There are only a handful of games that allow you to properly perform Close Air Support (CAS) missions, even if they are still a thing on most flight simulators. They just never feel right, or give you any feedback from the troops you are supporting. That's when milsim titles with their multiplayer nature really shine, especially games like Squad or, in our case, modded Arma 3. As one of the most modded games out there in the milsim genre, Arma 3 offers a lot of different experiences depending on what the players want. If you want to completely ditch realism, you can do so by modding sci-fi factions from many universes into this usually realistic game. That is what my friend Neppy did with our current short-term campaign by modding in the entirety of the Halo universe factions into the Altis map. We are playing as the small insurrectionist faction against the Covenant and the UNSC, which might sound like a terrible idea for those that know about Halo. I have become the default pilot and artillery operator, which has led to me being able to fly as much as I have realistically could. Everything from tactical insertions, CAS and precision strikes against armor and buildings; I've flown them all. Likewise, I've been flying most of the missions with the UH-144 Falcon which I consider to be Halo's version of a UH-60 Blackhawk. It's a small yet nimble twin-rotor VTOL aircraft that can hold its own against most of the threats that we have faced so far. UH-144 Falcon as seen in Halo Reach It can carry guided and unguided rockets, small caliber mini guns, chin-mounted 20mm cannons and door-mounted gunner positions. All of this makes it such a versatile aircraft that it has become the workhorse of most air operations we have needed during the campaign. ONE ENGINE, NO PEDALS AND A DREAM My most memorable fight wasn't one that ended in glory, but a flight that ended in a close call. We had planned an air assault on a small island where the enemy had three objectives: an outpost, a small military base and an even smaller sea port. We flew in at night, I dropped my friends down at a beach south-west of the enemy outpost and proceeded to provide CAS while they were fighting their way in. I retreated after engaging some enemy armor, and then came back as soon as possible after rearming. I landed the aircraft at the now captured outpost and proceeded on foot with the rest of my friends. Things get a bit hazy from this point forward, but I do remember that we had to destroy some enemy air defenses that were placed at the enemy base. After capturing the base, we also had in our hands a brand new MH-144 Falcon, a heavily armed version of the standard Falcon. I proceeded to airlift the armor crate we got from the attack, which had all its loot, and headed back to our HQ. That is when I heard a radar lock and an immediate impact on my aircraft, turns out, the UNSC still had some air defense nearby. I lost an engine and all control of my yaw axis was gone, so I started spinning around like a top all over the sky. That's when the hundreds upon hundreds of hours of simulator time kicked in and I released the collective, which lessened the uncontrolled spin. This allowed me to turn toward the HQ and, slowly but steadily, approach it without losing the cargo which was hanging underneath me. Somehow, I managed to get it down at HQ with the crate still intact. The Falcon was very damaged, with all of its components being either partially or fully destroyed. This experience reminded me that I don't have to be in a simulator to get the same sensations that I get while flying missions in DCS or any other simulator. If you have a group of friends, and you all are into flying and milsim, then you should give any Arma Antistasi campaign a chance, I've been playing them with my friends for years and they are very fun. 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

A look into the types of projects and distribution this long time developer Posted : 02-02-2021 / Update : 09-12-2023 Trail of Wings (ToW) has roots starting from developing content expansion packs for a different flight game to creating an original intellectual property. The development, final product, and distribution are highly representative of the type of material Project ICKX - a developer, producer and publisher of Japanese indie flight games - has been involved with. What's important to remember is that the "circles" mentioned are teams of hobbyist and semi-pro developers that work together and share resources to self-publish products (Japanese term being: doujin software or doujin games ) because of their mutual passion for a specific subject. Back on March 26th, 2008, a circle was formed with the goal of "making flight shooting more interesting." Known as Project Wings , under the direction of Nrtwd , they specialized in creating expansion packs for RaidersSphere 3rd, a flight action game created by circle Rectangle . These expansions added aircraft, maps, and online game modes for players to compete against each other. The expansion packs introduced real-world aircraft designs alongside the original, fictional designs from RaidersSphere. The game engine used for this was the Sphere Engine . The 7th expansion pack had a prolonged development process that went over a year. Though a video trailer (above) and trial demo for the 7th ToW expansion pack was released for Akihabara Doujin Trial Festa 2010, a change in plans occurred after Sphere Engine Conference 2011. This meeting of different circles that utilize the Sphere Engine focused on sharing information, ideas, and presentations about the game engine. Following this event, circle Project Wings embarked on a new development path that would lead to support from Project ICKX to create and distribute their new game. On June 6th, 2011, the new vision for Trail of Wings was introduced. Concept art for its characters and world setting was gradually posted onto the official blog, with certain assets of the 7th expansion pack reworked for the new story. On May 5th, 2012, Trail of Wings Prologue Book was released to the public. The player flies as the second position in Silver Wolf Squadron as a member of the Republic of Ernest 7th Air Force, Combined Task Force 207 stationed at Palacebridge Island. The island's position is of strategic importance because it is one of the few landmasses between its neighbor, the Zellbell Union. The Zellbell Union is has a history of revolutions, political defections, and economic strife that started in the 1970s of their timeline. A civil war broke out in 2020 caused by the government forces prioritizing military power rather than rebuilding the nation for decades on end. The New Government Forces overthrew the so-called "Legitimate Zellbell Union Force" (old government forces) and reached out to the Republic of Ernest for assistance. Combined Task Force 207 was created to assist the New Government Forces in their battle to do away with the old regime. The wheels of intrigue began to spin shortly before the events of the game. There is the implication that one side of the conflict is being driven forward by a certain person or person(s) and whispers of secret weapons development projects arise. Silver Wolf and other forces at Palacebridge find themselves on the new frontline of the conflict. Hostile Zellbell combat aircraft are sent in waves to attack Palacebridge. During these attacks, one of the new conflict's primary instigators is identified, and a connection between allies and enemies is discovered. The gameplay is true to its arcade flight shooter inspirations. The experience is very much in line with the other titles from the PlayStation and Xbox games from the 2000s and 2010s. The focus is on high-speed, high-energy combat with a limited amount of systems to manage. Aircraft are based on real-world designs with slight name changes for obvious copyright's sake. A majority of aircraft from the ToW expansions between 2007 to 2009 are not included, but two aircraft, in particular, are seen in a highly unusual formation: the SF-4 Super Phantom and SV-XX. These aircraft are part of the enemy ace squadron that appears to oppose Silver Wolf Squadron. The SV-XX (front) and SF-4 Super Phantom (back).and As cool as these two aircraft are, players can only fly the AF-15C with two weapon slots available for the alpha, though it does carry dozens of missiles and near unlimited gun ammo. There is no other aircraft that can be unlocked through gameplay, but a second aircraft can be added through other means. The expansion disc, Sudden Dark Condor , was released by another doujin circle associated with Project ICKX. Installing both Trail of Wings Prologue Book and Sudden Dark Condor unlocks the MF-16C and six additional campaign missions. The missions follow a different cast of characters as they fight the unbelievable weapons from Dark Condor, an international private military company that is backing a conflict unrelated to the events of Trail of Wings. Speaking of discs, the CD for the game not only contains the installation files, but also doubles as the soundtrack when played with a CD player or media player software. The most interesting product that comes with the Trail of Wings Prologue Book is a physical booklet that explains a world timeline, map of the continents, information about the nations, biographies for the player's wingmen, aircraft specifications, and more. Included is artwork and collages of screenshots that show aircraft and locations that would have appeared later in the game's story. While some Project ICKX games can be downloaded from online vendors, Trail of Wings Prologue Book remains almost entirely available as physical merchandise. Even in the 2020s, instead of video game retail stores, it can be found in doujin focused shops but primarily from conventions and expos attended by Project ICKX staff. The public alpha disc, 18-page supplemental book, and expansion disc are still printed and sold at these events. Physically going to a convention to purchase the game, meet the developers and producers, meet fellow fans and try out other products is a major part of the Japanese doujin style. Though Trail of Wings hasn't gone beyond the prologue book's events, a product created by a circle with assistance from a second circle with an expansion disc created by a third circle is something distinctive to the type of products Project ICKX supports. Note : This article was written in a way that respects Project ICKX guidelines, which asks anyone who discusses their products to avoid major spoilers. This same practice was done with scanned materials that are shown in this article. Because this product is still actively sold by Project ICKX, there will not be a file upload of the entire book either. 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 impact of forcing logistics to be more forefront It has almost been one whole year since I fully delved into the mission editor of Nuclear Option by Shockfront Studios. It started with me wanting to know how the nuclear blast backdropped air battles above sprawling land and sea combat actually worked. To my surprise it was much simpler than I was expecting with an effective set of triggers to create more complex scenarios while still being somewhat limited in ways I would not expect. I have made about a dozen missions, each of them focusing on different concepts to flex the mission editor to its limits. Some will see the light of day, others probably not. My biggest takeaway is that logistics in Nuclear Option is more important to the overall player experience than it appears to be. Now that seems odd to say when players can throw 40 something standoff munitions and a half dozen nuclear weapons in the average play session. But it is the fine details that make it all happen. You can define the logistics system into four parts: Faction Funds used for purchasing ammunition and vehicles for players and NPCs. Factories / Refineries to build vehicles and nuclear weapons Hangars / Vehicle Depots deploying ground units and air vehicles Munitions supplying ammunition to offensive and defensive units. The most pertinent subject to this article is the Munitions . I feel as though Munitions specifically is somewhat misused. To the point that I would argue many large-scale single player and multiplayer missions from the Steam workshop and in the base game are somewhat mishandling them. Even missing opportunities with them. Destroyed helicopter. Never Ending Air Defenses Anyone that has played two or three Nuclear Option missions will notice that all forms of air defense are surprisingly consistent in intercepting bombs, missiles and rockets. It is to the point that saturation attacks really are the only valid tactic in high-end fights. As engaging as this may seem, honestly, having massive waves of guided missiles be swatted from the sky without fail can definitely wear down player's determination. You may need to be prepared to spend an hour or more to complete a reasonably sized mission. In my mission editing and research, the root of this is often the presence of Munitions Container and Munitions Bunkers. Almost every unit within 100 to 300 meters of these is guaranteed to receive infinite ammunition as long as the munitions unit is not destroyed. Of course there are two sides of this. If these munitions units are destroyed, they can explode spectacularly destroying anything within a certain radius around them. Regular Munitions Crates are unarmored and highly vulnerable while Munitions Bunkers are harder to destroy. That seems like a great risk for reward setup. Though I would still argue that being too heavy handed with munition supply units near air defense units makes it all a high stress risk for reward that can feel heavily diminished. Dumping 20-something anti-tank missiles into a small group of self-propelled anti-aircraft guns for maybe one or two to get through can eventually wear on the player's experience. For players that are not skilled enough to deftly fly 1 meter off the surface, snap rolling and deploying countermeasures at the perfect moment, it can get old after the third or fourth attempt on the same cluster of targets. Though on the other end of the spectrum higher skill players still need the challenge. How do you balance this? Mission editors that do not place Munitions Crates or Munitions Bunkers near clusters of air defenses at the start of each mission can passively create opportunities and tasks for players and non-player-controlled (NPC) units without having to assign an elaborate set of triggers. Limited Ammo, Valuable Tactics Magazine depth for guided munitions is a significant real-world problem. It is especially prevalent in the 2020s. The rate at which guided weapons are expended and the consequences of not resupplying them quickly does translate well to Nuclear Option. Mission editors that do not  place Munitions Containers or Munitions Bunkers near clusters of air defenses at the start of each mission can passively create opportunities and tasks for players and non-player-controlled (NPC) units without having to assign an elaborate set of triggers. In the game it is usually the land and sea-based air defenses that launch infrared and radar guided missiles that run out of ammunition first. Units that deploy missiles are often the first ones to expend their interceptors due to their longer engagement ranges and effectiveness in intercepting air launched bombs and missiles from aircraft. A heavily reinforced S9 SAM site is one of the ultimate air defenses. On one hand air defenses may be highly successful in stopping aircraft or incoming attacks for a time, but eventually they will run out of ammo despite their successes. On the other hand, with there being a limited number of interceptors on the battlefield, players can then use suppression of enemy air defense style tactics that intentionally cause enemy forces to burn through interceptors to leave them exposed. Maybe hardened air defenses are gradually bled dry of missile stockpiles by deploying multiple low-cost glide bombs. Maybe old school Wild Weasel tactics are used, placing a lone aircraft in harm's way to intentionally draw fire and force a SAM site to waste missiles.  Even if something like a far reaching Stratolance S9 surface-to-air missile site can be bled of its long-range missiles, it is effectively mission killed. This is the same for any other unit that remains in combat for an extended period of time. With no missiles available and even anti-aircraft gun munitions gradually running short throughout the course of combat, this creates new situations for both players and NPC units to utilize to their advantage or take it upon themselves to fix. NPC Logistic Missions A side effect of restricting the placement of Munitions Crates and Munitions Bunkers at the start of a mission is that non-player-controlled units will automatically build and launch aircraft capable of carrying munition containers to resupply units that are out of ammo as the mission goes on. As of the time of this article being written, the two aircraft able to transport supplies in this role would be the UH-90 Ibis utility helicopter and the VL-49 Tarantula heavy vertical lifter. VL-49 Tarantula offloading munitions containers. The in-game logic will assign these missions without player input. However, with no direct control over the units, it is unknown which units will be rearmed first or in what order. This randomness causes a few things to happen. When a resupply aircraft is built it takes up an active aircraft slot that could have been used by a fixed-wing combat aircraft. That is one less offensive focused aircraft in the air. When multiple units need resupply it is possible that for a time air threats significantly decrease if a large amount of resupply missions are called at the same time. UH-90 Ibis in flight. From the player's point of view, every hostile logistics laden helicopter may be in transit to drop a munition's crate next to a highly dangerous pocket of air defense. They become high priority targets worth the risk to destroy. That randomness also applies to allied helicopters who may spawn then spend time resupplying random anti-aircraft units that are far from units that are closer to the frontline line in dire need of resupply. There is one guaranteed way to ensure that high priority units get the supplies they need quickly. Player Driven Logistics For players, units in need of ammunition create opportunities to fly logistics missions themselves. Destroying enemy units in direct combat certainly gives enough credits, but an equal amount of credits can be made resupplying entire SAM sites or clusters of anti-aircraft artillery. Besides the in-game currency payout to buy better aircraft and weapons, this brings friendly air defenses back online to continue the fight. Tarantula delivering munitions to an actively engaged S9 SAM site. Flying with crates full of explosives is as dangerous as you would it expect it to be but flying into combat to deliver them greatly enhances the danger. Just like the enemy NPC helicopters that explode amazingly when you shoot them down, the same can happen to a player's transport aircraft. Even if a few cannon shells penetrate the hull of the aircraft. Player run logistic flights turn into a game of expertly flying to avoid danger and evade detection. Fortunately, as of update 0.31, Nuclear Option lets aircraft both land and deploy munitions crates or paradrop them while in flight. While rolling them out the back of an aircraft to let parachutes bring them to the ground is the safest way to deliver supplies, it is also the most inaccurate method without a lot of practice. Learning the right airspeeds and distances to paradrop close enough to a unit in need of resupply takes practice. UH-90 delivering supplies to a C-RAM system at an austere airfield. Resupply At Sea Perhaps one of the most understated parts of the logistics side of things is resupply of warships while at sea. These vessels are packed with various weapon systems and sensors that make them considerable threats to anything flying, driving or sailing in their reach. Whether its aircraft launching from carriers, long-range railgun fire or map crossing waves of anti-ship missiles, once their ship magazine is expended their ability to reach out and strike targets is lost. Eventually they too will be unable to defend themselves from consistent air attacks. Currently there is nothing like a naval port to build new warships in the same way factories can build ground vehicles to be deployed from vehicle depots. Keeping the warships alive for as long as possible is the best way to utilize them. These naval vessels can be resupplied with Naval Supply Containers; a variant of the standard land-based munitions containers made to float in the ocean. Any warship that passes within 200 meters of a Naval Supply Container has ammunition resupplied for all weapon systems onboard the ship. For a time, it was possible for the UH-90 and VL-49 to equip these navalized munitions crates from the destroyers, aircraft carriers and assault ships they could spawn from. This let a fleet at sea resupply itself within a few short minutes. However, that changed a few updates ago. Now all variants of the Munition Containers can only be loaded onto aircraft from pre-established land-based airports and air bases. Not even user made air bases can deploy them. Resupply of warships now requires potentially long-range resupply missions from land to sea. Flying over the open ocean with few ways to defend the transporting aircraft can be risky, but when resupplying a nearly depleted Dynamo-class Destroyer yields upwards of 20 million credits per successful resupply, it is a risk worth taking. VL-49 Tarantula slows to resupply a Dynamo-class Destroyer while it is in combat. A Heavylifter Future? If social media polls mean anything it seems like Shockfront Studios may be fielding a design for a new heavy lifter aircraft. How such an aircraft could impact Nuclear Option is speculation for now, but it is undeniable that it would become a central part to the munitions branch of the game's logistics system. Hopefully the day comes when this potential heavy transport is a staple of the large-scale battles in this game's future. Connect with Nuclear Option by Shockfront Studios Steam X.com Linktree 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 ]

