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 .

The first purpose-built bomber added to the game The core of the Battle of Britain revolved around the successes and failures of bombers. The efficiency in which they could be intercepted and the damage they would dole out when they were successful was the crux of the sustained aerial campaign of Nazi Germany in their endeavor to solidify their conquest of main land Europe. A s episode 3 of the editorial video series 'A Lens On: Battle of Britain' continues to explain the complexities of this air war and the realities of living through it, players can now experience bomber raids as Scramble: Battle of Britain by Slitherine rolls out its newest updated. On June 6th, 2025, the Dornier Do 17 and some key game mechanics related to bomber raids was released: Dornier Do 17 While Scramble has had the Junkers Ju 87 Stuka in the game for some time now, this star of The Blitzkrieg was a dive bomber or by today's terminology an Attacker. The newly introduced Dornier Do 17 is a twin engine light bomber known for its high speed. When seen in Scramble, this Schnellbomber or "fast bomber" is genuinely fast for its size. When taking on this bomber in the randomized Dogfight Generator game mode, getting an unfavorable spawn with the Do 17s at distance already flying away from the players makes them nearly impossible to intercept. This especially true when they are already at top speed, flying at wave top level. This aircraft was known for this style of attack during the Battle of Britain, evading the Royal Air Force Chain Home early warning radar system, attacking costal airfields with little warning. Formation of Do 17 bombers ingressing at low altitude. Interceptors in the background. When the player's Hurricanes or Spitfires are in range, the multiple gunner stations on the Do 17 can put out a stiff amount of firepower. Even a two-ship of these bombers can bring between four to six machine guns to bear onto incoming aircraft. The volume of fire is so high, even the sturdy Hurricane would be hard pressed to engage these bombers without a strategy. In emergency situations the bombers are decently maneuverable for their size. Nothing on the level of a ME-109 or ME-110, but they are capable of one or two hard turns before losing all airspeed. Just enough to foil an incoming attack, but in turn doom the bomber to a close range engagement. Bomber Deterrence Even since the closed beta demo, Scramble: Battle of Britain has given the player points for damaging bomb carrying aircraft like the Ju 87, forcing them to drop their bombs into the English Channel and abandon their mission in hopes of returning back to their bases. While that system is still in place this update further expands on the initial concept. Example of Raid Target arrow. Bombers now have a timer that counts down how many turns are left before they leave the airspace. Their attack vector is shown as a green arrow called Raid Target (primary objective). In the mid-game user interface, players are told how many turns are left until these targets escape the combat airspace. During this time, players will need to maneuver their fighters to intercept these bombers and either shoot them down or damage them enough to force them to abort their mission. Otherwise their escape will effect the post-mission score. Deterring the Dornier Do 17 can be achieved by damaging its engines and/or causing radiator leaks or fuel leaks. Unlike the smaller Ju 87, these bombers area able to absorb more hits as they continue to try and escape. Long-ranged bursts of machine gun fire from aircraft trying to intercept these bombers can be effective. The Hawker Hurricane with its Stable Guns aircraft trait is especially effective in this role. Example of Raid Retreat arrow. When deterred, the bombers reverse course with their general flight direction indicated by the yellow Raid Retreat arrow. While these bombers are retreating they can still be completely destroyed for high points, but as with the real Battle of Britain, forcing a bomber to abandon its mission and ditch its bombs is equally as effective as shooting it down. Players can then make the decision to pursue those aircraft or shift their focus elsewhere to other still combat effective aircraft. A damaged Do 17 jettisoning bombs, abandoning its mission. Fighter Reinforcements A second game-changing feature added with this update is the inclusion of timed arrival of fighter reinforcements. Previously the aircraft present in the start of the mission were the only aircraft that would appear. Now, hostile reinforcements can arrive after a certain amount of turns have passed, further complicating the air battle. Example of red Reinforcements arrow. Both in Tactical Mode and in combat, red Reinforcements arrows on the map indicate the direction of incoming fighters. These arrows show numbers for how many turns it will take for those reinforcements to arrive, the type of incoming aircraft and the number of incoming aircraft. Extra messages in the aircraft and pilot message display in the top left of the screen also give a simple text countdown to these same actions. Upon arrival the enemy fighters appear with a message in the center screen UI and a directional bearing reference. While something like 6 turns may seem like a lot of time, do remember that each turn is only about two seconds of flight time. Luftwaffe ME 109s arrive to combat RAF aircraft. A Step Towards Channel Defense The game mechanics surrounding the introduction of the Dornier Do 17 seem to be another step towards the still in development Channel Defense Campaign; a game mode that seems to be poised to be the signature mode of this game. I continue to appreciate that Scramble: Battle of Britain is expanding on the role of bombers. The combination of deterring them being just as effective as shooting them down and players not being penalized for not shooting down every aircraft they see, Scramble provides a uniquely realistic portrayal of strategic bomber interception missions. Hit and run tactics that force bombers to abort their mission give players a new dynamic few other flight games and simulators portray. Connect with 'Scramble: Battle of Britain' Discord 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 .

Before the rise of the first-person shooter and the JRPG, flight games were king in the realm of combat games. The 90’s in particular were a golden era for the flight sim, and many names became synonymous with flight and combat simulation games, to name a few: Jane’s Combat Simulations, Microprose - and Novalogic. Perhaps best known for their foray into first-person shooters with the Delta Force series, the company was also responsible for such franchises as the Comanche (Recently revived by THQ Nordic) and the F-22 series, as well as two very similar games which, despite not technically being part of a series, can’t really be discussed separately from each other: Novalogic’s F-16 Multirole Fighter and Novalogic’s MiG-29 Fulcrum. Now, I’ll be the first to admit it’s hard for me to be impartial when talking about these two games, as I have a certain level of attachment to them. Apart from the nostalgia factor, Novalogic’s F-16 was not only my introduction to flight games, but also one of the first games I’ve ever had any contact with. One of my earliest memories is being a little kid and seeing one of my older cousins flying the blue-tinted F-16 on a computer screen, and at that moment I knew I had to try it out. I was already fascinated with aviation back then, so it would be untrue to say this game was what gave me that interest - a credit probably best given to the Ipanema cropdusters flying over the rural outskirts of Brazil - but it certainly helped fuel this interest in aviation and turn it into a lifelong passion which would ultimately guide the path I chose to take in life. It also introduced me to the F-16 and MiG-29, two aircraft which to this day rank among my very favorites and which I personally consider to be some of the most beautiful machines to ever take to the skies. As such, this article is not a game review - rather, take it for what it is, an opinion article on a retro game. OVERVIEW Before we go deeper into this pair of games and why would someone write an article about them, let’s have a brief general overview for context. As far as flight simulators go, Novalogic’s F-16 and MiG-29 sit in a bit of a weird spot. Launched concurrently in 1998, it’s hard to call them groundbreaking even for their time, considering Falcon 3.0 launched in 1991 and Microprose’s Falcon 4.0 , a game which maintains a devout following to this day, launched just two months after the duo. They are definitely not study simulators like Falcon - even game reviews of the time recommended harcdore sim fans to look elsewhere - but they are also very distinct from arcade flight games such as Ace Combat. Despite being referred to as “flight simulators” back in their day, Novalogic’s games fill an in-between spot which today we’d call a sim-lite - sacrificing realism for simplicity and ease of learning but still complex enough to give the player a taste of the aircraft’s capabilities and a good grasp of the basics. Aircraft systems such as radar and targeting pods are there, but their functionality is very simplified - for instance, the radar can always detect all targets in its field of view, and shows them all on the HUD even if the targets aren’t locked. A “shootlist” lets you cycle through all targets visible either by your radar or AWACS datalink without ever having to worry about accidentally locking a friendly. The flight model, too, is highly simplified - this is a game that is perfectly playable on keyboard alone, though dogfighting with only a keyboard is not something I would recommend. Nevertheless, the game does attempt to deliver an authentic-feeling flying experience and the player is still bound by limitations not present in arcade titles, such as blackouts and redouts, as well as weapon characteristics (even if not necessarily represented accurately) and quantity. You can select an option which allows you to fire twice as many munitions as your plane is actually carrying, but that’s the most leeway you will get in that regard. Ground targets are shown as boxes on the HUD when an air-to-ground weapon is selected - not a realistic implementation, but it makes finding targets much easier The games feature quick missions (including training missions) and several campaigns - though strangely, it is not possible to select which campaign to play. Instead, one must play through them in order, which can be very annoying if you’re yearning to play one specific campaign again. The quick missions can become repetitive after a while, but both games come with a mission editor software which players can use to create their own mission files. It is surprisingly complete in terms of functionalities, though not exactly intuitive or easy to use. The mission editor’s interface Also featured is a multiplayer mode, where players could fight each other through LAN, modem connection by telephone number, or Novalogic’s proprietary online matchmaking system, Novaworld. In fact, F-16 players could fight MiG-29 players in the same servers - because really, they’re two versions of a single game. RED AND BLUE F-16 Multirole Fighter and MiG-29 Fulcrum are, at their core, essentially the same game. Both games use the same engine, have identical gameplay mechanics and nearly identical control setups (with differences in some specific aspects of each aircraft, such as the MiG-29’s IRST, the F-16’s LANTIRN pod controls, and the F-16 having a pickle button while the MiG-29 uses the trigger both for guns and weapon release), and share the same assets. The differences go beyond which aircraft you’re flying - in that sense, they somewhat resemble the early Pokémon games somewhat, where there will be two versions with a few minor changes and a different color palette. Apart from obviously having to work with the different capabilities of each aircraft, the player is hit with a completely different ambience from the very moment they start the game up. The F-16 and the MiG-29 are not just fighter aircraft, they’re icons of the Cold War. They are similar in many ways - two lightweight fighters designed to supplement larger, more expensive types over the battlefields of Europe. They are both ubiquitous, serving with dozens of air forces across the globe - if the FN FAL was the “right arm of the free world”, F-16s are its wings; And even though the MiG-29 is not as widespread as the MiG-21, it nevertheless equipped the air forces of virtually every Warsaw Pact country. They codify the alliances they were designed to fight for. In short, they’re opposite sides of the same coin - and Novalogic lets you feel it whenever you flip that coin around. Apart from the obvious color coding, the main menu’s layout is mirrored between the two games - while in F-16 Multirole Fighter the player must look left - to the “west” - for the menu items, in MiG-29 Fulcrum one must look right - to the “east”. It’s a subtle detail, but it helps set the ambience, the feeling of being in a different environment. Going further into the menus, things like the mission briefings and loadout menu have different design languages, reminiscent of the instrument panels of the two aircraft. While the F-16’s menus are made to look more digital and computer-like, the MiG-29’s menus are touched up to have some analog elements to them, and metal panels and screws adorn the screen. Briefing and loadout selection screens. Note how the F-16 can somehow carry a double rail for AMRAAMs on stations 3 and 7 While hopping into the F-16’s training missions will land you in a semi-arid environment not unlike what you’d find somewhere like Nevada, the MiG-29’s training missions send you straight to a cold, snowy and mountainous environment based on the Kamchatka Peninsula. Novalogic’s MiG-29 has another neat trick up its sleeve - the tower, GCI, your wingman and other aircraft all have voice lines in Russian. The player may choose to switch them to English in the options, but it certainly adds that little bit of extra immersion. The first thing the player sees upon firing up the training missions. The ambience is noticeably different - note the contrast between the warm and cool color palettes I remember firing up MiG-29 Fulcrum for the first time and being almost shocked by the vivid red background of the menu. I was already used to F-16 Multirole Fighter at that point, and as a kid, you’re taught that blue means good guys and red means bad guys, so it was a surprise at first - but after flying the first mission, I fell in love with the plane. I still preferred flying the F-16, with its two multifunctional displays and much greater weapons load - but being red wasn’t so bad after all. I came to appreciate both aircraft and their different design philosophies. FEATURES AND GAMEPLAY One of the strong points of the games were their graphics - though obviously unflattering by today’s standards, in 1998 they received praise for their good looks, especially if the user had a 3D accelerator card. While I’m not sure whether the AI aircraft looked that good even for the time, the player’s aircraft certainly look beautiful in both games. The visual effects arena is less impressive, particularly the explosions, but contrail effects on the wingtips and LERX fit in well with the models. Some of the enemy AI aircraft - F-7 Airguard, F-4 Phantom, F-5E Tiger II, JAS-39 Gripen The stars of the show. The textures are quite detailed for the time. The cockpits look a bit flat, but they are three-dimensional and the player can look around, though the controls for that are a bit slow. The player will look around mostly through hat snap views and using padlock to keep visual on a close-range enemy. The cockpits are a bit simplified, but the main instruments work - most notably, the F-16’s two MFDs have clickable buttons which can be used to cycle through their pages. Standard cockpit views. One part where the game lets down is the HUD - while in the F-16 it looks like a simplified F-16 HUD, which is all well and good, in the MiG-29 it looks like they took the HUD they had made for the F-16 and “made it Russian” - that is, the aircraft symbol rolls to indicate bank instead of the pitch ladder. But the biggest issue in both games is that the HUD is not aligned with the external world in the default cockpit view. This makes it necessary to switch to HUD view for any sort of weapons employment, which can be troublesome in dogfights. Attempting to gun a Flanker. Notice how the target box is displaced from the target in this view. When zoomed into the HUD view, symbology is properly aligned. The F-16’s HUD has another trick up its sleeve - the ability to project the LANTIRN FLIR image for night navigation and attack. Though the flight models aren’t the most accurate out there, the aircraft do perform in general terms how you’d expect them to - the Viper likes being high and fast, and there’s no enemy unit out there which will out-rate you in a turn (though it feels like it retains energy too well); and the Fulcrum prefers being at medium altitude, using its high AoA authority to get missile solutions on targets at close range. The MiG-29’s flight model is capable of performing hammerheads and even Pugachev’s Cobra - a maneuver which the game’s manual acknowledges has little to no combat value, but encourages the player to try practicing anyways simply for fun. MiG-29 performing the Cobra maneuver. Enemy AI is not smart - there frankly isn’t much of a challenge if you are carrying similar weapons in a 1v1 fight. However, missiles are scary, much scarier than in DCS, for instance: though their guidance algorithm is very poor (seems to be pure pursuit), they seem to behave as if the rocket motor never runs out of fuel. Furthermore, enemy planes almost always launch within the no-escape zone - so while it’s easy to plink them with AMRAAMs or R-77s from afar before they launch, if you do get launched on, you better hope there’s some terrain to mask behind, as your countermeasures are mere suggestions. The usual outcome of having more than one missile launched against you. Of course, the best defense is to not get launched on at all, or even better, avoid detection entirely. The game does encourage the player to control their own radar emissions. Keeping your radar off will allow you to sneak behind enemy aircraft undetected and close in for a Sidewinder or R-73 shot. The MiG-29’s IRST comes in very handy here. Damage modelling is nearly non-existent for enemy aircraft, which instantly explode when hit by any missile and smoke if hit by a few gun rounds - but it is surprisingly complex for the player’s aircraft, which may suffer damage to individual subsystems, which affect the aircraft’s behavior accordingly. You might lose an engine, have a punctured fuel tank, lose radar or fire control systems, the list goes on. Close range combat usually ends with the enemy aircraft being vaporized in a large pixelated explosion. After a mission is completed, a summary displaying how many aircraft were lost on both sides, how many aircraft were shot down by the player, and weapon accuracy statistics. It’s not the best debriefing out there, but it is very concise. Mission summary. The player can also edit waypoints before a mission, through a map which displays the current programmed route and known threats. It’s a pretty neat feature which allows for a certain degree of extra planning. The player can change the location of waypoints and look at known threats before flying the mission. CAMPAIGNS The campaigns aren’t much to write home about, following loose storylines told only on the briefings. The enemy is usually (but not always) some fictional organization which is attempting to stage a coup somewhere, or has succeeded in staging a coup and is invading its neighbors. There isn’t really a plot to speak of, and the story serves merely as a conduit to the gameplay. That being said, the campaigns do have some interesting features: the most important one being that the player actually has to keep logistics in mind. During each campaign, the player’s squadron will start with a certain quantity of weapons, from drop tanks to missiles. These supplies are depleted as you use these weapons, and this is where the challenge comes in. Because frankly, nearly all of the missions are quite easy if you fully load up your jet with AMRAAMs and use them to obliterate everything in your path. But if you do that, there will be a point in later missions where you’ll run out of them and will have to resort to Sidewinders only, and if you’re not careful with those, eventually you’ll find yourself in a situation where you have to defend an airbase against a massive air attack using only your guns (ask me how I know). So the challenge of the campaign is asking yourself: Do you really need those AMRAAMS for this particular mission? Is it really worth it to try and face enemy aircraft head-on or is it better to try and figure out a way around them to the mission objective, saving precious air-to-air missiles? When air-to-air missiles are at a premium, a Q-5 Fantam isn’t a target worth spending an Archer on. Go for guns! Campaign missions are usually pretty standard - fly CAP, provide CAS, intercept bombers, attack a supply convoy, bomb a high-value target. However, every now and then something different pops up. One of the missions in the F-16’s second campaign has the player escort NASA’s Shuttle Carrier, carrying the Discovery Space Shuttle, through contested airspace. In what other game can you escort the Space Shuttle? And, because this game is a window into the 90’s, you can see the hope for a future where the “blue” forces and “red” forces are not necessarily opposed to each other. In several campaigns, US and Russian forces work together, and sometimes you’ll even see the other game’s “protagonists” helping you out - in some missions of the F-16 campaigns, you’ll be helped by MiG-29s from “300 Squadron”, the unit you play as in MiG-29 Fulcrum ; and in the MiG-29 campaign, you’ll sometimes be helped by F-16s from “Viper Squadron”, the unit you play as in F-16 Multirole Fighter. The developers’ hopes for a bright future of international cooperation do not seem to extend to France however, seeing as in both games the player will constantly fight modern French-designed aircraft such as the Mirage 2000 and Rafale, in the hands of everything from African paramilitary organizations to Russian ultranationalist groups attempting to stage a coup. In one of the MiG-29 campaign missions, the player’s unit escorts American B-1B bombers to their targets. CONCLUSION MiG-29 Fulcrum and F-16 Multirole Fighter definitely aren’t hardcore simulators, but they do give the player a taste for the unique character of the respective aircraft they feature, and an appreciation for their capabilities. The F-16 with its advanced avionics, multi-function displays and low-bleed, high-rate turns, and the MiG-29 with its mostly analog systems but great maneuvering at high angles of attack. The simplified systems and fast learning curve means that these games probably got many other newcomers such as myself hooked into the world of flight simulation. Playing them once again after all these years made me acutely aware of their flaws, but gave me an even greater appreciation for what they managed to achieve - a flight sim which could be easily picked up by non-flight simmers, even if they happened to be a child playing their first flight game. They are two games I have fond memories of, and will always remember it as what taught me to appreciate all kinds of aircraft, no matter whether they’re red or blue. 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 .

It has been over four years since screaming fighter jets, roaring turboprops and booming behemoths have taken to the skies of VRChat . During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, people across the planet took the plunge into virtual reality experiences to offset the restrictive lockdown procedures put in place for safety. VRChat, a community driven social virtual reality platform, saw an explosion of activity during those years. Some of the staff members of Skyward Flight Media also purchased hardware and made VRChat accounts to find connection while the world was in isolation. Instead of hanging out in pubs and castles, we were lucky enough to be involved with the beginning of SaccFlight - the next generation of VRChat aviation experiences on the platform. Between the testing, battles, airshows and original aircraft development, Santiago “Cubeboy” Cuberos found a shared interest in aviation with Tupper; the head of community for VRChat. Hello! Thanks so much for agreeing to an interview. After seeing each other off and on for so long during the virtual airshows, it is great to have a formal interview together. Hi Cube! Thanks for having me on. What is your background with aviation in general? Was it a childhood passion, or was it something else? It was indeed partially a childhood passion, but that passion was fueled by a few things. My dad is a retired United States Air Force Colonel. He has always followed aviation in a lot of ways. He’s told me about watching Apollo 11 land on the moon in 1969. Through him, I learned about his time in the Air Force in Vietnam on tankers, and his journey into medivac (medical evacuation) and logistics. His drive and passion isn’t just for the amazing machines that we create and what they do, but what we use them for. Both of my parents were in the medical field, and they taught me critical and subtle lessons in how important it is to help others, to support others, no matter what you’re doing. That’s had lasting effects on me in a lot of different ways. I am beyond lucky and fortunate to have my folks be people like that, and support me no matter what I wanted to do. I don’t think I tell them that enough. That being said, that meant my childhood libraries were full of books about aviation. I read non-fiction series like the Time-Life series The Epic of Flight. All 23 books, cover to cover, over and over. Fictional books like Dale Brown’s Flight of the Old Dog. I went to airshows regularly, watched space launches whenever we could. In the early 90s, we picked up flight simulators pretty quickly. Both dad and I burned hours in Microsoft Flight Simulator, Space Simulator, Aces Over Europe, Aces of the Pacific, all those early Dynamix games. Falcon 3.0 and Jane’s Fighter Anthology came later. Later in life, after I got my degree in Physics, I ended up working as a US Navy subcontractor, where I contributed to the F/A-18 and F-35 programs. Although my work was, practically, a ton of Excel spreadsheets, I still got to spend a ton of time with aviators. I worked alongside aviators that flew the F-14, F/A-18, the EA-6B, and tons of other aircraft. Of course, that job came with occasional fun perks like going to Norfolk and Virginia Beach to hang out on carriers, walk the flightline at Oceana, that kind of stuff. Have you played any flight games or simulators? Do you still play any today? Tons! Aside from the ones I mentioned above, I’ve played DCS, War Thunder, the Ace Combat series, Project Wingman, as many as I can get my hands on. I’m not very good at DCS, though. I don’t have enough spare neurons left to memorize the startup sequence for a Hornet. I’ve spent the most time recently playing Nuclear Option, which is a wonderful fictional “soft” flight simulator. It’s somewhere between Ace Combat and War Thunder’s realism mode, with a focus on near-future aircraft. I play a lot of “Escalation” style multiplayer modes, where the idea is that you start out in little prop-driven CAS aircraft, gaining points and “escalating” the conflict. Eventually, you fly jets, interceptors, even heavy bombers as you unlock weapons. First you get access to small, 5kt nuclear weapons, then eventually 250kt monsters. It’s a lot of fun and gets regular updates. I enjoy the small community it has. Oh, and of course, I fly a lot in VRChat. How did you first become involved with VRChat? I found VRChat in July 2017 when I was scrolling through Steam. I had a Vive CV1 that was sitting, collecting dust, and I wanted to find something to do with it. I filtered by VR, then filtered by Free to Play. I found VRChat pretty quickly. A short download later, I hopped into VR, and joined a Presentation Room with a few folks in it. There was a green-haired anime girl, a game rip of a Neptunia model recolored for someone. She started berating me for no reason -- but without speaking! She used the pens, writing words and waving her arms at me frantically telling me… something. I never figured it out. Anyhow, that interaction was just the start. Eventually, someone mentioned that you could upload custom avatars to VRChat, and I started learning how to make them every day for hours after I’d come home from work, then log in and show off my work. What lead to you becoming the Head of Community for the entire platform? I applied to VRChat on a whim in October or November of 2017. It was a general application. My data science skills weren’t quite in line with what VRChat needed then, so I focused more on “hey, I can do support for you, answer emails, etc” with my ~15 years of IT experience. Also, in the meantime, I’d been publishing video tutorials on how to work on avatars for VRChat. I’d figured out a process to turn MMD avatars into VRChat avatars, and published a long video showing the process. That got pretty popular with a few hundred thousand views, and even today still gets more. In November 2017, VRChat was growing pretty quick. November 1st had a max user count of maybe 100 to 150 on a busy night. End of November, it’d doubled to 200 to 300. By the middle of the December? Thousands. January, that number started climbing into the TENS of thousands. I’d met quite a few members of the VRChat team by this time, including several members of leadership and both of the founders. They reached out during the holidays, looking for someone to handle the deluge of support emails they’d been getting. In January I signed a contract to work for VRChat, and for a time, worked two jobs -- my normal 9-5 at my Navy contractor job, then I’d come home and work another 8 hours. After two weeks, I decided that VRChat was the way to go, and handed in my two weeks at my previous job. While it was interesting, VRChat was far more interesting to me. I still miss it (and the people) sometimes. Later, I got hired as a full-time employee, as the sole Community Manager at VRChat. I handled all kinds of stuff, handed off support tasks to other folks, and instead took up the reins of managing communication, interactions with the community, feedback, and helping the team understand the wide and broad community of VRChat. A few years later, as we started to organize into a sane shape, I was promoted to Head of Community. Now, I lead the Community team and provide input and feedback to basically all of the VRChat team, helping them connect with our community to get a better understanding of the desires, needs, wants, and thoughts of our community at large. Head of Community for a platform of tens of thousands of people seems like it would be a rather complicated job. Can you describe what your official duties like? I mean, depending on how you count it, it’s millions of people! But yes, it is complicated, to put it lightly. I spend a ton of my time in meetings and calls, consulting with the product teams at VRChat that actually build the application. A lot of this time is spent providing context and receiving understanding about what we’re making so I can tell all of you what’s going on. While we have a lot of user research going on for both qualitative and quantitative inputs, I also act as a “signal attenuator”, where I can provide translations of what the “community zeitgeist” currently is about. This means a LOT of reading social feeds, Twitter, our subreddit, Discord, and tons of listening to folks in VRChat. This isn’t exactly “part of the job” but I feel it’s vital at our scale. I’ve picked up a ton of active listening skills, as well as being able to listen to multiple conversations at once just within earshot, lol. I also do a lot of writing. A lot. Most of our external communications are handled by Strasz, FlareRune, and Fax, our Community Managers at VRChat. However, I still provide input, direction, and review for all three of them (although honestly all three are amazing writers and rarely need correction or help). Most of my writing nowadays is on internal product docs, proposals, reviews, reports, and the like. What was your first exposure with aircraft in VRChat, and what was your initial impression of these flyable aircraft? My first exposure? Huh.. probably the jetpacks in Treehouse in the Shade. They’re TERRIBLE! I mean, they were great for the time in SDK2, but they immediately make me sick every time I use them, even today. However, when I saw Udon release and people started to play with it, there were a few standouts that were really interesting. There was one world where you stood on the back of an airplane and flew it, and everyone around would stand on the top of the aircraft. The gimmick was that the world moved, rather than the aircraft -- a clever way of dealing with floating point issues and putting people on moving platforms. Those were fun, but I never would’ve imagined what we have today. Did you ever try some of the pre-SaccFlight aviation worlds that were developed before April 2020? Not really! I had a few run-ins with them but none were really memorable until I ran into Saccchan’s systems. After four years of VRChat Aviation (VRCA), now there are flight worlds across every type of real and sci-fi flight experiences. From Gliders to modern 4th generation fighters, from strategic bombers to space fighters. What type of flying do you enjoy in VRChat? There’s four worlds I really love for flying: First, there’s Zweikaku and 7-Eleven’s world Carrier Flight: F-14 . I have this habit formed where I load into the world, put on the Fairy Air Force soundtrack, hop in a Harrier, and fly around until someone shoots at me. Then I defend, pop them with a missile, and resume flying in orbits. Of course, if there’s no Harrier available, I get into whatever plane I see first, find the first Harrier I see, shoot it down, immediately respawn, and try to get into the Harrier. Like clockwork. lol Second is Uni Power’s Yalu Conflict . I love the aircraft available -- there’s a ton of choices. Initially I favored the La-9, but quickly moved over to the F8F Bearcat -- almost entirely because of the ridiculous R-2800 engine. Turns out that I’ve got good taste, because my favorite WWII aircraft, the P-47 Thunderbolt, shares that engine with the Bearcat. Third is another Uni Power world: Mid Palau . I pretty much exclusively use the P-47 here, occasionally hopping in the Enola Gay to jumpscare folks with the nuke. It’s really nice to fly around just above the water, chilling out. I really like the sound design Uni’s done in the world. Even while typing this out, I can hear the engine sound in my mind. Finally, I really enjoy Project Helo by CodyHayzett. There’s no combat here, the weapons deal no damage. It’s all helicopters and weird structures to fly through. I love the little community I run into when I join this world -- they’re all amazing pilots, flying helicopters through ridiculous stunt routines. It reminds me of old Battlefield 1942 stunt maps -- maps where the focus wasn’t on combat, but instead doing weird stunts with the physics engine and flight system. VRChat, being a community-based and community-built platform, relies on users to create new and better experiences. Do you have any particular flight world creators that you personally like? If so, which ones and which worlds of theirs do you enjoy? I kinda jumped the gun on this question! I really enjoy Zweikaku and 7-Eleven’s work, as well as Uni Power’s work. We’ve got similar taste in favorite aircraft. VTail’s work on pushing the realism barrier to “acceptably arcadey” is really cool, although I still can’t stop ripping my wings off. What are your thoughts on the competitive side of VRCA, with one example being the dogfighting tournaments ran by the VRC Black Aces? Honestly, I’ve never been a competitive person. I prefer to observe! My ROE when flying is “I don’t shoot first, but I do shoot last.” There’s a few exceptions to that rule, though… if I randomly shoot you down, it’s probably because you were micspamming music, said something dumb and edgy in an attempt to get attention, or asked “how do I do a cobra?” in the F-14 world. I do really like watching tournaments, though. I can pick up on the technicalities of BFM, although I think I prefer the strategy and technology behind BVR insofar as “entertainment value” if I were playing a game. Speaking of which, when’s Sea Power in the Missile Age coming out? I haven’t gone to many tournaments but I want to go to more. There’s a few members of the VRChat team interested too, so uh, DM me? Also, no, I won’t dogfight you. I’ll probably lose. Did you ever expect to see a competitive PvP flight community to arise in VRChat? These pilots sometimes train daily to be on top of their game I did not. Absolutely did not. I had expectations when Udon released, but they were things like “someone’s gonna make Trouble in Terrorist Town” and other GMod-style game modes like that. I think “pretty damn good flight simulator with good enough networking to hold tournaments” was not on my top 100 guess list, at all. On the opposite side of the spectrum, you have airshows and showcases. The most popular ones, usually hosted by the VRC Black Aces or several of the Japanese communities, can fill an entire instance in mere minutes. How many airshows or ‘showcases’ have you attended so far? Have any of these left a mark on you? Not only have I gone to a few, but I’ve commentated on two of them alongside Andy! I love airshows and air displays so being able to see them in VR is incredible. You get to see aircraft that don’t exist anymore, or even NEVER existed. I think the most striking show so far was the one that featured ridiculously huge aircraft. I forget the name of it, but there was that huge one that was a concept, some kind of nuclear-powered giga-aircraft designed to carry other aircraft. That one was a good one. If you could summarize it, what has been your experience been with VRCA so far? Do you have any fond memories with the community or any special moments that have stuck with you? It’s been wonderful. The VRChat aviation community is incredibly kind, welcoming, and open. Not only that, but they’re INCREDIBLY creative and collaborative. Every project takes the work of multiple people to produce a really cool output. The few times that people have popped up that don’t represent those kinds of values, I’ve seen the community knock them down, because the last thing they want to do is make someone feel unwelcome. That’s a good sign -- never tolerate intolerance. I’ve got a lot of great memories, but honestly the ones I remember best are simply joining friends in the community while they’re working on a new project. There’s always some funny bug or weirdness that they didn’t intend that everyone’s goofing around with. I recently joined on Zweikaku and 7-Eleven to find them testing out a rather overpowered AI CIWS system, and everyone in the instance was trying their hardest to blow them up. The only way someone managed it was by landing an aircraft out of the range of fire and “driving” it up next to the emplacement, and blasting it point-blank with the cannon. That was hilarious. I love emergent, weird, funny stuff like that. If you were to ever make a flight world for VRC, what would it look like? Are there any aircraft that or mechanics you would put on it? It’d be REALLY HARD, but I’d love a proper BVR experience. A few people have tried, like the F-15 world from a year or two back. I forget who made it. It was OK, and they did they absolute best they could, but there were foundational issues with it. The problem they struggled with is the same issue everyone does out at ranges past 10km -- floating point error makes it impossible to use! You get those crazy “wiggles” where polygons start flying off your HUD. 10km is well within the traditional definition of BVR (~37km), so you’ve got to solve that first. If I could do anything, I’d find a way to implement a networkable floating origin system into VRChat natively, then use that to make a BVR world. I’d make it so you could flip a switch to either spawn 4th or 5th gen aircraft. I’d also want to have AEW&C aircraft that you could fly (or assign an AI to) that you could data link to. Then, I’d make the terrain a bunch of mountains, valleys, and some open ocean, and have fun with that. Put in some game modes -- Protect the President, CAS, CAP, Intercept, that kind of thing. That’d be so fun! Thanks a lot for this opportunity, Tupper. It was a privilege to be able to host this interview with you. Do you have any closing comments or anything you would like to tell our audience? Thanks for having me! VRChat has been and always will be about you. In any other game, you have objectives, win conditions, and goals. Here? There’s one goal: work together to make each other better. Whether you do that by being creative, making friends, or by running and participating in communities like the ones in VRCA, you’re helping. VRChat’s a wildly important space for me personally, and for many others. I hope people understand that, for me and many others on the team, VRChat isn’t just a job. It isn’t just a product or a game or an app. It’s an incredibly important place, unlike anywhere else on the internet. Nobody else has what we have. Our team is talented. We could work anywhere else, but we work here because we love seeing what it’s done for you, your friends, and our friends. We want it to be here forever so it can help as many people as possible, and we’ll fight hell or high water to see it go otherwise. 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

