unusual aircraft: playable strategic bombers, first introduced in Assault Horizon, made a comeback - and one of the updates brought piston-powered WWII fighters into the fray, complete with a custom HUD made to resemble analog dials! Players could choose to take to the skies in a P-38L Lightning, Spitfire Mk. IXe, Bf 109 G-10, or an A6M5 Zero.  To put the complete Ace Combat Infinity aircraft selection in perspective, let's refer to a data point from Acepedia , the Ace Combat Wiki: "Ace Combat Infinity is one of the largest rosters introduced on the franchise, surpassing the previously featured in Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War (53 aircraft on total). Ace Combat Infinity features 68 playable aircraft from their stock versions, 151 special aircraft versions, and 145 additional skins for all the available aircraft that could range from Ranking Tournaments, Random drops or Challenge Events." FINAL THOUGHTS Ace Combat Infinity was a bold gamble on the part of Project Aces and, in many ways, it could be said that it's what kept the Ace Combat series alive - its success proved to Bandai-Namco that there was demand out there for a new Ace Combat mainline game, and no doubt made them more aware of the game's considerable - and fairly loyal - fanbase. In paving the way for Ace Combat 7, though, Infinity's success was ironically responsible for its own demise. After its servers were shut down to make room for 7's online mode, Infinity was sealed behind its title screen, its virtual skies never to be flown in again; and with it, its unique gameplay formula which had made it the ideal place of pilgrimage for the series' fans. There's not been any other Ace Combat like it, before or since. 7's multiplayer mode doesn't quite cut it - it feels like something's missing. So, even if we cannot play the game again and look at it objectively, even if we must look at it through the lens of nostalgia - we think it's safe to say, when it comes to an Ace Combat multiplayer experience? Nothing else comes close. Picture by Fighterman. About the Writer Caio D. "Hueman" Barreto An incurable aviation fanatic since childhood, fascinated by the design and history of practically anything that flies. A long-time fan of flight games, he holds a bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering and pursues his hobbies of drawing, writing and flight simulation on his spare time. See Staff Profile .