Discussing a soon to release "cozy" flight game with a new dev team. Coming March 12th, 2026! A few weeks ago during one of my usual social media platform patrols for flight game updates, Pocket Flight  by Just Pocket Games flew onto my timeline. A few seconds of gameplay in the announcement video showed various types of aircraft flying above treetops, punching through storms and collecting strings of floating coins. During Steam Next Fest February 2026  we went hands on with the public demo to get a feel for gameplay. Now, shortly before the game’s release on March 12th, 2026 , we interview the developers to learn more about them, the project and some future plans. Hello! Just Pocket Games is a brand new studio to me. I know very little about it beyond some of the promotional posts on social media. Please introduce yourselves.  We’re Just Pocket Games, a small indie studio founded by two longtime friends who met while studying Game Development at university. We’ve known each other for years, worked on student projects together, and always talked about building something of our own one day. Pocket Flight is the result of that promise. We’re developing it after our regular day jobs - late evenings, weekends, whenever we can find time. It’s very much a passion project. Marcin is responsible for the art direction and overall game design. I support the design process and handle all the programming - which basically means I turn Marcin’s ideas into something that actually works on screen. That’s our system: he dreams it up, I make it run! What inspired the members of Just Pocket Games to create the studio?  The idea of starting a studio had been with us since our university days. Back then, we worked on multiple small projects together and realized we complement each other naturally - creatively and technically. Over time, as we moved into our professional careers, the desire to build something personal kept growing. We didn’t want to wait for the “perfect moment,” so we decided to start small and build in our spare time. Just Pocket Games was created as a space where we could experiment freely, without external pressure, and design the kind of experiences we personally enjoy - focused, atmospheric, and emotionally driven rather than competitive or overwhelming. Do you have any previous experience with game development? How did you learn? Yes! Our foundation comes from studying Game Development, where we gained both theoretical knowledge and practical experience by building multiple projects from scratch. After university, we continued developing our skills independently. A lot of our growth came from hands-on experimentation - prototyping systems, refining mechanics, testing ideas, and learning from what didn’t work. Marcin developed his visual style and design approach through constant iteration and artistic exploration, while I focused heavily on programming architecture, gameplay systems, and technical optimization. Where did the concept for Pocket Flight come from? What does “cozy flying” mean?  The idea for Pocket Flight emerged from conversations about how most flying games feel intense: fast, competitive, or combat-driven. We started asking ourselves: what if flying could feel calm instead? The concept evolved around that thought. We imagined a game where the main experience isn’t about winning or losing, but about atmosphere and flow. "Cozy flying" for us means removing pressure and focusing on sensation - smooth movement, soft lighting, minimal UI, gentle audio, and a sense of openness. It’s designed to be something you can play after a long day, the same way we build it after ours. In many ways, Pocket Flight reflects our own rhythm: balanced around daily responsibilities, created slowly and intentionally, with care for small details. You know, I felt the rhythm you mentioned during Steam Next Fest February 2026. I was bouncing through other demos as well, but it was easy to casually slip back into Pocket Flight to wander around for 10 to 20 minutes. The short game play cycles work well in sandbox mode. Is story mode also going to be suitable for short play sessions?  Yes, story mode is being designed with short play sessions in mind. Most missions are intended to fit within roughly 15–25 minutes, similar to the rhythm you experienced in sandbox mode. The narrative will be delivered through small quests and story moments, but the structure is intentionally divided into clearly defined stages. This way, players can complete a meaningful piece of the story in a single session without feeling obligated to continue playing in one long stretch. So whether someone has 15 minutes or wants to chain several stages together, the progression should still feel natural and satisfying. For people wondering what a story mode in a game like this would be, can you give them a general idea of what they can expect?  Without giving too much away, the story mode focuses on a more personal side of the pilot’s life. As you progress, you’ll uncover fragments of his past and revisit events that shaped where he is now. The narrative unfolds gradually between flights through small story moments and memories, so players piece things together over time rather than receiving everything at once. And you won’t be alone up there! Along the way, a female voice will appear in the story as well. The in game currency system being designed to encourage exploration feels like it is a uniquely Pocket Flight style system. That is to say, I cannot think of a similar system off the top of my head. What types of upgrades can players do in the Plane Editor?  In the Plane Editor, players can modify both the visual appearance of their aircraft and its performance. There’s a wide range of parts available, allowing you to experiment with different configurations depending on the kind of flying you prefer. You’ll be able to swap and customize elements such as engines, wings, tail wings, and propellers, which can influence how the plane behaves in the air. On top of that, there are also visual customization options, including different colors, so players can give their aircraft a look that feels uniquely theirs. Are the upgrades in the Plane Editor persistent? If I unlock a new engine for an aircraft using coins I gathered in sandbox mode, will that engine upgrade still be available in story mode?  Upgrades from the Plane Editor are separate from story mode. The modifications and parts you unlock are meant for sandbox play, while the aircraft used in the story campaign remains fixed. This allows us to keep tighter control over the pacing and the overall experience in story mode. Missions are designed around a specific aircraft setup, ensuring that the challenges and moments in the narrative play out the way they were intended. Daily challenges seem to be a key part of the replayability for Pocket Flight. What sorts of daily challenges will players have during the full game release?  At launch, players can expect a set of simple but engaging daily challenges designed to encourage regular flying and exploration. Examples include flying a certain number of kilometers, spending a specific amount of time in the air, collecting a set number of coins. These challenges are meant to fit naturally into normal play sessions, giving players small goals to pursue each day while they explore the world. Pocket Flight uses procedurally generated terrain to make very large maps for players to fly over. How large are these maps? Was it difficult to use procedural generation in this way?  In practice, the maps are effectively infinite. Each of the five biomes available in the menu is built from dozens of terrain chunks that are combined dynamically as you fly. These areas are further enriched with details like vegetation and wildlife, which help make the world feel more alive while exploring. One of the biggest challenges was hardware performance. Procedural generation can be quite demanding in terms of system resources, so a lot of work went into making the generation efficient enough to run smoothly during gameplay. In the end, we’re happy with how it turned out and feel we’ve built a solid world generator that allows players to keep discovering new landscapes while flying. What were some of the biggest challenges during the development of Pocket Flight? Any tips for other developers to keep in mind while starting their projects?  One of the biggest technical challenges was the aircraft customization system. Handling all the different interchangeable parts, saving player configurations, and dynamically updating aircraft stats depending on the selected components turned out to be much more complex than it might seem at first. From the art side, creating the aircraft themselves along with all the interchangeable components was also quite demanding. Designing parts that fit together visually and technically across many configurations requires a lot of iteration. At some point you also start running out of good reference material, especially when working on stylized aircraft and modular pieces, and you have to rely much more on your own judgment and design sense. If there’s one takeaway for other developers, it’s that systems which seem simple on paper can become surprisingly complex during implementation - so it’s worth planning extra time for iteration and problem solving. How was Steam Next Fest for Just Pocket Games? Is this the first game festival the team has participated in?  You could say it was the first one we seriously prepared for. Overall, it was a very positive experience for us. We received a lot of kind words and constructive feedback about the game, which has been extremely helpful. Perhaps most importantly, we had almost no reports of serious bugs, which was a great sign for us during the event. We’re taking all the feedback we gathered, drawing conclusions, iterating on the game, and getting everything ready for the full release. After the release of Pocket Flight, are there any plans for post-release content? New maps? Aircraft?  Yes. We’re already planning a free content update scheduled for late March 2026. The update is planned to include several new aircraft, a new biome to explore, and a new mini-game for sandbox mode. Our goal is to expand the variety of activities and environments available to players after launch while keeping the core experience fresh. Thank you for the pre-release interview. I appreciate the team making time to talk to Skyward Flight Media before the game release. Thank you for your interest in Pocket Flight and for taking the time to speak with us. It’s always great to share a bit about the project and the work that has gone into it. We appreciate the opportunity and hope players will enjoy exploring the skies when the game releases. Clear skies! Connect with Pocket Flight and Just Pocket Games Steam Page  - Discord  - Facebook  - Instagram  - TikTok  - X.com  - YouTube 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 .

It has been a while since we wrote about another content creator, so we wanted to choose someone that was closer to home. That is when someone came to mind, a creator that has been hanging around the Skyward discord server for a really long time: Tupo. Not only are they a fellow content creator, but also someone that has been putting increasingly amounts of effort on their video creation to bring to light older titles to light, or to showcase how a certain series or aircraft has evolved in digital aviation throughout the years. What makes their channel unique is not editing or even their flying skills, but the emphasis they put on historical and retro content. Almost every modern flight sim-focused creator I've watched recently only focuses on what's trendy or on the latest sim or module to come out. One series that exemplifies Tupo's efforts is their "Evolution of X in Combat Simulators", one of their most popular series on Youtube. It has a single focus: grab an aircraft and look back as much as possible to see how the portrayal of that airframe has evolved over the years. Something which I find extremely intriguing and appealing. Tupo's focus is more niche, but at the same time, that is what makes it appealing. To me, as a content creator on this space, I have always held a great level of respect for the titles of years past; those are the titles that shaped the genre of flight within this virtual space of ours, and the ones that molded it into what it is today. Many of these games have been forgotten to time, and most are now behind consoles or software that is difficult to find or borderline impossible to run on a modern machine. They go out of their way not only to acquire old games, but also to document them through their videos so that these games have a bit of legacy behind them; and to expose them to a way bigger audience. I sinecerely hope that tupo continues on the same path they currently are on, as this would mean that many, many games would get some much deserved spotlight after years of gathering dust at someone's basement.

Something that has always been a staple of VRChat Aviation are its dogfighting tournaments, and for the longest time the only popular on the Western hemisphere ones were the ones hosted by the VRC Black Aces. There have been other communities that have hosted tournaments but they never really had the same ambiance or punch that the Black Aces had at the time. But now another one of the big players in the VRC Aviation community has started hosting their own tournaments: Dogfight Central. We have already talked about DFC here in the past, and they are good friends of everyone here at Skyward, so we were excited to not only see them host their own tournament but also to be hosting it with their own in-house aircraft, the F-100 Super Sabre. Additionally, they went all-in with the prizes for the winners: 1st Place: $200, Dogfight Central Coin, Trophy 2nd Place:$150, Dogfight Central Coin 3rd Place: $50, Dogfight Central Coin THE TOURNEY Matches during the tournament were a mix of very strategic flying and the good-ol’ rate fights that are extremely technical to fly, but a bit boring to watch if you are not technically minded. Since there were three blocks comprised of 56 total participants, only 15 made it to the finals, 5 from each block. The plane these participants had to fly was the F-100 Super Sabre by Mia. Modeled and tuned in-house, it stands as one of the only aircraft ever featured on a tournament to have been made entirely by the organization responsible for the event. Planes like these take months and months to make, so seeing one featured in such an interesting event is something we are super happy about. We have also done the same thing before with our Colibri, so we are glad to see others put in the effort and make their own models. This plane flew less like a standard SaccFlight aircraft, and more like the Colibri in terms of how you had to approach its flying. They both are low thrust to weight aircraft that lose energy pretty fast, forcing the pilots to adopt a different flying style than they would have otherwise. It also lacks a HUD and relies on steam gauges and a basic gunsight, always a plus when it comes down to making it more interesting for the pilots. It made for some interesting matches; but, since it did have an afterburner, it resulted in a lot of prolongued rate fights that are extremely common on dogfights with equally skilled pilots flying the same planes under pseudo-laboratory conditions (known parameters, known terrain, known fuel amount and known merge point). NRG took first place, while Nighthawk and x_womanslayer_x got second and third place respectively. There were some interesting matches, moments of relative boredom for the audience which were usually broken by amazing maneuvers being pulled by the competitors. I cannot wait to see which tournaments DFC will do 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