If you grew up in the early 2000s while playing as many flight games on your dad's old PC like I did, then you will remember the amount of small titles that tried to compete with each other. Two that got stuck in my mind were IL-2 1946 and Strike Fighters, both of which are sim-lite titles. They have aspects of a proper flight simulation without being full-on study simulators, or even regular flight sims. Games like these two seem to just be gone from the market, except for the IL-2 franchise, which is doing quite well. That being said, all the other smaller, less niche titles have mostly disappeared or have moved to the mobile market, which is the case for Strike Fighters. I think there is only one game to blame: War Thunder. With its mix of approachable gameplay, vehicle variety and quick connection matchmaking, War Thunder has made it basically impossible for any other games to compete with it. In its aviation tech tree, you can get almost any popular plane either by grinding or buying them as premiums, which incentivizes people to go through the tech tree themselves and grind them until they get to their favorite aircraft. Hundreds upon hundreds of aircraft, all with pretty detailed 3D models and adequate flight physics, are available to any player that puts in the time or money. If an indie game developer, or even an AA game studio, would want to compete with the Snail in this genre, they would have to match them either in quality, quantity or both! That is quite the ask. People seem to also have a preference for that pick-up and play flow that War Thunder has. They can get home from work, do a couple of matches, die to some random with a couple of thousand hours in the game at least four separate times, get frustrated and quit the game with absolutely no consequences. I for sure know a couple of my friends have that approach to War Thunder, and that being able to just get on and off the game so easily is a core aspect of why they like this game so much. With games like DCS, there is much more of a time commitment so WT players tend to stray away from it; and games like Strike Fighters 2 are now over a decade old, and no longer even accessible through popular game distribution sites! If you wanted to do a sim-lite nowadays, as a developer, you would have to tailor to aspects of nostalgia from old players or to a very polished a unique experience, which is the case of Tiny Combat Arena and IL-2 Korea respectively. If you want to do a big and fun sim-lite how Strike Fighter 2 was, you will be sharing a playerbase with War Thunder, good luck with that. There are games out there that have succeeded in a sim-lite genre in spite of War Thunder's existence, such as Gunner Heat PC. They have tailored to a more accurate and unique single player experience in the armored vehicle scene and have sold quite well, while also being critically acclaimed even inside WT player circles. I miss the times when I would see these unique, single-player sim-lite flight games would come out. While War Thunder can be extremely fun sometimes, I do prefer to be able to be able to play the game in its fullest in a single-player scenario, with a campaign or mission creator, or even pre-prepared missions. Pictures by Wyvern and Cubeboy. 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

I usually tend to stick to fixed wing aircraft, we also love tacking the challenging world that is rotary wing. I've spent countless hours in the DCS UH-60L, Mi-24P and Ka-50 modules, and they have proven to be extremely entertaining experiences. One of the main issues that I've noticed is that there are not that many dedicated simulators for helicopters, at least there have not been many in quite a while. This changes with Helicopter Gunship DEX! This game is worth it just it is a dedicated helicopter simulator in the 2020s, a member of a dying breed. At the same time, it strives to drive that blurry line between simulator and arcade, making it much accessible and fun for a wider audience. That being said, let's take a close look at this title to see what it has in store in its early access form. PRESENTATION AND GRAPHICS The best way to describe this game, at least when it comes down to graphics, effects and sounds, is that it is they are extremely functional yet nothing special. The 3D models are precise, yet textures are low res and some of the helicopters are not as detailed as others. The same applies for ground vehicles and other assets. None of them stand out as ugly, but there isn't any remarkable either. Sound design is good, with some minor exceptions, such as some gun sounds and missile launch effects being a bit "off". The main issue lies in the UI and control configuration for users with more complicated layouts. Some crucial controls such as the night vision toggle, MFD buttons and several mappings are missing and not set by default, not even on the keyboard. This, to me, is the most glaring flaw in the project. It took me around 45 mins to have everything set up and ready to go, specially considering that I was using three different USB devices to control the game. Since there is no way of directly interacting with the cockpit and its systems, these mappings are essential to allow the player to utilize the sim-lite controls of their aircraft. This also includes some of the UI, both in-game and in the menus. The UI is functional but basic in design, which does seem to be a side-product of this game's smaller budget. They focused their attention elsewhere for the moment, but I would strongly recommend spending more development time and resources on improving the intuitiveness of the UI as well as finding a solid design for it. GAMEPLAY: WHAT MAKES THIS GAME GREAT Until now, I have only criticized the game and its structure, style and graphics. Now, let's leave that behind so that we can focus on what makes this game worth playing: its gameplay. This title is so good to play that I can only compare its gameplay loop to that of the great simulators of the late 90s, such as Falcon BMS and even other simulators that got inspired by the great, which would be the case for Tiny combat Arena. It is a perfect mix of realism and arcade that is extremely entertaining and, somehow, finds a way to get me immersed like no other title has done in a quite a while. Its flight dynamics might not be what some would consider to be "realistic" or "study-level" but the developer has treated each helicopter to a unique-feeling model that surprisingly fitting when compared to the performance they would get in other simulators. The amount of weapons available for use is pretty extensive and the systems you need to use do not have sim-like fidelity, meaning that they are simple to use yet challenging and engaging. I was pleasantly surprised when I found myself using some of these systems (IHADSS, TGP, Radar, etc.) with relative ease thanks to them being built to resemble the systems on helicopters that I had previously flown in other simulators, specially the Apache. Night missions were extremely fun to go through, the recon missions in particular. Using the IHADSS as well as the native TrackIR support made everything much easier and, honestly, kind of refreshing! Despite the lack of proper realism, it felt great to pilot the helos while wrecking havoc from above with my entire arsenal. I will keep playing this title throughout its early access period, and I cannot wait to see what it has in store in the future. 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 #9034

For what feels an eternity now, I have trusted my flight sim experience to a Thrustmaster T1.6000 flight stick. It has served me well for over 5 years and, in my opinion, is still the budget king in the category. But after years of use, as anything, it started showing some very noticeable signs of wear. At the beginning, it was the potentiometers on the base slider and twist stick giving away, which wasn't mission-critical for me. Then, I started losing sensitivity in the front buttons and, finally, the trigger. I opened up my stick several times to do repairs, so it wasn't due to a lack of trying that my trusty T1.6K from Thrustmaster finally decided to become unplayable. This is when I decided to give Winwing a try with the generous help from Aaron, since I wasn't able to acquire it at the time. It took months to get to my country, but I finally got a knock on the door earlier this week. Let's take a quick look at this marvelous stick! DISCLAIMER: This article was NOT sponsored by WINWING in any way, shape or form. As well, we acquired this item with our own means, this was not a free sample provided by WINWING. We have full editorial control of this content URSA MINOR: PUNCHING ABOVE ITS WEIGHT Even though this stick is considered an "entry level" piece of hardware, along with other competitors like the VKB Gladiator, the Ursa Minor seems to be packed with features that, in practicality, position it on a higher tier. Personally, when looking for a quality flight stick to replace my T1.6000, I looked for certain features that were a must: Hall-effect sensors for the main axis movement, more than one hat switch and a plenty of face buttons. Hat switches were my priority, as I struggled to map everything I needed in DCS for more complex aircraft. Thankfully, the Ursa minor offered all of that and more. I went from one to four hat switches, plus a mini-stick. It also has hall effect sensors on all of its axis, including the twist (Z) axis, with the only potentiometer being the base slider. It has over 40 inputs available, with more possible if you decide to turn the mini-stick into another hat switch. These are usually features you see on higher-tier sticks, putting the Ursa Minor firmly ahead of other sticks in its price range (~USD $110) such as the X.52, X.56, the venerable T1.6000. The only stick that would be in direct competition is VKB's Gladiator. In terms of comfort, it is alright. It does feel a bit thin and the small non-adjustable palm rest can leave you wanting for more. That being said, for an average sized hand (adult male), all buttons are easily accessible and tactile. The monochrome ambient lighting is quite pleasing and adjustable through software. It was made in such a way that it is impossible to distinguish between the individual LEDs, leaving you with a very eye-catching base lit up with white diffusers. Even during daytime, these lights are visible and add to the overall premium aesthetic this stick offers. SOFTWARE AND IN-GAME USE To configure the stick properly, you will need to download Winwing's proprietary software: SimApp Pro. This program is... quite primitive. While it does let you connect your stick directly to games such as DCS and allows you to configure certain aspects of the Ursa Minor, it does require an accountb to be created to even access some of those features. To create an account, it will require you to give them your phone number on sign-up. Some connectivity features include interactions between the game that will affect the lighting, or even the until now unmentioned vibration motor that comes included within the stick. Once in-game, whether you have activated the additional features through SimApp or not, you will be welcomed by a flight simmer's favorite activity: control mapping. This stick does not have default mappings for DCS World, not even axis controls, so you will have to do all of that by hand and with a lot of patience. Now that we are actually able to use the flight stick as God intended, you will most likely find the experience to be quite a breath of fresh air, especially if you came from a stick such as the T1.6000. The more interesting aspect to me, and the one that jumped at me immediately upon trying to take off on my Phantom, was the feel the solid gimbals had on the movement. You can clearly feel when you are on one axis or another, unlike with the gimbal on the T1.6000. When I am rolling, I feel as if I was gliding through a narrow channel and, as soon as I input some pitch, you feel the merge of both axis working in unison. It is extremely responsive and sensitive, that goes for pitch, roll and yaw. I have found the experience to be extremely appealing and quite a step up from my trusty T1.6K. All the buttons are tactile, and the two stage trigger demands some force for you to activate its second stage. I have absolutely zero complaints in regard to the buttons and the built of this stick, Winwing really did an amazing job here. WOULD I RECOMMEND IT? Yes. I am one happy customer. If you have a T.Flight Hotas 4 or even a TWCS set-up from Thrustmaster, getting an Ursa Minor is quite the step in the right direction for your flight simming experience. Its only downside is the software package and its absurd limitations, but the stick does not need it to function in the slightest. I am glad this stick is now in my hands, let's see how long this one lasts me. I will take care of it like I did my 5-year-old T1.6K, so expect a long-term report in the future. Stay safe and happy flights! 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

Tactical Airlifter You Did Not Know You Needed In a landscape that is frequently riddled with the overwhelming power of nuclear weapons, you would think the addition of an aircraft that is capable of delivering those weapons would be a given. If it cannot deploy a weapon of mass destruction, what place does it have in such a battlefield? I believe few people were expecting the arrival of a logistics capable aircraft with an unusually powerful conventional weapon selection. In my opinion, the VL-49 Tarantula occupies a rather unusual place in the setting of Nuclear Option by Shockfront Studios . The amazing trailer introducing the aircraft. AIRCRAFT DESCRIPTION The Tarantula is a quad proprotor, tiltwing, vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) heavy lift platform capable of launching from any of the game's pre-built or user made airbases, highway air strips and helipads. Though it cannot quite fit on the back of a Dynamo-class Destroyer or a Shard-class Corvette like its SAH-46 Chicane attack helicopter counterpart. While quite large, its ability to land vertically anywhere it can fit itself into maintains its versatility. Internal view (Nuclear Option official Discord server). As with all aircraft in Nuclear Option, the VL-49 Tarantula is exquisitely modeled externally and internally. The in-game encyclopedia description of this aircraft mentions its survivability in combat thanks to its four proprotors with internally linked driveshafts. I can certainly say this is the case, as I have intentionally taken this tiltwing mammoth into situations it should never be in and have landed with engines shot out and large sections of the aircraft missing. Its size and weight does make it hard to evade consistent anti-aircraft threats, so playing flying defensively is a must. TACTICAL AIRLIFTER The VL-49 Tarantula should be viewed not as a transport helicopter, but more of a tactical airlifter like the C-130. In its cargo bay the Tarantula can carry Munitions Containers to resupply land forces and aircraft at forward arming and refueling points and Naval Supply Containers that float in the sea to resupply naval units. Each container can explode if deployed incorrectly, so stable landings and low speed control is paramount, but in a pinch these crates can intentionally be ejected from the aircraft as medium yield makeshift bombs. Vehicle wise it can deploy a variety of vehicles. From two LCV25 technical style pickup trucks with anti-aircraft and anti-armor weapon packages, a single mobile radar vehicle capable of detecting and directing surface to air missile fire at targets at up to 40km or a single AFV6 multipurpose armored vehicle available in configurations like anti-air, anti-tank, armored personnel carrier and infantry fighting vehicle. Tarantula deploying a light armored vehicle at a remote location. After these vehicles are dropped off by the VL-49, they can be controlled by players on the same coalition with Nuclear Options built in real time strategy-esque control system. This makes the Tarantula capable of solo capturing neutral or hostile facilities by providing its own ground forces. DIRECT ACTION PENETRATOR Similar to the real world Sikorsky MH-60L DAP, the VL-49 Tarantula can mount a surprising variety of offensive and defensive weapons you would only expect on purpose built attack helicopters. Depending on configuration, it is able to fight its way in and out of contested areas. While carrying cargo, the Tarantula can carry a chin mounted 12.7 mm rotary cannon and on its sponson mounts either 25mm cannon pods or short-ranged infrared air-to-air missiles. When equipped with the 12.7mm and 25mm weapons, as long as players are not in direct control of them, the AI crew members of the Tarantula will automatically slew the weapons onto targets within their firing arcs and engage without the player's input. Aircraft loadout screen. Forgoing transport duties completely, the VL-49 can deploy up to twenty AGM-48 missiles deployed in a F-86D Saber Dog inspired rectractable ventral rocket tray. When fired in large volleys, a single Tarantula can saturate an area with while it remains near top speed to quickly leave the area while hostile forces deal with the wall of missiles it left behind. Ventral rocket tray. Due to its size, attempting to operate for a prolonged period in contested airspace like an attack helicopter is impractical. Evading anti-aircraft fire is difficult because the Tarantula is unable to quickly terrain mask like an attack helicopter or fixed-wing combat aircraft can, then unmask seconds later to continue the engagement. GUNSHIP Aside from transport abilities, the Tarantula's signature combat capability is as a gunship with a side mounted 76mm cannon with a relatively high rate of fire. This heavy hitting cannon has a surprisingly long reach with reliable accuracy thanks to it firing guided cannon shells. The side mounted cannon is hard hitting, capable of destroying a main battle tank in two to four hits while it is driving. Couple its base range with additional altitude provided by an aircraft and the cannon is capable of out ranging short range air defenses (SHORAD). Side mounted 76mm cannon. In Nuclear Option, SHORAD is highly effective against air-to-ground weapons like missiles, bombs and rockets. Most units are able to track these weapons in flight and attempt to intercept them with high rate of fire autocannons or interceptor missiles. Because of this saturation attacks against groups of defended targets are a must. While the guided cannon shells from the Tarantula can be intercepted by some SHORAD units, sustaining fire directly on an air defense unit will gradually overwhelm it. For example, a self propelled anti-aircraft gun may be able to intercept a handful of missiles in just a few seconds, but even it will eventually run out of ammunition when faced with a steady stream of 76mm cannon shells focused on it and only it. Much like the anti-tank missiles mentioned in the previous section of this article, with the cannon mounted, the Tarantula can dispatch a convoy of enemy vehicles in just a few minutes if the conditions in the airspace are permissive. Heavily damaged VL-49 heading back to base. OPERATIONAL REALITIES The strengths and weaknesses of the Tarantula show themselves rapidly depending on the mission type. Nuclear Option is best known for its large scale, force on force missions that are a part of the base game. In these missions about 100 units on each side with dozens more produced in real time fight one another over hundreds of kilometers. Within the mix of the chaos are multiple high performance fifth generation fighters like the KR-67 Ifrit or FS-12 Revoker, which frequently penetrate the perceived frontlines and easily target aircraft like the Tarantula. Being unable to press towards the frontlines easily, the Tarantula can struggle at times. VL-49 Tarantula cockpit. In permissive environments the VL-49 can loiter in an area of the map, locking down roads from enemy troop movements and offering assistance with saturation attacks. In small and medium size scenarios, the Tarantula has more flexibility and the vehicles it deploys have more of an impact in a ground war that does not involve a near endless firehouse of land units. The Tarantula has potential to be the catalyst for an entire set of logistics focused and dispersed forces missions. I find myself flying the VL-49 Tarantula more than half of the aircraft roster in the game, but this is mainly because of the possibilities it presents for multiple mission types. Expect to see more of the VL-49 Tarantula's capabilities on full display as Skyward Flight Media moves forward in making missions for Nuclear Option in the near future. View from a VL-49 cockpit moments before starting an air assault. 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 .

TaskForce 23 , an individual that immediately had an impact upon the international Ace Combat community and our own organization upon arrival. Through the accuracy of his translations, various materials have been made available for the first time in languages besides Japanese, allowing fans around the world to translate them into other languages. Thus far his efforts have not only assisted Project Lighthouse and Skyward Flight Media, but also made the PAX South 2019 interview with Kazutoki Kono possible, brought game developer knowledge to another language and much more. Santiago "Cubeboy" Cuberos, interviewed TaskForce 23 to introduce him to those that have thoroughly enjoyed his efforts. To start, please tell us a bit about yourself. I’m just a guy who likes airplanes so much that I decided to get my college degree in aeronautical engineering (actually trying to graduate in December). I was actually born in Japan on SkyEye’s birthday (September 19th) but moved to the US when I was like 2-3 and have been living here since. I can read, write, and speak both English and Japanese, but I’m better at English overall. Have you studied translation in any way or have you learned from experience? I haven’t taken any formal training/education on translation, but since my English is better than my parents’, I’ve helped them with reading, writing, and serving as a dictionary for them. Doing that over the years and learning both languages basically at the same time really allowed me to switch between them relatively easily. How did you get into translations? Did you study any of the minutiae that comes with translating a literary piece? Like I mentioned before, I translated some things to explain English words and concepts to my parents, but those were mainly household things that wouldn’t have been shared with many other people. Now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve done these “formal” translations before I joined Project Lighthouse. With regards to studying, I haven’t really studied the explicit details and methodology of translation, but I do my best to maintain the original tone and style of the piece I’m working on. Japanese is a very context based language, it must be difficult or outright impossible to translate anything word for word. How do you approach it? You really have to know and understand Japanese in order to translate between the two vastly different languages. Since I basically learned both languages at the same time when I was growing up, my mind kind of works things out instinctively. I read the sentence, understand the content, and phrase it so that it sounds natural in the language I’m translating to. Since Japanese ranges from ancient words to modern cognates and abbreviations, you can’t really translate things word for word, but find “equivalent” words that will provide the same or similar meaning. Just as any language, Japanese has its own pros and cons when it comes to usability, ease of understanding and most importantly to us, ease of translation. What do you think is the most frustrating part of translating from Japanese to English and vice versa? I think one of the hardest things about Japanese to English translations are compound kanji. An entire concept could be written with just 4 kanji characters in Japanese, but might require a long sentence in English. Trying to make my translations concise without losing any meaning from the original is one of my toughest jobs. I often have to split one Japanese sentence into two or more English ones so that they don’t feel like a run-on sentence. A challenge in translating for both JP to ENG and ENG to JP, at least for me, is sentence structure. Like with many languages, you cannot simply translate each word in the order that they are given and call it a day. The meaning might be understood, but having an incorrect or slightly off syntax will give you something Google Translate might spit out. I can sort of subconsciously move the words around when I’m translating, but there are times where I have to really think to make the sentence flow better. When approached by idioms or by a play of words that are typical to the Japanese language and culture. How do you translate them? Do you find an equivalent in English or do you omit them? Most of the time, there are similar ones or corresponding equivalents in English that work, but there are definitely times where I get stuck trying to find an analogous idiom. In those cases, I kind of translate it verbatim in quotation marks and then add a translation note with a better explanation. That way the sentence still flows somewhat ok, but it’s still clear what the meaning is. What has been the hardest piece that you have translated as of now? I think the hardest “piece” I translated was the string of tweets sent by Kazutoki Kono regarding his journey in developing Ace Combat 7. He had a distinct tone and diction that was incredibly emotional and inspiring, and I had to replicate that in another language. There was also quite a lot of slang that I was not familiar with, so I had to look those up, and choosing the right words was really difficult. But I think I was able to convey the intent Kono-san wanted in the end. Do you have an interest in any other languages? If so, which ones? I actually took German for a bit in high school since I thought it would be a unique language to learn. I remember doing pretty well in the class, but I haven’t used it since so it’s kind of garbage now lol. I would love to get back into it and maybe learn a romance or slavic language so that I can connect with more people. Since your arrival you have made many projects possible, such as the complete translation of Ikaros in the Sky and more recently A Blue Dove for the Princess. Which of those two was more challenging for you in terms of translation? Or have any of the many interviews proved to be a bit difficult to translate? Both of these were difficult in their own ways. For example, Ikaros talked about some exotic technologies and had some very advanced kanji I had not seen before, so I had to consult some dictionaries and other references to first learn what they were. Ikaros was also a very long project so there’s that too. For the Blue Dove , it was written in a fashion similar to old fairy tales with a “narrator” telling the story in a third-person omniscient point of view, so that was a little challenging for me since I’m not used to writing in this style. But overall, Ikaros was the harder project. ​Thus far, do you have a favorite piece that you've translated? Which one and why?  I think my favorite is still the  Ikaros in the Sky  book to be honest. Though it was a very long project, I was surprised at how well it was written and how the suspense was built for each arc, and I had tons of fun reading and translating at the same time. There were some pretty funny moments too, including the reference to  Ace Combat  games in the break room and use of over-the-top technologies befitting of the  Ace Combat  franchise. One of your most recent translations is of CEDEC 2019 (Computer Entertainment Developers Conference) lecture material. What was your interest in translating this? In past interviews and other material, the devs at Project Aces only really mentioned  what  they did and not necessarily  how  they achieved things, especially the technical details. I had some interest in what these details were and thought that those trying to create their own games could use some of the techniques as hints in their endeavors, so I wanted to share that. These sort of lectures also usually include interesting anecdotes that offer a deeper glimpse into the inner workings of Project Aces, which is also very cool and is something you don’t get to see a lot. In the future, what other types of material are you interested in translating?  You know, I’ve covered a lot of different media in the one year I’ve been doing this. Books, manuals, interviews, audio from games, etc. Personally, I like translating written material compared to audio, especially if they don’t have subtitles, since they already have all the words written and you don’t have to decipher things. But I like challenges, so I would like to translate more audio materials as well as other forms of media.  In terms of subject matter, I know there are still a lot of things that have yet to be translated and shared in just the  Ace Combat  franchise, including things like the Shinden Master File, so I would like to continue working on those. I would also like to help translate things from other franchises too, since I had some fun discovering and learning about other unique works and want to help spread the word on these that the non-Japanese speaking world may not be aware of. ​ Have you ever considered translating as a profession?  I haven’t really considered translating things at a professional level. Though I found it to be fun, my passion is in aircraft manufacture/support and is the career path I’m pursuing at the moment. I also don’t think I would be a very good translator with my current skill level, since I have to solicit the help of a dictionary quite often for some words/slang. I would need to study a lot more to be at a more proficient level, to be honest. Maybe if I land a stable job after graduation and find the time, I might further my training. Any final thoughts? When I joined Project Lighthouse in July of last year, I didn’t expect my translations to garner that much attention, but now, I’ve been able to connect with a lot of amazing people and work on some really cool projects. I’m just really grateful for the opportunities I had. Though real life stuff will keep me busier than ever in the future, I hope to continue working on more translations so that more people would be able to appreciate and enjoy content that otherwise would not be available. Thank you so much for answering these. I look forward to see what else you manage to bring us in the future! About the interviewer 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 a writer and content manager ever since. Twitter | Discord : Cubeboy #9034

Completely out of nowhere, a new mod dropped on Steam for VTOL VR. This happens a couple of times a week, so I didn't think much of it, until I saw that it was an AH-6 Littlebird. I was actually planning on writing about the DCS Germany map, but I just dropped anything I was doing and got in VTOL VR for a couple of sessions with the Killer Egg. We did a couple of initial runs with the AH-6, some single-player and some multiplayer, which landed us with around 10hrs of flight time with it. This was plenty enough to ensure we could give you guys the fairest look we could of this wonderful mod. THE COCKPIT The creators did a great job with the cockpit, not only modeling-wise, but also design-wise. The cockpit flow is intuitive enough that there was no need for me to relearn any new systems. I instinctively knew how to start it, since it follows the exact same cockpit flow as every other VTOL VR aircraft, with many systems being shared with the AH-94 DLC helicopter, a required install to even run this mod. As it is a multicrew aircraft, you will be sitting right next to your co-pilot. They can operate the same systems you do, allowing you to offload targeting and threat assessment, while you or whoever is flying can focus solely on keeping the two of you alive. Operation is simple and to the point, just what I would expect from a VTOL VR aircraft. Additionally, you can actually use two SCAR rifles and a flare gun, which is quite the feature and a first within VTOL VR aircraft. THE MODEL, CAPABILITIES AND FLIGHT MODEL The external and internal models are up to par with everything that is currently in-game, or even better, depending on who you ask. The animations that were made for the blades whenever you deflect the controls are excellent, and the rotor blur is great. I found myself loving the external model, as this aircraft is such a photogenic bird. In terms of capabilities, expect to have to rely on either having two or three of these Little bird working together, or heavier air support if you want to tackle anything bigger than your average uprising. Pylons are limited by design, and you can take a maximum of four air to ground guided missiles, or two rocket pods, along with two M164 miniguns. The most interesting capability was the crew carrying one. SPECOPS at night You can choose to sacrifice your weapon pylons to carry several soldiers that will automatically deploy on the next landing, mission depending. Now, unto the weakest part of this mod: its flight model. Just like the real bird, the AH-6 is quite sensitive at the controls, she demands a lot of attention, and you will have to get used to this if you want to fly it properly. You cannot manhandle her, she will fight back. While this is all fine and well, there is something quite bothersome about its flight model. Under certain circumstances, usually at high speed, the entire helicopter will enter a harsh, uncommanded pitch maneuver which is similar to RBS (Retreating Blade Stall). This implementation, however, seems to be overly exaggerated and weird in nature. Were this behavior to be less abrupt and better communicated to the player, then I would have little to no complaints about the flight model. At the end of the day, this is a minor complaint I had to communicate to you for the benefit of transparency, but in gameplay, I rarely even found myself looping the helicopter once I understood its limits. CONCLUSION: IT'S FREE, GO FLY IT The folks that made this mod poured quite a lot of effort into it, and it shows. It is up to par with any other content I have seen made for the game, including official aircraft DLC. There is no reason why you shouldn't try it out, you would be missing out on quite the experience. If you want to try it out, then click the button below! It will redirect you to the Steam Workshop page made for this mod. Credits for the developers are on it as well. 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 the co-founder and content manager ever since. Twitter  | Discord : Cubeboy