Thoughts on indie demos from the recent Next Fest Steam Next Fest February 2026 is over. From February 23rd to March 2nd, 2026, we played various demos for upcoming flight games. While we have covered many festivals like this in the past, this year we decided to change things up slightly. Rather than rush through all available demos in just two or three days in the middle of a weeklong event, we took our time to instead promote the games during the festival period both here on the website and on social media . Our thoughts now come a few days after the festival is over. While we are specifically talking about a few of the demos here, be sure to double back to our post announcing the demos at the end of last month to further research what is being developed out there. Wings of Aviora Coming into Wings of Aviora I was not sure what to truly expect. I feel like my mind wanted to compare it to Crimson Skies within the first few minutes I saw it. Mainly because of the focus on propeller driven aircraft and steam punk design cutes. That perception was quickly blown away by two major factors: world setting and aircraft building. The setting of the game is that on the planet Aviora the New Vravice archipelago is under siege by mechanical creatures causing destruction. The concept is that there are no briefings and no maps to guide you in the fight. Players are encouraged to take their aircraft, launch from their home base and take off on a 'sky patrol' as per the Steam page. Players can wander around the islands - some of them floating in the air - to do training challenges, search for enemies, intervene in on going attacks, avoid (or challenge) Leviathans, escort trade ships and more. Further encouraging exploration is finding blueprints for new aircraft parts behind mountains, in the middle of small towns and who knows where else. Aircraft building is a much larger part of this game than expected. Story wise, the player is a test pilot a part of an aviation engineering effort to develop new technology to combat the mechanical invaders. The level of customization previewed in the demo is also higher than I thought it would be. Story wise, the player is a test pilot a part of an aviation engineering effort to develop new technology to combat the mechanical invaders. While the demo provides players with three distinct designs to start with, the aircraft building aspect is detailed enough to let players build entirely new designs from the unlocked parts. Taking these aircraft on flights, completing challenges and successfully retuning to base will get the aircraft's design rated with the gathered data used to unlock even more components. Combat is rather reasonable in the game. While the enemies that appear are not highly maneuverable like a traditional aircraft, this does give players the chance to use evasive maneuvers to evade enemy attacks and counterattack somewhat reliably. The flight model is forgiving enough to allow for arcade flight game style maneuvers and let players build some pretty wild aircraft, but there are factors like overheating/stressing the engine, running out of fuel and of course aircraft hull damage. Overall, this was a pretty solid demo from developer Stormy XP . I came in only knowing the bare minimum and was surprised by the depth provided in the demo. StarFront: Lancers   Looking at the promotional media for StarFront: Lancers , I was primarily drawn in by the concept of a sci-fi flight action shooter with customizable hero traits. This game is set in a deep space conflict with a handful of factions interacting with and battling one another for story related reasons. There is only one story mission in the demo, so rather than focus on the lore details, we should look at the combat and customization system. Using two in-game currencies gained by completing daily tasks, story missions, custom missions and Gauntlet game mode missions, players can purchase and customize many things. Space fighters with 10 or more customization slots can equip upgrades across five categories. Each of these pulling certain amounts of energy to function, making power management important. These parts can be purchased from the in-game shop or salvaged during combat in any game mode. The next layer of customization comes with the characters. There are up to five characters that can be unlocked and leveled up. These characters have baseline stats unique to themselves with certain ship components impacting their stats, but mainly it is their Manifestation (skill tree) that greatly expands their stats and unlocks new character specific special abilities. StarFront: Lancers plays like a classic space-based arcade shooter with game mechanics like hull armor, energy shield strength, booster timers, engine off motion drifting, basic gun aim lead mechanics; everything you would expect of a solid game in this genre. Finding the right mix of components to defeat enemies efficiently while still leaving enough energy for high-speed maneuvering is a nice balance. The default gamepad controls leave a bit to be desired, but that may be more personal preference than anything else. Not a problem since it does have a rather nice option menu for remapping that even includes a handy benchmark stress test to check setting performance before starting a mission. I do not normally play a lot of spaced based games; no matter how arcadey or simulator like they are. I had a great time with the StarFront: Lancers demo within just the first five to ten minutes of playing it. SimplePlanes 2   SimplePlanes 2 by Jundroo Games had multiple timed demos over the past year or so. The third demo that was active during the recent festival added a new area to explore (three areas total), many more base game vehicles, limited vehicle editing and other small features previously seen in the past demos. Recently we had a great multiplayer session with the current demo, but our November 2025 first impression written by Caio D. "Hueman" Baretto is still accurate and goes into immense detail about SimplePlanes 2 from the perspective of someone that put in a lot of time in SimplePlanes 1 and built dozens of vehicles with custom systems. Read that one for our thoughts on the SimplePlanes 2 demos up to now. POCKET FLIGHT   Among the primarily combat focused flight games I tried during Steam Next Fest, Pocket Flight by Just Pocket Games acted as an unexpected pallet cleanser. Claiming itself to be a "cozy flight game" I really was not sure what to expect. There are certainly flight games that are made for non-combat enjoyment, but "cozy" as in comfortable? Eyebrow raising. Though the full game will have a story driven game mode as well, the demo focuses on the sandbox game mode. The game uses procedurally generated terrain to let players fly across endless distances exploring different landscapes. Two landscapes were available in the demo with distinctly different themes. With the one aircraft available in the demo you are flying around without specific objectives beyond a general daily task to give you some minor direction. Within the somewhat nebulous concept at hand, the daily tasks do contribute to the developer's concept of this game being built for casual flying sessions. I can say that while wandering around foothills, hunting for unusual structures and pushing through turbulent weather I actually did feel myself unwind a bit. While wandering the landscapes players can find unexpected landmarks and wildlife while collecting coins scattered across the area. The gathered coins can be used to unlock new landscapes, new aircraft and new parts to modify aircraft. Aircraft modification in Pocket Flight focuses on engines, wings, propellers, rudders and aircraft color. Besides aesthetic changes, flight values for aircraft attributes like speed, roll, turn, pitch, acceleration and deceleration. The aircraft in the demo, the Breeze, is a propeller driven biplane. It is arguably perfect for the scenic type of flying the game is staking its identity on. Its lower maximum airspeed and easy low speed flight characteristics are perfect for taking in the sights and flying in a relaxed manner. It makes me wonder how faster aircraft like the Skyline L (regional jet) and the Skylark (military style fast jet) would fit into the overall feel of this type of game with their significantly higher speeds. I'm sold on the concept and would like to see just what a "cozy" flight game has in store for the genre. Who knows, perhaps we have had "cozy" games within this genre and we have just been viewing them through the wrong lens. 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 ]

A week of flying! New flight game demos available now! Steam Next Fest February 2026 is open! From February 23rd to March 2nd, 2026 @ 10:00 AM PST (UTC-8) , hundreds of games from all genres have demos available for download. As always Skyward Flight Media remains focused on the flight games and simulators. To spread the word about these developers and their sky eyed projects, this year we are listing off these games and their developers during the first day of the festival to direct attention to their projects throughout the entire event. Our usual compilation post which gathers our thoughts on specific demos we played will be posted on March 4th, 2026 . We have gathered some basic info and links about flight games featured during this festival. There is a chance we may not have all of them listed below, so be sure to check out the Flight genre tag during the festival for yourself too. Alliance Tales: Battle for the Frontier Developer / Publisher : Urban Logic Games Alliance Tales is a linear, story-driven space combat sim inspired by 90s classics like Wing Commander and Tie Fighter. Take part in fast-paced space battles in a campaign that takes you on the hunt for a missing friend while foiling a plot to take over the Frontier Colonies. Steam Page  - Bluesky  - Mastodon  - Website  - YouTube Combat Pilot: Carrier Qualification Developer : Entropy.Aero Publisher : Combat Pilot LLC Combat Pilot is a hardcore combat flight-simulation set in the Pacific Theater during WWII. Our Carrier Qualification title represents the first step in the product's roadmap, offering basic carrier and land operations for the legendary USN/USMC F4F-4 and IJN A6M2 Mod.21 "Zero" fighter planes. Steam Page - Discord - Facebook - Instagram - Reddit - Website - X.com - YouTube Drone Zone Developer / Publisher : Euphoria Machine Multiplayer team-based tactical shooter in a postapocalyptic world. This is not FPV drones. Future. Technology assists in managing flight and targeting. Fight for resources in a world full of hostile anomalies. Use active skills and get advantage depending on which enemy module you have destroyed. Steam Page - Discord - VK Pocket Flight Developer / Publisher : Just Pocket Games Fly your own way in Pocket Flight - a cozy endless flight adventure! Explore dynamic biomes, face shifting weather, customize your plane, and take on daily challenges. Relaxing skies, infinite horizons. Ready for takeoff? Steam Page - Discord - Facebook - Instagram - TikTok - X.com - YouTube StarFront: Lancers Developer / Publisher : R J L Jones Spaceship combat sim arcade shooter. Rogue-like and other game modes. Character collection. Steam Page - Discord - YouTube Simple Flight Developer / Publisher : Jax Leon The Easiest Carrier Landing Ever！ Simple Flight is an accessible yet challenging 3D flight simulation game. Pilot airplanes, helicopters, and more with realistic physics, experience the freedom of flight, and take on missions and challenges. Steam Page - Bilibili SimplePlanes 2 Developer / Publisher : Jundroo LLC SimplePlanes is back! Build planes, cars, or anything else using powerful procedural parts! Explore detailed environments with friends in multiplayer, cause chaos, or download 1,000,000 community crafts for free. Steam Page - Bilibili - Discord - Website - YouTube The Guardians Developer / Publisher : Neutron Studios LLC The Aegis Carrier Fleet merges human skill with unmatched AI control, IRRA. Control the most advanced aircraft into lethal battle zones, where your squadrons act with precision to secure decisive victories. Steam Page - YouTube Wild Blue Skies Developer : Chuhai Labs, Vitei Backroom Inc. Publisher : Humble Games Wild Blue Skies reimagines the classic on-rail adventures of the '90s. Join Bowie Stray and the Blue Bombers as they soar through the skies on a mission to save the world in this action-packed, nostalgic journey! Steam Page - Bluesky - Discord - Instagram - Website - X.com - YouTube Wings of Aviora Developer \ Publisher : Stormy XP Become an aviator on the planet Aviora in this steampunk flight action-adventure. Build unique aircraft. Test them in combat and refine them to perfection. Help the locals and drive back the mechanical beasts rising from the sea. Steam Page - Website - YouTube Wingsuit: Romsdalen Developer / Publisher : Ninja Whale Studios Feel the rush of Norway’s Romsdalen Valley in this intense action sports game. Pilot a high-performance wingsuit through challenging exits, daring stunts and vast mountain landscapes. Are you ready to hit the slopes? Steam Page  - Website  - X.com  - YouTube

After being in development for quite a while, Tinker Pilot has finally come out in Early Access on Steam! This small indie title is one that we had kept our eye on for quite a while, because it offered something that we found extremely appealing: Total VR cockpit customization. Usually in VR games you are stuck with having your flight controls placed wherever the developer puts them, which most of the time is for good reason since you will be flying a simulated version of a real aircraft. In the case of space flight sims, that doesn't have to apply since 5-3 designers make up whatever they want! Tinker Pilot takes this concept and let's YOU, the player, design your own cockpit layout. It is the entire point of this game, hence the Tinker in Tinker Pilot. BUILD YOUR OWN COCKPIT While unintuitive at first, and a bit overwhelming, the cockpit editor proved to be by far the most polished aspect of this title. You can build your own layout using 3D models of your own IRL hardware and place it in the virtual cockpit in the same position that it is IRL. From throttles, to sticks and pedals, the game lets you decide how close to your real life set up you will get. In my case, there was no Winwing Ursa Minor stick or Thrustmaster pedals, so I made do with what was available. Fret not, that if you want, you can also import your own 3D models that represent your hardware! I spent around 45 minutes making my virtual cockpit, adding arm rests made from supports and placing screens around to better suit my workflow, including some virtual buttons wherever they fit in a logical manner. Once I was done binding my controls, it took no effort at all to get flying straight away. The tutorial is very straightforward and dummy-proof, and you will find yourself navigating space in glorious 6DoF in no time at all. EARLY ACCESS CONTENT VACUUM Content-wise, the game is a bit lacking as of the writing of this video. I was done with most of the content the game had to offer, which are three separate scenarios including two trials and a recovery mission, in around 35 to 45 minutes. I am sure this can be a problem for some people, hence why we are discussing it here. Once the game has more content, I can guarantee that it will be a blast to go through it all in your customized cockpit for your space fighter! Keep an eye out for this title and its upcoming updates, because I will be doing that for sure. 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

The best prices are available to those who register before March 1. Get tickets at flightsimexpo.com/register . FlightSimExpo is June 12-14, 2026 at the Saint Paul RiverCentre, an 8-mile drive from MSP Airport and 20 minutes from the Mall of America? Get tickets at flightsimexpo.com/register before prices increase on March 1.   “We offer the best prices for those who can make their travel plans early,” says FSA Co-Founder Phil Coyle. “Plus, if you’re an FSA Captain, you’ll save an additional 20% on tickets while getting access to a dedicated entrance lane, priority Addons registration, and more.”   More than 40 Exhibitors are Already Confirmed   FlightSimExpo is excited to welcome new and familiar developers to this year’s event. In all, there are more than 40 exhibitors confirmed so far—with specific names to be revealed later this year.   Courtesy of Diamond+ Sponsor Navigraph, each FlightSimExpo attendee will receive a personalized badge designed to make everyone feel welcome at the show. Navigraph will also be on-site presenting an upcoming release, offering in-person attendees an exclusive first look at new features designed to enhance the flight simulation experience. The team will be at the booth to demo the full Navigraph product, answer questions, and connect directly with the community, as well as discuss Navigraph Academy and SimBrief with visitors who want to learn more.    Grinnelli Designs Presents the FSExpo 2026 Combat Arena   This new high-energy, interactive experience allows attendees to compete, learn, and connect through aviation-inspired contests and events that capture the excitement of flight and the spirit of discovery. The Combat Arena will be available to all FlightSimExpo attendees.   “In partnership with industry leaders who share our passion for aviation and immersive simulation, we’re planning a dynamic lineup of events designed to engage and excite attendees throughout the weekend,” said Joe Grinnelli, CEO of Grinnelli Designs. “Highlights include a head-to-head air combat competition, team operations, airshow-style performances, and more—with great prizes available to be won.”   Airline, Hotel, and Car Rental Discounts   FlightSimExpo attendees save on hotels and airfare. This year’s hotel rates start at just $149/night, plus local taxes. Airfare deals are available from Delta, United, Southwest, and codeshare partners. Make your travel plans early and take advantage of great rates at flightsimexpo.com/travel .   “If you liked the vibe in Providence, you’ll love this year’s venue,” says Co-Founder Evan Reiter, who conducted the initial site inspection in February 2025 and will be returning for a pre-show visit this April. “Located on the banks of the Mississippi River, Saint Paul has a walkable, vibrant, and friendly downtown with great restaurants and easy access to natural places. Since Minnesota Wild games are played at the same complex as our venue, we’re looking forward to an incredible atmosphere—especially if the team makes it to the NHL playoffs again this year.”   Flight Sim Developers: Sponsor and Exhibit at FlightSimExpo 2026   FlightSimExpo welcomes software developers, hardware vendors, communities, and other flight simulation organizations to participate as sponsors, exhibitors, and speakers. Details on getting involved are available at flightsimexpo.com/partner .   “We’ve made it super easy for flight sim devs of all sizes to participate,” says Evan. “The number one reason attendees come to the event is to meet the people behind the projects. Please look at our 2026 Partner Overview , speak to other devs who’ve attended, or reach out to me if you’d like to support the show.”                                                                              ###   About FlightSimExpo. FlightSimExpo is one of the world’s largest flight simulation conventions. The event has welcomed almost 10,000 attendees to events in Las Vegas, Orlando, San Diego, Houston, and Providence since 2018. FlightSimExpo is produced by Flight Simulation Association, a community-driven organization of developers, simmers, and real-world pilots working to make it easier to get started in home simulation. Join the community today—free—at flightsimassociation.com for resources, learning content, webinars, and discounts on top add-ons and simulation hardware.

The perfect presentation of large-scale combat with direction and purpose It has almost been 20 years since Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation was released. A much younger me has fond memories and deep opinions about this game. Thanks to a recent video in the ongoing Ace Combat 30th Anniversary memorial movie series, it is forefront on my mind again. To this day, Ace Combat 6 (AC6) does something other games in the Ace Combat series have not completely replicated. From the arcades of 1992 up to the release of AC6 on October 23rd, 2007, the Ace Combat series was defined by linear small-to-mid sized missions that could be completed within a few minutes. There were some uncommon missions that were more of a timed based score attack lasted closer to 20 minutes, but you get the idea. Large-Scale Battles One of the major selling points of Ace Combat 6 was its large-scale battles. Harnessing the power of the Microsoft Xbox 360, a leading seventh generation game console back in the 2000s, there were often more enemies to fight in a single mission of AC6 than two or three missions from the PlayStation installments combined. The average fixed-wing fighter in just about every Ace Combat games has enough ammo to defeat a small air force. That's a known fact. Trying to destroy 80+ enemies per mission is still a bit of a tall order for lone aircraft to accomplish though. Fortunately, there are many types of allied non-player-controlled units to battle the hordes of enemies alongside players. With dozens of enemies and allies moving to achieve their own objectives separate from the player, there is a lot of data to process. This is where the Dynamic Mission System comes in. Dynamic Mission System During the briefing of each mission players see the primary objective of the mission at hand. They are then separated into Operations, also known as sub-objectives. The player chooses one of the available Operations to start the mission and combat begins. As combat continues across the battlespace players can switch between each on going operation to see which allies and enemies are engaged in combat and decided whether or not they want to intervene. This creates situations where a player may choose to start the mission hunting long-range artillery on a western flank, but they could easily switch over to assisting with the capture of a frontline airfield that is getting stalled due to significant enemy action. All within the same mission. During the mission, the player can switch their radar display to show allied and enemy units active in the selected operation. This declutters their radar display and only shows active targets in their Heads Up Display or general game user interface. This is known at the Operation ID device. Operation ID Device display on the player's radar. Sorting from All operations to operation C. The opposing force also reacts to the operations as they are won or lost by directing their forces to different objectives or changing their tactics that results in mid-mission updates or new operations appearing due to enemy action. As each operation is completed the allied units tied to that operation become available as Allied Support assets. This is a different game mechanic, but it is an extension of the Dynamic Mission system in practice. Once the player destroys a certain number of enemies, they are able to trigger a massive, combined arms attack against enemies in front of and around the player's aircraft. Depending on the composition of the allied units that are available, this could result in a swarm of aircraft, naval bombardment or land forces moving into action. The Allied Support attacks are powerful enough to wipe out entire fighter squadrons and armored battalions. Example: San Loma Assault Giving a specific example, Mission 08: San Loma Assault. The primary objective is to recapture Cavallia Air Force Base, a major military facility. The allied forces would use it as a springboard for a large-scale air operation against a flying heavy command cruiser that is singlehandedly harassing the player's friendly forces across the continent. That primary objective is split into three operations: [A] Supporting a tank battalion approaching the primary objective from the east. [B] Providing escort for a strategic bomber squadron destroying hardened defensive positions on the southern coast of the primary objective. [C] Support a friendly fleet as they approach the primary objective by sinking an enemy fleet that stands in their way. When two of these operations are completed, the opposing forces falls back to the air force base for its final stand. Once the enemy is routed the primary objective is complete and the mission is over. Full mission example. Since 2007 there have been a few other Ace Combat games with varying degrees of large-scale battles. A primary example of this being the long-gone Ace Combat Infinity inherently had to have a massive amount of non-player-controlled units to fight as the game specialized in 4 vs 4 multiplayer competitive co-op missions. Having enough targets for eight players to fight over is a considerable amount action happening in the same area. Honestly the airspace was absolutely chaotic. The Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation Dynamic Mission System is not something that is vital to the flight arcade genre as a whole, but in retrospect it is a fine tool to help players manage their situational awareness and better inform their decisions in combat. 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 ]

Recently I have lamented that there has been something of a lack of an intermediate in the flight game zeitgeist. A discussion with my fellow writer, Caio, a couple weeks ago had us bring up the value of what amounts to “simcade” style strategy and management in an otherwise simplistic flight model. These types of games, best remember by myself as Novalogic’s F-16/MiG-29 or F-22 series, used to be prevalent. What made these types of games so important to personal growth within the realm of combat aviation is how it gave you a way to grasp advanced concepts of air combat strategy and logistics without forcing a brutal flight model or promoting style over substance. Well, what a coincidence that development has recently completed on one of those old games to bring it into the 21 st  century. Digital Image Design's F-22: Air Dominance Fighter is back, now published by MicroProse, and it’s been updated with a significant set of quality-of-life features to give it a new lease in the modern day. We received a pre-relase copy of this game, so we would like to thank Digital Image Design (DID) for this opportunity! Oh, COME on… Look, I’ve been burned enough by a lot of modern day ports and rereleases on Steam to immediately appreciate that there’s no janky startup issues here. But you know what sort of weirds me out? Initialization of the game. It takes an oddly long time to start up. I thought it might have just been a fluke, but after trying it on three different computers, the result is the same. Subsequent startups are far faster, but it made me joke about whether this was a design decision to emulate how long this would have taken to power up on a Pentium II. The decision to start the game with a windowed menu is appreciated, It’s nostalgically straightforward. Entering a mission is just as pleasant. The game just starts. I just… love it. It might sound silly to focus on, but in a world of instant gratification, consider these simple gestures gratifying instantly. This will dump you right into the cockpit however. Before taking the plunge, hit up options first to tune your controls. These resolutions almost feel like a joke with this interface… Temper your graphical expectations. Why shouldn’t you? This is for all intents and purposes the original game. But it acts as an interesting demonstration of what a resolution bump can provide to ease the eyes and up playability. Additionally, I recommend the same expectations for sound and music design. These are the original effects, and as a result I couldn’t help but feel like I was flying along to music from Sim City for a good portion of the time. Maybe this is why music is disabled by default in options… F-22 in flight. But I want to get into the meat and potatoes of what’s been retained and what’s been added here. Besides just the resolution bump, the biggest upgrade touted is the implementation of head tracking. This feels… anachronistic. It absolutely works, and works well. Just as well as you would want it to. It’s smooth and capable, but it feels almost foreign when using a basic flight stick (A Thrustmaster T16000.M). In fact, it feels like it took me longer to figure out how to get the joystick to work. The Settings menu fails to mark the joystick setting, only hinting at it with a “Calibrate” button. I had to restart the game to get this to appear correctly. I thought I was losing my mind… That said, I feel like I’m missing something here. For the life of me I couldn’t get my throttle slider to bind to anything. I confirmed it’s working in Windows, but I was forced to use the keyboard for a significant amount of control. I confess I never got a chance to play this game during it’s original release. I suspect this is a holdover from that. In my attempts to troubleshoot, I found a number of reviews that were lamenting the lack of support for modern HOTAS. That confirmed my suspicions.  In the spirit of simplicity and control I decided to put the stick aside and revert to keyboard control. It’s odd to say, but this is actually where the game seems to shine. Though you have to make sure you’re using a full size or 90% board, as the numpad is extremely important for systems navigation. Testing in Quick Combat, I found myself more than capable of engaging and maneuvering against anything I came across. Within the 10 minute window I walked away with eight kills, including five against attacking MiG-21’s. I don’t think I’ve been this successful with keyboard control in a flight game since… ever. However to become this successful you should familiarize yourself with the help section often. It’s a boon that it can be brought up during live gameplay and is easy to position around the screen. Without it, I would have failed. SPLASH! Bandit down! But the gameplay loop is something that I want to emphasize. Using your MFD’s and a host of hotkeys for flight control, you’re forced to deal with your limited armament and system management much like you would in a real fighter, albeit with a number of QoL improvements on how to select from those MFD’s, as they act more as “touchscreens” to keep you from having to use buttons to navigate. They are highly simplified, but force you into introductory skills for weapons management and radar control. You have to select your targets from radar to lock, for example, much like you would be expected to do in a real fighter (HOTAS notwithstanding). Example of gameplay (Tupo's Aviation Channel) To anyone that’s played DCS, this seems almost infantile, but it comes back around to what I feel is a missing step from arcade flight shooter to full simulator. It’s the stepping stone to understanding true combat control, and this is what I ended up reminiscing about most during the play through. There is a fairly large selection of missions for your campaign ranging from basic training to a full tour of duty across the Middle East where you take control not only of the namesake fighter, but also of an E-3. Yes, you get to be AWACS in this game, and quite often too. Unfortunately for the life of me I just could not get control to function right. I tried to perform the correct actions to vector the fighters under my control towards intrusions across the border, but I couldn’t get the commands to function right. I really don’t know if this is just me. I need more time with it, but if it is a larger problem, it will create an issue for campaign completion. Regardless I love the concept. Going back to the idea of beginner logistical understanding, this is a great introduction to the importance of real-time air battle management. But do I LIKE it? Do I think it’s worth $24.99? Hmm… Here’s the thing. I think that in this genre, with the realization that we’re still stuck with older games to provide this intermediate flight simcade experience that I find has a lot of value as a stepping stone, the somewhat newer Novalogic F-22 Lightning III is a better choice. BUT— Try starting that game up from download and it just doesn’t work right. Remember how I said that it’s so satisfying that the game just starts up? Yeah, that has a quality all of it’s own. I don’t like the idea of a game that doesn’t work out of the box discouraging a budding flight simmer from growing into the genre. That’s what I give to F-22 ADF right now. I really need them to support HOTAS control to really make this work. People WANT to play this game, and I think it deserves a look beyond a historical curiosity. I think it’s release provides the ability to get people thinking about these types of games again, and that we deserve them just as much today as we did back then. Despite the modern day updates, I really need a better control patch enabled first before I can recommend it at full price. It deserves to be more than that curiosity, and if the implementation of head-tracking is any indication, the devs think so too. I’ll be watching to see if there’s more to this. We deserve development of these sorts of flight games in the present day, and I think it has potential as an important stepping stone. About the Writer T.J. "Millie" Archer T.J. "Millie" Archer is Life-long realist and aviation enthusiast. Once the co-founding Administrator of the Electrosphere.info English Ace Combat Database. In the present day he is freelance, roving the internet in search of the latest aviation news and entertainment. [ Read Staff Profile ]