Eyes on an Aerobatic Rising Star? There are fewer things more beautiful than watching aircraft fly exactly how we imagine them in our mind's eye. Soaring faster than any bird, looping energetically though the air, seemingly flying at maximum performance everywhere they go. Throughout the world airshows are the easiest way enthusiasts can enjoy aircraft flying like this. Yet there are so few dedicated experiences to this type of aviation in flight simulation. Dancing Wings - The Aerobatic Simulator by CloveTek is one such aerobatic flight game. Honestly, an aerobatics focused title under development in 2025 is a rarity. I can think of less than 10 similar efforts in the last decade or so. I find myself watching its development with interest. What is Known Dancing Wings is still in development with a general release date of April 2026, subject to change as of the time of this writing. The landscape in the game uses height map data from around Higashi-matsushima in northern Japan. For reference this region includes Matsushima Air Base and Kinkasan Island. The flight model in game is said to have realistic simulation of drag, gravity, lift and thrust. Notably it advertises itself as 'accessible' with aircraft able to be flown with a gamepad of desired. With social media accounts showing screenshots of multiple Kawasaki T-4s in Japan Air Self Defense Force Blue Impulse aerobatic demonstration team liveries, it is hard not to take notice. Even in 2025 the T-4 appears in so few flight games, any chance to fly a representation of it is eye catching. Most importantly, this is built from the ground up as a non-combat flight game. That may seem like an obvious requirement, but this design choice has a lot behind it. There is a reason it is somewhat difficult to just shoehorn an entire aerobatic system into any flight game out there. Built Different I find myself watching this project with great interest because this is what I consider a "purpose built" aerobatic game. This is important to point out because more often than not this type of flight is included as an add-on to a larger simulator or is a community driven effort that requires significant effort from dozens of people to maintain. Rarely is it a standalone experience. Dancing Wings is being designed as a single player experience. It will train players from first take off to first airshow. While this may sound tedious, I have some experience with similar aerobatic games from the past, so I can understand the mindset. For inexperienced players that do not have a lot of time flying aircraft, they get to learn the basics of flight and gradually lean into more advanced maneuvers. That is a better experience than being new to a certain type of flying then being forced to maintain a perfect Diamond Loop on your second flight. Setting the bar too high, too early is a guaranteed way to have players bounce off of this title before learning it. That is especially important for a non-combat flight game like this. For experienced players, while they may easily complete the initial training, this process also familiarizes them with the nuances of the game's flight model. As any flight enthusiast knows, there is no such thing as a universal flight model made standard across every game and simulator. This is a good way to prepare for those upcoming tight formations with three or more aircraft where every minor input counts. While there is currently no information on what a potential single player campaign looks like, it has been confirmed that there is replay save file system. Performances can be uploaded for others to watch or join in as members of the flight to try flying the routine themselves. For now, this is the nearest mention of something multiplayer adjacent. Spiritual Predecessor It seems that CloveTek may have been inspired by a long-past flight game series in terms of aesthetics. The Aero Dancing series (1999-2002) developed by CRI / Crave was a staple for flight games on the Sega Dreamcast, then eventually one of many contenders on the Sony PlayStation 2. The first game released in 1999 was a pure airshow experience that officially featured the Blue Impulse demo team. After the first entry all sequels in the series gradually included combat aviation to match the market being set by contemporaries of the series. Though two decades have passed, Dancing Wings - The Aerobatic Simulator will most likely have similar hurdles to consider being a non-combat title. While I hope the developer does not choose to lean into combat missions, they will need to lean heavily into aerobatic specific gameplay mechanics and scoring related to that. Thoughts on a Campaign Mode In my opinion, I do think that something like a campaign mode will be a make-or-break factor for this game long term. That is something even its spiritual predecessors could not figure out. Air demonstration teams perform dozens of airshows in their home countries and around the world during their tours. If there were a game mode where the player and their team could accumulate score over the course of a tower, they could perhaps move up in leadership positions in their demo team over the course of many seasons or during off season evaluations. The end goal being to become the flight leader of the team or even change the team's routine to match the player's preference in an effort to improve crowd reception. I feel as though something like that could be a major factor in replay ability. The pursuit of organizing the best air demo routine and working your way up the team's inner ranks. It is still somewhat early in the development process for Dancing Wings and CloveTek, but thus far reception for an aerobatic flight game seems to be rather positive with media outlets like 4Gamer even writing about it. I am constantly rooting for flight games that dare to operate outside of the well-defined trends set by the Ace Combats and Microsoft Flight Simulators of this genre. I look forward to seeing this project continue. Connect with 'Dancing Wings - The Aerobatic Simulator' Bluesky Steam 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 ]

I can’t believe they’re letting me write about this. This is still one of the best mods ever made for any game and the developer’s 26-year grind on it is legendary. It has earned its place as a mandatory add-on for the base X-Wing Alliance game and should be the first thing you download when you reinstall this game for the modern day. Source: https://www.xwaupgrade.com X-Wing Alliance itself is arguably still the pinnacle of the LucasArts X-Wing series. Though perhaps not as strong in the storytelling and atmosphere department as TIE Fighter, it takes X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter and bolts on everything that makes an epic Star Wars space battle complete. With the ability to fly dozens of fully modeled ships from the Star Wars universe during the OT era (The best era. Fight me.), it truly shines in its customization and the ability to effectively pit you and a bunch of your friends in the middle of a fleet battle or a huge multi dozen fighter dog fight through its Flight Simulator feature. Anyone that grew up during the golden age of these LucasArts masterpieces probably lament the loss of their gameplay style as the years went on. To make matters worse, as PC gaming evolved and copyrights were shifted around, it became harder and harder to play these old games. There were no legal alternatives to downloading the game unless you had one of the old CD sets the game originally released on. And God help you if you tried to install it on anything after Windows XP. But as unofficial patches and workarounds were developed, the game was able to be played again, and with the release of the game, patched and functional on GOG and later Steam, we were no longer shackled by an outdated optical storage medium. A little extra background is probably in order. It would behoove anyone that has PC to attempt playing any one of the X-Wing series games. They’re a lesson in non-Newtonian, energy management flight game design that stands as a benchmark to space sim development to this day. It is actually quite easy to pick up and it is one of the few series I think can be played without throttle control successfully and in some cases ideally with easy throttle and weapons selection hotkeys. Mission design is varied, but straightforward and feels faithful to the elegant simplicity of the Star Wars universe. This control scheme carries over from game to game. I actually sort of lament the fact that Star Wars Squadrons didn’t bring forward the default rudder-to-roll/bank-to-yaw control set since it would have been a contemporary translation to the X-Wing Series for the modern day. But if you play the game today, you quickly realize how much it’s graphics have aged. X-Wing Alliance came off of a legacy of DOS-rendered low polygon counts and Gourad shading, and there was clearly a desire to keep the game as accessible as possible for lower powered computers. With today’s 4K HDR, CUDA-cored, Ryzen fueled desktops, the graphics are perhaps not as engaging as they once were. But pop XWA Upgrade on, and… WOW. Look, it’s not Squadrons, but it’s solid . The rough angles and simple textures are gone. Replaced by beveling and real shading. I can only let the game speak for itself: https://www.xwaupgrade.com/renders/videos/TieAvenger_DTM_1_1.mp4 https://www.xwaupgrade.com/renders/videos/TieDefender_DTM_1_1.mp4 https://www.xwaupgrade.com/renders/videos/x-wing_5_01.mp4 This upgrade’s goals were FAR reaching. This was not just an in-engine upgrade. The team went so far as to upgrade every tiny part of the game. Just about every in-game menu, navigation map, and animation has been upscaled and reanimated to fit a modern aspect ratio and resolution. Praise also needs to be laid on the installation process; just about every little thing is accounted for with a set of quality-of-life tools like the Craft Manager that lets you customize the paint schemes and models used for ships in the game. Or Babu Frik’s configurator, which can apply a series of hacks to customize the game’s rendering and effects to better tune for a modern computer. Wait… What’s that? Track-IR? ****ing VR?! Yep. We’ve already brought this into the 21 st  century. But it’s not exactly a default option, and you may need to get hooks installed to make it work. I wish I could review this part of the game, but I was unable to get my VR headset to work for this review, though it does state it works with SteamVR so it should have wide compatibility, regardless of my own PSVR2 hackyness. But wait, there’s more! It’s not compatible with the 2024 version, but the XWA Upgrade acts as the building blocks of just about any modern XWA modification, including the outstanding TIE Fighter Total Conversion mod, which brings the entirety of the TIE Fighter Campaign into the game near flawlessly. And they’re STILL going at it. This mod is still in development. With their well-outlined goal of updating every model the game presents. They’ve even given a bonus of adding a new ship here or there, including the U-Wing and the VCX-100 freighter. It’s so refreshing to be able to gush about something that’s still this great and accessible. With X-Wing Alliance fully available on GOG and Steam, I insist that anyone with even a passing interest in the Star Wars universe treat themselves to this gem. 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 .

It has been a long time since I was so pleased to be catching a red eye flight. Leaving at 3:00 AM on a Thursday with nothing but a splash of coffee the TSA would not let me keep anyway. Knowing I would be airborne before the sun was fully up. It was a rare time to feel as determined as I was. As excited as I still am even after coming home. That is how you know it was Flight Sim Expo (FSE) weekend. I do not want to sound overly dramatic and call it life changing but life certainly feels different after I attend each expo. For those that do not know, Flight Sim Expo is one of the world’s largest flight simulation conventions. Produced by the Flight Simulation Association (FSA), the expo is a community-driven organization of developers, simmers, and real-world pilots working to make it easier to get started in home flight simulation. Skyward Flight Media has covered Flight Sim Expo since 2021 as an official Media Partner. This year FSE happened between June 27th to 29th, 2025. Traveling to Rhode Island As FSE changes cities annually, traveling to the event naturally means traveling to new parts of the United States of America. Speaking for myself, this is a rare time for me to go to parts of the country I would normally not even consider going to. The wanderlust is very real during and after FSE travel. In my opinion you have to fly to the expo to get the "full experience". My traveling started on June 26th from Denver International Airport. While waiting for a connecting flight at Chicago Midway International Airport, I had to make not of its SBD-4 Dauntless which was recovered from Lake Michigan after it was lost during aircraft carrier qualifications during World War II. Read an article about that here .  Landing in Providence, Rhode Island, the adventure to the expo immediately began with a helpful heads up from the official Flight Sim Association Discord . Throughout each expo there are many channels related to the event for official announcements and for attendees and exhibitors to coordinate. My early arrival worked out unexpectedly well with FSA staff on site at Rhode Island Convention Center letting pre-registered attendees and media partners pick up their badges early. With the wait in line on Friday effectively skipped, Thursday could not have gone any better. I strongly recommend arriving at least a day early for ease of travel. This convention center was quite a choice for the expo this year. It is located in the middle of an area densely populated with a wide range of shops and restaurants. The convention center was connected directly to Omni Hotel - the primary hotel for FSE - and in turn the hotel was connected to the multi-floor Providence Place mall. Attendees were able to walk from convention to hotel to mall without ever leaving the comfort of indoors. Everything else in the area was also easy to access with a maximum of a 20-minute walk through a somewhat busy but accessible urban area. As far as venue selection goes, this may have been one of the most accessible and versatile locations this event has been hosted at yet.  FS Friday June 27th. The all-important Friday session of Flight Sim Expo 2025. So important this day alone has its own hashtag on social media, #FSExpoFriday . This is the primary day for product reveals and announcements. Friday is arguably the most important day of the expo for those that did not attend in person and the flight simulation community writ large. This day earns the title of “the biggest stage in flight sim”. Though the presentation did not start until 1:00 PM, in person registration was open by 9:00 AM. I observed attendees gathering as early as 8:00 AM regardless. The initial meetings of flight simulation enthusiasts started while the companies in the exhibition hall on the second level assembled their booths in private. Throughout the day they casually filled the cavernous ballroom in the third level. Within just 15 minutes this ballroom would be flooded by people eager for the first event of the expo to begin. It was impressive to watch the steady stream of people enter the ballroom. These presentations came from Parallel 42, Altimeter Motives, Contrail, FeelThere, FliteSim.com, Fly With AI, FlyShirley, FSS, Grinnelli Designs, Honeycomb Aeronautical, iniBuilds, Meridian GMT, Navigraph, SayIntentions.AI, SoFly, VA Systems, WINWING, and X-Plane.  The Flight Sim Association broadcasted all of Friday's presentation free for all to see. For the full experience I do recommend watching it in its entirety. However, if you are looking for bullet points and screenshots, I would suggest checking out the write up by our buddy Shamrock over at Stormbirds blog. Immediately after the announcements all attendees exited the exhibition hall to find four bars serving complimentary alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. Each convention goer had tickets attached to their expo badges for this from the start. After a few hours of product reveals with quick breaks, being able to fully discuss everything that was seen and get to know the fellow attendees with no need to run off to another presentation. It was a nice way to end the first day of the expo. It is also the start of a common practice anyone can do throughout the entire weekend. If you find yourself uncomfortable in starting up conversations, simply ask someone what they fly or where they fly and you'll be given more answers than you were expecting! Haha! Be Willing to Try This is a part of the experience that I strongly encourage others to participate in when they are at Flight Sim Expo. Each exhibitor and sponsor put forward their very best with the hopes that visitors will not only pick up their product and look at it closely or jump into a sim pit and fly an aircraft they may have never touched before. The entire point is to be as hands on and immersed as possible. The exhibitors do not expect every person that tries their products to be professional simmers able to land a Learjet on a postage stamp. They are approachable, patient and are more than willing to walk people through new experiences. I certainly have been guilty of harshly slamming down a wide body airliner, being guided through avionics I may not always interact with in my own sim flying and gingerly feeling my way around flight models of civilian helicopters. Trying something new with varying degrees of success with no tangible "punishment" are some of the best moments of the expo for me personally. Exhibition Hall June 28th and 29th. Despite the formal request of Flight Sim Association staff to not create too much of a large crowd before the doors opened on Saturday and Sunday, excited attendees gathered as early as 8:30 AM regardless. Frankly, it is hard to fault them for that. There were no incidents of anyone being hurt by overcrowding or trampling, but the presence of a constant audible buzz throughout the hall put the number of people in the hall into perspective. This was not a gathering of quiet consumers formally observing display pieces. This was hundreds of eager, actively engaged flight simulation enthusiasts among their peers, manufacturers and developers with access to the latest hardware, new simulated aircraft and other industry leading products. The excitement and interaction were consistent and palpable. Exhibitor Experiences There were dozens of hardware manufacturers, software developers, online communities, aviation training companies, media outlets and real-world aviation companies in attendance. See the full list along with their floorplan and web links here . While I visited many of them and had all sorts of conversations, being there as a one-man crew means I was not able to cover them all in heavy detail. That being said, I recommend checking out the many creators that also covered the event live from the show floor. You'll be able to see many of the booths with media about them in varying details. For Skyward Flight Media, here are some of our notable experiences from the floor: Aerovector Jet Team A very cool part of the Thrustmaster booth this year - aside from it being so large they even had their own workshops and AMA sessions - was the presence of the Aerovector Jet Team . This Thrustmaster sponsored air demonstration team is known for their close formations during flight with their exclusive T-7 Red Hawk mod for Digital Combat Simulator. Besides providing material for the FSE opening video, their members Hornet, Logic, Scheldon and Skittle were attending in person at the Thrustmaster booth. Throughout the weekend they assisted expo attendees checking out the simulators and even offered a very rare chance to fly their T-7 without being a member of the team on Sunday, June 29th. I had a great time being able to meet them in person, talk with them about the team and getting my own flight stick time with the T-7 with their assistance. It was great having a virtual demo team represented in person at an event like this. It gave a chance for everyday people to ask questions both about aerobatics and doing them in a flight simulator. Paralell 42 x Patriot Aircraft Parallel 42 (stylized as //42) teamed up with Patriot Aircraft USA to provide one heck-of-a-booth. //42 is well known for its detailed scenery and bush flight aircraft. Their amazing booth this year featured the real Patriot Aircraft Super Patriot Mark II alongside the still in development version of that aircraft to be released in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. The aircraft was disassembled then reassembled in the exhibition hall with fake grass and a camp ground with hammock around it. //42 staff members guided people in and around the aircraft, while offering them the chance to also view the aircraft in a MSFS build as it sat on the ground. In my eyes, this booth forever cemented Parallel 42 as a die-hard house for bush flying. Seems like I'll be joining Club 42 soon. Combat Pilot Speaking for myself on this one, this project has had my passive interest since interviews and developer diaries about it started appearing in 2023. Though my own experience with any of the IL-2 series titles is quite limited, others in the Skyward staff are well versed. Combat Pilot represents an effort that could be a massive shift in the World War II flight simulation genre. When you put it in perspective that the IL-2 series has largely dominated the space for nearly 20 years, hearing that Jason Williams, who is well known to be a part of that legacy, has struck out on his own with a new team and a new direction. Entropy.Aero , the developer of Combat Pilot, focusing on the Pacific Theater of Operations in World War II is quite a first step. With this not being a frequent setting in these types of simulators, that alone is an immediate draw. At FSE 2024, Combat Pilot presented its Carrier Qualification scenario. It had an F4F-4 Wildcat and A6M2 Model 21 Zero with incomplete cockpits and early representations of the IJN Akagi and USS Enterprise aircraft carriers. At FSE 2025 these aircraft had more refined cockpits, the aircraft carriers had arresting cables, Midway Island is represented in more detail. With no prior experience with this title, Jason guided me through taking off from Midway, performing aerobatics, feeling out the still work in progress flight model, land on an aircraft carrier and taking off again. I have an even deeper interest in Combat Pilot now with a few questions I hope to have answered in the near future. MOZA This well-established racing sim company made a massive move at FSE 2025. During their presentation on FS Friday, MOZA introduced the AB6 Force Feed Back Flight Base & MHG Flightstick, MTQ Throttle Quadrant, MRP Rudder Pedals and FMP18 Front Panel. With this their in-house flight sim ecosystem was both ready to ordered and ready to be tested in-person, live at the expo. On Saturday and Sunday MOZA had tables of all flight related hardware with sim pits full of their hardware ready to try on major flight simulators. Skyward Flight Media has been watching MOZA's development somewhat closely, this was our first time getting hands on with their products. While it is easy to put a company "in a box" because of its main series of products (i.e. what is a racing company doing making flight gear?) the modularity and build quality of the MOZA equipment has improved greatly since a few of the initial reviews of hardware seen on YouTube quite some time ago. The diversity of manufacturers for flight simulation equipment these days has been beneficial overall to the entire industry in my eyes. MOZA is firmly a part of this. Geo FS A simulator that I remember in passing but somehow have not given a serious try myself. I recall them being a near constant presence at past Flight Sim Expos. Geo FS describes itself as a "free-to-play flight simulator on web and mobile with global satellite images. Accessible and affordable, Geo FS caters for beginners, aces or VFR practice." The flight model is described as "complete enough to deliver a realistic flight simulation experience. More than just a game, Geo FS is a real flight simulator." Each year I have seen the Geo FS booth, it is one of the most lightweight, least complex booth setups while providing access to a rather robust free to play flight simulator. Each time I was at the booth it had a wide age range of people trying out more than 30 types of aircraft. From younger people who are throwing around aircraft to feel out the flight model to some clear flight simulation veterans looking into the finer details of what this platform can provide. I have had the pleasure of meeting Xavier Tassin - the founder and solo developer of the platform - at least twice at Flight Sim Expo through casually socializing. With Skyward staff members looking at July 2025 as a month of increased glider / sail plane activity, it seems that our first detailed experience with this simulator will be with the Alisport Silent 2 Electro motor glider. More on that soon. Grinnelli Designs I am going to open by saying this should have won the Best Booth Award for the expo. Grinnelli Designs (GD) let everyone fly their crown jewel: the F-100D Super Sabre. The heart of their booth was a full sim rig with virtual reality headset running the development build of the module. The Project High Wire version of the Super Sabre features many system upgrades for this airframe at the time it was in service, though its Radar Homing and Warning equipment is the most prominent feature DCS World players will notice. I had quite the time with the team and the F-100D. So much so I have a separate article planned to get into finer details. While gushing about the Super Sabre alone is possible, it is hard to ignore the time period appropriate inspired design of the booth. Even from across the exhibition hall their booth commanded attention. A camouflaged tent with IR missiles, black couches, museum pieces, an electric guitar with southeast asia livery, themed T-shirts, matching staff uniforms, etc. The passion of the GD team was forefront. It is great to hear that they are interested in attending Flight Sim Expo 2026. Exosky Exosky by Elevons was the only indie flight game developer at FSE 2025 with a booth. We have discussed this game on Skyward before, but this was my first time meeting the developer in person. Jordan from Elevons had a few setups showing various ways Exosky could be played with a flight challenge for people to compete and win a copy of the game. The booth had some pretty great visual materials with it including a human-sized banner and an amazingly large 3D printed Crucian drone - an original aircraft from the game. I hope he paints it someday. Notably, Exosky was presented on the FS Elite stage with its developer talking about how the game was made and some tips to make game development a bit easier with the assistance of AI, but not reliance on AI. It was great to have more small team projects and smaller games/simulators represented at such a massive event. I hope next year a few more will show up to continue spreading awareness and showing variety to this type of audience. As a side note, Exosky recently published a post-FSE update based on direct feedback provided by attendees. This feedback helped the developer pin down a flight model issue that has now resulted in a physics update. I can feel my heart beating with joy over this. Yawman Something occurred to me while visiting the Yawman team for the first time in two years. Despite how much I use the Yawman Arrow flight controller for various things, I hardly mention it in articles. As mentioned in our launch review , the Arrow is in fact versatile enough to be used in flight games far beyond Microsoft Flight Simulator. A brief catch up with their team turned into an interesting conversation about feedback from their customers, how they have handled new or known problems, running the Arrow controller on the Steam Deck with XPlane 12 and a few other things. In fact we spoke so much I am fairly certain I forgot to take pictures. In 2025 I am hoping to follow up with the team for a "one year later interview" on the Arrow, how the company is doing and a few rather interesting moves from Honeycomb and Meridian GMT that seem to have only been made possible after Yawman's endeavor. Pilot Power Now this was an eye catcher and a head scratcher. Pilot Power is an in-development hardware system that aims to incorporate exercise into flight games. For everyone attending Flight Sim Expo, the sight of a television bending forwards and backwards in an upright work out station was certainly head turning. Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown was used as an example to have players control aircraft pitch and roll by manually pushing, pulling and tilting the device as a part of physical exercise. It was interesting to see a product so early in development at FSE 2025, though the team behind Pilot Power received quite a bit of design feedback and ideas for improvements. I feel like normally a product like this might immediately be pigeonholed into a certain sub-set of flight games or it may be price compromised because it would rely on hardware from third parties. Fortunately, their team has an electrical engineer on board, meaning that their design can be refined in house. Pilot Power staff took in a lot of feedback. While I did not ask how there expo experience was, the semi-steady flow of onlookers arriving to get hands on with this aviation exercise equipment show that they caught the imagination of a decent chunk of the demographic. Altimeter Motives Building a full home cockpit is always something I feel like I draw a hard red line at. I love flight simulation, but when I think about dedicating an entire room in my home to this it becomes harder to explain. This is why while I prefer using more advanced flight gear, I do require them to attach to things like desk mounts. So they can be attached and detached when needed. Altimeter Motives somewhat falls into my orbit of interest because while it definitely is a manufacturer of physical panels of flight instruments, these panels clip onto flatscreens which then project the information for the physical panels via a specific software manager. The panels are built to match the cockpits of various types of aircraft. This is probably one of the most accessible ways for people to delve into home cockpit building while still maintaining some type of flexibility. Winwing It is hard to not call Winwing one of the superstars of this expo. Founded in 2013, Winwing has made a ton of progress over a decade. In recent years their new lines of combat flight simulation and now General Aviation flight simulation equipment receive high praise. And I do mean this literally - if Winwing has an on-stage presentation on FS Friday there will be literal cheering. The Winwing booth at FSE 2025 provided a wide array of their flight simulation hardware openly available for attendees to interact with. Attendees could pick up all the hardware, press every button and even be guided through various devices by Winwing staff. Of special note is their force feedback lines of products for both combat flight sticks and now their somewhat immaculate force feedback systems for GA. The recent affordability and accessibility of force feedback technology is something Winwing is leading for sure. A big highlight of their booth was three full size flight simulators. An airliner simulator featuring almost all of their GA equipment and two combat focused flight simulators. The flight simulators were running Digital Combat Simulator all weekend. DCS content creator Bogey Dope was managing the F-16C 'Viper' focused simulator with Eagle Dynamics Community Manager NineLine managing the a simulator with the developer build of the full fidelity MiG-29A Fulcrum . At first it was surprising to me to find the Fulcrum seemingly so far along in development at FSE 2025, but in hindsight the full fidelity module was announced back in March 22nd, 2024. Being able to fly a third unreleased aircraft for DCS World was an unexpected, but amazing feeling. Traveling Home Even the end of Flight Sim Expo 2025 continued to be dotted by aviation. While traveling home from the expo on June 30th, I met other attendees leaving the expo in the airport. One of them being Lt. Col. Lindsey Jackson of the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) who is a part of coordinating organizations like CAP to have members attend FSE events to get their members to experience the expo while increasing public awareness of the CAP. During a connecting flight halfway home, Baltimore Washington International Airport gave me one last taste of interesting aviation in the form of a Nieuport 11 placed outside the aviation themed "The Firkin and The Flyer" restaurant. After landing back at Denver International Airport my journey was over, my mind was racing and the amount of content I had to aggregate was... overwhelming. It took quite a bit of time to produce this piece. Partially because of the volume of content, partially because of following up on the many contacts we made. Once again Flight Sim Expo proved itself to be a bit of a must attend event for those interested in any type of flight simulation. My heartbreak over missing 2024 has been healed by attending 2025, I suppose. With Flight Sim Expo 2026 now confirmed to be in Minneapolis, Minnesota on June 12th through June 14th, 2026 , I find myself already looking at travel routes and landmarks in the city.   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 .

There’s still time to attend one of the world’s biggest gatherings of flight simmers! Find great travel deals and register to attend at flightsimexpo.com . Flight Simulation Association recently shared the final list of 2025 partners, which includes more than 90 flight simulation and aviation organizations. From high-profile hardware developers to the biggest aircraft and scenery designers in the flight sim world, FlightSimExpo brings together flight simulation and aviation training organizations of all sizes. See the full list of 2025 partners or explore the event’s interactive virtual floorplan . The floorplan features three stages, workshop areas, and more! Alongside 70+ exhibitors, the 2025 floorplan features three stages with content from developers, content creators, pilots, aeronautical engineers, and more. Attendees can relax with their favorite Twitch and YouTube streamers in the 2025 Media Partner Lounge, sponsored by FSElite, MrSquirrelLee, and Slant Alpha Adventures. FlightSimExpo participants also get access to hands-on workshops and interactive demos of cockpit building, aircraft and scenery design, interaction with online ATC, and much more. New for 2025, Exhibitors and Sponsors are invited to The Exhibitors Lounge, sponsored by Parallel 42. Exhibitor and Sponsor delegates enjoy refreshments and snacks throughout the weekend, along with a quiet place to relax and network with fellow developers. Exhibitors and Sponsors also have exclusive access to the FlightSimExpo Developer Conference, happening on Thursday, June 26. “FSElite is proud to support the third annual FlightSimExpo Developer Conference,” said Calum Martin, Content Director at FSElite. “FlightSimExpo is the world’s biggest gathering of flight sim developers, and we’ve made Thursday a safe space for developers, publishers, and hardware makers to share ideas and network around ideas and how their businesses can work together to support flight simmers.” The biggest stage in flight sim returns on Friday, June 27, 2025. #FSExpoFriday will feature announcements from more than 25 developers! The full lineup includes names like Parallel 42, Contrail, FeelThere, FSS, Grinnelli Designs, Honeycomb Aeronautical, iniBuilds, Navigraph, SayIntentions.AI, SoFly, VA Systems, WINWING, X-Plane, and more. Available for in-person attendees and simulcast globally on YouTube, announcements begin at 1:00pm ET (1700 UTC) on Friday, June 27. “Being in the room when some of the biggest names in flight sim are dropping new products on stage is a totally unique experience,” said Sean Doyle, a FlightSimExpo attendee and volunteer who will be at the show for the 6th time this year. “We’ve worked hard to make FSExpo into a place where the biggest news of the year comes out, and I’m looking forward to seeing what developers have in store for us this year.” Example of partners and sponsors. Enhance the event with Addon Experiences. FlightSimExpo 2025 is a three-day, action-packed show featuring developer announcements, hands-on workshops, exhibits, panel discussions, and community-inspired seminars. Alongside the event itself, attendees can book Addon Experiences happening before, during, and after FlightSimExpo to enhance their trip to Providence. These options include planespotting trips, a laugh-filled bus tour of the city, aircraft, scenery, and home cockpit building workshops, and X-Rave, a unique celebration where aviation meets electrifying beats on Friday night. Space is limited, and several Addons have deadlines coming up this week. Find details about these free and paid options at flightsimexpo.com/addons . Join FlightSimExpo in Providence FlightSimExpo takes place on June 27-29, 2025 at the Rhode Island Convention Center in downtown Providence, easily accessible by plane, train, and car from around the world. Registration for in-person tickets or livestream access is available at flightsimexpo.com. Attendees are encouraged to book hotel rooms while discounts are still available, and learn about airfare discounts with Delta, Southwest, and United . ### About FlightSimExpo. FlightSimExpo is one of the world’s largest flight simulation conventions. The event has welcomed more than 7,500 attendees to events in Las Vegas, Orlando, San Diego, and Houston 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.