It took thirty years, a quarter-billion dollars, and 275,000 combined man-hours of development, but we finally have successfully ported Air Combat 22 to console. I’ve never actually had a chance to play this game until now. Arcade emulation is actually a harder task than many would believe, and though Namco System 22 emulators are readily available, it’s not something I’ve ever bothered to get into due to difficult experiences in the past with attempts at Sega AM2 and NAOMI emulator installs. I’ve of course been aware of Air Combat 22 as the “first” Ace Combat; it’s the reason the North American release of Ace Combat for the PS1 was changed to “Air Combat”, to better connect consumers with the arcade roots and attach a familiar name. Arcade ports and derived titles were very much still in vogue with the early 90s arcade resurgence, and it was probably a more educated move than we give it credit for. “Many interns died to bring us this low-poly YF-22 with a refueling probe.” But here it is in PS5 glory, thanks to the efforts of Hamster Coporation’s Arcade Archives series and Bandai Namco. I don’t recall ever seeing this machine or the original Air Combat in any arcades that I visited in the past. Odd considering it had extraordinary appeal for several years, with arcade-centric magazine publishers noting its high demand several years after its first release and noting its ubiquity in arcades around the United States. Had I seen it though, I think it would have left as strong an impression on me as any of the Sega machines I gush over. Air Combat 22 immediately assaults your senses in only a way a 90s arcade game can, with brickwalled voiceover lines crushed by a soundtrack that overpowers each syllable. The game only gives you about 10 seconds to choose your flight mode, screaming at you to scramble the whole time. Suffice to say, I was stressed as hell and loving every moment so far. Immediately, I’m going to say that if you “get” Ace Combat, don’t bother with choosing the Cadet with Tutorial option. It hits you at the most inopportune times with hints, and it’s activates the same part of my brain that fires anytime a YouTube video is interrupted by an ad. “Come on, Mom; just one more quarter!” So, I rebooted and jumped into normal “Cadet” difficulty. The first thing I’ll say is that we as a community should probably stop making fun of those who play Ace Combat using novice controls. It’s literally the original and only scheme that you can use for this game. Therefore, we can only conclude that those that play with novice controls are the true franchise purists. These controls though… the SNAP. The aircraft in this game turn like a bat out of hell. We’re talking like 500G’s. I’m not sure if this is a translation approximation for what would be the original flight stick porting to the far smaller lever of a console controller analog stick, but you have to learn to be gentle with the controls. “You cowards! Get back here and guard your precious C-2 with a hat!” But the DNA is there. Every last bit of it. This is literally what we now know as Ace Combat in its most distilled form. I found myself instinctively releasing two missiles anytime I had a successful lock, which quickly and unnessacarily depleted my reserves. It’s one missile kills against all targets in this game, and you’ll quickly pick it up. Gun kills are a challenge. Despite the anachronistic dual guns with huge tracers equipped on either the F-14, YF-22, or Su-27M, you’ll struggle to land hits on anything that isn’t a lumbering transport. What caught me off guard is how a few things that came into play later in the series like aerial refueling and chaff/flare actually can trace its roots all the way back to this game. In some ways its surprising that it took so many iterations to make their return. There are even echoes of gameplay that harmonize with Ace Combat Assault Horizon of all things, with the final assault on the carrier in the late game reminding me of the opening stages of “Naval Warfare”. And of course it would be remiss not to point out that this game’s direct sequel in form, function, and gameplay is Ace Combat 5’s Operation: Katina. All the way down to the way the Sortie Cleared screens match the camera angles shot for shot between stages. In fact, the similarities strengthen if you do a good job clearing the Top Gun difficult level… But you have to find that one out for yourself. “Missile, missile, missile, missile, CANNON, CANNON~ … Damn, that’s meme’s almost as old as this game.” Another element that surprises me every time I revisit older arcade games like this is the graphical and sound fidelity. Backgrounds and terrain aside, the aircraft models are actually quite solid. The desire for arcade-accurate ports was still strong for consoles during this time, and when you look at the shading, control surface movement, and framerates you can see why that was such a gold standard. Arguably, Ace Combat didn’t get this kind of fidelity until after Ace Combat 3—the PS1 was never going to be able to provide this experience. The soundtrack is also solid and high energy, and the retrospective of being treated to The Sky Is Burning Out lights a fire under your toes to keep moving through the stages. But I couldn’t help this nagging feeling of value in the back of my mind. When it comes down to the wire, this is an old arcade game. It’s entire existence as an arcade was to be a profit center, keeping the difficulty and engagement high enough to ensure that players would return with more tokens. In the latter, I would argue it still succeeds; I ran through each difficulty at least once and enjoyed myself each time. In the former though… Not so much. Perhaps its my thousands of hours playing Ace Combat over the past 25 years, or maybe it’s my familiarity with the eccentrics of 90s arcade gameplay mixed with the convenience of modern day control, but I managed to clear all four difficulties with a total of less than 10 credits. I ran the numbers in my head and was wondering what that would actually add up to in quarters burned. And that’s because this game is what I feel is an astounding $16.99 on the Playstation Store. “I’m getting this odd feeling of being halfway through a Growling Sidewinder video…” Even if I was being generous and assuming two dollars a play, this game barely scratches the value that I felt I received. It begs the question of why such an old game is so expensive. I’ll grant inflation is making gaming feel less and less affordable, but to be fair there’s also been a lot of improvements over the years and game development time isn’t as straightforward as it once was—there can be a justification made for the cost. But despite my joking anecdote as I opened this article, Air Combat 22 has made its money, and a couple of good programmers should have been able to port this successfully with modest effort. I have a pet theory that the reason actually has to do with aircraft licensing costs; something that wasn’t so much a consideration in the past as it is today, but I may be hard-pressed to prove it. But does that justify what we get out of it? As a connoisseur of yesteryear’s entertainment and a nostalgia junkie, I’ll be willing to grant Ace Combat 22 the value modifiers that pushes it over that edge for me, but I can already say I’ve spoken to advanced Ace Combat players that balk at the price and aren’t willing to entertain the purchase. I find it difficult to fault that decision. “Hehehehehe…” And that’s the kicker, isn’t it? Knock it down to 10 bucks, I’d be recommending this title in a heartbeat simply as a tour of the roots of a forest that we take for granted now. It certainly beats the pants off of Afterburner; I can see why Sega had to take some hard turns in the middle of the decade to respond to this game. But when I keep returning to the idea that I managed to beat the entirety of the game with less than 10 bucks and change… I don’t think I’ve ever quite seen such an occasion that an arcade port sides against the player’s hard-earned dollar compared to the arcade itself, especially when you consider the lack of fidelity, tactility, and immersion even a cheap cabinet can provide. I want you to buy this game to support what I know is still the hard work and dedication of developers over at Hamster and Namco. And it’s still a fun experience from start to finish, but at only about five minutes a playthrough and a questionably high cost, there is too much stiff competition even in the retro space to capture more than a historical curiosity or a niche enjoyment from the experience of our carrier-launched YF-22. Connect with 'Arcade Archives Air Combat 22' Website Facebook Instagram X.com YouTube 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 .

In a game where the word "combat" is in the title, it's natural to expect to find a lot of combat aircraft and experiences. And for the most part, that's how it has been! That being said, there is one company that has stood against the current and worked hard for several years to develop one of the best non-combat experiences available in DCS, Christen Eagle non-apply: the C-130J module by the Aircraft Simulation Company (ASC). AN AMAZING PACKAGE If you want to track down the origins of this module, you have to start with Anubis's C-130 mod. This proof of concept showed that there was indeed an interest in an aircraft like this within the DCS community, so ASC was formed by the same mod team that wanted to take the project to the next level. At the 3D level, this module is just amazing. The art goes above and beyond almost anything we have ever seen in this simulator. Everything from the cockpit, its plethora of panels and displays, the detailed but subtle wear and even the intractable items are just wonderful. Its flight model is fantastic, not only from a realism point of view, but also from a gameplay variety perspective. It carries weight and momentum like a big aircraft would, but I think they also nailed the "feel" of the aircraft. Several C-130 pilots have sung their praises over this module's systems and flight model. So, they have to be doing something right. But what I want to focus on today is systems, because it is the area where I have the strongest opinions. It is possible to rip your wings off under extreme G loads, don't ask us how we know. I think that this module's systems are both its biggest strength and its biggest detrimental feature. The bigger the aircraft, the more complex its systems are, so I went in expecting a bit more of a process to start up the aircraft than I would with a fighter or any smaller aircraft. Those expectations were met, but to an insane degree. BEAUTY IN COMPLEXITY To be honest, this is not the developer's fault, this is more on Lockheed than it is on the devs. The C-130 is, by far, the most complex aircraft to start-up properly in DCS. From its CNI NAV set-up, to the infamous electronic circuit breakers, the Hercules can feel like a daunting task to manage properly if you are used to fighter aircraft or even helicopters. The Herc seems to be mostly built around pre-planned missions, which does make it a bit more difficult to just sit down and fly a sortie or two. You will have to spend some time setting up your aircraft, cargo load and drop points, or just set up your nav waypoints. While it does have excellent tutorials, and it can be easy to learn all the basics, you will miss 80% of the module's depth and details if you do not go out of your way to play around with your systems and integrate the aircraft fully within your missions. There are so many sub-systems and little details everywhere that you will find it hard not to get stuck on learning a new thing every time you hop on, which is both a wonderful and terrifying feeling. It is very evident that the developers not only created something that was close to reality, but also something that was close to their heart. This module is a work of love, and you can tell it just by glancing at everything it has to offer. NOT A PLANE FOR EVERYONE, BUT A WONDERFUL MODULE This aircraft is certainly not one I would recommend to just anyone. It is, sincerely, one of the most complex ones to operate, it will take time and effort to learn, and you will have to dedicate time to get used to her systems. If you are afraid of that level of complexity, then you should not look into getting this module. On the other hand, if you are used to more of an airliner workload from games such as MFS2024 or even Xplane11/12, then the C-130 will feel just like home. It is a big bird, but it still has swiftness and very responsive controls, so flying her is honestly the easiest part of the module. You will be able to do many missions that no other module could do, but do be aware that you are not a combat aircraft, even if you are in Digital Combat Simulator. 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

You know... every time Shockfront Studios provides a new decimal update for Nuclear Option , I ask myself "how is this not a 1.0?" and "how is this not 4.0 at least?" The experience gets so notably better every update, you cannot help but wonder what they are expecting 1.0 to look like. Let us start by watching yet another absolute banger trailer video for the most recent Nuclear Option update before we continue: Official video for Update 0.32. Update 0.32 released on December 14th, 2025. It has been a few days since then and I put in plenty of time with all aspects of the update both flying in combat and building missions in the mission editor. Here are some of my takeaways on the update. An A-19 with full bomb loadout preparing to takeoff. A-19 Brawler The next aircraft in the roster of Nuclear Option and the star of Update 0.32, is the A-19 Brawler. Development of this aircraft was shown off during developer livestreams starting in October 2025. This straight wing attacker has the same role and similar design cues as the iconic Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II. This straight wing, sub sonic, prop fan engine aircraft occupies the role of a dedicated attacker in this game's varied aircraft roster. Viewing this aircraft as the "big brother" of the smaller CI-22 Cricket is a fair opinion. The A-19 can even take off from the same austere highway airstrips the CI-22 does, increasing the combat effectiveness of this new aircraft. While the other jet powered aircraft in game can carry a respectable array of air-to-ground and anti-ship weaponry, the Brawler is in a league of its own. The A-19 has six weapon stations. Three wing pylons, two fuselage pylons and a center line pylon that can be used if the inner fuselage pylon is empty. Saturation attacks are the most common tactic in Nuclear Option due to the consistent effectiveness of short-range air defense (SHORAD). The A-19 Brawler can carry massive amounts of guided and unguided bombs, glide bombs, optically guided air-to-ground missiles and laser guided rockets. In a single pass an A-19 can easily attack up to ten targets at once. In large scale battles where columns of land forces are frequently capturing locations, a single A-19 can make all the difference. True to its design inspiration, the aircraft is also a "gun fighter". It has a pair of nose mounted 35mm autocannons effective up to 3000 meters against armored vehicles. The centerline pylon can mount a 30mm rotary cannon firing armor piercing incendiary or a 57mm cannon that automatically sets warhead fuse type and timing against targets. A-19 with nose mounted cannons and centerline 30mm rotary cannon firing. Flying the aircraft in combat, it is easy to have the impression that the A-19 Brawler is an anemic, underpowered aircraft. But the problem is not with the power plants. It is with how players can load the airframe with so much ordinance it effects flight characteristics. Reducing fuel load or flying with more reasonable weapon configurations greatly improves performance. When flying near maximum thrust to weight ratio it is best to remember to expend glidebombs, missiles or rockets from a distance before flying directly into the range of infrared missiles and anti-aircraft cannons where maneuverability and flares will be the primary means of defense. The name "Brawler" comes from the word for a person that often engages in noisy, violent fights. The type of scenario where someone is used to throwing punches and being punched frequently. The name fits the rugged A-19 well. The sorties I have flown in singleplayer, and multiplayer have highlighted the survivability of this aircraft. The Brawler has often absorbed so much damage - missing flight surfaces, riddled in holes, sometimes missing an engine - and the aircraft has remained controllable enough to either land back at base or fly back to friendly territory and eject safely. Either undamaged or heavily damaged, the A-19 feels like it is one of the most easily to control fixed-wing aircraft in the game so far. Though, in high end peer vs peer engagements with air superiority fighters, long-ranged surface-to-air missiles (SAM) and flotillas of warships at sea, the A-19 does struggle. Terrain masking, effective use of short-range infrared air-to-air missiles, its large volume of infrared flares and self-protection ECM jammer are a must in the large battles that regularly grace Nuclear Option. Overall, the A-19 Brawler is rapidly becoming one of my favorite aircraft in Nuclear Option. This was a good, non-redundant aircraft addition to the game at this time. New Units Compatible with Low Intensity Engagements As seen in the base game missions and a good number of the missions created by user on the Steam Workshop, Nuclear Option is by definition a large scale, force on force combat flight game. 100+ units on both sides clashing with main battle tanks, fast jets, carrier fleets and strategic nuclear weapons is a daily occurrence. Many of the "starter" aircraft like the CI-22 Cricket counter insurgency aircraft and UH-90 Ibis utility helicopter become ineffective in huge battles such as those. Update 0.32 has introduced multiple light vehicles and air defenses more conducive with lower threat environments where aircraft from rank 1 through 3 are still viable. Manually aimed 23mm anti-aircraft guns and infrared man-portable air defense systems with sandbags built around them. These units are harder to detect from the air and often are only found shortly before or after they started firing upon aircraft. These types of basic short-range air defense are prolific in insurgent groups and paramilitaries. The newly introduced Modular Support Vehicle Series provides a system of modular vehicles. Each vehicle can fulfill different roles. While the most notable units are related to air defense or indirect fire, the sub-roles include flat beds, fuel trucks, mine resistant ambush protected vehicles and similar units. These lightly armored vehicles offer more options to create low intensity scenarios. Ballistic Missile Trucks and Thoughts on Indirect Fire Units Since my first month with Nuclear Option back in 2023, I have strongly felt like indirect fire units are a part of the game that has been lacking. Not to the level that the gameplay feels empty or disjointed, but more in the way that it just feels like the variety of ground units that are already in the game seems like they would be perfect for the addition of even one ground based indirect fire unit with a reasonable engagement range. To clarify, up to update 0.31, there are warships with deck cannons that provide bombardment, the Dynamo-class Destroyer can launch dozens of long-range anti-surface missiles and just recently unmanned ground vehicles with grenade launchers capable of engaging targets within 2km with no line of sight. However, none of that is quite what I am thinking of. I am talking about the most common types of battlefield artillery. Units like self-propelled artillery, multiple launch rocket systems, mortars, land-based anti-ship missile launchers, mobile land attack cruise missile trucks - that sort of thing. Update 0.32 took a step in that direction by adding the MSV Ballistic Missile Launcher; a truck-like wheeled vehicle based ballistic missile launcher. Think in the style of 9K720 Iskander or WS2600. The new Nuclear Option vehicle is a non-player-controlled unit that can drive or be set as a static unit. The unit comes in two variants, capable of launching either a pair of conventional warhead ballistic missiles or nuclear tipped ballistic missiles. There are immediate and significant limitations, however. The unit only launches missiles when the active mission reaches the Strategic Nuclear Weapons threat level and when it fires its pair of missiles it cannot be resupplied by any means. This makes the new MSV Ballistic Missile Launcher a limited use, one-time use unit. While its current configuration it is great as a looming threat that needs to be found at the start of a low-threat level mission, but in missions that start with medium and high-level aircraft available from the stat, the missiles will fire immediately and that's that. Having this new unit is a net positive, but more traditional artillery units that could be used to weaken armored columns or maneuver to decimate rear line structures are still a must have. R9 Stratolance Fire Control System The Fire Control command system is perhaps one of the most important updates for land based R9 Stratolance surface-to-air missile system to date. In the game, these SAM sites are the longest reaching threats to aircraft. Capable of striking aircraft up to 50 kilometers away. Before Update 0.32 all R9 Stratolance mobile erector launchers connected to a HLT / MSV Radar unit will fire upon the same airborne threat (aircraft, helicopter, missile). While still dangerous, this meant that a single aircraft could intentionally fly into the weapon engagement envelop of an R9 SAM site and draw its fire, potentially opening the site up to attack by another aircraft. Or in cases of missile saturation attacks the SAM site would deal with threats one unit at a time. The addition of a Fire Control command vehicle distributes targets between each missile launcher, allowing the R9 SAM site to attack multiple air targets at once. This new ability lets all launchers engage threats independently. Now able to both attack aircraft and defend against any hostile incoming bomb or missile at the same time, the R9 Stratolance SAM site had very similar capabilities to real world SAM sites like the IRIS-T SLM, NASAMS or S-400. If the Fire Control vehicle is destroyed then the R9 SAM site reverts to its standard behavior of launching all missiles at a single air threat. Any mission with a fully equipped R9 Stratolance SAM site - launchers, radar, fire control, and munition trucks - will be exponentially more challenging. This is a solid update that adds a new layer of gameplay specifically for suppression of enemy air defenses. Trending Ever Upwards Once again Shockfront Studios has provided another positive major update for Nuclear Option . While I only discussed the high-profile sections of the update, know there were many other core changes done to the game. See the full changelog for the update for all details. In the meantime, take a look at the development roadmap available on the main menu of the game to see where they are going with the game next: Development Roadmap as of Update 0.32. 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 ] .

Atmospheric Open World Minimalist Bush Flying Atop a wind battered mountain with snow flurries flying everywhere I set throttle to maximum and sent the aircraft down the runway. It would be hours before the sun would rise, but my now ladened bush plane side slipped and soared skyward into the inky sky. Using the flight instrument "Six Pack" and a basic GPS/GLONASS I narrowly avoided getting spatial disorientation flying in the pure darkness dotted by pockets of snow whipping by. Flood lights in the wings of the aircraft were the final tool needed to dodge trees and hills while I descended to the delivery destination. This is a common experience in Bush 1022 . Bush 1022 release trailer. Bush flight games and bush flying related add-ons seem to be on a bit of a rise lately. Though none of them have the same artistic direction and flight experience that Bush 1022 does. Between the varying weather and minimal player direction in an open world setting, even from the first few minutes of playing it I felt something like a low-grade wanderlust; I wanted to know what was behind every hill, what was on the other side of every lake and what the name of each location on the map could be hiding from me.  An article about this game will be coming to Skyward Flight Media in the future for sure. As I continue to play, my feelings about the game compelled me to reach out to the developer of Bush 1022 for an interview. Finding an airport with its lights on is a wonderful feeling during night flights. Thanks for accepting my rather sudden interview request. I was swept up by my feelings about Bush 1022 and had questions I just had to ask! Please introduce yourself. Hi, my name is Dimitar Stoyanov. I was born 1998 in Sofia, Bulgaria. My dad is a big Isaac Asimov fan, so even when we had little food to eat, there were always computers in the house, and I was strongly encouraged to use them. I spent most of my childhood playing PC games, some of my favorites being: NFS from HP2 to MW;  BF 1942, 2 and BC2; Colin McRae Rally 2 to 5; Call of Duty 1 to 6; And my favorite of all time: GTA SA. I feel very lucky to have grow up during, what feels like, the golden age of modern games. I've read that you are a software engineer. How did you become interested in indie game development?  Though I love software engineering, it mainly served to pay my bills. I was interested in game development since I was a kid. The first code I ever wrote was in the form of scripts for Arma 2 missions when I was 14, trying to make a Call of Duty-like campaign there :D What pushed me into taking indie game development more seriously was the pandering to shareholders and lack of care for customers from larger studios. Having all the technical knowledge to open my own studio and seeing the pain of my fellow gamers, it feels like my duty to provide something better for the community. I believe indie games are the future. Big investors are very far away from actual gamers and they mostly hire leadership with no vision to make fundamentally good games. How has your experience with game development been so far? I made my first small game in Unity back in 2019. Since then I've made many little, unpublished projects that got nowhere. In 2025 I felt like just making stuff has no true value, so it became my goal to publish whatever I make. I shifted to Godot and made "N-body Problem" to learn the fundamentals. My first game jam entry was "Bush 522" a bit after. I then made "Bush 1022" to learn the Steam deployment pipeline and see how I can set up a business around it. I wanted my first Steam game to be something I love, so even if it would have very few fans, I'd always be around to support them. It breaks my heart when I see an abandoned game. While doing some basic research about you, I came across your dev blog. I have seen a mix of posts about personal interests and snippets of code. What are you planning to do with your blog in the future?  I'm currently shifting my blog towards things I have fun discussing with my friends. My latest post on AI is a topic we often argue about. Since I also get a lot of books as gifts, the next posts are likely to be literature essays. I also want to document the techniques behind my FOSS way of making music, showing alternatives to Apple and Microsoft's ecosystems, but I still have problems with live looping. At some point I'll probably shift to a platform that allows people to write comments on my posts. I originally chose Hugo because I love writing very technical content in markdown. Completing a hard delivery and gaining multiple achievements at once. I first saw Bush 1022 on Itch.io  and Steam  a short time ago. Though I also see Bush 522 as the prototype to Bush 1022. What did you learn from your time developing Bush 522?  I learned about the importance vision. In my past failed projects, I would always start by planning the specific contents of the game first. Anything I could think of, I'd add to a long list of features, with the idea that I can remove it later if not needed. I'd always get completely swamped after development starts. In the game jam for Bush 522, I had 14 days to start and finish the project, so I had to change my approach to be on time. Instead of throwing random ideas at the wall, hoping for something to stick, I spent the first 2 days of the game jam away from my computer. I would get comfortable, close my eyes and just imagine how the final game looks like, how it plays, how it feels. I'd make drawings of the visuals and write down some of the perceived experiences. I realized that this is the game's core vision. I deeply understood the final game before making the first asset or writing the first line of code. The development process felt like a natural straight line, I knew exactly what I had to do at all times, what to focus on, what to ignore. I was finished with the game 3 days before the deadline. Basically, excluding the concept phase, Bush 522 was made in about a single week, and it was better than projects I had spent months on, simply because I focused on deeply understanding its core rather than the shell of attributes that make it up. This is a great point of view. Indie developers are usually solo devs or small teams of people. Time and resource management is especially important for them. Would you suggest that other aspiring developers join a Game Jam or challenge themselves to a short development period to see if their core idea is a viable concept for a game? Absolutely! I believe that for any potential long-term project, it's best to get as much feedback, as early as possible. Had I done this for my previous dragged-out projects, I'd probably be able to see my lack of vision early and either adapt or cancel them before spending too much time on something that's fundamentally flawed. As a solo developer with aspirations to expand and start my own studio, every minute of work counts a lot  and I am super precise with how I spend the very little time I have. The feedback of a game jam can quickly give an answer if the time spent is wise. The atmosphere of Bush 1022 is quite interesting for a simcade. Even during the day time it feels subdued and mysterious. Why did you choose to go for this theme rather than something more "traditional" for games similar to this?  I wanted to build an aesthetic that would really capture the feeling of solitude in the remote wilderness. I did a bunch of drawings to get a feel of the colors and atmosphere for that. I didn't research any other games, so I wasn't influenced by the common patterns in the genre when it comes to the overall theme. Despite its very small file size of roughly 100MB, the feel of the game is massive. At the start of each new playthrough a new world is procedurally generated. What is the maximum world size? It could theoretically go on for millions of kilometers, the terrain loads in chunks, so there would be no resource overhead. I've made the world borders at 30km in each direction from the start, because the physics and graphics in vanilla Godot are calculated with 32-bit floats, and that's about the limit before small glitches can be noticed. Float is a data type that becomes more inaccurate as the difference of magnitude between the values it does arithmetic with increases. Basically, the small change of the aircraft's position between each frame becomes more imprecise as the aircraft's global coordinate values grow. You can observe this in many other games if you go way outside the playable area. There are, of course, ways to fix this, but it would take a lot of development time, and I feel like it won't bring any value to just have a larger game world for the sake of having a larger game world. From the player's point of view, I think that a procedurally generated map is beneficial for replay ability. As it is a different experience each time the player starts a new playthrough. From the developer's point of view, is maintaining procedural generation in the long-term a challenge at all? The purely technical part is not a challenge for me. However, when it comes to how the game feels, a huge challenge for future content is to design the generation patterns in a way that doesn't feel repetitive. Replayability becomes truly valuable only when each playthrough feels unique in a way. I feel like I'm not there yet, but it's what I'm aiming for. I have not completed a full playthrough of my first seed yet, but on average how many checkpoints and airports are there in each seed? There are 100 checkpoints, 5 of which are airports. Landing on 40 unique checkpoints is enough when completing a regular playthrough, only the "Master" goal section requires landing on every single one. The last tab of the travel list shows specifics about how many of the checkpoints are hidden or are water platforms, should be about 50 each. A section of the world map for the current playthrough. Why did you prefer an open world game instead of a more linear style game?  I love the freedom of open world games and my technical background gives me an advantage when it comes to world-building algorithms. I feel like good linear games are made of all the things I'm bad at making, and until I grow my studio, aren't the best use of my very limited resources. I appreciate that the delivery system gives players some structure for their gameplay, but is not too complicated. What are your thoughts on it? Do you have any plans to make changes to deliveries?  10A. I don't like the lack of control in the current system. You could end up in an area where you only have very long and difficult deliveries to do. I'm currently thinking of overhauling it in a way where the player can have much more specific options on the types of deliveries to do. I want to still keep it simple, though. Delivery menu as seen at any checkpoint. The combination of the terrain players must land in, the simplified flight model and the weather sometimes makes me wonder if a more advanced flight model would be beneficial. What are your thoughts on this?  Not sure if more advanced, but I think it could make the game more fun for the flight model to be affected more by temperature and precipitation. Ground effect is also something that has been requested. So yeah, I'm thinking of expanding the flight model, but only for increasing the game's depth and fun, not for chasing realism. How has feedback from the community around Bush 1022 been?  The feedback so far has been mostly positive. There are some very thorough player stories, and there are a lot of requests for new features. I feel like people are seeing this game a bit like a foundation for something bigger. I love that, and it's a big motivation for me to grow it further. You have mentioned a general roadmap for this game in 2026, but also that this year you have a new project that will be your main focus. What do you think is the ideal final version of Bush 1022?  I don't see an ideal final version. For me it's an iterative process of always adding something new and improving the player experience. I want to tailor the game to what the community wants. Broadly, I feel like the right direction is to grow the game's depth, give more soul to the remote world you're flying in, and give the players more things to do. Once all of that is covered, I'm sure the community will come up with more requests. This may be a little bit early to ask, but is there anything we can learn about your new project right now?  I planned to make prototypes for a kit-car builder rally game and an architecture simulator, but Bush 1022 has been performing well recently and is back to being my main focus at the moment. When the timing feels right, I'll join a cool game jam and release a small version of what I've planned, like I did with Bush 522 -> Bush 1022. I want to get user feedback on my ideas as early as possible into the development process. Thank you for your time and effort with Bush 1022. Playing it has been a good experience so far. I look forward to seeing it develop some more. I appreciate you taking time to talk to me about a few things.  These were some awesome questions, I gained some extra insight myself while answering! I'm glad that you're enjoying my game, I wasn't prepared for many people to play it, let alone being interviewed about it. I really appreciate the support, I love the positive community that's starting to build up. Thank you! Connect with Bush 1022 by Dimitar Stoyanov Itch.io Steam Website 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 .