A couple of days ago, I was reminiscing about some of my childhood memories. Many of them are me with my cousins playing in the yard, or going to the beach, but there is one that stands out from the rest. I can vividly recall it, it was me with my PS2 in front of an old CRT staring at an F-4E Phantom taking off from a carrier deck, a scene that belongs to the opening moments of Ace Combat 4. This scene is so burned in my memory that I can recall the small breeze I felt coming from the window and the smell of the food my grandma was cooking at the time. Aside from the oddness of seeing an Air Force model Phantom taking off from a carrier, the profile of the Phantom and its silhouette got engrained in my brain. This wouldn't have happened if the Phantom wasn't the starter aircraft of that game. To me, this memory has shaped a life-long appreciation for the F-4 line and, to a certain degree, other childhood memories shaped the way I perceive other aircraft, such as the F-5E from Ace Combat 5 or even the starter trio (J35J Draken, F-5E and F-1) from Ace Combat Zero, with preference towards the Draken's absolutely gorgeous silhouette. None of these aircraft are the most powerful, quite the opposite. They are some of the weakest, if not the weakest planes in the games. Despite that, it's them whom I look forward to flying every time I start a new playthrough for nostalgia's sake. They all left such a good first impression and impact on me that I just think about them whenever I think of the games, and not the rest of their expansive rosters of aircraft. All of these starter planes have, surprisingly, altered my perception of different aircraft in real life as I have grown up, and that's when I wondered: Am I alone in this? How has this phenomenon affected others that grew up with the newer games? The starter aircraft has changed quite a bit ever since the days of the PS2, with the new mainstay being the F-16C ever since Ace Combat 6. That's for mainline games, that is. Source: Acepedia Back in the PS2 days, the Viper used to be an early to mid-game unlock, an upgrade from your starter. Now that it serves the role of a starter aircraft, many of the older aircraft that used to be on that spot have been sort of relegated to secondary roles, sometimes in the form of DLC like the F-4E was to AC7, or even omitted completely from the games like the F-5E has been for the past two mainline entries. This brings me to a very weird question: do the kids that are growing with Ace Combat 7 as their childhood game now see the F-16C like I see the F-4E? This, surprisingly, mirrors some aspects of real life aviation and the inevitability of aircraft being retired, which leads to them being somewhat removed from the public eye and public culture. Source: Acepedia They get relegated to museums where people see them as pieces of history, even though for most "modern" aircraft in the museums there are still those out there that remember them flying over their houses during parades or even those that worked with them and flew them, which is the case for many Phantom pilots out there that served with the aircraft. Nowadays, kids out there imagine F-16s when they think of the USAF or even other air forces that primarily operate the type. But if you ask people from other generations, they might say that they remember the USAF Phantoms, be it because they lived near a base or even because they remember them back from the Vietnam-war footage they saw on their TVs as kids or teens. These generational changes in perception are natural, but I still find it interesting how well they parallel my feelings on the Ace Combat starter aircraft and their impact on my aviation journey. Source: Acepedia Always remember those starters and trainers fondly, because sometimes those early wings are the ones that lift you up the most into brighter skies. 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

The Developers Look Back on the Series’ Early Days Original : 29-06-2020 Update : 07-02-2025 Preface Preface by Taskforce 23 Skyward Flight Media On April 14, 2019, GameSpark published an interview with Jun Omura and Hisaharu Tago who developed Air Combat 22, which is considered to be one of the predecessors to the Ace Combat series. The two also were involved in the development of Ace Combat 7, with Omura as the Development Producer and Tago as the VR Director and a Creative Director for the DLC missions as well. In the interview, the two talked about the Air Combat and Air Combat 22 arcade cabinet games as well as the connections to the rest of the Ace Combat series, so i thought it would be neat if I translated and published this for Ace Combat's 25th anniversary as a way of reflecting back on the roots of the series. It's a pretty lengthy article but it's a very good read. Up until now, detailed accounts regarding the genesis of ideas for the early Ace Combat games (including the arcade titles) have been nonexistent at times, and when players tried to look back on the origins, they couldn’t figure out the starting point. With this interview, there was the huge discovery that the current Ace Combat’s “Hero Experience” had been incorporated [into these games] since the first “Air Combat.”   Additionally, there were discussions about “Ace Combat” and “Air Combat 22,” the connection to “7,” as well as the arcade scene in the 90s, and resulted in an important interview that offers a glimpse of how things were like back in the day. Link to original article: https://www.gamespark.jp/article/2019/04/14/88931_3.html Note: The "Air Combat" that is talked about in the article refers to the Namco arcade cabinet game released in 1992, and not the first Ace Combat game (because the first AC title was actually called "Ace Combat" in Japan). Note 2: Because this was published in April 2019, some of the talking points related to Ace Combat 7 are dated. For example, it talks about upcoming DLC, but this refers to downloadable content that has already been released for Ace Combat 7. GameSpark Article Original Article by Suzuki G. Translation by Taskforce 23 In order to understand the origin of Ace Combat, I listened to Jun Omura and Hisaharu Tago, who were involved in the development of Air Combat 22, a predecessor to the series. The two were also involved in the development of the newest title, Ace Combat 7. Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown, a flight shooter that was released on January 17, 2019 for consoles. It’s well known that the Ace Combat series was developed based on the Namco arcade game “Air Combat,” but concepts regarding its predecessor have not been made clear until now.   For this interview, I asked questions to the development staff of Air Combat 22 (“22” from here after), a game that began operations in March of 1995 and one of the predecessors to Ace Combat, in order to have an even deeper understanding of the series (including the latest title). They are Jun Omura, Director of “22” (Development Producer for Ace Combat 7), and Hisaharu Tago (Ace Combat 7’s VR Mode Director and currently DLC Director for 7).   This has become a precious interview that not only covers the accounts of “Air Combat” and “Air Combat 22”s birth, but other topics such as the arcade game situation of the mid-90s as seen through the eyes of these developers and connections to the latest title, Ace Combat 7. The content spans multiple pages as a result, but please by all means, read all the way through it. The beginnings of “Air Combat 22” and “Virtual Reality” of the 90s   --Thank you for providing this valuable opportunity today. I look forward to working with you [on this interview]. Could you first introduce yourselves?   Omura:  I am Jun Omura, and joined Namco in 1993 after graduating from school. I worked on development of several medium/large cabinet arcade games, and “Air Combat 22” was the first one I was given the lead on.   I always liked airplanes, and just when I was appealing, “I want to make a game for plane lovers!” there was talk of making a sequel to the first “Air Combat” (the first “Air”) arcade game, and that led me to participating in the development of “22.”   After that, I transferred to making household games such as MotoGP, Death by Degrees, Soul Calibur III, and The Idolmaster series.   I mostly did support work for projects after those titles, but for the Ace Combat series, I was involved in Infinity and 7, the latest title. For 7, I was the development producer Jun Omura Tago:  I joined the company a year after Omura in 1994. Unlike Omura I told my supervisor “I’m a military fan!” rather than “I like planes.” Then he told me “I have the perfect spot for you!” and the place he led me to was “22” where Omura was at…  At the time it was called “Air Combat II” and I was kind of asked to be involved, so I joined. However, arcade game development was really fast back then, and the scope was small enough that we were able to complete the game with a small number of people within a year. Hisaharu Tago Omura:  Yes, the team was small and there was less content compared to games today (regarding scope of development).   Tago:  (When I was participating in its development) we were bustling about changing circuit boards, and we were upgrading from SYSTEM 22 to the newest SYSTEM SUPER 22 at the time. We didn’t have a lot of resources for making [assets] so we used the text editor Emacs to look at internal data, played the game and made adjustments, and learned the contents in the specification document.   At the time we had other product lines (development stages), but this “P2” written in the specification document for “22” represents the final step before mass production, and it is where we put in final touches.   It was unusual for people to come up with thick specification documents at that stage. Usually people would write as much as they could in a “Final Specification Document” as the last reference document before they got put into the company archives.   *SYSTEM 22: Namco’s arcade system board that made texture mapping possible. Used for Ridge Racer and Cyber Command. *SYSTEM SUPER 22: An arcade system board that added 2D scaling. Used for Air Combat 22 and Time Crisis.   Omura:  We had a senior member within the “22” development team that was also a programmer, and I remember him saying “Development is based on the specification document, so let’s write the best we can!” I remember learning about a lot of things while writing [the specification document].   Tago:  [That senior member] was a person with large ambitions and made lots of things, and was even kind enough to create the “rapid-fire missile mode” which was sort of a secret feature for the game (laughs).   Also we had Hiroyuki Kawada as part of the sound staff for “22.” He’s known for writing music for the space shooting game Star Luster in the past.   Omura: Though we called it a project back then, it was a really small-scale development effort compared to today.   Tago:  In Namco’s arcade development [process], you would first go to the “Development Design Group” that was in Yokohama’s Kohoku ward at the time and develop the hardware design and mechanical aspects, then go to the YCC (Yokohama Creative Center) that was in the Kanagawa ward at the time to develop the software.   Regarding software, we had 9 people in a single room develop it. We entrusted the visual assets to an outside group, which was around 3 people. Compared to the development of the latest title Ace Combat 7, we were like ants and very small in number. It’s pretty amazing now when you think about it.   --I see, so it was called “Air Combat II” at the time. Also I noticed that on the cover of this proposal document there is a section for a “VR General Manager,” but what was the meaning behind this?   Tago:  Medium/large arcade cabinets are games that are based on hands-on experience/sensation, so in order to connect that to virtual reality, Namco at the time named it the “Main VR Development Group” rather ambitiously. At least that’s what I was told by my supervisor (laughs). I don’t know if that’s true or not though (laughs).   Omura:  Back then the word “Virtual Reality” was praised extravagantly, so that group was named like that to show they were proactively developing a VR game.   Tago:  In those days, other game studios had several game titles with the word “virtual” incorporated into them. Remember, 3-4 years before we joined, Namco released “Galaxian 3.”   “A preface to VR” was written on the cover for the pamphlet at the time. In general, any game that was a hands-on experience/sensation type was listed as VR, and the company seemed to be aware of that enterprise. However, we as developers weren’t able to reach  that [level of immersion] and thought “that name is really stretching it.” If anything, we used the name “Development and Planning Group” since we were a subordinate organization and were still affiliated as such. Omura:  I had times where I submitted a proposal and was told “You can’t do that because this isn’t virtual reality!”   Tago:  In today’s “virtual reality” with the HMD goggles, it mainly relies on the experience/sensation of the player’s visual perception, but back then we were trying to present that in a different manner.   Omura:  For 3DCG, we initially only had polygons, but we were then able to add textures to those polygons during the mid-90s, increasing the realism and sense of immersion. It really was a time when "virtual reality" was of great interest to the public.   Tago:  Additionally for “22,” we upgraded the circuit board from SYSTEM 22 to SYSTEM SUPER 22, so although there wasn’t too much of a change in the polygon count, we were able to expand on how things were presented.   Specifically, when we went to SUPER 22, the 2D aspects were enhanced. Since we could paste sprites instead of making polygons for the various gauges, we were able to better allocate things represented with polygons in the game.   --In February 2019, I actually headed to Kurihashi Round1 Stadium in Saitama where it has the only confirmed working “Air Combat” cabinet in the Kanto region and played both titles. I was then able to play it, but why was a SD cabinet version for “22” never developed?   Tago:  Actually, SYSTEM SUPER 22 wouldn’t fit in the SD cabinet. That’s why it was only on the DX cabinet.   Omura:  From a legal perspective (electronic safety law), we weren’t allowed to put it in the [SD cabinet] without passing tests.   Tago:  The board for SYSTEM SUPER 22 was split into 4 pieces, but the noise from the flat cables connecting the circuit boards were bad… So “22” wasn’t able to fit in the SD cabinet. Also the DX cabinet cost a lot, so we weren’t able to push out that many copies of “22”...    --How much did the DX cabinet cost?   Omura:  This DX cabinet was from the first “Air” so I wasn’t involved in the design of the cabinet, but it was a sophisticated design that felt authentic and was great.   Tago:  It never got boring no matter how many times we debugged it. I remember exclaiming “Why can’t we press this button (on the panel) !?” (laughs)   According to stories told by those who designed the hardware, the DX cabinet for the first “Air” used expensive molded parts everywhere, especially the front panel, so it had quite the high cost. Due to the problem of this high cost, we planned on modifying existing DX cabinets with stickers and other things for “22.”   *Author’s note: The skiing game Alpine Racer was known for its expensive cabinet in its day, and Air Combat’s DX cabinets supposedly came close in terms of cost   Omura:  There are stickers on the large displays of these DX cabinets to change them cosmetically for “22,” but the triple tube rear projection monitor was a generic product so these were cheaper due to economies of scale.   Tago:  In general, from the highest cost it was: Cabinet -> Cabinet cosmetics (exterior molded parts) -> Light-up sign -> Display. Additionally if it was one of the motion cabinets, the base that the cabinet sat on had to be strengthened so that increased the cost even more. Pretty nostalgic topic.   --I’m surprised that the display was cheaper! Have you also heard any details of the birth of “Air Combat,” the predecessor to the Ace Combat series?   Omura:  If you’re a regular middle school or high school boy, you naturally admire fighter pilots, and if you see something like “Top Gun,” you get passionate even if you don’t think about fighter jets on a regular basis right?   In that sense, it seems the people who proposed the first “Air” at the time thought, “if we release a game with a fighter jet theme, they’ll definitely love it and play it!” Tago:  Things become clear if you read the proposal plan for the first “Air,” but it says “The game will be presented in a way to make the player feel like a hero,” and is just basically the concept of the current Ace Combat. Portion of the proposal document. Omura:  Additionally, the proposal for the cabinet at the time prioritized the sensation of “sitting in a real fighter jet,” so it imitated the shape of a cockpit and look of a fighter, but that concept was polished and what resulted was the DX cabinet.   Tago:  A senior member told me this back then, but the first concept that resembled the nose of a fighter jet would be too expensive if molded parts and cosmetics were incorporated, so they ended up removing those. Personally, I think a DX cabinet that only had the cockpit area would be cooler than the first proposal.    I also heard that they were looking at including motion of the cabinet itself. However this would again lead to high costs so the result of them cutting down various parts resulted in the final DX cabinet. Also I remember them doing checks for a connected “Air Combat” versus mode.   Omura:  It wasn’t “22” but we used 2 cabinets of the first “Air” and tested a connected versus mode, but due to various reasons it wasn’t able to make it in development.   Tago:  I remember Omura talking about this back in the day, but those connected versus modes were 1v1s so “it resulted in the two chasing after each other’s tails, and it becomes a chore rather than a game.” When I heard this, I had just joined the company and my heart felt it was going to shatter (laughs). I had thoughts like: “I think it would be fun if people could face each other! Games like Final Lap exist!” (laughs).   Omura:  Realistically there were circumstances like, “If we have multiple people vs multiple people there is the possibility that it would be a good game, but if we do that then there’s the circuit board capabilities and selling price...”  Tago:  This is another story I heard, but there were proposals to have rudder pedals in the first “Air” as well. However, the game would become really hard if they did that so they removed it.   Omura:  I think that was the right decision. We didn’t make it as a flight simulator; we developed it as just a shooting game. Plus I don’t think people would know how to use rudder pedals unless they really liked airplanes and were knowledgeable about them.   --I just witnessed the “beginning of history” for the series...I’m really moved! But it does seem like adding rudders to the “Air” game system would have made it even more complicated and difficult.   Tago:  Compared to the first one, “22” definitely is more entertaining. Even when we were playing it, I remember thoroughly investigating fun, entertaining elements [to include].   Omura:  “22” used SYSTEM SUPER 22 so its performance increased to the point 1 frame could have 4000 polygons and we were able to display lots of enemies.   The first “Air” SYSTEM 21 could only render 1000 polygons per frame (both ran at 60 fps) and could barely render you and an enemy plane. There’s a scene where 2 wingmen join in, but we could only do it in limited scenarios, and it ended up into a 1v1 game.   Since we could introduce multiple enemies in “22,” you can introduce strategy in choosing which enemies to shoot down first, and we were able to build that into the game.   Tago:  There were limits on launching missiles though! (laughs)   Omura:  It was the same for the first game too, but I built “22” as a game “where you shoot down planes with your guns.” The enemies release flares to disrupt your missiles, but since missiles automatically chase enemies and shoot them down after locking on and launching, it feels less engaging as a game. So I adjusted it so that people could use their techniques to enjoy the aerial battles and be able to clear the game with just guns. A single specification document connects "Air Combat" to "Ace Combat"   --I see, so it revolves around gun gameplay if you’re skilled! I like it. On another topic, for the end credits for the first Ace Combat game, it lists you guys in the special thanks section, but did you help with its development in some way?   Omura:  For Ace Combat, the CS (console) Development Group reached out saying “We’re making a household game for the PS with a dogfighting theme, so let’s work together!” right when development of “22” was starting.   Additionally, development of “22” was further ahead, so we offered any resources that we could, and helped the development of the first Ace Combat in that manner.   Tago:  [Content-wise] it was a really simple production, on the “what is a flight shooter?” level. We were also at the climax of “22”s development so we weren’t able to oversee too many things, but we passed down some of the know-how through “22”s specification document.   From there, things like “behavior where enemies automatically get within firing range” were naturally incorporated into the first ACE as features. In the end, the director for the first Ace Combat “wanted to include our names” so we checked to see if our names were correct in the end credits.   The CS side was in a different room, so the “22” staff never went into the room and created things directly. This Development Code V150 “Air Combat 22” P2 Specification Document connected “Air Combat” to “Ace Combat,” and is historically important. --The fact that this one specification document connected “Air” and “Ace” makes it very valuable. I can’t believe that I’m laying my eyes upon it right now. By the way, the first “Air Combat” was exhibited at the 1992 AM Show, and then the company’s first “Ridge Racer” (“Ridge” hereafter) began showing up in arcades a year later. At the time, which was more popular?   Omura:  Ridge Racer of course. “Ridge” was a racing game and a large part of that popularity probably had to do with the fact that it had no prerequisite conditions and appealed to a wider customer base (laughs)   Tago:  After that in 1995, we released “Alpine Racer” along with “22” and medium/large cabinets became more geared towards casual players.   Then after that, the direction that games like the horse racing game “Final Furlong” took would finally lead us to games like “Race On!” Taking all those into account, titles like “Air” that are suited to a smaller core demographic are games that “chooses their customers.”   ---In that case, was the income from “22” in those days just average?   Tago:  We had good numbers at our location test. But sorry, I don’t remember the exact numbers since it was so long ago.   Omura:  But it was a game that chose its customers, so it didn’t get played as much as “Ridge.” You have a car in “Ridge” so it's intuitive and easy to drive, but with “Air Combat” people get separated into those who can fly planes and those who cannot. We made it relatively easy to control for “Air,” but in the end those who couldn’t get the controls weren’t able to play it to its full potential.   Tago:  Back then I just joined the company I wasn’t very familiar with game creation, and thought “maybe you just fly the plane normally.” But what surprised me when reading the specification document was that it had detailed measures for the enemies to come closer to the player aircraft, and I was able to learn that “ you can’t fly if you don’t do that.”   My fondness didn’t change, but I was shocked after seeing what goes on in the background and thought “I guess you really have to think through all these things in order to make a game” while reading.   Omura:  It was filled with know-how. I made things myself too and learned a lot of things for the first time.   Tago:  We were pretty astonished. Since the “hero experience/exhilaration of shooting down enemies” that is a staple of the Ace Combat series already existed from the beginning, we thought “What the player wants (now and in the past) aren’t that much different.”   - -Regarding the music, in Ace Combat 3D Cross Rumble, there were arrangements of “22”s “If the Sky is Burnin’ Out!” and “Surrender Me,” but was there a time when the developers asked for your opinion when putting these songs in?   Tago:  That made us really happy. We didn’t directly ask them to put it in, but I was told by someone that joined the company around the same time and was in charge of consoles, “We put it in!” and “We were able to put it in!”   Omura:  Kazuhiro Nakamura composed them for us, who was in charge of sound at the time. Personally, they’re my favorite compositions. It just sounds so cool and makes you burn up whenever you hear it, and I love it!   Tago:  Rock fits well with “Air Combat” doesn’t it? (laughs)   Omura:  There were movies like “Top Gun,” so I requested the sound lead to give it a rock feel. I liked how the movie Street of Fire ended so I asked them “Please have rock music for the ending song!” for “22,” but that was rejected (laughs).   Tago:  And then he kept on saying “Rock! I want rock!” I wanted a more mellow way of ending so I fully supported the sound lead’s decision (laughs).   Omura:  My thinking was that I wanted [the player] to still feel like they were on fire as they left the cabinet and I didn't want to suppress that feeling by ending in a mellow way, but I listened to the views of other people and finally chose to end it so that it left a lingering memory (laughs).   --I see, ”22”s music had those kinds of implications behind them! Also, if there were any reactions or reviews by users back then that left an impression on you, I would like to hear them.   Tago:  One thing that I will say is that reviews back then wouldn’t be sent directly to us. Correspondence from customers were screened before coming to us, and it wasn’t like today where you can search for the customers’ raw and unfiltered voices on the internet.   Of course those with the energy to write reviews generally praised it, so we gratefully read them. With Twitter, I felt like we finally noticed what people really thought when we saw things like “22” nostalgia posts that say “that advanced mode where you went for gun kills was hard.”   Omura:  I’m the same as well. Unlike today, the customer’s voice had a hard time reaching us back then. When we exhibited it at a business-oriented game show, we had people from game magazines go “This is amazing!” and praised it, so that made us happy.   From what I remember from watching customers at game centers, those who knew the mechanism of planes like how you climb by pulling the stick back and dive by pushing the stick down didn’t feel out of place controlling it. However, it’s alien to those who don’t, so I realized we should have put in a feature where you could invert the stick controls from the beginning.   Tago:  I remember you talking about it! It was just like you described.   Omura:  Regarding that bit, I think there were a lot of people that got stuck by that gameplay-wise. It’s a bit late, but it definitely was a point of contrition.   --I can definitely understand that. When I first played Ace Combat, it took me a while to understand that pushing the up arrow would make you dive and pushing the down arrow would make you climb. It was an element that was hard to understand until I realized the mechanism of airplanes.   Omura:  Kind of like “If I press the up key, it should move up on the screen!” (laughs)   Tago:  I just remembered, but we talked about this in the development room too. There were lots of reactions from players that said “Why does it face the opposite way!”... Oh right, there was an announcement made at Namco back then, that President Nakamura will play the games that were completed.   And the conditions were that if you didn’t get President Nakamura’s OK, it was no good, and the President back then vigorously played all the games made by the company. I remember being very anxious when watching him play (laughs). When the president came, the tension was strained to the max. If he said “It’s not very fun,” it was pretty harsh and we would have to remake the game if it was bad enough (laughs).   Omura:  But he wasn’t too strict when checking, and he probably wanted to see the completed game with his own eyes before it was released to the world, carrying the name of his company on its back. ​ Tago:  Really!? I was really nervous since I thought “The president will be playing [our game].”   Omura:  Of course you get nervous, but he never said harsh things like “This isn’t good, fix this” for “22.”   -- I guess the president really just wanted to play the games.   Tago:  That being said, for the first and second year after I joined the company, the president’s checks were so sublime. It was the president after all, with a new employee.   The president would play the game dressed up in his suit, and I was nervous just from trying not to be impolite. Plus the secretary would offer juice and towelettes, and I was overwhelmed by that unique atmosphere.   --I didn’t know there were stories like that concerning President Nakamura! Also from what I’ve heard, Namco in the 90s had a development studio in Kanagawa’s Yokohama right?   Tago:  At the time there was the Yokohama Creative Center (YCC). I joined in 1994 but development groups for business purposes were split between the YCC and the “Yokohama Future Research Center” in Kohoku.   In 1994, large projects like Galaxian3 for the Theater 6 system were at the Yokohama Future Research Center, relatively small projects were at the YCC, and projects that were almost completed were done at the Yokohama Future Research Center. We left behind full scale cabinets for Ridge Racer and Ridge Racer 2 at the Future Research Center.   Omura:  After that, the Yokohama Future Research Center led hardware development, designed cabinets, and planned electrical/mechanical layouts while software development was done at the YCC.   Tago:  VR Zone’s Junichiro Koyama was originally from the Yokohama Future Research Center’s design group, and whenever we needed to ask for a layout or cabinet design, we would drive a company car to the Yokohama Future Research Center via the Daisan Keihin Road. ​ --I see, that’s how it was like. By the way, for “22” and other games, what are some important things to look at in these proposal documents?   Tago:  Everything is worth looking at and filled with information, and other than the early title of “Air Combat II,” the specification document points out to have the enemy maneuver so that they constantly end up in front of the player’s plane when they are being chased.   Other points are the terrain, field of vision, and use of waypoints to move AI aircraft. This waypoint method of movement is used in today’s Ace Combat as well.   Omura:  Regarding waypoints, I remember the programmers having a hard time with it. It wasn’t working as intended.   If it was a simple path, the AI would follow it but didn’t look like they were flying, so making it look like they were actually airplanes flying through the air and still getting them to hit the waypoints was difficult.   Tago:  If we forced them to hit a waypoint they didn’t move like airplanes, and if we tried to make them look like they were flying they had a hard time hitting the waypoint, so it was very analog and hard to manage. Air Combat 22 development notes. Omura:  For that reason, we set up a 3D object for the passage determination instead of a point, and if the plane passed through the object, it would register as it had hit the waypoint. After that, the programmers struggled quite a lot with controlling the enemy formation behaviors.   What I mean is that when you try to make the entire formation turn, the movements of the inner and outer planes aren’t the same. If we don’t bridge the gap between the movement distance well, the formation won’t look clean when turning. I remember having a discussion like: “Is it alright if the formation shape falls apart a little?” “Sure.”   Tago:  Also at the end of the proposal document, we provided resources for selecting aircraft that should appear in the game. Personally I like small carrier-launched attack planes that seem old or small aircraft that look like they are working hard, but they weren’t able to be used in “22.”   Omura:  And those aircraft were too small. They’re cool, but as enemies in an operational 3D shooting game… not so much, so we decided not to use them.   --I see. So what were the criteria for selecting the 3 playable aircraft for “22”?   Omura:  We saw that “these are pretty popular” back in the day, and choosing them was pretty straightforward. Aspects such as having popularity from “Top Gun,” looking cool due to the canards, and being state-of-the-art back then with that futuristic sense were some reasons.   However, I thought stealth aircraft didn’t look very cool when looking at them from the rear at the time. Variable geometry wings or three surface aircraft just have that look of a fighter jet, but nothing really sticks out for stealth aircraft compared to existing ones, so even back then I remember people would see this unconventional plane and say “it looks like a UFO.”   *Three surface aircraft  = aircraft comprised of canards, wings, and horizontal tail for 3 wing sections   Tago:  Wait, really!? I personally think the vectored nozzles on stealth aircraft are science fiction-esque and really cool! ​ --At the time, stealth planes were still in their infancy, even in the real world... I feel a sense of history. ​ Tago:  (Pointing at the modeling for the stealth aircraft) If you look at the shape of the nose or wings, it does look distinct and a little different. ​ Omura:  A little off topic, but the development speed of manned fighter jets has slowed down since the end of the Cold War. On the other hand, efforts have skewed towards development of unmanned aircraft, so as a fan of manned jets I’m a little sad. The relationship between “Air Combat 22” and “Ace Combat 7”: Speaking about the 24 years of progress   --Mr. Omura has been involved in the Ace Combat series since “Infinity,” and Mr. Tago from “7,” but what would you say has changed when comparing “22” to “7” while it was in development? ​ Tago:  I was in charge of Ace Combat 7’s VR mode, but I thought “the final product isn’t too different from ‘22’.” What changed was the knowledge that was born while I had been away from VR development, and I learned a lot of things.   Things like the stimulation from sensation, excitement from immersion, and creation of pacing that I had created out of habit from my experience were actually explained back to me by VR Producer Jun Tamaoki who said, “We actually explain it in this way now.” I thought “Wow, logical explanations have been created for these things that I had been creating out of habit.” Ace Combat puts a story on top of that and made it easier to lead players to a stronger sense of excitement. That’s why my feeling that “the games themselves don’t change all that much” was the first impression I got when I came back to develop Ace Combat.   Omura:  The base hasn’t changed, but the workload has increased. Over 20 years has passed between “22” and “7” and there is a huge difference in the advances in hardware itself.   Like how Tago said before, we would write text files in Emacs for things like enemy placement, but now we can set and edit them in a GUI editor. However even if things had become more convenient, the workload has increased beyond that.   Since “work is efficient but variation increases,” creating the game has become really difficult. The 20-person scale of “22” doesn’t even compare to the large scale seen in “7” Tago:  At the very least, I see the way we go through development now as a good change. Especially in “7” I made lots of things with the GUI editor, and the nice thing is that you can immediately see the completed item right there in the tool.   We call it “iteration” but in UE4, the cycle of Plan -> Do -> See is established while being visualized right on our PCs, so I thought “This is way easier to make than putting in data directly through Emacs back then!”   I’ve been told by Tamaoki: “I thought you would end up fiddling around even as a director!” (laughs). My impression is that “the development environment has changed, but it’s fun.”   --Mr. Omura, you were the Development Producer for Ace Combat 7, but what did you feel about the story which would have a principal theme about unmanned aircraft in “7”?   Omura:  Times have changed and unmanned aircraft are being operated in the real world too, so I think the approach fits the current age.   Tago:  It is a trend after all. Maybe we’ll see manned aircraft become mainstream again in the future.   --We don’t know what the skies of the future will be like, indeed a “Skies Unknown.” By the way, there was a drawing of a fox with a revolver in its mouth in “22”s dogfight mode with the words “ACES” written on it, but it looks similar to Trigger’s emblem, the protagonist for “7.” Is there any relation to “7”? Omura:  Kosuke Itomi, the narrative director for “7” would know more about Trigger, but the mark that shows up in “22”s dogfight mode is actually a wolf.   For the background setting for “22,” there were separate squadrons like the “150th Tactical Fighter Squadron” or “119th Tactical Fighter Squadron” for each mode and they had team names like “ACES,” “AERIES,” and “TOP GUNNERS,” and would show up on the screen. Omura:  The beginner mode had “AERIES” with an eagle carrying missiles, the advanced modes had “TOP GUNNERS” with an eagle carrying a pistol, and the dogfight mode had a wolf carrying a pistol in its mouth. We weren’t able to set up an intermediate mode. I want to ask about the similarity between Trigger’s mark from “7” and the wolf from “22”s dogfight mode, but I haven’t yet (laughs). Tago:  That pistol carrying wolf is exactly like Trigger’s mark. I’m really curious about that (laughs). Omura:  At first I thought about using “Rookie’ for the beginner mode, but I changed it after hearing that “it’s not good since it feels like you’re being looked down upon” by native speakers. Additionally, “AERIES” was a word I happened to find in an English dictionary when thinking up a title name, and means “chick of a bird of prey.”   However, “AERIES” isn’t a word used commonly so maybe it’s not such a good idea to use in a product…that was what I thought after release (laughs). As a game creator, I think the most fun part of the job is when you’re writing proposals or specification documents while thinking “It would be so fun if we could make something like this.” That’s also because you only run into problems after writing (laughs). But that’s because we’re working to make something complete, so it’s still fun.   --I see, there were specific reasons for certain designs and names. (Looking at the proposal document) Other than “Air Combat II,” I see that it was called “Aerial Force” too.   Tago:  “22” was a name that we settled on towards the end of development, and really came out of nowhere.   Omura:  Internally, I was pushing for the title to be “AERIAL FORCE,” but with the authoritative decision by the then-president, we settled on “Air Combat 22” at the very end to better appeal the SYSTEM SUPER 22 hardware. In the intro demo for “22,” there is an “AF” written on the carrier where planes are taking off from, which was a relic of the “AERIAL FORCE” name. The fighting game boom as seen through the eyes of developers of medium/large cabinets: the changing trends in the arcade scene at the turn of the 21st century   --I see, there was a possibility that the name “Air Combat 22” and “Ace Combat” might not have existed. When I saw the number “22” I wondered what it signified. ​ Tago:  If we went with “AERIAL FORCE,” there was the possibility that it might have not connected to Ace Combat. However it was conceived under the name “Air Combat II” at the beginning of the project.   The people most affected by the last minute change were the designers who had to make the title logo. I remember them working furiously to make the change.    Omura:  Within the company, it was tentatively called “Air Combat II” to make it easier to understand.   Tago:  It was the president’s word, so I don’t think there was too much thought put into it. Except those who heard about it were like “what!?” at first and thought “there’s an extra 2 in there.” ​ Omura: Looking back at it now, the name “22” took people by surprise and I’m alright with that. ​ Tago:  The moment someone says “What’s ‘22’?” you’ve “won” (laughs). It has to stand out in a game center where everything is showy, so it’s no good if it blends in with the background. The instant someone has questions about the title, you have won, sort of. Maybe this was President Nakamura’s shining sensibility in action (laughs). ​ --Indeed, if you glance at “22,” you start to wonder about its meaning. Also were there any plans for a sequel to “Air Combat 22” once the first “Ace Combat” was released for consoles? ​ Omura:  Unfortunately, no. “22” didn’t have that much sales success for the company. Oh, but there was this story. After the creation of the first “Air” and “22,” there was discussion of “what should we make next,” and someone proposed “how about helicopters?” and I thought “what!?” while they began researching technologies for it (laughs). ​ Then, when the first stage of tech research finished up, there was a request for an attraction-type game for the Namjatown theme park that Namco was planning at the time. ​ In the end, they naturally decided to use the results from the tech research to build something with an attack helicopter. This was the “Fire Bull” attraction in Namjatown. It was once part of Namjatown but it has been removed a while ago.   About “Fire Bull,” the player would get in the cockpit enclosure and put on a HMD with a small camera attached to it. The window area of the cockpit was painted green, and we used green screen technology to combine the game footage so it looked like you were flying through the air when looking out the window.   With this method, you can still show the person riding inside and display the sky or enemy helicopters in the background, and it was a unique VR experience where you didn’t have to replace the person with an avatar character. The development team combined the real and virtual and called it “R&VR.” ​ Tago:  It was an attraction that combined the HMD and green screen, and we showed the blended footage using the camera on the HMD. It’s close to what you see on weather forecasting channels. ​ People often say that it would be more fun if they could pair their VR goggles with some kind of movable ride enclosure. And this attraction not only implemented this, but combined green screen technology with it, and I thought it was amazing. I also wondered how sophisticated the system was. If I recall correctly, it used a special circuit board tailored for it. ​ Omura:  However, that was a rail shooter so you couldn’t control it. And that’s right, “Fire Bull” used something called SYSTEM SS22 DS. ​ Tago:  The part that stored the circuit board was made from a very large frame, and was way bigger than your regular arcade cabinet. It was so big it was called a big wooden box. Along with its rendering capabilities and scale, I thought “what is this monster..!” ​ Omura:  SYSTEM SS22 DS was big since it had to display two things with one board. ​ --Listening to stories about “Fire Bull,” it’s kind of like today’s MR (Mixed Reality). I’m astonished that they had the expertise for that kind of implementation back then. It sounds like it might connect to “Ace Combat Assault Horizon”s helicopter sections or “7”s VR mode. ​ Omura:  The technology for the HMD itself has existed for a long time. Also with VR/MR, there are periodic booms along with advancements in technology, and can be shown with an upward spiral (laughs).   Tago:  There is one boom just under every 10 years, right? (laughs) “7”s VR mode is just one part of that loop, so if you came into the game industry between VR booms, they might think “VR is amazing,” but we think “technology is evolving, and history will be written again” (laughs). ​ --”22” started operating in arcades in March 1995, and was in the same period where “Tekken,” born from the PS compatible arcade board SYSTEM 11, was first ported to the PlayStation. As developers of medium/large arcade games, how did you view the fighting game boom in those days?   Omura:  At the time I was able to see the making of Tekken since it was close to our group, and I honestly thought “they’re making something amazing.” Tago:  I joined the company because I admired medium/large cabinet games like Star Blade, so I was a bit conceited thinking “medium/large cabinets are the best!” When I saw Tekken, I thought “Alright! Medium/large cabinets will still be going strong!” (laughs).   I really was arrogant at the time, and thought there would be a SYSTEM 23 after SYSTEM 22 and the numbers would keep going higher and there would be a great future…! (laughs)   An employee who joined around the same time as me was involved in Tekken’s development, so he would try to appeal to me: “We’re able to use polygons with this board too, the fighters move like this now,” stuff like that. Omura:  You get more and more fruits if you win a battle in Tekken right? I thought it was good taste by having those icons be the cherry, strawberry, and apple from Pac-Man.   Tago:  Omura, the way you view things is different!   Omura:  I like easter eggs like that. But it might not make sense to those who don’t know (laughs). Back then there were more people that could keep up with those small details. ​ --Back then It was the heyday of the fighting game boom. There was a game magazine with rankings of popular arcade games back then, and though “Air Combat 22” was in the top 10, “Virtua Fighter 2” had 3 times as popular, so I was surprised. ​ Omura:  Virtua Fighter was very popular. When Tekken came out, it used SYSTEM 11 which was PlayStation compatible so it was available in the household, and there was a cycle where customers would come back to the game center after practicing at home, and that was neat. Tago:  It’s a nostalgic story. After 1995, competitive fighting games expanded further and further, and there was a shift from medium/large arcade games that focused on core players to household games and games suited to the general customer. Of course at the time I was still arrogant about games that focused on core audiences (laughs).   I admired Star Blade and also experienced the rise of medium/large machines so I was a little hesitant about the expansion of household games at the time. Despite my arrogance, there were times that I thought “one day, I’ll be making a household game.” In the end, I would experience developing games for the PC though (laughs).   --Namco’s progression on the PC… Now that you mention it, around 2005 they had Counter-Strike NEO for the Linux-compatible SYSTEM N2 arcade board. I was just getting into PC games with Valve’s Half-Life 2 at the time, and I was surprised at the “merging of arcade and PC gaming contexts.”   Tago:  Counter-Strike NEO was an experimental game that brought in the established genre of PC and FPS games to the arcade. I was working on a follow-up title, a RTS in the UGSF world called NEW SPACE ORDER. Gradually, with the advent of PCs and compatible boards that were easy to mass-produce and had improved performance over the years, it was getting to the point where if you made a single arcade-exclusive board…[it wouldn’t have been successful].   --Speaking of UGSF, I was surprised that a new Star Blade title that used the O.R.B.S cabinet was in development at one point.   Tago:  While they were working on developing VR on HMDs like how Omura was talking about earlier, the half-spherical O.R.B.S cabinet was born with the goal of experiencing the same amount of immersion without goggles. It was first developed by volunteers and the idea was “for this kind of game, it has to be Star Blade.”   Also there were some sad memories where I begged to be able to participate in this project before I went to work on NEW SPACE ORDER, and when I finally got in, I had to leave in  a week because work on NEW SPACE ORDER was starting up (laughs).   In the end, the O.R.B.S cabinet never took shape and I was really frustrated. We didn’t want to kill off the efforts of Star Blade, so we worked full force on the P.O.D. cabinet for “Mobile Suit Gundam: Senjou no Kizuna,” and was somehow able to put something together. But it’s still sad that Star Blade never made it on there… --I see, so that’s what happened. Someday, I would like to play a new Star Blade game. Also I feel like starting from the second half of the 90s, games like “Ridge” that were an extension of reality became more popular in arcades than Sci-Fi games like UGSF.   Tago:  Yes, after the 90s games took a more realistic direction. After “22,” I felt a shift to “make real-life experiences into games” when working on development of Alpine Racer. It felt like games that were focused on core audiences like “22” or Sci-Fi types wouldn’t do so well at the arcade market at the time.   After that, the name “game center” changed to “amusement center,” and after the company worked hard to figure out how to appeal to mainstream customers, there was an air of working to make medium/large machines answer to the needs of the mainstream users. It felt like we took a direct hit from the trends of the time.   --Finally, how did you view the sight of the hardware that was developed independently for arcades swallowed by console compatible machines at the turn of the century?   Tago:  I felt my arrogance being shattered… I knew the cost of circuit boards were expensive, but I felt desolation at the fact that no one understood that “high cost boards/cabinets = a sense of specialty.”   It was mentioned in other media outlets, but at the time there was internal research into the SYSTEM 30 series as well as improvements to the SYSTEM 20 series, so I thought “we’ll move to the 30 series later on.”   However, development of the 30 series was cancelled and the PS compatible 10 series family continued to be updated. Eventually, it led to the PS2 compatible SYSTEM 256. And while medium/large machine development became even more difficult than before, PS compatible boards were becoming mainstream, and I thought “I guess times really do change.”   Like the 10 series, the Dreamcast-compatible NAOMI boards also went through this as it was also a time when a lot of home gaming equipment was being re-used.   Omura:  It was just the trend of the times. In the first half of the 90s, arcade boards had higher specs, but technological advances in computer hardware had spilled over into mass-produced home video game consoles.   Technology advanced to the point where the PS-compatible SYSTEM 10 could be mass produced, so I remember thinking it was becoming harder to show the superiority of these higher quality boards that were produced in low numbers. I felt the same when the PS2 was released, and thought “I guess this is the trend of the times.”   --It’s easy to be influenced by the trends of the times… However, looking at the situation of arcades recently, I saw that companies like Bandai Namco announced “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventures: Last Survivor” in December 2018, so I felt that arcades are still putting out games that can hold their own.   Tago:  Arcades have the advantage that customers would accept any game, even if we released something a bit more experimental. For consoles, it’s hard to release lots of experimental titles due to the large investment involved, but arcades are a place where customers can directly evaluate new endeavors and challenges, so I think there are still some untouched areas. That being said, Namco likes making hardware with strong quirks, so I can’t help but think their usage was a little too particular (laughs).   Omura:  How do I say it, they’re peaky! In a good way. It’s kind of pointy in a way.   Tago:  Yes, they’re peaky! The board and cabinets reveal these peaky elements to the point that we ask “do we really need this fancy sign?” or “isn’t this too costly?” I remember thinking it would be really bad if we made one mistake on how we used the decorations or hardware. But I’m sure the customers were attracted to those things as well and played our games, so I think they will continue to play them.   --Thank you so much for these precious stories. About the Translator Task Force23 Japanese Translator with Skyward Flight Media and fan of all things aviation. #PurdueEngineering  alum. Shares birthday with AWACS SkyEye. 日本人ですが英語の方が楽です。無言フォロー失礼します。| Twitter  |