Airforce Delta, sans the qualifier, known in Europe as Deadly Skies, is the first entry of the greatest flight shooter this side of Ace Combat. I don’t care if you think that’s subjective—your HAWX-riddled brain is wrong. But maybe a little backstory is in order: Opinion - Backstory Airforce Delta holds a special place in my heart. When I was growing up, I was always a video game system generation behind. As a result, my first console, which is still displayed proudly on my shrine to the company, was the Sega Genesis Model 2, purchased brand new for $100USD from Sears. Don’t get me wrong, there was an effort to make me reconsider; the clerk really wanted me to think hard about this decision: “Are you sure you don’t want a PlayStation? The Genesis is getting pretty old…” She said. But no, I insisted on the Genesis. A year later, I decided I wanted the next model up, the Sega Saturn—again, the clerk was baffled by my choice. “You know the Saturn might not be around much longer… Are you sure you don’t want a PlayStation or Nintendo 64?” No, I wanted that Saturn. It too sits proudly on my shrine. It was a visit or two to the Sega City mega arcade at the new mall nearby that secured my loyalty: Give me Sega or give me death; the Sony PlayStation must be stopped. 1998: Rumors about a new system being developed by the wobbly company are trickling their way over to the States from the land of the Rising Sun. They’re skipping a generation: 128-bits moving forward, American release in 1999. Time moved fast. I had the new-fangled “Dreamcast” in my hands by Christmas of that year. At the time, there was only a couple of launch titles I was interested in, but I had a friend who had a far wider game palate than me. As a result, while I was obsessing over Sonic Adventure and Power Stone, he had just torn open and was progressing through a flight game called Airforce Delta. I had a glance at it, and I was slowly thinking about how much I liked it. It wasn’t long before I had my own copy. I wasn’t all that good at the game, though. I had trouble making it past the sixth or seventh mission using the default arcade “bank-to-turn-what-you-think-you’re-not-good-enough-for-rolling?” flight scheme that I didn’t even know existed at first. As a result, my friend, who had a knack for just about every game he got his hands on, barreled forward and at some point completed the game and earned most of the aircraft available in the game. At the time, he was also building paper-aircraft models of his own design, and tended to take inspiration from all of these different aircraft models that the game had available. He had shown me a crude one he made with an unusual swept-forward wing configuration that he labeled “S-37”. I, young and naïve, asked what exactly he was thinking with those wings. He showed me his aircraft collection in the game and scrolled the hangar to the far right to land on the S-37 Berkut. You remember what it felt like to have your first crush? Mine… might have been a fighter jet. So yeah… A control option change later to unlock six-degrees of freedom and I powered my way through this game to get that fighter. The game subconsciously built my obsession with fighter maneuverability, and as a result the S-37 was pinned as the pinnacle. Once I got it, there was no other option. Cower, ye Raptor-stans, your new queen has arrived, and she’s a stealthy, sharp, SEAD-ready Russian bitch. I know far better now: She’s not all that stealthy, she’s not production ready by any means, and she’s built on Flanker DNA, but I accept her and all her flaws that make her a masterpiece. Still my favorite aircraft of all time, the now-christened Su-47 has gotten a little older, but my eyes still ogle at her lines. What I didn’t realize at the time and couldn’t quite process until I advanced my studies in aviation and aircraft design was that the plane in reality and the plane in the game that made me obsessed were actually quite different in design—and that lead into new observations about the OG Airforce Delta that I couldn’t piece together until recently. Ultimately, the game has a lot more going for it than I ever gave it credit for, and that’s probably why it has its hard-core followers like me. But I would be rightfully hard-pressed to make the crystal present appreciate the foggy past. Meh… enough with the nostalgic rant; let’s dig in. Game cover. (Source: Emuparadise) Review Airforce Delta was Konami’s direct answer to the lauded Namco-produced Ace Combat series. At the time of its release Ace Combat 2 was still the regal rooster, with Ace Combat 3 in mid-development. There was a tried-and-true formula that was worth advancing to the next graphical level, and Konami seemed keen on copying it—sometimes rather blatantly. But they didn’t do it as a simple cash grab—there’s heart here with a Konami soul. The game’s boot up sequence nowadays absolutely betrays its arcade-like roots. Simple sound effects, quick text boxes with save state requests, and production and dev banners flashing ahead of the main screen with the option to load or save imprinted upon a dark city skyline shadowed with an F-22 Raptor. The blue hues betray the dark atmosphere you will see for much of the game. I don’t view this negatively, and it’s clear how quickly this game starts to diverge from its Ace Combat-like roots. The history lesson outlining your mission, flying for the breakaway Republic of Laconia against the strongarm-united Federation of Dzavailar (or Zabayral depending on your take on the limited canon available to you) as a mercenary hired by the resource-rich nation has Balkan-like vibes to it. The music is somber, the map imitating something like a dark projector in a briefing room or an old computer screen. Already you get a bit of a feeling that the game wants you to take it somewhat more seriously than Ace Combat 2. You’re then taken to a far more upbeat in-game cutscene introducing your F-5E-flying second-person-addressed faceless protagonist. This is about as deep as this is going to go—your only interaction with your “commanders” moving forward are voiceless briefing orders with a very light sprinkling of identically voiceless in-mission notifications accentuated with transitory radio squawks. The main menu gives a mission progression outline. This game is purely linear unlike its later installments. I’ve mentioned before that this should not be viewed as negative—just different. It works just fine for this game, outlining your mission objectives and strategic progression. Once you complete a mission, you can roll back to a previous mission and play through it without consequence—unless you crash your plane of course, then you got to buy that back. But I again digress—selecting a mission takes you to a simple briefing. Here both your mission objectives and the strategic outline of the war is presented very straightforwardly with no input by you wanted or requested. Complete the objective as designed and return to base, mercenary. You’re then dumped onto the flight line with a flashing order to scramble. Again, the music takes more of an upbeat tone here, contrasting heavily with the darker-theme of the briefing. But it cuts off as you select your F-5E Tiger II. The canopy drops and the plane taxies off screen to a quick load and thrusts you into the action. If you’ve selected the “expert” control scheme, you may immediately notice a couple of things that are welcome in some circles, but also rip points away from this game, and with my bias exhausted for now, I think it’s fair to judge the game on these merits. Aircraft handling could probably be best worded as “deliberate”. Recoil is non-existent, but these planes are heavy . It’s an interesting comparison to Ace Combat 04—where people have lobbied the same observation. Snap turns, particularly in low to mid-tier aircraft are difficult if not near-impossible, and you have to really rely on your skills as a true interceptor rather than a dogfighter. I could see this already put people off, since the high-tier planes do go a long way in making the game more enjoyable, but you got to earn that through some of the game’s weaker mission types. Additionally, the Dreamcast’s controller does the game a disservice here: Without secondary trigger buttons, you are limited to acceleration and deceleration using the X and Y face buttons, meaning that quick reflexes or edge tapping is in order to continue your speed manipulation while also actuating guns or missiles. This takes a long time to get used to, and your early-aircraft missile count again does you a disservice here. Interestingly, the trigger buttons function well as acceleration and deceleration in the novice control mode, which can actually give an advantage to that mode even for advanced players in some scenarios. Remember how I mentioned how Airforce Delta built my obsession with fighter maneuverability? This is why. When you start with a struggling fighter like the F-5E, and end with something so much snappier and responsive like the afore mentioned S-37, the mobility delta (if you’ll pardon the quite amusing pun) subconsciously forces you to treat that statistic with more reverence than others. But if you handle the fighter and build your tolerance, there are rewards to be had as you embrace the game. The visuals might seem dated today, but it can’t be emphasized enough the enormous leap that the Dreamcast provided in graphical fidelity from the PlayStation and Nintendo 64 before it. The Dreamcast was admittedly the weakest of the sixth-generation of video game consoles, but thanks to its prioritization of its arcade-like roots handled by its NAOMI-derived control board, it made a minor sacrifice in raw polygon count to achieve a solid frame rate, with minimal stuttering except in arbitrary scenarios, which you’ll appreciate to keep your mind on the mission. The fighter models are instantly identifiable, comparing them to Ace Combat 2 or the contemporary Ace Combat 3 after it, and you’ll appreciate the detail put into them. Control surfaces are all moving and afterburner effects burn hot. You are given only two view modes: HUD and third-person, but the rendering either way is solid. There’s no camera-swivel available here due to the lack of a secondary analog stick. Something that might be apparent that has yet to be duplicated on even recent flight shooters, however, is the rendering of full-scale models for enemy aircraft. Get close enough and you’ll actually see the enemy’s rudders actuate and its ailerons deflect. This is something that I can’t seem to let go of—I can’t tell if it’s programmer laziness or production brilliance. It actually assists in immersion for me because it presents a consistent graphical tone, despite how rare it would be to actually view it. I’ve mentioned in my previous Airforce Delta Storm review that I believe it to be a root cause of the low-density of aircraft presented in missions compared to games like Ace Combat, though I can’t prove it. I also find myself torn on the general color palette of the missions presented. To be fair, the missions presented offer a wide range of terrains and biomes, and the colors are well utilized. There’s also the need to hammer home the serious atmosphere that I’ve brought up before, but there is that subtle overlay of “real is brown” that plagued all games going into this generation and it is present here. Draw-distance is also limited, and the fog apparent, though interestingly absent if you decide to emulate this title. You’ll actually find yourself missing it if you do so since the pop-in of assets is rather jarring at times. As you progress you’ll be presented with what I feel is a unique and engaging soundtrack. Once again using the present as a filter you can easily identify the required utilization of synthetics and compression that was needed to keep this game under the GD-ROM’s space limitations, but the soundtrack still earns my praise. Military Supply Base in particular stands out. It punches out of the gate with a synth-ed note and builds up in anticipation, and you can’t help but perform a descending aileron roll flat to the deck to match the progression and level out of the melody as you pop trucks using your all-purpose short-range missiles, descending on the factory buildings. Each mission tries to use the music to invoke an atmosphere, from the dark, sneaky like tones of the night-time Escort, to the use of what appears to be a short burst of a train horn for the destruction of a rail hub in Nuclear Transport Blockade. The music can be broken up easily into simple but effective chords and it actually works in its favor. Build ups and fade outs are executed well, though strangely are present for every mission—the music does not actually repeat. Makes for good listening from the Dreamcast’s media player, though. I’ve never been able to determine if my appreciation for the soundtrack is from listening repetition from my many playthroughs or from a real hook, however. Though as I listen through for the nth time, I’m leaning more and more to the latter. It might not hold high the symphonious complexity of its rivals, but it holds its own to give the game a unique character. One day I’d love to hear how this music sounds fully uncompressed. I think there’s a missed opportunity here for talented remixers to give at least a college-try on these songs. I’d love to listen to new interpretations outside of those made for the game’s subsequent installments. The musical judgement call of simplicity does however carry over to mission design. Simple skirmish: that sums up the pinnacle of design you will encounter for the most part. Whether it’s the staple “intercept the incoming bombers” of the first mission to running through the AA-protected gorge or escort the slow plane out of the combat zone, there is little variety to experience here. To some this might be all that’s needed. Ace Combat 04 ran with this formula successfully and built a solid game around it, but lacking that game’s far more engaging storytelling, Airforce Delta feels like a disconnected group of 20 mission types that you can try your hand at buffet-style rather than a solid progressive campaign. As a kid, I enjoyed this. I’m not sure how well it would hold up in the modern day, but it’s easy to craft your own mission stories based around action types when you have this sort of looseness. Hey, a blank piece of paper can be either an open canvas of imagination or a slather of ennui—you make the call. But I’m admittedly leaning strongly on the side of optimism here. You can find positive points—Satellite Intercept is a short but high-energy, high-stakes romp, and unless I’m mistaken, because I can’t find anywhere else where this has been done (and I invite correction on this), Ace Combat 5 came back around to copy its design for its final sortie. The final mission pits you against a single fighter, and it’s easy to get yourself stuck in cinematic-like rate fights with the antagonist if you don’t make the right move off the bat. But it’s hard to comment further; some designs seem to contradict some of the mission briefings, somehow using low-speed ICBM-like missiles descending upon a skyscraper as a way to interpret the narration that enemy agents are running a false-flag operation to sabotage peace talks (another mission execution that I think Ace Combat 5 copied for White Bird Part I, all the way down to the presence of B-2’s on the fringe, but lacking the unintentionally hilarious suicide mission Airforce Delta’s stealth bombers result in.) If you do decide to fly the missions in story-progression, you are painted a very high-level picture of a bleak but no-nonsense back-from-the-brink defensive war that quickly turns sour for the aggressor with your skills. Each mission is piecemeal to the war at hand; the wording of the missions even seems to intentionally leave you out of strategic decisions. When I really buckled down into this storyline, I was given the feeling of expendability all the way to the end. I’m the best at this job, but I’m also replaceable and in it for the money, and the tone carries that. There’s little personal affect, and when there is there’s a little confusion introduced as a result. The war between the two nations is reasonably well outlined in the introduction, but even now I’m a little confused as to the relationship of myself to the Delta Corps as a whole and the pilots I’m fighting. It gives me the impression that Delta Corps was split on this fight, and you and your small band (which only appears in the ending cutscene) decided to fight for the weaker but more wealthy Laconian side. The vagueness is sort of intriguing I suppose, and some of it is what built my interest in the game as I grew older, but thinking too hard on it results in minor frustration. The silent briefings and lack of engagement is what sets this apart from Ace Combat 2 the most—Ace Combat 2 almost seems intentionally tongue-in-cheek in presentation at times, accentuating that Top Gun vibe that fueled the series early success, whereas Airforce Delta tries--maybe too hard and in a very Konami way--to make silly premises serious. Artificial nuclear-armed islands, enormous bombers, and bored-out mountain bases can only be taken in stride so much before logic breaks down. But I appreciate the effort here, and it matches the industry-wide adaptation of taking many of these waning arcade game mechanics and tropes and giving them a more serious, cinematic tone, paving the way for the stronger story-driven plotlines we enjoy today. I’m not sure the game could entertain younger audiences today with what they, and we, are spoiled with, and in fact its mediocre success might even imply such a reaction back during its release, but the nostalgia filter is thick for my judgement. A gold-standard, however, lies in the aircraft selection. I’m not being hyperbolic with that statement—there may only be 31 aircraft, but they’re a wonderful spread that I would love to see replicated again. Ace Combat can boast higher aircraft counts at times, but it still falls back on family variants rather than base-designs. Here we get a wide range that hearkens back to the unique selection of Ace Combat 2. Whether its old favorites like the F-4 or MiG-21 or then-cutting edge 5th-generation powerhouses like the YF-23 or MiG-1.44 MFI, there’s something here that will imprint on a kid’s memory as their favorite. The game even allows for limited VTOL, with two representatives from the Harrier-series of fighters available for purchase at high prices after successful completion of the campaign and a new-game-plus restart. Though you will frustratingly lose your credit count if you roll over to new game plus and save on the first mission. You can get a little preview of this coveted mechanic by earning--through a successful gun-kill--the X-32, which though not completely “VTOL”, still has a far lower stall speed akin to the afore-mentioned jumpjets—just missing the floaty controls that accompanies the latter to aid in slow-speed controllability. And it is in the X-32 that the aircraft selection starts looking… different. Whether it was a lack of data or an attempt at the development team to come up with a “finalized” design from the many prototypes that the game features, a fair few aircraft are granted artistic interpretations that I simply adore . Far back I mentioned the S-37—it’s prominently featured on the game’s cover and as the title screen aircraft after a successful completion of the campaign, and it’s got lines . Its sleeker, sharper, and meaner than the real design, and its deep-red wing-mounted Kh-31’s help to emphasize that swept-forward aesthetic. The X-32, far be it for me to say, actually looks good . It’s smaller air intake and longer fuselage are what I suspect Boeing engineers see when they look at their only-a-mother can love face of the real plane. And the MiG-1.44 almost completely departs from its namesake… or so I had thought. It turns out that it’s design is a mashup between the finalized design represented by the MiG-1.42, and a rare concept drawing featured in the magazine Flight International in the early 1990’s of what the MiG was expected to look like. Uncovering this gave me a brand new appreciation for the designs—they weren’t just reinterpreted because of limited data or artistic merit—deeper research was involved than I could have ever expected, and discoveries like this only make me want to give me confirmation bias to gush over the game more than I usually do. I find myself torn and challenged to recommend this game to a modern player beyond its historical curiosity. I have a deep obsession with this series. Whether it stems from my stubborn and ultimately-defeated anti-Sony/pro-Sega bias fostered in the 90’s or from the obsession with a specific aircraft that takes more credit than it ever should have been allowed in shaping my future interests in aviation, I reflect upon the game’s flaws more vividly now. It has problems, but it also carries lessons. Emulation, despite the minor graphical setbacks mentioned previously go a long way in helping the native-crippled control scheme. But nearly 25 years later, it’s hard to get as engrossed in this game as a young mind might have been able to with the anti-aliasing assistance of a 28-inch CRT television. But I can’t help but remember and continue to enjoy it with a fondness. I still power it up for a quick playthrough at least once a year, and I walk away with satisfaction. I always pause to wonder if I’d put this game in my top ten, but It just never quite makes the mark for one reason or another—one more flaw that I just noticed or one more aged pixel just out of place. But that’s the thing… I’ve moved onto better. But despite the flaws in the rearview mirror, we all fondly remember that first crush—it transcends ranking. It forms the base of the better expectations you look for later. The S-37 is a flawed machine, but it’s a lynchpin of my obsession with aircraft. Airforce Delta is a mediocre derivative, but it’s the keystone of my continued interest in flight shooters. It deserves remembrance. Airforce Delta Wiki Shoutout I want to give a shoutout to the guys over at Airforce Delta Wikia . I used to think that I was one of the biggest fans of this series and would regularly put references into it with a lot of online projects and games that I was a part of. Turns out I’m small fry. The repository on AFD Wikia put my knowledge of the series to such a shame that I had to refer to it a number of times to write the articles for this series, and I’ll likely refer to it again going into the future. Their website demonstrates that my understanding of everything from story to gameplay of each installment of Airforce Delta just scratches the surface. Give them a browse when you get a chance if you want to immerse yourself more in this series and get a better understanding of gameplay elements. Check out the comments for some of the articles too! They’ll showcase some interesting finds, like a specific button combination to remove the interlacing effect experienced when playing Airforce Delta Storm on the Xbox 360 in replay segments. Keep up the good work, guys! 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 Distinctive Way of Unlocking Aircraft Variety of aircraft is often a core element of flight games. The larger the catalog of aircraft the more appealing a title is. Whether it is a dozen decent representations of fighter jets or a small selection of almost perfectly modeled wide body airliners, the big question is always: how does someone get access to all those aircraft? Is it expansive tech trees like in War Thunder or using in-game credits to purchase aircraft after they're unlocked during campaign progress like in Project Wingman? No matter the quantity or quality of the aircraft, if the method of gaining access to them is not done well, unlocking them all may be a short-term headache but a long-lasting detraction against the game's identity (looking at you, Ace Combat 5). Having put in a lot of time with these types of games, the aircraft unlock system in the demo for Blue Sky Aces  by Curious Dog games continues to stand out in my mind. I enjoy the concept behind it and wanted to go into detail. Though, I had a bit of difficulty trying to double check some things as I had already cleared the demo long ago and wiping save data to start over again is a bit of a complicated process. So instead, I reached out to developer Brent with Curious Dog games to double check the details. Blue Sky Aces uses a mix of point-based progression and time-based progression to unlock aircraft. Each aircraft from The Great War uses the historical date they entered service as the date they become available in game. This technological limit is in place for all countries the players can fly with: Austria-Hungary, Britain, France, Germany and Russia. The score for each mission is calculated at the end of the mission. Victories in a mission give more points, but losses still contribute points towards moving time forward as well. As the in-game date moves forward aircraft are unlocked as they became available during the actual war. The developer mentioned that in the full game there are ideas on how to adjust this progression system for the single player experience: "I can see the campaign and career game modes working a bit like this too, which would allow you to reset back to the beginning of the war, or start from whatever date and time you wanted to. I think the thing about a single player game is that people are going to play it for different reasons, and that's okay as they're not impacting other players. If someone wants to fly a Fokker DVII against a Airco DH2 then we should let them, but we should also cater for those that want a more authentic experience." -Brent, Curious Dog Games, February 3rd, 2026 In the demo the starting year is 1915. There are a handful of game modes that players fly short missions in. The time progression system is accelerated for the sake of demonstrating the game's concepts, but it still sets the framework for scenarios where the player can find themselves at a technological advantage or disadvantage for certain periods of time. The same way the real pilots of World War I had to fly and fight no matter how advanced or aged their aircraft were. While this can be experienced in the demo, the prospect of it being shown in a full campaign potentially for each country is rather appealing. While not ideal in a real war, perhaps frequently flying less capable aircraft against more capable enemies would be a refreshing type of challenge. An early war dogfight between Airco DH2s, Morane Saulnier Bullets and Fokker EIII. In the demo each aircraft does have a limited set of upgrades that can be unlocked with frequent use of an aircraft. Like engine upgrades or machine gun upgrades. While helpful in extending the usefulness of an aircraft, it does not replace the value of getting an all-around better built aircraft. Extending how long it takes for a new aircraft to be unlocked also makes obtaining new, more capable aircraft much more impactful. A stark contrast to the common patterns in flight action games where something like unlocking a F-15C in one mission then unlocking a Eurofighter Typhoon just one mission later happens frequently. Normally in flight action games like these the aircraft and weapon capabilities of players and their computer enemies and allies are somewhat balanced. Except for any big story driven battles, of course. Normally it is in flight simulators where the impact of technology is more tangible. Having this experience in a game like Blue Sky Aces is somewhat refreshing. My thanks to Brent with Curious Dog games for answering my quick question and for continuing work on the game. Connect with 'Blue Sky Aces' Discord 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 Profile ]