A Known Simulator on an Unexpected Platform Recently I had a real world example of the value of portable flight simulators. Between one of the worst hotel room weekend stays I have ever had and taking a break at 2:00 AM while fixing a draft beer system at a Space Force Base, I was still able to get some quality 'stick time' in. These days when you hear "flight game" and "Nintendo Switch" your mind probably goes to rather well done 2024 port of Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown to this game console. In this case, I am actually talking about Aerofly FS by IPACS. About Aerofly As with every other console created by Nintendo, flight games and simulators are semi-rare titles on their platforms. They are always small in number and limited in what you would consider 'flight simulation' qualities. This is why seeing a Nintendo Switch port of Aerofly FS somewhat surprised me. When I think of this flight simulator, the words "reliable", "consistent", "accessible" and "quality" come to mind. These are things I cannot always say about more high profile flight simulators like Microsoft Flight Simulator by Asobo and Digital Combat Simulator by Eagle Dynamics. Aerofly is very much designed to prioritize efficiency on multiple devices while not compromising on its simulation of aircraft. It maintains a smaller, but diverse roster of 30 aircraft including Widebody airliners, single isle airliners, business aviation, fourth generation fixed-wing fighters, historical aircraft, rotary-wing aircraft, gliders, aerobatic aircraft and more. All major types of aviation are presented. Its flight simulation is detailed enough to include fully simulated wing flex, independent simulation of all flight control actuators and flight control surfaces, instrument navigation aides (ILS, NDB, TCN, VOR) and Thermals. This article is not a full review of the game yet , but in the mean time I would suggest checking out the Nintendo eShop page for more details on this port of the simulator. Appreciating Ingenuity A few weeks ago I purchased Aerofly FS on the Nintendo Switch and only lightly played out of curiosity. My recent long-term stint with the simulator opened my eyes to some intuitive use of the game console's capabilities. With the personal computer version of the sim compatible with flight sticks, computer tablets, multi-function panels, head trackers and similar devices, I wondered how the Nintendo Switch's detachable controllers or gyroscope/motion controls could be used to enhance the flight experience. I thought maybe the controllers would be used similarly to how Sky Rogue used them as a throttle and stick. Aerofly does nothing with motion controls, but relies on smoothly zooming the camera in and out using the right thumbstick, then letting players interact with the flight instruments, knobs and levers in the cockpit using the game console's touch screen. There are certain important functions like throttle control, flap lever, cycling landing gear and activating the co-pilot (modified auto pilot) quickly accessible on the face buttons, shoulder buttons and analog stuck buttons. The bulk of the controls that need to be utilized to fly advanced aircraft can be accessed via the touch screen. There are various flight assists in the quick settings that can be enabled or disabled for dampening flight controls, which is actually needed depending on how carefully players manipulate the Joy-Con thumbstick. As it is not an accessory designed specifically for flight simulation, it is possible to frequently perform accidental maximum control inputs at in opportune times. Unless intentionally flying aerobatics, it is advisable to be slow and deliberate with pitch and roll axis movements. The Quick Flight Test There is not better way to test a simulator than to do a complete flight that is not just a quick lap around the airfield or a willy nilly wandering session. A genuine "$100 Hamburger Flight", if you will. A highlight of my recent serious flight focused on flying the Aermacchi MB-339 from Lamezia Terme (LICA) on mainland Italy to Palermo Punta Raisi (LICJ) in Sicily. In the Navigation screen, players can select known airways, set departure and arrival airports, set other waypoints along the way for their flight plan and even select specific NDB to navigate with. The state of an aircraft at launch can also be selected as a mid-air start, a ready on the ramp state or cold and dark state. Players can even zoom the camera in to see an overhead of their departure airport to select the specific ramp position they prefer. For mid-air starts players can also select their position anywhere on the globe, assign their starting altitude and direction and immediately fly. All of this also can be done with the touch screen. It is a rather good experience. Thanks to my experience with accidentally purchasing the MB-339 in DCS World, then becoming rather proficient with it, selecting this aircraft in Aerofly FS was an easy way for me fully test what this port of the simulator offered. I was able to cold start the aircraft, depart according to procedure, follow the flight plan as required to enter the arrival airport landing pattern only from the rear seat of the aircraft using cockpit instruments and Navigational Aids, then landing and parking with a full aircraft shutdown. Doing all of this while occasionally needing to adjust course mid-flight due to course deviation caused by wind, I can firmly say Aerofly FS maintains its genuine flight simulation traits without compromising the experience. I plan on delving deeper into this Nintendo Switch port as it seems my real world work may be taking me on a few more short-term travels in the mean time. Expect to hear a bit more about Aerofly from me in the future. About the Writer Aaron "Ribbon-Blue" Mendoza Co-founder of Skyward Flight Media. After founding Electrosphere.info, the first English Ace Combat database, he has been involved in creating flight game-related websites, communities, and events since 2005. He explores past and present flight games and simulators with his extensive collection of game consoles and computers. Read Staff Profile .

Star Wars: Squadrons (2020) is without a doubt the best tailor-made Star Wars flight simulator that has come out in at least a decade. One of its top features which consistently garners praise is its virtual reality headset support. VR unlocks the full potential of that game, but back in 2016, there was a glimpse of what Star Wars virtual reality flight could be with an ambitious control scheme idea that was left out of Star Wars: Squadrons. Star Wars: Battlefront (2015) was the first multi-platform Star Wars game to hit the shelves after the intellectual property was purchased by Disney on October 30th, 2012. Like its predecessors from 2004 and 2005, Battlefront 2015 is a combined arms first and third-person shooter set in the Star Wars universe. Players are able to engage in infantry combat while playing as their favorite heroes and villains, fighting armored all-terrain walkers and flying iconic starfighters. As part of Battlefront's downloadable content, a movie tie-in mission was released on December 6th, 2016. With the somewhat clunky official title "Star Wars Battlefront Rogue One: VR Mission," the player flies an X-Wing as a member of the Rebel Alliance's Red Flight (not to be confused with Red Squadron). An everyday fleet escort turns into a rescue mission to save the main characters from the movie Star Wars: Rogue One. Unlike all other downloadable content for Battlefront, this free mission could only be played with the PlayStation virtual reality headset. Writing about this in 2021, it's easy to see certain parallels between this one-off VR mission and Star Wars: Squadrons' own VR presentation. But a game function I'm both relieved was not implemented and disappointed that it was not reconsidered: a clickable cockpit . I think this was the last place anyone would have expected an interactive cockpit. Players can press every button visible using a specified button on the PlayStation 4 gamepad and the on-screen headset cursor (white dot). Every button seen does not have a use, but some have essential combat and support functions. The most pressing functions are listed below: A : Fire All Blaster Cannons / B : Launch Proton Torpedoes / C : Engine Boost (Afterburner) / D : S-Foil Position Control / E : Energy Shield Control / F : Initiate Lightspeed Jump / G : Cycle Blaster Cannon Firing Pattern / H : Clear Windscreen / I : Targeting Computer As someone that thoroughly enjoys virtual reality gameplay, being able to look around the cockpit and click buttons is terrific, but in this form it is somewhat impractical. If not for around 90% of the essential controls being redundantly mapped to the gamepad, flying while relying primarily on the in-cockpit controls is somewhat dangerous. The button placement and the importance of their functions are an immediate concern. Glancing downward in the cockpit to activate engine boost (afterburner) while flying through an asteroid field is less than appealing. Even worse, taking your eyes off target to launch Proton Torpedoes is a good way to lose lock on the target. Though, specialized functions like bringing up the targeting computer and being able to change laser cannon firing patterns were wonderful to have access to and were placed in reasonable positions. A rethinking of button position alone would have made this clickable cockpit concept perfect for further pushing Star Wars: Squadrons deeper into the flight simulation genre. But a significant part of that also means addressing how these buttons are interacted with. This is where hindsight, wishful thinking, and game development collide. While it's easy enough for me to say that refinement is all that was needed, when discussing interactive 3D cockpits in virtual reality, compatibility and implementation challenges related to physical controllers like gamepads and flight sticks into the virtual space become forefront. The Battlefront VR mission fell into the same balancing act other flight simulators continue to contend with today. Titles like Aerofly FS2 Flight Simulator, Digital Combat Simulator World, and VTOL VR and their implementation of virtual reality alongside physical controllers come to mind. But it's important to remember the scope of development for each game and project is different. The Battlefront VR Mission was built to be a standalone experience using a somewhat multipurpose game engine and a single controller method. It did not have the dedicated flight sim development path of Star Wars: Squadrons which prioritized implementing standard screen displays and physical controllers with virtual reality acting more as an optional enhancement. A fantastic addition but not required. Honestly, Star Wars: Squadrons was designed in a way that made it just about as accessible as a flight simulation style game can get, so the inclusion of an interactive cockpit that would require players to get familiar with their sensors and switches would mostly likely be a high-hurdle for many casual players or first time flight simmers to get over. All this being said, I truly do enjoy the Star Wars Battlefront Rogue One: VR Mission for what it is. I have had a blast revisiting it after years to write this article. Perhaps in the future, now that an appetite for Star Wars flight simulation has been confirmed, a full-on 1:1 simulator using a Digital Combat Simulator World style touch controller method could exist. This may be yet another case of a product appearing before its time while shining a light in the direction of the future. I just hope that future has a bit better button placement. 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 New Simulator About a Historic Pivoting Point in Aerial Warfare Did you realize that the announcement of ‘ Korea. IL-2 Series ’ was made on the day the Korean War started? Almost 75 years ago. It is not common knowledge, is it? Yet many combat focused flight simmers know the exact date for the Battle of Midway or Operation Bolo. For decades, I have been perplexed at how a conflict that nearly turned into a third world war has continued to be so overlooked. Not only in popular media, but, surprisingly, in flight simulators.  To a certain degree I view flight simulation as an exercise in appreciating history via aircraft. Flight simmers eager to fly even the most obscure variant of a long-gone aircraft a majority of their peers may have never heard of. It is amazing how since the 1970s computers and game consoles have been able to run varying complexities of flight simulators, and the amount of titles that portray the Korean War is dismal. With literally thousands of flight focused titles produced over the decades, the continuous lack of purpose built interactive media about the Korean War is puzzling. This is why after reading the first dev log for the recently announced of 'Korea. IL-2 Series' has heartened me. Keeping the focus on flight simulation, the aircraft of the Korean War have always been available to fly in civilian aviation focused simulators and in combat flight simulators in varying degrees. In recent memory, titles like War Thunder, Digital Combat Simulator, Microsoft Flight Simulator and X-Plane 12 have the aircraft roster players would need. That is not to say that their flight characteristics are unbelievable, or their 3D modelling is subpar. These simulators lack that purpose built quality to represent the conflict these aircraft were defined by. Making historical accuracy a part of the core of a simulator adds a certain context. When the seasons are correct, terrain is accurate, aircraft markings are on point, known historic events are being reenacted, etc. The aircraft of that timeframe feel more 'alive' than in a sandbox scenario where anything is possible. After the start of open warfare in June, 25th, 1950, twenty-one nations sent soldiers into combat on the Korean peninsula until the end of armed combat on July 23rd, 1953. The air forces involved in combat were the propeller driven work horses of World War II, highly modified late-production versions of those aircraft and mass-produced jet-propelled combat aircraft. Though, even the jet fighters of this conflict were still more similar to their war bird counterparts than the stratospheric jets that would fly two decades later. The technology behind beyond visual range combat was unavailable during this time. Air-to-air and air-to-ground combat for propeller and jet powered aircraft still relied on within visual range engagements; close range combat with throttle, sick and rudder energy management being a deciding factor.  If there is any developer that is perfectly placed to handle a purpose built simulator specifically for the Korean War, it would be 1C Game Studios (1CGS) . The reason for this is two-part. With a history that has roots going as far back as 2001, this development team / publisher has specialized in World War II focused flight simulators. The IL-2 Sturmovik series  has produced something like 16 standalone games and multiple add-ons, with some of these titles still actively supported with vibrant online communities of players. With such a longstanding focus on the aircraft of the iconic war birds of the 1930s and 1940s, they have become experts in the arena of close range aerial combat - “dogfighting”.  The portrayal of World War II aircraft in particular is something 1CGS has done well with when you look at their series as a whole. Even if people have leveled complaints about mundane mission design from time to time about its past installments, what is undeniable is their digital aircraft are well representative of their real world counterparts. With researched flight models, good damage models and overall consistency between each game, 1CGS would theoretically be able to maintain this quality even with jet aircraft of the era as their performance would not be a complete departure from what IL-2 and its development team is known for. A quote from the official website for ‘Korea. IL-2 Series’, supports this:“...with all major systems modeled and more detailed damage: internal parts visible through the holes, aircraft skin sheets that can become loose, etc.” The IL-2 Sturmovik series is a good example of how a series can be respected as a genre defining flight simulator without falling deep into the pursuit of study level fidelity. Depending on your point of view, some simulators are bogged down by the quest for dozens of interactive buttons, knobs and Whitepaper accuracy. Rather than spending years prioritizing one or two aircraft to get them eye bleedingly accurate, the purchase of an IL-2 title immediately gives access to a set of solid, believable aircraft that do not go through years of additions and refinements to be considered ‘feature complete’.  In fact, again according to the official website, there will be eight complete, player controlled aircraft at the time of its release. Including aircraft like the F-4U Corsair, F-51D Mustang, F-86A Saber, IL-10 ‘Beast’ and MiG-15 ‘Fagot’. Larger aircraft like the B-29 Superfortress and Tu-2 Bat are also in the simulator, but it is unclear if they are flyable by players at this time. Looking at the historical record of aircraft in the conflict, there is quite an assortment. This list  for quick reference of aircraft from Military Factory.com shows that a simulator focused on this war could have great diversity of airframes added to it in the future.  I sincerely hope that the announcement of ‘ Korea. IL-2 Series ’ renews the interest of many flight simmers and content creators to keep up with this upcoming game and inspire them to look back at other titles that have included content about the Korean War.  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

Pirate Hunting, Scrap Hoarding, Free Roaming Steam Next Fest June 2025 edition is here! As always this celebration of upcoming games is a wonderful place for even the most casual player to poke around and see what is currently in development. While browsing the Flight sub-genre , it just so happens that a game I had been watching for a time is now featured in the festival. ScrapWings by AmadeusCraft describes itself as "a classic arcade airplane game. Craft equipment for your ship by recycling scrap metal and take on the space pirate fleet." According to the ongoing video devlog series from the solo developer, the visuals of the game are inspired by the Borderlands series with gameplay inspired by the Star Wars: Rogue Squadron series. While an exact date that development started is not clear, the first devlog on YouTube was posted on January 31st, 2025 with a link to the original Itch.io demo for the game. The Steam version of the demo was uploaded on April 15th, 2025, making it the most up to date build as of the time of this writing. Besides its visuals, the two-things that caught my attention about ScrapWings a few weeks ago was the system to gather materials and craft items and what are described as 'exploration zones' between missions. The demo available during Steam Next Fest June 2025 edition is in an alpha demo with the tutorial and first mission in the game available, along with a portion of the first planet open for exploration. There is plenty to be improved upon at this stage in development, which is fair for this type of build. Flight Model 100% arcade. While the flight model is very accessible and the controls are straightforward, there are some minor intricacies to learn. Default game controls. While it is possible to stall the aircraft by trying to climb vertically at full throttle, generally the flight model is pretty forgiving. Only hard collisions with terrain cause massive damage while letting the player's aircraft bounce off of whatever obstacle it hit. When in combat against enemies, the player's aircraft will recoil heavily while in flight, if hit by high caliber weapons like cannons. At times spinning the aircraft like a top, but recovery is still possible. The landing gear automatically deploys once the aircraft drops below a certain speed. While landing just about anywhere on flat land is possible, the aircraft is rather unstable while it is on the ground. Not all controls are dampened or restricted. Players can input yaw to rotate the aircraft while it is on the ground, but they are also able to apply full roll, flipping the aircraft upside down and potentially destroying themselves. It would be nice to both restrict the unnecessary controls, but also find ways to lessen then intensity of inputs while on land. Using the default controls, throttle control is not a continuous setting. Thrust will only stay increased with the player moving the right thumbstick forward or backward and holding it constantly at the desired position. Setting the throttle to zero then quickly performing a loop is a maneuver that can easily be repeated, but it does take some time to recover from a stall. It is possible to attempt to pull out of a high energy maneuver with too much pitch, not letting the aircraft be able to gain enough speed to recover, causing a crash. Home Base menu. Home Base This is the center of player operations both in free roam and for mission selection. The Home Base is made up of: Runway : players can select a story mission to take on or enter the free roam "Explore Outside" function. Training Station : provides interactive in-game tutorials with a diorama like flight simulator. Players learn how to use their aircraft here. Crafting Station : Scrap that is collected during free roam can be used to craft equipment like weapons and fuel tanks. New aircraft cannot be constructed in the demo at this time. Equipment Station : Items that are crafted by players are equipped to their aircraft here. When going into the Exploration Zones players takeoff from inside of the base using its mountain cavern runway. While cool in concept, players must be careful while taking off and landing in the constricted quarters that naturally come with a mountain base. Outside of the Home Base is the large scrapping machine with three churning metal scrappers awaiting the payloads players find. Home Base seen from the outside. Scrap recycling facility on the right side. Scrap Metal This is a rather unusual concept for a flight game. According to this alpha demo, rather than relying on in-game credits to have players purchase parts from a shop, packages of scrap metal can be found across the land. Occasionally players will see what seem to be small comets entering the atmosphere, but they are actually containers of scrap falling from orbit. Currently there is no story related explanation as to where they are coming from, but you cannot help but assume there must be some type of intergalactic travel route high above with massive ships dumping their unneeded materials as they pass by. In the player's user interface, these scrap packages appear as cog wheel icons at a distance, but are large box containers when seen up close. Players use their onboard hook system to grab these containers. When activated the camera shifts to a view beneath the fuselage with a bracket showing degrees beneath the aircraft at which the hook can be fired. When launched the hook fire forward like a spear, attempting to attach to the object it was fired at. User interface for deploying the hook. Ironically, once the hook attaches to the scrap container, how rapidly it is attached to the aircraft with no measure to restrict the object's movement makes collecting scrap one of the most dangerous tasks in the game. At both high speeds and low speeds. I genuinely had my aircraft destroyed more by containers aggressively whipping upward into my aircraft while transporting them than I did by enemy action. While sometimes frustrating, this also seems easy enough to resolve by finding a way to restrict the range of motion of these containers when being towed in flight or possibly making the process of hooking these objects a type of set animation where the box is retracted to the bottom of the aircraft and held securely without it on a rope freely swinging. Freely, violently swinging box of scrap being towed by aircraft. To recycle scrap, players fly them over to the recycle facility built into the side of the mountain base. The towed scrap containers must manually be dropped into one of the three very large rolling shredder receptacles to be added to the player inventory for crafting items in the Home Base. And yes, for those curious, I did fly into the shredder to see what would happen. It was not a great outcome for the aircraft! Currently there is no limit as to how much scrap can be recovered. Exploration These free roam type areas are the primary means to both find scrap, but also partake in side events like timed air races. These races give players medals for competing the courses at certain speeds. Otherwise players are free to wander the map to take in the sights. There are already a few interesting structures that seem like they could be used for potential side quests. There is a decent amount of territory available even in the demo. I am curious as to how this large space will be utilized. The only game that comes to mind that had similar intent in this regard is Macross 30: Singing Voice Connecting the Galaxy (2013). This game had semi-open world maps with many towns, caves and other areas for side quests. Players gather items, credits, new main story missions and more. A similar setup could work for ScrapWings depending on how the story will be developed. Missions Selected from the Main Base, missions have set objectives and - thus far - focus on direct combat with Pirates. Who they are and what they are up to has not been explained yet, but it is clear that they are well established. In mission one the player is tasked with attacking a rather large base complete with multiple turret defenses and flights of fighters patrolling the airspace. With only three lives per mission attempt, players are tasked with intercepting waves of Pirate transports attempting to deliver cargo to their base. A Pirate Base with interceptors airborne. Multiple transports being intercepted. While the smaller fighters fall from the sky on fire when shot down, the transports can be destroyed section by section. Often shattering into pieces when defeated. Accidentally running into these pieces can potentially damage the player. Being destroyed three times causes a mission failure. Completing the mission gives points during the mission result screen. At this time those points are yet to be utilized for anything. Looking Forward I believe that the core concept of ScrapWings could be pretty interesting if AmadeusCraft corrects the potential issue with how unavoidably hazardous towing scrap metal can be, while expanding on what is possible in the Exploration Zones. While there is sure to be an overarching story that the missions could focus on and give solid rewards for completing, there are few flight games that have effectively used the open world concept. That could be a cornerstone for this game long-term. Connect with 'ScrapWings' Steam   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 ]

Since its introduction in the arcades of 1993, the Ace Combat franchise did not give players a level of control over their aircraft needed to perform certain maneuvers only flight simulators would allow. Maneuvers like Cobra, Kubilts, Viffing, or the Falling Leaf. If players wanted to do a barrel roll to get behind the enemy or deploy speed brakes to force an overshoot on an attacking aircraft, they had to do so manually. Project Aces, developers of the Ace Combat series, began experimenting with automatic maneuver systems that would move aircraft behind their enemies with the click of a few buttons. Since 2008, they have developed four titles with some form of these systems included. Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces Released on October 16th 2008, though not an Ace Combat game, it was developed by Project Aces. This Nintendo Wii game is based on the world of the Sky Crawlers novels authored by Hiroshi Mori. ​Project Aces could have just carbon copied the tried and true controls of the Ace Combat series while adapting them to the Wii motion controllers. Instead, they developed a new automatic maneuvering system to compliment the game's controls and try to match the air combat seen in the Sky Crawlers movie. This would be their first automatic maneuvering system. ​ Tactical Maneuver Commands (TMC) and Manual Maneuvers gave players of all experience levels to perform expert flight maneuvers at the push of a button or two. At the time, some of these aerial maneuvers were impossible or very hard to execute, even with the use of Hands on Throttle and Stick peripherals compatible with game consoles. Tactical Maneuver Commands are used for offensive and defensive purposes. As long as the player remains within 350 meters of an airborne target, the TMC gauge gradually increases by level. The higher the level is before activation, the better the position the player will have behind the enemy aircraft once it is complete. During a TMC maneuver, the aircraft is not the player's control. The aircraft automatically performs a series of aerobatic maneuvers shown through a cinematic third-person camera. Manual Maneuvers are activated without needing to fill any gauges. By selecting the desired maneuver with the Wii Nunchuck, maneuvers like the Immelman Turn, Chandelle, and Barrel Roll are executed automatically. Against higher difficulty enemies, a TMC performed by a player can be countered by a Manual Maneuver or TMC done by the enemy. This system allows for cinematic dogfights to occur in-game. Similar to the thrilling combat sequences seen in the Sky Crawlers movie.​ Ace Combat 3D: Cross Rumble Three years later, Project Aces would develop two games released in 2011. The first Ace Combat title on the Nintendo 3DS, Ace Combat 3D: Cross Rumble (a.k.a. Ace Combat Assault Horizon Legacy; November 15th, 2011) used what seemed to be refined elements from the Sky Crawlers games. ​ Ace Combat: Cross Rumble uses the Action Maneuver system to enhance game play and provide more control options on the Nintendo 3DS, which lacked a second analog thumb stick until add-on hardware and later console revisions added them. The Action Maneuver system is separated into two parts: Attack Maneuvers and Evasive Maneuvers. Attack Maneuvers work almost exactly like TMC did in Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces. Differences included new camera angles, new maneuvers, and an increased range requirement for filling the Attack Maneuver gauge. Besides that, it is still a system that automatically maneuvers the player's aircraft behind opposing aircraft at the press of a single button. Evasive Maneuvers are only available when an enemy missile is in pursuit of the player's aircraft. Once the missile enters a specific range before hitting the aircraft, an Evasive Maneuver can be used. Once the missile enters this range, an evasion guide appears on the screen. The guide shows three directions the player can select to perform a maneuver to evade the missile with a quick maneuver. By pressing the Y Button while inputting one of the directions suggested at the same time, a barrel roll or jink is done. Dogfights against certain enemies can result in a string of attack and evasion maneuvers between the computer and player to create a cinematic dogfight experience. An official game trailer shows off the systems well and provides a good example of what could be done: The impact of the Action Maneuver system on this title and the franchise as a whole was somewhat lost during the time of its release. Partially because the game could be played and completed without having to use them, but primarily because of the reaction Ace Combat: Assault Horizon was receiving during the same release window. Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Ace Combat Assault Horizon was advertised as the rebirth of the Ace Combat franchise. Among many things, the promised to "make metal bleed" by revamping how it approached combat. Emphasis was placed on close-range, visceral combat. Aircraft models would now show considerable amounts of damage, blow into pieces and spew oil and fuel, which would stain the cockpit. As a part of this move, the principal combat system of the game is the Close Range Assault (CRA) system. It is split into two parts: The lesser of the two is Air Strike Mode (ASM). This air-to-ground mode directs player-controlled aircraft along a specified corridor to attack land, sea ,and low flying fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft. While in the ASM corridor, the weapons of the aircraft are enhanced with greater damage, faster reloading, and higher accuracy. ASM is also available in multiplayer game modes. Its parameters could be augmented with Pilot Skills, a type of in-game perk system to customize aircraft and gameplay abilities. The higher profile half of CRA is Dogfight Mode (DFM). Dogfight Mode is activated against enemy aircraft within a specified range, depending on the angle and direction the targeted aircraft is traveling. The distance and width of this range could also be augmented with Pilot Skills. Like ASM, there are damage enhancing subsystems like the Assault Circle and Direct Shot. Also included is a support system that allows players to join their allies that have activated CRA. Once the player is in a position, an on-screen cue is displayed with specific symbology on the HUD. When activated, DFM automatically moves the player-controlled aircraft into position behind the opposing aircraft with no follow on inputs from the player. While in DFM there are systems for counter-attacks in the form of Counter Maneuvers and Counter-Counter Maneuvers. ​A full demonstration of the DFM system using Cipher and Pixy F-15Cs with custom music. ​The video is created by two members of Aurora Squadron, an Ace Combat fan squadron. It is not an exaggeration to say that the most significant influence concerning the reception and memory of Ace Combat: Assault Horizon is Dog Fight Mode. Since 2011, DFM remains a polarizing subject amongst the Ace Combat community. While it gave the game a Hollywood movie-style flair, its addition and execution were jarring to the long-standing player base of the Ace Combat series. For players, it seemed as though they were forced into a rail shooter that only allowed them to travel in a limited direction. In both online and offline game modes, the use of DFM was so frequent it seemed to be a requirement. In single-player, there are set pieces of action where aircraft fly through falling buildings and narrow canyons; some objectives cannot be completed without the use of CRA in some way. In online multiplayer, the use of DFM seemed to remove any semblance of player based skill and learning how to best maneuver aircraft against other human opponents. No matter the skill level, the press of a button or two could immediately have even the newest of players expertly behind anyone that was in the match . While Close Range Assault was only a part of Ace Combat Assault Horizon, the game itself received a high volume of mixed and negative reviews about the game as a whole. Any game mechanic related to the Close Range Assault or past semi-automatic maneuver systems was removed from the next game, Ace Combat Infinity (2014). Forgoing any new development attempts, DFM became the last iteration of an automatic maneuvering system created by Project Aces, as of the date this article was published. Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown As Project Aces developed Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown (2019), the decision was made to reintroduce a system similar to those seen in the previously mentioned games. Called Post-Stall Maneuvers (PSM), Project Aces made it clear that the player would maintain full control from start to finish. Starting, maintaining, and completing aerobatic maneuvers that only particular aircraft could handle would happen only with manual input from players. While PSM can be used in offline and online game modes, its implementation makes it feel more natural within the gameplay. There are no cinematic camera views or jarring camera transitions to disrupt gameplay. The only prerequisites for activation are airspeed and the aircraft being flown. The offline campaign and online multiplayer can be played without ever activating PSM. Within a year after the game's release, players have pushed PSM well beyond the limits Project Aces expected. Videos of intense close-range dogfights with airshow like maneuvers, side slips between buildings and flying backwards in traffic tunnels more than prove that. It was a long path to reach this point with a harsh hurdle to overcome in 2011, but the Project Aces team finally found the answer to its decade long venture. About the Author 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 |

Your favorite (only?) flight game with an AI cat assisting humanity's stellar aviation endeavors is back with one-hell of an update. As I mentioned in a previous article, Exosky   by Elevons LLC is a flight experience I had a bit of a hard time trying to describe to others. I am still fascinated by the concept of this game and its non-combat, aerobatic focused gameplay. As Exosky moves towards a March 2025 release date, I jumped back into the demo to see the deep changes made to the experience. Diagram of the human made Robosphere that enables humanity to travel the stars. Story Revamp It is best to speak about the considerable story update first as the opening cinematic of the game is unexpectedly complex and detailed. The story of Exosky comes after The Great Migration, a long planned and prepared for movement of humanity from the ruined Earth into the stars across the galaxy. With human settlements on different planets in The Solar System and atmospheres of each planet varying greatly, drone ships that fly through the skies and operate underwater are a significant tool to support humanity's interstellar operations. A representation of the Bedrock Program. The beloved AI cat I keep bringing up, named Norton, was created before humanity left to the stars. Eventually Norton founded The Bedrock Project, a cooperation of bot pilots and human pilots to create a next generation flight simulation program for pilots operating drones in complex environments found on other planets before they are forced to learn in real time with a higher degree of danger. That is the skinny explanation of the story. I highly recommend watching the entire opening video. Extra Content A surprisingly large part of this demo update is the extra content section. When you think about full game releases it is things like concept art, development info and videos you expect to see. Finding them in the demo is welcome, but unexpected. There are four categories, "The Goodies and Mod Tools", "Concept Art", "Meta Game" and "Video". There is a quite a bit of content in each of these. For example, the Concept Art category has 50 images with explanations about projects the developer started with back in 2010 all the way through a much larger concept for a massive multiplayer experience that was well into development just up until plans changed for the current version of Exosky we know now. Concept art. Even with information communicated in pictures, a few sentences and prototype video, there is enough for players to understand that the original scope of this game's concept was rather ambitious for a time. It is interesting context to understand the Exosky of today and its new backstory. I am a huge fan of things like this in any game, so I am especially pleased to see it included in the free demo. Level Revamp The three levels available in the demo have undergone significant updates. Despite me being rather familiar with this demo, its new updates made it feel like a mostly new experience. It goes deeper than changing how the already eclectic terrain looks. Previously players would need to fly through a series of waypoints while deviating from the set path a bit to perform aerobatic maneuvers and high risk nap of the earth (I am using "Earth" lightly here) flying to increase score in in various scoring categories during flight. Flight regimes like flying low over or between solid objects, flying through thick cloud layers, high-G maneuvering, inverted flight, etc. Reaching a set score of points in one flight before reaching the final waypoint then unlocked the next level. As of the recent demo update this has changed quite a bit. Now players are required to meet specific point requirements per category per level. For example, the second level has extensive high winds in certain sections. Players are required to spend an extensive amount of time in those conditions to gain enough points while flying under high wind conditions to meet that requirement. But with limited energy (fuel) to power the drone engines, players would be smart to multi-task while gaining points in other categories. Let me tell you, flying inverted at close proximity through the chip set of a Voodoo 2 graphics card while applying near maximum counter-rudder for crosswind is one of the craziest ways I've ever progressed in a flight game. A somewhat standard view in Exosky. Players gain extra score by exploring each level, by finding points of interest like CPU cooling lakes, sci-fi battlecruiser sized aquatic life and other genuinely wild objects. Trails of coins that grant extra points act as non-invasive guides to encourage players to fly throughout all areas of a level, unlike the more forefront and mandatory waypoints players must fly through to complete the level and progress through the game. Amphibious drone over a motherboard. Flight Model Improvements Exosky   already had a rather solid, well documented flight model for a game that visually looks nothing like a traditional flight simulator. The modest Steam post about "improved aircraft handling" does not do the improvements to the flight model justice. It took me some time to adjust to the new changes. I failed my initial attempts of the first level solely because I was not taking stall speeds, throttle response, low energy states and engine power consumption at high throttle settings seriously. While using a gamepad, even rapid inputs of full rudder seemed detrimental to the level of precision flying I needed to be successful. After having a brief mental reset (i.e. locking in) I was able to progress nicely using a gamepad, but fortunately Exosky is compatible with USB flight controllers. I had a night and day experience using even an entry level hands on throttle and stick from the Thrustmaster T-Flight series. The awe factor is real in this game. The fact that more finite controls offered by a dedicated flight controller made such a considerable impact on my experience speaks volumes about the current state of the flight model. In the past year I feel like I've played plenty of titles that work perfectly fine with a gamepad or keyboard and mouse, so even using a T.Flight felt unnecessary. In Exosky right now, the flight stick coupled with the flight model gave me enough control to start identifying ideal turn rate speeds, efficient throttle settings for gaining altitude or maintaining airspeed without wasting engine energy, coordinated turns and smooth, controlled movements to fly though the tightest spaces in the weirdest atmospheres all while remaining in complete control of the drone. It was rather gratifying to have precision tangibly rewarded in this way. I am looking forward to seeing Exosky   release into early access in March 2025, as it seems positioned to be one of the more unique indie flight game with a detailed flight model to come out in quite some time. You will be hearing more from me about this game soon! Connect with Exosky Discord : https://discord.gg/nnM2cUPUW4 Steam : https://store.steampowered.com/app/2795160/Exosky/ Website : https://exosky.aero/ 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 .

The Long Range Strategic Sting It has been quite sometime since I last wrote about how I was "stung" by the F/A-18C Hornet in my article Confessions from a DCS Hornet Main . While I feel like I have successfully moved beyond being a dedicated Hornet pilot, my experiences flying the F-14B, M-2000C, MB-339 and OV-10A and flying with players using other aircraft, something about the Hornet's weapon capability has consistently been highlighted for me. The quantity and quality of stand-off munitions on the F/A-18C continue to be relatively unmatched, even by its long-time fourth generation peer, the F-16CM. AGM-154: Modern Day Stand Off Even in the arsenals of militaries in 2023, stand-off weaponry is the bread and butter for the opening phase of any possible large-scale conflict. With anti-aircraft systems becoming more and more potent, rolling in to deliver bombs directly onto well defended targets isn't the flak dodging thrill ride players are expecting. It only takes a few seconds for radar guided triple-A units or optically guided missiles to ruin the climax of a long flight into combat. The path of least resistance is also the path of highest survivability and mission success rate. The Hornet can carry up to eight units of two types of JSOW. The submunition AGM-154A JSOW and 500 pound penetrator AGM-154C JSOW. It is well known that the submunition variant is performance hampered in different ways, like the altitude the weapon was set to disperse at, the direction and strength of wind and the damage model DCS uses to potray damage to ground units as a singular health bar rather than a more realistic way which models component damage. Because of this, the JSOW-C has seen higher proliferation in the average DCS world server instance. With its large warhead that detonates on impact or a delay, a direct hit is enough to destroy or cause significant damage to most targets they impact. The ideal way to deploy these munitions is with pre-planned attacks using GPS coordinates of known hostiles. This way, the JSOWs can be launched from their maximum range as the Hornet flies fast and high, outside the range of counterattacks from surface-to-air missile systems. However, their flexibility in Target Of Opportunity (TOO) mode with a targeting pod like the ATFLIR or LITENING is what makes them popular. Unexpected targets can be identified from tens of nautical miles away, then be attacked from a safe distance. AGM-62 Walleye: Cold War Approved Stand Off The Cold War era is of much interest to Digital Combat Simulator in many aspects. From module making companies embracing access to aircraft from the early and mid-cold war to players looking for a more close range, risky experience that forgoes GPS weapons and long-range munitions. The AGM-62 Walleye is from an early generation of precision guided weapons, first developed and tested in 1963. This very large glide bomb used optical guidance via modified technology used in televisions at the time to let pilots acquire targets, lock the Walleye's seeker onto a structure, then release the bomb. The Walleye then guides itself to the target using massive guidance fins, letting pilots truly fire and forget it. The version used by the F/A-18C is the AGM-62 ER/DL which can use a datalink pod to let pilots manually fly the weapon into the target. The Walleye's range is determined by the altitude, speed and launch angle of the aircraft carrying it, but in testing it could reach 24 nautical miles. In Cold War scenarios, the groundbreaking Walleye continues to be one of the few non-GPS, non-laser guided long-range attack options. HARM/TALD: Enhanced Anti-Radar Operations While the F-16CM is undoubtedly the most capable suppression or destruction of enemy air defense (SEAD/DEAD) aircraft in the simulato r, the F/A-18C does have a capability the Viper cannot replicate. The Hornet can carry the ADM-141 Tactical Air Launched Decoy (TALD) alongside the AGM-88 Highspeed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM). Using target of opportunity and pre-briefed engagement modes with the AGM-88, the Hornet can launch on emitting early warning, search and track radars from a safe distance, but if these radars are protected by point defense systems or surface-to-air missile systems capable of missile interception, the chances of success decrease. A working integrated air defense system (IADS) that is able to turn off radars, lure aircraft deeper into its ideal engagement range and catch them by surprise. Cycling radars on and off also greatly decrease the effectiveness of the HARM, sometimes making those missiles miss the target completely, depending on how soon the radars were shut off after a missile launch was detected. With TALDs, the Hornet can use the decoys to fool SAM radars into thinking the decoys are aircraft coming to destroy it. As radars power on and missiles begin to fly, the Hornet can now see the protected radars and attack them accordingly. AGM-84 SLAM: Deep Strike Capability The crown jewel of the Hornet's long-range strike capability are air launched cruise missiles. Very few aircraft in DCS World have these. Its two variants of AGM-84 Standoff Land Attack Missile (SLAM) have some of the longest weapon ranges that players can take advantage of. The SLAM utilizes GPS accurate coordinates to hit static targets, including hardened bunkers and shelters. Its high accuracy can be augmented with pilot controls during the terminal guidance phase with television seeker and datalink technology derived from the AGM-62 Walleye. While the older AGM-84E SLAM can not avoid terrain and has to be launched at high altitude to reach its target, the improved AGM-84H SLAM-ER (Extended Range) is able to fly over terrain at low altitude and strike targets in excess of 150 nautical miles. Because SLAMs can fly such a long distance, it is possible for them to slip past air defenses on their own, but extensive mission planning must be done. These cruise missiles can be programmed to follow GPS waypoints with specific altitudes and steering points. Though more complex strikes take a considerable amount of time to plan, when deployed correctly, SLAMs can even fly behind terrain, masking them from interception by land based systems. And in a pinch, so long as the Hornet is carrying a targeting pod, SLAMs can be used on unexpected medium and close range targets of opportunity that absolutely must be removed from the battlefield. When you combine the aforementioned munitions with the fuel efficiency of the Hornet, its effective combat range is immense. Without needing to constantly exchange survivability to strike high value targets, even far off logistic points, command centers and airfields hundreds of miles away are within range. Just make sure to have a pen, paper and coffee on hand to type in all those coordinates... 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 interview is with Johan Persson of Muddy Pixel , the developer of Worlds at War . Released on March 9th, 2018, Worlds at War is a virtual reality flight sim-lite set in a world that has suffered an alien invasion. What remains of the multi-national forces of Earth band together to survive against the ongoing alien attack. If you think this is an Independence Day clone, you're sorely mistaken. If anything, this is the type of game we wish the Independence Day franchise could have produced. Worlds at War enables players to fly combat aircraft, attack helicopters, and armed boats to take to the skies or the seas to fight for survival. Players are able to pilot any aircraft or boat that is available on the aircraft carrier. The primary game mode is horde based with tutorial missions, but the game receives regular updates. New enemies, adjustments to game play mechanics, new vehicles to pilot and soon new, non-horde mode missions are to be introduced. To start this interview could you please introduce yourself? My name is Johan Persson, I was born "a long time ago in a country far far away" (Sweden). I currently live with my wife and daughter in Los Angeles. And next year I will move back to Sweden... which I have been saying for the last 10 years, so I guess we will see. Now that introductions are out of the way let's start with the questions proper. How did you start developing games? Was there something that inspired you or a certain game you played as a child that inspired you so much that you pursued a career inside of the game industry? I started developing games on the Commodore 128, then Amiga when I was around 12 years old. I made some feeble attempts at making various mainly side-scrolling type games, inspired by games like Blue Max, Zaxxon, Space Invaders, Defender, Elite and Asteroids. In the later teens and early 20s, I played a lot of games at LANs that me and my friends would setup in our homes. We would play mainly DOOM, StarCraft and Command and Conquer. I also played A-10 Cuba! on the Mac at University. These are some of the games that probably influenced me the most. After stuyding a few years for a degree in computer science, me and a friend figured "Hey, we should be able to make these games too!" ​ You say that you have had experience with franchises such as Battlefield, Resistance and Titanfall, so how long have you been in the game's industry and how have these titles influenced you as a developer? I have been in the game-industry for some 25 years now. I was the physics- and lead-engineer for Battelfield:1942, and I was in many other ways deeply involved in the formative years of the Battlefield franchise. I left EA/DICE some 14 years ago and worked at a couple of studios in the US for 10 years. A couple of years ago I started working on a flying VR-game. VR made everything look fresh again. It was a bit like when hardware accelerated 3D-graphics were introduced some 25 years ago. It reignited the spark for developing games. ​ I had lost the spark during some of the later years in the industry, I thought perhaps I had outgrown game-development. When I went indie, I realized that I simply had a very narrow preference for the type of games I enjoyed working on. Your most recent work, Worlds at War, is a game that you have been developing all on your own for the past 2 years with the Early Access releasing March of 2018. Could you tell us what being a solo developer is like and which challenges have you encountered while you develop this game? Being a solo developer has its pros and cons. One thing I loved about working on a team was the bouncing of ideas, and to work with people that could create wonderful things in days that I could not do in a million years. As an Indie, you buy assets online or contract them out instead. But being on 100-person+ teams also creates a lot of frustrations in terms of decision-making and coordinating. It can be tiresome. I most enjoyed development when we were around 20-30 people developing Battlefield 1942. I love being indie, I would probably work on the game 80 hours a week, if my wife would let me. smiley ​ It's a great sense of freedom, you wear many hats, can choose when to work and on what. Financially you only make a fraction of what the industry pays employees, so that can be a problem. I can only do this because I have another business I started 12 years ago that I can run absentee and that pays the bills. ​ Worlds at War features a world that has already suffered an encounter with an invading alien race, putting the player in the boots of a soldier that is part of a ragtag carrier-group formed by the surviving members of several militaries. What were your major influences for this set-up? The first influence was the Independence Day 1 movie. The setting is also inspired by Starship Galactica - the TV-series - where you have a human carrier (that one in space instead of on Earth) trying to keep out of harm from an overwhelmingly stronger foe. Last but certainly not least, it opens up the option to let the players play around with any cool vehicle from any nationality and opens up interesting enemy- and level-designs! Having said all this, the game doesn't have a story like say Ace Combat, this is merely a background-story. The main priority is to create interesting gameplay that is similar to flight-sims, simplified like Battlefield, and has some interesting fresh twists to gameplay borne out of the setting. ​ ​ The aliens that we are thrown against them seem to be seeking for total control of the planet. Is there a story reason behind their actions? Or is this something we will know about as the game finishes development? Yes, they are already everywhere and forces this small surviving carrier-group to live as scavengers. The story will probably not be fleshed out for this title. Perhaps in a sequel, if the community shows strong interest. This game, even while being desktop compatible, was designed with VR in mind; featuring detailed cockpits for the A-10 Warthog, the AH-64 Apache, the Attack-boat and with more vehicles coming soon. Why did you choose to go with VR in this title and how hard has it been to balance these vehicles? The game now supports monitors, but it started as a VR-only title, because VR was what brought me back into game-development in the first year or so. Lately I do enjoy both working on and playing the game on a monitor. Motion sickness is something that affects the large majority of VR games. How have you dealt with such an issue? Frankly I have not given that too much concern. You can set flight-assist on, which helps you fly, makes the plane fly gentler and more stable (at the cost of agility), and you can fly in 3rd-person, which also helps. But my player-base typically has decent VR-legs. As far as I have seen myself, VR motion-sickness is something that fades as you play VR-games a bit.  After some 20-50 hours I think most people are getting pretty comfortable if the frame-rate is good. This is perhaps not the first game you should play, but having said that, my 75 year old parents have both tried it and they were just fine!  What are your plans for this title going forward? Anything specific? The game is in Early Access. It has 8 training scenarios and 3 Horde-mode scenarios. I am currently working on adding more traditional missions to the game - something that the community for the game have been asking for. About the Interviewer 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 a writer and content manager ever since. Twitter | Discord : Cubeboy #9034

This is part two of the interview we had with the Frecce Tricolori Virtuali (FTV) . This time the FTV will give us unprecedented insight into their history, the way the operate as a team and a glimpse on the challenges that they have had to face to get where they are now. Outside of their modules and mods that have been made throughout the years, the FTV are a group of passionate Italians that strives to represent their nation's acrobatic team in the virtual world to the best degree possible. Their most recent efforts involve their in-house creation of the MB-339 module that is available for free to everyone that has DCS: World installed. Their journey has not been an easy one as their history spans longer than a decade. Members coming and going but even through all that they have managed to prevail as one of the oldest virtual acrobatics teams out there. FTV-Duke, Frecce's EFM developer, was our main point of contact during these interviews, so I want to extend my gratitude towards him for his great disposition while coordinating the interview. What was the motivation for forming Frecce Tricolori Virtuali? The passion for aviation the founders had at the very beginning and for the real team combined with the love for flight simulation was the spark that ignited the birth of the team. The precision, discipline and synergy are fundamental characteristics of each display or aerobatic teams. Those features are very well represented by our national display team, Frecce Tricolori, which also has a long heritage making us proud in trying to transpose all of this into DCS. When was the team formed? What were the early years like? The Frecce Tricolori Virtuali were born in April 2003. The idea of ​​founding the FTV birth from a small number of passionate friends, all Italians, coming from different simulation experiences, gathering together and studying the possibility to make this simulated flight activity. Everything was born out of pure passion and also a bit of a challenge, as most of the FS users said that it was practically impossible to carry out a similar project because FS9 badly tolerated the flight in formation of more airplanes at close distances. So we got in contact with a software developer “Ibirdsoft” who compiled a very pioneer peer to peer connection system called iBnet that worked definitely well enough to allow the tight formation activity on flight simulator 2004. Today the team uses Digital Combat Simulator to do their flying. DCS was not released until 2008. Where did you fly before DCS was released? It is a long story, take a beer and sit down. Like I said, we started very early in the early flight simulator 2004 era and everything was simply, definitely DIFFICULT. Anyway, there was so much to do and so much effort has to be put in that each obstacle was a new test and a challenge that we had to solve “not because it’s easy, but because it’s hard”. We started to study the Frecce Tricolori basic maneuvers and gathered more and more friends into training and developed the first complex maneuvers of the real team, “small steps for a few passionate nerds... giant leaps still to come though”. Then we contacted the software team Cloud9, that was developing an advanced model for FS2004 of the MB339 (and the Rivolto airbase, home of the real frecce tricolori team), and we offered our collaboration in order to promote their products to the sim community, thru our first real fair events where we brought our computers and gears and flown together in one place. FTV during their FS2004 era. It was all very difficult though, FS2004 was very ahead in terms of requirements related to the available hardware of that time, and making tight formations in ten Cloud9 MB-339 was almost all the time a 15 to 18 fps nightmare during training, but we kept on training harder and harder through the years. Showing to the community that, after all, such activity was possible and with more than interesting results. This was 2004-2008 era, we started to use the early head tracking system TrackIR, computer hardware was becoming more powerful and we went on participating to a number of real and simulated events like the annual Modelexpo in Verona or the IVAO Malta aerobatic event, with full flight transfers to the Island and back to Rivolto airbase on IVAO. Then the group noticed that the international flight community was moving towards different platforms like Lock-on and we decided to try this new challenge. We migrated to Lock-on basically due to the better multiplayer code, it was a turning page but unfortunately we suffered a lot in terms of the aircraft we flew. As a matter of fact: Lock-on's code did not allow us to recreate the real performances of the MB-339, thus we were flying our aerobatic maneuvers with an aircraft exterior skin looking like a 339 but with the flight envelope of an A-10 Thunderbolt II, which is basically 4000 lbs heavier than the MB-339! FTV's recruitment image and old logo (2008) Every loop was a close call, and forget Lomcevak, it was pure madness. Simply imagine that in order to have white smoke during the show we were forced to dump fuel!! Very frustrating, the show must go on, but we were not new to getting used to incredible challenges after all. The year was 2009 and the few last original active members of the team gathered together with another Italian real-related Frecce Tricolori team which was training on Lock-on (Stormbringers) and a collaboration was inevitable; “bringing a storm” of fresh technical boost and new amazing skilled pilots. We decided to move to IL-2 1946, that was again a turning page, but for the best. 2 years in the making and we developed our own IL2 MB-339 PAN that finally performed all flight envelopes like the real aircraft. We made it and we offered the mod for free to the Lock-on community, it is the italian style, we’re proud of it. In 2011 It was the time for the big show and that year we decided to release our first official video excerpted from our VFAT exhibition: “Frecce Tricolori Virtuali EVOLUTION remastered” Then again, we turned page another time, and here we are on DCS. Almost 20 years after, wearing an Oculus and spawning on our brand new EFM MB-339 aircraft that we developed with blood and tears, makes me think that little things changed after all: we are still making small steps for few passionate nerds, but looking back... we definitely did Giant leaps during this time.☺ How many members does the flight team have today? The team today is made up of pilots (either “rated” and trainees), developers, directors (also known as “biga”), and streamers. Each official training evening sees at least from 8 to 10+ pilots who can fly the routine for the next show or focus on trainees. In additions, should it be required, the streamers or few developers could join to share information. Below our current roster: PONY1 - Lucone PONY2 – Randy PONY3 – Aracno (also 3d Developer) PONY4 – Zanco PONY5 – Paolo PONY6 – Giulio PONY7 – Fox PONY8 – Sabba PONY9 – Wolf (also C++/lua Developer) PONY10 – Yeager PONY6 – Michele (currently on a backup position as a second section leader) Biga/streamer – FTV.Depy Biga/Training mission voice over - Gianluigi Zanovello FTV.Extra - Trainee FM Developer/Streamer/PR – FTV.Duke Coding – FTV.Erik Engine Model Assistant – FTV.Robby Skinner/MOD Structure/lua coder - FTV.Automan Mission Editor – Beppe_goodoldrebel Current day FTV at VBLA 2020 Any trainees? Are any of the original members of the group active? Trainees represent the future for FTV, special care shall be brought to them, sometimes outside of the official training evenings. Few of the group are the founders of the original Frecce Tricolori Virtuali (former named “PANV”), in fact the leader “Pony 1” Lucone and current “Pony 6” Giulio are two of the founders. What type of training does it take to become a DCS aerobatic pilot? What does a month of team training look like? Becoming proficient in aerobatics takes years of training, mental strength and dedication. Pilots within Frecce Tricolori Virtuali have from 2 to 15+ years in aerobatics and/or combat simulator. The Team meet to fly at least 8 times each month when on normal training period, whereas even 12+ evenings when within 2-3 months from a live event. This is not taking into account the effort outside of the official training times to progress with trainees or adjusting as required. There is no magic trick, every person is completely different. Everyone has different backgrounds, learning curves and skills that makes it almost impossible to standardize a training, and after all, no one “becomes” an aerobatic pilot because a pilot is always in training... always. Also, doing simulated aerobatics is such a different environment compared to real live aerobatics with a lack of physics on your body, lack of real speed sensation, lack of field of view (just to mention a few) are such a handicap that the approach to the training becomes substantially different from the real aerobatic skills. You have to develop different senses in order to compensate real physics, so you have to use your eyes and your brain to “feel” and imagine tridimensional maneuvers. This is a philosophy that takes more than simple time, it takes steps, and every step is different from trainee to trainee to become a member, depending by the position in the formation, depending on the maneuver, sometimes it may be a matter of days, often a matter of months, but definitely, more often, years. It is exactly like a ballet where every single aircraft is an element of a mass choreography. Every aircraft is part of a movement together with the other ones and every pilot needs to gain the same skill level in order to look alike in the formation. We are talking about 10 different pilots, 10 different heads, each one with his life, his age, his personal problems, dedication and his different approach to the final goal. Some times it is more a matter of psychology than of simple training, a very advanced state of mind, a kind of mental sport that adds stress on top of your life, instead of being an activity that is supposed to be a “hobbie” ☺ How closely does the virtual demonstration team follow the routine of the real world Frecce Tricolori? Has the team talked to the real Frecce Tricolori to receive some feedback on your maneuvers? The Frecce Tricolori Virtuali strives to replicate the real routine by matching as close as possible the maneuvers, performances and best practices. The current real team does actually know and appreciate what FTV are making-up. In addition, one of our group members (Gianluigi Zanovello) actually is a former real Frecce Tricolori pilot and that became the commander of the group later on. This is a privileged channel for us in acquiring all the little features and the tricks of the trade, and for that the virtual group thanks him for this opportunity. What is the most complex maneuver to perform in the team's demonstration? Several actually. The “Doppio Tonneaux” (double tonneaux) is one of those. Presented before the “Bomba” (Low bomb burst) where the first section keep a close line abreast until the leader calls for the “Interni via” and “esterni via” where number 2 and 3 first, and 4 and 5 just after few seconds, perform an almost canopy to canopy barrel rolls one after the other. Precision in controlling the barrel roll is critical to keep the symmetry and not to run over your wingman. VBLA 2020 Many people have seen Frecce Tricolori Virtuali performing in the Virtual Festival of Aerobatic Teams (VFAT). What is it like coordinating for VFAT events and what kind of practice goes into preparing for one? First of all, the gratitude goes to those who actually coordinates between all the teams for the three-day show (the amazing team of “Virtual Aerobatics”). Each teams put its effort in sticking with the tight schedule and being prepared to show off at their best. Typically, an intensive training starts 3 months before the show, increasing the training evenings as the show closes in. Also, a great deal is put in developing an ad-hoc soundtrack, and setting up the streamer “routine” to keep the right pace while the demonstration progress. The team's official YouTube channel has videos of aerial displays at VFAT events. Which video best represents the team? The team is very well represented on every VFAT we have taken part of. Blood and tears were put on those events and, as I like to say, we express the quality we have put during the months of training in just the 40-ish minute live stream ! Was the flight demonstration team a part of testing the Aermacchi MB-339A as it was being developed? Yes, the large formations, and different ways of handling the aircraft between each pilots, constitutes one of the fundamental characteristics of our development process. Will we see the G.91 in future shows? Will it perform alongside the MB-339 or will it perform on a separate flight? Our group will likely be keeping the G91 in the development status for some more time, works needs to be done to reach the same level of our MB-339. Our group strive to keep the representation of our routines as real as it gets. We might want to re-create the Frecce Tricolori G.91-era routine (which is one of a hell of a ride…), but it is still too soon to say with certainty. Surprise appearance of the G.91 at the end of FTV's VBLA 2020 presentation. We would like to once again extend our thanks to the entire team of the FTV that treated me kindly and were really attentive and generous with this interview, specially FTV-Duke. Photos by Kirby, FTV-Duke and the FTV team. About the Interviewer Santiago "Cubeboy" Cuberos  A 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 a writer, translator and content manager ever since. Twitte r | Discord : Cubeboy #9034

A Retro Flight Hidden Gem I never remember seeing Sky Odyssey advertised or for sale. As someone who grew up playing just about every flight game and flight sim lite on the Sony PlayStation 2 (PS2), seeing a video of it came as a surprise to me. It completely flew beneath my radar until I saw someone streaming it on Twitch in 2020. Since then, this game has been in my backlog for months, waiting for me to give it a try. Having just recently completed my first play through, I can't believe it took me over 20 years to play what is now one of my top five favorite PS2 flight titles. As the end credits rolled, I began to think about what I had just played and tried to analyze why it immediately hooked me. After a time, I realized how this happened and promptly grew a considerable appreciation for this title. Sky Odyssey • Remastered Opening • PS2 ( PlayscopeTimeline ) Developed by Cross and published by Activision, Sky Odyssey was released on November 14th, 2000, in North America, with PAL and JP versions to follow. In retrospect, it seems like Sky Odyssey was one of the many titles lost in the lackluster launch lineup of games for the PlayStation 2. The quality of PS2 games began to pick up in late 2001 and the years immediately after that. This held true for the flight games as well. It wasn't until games like the Sidewinder series, Ace Combat series, Energy Air Force, Air Force Delta, and other combat-oriented flight games brought a solid flight presence to the PS2. With Sky Odyssey not being a fighter jock title, I was unsure what to expect of a non-combat, non-civilian aviation transport flight game. It advertised itself as an adventure game in the style of Indiana Jones just as much as it called itself a flight simulator. A very curious mix of genres. Flying through caves and canyons is the aesthetic of this game. The Adventure mode of Sky Odyssey is the primary game mode, though there are four others. As advertised, you play as a daring pilot seeking adventure and the glory of being the first person to find the "Tower of Maximus." This rumored land is believed to exist somewhere in a mysterious archipelago that has minimal human exploration. While searching for ancient ruins and pieces of a lost map, players traverse the islands, taking up unusual secondary missions along the way. I found myself completely engaged with the story and laser-focused on flying in its movie-like situations by the third mission. Atmosphere is something this game has in spades. A narrator describes the mission objectives and explains the lore behind the islands and descriptions of the general areas players will fly into. An easily missable section of lore is available with each location as well in the Background Info menu. With minimal voice acting and very little interaction with in-game characters, the game's sound design is forefront. While the volumes for some events were a bit too high, overall the crumbling rocks, harsh winds, and eerily quiet calms were matched nicely with the soundtrack composed by Kow Otani, who would go on to compose the Shadow of the Colossus soundtrack. The feeling of adventure peaks during all sorts of unexpected situations and side missions that appear. Examples of these are: flying above a train as it pumps fuel into the aircraft to counter a fuel tank leak. "Train to air refueling." Flying through a forest of mammoth thousand-foot tall trees rumored to be inhabited by witches. Slow, painstaking climb over a mountain range with only a well-timed fuel dump as the deciding factor for getting over the peak. Looking for traces of red clay to find ruins of an ancient civilization while navigating a series of massive waterfalls. Aerial refueling from a strategic bomber by using a parasite fighter-style cage and boom system while zigzagging through rocky islands. Using pontoons to ride water currents to regain speed after suffering an engine failure. Flying through the machinery of an underground aqueduct. Strategic bomber modified for parasite aircraft operations. The challenge of Sky Odyssey's adventure mode is a mixture of constricted flying conditions punctuated by weather, wind effects, fuel management, and geographic dangers like rock slides, geysers, volcanic eruptions, and similar hazards. While the flight model in this game is arcadey, aircraft have a semi-realistic weight, engine power management, fuel management, and flight attitude are deciding factors in navigating geographical obstacles. Adventure [M2: The Desert Express] ( Blaze Plays Games ) There were multiple instances where landslides hurled boulders towards my aircraft, and the safest ways to avoid them were coordinated turns, snap maneuvers, and patience. There are no progress checkpoints within this game, so crashing during a mission will result in the player starting over from the beginning. Calm and focused flying will win the day. Ancient ruins lead the way to your glory. It should be noted that while there are a handful of different camera angles to use; the default 3rd person camera is simultaneously the most helpful and most teeth-grinding camera option. Seeing the wind move the aircraft from side to side is valuable for making attitude and engine adjustments, but this also means the camera is hardly ever perfectly centered behind the aircraft's tail. Depth perception and predicting the aircraft's flight path become skills learned quickly in this game. Checkpoint rings guide players through the considerably sized levels towards their objectives. However, a bit of exploring off the mission path is rewarded by more than some interesting landmarks. There are hidden landing strips in some of the levels that unlock aircraft customization parts or unlock an entirely new aircraft once enough parts are gathered—further encouraging exploration. You must fly through this volcano. The last two missions and the ending of Sky Odyssey had so much happen in such a short amount of time, seeing the credits roll at the end filled me with a sense of considerable accomplishment. By the end of my first experience with Sky Odyssey, I found myself seriously thinking about how it hooked me so quickly. It is by no means one of the prettiest or technologically advanced PlayStation 2 games ever made. As I began to think of similar flight titles for comparison, the reason this game stands out to me became clear. Few flight games have tried to do what Sky Odyssey has done. Certainly none of what would be considered the "big name" or "mainstream" flight titles from the first "golden age" of flight sims. This remains true even in recent times. Living in the year 2021, during this age of easily accessible, experimental indie titles, Sky Odyssey seems more like an indie game than anything else. If this game were released this year, it would be right at home on Itch.io or Steam, being promoted through online game festivals or even produced through crowdfunding. In fact, there are games on Itch.io that now make me think of a similar creative vein Sky Odyssey was developed in. A project by a developer willing to pursue their creative vision rather than following the beaten path made by games and simulators from brand name developers and publishers. I can now truly appreciate Sky Odyssey for the forgotten gem that it is after experiencing it myself. In the grand scheme of things, it is a game that did not have much of an impact on the flight genre, but it represents a creative aviation experience that I wish more developers would take a chance on. Those curious about this game can buy it used for rather cheap or see a playthrough of it here . About the Author 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 little bit of eye candy for your strike missions Picture this: You boot up DCS and set out for a strike mission. Your target is a large ammo depot. You weave through air defenses as you make your way to the target, masking behind terrain and dodging AAA left and right - and when you finally get there and attack, all you get is a small explosion and the target's 3D model switching to a destroyed one. Feels a little underwhelming, right? You expected something more spectacular - a chain of explosions from the ammunition cooking off and detonating everything around that depot you just hit. Maybe you wanted to re-enact Ace Combat 5's Powder Keg where a bunch of ammo bunkers start going off in a chain reaction. Well, don't worry - today we're going to show you how to get those effects on your DCS World missions, and hopefully give you some ideas along the way. While there are certainly more elegant ways to do this with Lua scripting, our goal is to keep it as simple and straightforward as possible, so we'll be showing you a basic method that works using only DCS Mission Editor triggers. Here are a few examples of how you can set it up: Basic Example: Ammunition Depot Let's start with the basics: A static object which will trigger secondary explosions once destroyed. The first step is to place an area over your target to define where the secondary explosions will take place. For this ammunition depot, I've set up two different zones - The smaller one will get fewer, larger explosions, and the larger one will get more but smaller explosions. You can set up more of these "layers" if you want - but beware of potential performance hits. With the zones set up, we go to the Triggers window on the Mission Editor and create a new trigger. Since ammunition bunkers in DCS are pretty tough, and I want this one to detonate as soon as it is hit by a single penetrating bomb, we can set the condition for the trigger as "Unit Damaged". For the actions, we set "Explode Unit" to ensure the bunker is destroyed after that one hit - and then comes the key behind the explosion effect we want, the "Shelling Zone" action. This trigger action generates explosions on the ground, simulating an artillery barrage - however the rate of these explosions is fast enough that it makes for a pretty versatile effect. We create one "Shelling Zone" action for each zone we have created. Under its options, we choose the zone we want, the number of explosions that will take place inside the zone, and the TNT equivalent of each explosion, measured in kilograms - keep in mind the maximum for this number is 500 kilograms, so unfortunately you cannot simulate the huge single explosions which usually result from ammunition depots cooking off. Video: Basic Ammunition Depot Example Setting Up Delayed Secondaries: Ammunition-Carrying Ship We can take this concept a step further and make it so some of the explosions only trigger a certain time after the target is hit. For this example, I've set up a docked cargo ship with two large zones and several smaller zones spread out through its deck. In order to help our players with target identification and really get the point across that this is the big bad ammunition-laden ship they need to destroy, we can set up a bunch of static military vehicles on its deck by selecting our ship in the "Link Unit" field. Keep in mind that this only works for static objects - unfortunately, as much as I'd like to place MANPADS and anti-aircraft guns on cargo ships as a welcoming gift to unsuspecting players, as it currently stands we cannot place active units on ship decks. (ED, please?) In order to achieve the delay effect, we'll set up multiple triggers - in this case I chose three - each one triggering its own set of explosions. For the first one, we set the conditions as either "Unit Destroyed" or "Unit Damaged" depending on the mission creator's preference - and for its actions, in addition to "Shelling Zone" , we set a "Flag On" command to set a flag of our choosing to "true" once the target is hit. You can choose an arbitrary number for your flag, as long as it does not conflict with any other flags in your mission - in this case I chose "101". Then, for our following triggers, we set the condition to "Time Since Flag", which will trigger once a specified time (in seconds) has passed since a certain flag has been set to true. Thus, we can effectively specify a delay in relation to the activation of flag "101", and therefore in relation to our first explosion. For this example, I've set two delayed triggers for different sets of explosions - one with a 1 second delay, and the other with a 2 second delay. Video: Delayed Secondaries Example Setting Up Map Objects: Airfield Ammunition Warehouse Setting up your own targets is all well and good, but what if you want to apply this effect to map objects, such as the fuel and ammunition storage facilities present at airfields? Fortunately, the 2.7 DCS update gave us a tool to do exactly that. After right-clicking on a valid map object, such as a building, an "Assign As..." window will pop up. Clicking this window will automatically generate a zone linked to the map object's ID, which allows it to be used to track the object's status. In the Triggers window, we will now set up a trigger with the condition "Map Object is Dead" . Under the options for this condition, select the zone which has been assigned to the map object in the previous step. This will trigger this event as soon as that map object is destroyed. In order to give this a little bit of extra kick, we can set an "Explosion" action in addition to the "Shelling Zone" action. This will generate a single explosion exactly at the center of the selected zone, at an altitude set by the mission creator. It isn't as visually impressive, but it helps by being one extra layer in our effects cake. Just like with the hardened ammunition depot, I've set two circular zones around the target, each one linked to a "Shelling Zone" action - fewer but larger explosions on the inner circle, more numerous but smaller explosions on the outer circle. Video: Map Object Secondaries Example Getting the visual effect you want with this method often requires quite a bit of tweaking and playing around with the values of "TNT Equivalent" and "Shells Count". If it's looking too mushy, reducing the size of explosions and increasing their number can help. However, when adjusting these values, keep in mind that the higher the number of explosions, the higher the impact on frame rate - if you have too many explosions going off, even if they're small ones, your players will definitely feel the performance hit. Get Creative! Now that you know what you can do with a few simple triggers on the Mission Editor, the possibilities are endless! Using this method alongside other mission features, it is possible to think up a variety of mission scenarios - For instance, in a mission involving rescuing civilians from an industrial zone under insurgent attack, you could force players to be careful about potential collateral damage by making the destruction of structures such as fuel tanks and warehouses trigger a devastating chain of secondary explosions. When I make missions to play with friends, I like giving my players reason and reward for going after certain static targets. They know they'll get to look at cool explosions, so that's already an incentive - but I also like making their destruction have tangible effects on the mission. For example, maybe destroying an ammunition depot reduces the amount of artillery enemy units can throw at friendly forces, and destroying fuel storage tanks could reduce enemy aircraft spawn rates. I hope this article has given you some ideas to give your missions that little extra bit of flavor - and good laughs when your friends realize that ammo bunker they just dropped a JDAM on... That one was special. 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 .

An important announcement for the future of our upcoming operations in VRChat aviation Starting May 26th, 2025, Skyward Flight Media and VRC Dogfight Central have entered a partnership to host more aviation tournaments and other aviation focused events in VRChat. VRC Dogfight Central (DFC) is an air-to-air combat focused VRChat aviation community. Their staff put on training courses in 'dogfighting', host tournaments and create content in support of those becoming more efficient in air combat. DFC holds weekly basic fighter maneuver instructional sessions on their Discord before transitioning to VRChat for one on one dogfight sessions in existing VRChat aviation worlds. Along with their YouTube channel , DFC offers a good environment for learning how to dogfight in VRChat with a group of likeminded individuals. May 2025 Colibri Tournament The start of this partnership is being kicked off with a tournament! The SW-210 Colibri - the second original aircraft from Skyward Flight Media brought to life with cooperation between aeronautical engineer Caio D. "Hueman" Barreto  and 3D modeler Santiago "Cubeboy" Cuberos .  For this tournament the aircraft will be equipped with a pair of M39A2 20mm Gunpods and a pair of MAA-1 infrared guided air-to-air missiles. The flight model of the SW-210 Colibri was rebuilt from the ground up by Santiago Cuberos for the newest iteration of SaccFlight with fine tuning done in cooperation with Dogfight Central and Skyward Flight Media staff to ensure it is flying as intended. The Black Aces VRChat aviation community - the first VRChat aviation partner of Skyward Flight Media - is also participating in this event providing the in-game winner's trophy, money towards the tournament prizes and some support staff members if needed. Tournament Schedule Monday May 26th, 2025 : Tournament Announced, Sign Ups Open. Practice World available . Thursday, May 29, 2025 9:00 PM CST : Sign up for the tournament closes. Saturday, May 31st, 2025 : Qualifiers at 9:00 PM CST. Saturday, June 7th, 2025 : Finals at 9:00 PM CST. Tournament Prizes 1st Place : $200 USD, Dogfight Central Challenge Coin (real, physical coin), Tournament Trophy (Digital, In-Game) 2nd Place : $100.00 USD, Dogfight Central Challenge Coin 3rd Place : $50.00 USD, Dogfight Central Challenge Coin Tournament Rules What the staff say is final. No cameras or personal mirrors are allowed while flying. If you crash during take-off you get one rematch before losing the match. Weapons hot AFTER merge, a merge is when you and your opponent cross each other's 3/9 line. After killing your enemy you must show you can survive your last maneuver, or that you have the means of returning to level flight. There is an audio que when you win a match, exit the plane immediately after recovering from your last maneuver. The first match you lose puts you in the loser's bracket. Losing again eliminates you from the tournament. If you are matched with a player you have blocked, you need to unblock them for the duration of the match. Failure to do so will result in being disqualified. If you collide with someone during your match and they survive, you may ask for a rematch, however they are not obligated to accept, and would be named the winner. The use of software that simulates key presses such as auto hot key are strictly prohibited, if you are found using any type of software that makes inputs to your aircraft’s flight controls without the need of your own effort, you will be disqualified and possibly banned from future competition! 試合の決定権はスタッフにあります。 試合中にカメラの使用は禁止されています。 離陸後すぐに墜落した場合は1回だけ再試合できます、そのあとは敗北判定になります。 武器の使用許可はマージの後になります。マージの判定は相手の3/9ラインを交差した後になります("merge"という音声が流れます)。 相手を撃墜した後は最後のマニューバまで生存しなければなりません。できなかった場合は再試合の判定になる可能性があります。 試合に勝利した瞬間と同時に勝利音声が流れます。最後ののマニューバまで生存した後はすぐ機体から離脱し、リスポーンしてください。 負けたあとは1回だけの復帰のチャンス(敗者復活戦)があります、通常ブロックの勝利者も同様です。 対戦相手がブロックしている対象の場合、試合中だけ相手をブロック解除しなければなりません。できなかった場合は失格判定になります。 戦闘中に対戦相手とFOX-4した場合、リマッチ(再試合)を要請することができます。ただし必ず再試合になる保証はしません。 ボタンの連打を設定できる第三者のソフトウェアもしくは有利になるソフトウェアの使用は禁止されています。発見された場合は失格となり、ドッグファイトセントラルの大会から出禁になります。 Tournament Sign Up Step 01 : To register for this tournament fill out this Google Form . Step 02 : Join the VRC Dogfight Central Discord  and watch the Announcements channel for updates. Similar updates can also be found on Skyward Flight Media social media channels on Bluesky and X.com . Step 03 : Join the Dogfight Central VRC Group to receive group invites to the instances for prelims and finals in real time while you are logged into VRChat. This can be done in a few different ways: While in game use the Group search function and search for Dogfight Central. Input Group Short code VRCDC.1267 into the Find a Group search bar. Join the group on the the VRChat website: https://vrc.group/VRCDC.1267  either via website or by searching for Dogfight Central while in game. Practice World Available Remember to practice! The world to practice with the very aircraft you will be participating with in the tournament is available now. Join a public instance to practice against others or create a permission restricted instance to practice alone or with friends. https://vrchat.com/home/world/wrld_e8be929d-90dc-49ac-b837-eb2bdca2cff9/info

After months of work and tweaking, and a lot of procrastination, we are proud to present Skyward's newest VRChat experience: The Skyward Hangar Hangout. This world is designed for those days when you just need a place to lay down and wind down in a cozy yet aviation-filled world, or those nights when you need a place to host a small/medium-sized event with your friends in a nice open space! It is divided in two main areas, the hangar and the outside. Go see it yourself, it is out NOW! Now, if you just want to browse, allow me to show you around my newest world. THE HANGAR The base model was made by our friend, Pilot, and decorated in its entirety by using available assets and in-house models, such as the inclusion of the SW-210 Colibri as the centerpiece of the hangar. It includes the typical amenities expected of a VRChat world, such as: A big mirror on the hangar door. A synced ProTV video player with Quest compatibility. An AudioLink controller. A ball to toss around with your friends. A small corner with memories from Skyward's/Cube's experiences in VRChat. Here is a small gallery of the interior of the hangar: THE EXTERIOR This part is the newest addition to the world, and the most spacious area available to players. Relax under the moonlight and the cloudy skies with your friends, or play games with them while you get tipsy, it is all up to you. The centerpiece of the exterior is the SW-201 Dragonfly, an in-house aircraft. This world also includes plenty of spaces for people to have conversations at, as well as comfy places to sleep on if that is what you want. It includes: Two pool/billiards tables using the VRCBilliards prefab. Two Buckshot Roulette tables using yaokisub's prefab. A fully modeled and walkable Dragonfly model, including a walkable interior. Atmospheric sounds coming from the lights and bonfire. A bonfire area with a hammock and cushions away from the rest of the world for those that want private time or just a very cozy place. Here are some pictures of it, too: About the Creator 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

After many, many months of development; we can finally unveil our world to the public! We present you the Skyward Island Resort, a relaxing flight world that is available NOW in VRChat for both PC and Mobile! The link to go there and all the information that you will ever need can be found in the webpage we made for it. We'll see you in the Resort!

It has become a bit of a yearly tradition for the VRC Black Aces to showcase their newest aircraft during the month of September. This year is no exception, which is why we are proud to announce that tonight (9/9/2023), at 10PM EST, we will be hosting a showcase in VRChat as a part of this year's Black Aces September Showcase event! As a part of this airshow, we will be showing off Skyward's newest addition to its virtual roster: The SW-210 "Colibrí" , a two seat trainer aircraft designed by Caio "Hueman" Barreto and modeled/developed by Santiago "Cubeboy" Cuberos! This aircraft has been in development for the past 6 months, so we hope you enjoy it when you see it in VR! Alongside the Colibrí, we will also be showcasing two more aircraft : The SW-201 "Dragonfly", Skyward's pride and joy civilian amphibious aircraft, and the F/A-27G "So-UR", a futuristic supersonic heavy aircraft designed by REaSoN2DiE4 and Sournetic. This makes it one of the first shows within the Black Aces to have a complete roster of original aircraft modeled in-house by Black Aces members and Skyward Staff to be used in VRChat aviation! HOW TO ATTEND THE SHOW To attend tonight, you will need to have joined the Black Aces' discord server, which you can find HERE . Once you have joined, please pay close attention to the Announcements channel , which is where Riko, the main organizer and owner of the community, will be posting the link to the VRChat world instance as it opens to the public. See you there! If you cannot attend our show, fret not! There will be three more airshows as a part of September Showcase, one per week. Above you can see the dates and world creators. We'll see you in the virtual skies, fly safe!

An introduction to modding and initial concerns Did you know that to this day, Why485, the main developer of Tiny Combat Arena , still goes by the name "Only the Harrier is Flyable" in the MicroProse official Discord? It is a very direct reminder of how Tiny Combat Arena (TCA) maintains its player controlled aircraft focus on the AV-8B Harrier. While development of an official second aircraft has been referenced by the developer, screenshots of players flying many aircraft in this game that are definitely not the famous "Jump Jet" have been appearing in social media. What is going on? Introduction screenshot (Why485). Official Mod Support On November 1st, 2023, a side project from the developer was announced and released. Why485 stated that the game had always been built with the inclusion of mods in mind at some point, leading to the creation of Tiny Combat Tools . This software tool kit was designed to assist with the process of creating and uploading mods for Tiny Combat Arena. This is some of the clearest and well documented official mod support you can get from a game this size. It should be noted that a channel for TCA modding was opened in the official MicroProse Discord on February 22nd, 2022, where many hypothetical discussions for modding were had before this tool kit was released. Though, the primary destination for mods in this game is the TCA Modding Community , which was intentionally established outside the MicroProse Discord to clearly separate the mods from the base game. This way any mod related questions or troubleshooting stay within its designated server, away from any bug reporting the base game receives. Do keep in mind that creating mods for this game does mean designing them from scratch. A skill set with programs like Blender and Unity will be needed to bring your ideas into TCA. This example video from a user named Caboose gives players an idea of what fledgling modders are getting into: Caboose takes it a step further and offers a mod base for initial experimentation. Another user, Topfighter101, has also provided an hour long tutorial video focusing specifically on creating an aircraft model in the TCA style from scratch. This includes any weapon models that are being added for these aircraft to carry into combat. Further steps will need to be taken to make sure the aircraft, other vehicles or their weapons are also animated and coded to work correctly in game. It is a lot of effort to get content like this working and working consistently. You have to respect that. AI only Su-27 Flankers finishing off opposing aircraft. Installing Mods Installing and using mods is very easy thanks to the developer doing some thinking ahead and the modders themselves keep things as simple as possible. Simply go to the  TCA Modding Community , search the Mods forum, click on the thread for the specific mod you are interested in, make sure you are downloading the latest version of that mod, then drag and drop the files of those mods into the Mods folder of Tiny Combat Arena. It is that simple. Example of mod folder. From there, launch TCA then do the usual process of aircraft selection and loadout selection. Some mods are for AI units only, meaning they cannot be flown by players. A little reading will help differentiate things. Concerns About Mods I am writing this article as someone on the outside of the Tiny Combat Arena modding scene, only now starting to pay serious attention. As such, I do not have a lot of time with the various mods that are currently available. This may sound strange, but my initial reaction to seeing the mods being produced is one of concern. Coming into this, I have the opinion that many of these mods may not fit TCA as it is now. Of course, mods are completely voluntary. I am not going to pretend like they "destroy" what TCA is or anything. But I believe I can put my concerns in perspective. JA 37 Viggen deploying missile countermeasures. Via mods, players will have access to an entirely new selection of aircraft. Not just in game non player controlled models now being modified for player use. Some mods seem to fit well with the level of technology currently seen on both the friendly and opposing sides in game. Though, when we go beyond the perceived Cold War era Tiny Combat Arena represents, things begin to change. You can find aircraft like the Mitsubishi F-2A and Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. Even fictitious examples like the Ace Combat ADFX Morgan and the UD-4 "Cheyenne" Dropship from the Aliens series. While genuinely cool, do remember that the opposing computer forces do not even have the SA-2 Guideline surface-to-air missile yet. The most advanced air defenses are short-range infrared missile carrying SA-9 Gaskin and the ZSU-23-4 Shilka self-propelled anti-aircraft gun weapon system. The deadliest fighter in the skies hunting players is the MiG-23MLA Flogger that first flew in 1978. Some TCA modders have already added advanced modern weaponry like their own renditions of active radar homing missiles, long-range air to ground munitions and even nuclear weapons. At this point, the balance of power seems so uneven, I would think the overall gameplay experience would change. F-2A Viper Zero launching AAM-4 before the dogfight begins. Dipping into Mods After a few hours of testing a handful of these mods myself, I can say that the experience does change, but it depends on how players use the mods and which mods they use. For example, spawning within 5 nautical miles of enemy air defenses will negate any advantage even the most advanced fourth generation fighters have. If you are so close even the most basic anti-aircraft gun can hit you, an air launched cruise missile cannot help you. However, someone that knows they can stand-off at over 20 nautical miles away while casually raining down 'Fox Three' missiles and glide bombs like the AGM-154 JSOW will breeze through any mission put before them. Using a Strike Eagle with six AIM-120 AMRAAMs to its maximum potential in a Quick Battle Dogfights results in the battle being won within seconds without the opposing force even getting close enough to fire back. F/A-18F Super Hornet deploying AGM-154 JSOW into a far off battle. Mods that are more era appropriate, like the JA-37 Viggen or Mirage 2000C match with the current level of base game units players would be fighting against. The weapons they could potentially deploy also fit the level of aggression doled out by the NPC enemies. It helps that in Quick Mission mode, player controlled mods and AI only mods can be set as enemies, increasing the difficulty against the player as they have access to more advanced aircraft. A flight of F-15 Eagles versus a flight of Su-27 Flankers does even things out. But so far this does nothing for the Arena Campaigns, which are the bread and butter of Tiny Combat Arena. Though there does seem to be one ambitious mod that does address this. I want to take a closer look at that on its own as a separate article, without quickly glazing over it. Mirage 2000C mod database entry. Personally, I do not see myself extensively using mods of highly advanced aircraft but swapping in new third generation aircraft and early fourth generation aircraft could be a nice way to mix things up from time to time. Few flight games are this open to the addition of mods. People who are even vaguely interested should take the opportunity to dip into the modding scene and see what is being produced. As further updates to the core mechanics of Tiny Combat Arena are prioritized by its developer, dabbling in mods is a fine way to see how robust this platform can be. Player controlled F-15E merges with AI only Su-27. 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 .

(Screenshot: Dantofu VisMod) Even the most unconventional, outright sci-fi elements of the Ace Combat series often have connections to real-world aircraft, weaponry, concepts, and projects. Airborne aircraft carriers, aft firing missiles, and forward-swept swing wings are all known for being seen in Ace Combat, but their design and presentation are drawn from influences in our past, present and future. One of the more recent and briefly intriguing examples of this came in the form of "stealth missiles". Following its release, the next three years of downloadable content for Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown (2019) has primarily been made up of new aircraft liveries, emblems, and a dozen or so new aircraft added to the game's roster. The inclusion of three new missions is the most significant addition to the game's post-release content. In it, new villains, challenges, and weapons were introduced. Amid a rather elaborate plot by a rogue super submarine crew, two enemy ace pilots enter the equation. Known as Mimic Squadron, this brazen brother-sister pair of pilots appears on the battlefield, confusing friend and foe. Their shadowy mission is to assassinate the player's character while in the middle of a combat operation. Piloting a pair of Su-47 Berkut, Mimic Squadron appears in two missions with World War II dazzle paint-inspired liveries, painted on false canopies, various types of electronic countermeasures, and stealth missiles. Mimic Squadron (Source: Acepedia) It's no secret that stealthy, low observable (LO) weapons are becoming vital weapons for the real-world battlefields of the future. Because of the constantly progressing detection and interception abilities of anti-aircraft defense systems, early warning radar, and generation 4+ combat aircraft, the need for weapons capable of negating detection and striking hard-to-reach targets has rapidly increased in the past few years. But the types of weapons that currently receive LO designs are cruise missiles, glide bombs, and similar standoff munitions. It is larger, slower, often subsonic weapons that are susceptible to surface-to-air missiles, infrared or radar-guided point defenses, and high-speed fighter aircraft capable of running them down. But the missiles that Mimic uses are not of this type, but of a type not seen in modern real-world air forces. During the events of "Anchorhead Raid", the second Ace Combat 7 downloadable content mission, Mimic Squadron ambushes the player and their wingmen with stealth air-to-air missiles (AAMs). As combat begins between both flights of aircraft, it's observed that the AAMs do not trigger constant missile warning alerts. It is only until the missile is moments away from impact that it initiates the familiar warning tone within the player aircraft's radar warning receiver. Throughout the Ace Combat series, any guided missile fired at the player prompts missile warnings from the moment it is launched. Audible beeps from a radar warning receiver indicate how close a missile is to the player's aircraft. The more frequent and faster the beeps are, the closer the missile is. Knowing this, the dogfight against Mimic Squadron develops into a rare type of battle where the player is unsure of exactly when enemy missiles are inbound unless they see it fired visually or wait for the missile to get close enough. As far as Ace Combat is concerned, referring to these as stealth missiles isn't necessarily incorrect by its own standard. Mimic Stealth AAMs (Source: Dantofu VisMod) In the real world, the concept of a low observable air-to-air missile isn't unheard of. How they are presented in Ace Combat is similar to one of the few publicly known military research programs on this subject. Have Dash I (1985-1988) and Have Dash II (1990-1992) were United States Air Force programs that looked into creating a new generation of stealthy long-ranged AAMs. The defining feature of these test missiles was their trapezoidal asymmetrical flat-bottom design that used a radar-absorbing graphite composite fuselage which was also resistant to the high temperatures of hypersonic speeds. Their speed and minimized radar cross-section would reduce how soon an aircraft's radar warning sensors could detect the incoming missile. There is a finite amount of information about them available on the world wide web with hard to find physical publications listed as sources. Though missiles were actually tested, these programs ended with no clear or reliable publicly accessible information about their results. But the fact that fourth and fifth-generation aircraft have not carried low observable AAMs since the program's end may be the answer we seek. Collection of media about Have Dash. While the design inspiration and parts of Mimic's stealth AAMs' functionality can most likely be traced to Have Dash, the final missing piece does not lay in programs of old. It is instead in a well-founded set of technology that has been around for decades. The ability to launch missiles at the player without immediate warnings can be attributed to a Track While Scan radar mode. In short: unlike Range While Search radar modes which acquire the radar to maintain a "hard lock" to guide a missile onto a hostile aircraft, Track While Scan is capable of passively tracking targets and providing steering information for active radar homing missiles while they are in flight. This allows the onboard radar of the active radar homing missile to remain offline until it is close enough to the hostile aircraft to activate the missile's own radar and pursue the target without further support needed from the launch aircraft's radar. This minimizes the time that the hostile aircraft has to react to the unexpected new threat. A missile could be within 15 nautical miles of its target without that target knowing it will be in danger seconds later. Looking back, it's sort of a shame to see such an unusual addition to the Ace Combat series only be used in a single instance. The incorporation of some historical military aviation concepts and technologies players would only encounter in flight simulators has proven once again to be an eyebrow-raising challenge for flight arcade players. It's curveballs like these that make for memorable gameplay moments. Here's to hoping the stealth AAM of Ace Combat 7 doesn't wither away in the next installment of the series like the aft firing missiles of Ace Combat Zero did. 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 .

An unrecognized prototype for 2010s flight games? Airforce Delta Strike . Airforce Delta Strike. Airforce Delta Strike. I’ve struggled to really define what Airforce Delta Strike means to the triumvirate of the flight arcade also-ran’s against Ace Combat. Perhaps I’ve given it too much credit in the twilight of its awareness. Perhaps I’ve misjudged its presentation entirely and am southpaw-ing my aim. But as a preacher of this series gospel, I can’t personally help but adore this entry for its insanity. As far as I’m concerned, Airforce Delta Strike (2004) was the unrecognized prototype of what the state of the genre became in the mid-2010’s, and to this day should be treated as a 101 reference for what the ideal flight shooter/visual novel should be. Is that a good thing, though? God… To put this game in a bucket… Good? Bad? Ugly? … Thirsty? Yes, in more ways than one. It may come off as overly-specific to combine these two genres, but bear with me; I can’t be the only one that saw the patterns, right? After Ace Combat 6 there was this “lull” in releases that truly appealed to the core demographic that this genre dominator sold to. That core demographic leaned heavily into the manga/anime crowd. I’ve commented in the past that those that either pedestal or deride Ace Combat for being an anime disguised as a flight shooter have probably never played this game. F4D-1 Skyray attacking rolling wheel fortresses. Gameplay Surprisingly, gameplay in general is probably Strike’s weakest platitude. It’s… serviceable. But if I could summarize it in a more accurate word, I’d call it “conservative”. Controls are, at the least, competent. Aircraft move with a pronounced recoil, similar to that of Airforce Delta Storm. However, the turn rate of all aircraft feels sharper than the previous entry. It’s as though there is a conscious effort to back away from the far more realistic handling that Storm provided. This is the reason I judge it as conservative; it feels like the result of developer response at other flight shooters from the time, as though there was a concerted effort to “re-arcade-ize”. But the decision to not simply go all the way and eliminate recoil is a puzzling decision. Even Ace Combat experimented with semi-realistic flight movement with Ace Combat 3 and made the wise decision to back off from it by the next entry. Here, Konami seems to avoid the rapid realignment and as a result its sort of…cowardly? It pains me to use those words, but if the string of footnote flight shooters using the same semi-realistic physics at the time are any indication, I’m legitimately tempted to say that had Airforce Delta made the same decision it may have been more accessible to the masses and put up a stronger fight against the reigning champion in the space. YAK-141 attacking large oil rig. A change up in late mission physics however are a welcome change of pace… we’ll get to that a little later. And this continues on in some ways into mission design. There’s more of an emphasis made on time limit missions. Certainly we don’t fall into the skirmish design trap of the first game here, but there feels like constant concentration on destruction of as many units as possible or defense of an escorted objective until time runs out. That’s not to say that there are signature wacky missions that bring back some of the charm this series embraces. Tiger’s Cave and Departure stand out in this regard. Weather machines creating tornadoes. But wacky or not, design also leans into the haphazard. You are quickly thrown into your obligatory canyon run (one of several, in fact!) by your third sortie; the objective being to survive to make it to the end while outmaneuvering bizarre single ultra-wide wheeled contraptions blocking your path. But at even first glance you feel like the decisions you make to dodge them are somewhat arbitrary. You WILL fail several times, and Airforce Delta’s retention of requiring an aircraft rebuy after crashing will force you to pay a hefty price to re-earn your prizes; get ready to fly and fight using an Su-24M far longer than you had ever wanted. I could probably generously make the argument that the mission design’s haphazard feel allows execution of greater freedoms by the player, but as the plethora of missions start to come your way, you’ll feel that uneasiness that the mission might have in fact been slapped together with minimal testing. But these main story missions get overshadowed by the constant barrage of “Standby” missions. These missions are your anti-reward for being competent at the game. Yes, yes—I know you can skip turns. I’m not going to admit that it took me until the end of the game to realize this, however. Like its predecessor, the map functions in a board-game like mission selection, but it’s really a veil—missions are very linear, with turns allocated to you for each mission phase. Exceed ten turns per phase by failing missions, and the game ends unceremoniously. However, efficiency in phase completion provides you with the ability to use up your remaining turns in “Standby” missions where you fight in a furball. These missions are provided as a way to let you destroy enemy aircraft to earn money and fly with any one of the nine pilots you wish to complete your collection. But these missions quickly become irritatingly monotonous. Recommendation: Turn down the voice volume for these. The games insistence on throwing the same ten voice lines at you multiple times overlapping with one and other can become grating. YF-12A on a recon mission. Soundtrack Man, you can tell that the music has a Konami backing to it. There’s no orchestra here—the sound team continues to lean heavily on dirty guitar shreds and electronic noise. That’s not to say there’s nothing to like. Despite the variance provided, there is an identifiable sound signature and an attempt to fit tracks to mission design. There’s also a splatter of remixes that will sound familiar to those who have a fondness for the Sega Dreamcast OG. Be sure to watch the intro scene at the beginning of the game to familiarize yourself with the game’s musical motif—you’ll be hearing it a lot. Older fans will appreciate the standouts in Chiron Lift and Tiger’s Cave as remixes/remakes of Dogfight and Military Supply Base respectively, with Chiron keeping a stanza of the title motif for good measure. As mentioned, tempos do a respectable job of matching the pace, urgency, or importance of each mission for the most part. But each time you hear the music for Standby show up in the main game, you’ll let out a groan. It’s not a bad song, just irritatingly Pavlovian. The off-world missions also hold a repetitive tone, but their elegant overtones and slower pace keep them from having the same effect—they’re actually quite nice. Wait… off-world? I said we’ll get to it! Something I tend to appreciate personally is the non-gameplay tracks. Main menu, briefing, and mid-selection tracks are very comfortable. This is something else that seemed to come over from the prequel. They’re also where some of the anime roots come into play—they don’t sound out of place in animation from the time period. I’ll find myself hunting these tracks back down from time-to-time for some light background noise and they hold a good aviation vibe to them. Story To those who can make sense of the story by the time you’re done, we salute you. I’ll try to summarize: The Earth Defense Alliance Force or E.D.A.F (God, I hate that name…) has been locked in combat following an invasion of the Orbital Citizens Community or O.C.C. (not much better…) for… reasons. I think they just want land or something? You fight for the E.D.A.F as part of a non-regular mixed aviation unit known as Delta, which has a reputation as outsiders and mavericks. You’ll regularly be insulted throughout the game for your affiliation by friend and foe alike. Your ragtag-band-of-misfit’s ultimate mission is to break a frontline stalemate and force the O.C.C back off world. Example of situation report. The land you are fighting over (the map of the original Airforce Delta flipped upside down) takes you across wide, varying terrain and mission types, where you thrust your sometimes outmoded fighter into combat against crazy alien gunships, both land and ground, and a limitless supply of Su-22’s. Example of mission briefing. The story tends to be character rather than plot driven, for what that’s worth. For as crazy as the war is, it seems to be an excuse plot rather than a focus in anyway, and that’s reflected by the lack of any definable frontline or logical back-to-back mission objectives. What you’re concentrating on is how each of the characters interact with the events or actions that brought them to where they are. Example of on base conversations. Let’s talk about that; characters. Lots of them. Fully-formed in mangaesque glory. You have your old-wise-coot-stuck-in-their-ways stock character, your bossy-14-year-old-that’s-actually-a-military-genius stock character, your bloodthirsty edgelord-I-am-actually-a-vicious-canine stock character—they’re all here! If you’re not familiar with anime from the 90’s and 2000’s, maybe there’s something novel to find here. But if you are familiar with it, you’ll probably roll your eyes and groan. But maybe, just maybe, you’ll look closer and note what they were trying for. …I kinda love it. They’re so edgy. They’re so bitchy. They’re so archetypical. They’re so--Oh my God, look at the abs on that guy! Do flight suits really show that much… definition? I’m not sure who these character designs are meant to appeal to, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t for top of the demographic bell curve. In all seriousness, this may solidly be the start of what makes the game worth playing. I genuinely respect the attempt at actual character development--something to distract from the otherwise bizarre yet lackluster story. There is even a time or two where you actually feel for some of these flyboys/flygirls. However, the heroes themselves are the least entertaining of the bunch save for my boy Jamie and his stubborn defiance in the face of modernity. I too believe in piston-driven supremacy. Jamie in a P-38L Lightning strafing an armored train. The villains are the best part. They’re so hammy and over the top. Whether they’re evil femme fatales like Francine Davout and her ever-loyal servant Jake and their complicated and perhaps fatalistic relationship or the Starscream-esque cattiness of Leon and Giuseppe against their M.E.R.V sub-faction commanders, I love following these guys. Sure, they’re not archetypes you haven’t seen before, but each of their stories evolves programmatically through the game and your in-game actions provide each of them with serious consequences. The plot itself takes a serious turn late in the game, however, and you’ll find yourself shifting from playing a strange but conventional flight shooter to what is effectively a better-handling version of Rogue Squadron with rocket-sled equipped jet fighters. Your final destination? Mars. Yeah, like I said, it gets crazier and crazier, but this is where the story gets real legs and the gameplay shines through. I think this is what I have the fondest memories of for this game, and why I am at odds with myself on how I want to judge the game overall. The space missions you fight through have what I think are a very clean non-Newtonian physics set and a chance to blow up some serious O.C.C. equipment. Honestly, they could have made a whole game out of this part alone, and I lament that it didn’t get more exposure. Aircraft How many airplanes are too many airplanes? (There’s no such number…) Boasting over 100 aircraft to fly over multiple generations, Strike  fulfills the wish of so many an internet ranter with unbuilt obscurities like the F-108 Rapier to the option of facing off with advanced 5th generation fighters using a P-51D Mustang. The selection is a natural evolution of Airforce Delta Storm combining what it built up with vague story-driven excuses for why we would bother flying a Sea Vixen in . But let it be; so many of us have begged to fly the F-111 in these arcade shooters and they granted our request and properly made it the hog to fly that I would expect it to be. I also have to give credit to the fact that they did a better job of giving us plebeians of North America a complete aircraft selection after being denied by the previous series entry. Examples of aircraft selection. The aircraft selection clearly takes influence from Ace Combat 3 and 04 here and decides to add a secondary weapon slot. This is welcome, if limited. However, the decision to omit a gun from a handful of aircraft is a controversial decision. So much as I may respect the idea that we shouldn’t give the F-117 a gun it never had, removal of your credit-multiplying fallback weapon from what seems like arbitrary aircraft like the YF-23 is a frustrating limitation. Baseline weapons feel important in arcade shooters like this—I’ll take the inaccuracy of an F-117 having a gun if it means that there’s a consistent control set. The progenitor of the Assault Horizon locked aircraft selection rears its head here (though arguably this is something you can trace all the way back to Ace Combat 2). You’re stuck with a limited aircraft set for each character. That’s not to say it’s not a far wider berth as the afore mentioned spinoff since you generally have the option to play as one of three characters from each Element for each mission, granting you access to around 30 aircraft or so, but in the pursuit of uniqueness they again throw that unnecessary limiter at you. The' Vic Viper' from the Gradius series. Fictional, Konami-property inspired aircraft occupy the tail end of the fighter selection, highlighting the loss of the crazy original designs that Airforce Delta Storm provided. And you know what? I miss them. I really do. Maybe there is that small group of players in the States that get hyped flying the actual Vic Viper in this environment, but the XF-0002 Phosphorous was so much more invigorating as a design and homage. The space missions alone justify the expansion of an original roster. Oh, that reminds me: No Rafale or Mirage. Dassault screwed us here. Do you think they felt insulted after the last game gave the Rafale a tailplane and touted it as an “improvement”? Conclusion I think I see what it is about this game now that makes it a mixed bag. If I were twenty years younger, I’d love this to death again. It requires a lot of persistence and tolerance to get to the juicy story and character bits. The grinding requires a mindset I just don’t have so much of anymore. But the universe it introduces has a huge potential. These characters, locations, and factions could effortlessly expand. This is a lore-driven game that isn’t sure if it wants to be, and this is why I maintain it’s a prototype of much of what we see today. The voice-acting, dialogue, story beats—all of it feels like Sword Art Online with planes. I can’t call this a bad thing. I maintain that such a thing can be something of a guilty pleasure for a lot of us, and dammit, it would sell even today! I can’t help but wonder that if it weren’t for the aircraft licensing costs that this series could still be ongoing. I think this is where Konami found its voice. It created something unique, strange, and identifiable. Third time’s the charm, and just like with Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere I think it was off-putting at the time; this was an experiment that the western world wasn’t quite ready for, but sure as hell would be now. Promotional image for Airforce Delta Strike. The game needs refinement. A cleaner physics system, a better, less-aliased graphics engine, and a rethink of mission design and progression. But the foundation is there to create something unique and fun for entries going forward. Airforce Delta deserves a revisit today. Project Wingman and Vector Thrust had proven that there is still some sort of demand for newer project designs in this genre. I think that sometimes quantity has a quality all its own, and that’s the niche that Airforce Delta could have carved out for itself; the B-movie releases to Ace Combat’s blockbusters. I think we’d be eating better today if Konami kept serving these titles up because it may not have been the best, but it was innovative and unique. It may have been janky, but they really did put some goddamn heart into it. 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 .

A tremendous improvement over the demo Last year, we talked about Aviassembly’s demo, its very promising core concept - and also our mad journey in working around its limitations at the time . In April 11, 2025, the game was officially released in Early Access - and of course, we were in terested to see how it’s evolved ever since our first look! Back then, we mentioned how improvements to the game’s construction and flight systems could make it into a very solid game - and I’m pleased to say that is exactly what happened. Few times have I seen a game improve so much in so little time as Aviassembly did, and after our first article highlighted so many of the demo's flaws, it's only fair that we highlight the ways in which they've been addressed prior to release, turning this into a very strong title. We're excited to show you what we've found upon playing the game, so buckle up - it's time to create some flying machines! The Building System This is an area which has seen vast improvement since the demo - from quality-of-life upgrades such as being able to save your aircraft designs to new features such as being able to fine-tune the position of a part, building in Aviassembly feels much better! The impact of something seemingly small such as being able to fine-tune the placement of a part in the X, Y and Z axis has a tremendous impact, and allows for much more believable creations, both aesthetically and functionally. It is now a breeze to do things such as placing your piston engine’s nacelle in-line with the wing, for a classic DC-3-esque look. It wouldn't have been possible to make something that looks like this in the demo. Compare it to our last article's "Twin Scrunklo Mk. V" - this aircraft fills that same in-game role, yet Aviassembly's balance changes and new editor features allow it to look much better. The fine-tune feature allowed not only giving this aircraft a low wing, but also to recess the extra fuel tank inside the fuselage, reducing drag and making the aircraft look a lot better. New tools are also available for the fuselage parts, allowing players to angle and change the corner shapes on those fuselages as they see fit. This gives players a much greater degree of freedom over their design configurations, making things such as low- or high-mounted wings possible. These new fuselage-shaping tools are an incredibly helpful addition, and leave nothing to be designed compared to other games in the genre. The edge editing feature allows you to make fuselage corners more or less round. Wings are still only available as fixed, non-editable parts, which means you cannot adjust wing area, sweep, dihedral, or planform - players are restricted to the game's preset wings. While this is a major limitation, it's something KSP players will be well used to, and as we'll see later, the decreased complexity is a good match for the game and the niche it sits in. Another limitation is that, unfortunately, it is still not possible to make pusher-propeller aircraft, since the game sees the engine, instead of the pilot's seat, as the "front" of the aircraft. However, many other configurations, including rather unusual ones, are possible. The new tools allow players a vast degree of freedom on aircraft configurations, but of course there are limits. Here, I originally intended the left (port side) boom to house the cockpit, but since the builder does not allow one to set a symmetry plane offset from the cockpit, I ended up placing it in the centreline. Admittedly, this is an extremely minor inconvenience which will only be felt if you try your hand at really unconventional designs. There are also many more parts available now - including retractable landing gear! Many new additions greatly increase the number of tools in the player’s box of problem-solving items, such as drag chutes and electric engines. The game even shows the retractable gear "ghosted" in the built-in drag visualizer, showing these parts have no drag penalties when retracted. And aside from these functional upgrades, players are now also able to color parts, selecting from a preset color palette which perfectly matches the game’s charmingly cozy graphics. It is a welcome addition which can really make your creations pop. The Flight System Tweaks to the game's flight system and part performance means this is not only a viable early-game design, it also performed well enough to carry me through most of the campaign's first island. Note also the throttle slider on the lower left corner. The game’s flight mechanics and controls have also been touched up, and one of this game’s previously weak points has been addressed - the throttle control now works as a continuous slider, allowing the player to leave the engine in a desired power setting and bringing it closer in line with the control scheme of most flight games out there. Flying an approach to the lumber mill. Sadly, there are still no wheel brakes, so the only way to slow down on the ground is using reverse thrust - however, this does keep the control scheme dead simple and allows players to "self-pushback" (powerback) with ease. This fact alone improves the experience of flying in Aviassembly drastically - but it doesn’t stop there, because fuel consumption rates have been tweaked as well, and the performance values of parts in general seem to have been rebalanced - for instance, it’s now possible to create a perfectly functional monoplane at the game’s start. The Journey, Part II Having taken a look at these new features, I decided to start a new save file and experience Aviassembly’s campaign, eager to see how these changes impacted the gameplay. The cargo loading screen allows you to see exactly how much cargo space and weight each item takes, and what's the current weight and available space in your craft. Right off the bat, the cargo system has been largely reworked, with a completely different balance than before. Changes in part cost and performance also mean that conventional designs are perfectly effective right from the game’s very start - my very first aircraft was a completely conventional monoplane, and it was perfectly adequate for the game’s first quests. The "Monoplano Mk I", my first aircraft for this playthrough - no funny business required this time, it's a completely conventional configuration, looks reasonably similar to a 1920's airplane, and performs accordingly. Speaking of quests, they’ve changed considerably as well - there’s now a much greater variety of them, including new mechanics such as fragile cargo items which require smooth touchdowns on landing. The game even has a very simple story which gives meaning to these quests as you progress. The classic time-attack quests are still there, and as funny as having fruits go bad on you within 70 seconds sounds, as a gameplay mechanic it's a great way to force the player to combine cargo capacity and speed. Far more impactful than the story, though, is the new system for completing quests: If you need to deliver 5 crates of fruit somewhere, you don’t need to deliver them all at once - instead, you could deliver 3 in one flight, and then 2 in the next, for example. You’ll even get a partial reward on your first delivery, allowing players to incrementally upgrade their designs if you’re just under budget for the upgrade you need to finish the quest. At first, I feared this ability to partially complete quests would detract from the game’s challenge, but I was happy to see it did not at all - the many new items fill that gap, and you’ll still need to build highly optimized aircraft for certain quests (such as carrying one very large and heavy item, or delivering foodstuffs very fast). I'm delighted to report the game still allows you to get away with some truly insane designs. This particular abomination uses a hybrid distributed propulsion system and was my answer to having to transport a very large, very heavy piece of cargo near the endgame. Instead, I’ve found this new system hits a sweet spot between challenge and player-friendliness - you can progress gradually if you’re struggling to complete a certain quest, for instance, but nothing feels too easy. There’s some very good balancing work put in here by the developer, and it is definitely worthy of note. The combination of this new quest system and the reworked cargo system allows players to progress in a very different way from the demo - it is entirely feasible to gradually upgrade designs for most quests. For instance, my first monoplane design, fitted with upgrades every time I unlocked new, higher-performance parts, carried me through most of the first “part” of the campaign on the starting island. This family of single-engine monoplanes carried me through most of the early game. From left to right, then top to bottom: (1) - Monoplano Mk I; (2) - Monoplano Mk II with storage space increased via wingtip travel pods; (3) - Monoplano Mk IIId with new wings, a more powerful engine and retractable landing gear; (4, 5) - Monoplano Mk IIIe, losing the wingtip travel pods for increased speed and range, able to cross the island without refueling; (6) - Monoplano Mk IV with new wings and empennage, able to reach islands across the ocean using less than half of its internal fuel At the end of the campaign, I had a few “families” of aircraft, gradually upgraded and/or stretched as budget allowed and mission requirements dictated - a change of pace for sure, and in my opinion, a welcome one. Another early-game aircraft family and a pleasure to fly, the twin-engne "Explorador" was my main go-to whenever large cargo capacity was required. From left to right, then top to bottom: (1) - Explorador Mk I; (2) - Explorador Mk Ib, with increased fuel capacity, this version could cross the ocean and was used to complete the weather station quests; (3) - Explorador Mk II, with new wings, extended fuselage, and stronger landing gear. A mid- and late-game aircraft family, the unconventional "Tandem-Transporter" family was my answer to not being able to edit wings - if I can't get a larger wing, I'll just add more of them! From left to right, then top to bottom: (1) - Tandem-TP Mk I; (2, 3) - Tandem-TP Mk II, with a larger fuselage and two additional engines to carry larger, heavier payloads; (4) - Tandem-TP Mk III "Sisyphos", designed to carry a very large rock aloft; (5) - Tandem-TP Mk IV "Sisyphos II", designed to carry even heavier payloads; (6) - Tandem-TP Mk V "Sisyphos III", designed to carry the largest, most forbidden of rocks Speaking of the starting island, as the campaign progresses you get to fly to other islands and take up new quests there. There are three areas currently in-game; the starting island , the snow island , and the desert island , each one with its own set of places to visit, quests to complete, and available resources. Remember the desert airbase? You can finally land there now! You need to complete the quests on the other islands first, though. It is now much easier to fly to these islands, thanks to the performance tweaks and new parts, such as the retractable landing gears, which greatly decrease drag. This is particularly welcome since some of the missions require you to transport cargo between different islands - sometimes under a timer! I found these inter-continental missions, if you will, to be a very entertaining addition. The "Pescador" aircraft family was designed to deliver fish - an item which expires very quickly in-game, requiring expeditiously fast delivery. From left to right, then top to bottom: (1) - Pescador Mk I, which as a result of my poor planning on how to spend research points, had to make do with less than ideal parts for the job; (2) - Pescador Mk II, with extra engine power and a stronger empennage; (3) - Super Pescador Mk I, a late-game aircraft designed to transport fish to neighboring islands at supersonic speeds; (4) - Alfinete Mk I, a modification of the Super Pescador, trading some speed and range for lighter weight and better low-speed controllability, in order to transport very fragile and even more time-sensitive cargo at short ranges The much longer campaign means not only that you’ll have a lot more content to go through, but also that it’s perfectly possible to unlock every single available part by the time you reach the game’s final missions. There’s also plenty of open ocean, which gives the game ample room for expansion in case the developer decides to add new islands and quests in the future. Final Considerations  First of all, it’s important to point out this game isn’t directly comparable to sandbox “plane builders” such as SimplePlanes and Flyout - if you’re looking for a game where you can bring your ideas to life with complete control over how they look and function, there are better options out there. However, Aviassembly excels at what it sets out to do : it is an accessible, objective-driven plane-building game with a low barrier to entry. This gamified approach to aircraft design makes it, in my opinion, a perfect fit for younger players interested in aviation : it allows them to explore things such as aircraft configuration and design constraints without being overwhelmed by complexity, and apply problem-solving creativity in a child-friendly environment. The new part placement/adjustment functions, tweaks to the game’s balance and flight controls, and much greater variety of available parts allow for a much greater variety of designs and make this a very strong “build-a-plane” game. The more balanced approach to goals, which allows for gradual completion of in-game quests while still maintaining a good level of challenge, is particularly noteworthy. Aviassembly has come a long way ever since its early demo days, and the amount of effort and care put in by the developer is clear and worthy of praise. Overall, it is a very solid game which fills a previously unexplored niche in its genre. If you’re looking for a cozy, casual approach to flight games which scratch that problem-solving itch in your brain - this is definitely a game worth checking out! Connect with 'Aviassembly' Steam Developer Website Discord Presskit X.com 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 .

In recent years, Eagle Dynamics has started trying to interact a bit more with its community, which was something that was generally well received. The livery creation community enjoyed a couple of successful contest, with the winners being rewarded with ED miles and the inclusion of their work into the game. The latest livery creation competition announced by Eagle Dynamics was for the F-5E Tiger II, specifically for the new remastered version of the module. Although, this time things did not go well, and it was ED's fault. Within the span of a couple of years, and with the release of new assets such as the remodeled versions of the S-3B, B-52H and B-1B; Eagle Dynamics changed the way that their assets were encrypted, making it impossible for their users to look at the models even through official means with the use of ModelViewer2, the built-in model viewer tool. This made it functionally impossible for creators to make liveries for these new models, including the remastered F-5E. Access to this model and some way of viewing it is essential for anyone who would like to create a livery for this module in any sort of human-tolerable timeframe. Livery creation became basically impossible for those that wanted to participate in the contest, which is something the Livery Art community immediately noticed. To protest this new encryption and the way that it affects the livery creation community, and the fact that ED hadn't done anything about it nor had offered an alternative to solve the issues; many members of the Livery Art community decided to join forces and boycott this newly announced F-5E Remastered competition. This was in light of many community-level grievances, as well as a general feeling that the community felt used and mistreated by Eagle Dynamics. Their grievances, ignored. Complaints, thrown to the side and put on a pile. Many creators felt used as what amounted to free labor by Eagle Dynamics, despite the fact that some prizes were offered by the devs for the winners of some of these competitions. The community was polite with this movement, and almost no one stepped out of line publicly with rude comments towards the devs. They stayed firm, making their points known in the best way possible. After the lack of entries was evident, ED decided to halt the competition and acknowledged the issues the community had brought up. I am very proud that this was the result that came out of this protest and of the way the entire community aligned themselves under a single banner to achieve this goal. I, personally, also did my part as a member of the community by not participating in the event, even though I did not air my existing grievances with the platform and some of their decisions in any public manner. Hopefully we will see a change in attitude from Eagle Dynamics, and an improvement to ModelViewer2 so that we can finally see those new models and make some awesome liveries for them without having to spend several hundred hours. 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

Announcing our first downloadable mission for Digital Combat Simulator Syria COIN is a cooperative multiplayer mission by Skyward Flight Media's lead Digital Combat Simulator World mission creator, Caio D. "Hueman" Barreto . The base version of the mission was created on January 2nd, 2023. During private playthroughs with Skyward staff and a few friends, it was gradually improved upon. When the decision was made to use this mission for a multiplayer event on February 11th, 2024, we also decided to release the mission for public download. It will be available both on the Skyward website and soon the DCS User Files. DOWNLOAD Want to know more? Ready to try it yourself? Download it with mods and without mods here: https://www.skywardfm.com/syria-coin-coop Soon it will be available on DCS User Files. ONLINE EVENT This mission is being launched with an online multiplayer event on February 24th, 2024, 12:00PM - 7:00 PM (UTC−7). Feel free to join other players as they play the mission. Connect with us here: https://www.skywardfm.com/syria-coin-2024 MISSION OVERVIEW This mission was designed as a lower-intensity operation to allow the effective use of lower-performance aircraft such as the A-29B Super Tucano, OV-10 Bronco, and less advanced attack helicopters such as the Hind.   Likewise, the mission is centered around these aircraft - though faster and more capable aircraft are available, these are stationed in airbases further away from the operational areas. This is done to encourage the use of low-performance aircraft while still allowing those who desire to play high-performance aircraft to enjoy this mission. ​ ​Players may land and refuel in any airfield not under enemy control. However, only those airfields which have friendly forces in them can be used as CTLD troop pickup zones.   Additionally, airbases listed as capture objectives on the kneeboard have spawn slots available once captured, however these are limited to lower-performance aircraft.  ​ Note this mission uses CTLD for JTAC lasing. Players should avoid using the standard DCS radio menu for JTACs. FEATURES Low intensity, Ground Attack-focused mission.   Fog of War is enabled. Identifying and attacking enemies will be more complex.   An opportunity for propeller-driven aircraft, light attackers and helicopters to shine.   Defend coalition outposts surrounded by insurgent forces.   Attack technical convoys, insurgent outposts, and elusive mobile mortar teams.   Change the flow of battle by striking ammunition depots and other strategic targets.   Anti-aircraft threats are limited, but watch out for MANPADS!   Player-controllable ground vehicles and CTLD allow players with Combined Arms to conduct air assault and JTAC operations.   Detailed mission background, briefing slides and kneeboards.