Appreciating the message of a returning developer Can you believe it has been three years since Flashpoint Studios published a substantial update for Aggressor ? After years of public facing inactivity in development, across social media and other places I eventually left the Discord sever as well. I never uninstalled Aggressor, but it certainly slipped from my mind over time. So, from my point of view, seeing a Steam update and a new post on January 9th, 2026, felt like having a lightning bolt strike somewhere near my house. Memories Back in 2021 and 2022, Skyward Flight Media provided coverage  about Aggressor and had an interview with the lead developer. Aggressor was not a project that entered early access so early it made you question if it was a half working alpha test. Before development halted, Aggressor was a working game. The game had tutorials, faction specific campaign missions, a credit system to purchase aircraft and weaponry and a few instant action game modes. Some of these game modes being so robust players could partake in 60 vs 60 aircraft battles with ease (depending on PC specs, of course). Something even in the year 2026 I struggle to think of similar flight games being capable of. My last vivid memory of it was during the one-year anniversary in 2022. I was having a great time with the game back then. So, the sudden stop in development was rather confusing. During the 1-year anniversary air-to-air missiles carried firework warheads. Explanation of Ambition Upon the return in 2026, Aggressor has new content and even a bit of an updated look. That is something I will be more than happy to get into now that Aggressor is back up and soaring again. However, I feel like what should be highlighted first is the explanation as to why things happened the way they did. In 2023 work on a new game mode in private began. To be known as 'Frontlines' it would be a game mode that emulated a full-scale, theatre wide war. Players would even be able to construct and manage their own air bases as the conflict unfolded. The locations this war would take place in would be dynamic using procedural generation for the world's terrain. Hearing this makes the massive battles in real time strategy games come to mind. The developer expresses that completing 'Frontlines' was the driving force for development at the time. However, the motivation to develop and the hurdles of development are a constant see-saw. Where progress was being made in certain areas more complex concepts did not have as much-expected progress. The airport construction and management game mechanic is mentioned specifically. Full time development of Aggressor while running into difficult roadblocks eventually caused the developer to take a step back and realize that inspiration had left them. A new project was started to clear their head, Aggressor was reevaluated, the game was shelved and life moved on. In March 2025 the developer regained momentum by "shifting gears" in development after they had a realization about Aggressor as a whole. Value in Transparency I believe there is real value in the message Flashpoint Studios has given. On its face it is a direct and somewhat vulnerable explanation to supporters that purchased Aggressor years ago and have been waiting for news about it. But in my opinion, there is a genuine value in the message to any established or aspiring indie developer. My biggest takeaway from the statement is that the ambition to make the identity of Aggressor something definitively unique amongst its peers ultimately led to the developer overextending beyond the game's original scope. This then led to severe burn out that halted all development of future content and in turn halted support of the game in the short-term. "Feature creep" may come to mind, but I believe this is a bit different. This wasn't a case of a developer spending months adding a dozen small features while ignoring the core of the product. This seems to be a case of a developer seeing success within their original focus but pushing far beyond the original scope, maintaining focus on the new initiative despite the seemingly insurmountable technical hurdles they came up against despite the effort harming the most valuable assets of any developer: determination and interest. Let's quote an important part of the statement from the developer: "If I could do it all again, I would not have strayed so far from the game's original vision. The initial plan for it was to just be a fun quick-action air combat experience. No mission builder, no procedural airports, no first person view even. Perhaps the game would be in a better place now had these original guidelines been respected. Unfortunately, what's done is done and all the time lost serves as a stark reminder of the consequences. This is not the only reason Aggressor has taken so long, but it has been the key issue. This ends now. I believe the right thing to do at this point is to move on and ensure the mistakes that were made are not repeated." - Flashpoint Studios Developer Statement, January 9th, 2026. Ultimately any project is a "passion" project. This is especially true for indie developers who challenge themselves to learn new skill sets to create the flight games all of us enjoy. They do this alongside their day jobs and daily lives more often than not. The motivation to use personal free time to pursue their projects is a quite a choice. When a developer loses the drive to work on even something they were initially passionate about, it is no wonder that so many projects suddenly halt or gradually taper off over time. I hope other developers out there - no matter if they are already hard at work or beginning to draft their first ideas - take note of this story. I would like to send a firm welcome back to Flashpoint Studios and their work on Aggressor . Next time I talk about this game it will be about what is new, how it plays and experience with the newer, complicated bits. Connect with 'Aggressor' Discord 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 Profile ]

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

Considerable updates that have refined this non-traditional flight simulator Exosky by Elevons LLC has greatly improved since its release on March 7th, 2025. This flight simulator takes players across 8 almost phantasmagoric levels with a majority of its aircraft roster being fictional designs with intriguing backstories of their own. Despite the highly unconventional visuals, this simulator prides itself on its flight model more than interstellar combat or cinematic cutscenes. There have been a few important major updates to Exosky, though one stands out more than most, let's give them all a "flyby". Flying a P-51D through a haunted house inside of an ATX power supply. Heavily Updated Flight Model Just a few months after launch, Exosky was one of very few indie flight games that had a presence at Flight Sim Expo 2025 . Between managing a booth and an onstage presentation on the FS Elite stage, developer Jordan Elevons received a lot of feedback from the show floor about its flight model. This resulted in a considerable update on July 8th, 2025. The update better utilized the custom calculated inertia tensor. An overhaul of the collision system from a simple mesh collider to a system that voxelizes aircraft geometry and creates multiple box colliders to match the aircraft; this improves collision detection and the tensor calculations. Control surfaces not immediately ceasing rotation which in turn made precision flying in a game based on daring aerobatic a touch harder to fly more precisely. To clarify, at no point has Exosky had a bad flight model so janky it was hard to play. Players were able to complete flight challenges before this overhaul. With the updated flight model more precise maneuvers are easier to consistently perform, especially at low speeds. Something especially helpful in the type of aerobatics Exosky asks its players to partake in. From my own experience replaying Exosky in its current form, there have been many times where being able to fly on the razor's edge of the flight envelope has let me avoid collisions or rack up points faster than ever. In the past those were situations where I would not commit to those situations or know that if I did it was nearly certain danger. Taking direct, in-person feedback to heart then improving upon the flight model is a testament to the developer continuing to prioritize the experience and maintaining the quality of the sim they offer to the public. Extended Peripheral Support Since its public demo, this simulator has supported various types of USB flight controllers. Players can use any old keyboard and mouse, gamepad or many combinations of flight peripherals. Whether it is an entry level Thrustmaster T Flight, the easier going Yawman Arrow or a full-on Winwing HOTAS with more switches than even the sci-fi drones of Exosky seem to have. For a simulator that focuses on aerobatics and precision flying in close proximity, the only somewhat must- have missing peripheral was head tracking. As of September 13th, 2025, Exosky secured official Track IR support . There was even an official bundle of Exosky and Track IR. With the visuals of the game being what they are, maintaining a point of reference while flying can sometimes be a battle of its own. It can get disorienting when spinning through tumbling mirror polished shards of glass in a desert. Being able to physically look towards where you may fly next before committing to it is immensely useful in... let's call them... "non-traditional environments". It significantly decreases the amount of crashing, that is for sure. CFIT Rewind Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) is described as an airworthy aircraft under complete control of a pilot inadvertently flown into terrain or an obstacle resulting in the aircraft being damaged or destroyed. In the real world and traditional flight simulators, flying into a mountain or into a body of water does happen for a variety of reasons. In Exosky, CFIT looks more like running into a swinging chandelier in a haunted house or misjudging wing clearance while flying down a PCIe slot. Crashing is an inherent part of the aerobatic focus of Exosky which requires players to take big risks for the sake of gaining points or fulfilling level specific challenges. A part of that risk taking is further amplified by the consequence of crashing. Whether it was within a few seconds or after a few minutes of solid, skilled flying, a crash can undo all progress. No points saved, no challenges saved - only a fresh restart from the beginning of the level. While this is not a deal breaker that makes the game unapproachable, I admit there have been a few times a crash or two has been enough for me to wrap up a short flight session early. Fortunately, the developer "has the technology" and provided an alternative to starting over from the beginning and mid-level checkpoints. With the Rewind function from the moment of explosion players can reverse their actions to restart from shortly before the crash. No progress is lost upon restart, and players can potentially correct their errors. Of course, if somehow the players ends up in a situation that is so FUBAR not even a rewind can save them that might be more of a "skill issue" than anything else. Solid Flying Experience Putting time into Exosky again, it does feel like the developer significantly improved this simulator without compromising its identity or rebuilding it from the ground up. Its main point of friction was easily the instant loss of progress upon crashing, but with that addressed and the other aforementioned improvements, it is all around an even better experience. Exosky maintains its position as one of the most visually exotic flight games with a respectable flight model even the most hardcore simmer could enjoy. Connect with Exosky by Elevons Press Kit Steam Website 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 ]

While we were playing some of the VTOL VR sessions with our friends, I suddenly got reminded that there is another game by the same developer (Boundless Dynamics), Virtual Fighter Maneuvers aside. This older title is one we covered at launch, and one that I quite enjoyed despite its setbacks. It was a great experience with no true parallels in modern gaming, a racing-focused flight sim experience tailored to VR and desktop users alike. So, years after its release, what happened? The game has not received any real updates since 2021, and most people have forgotten about it, to the point that some of my friends thought that this was a new game when I started streaming it to them to get their opinions. VTOL VR, MULTIPLAYER AND TESTBEDS Before the development of Jetborne Racing, BahamutoD's VTOLVR was purely a single-player experience. This was, in fact, the only downside that game had at the time, and a feature a lot of people yearned for. That is where Jetborne Racing comes into play. Jetborne Racing was designed from the ground up to be not only multiplayer capable, but also to have a great emphasis on multiplayer air racing sessions. It is also a game that was made in the same engine as VTOL VR, which meant that the tools made for this game would be extremely easy to implement on it. Shortly after the release of Jetborne Racing, VTOL got its multiplayer mode added. And that is around when updates just stopped for Jetborne, no more content drops or any real post-launch support. To be honest, it felt like an expensive opt-in beta for the VTOL VR multiplayer. WASTED POTENTIAL Personally, I quite loved fighting for positions on the leaderboard and the races. It was quite exciting and very different from what is out there in the market, both back then and even now 5 years after release. The game could have certainly used a content drop, some new courses, or even some other aircraft to play with. Everything just stayed as-is since launch, with the only patches we got being stability and bug fixing updates. The ability to be able to use TrackIR and a full desktop HOTAS is nice, but since there is basically no content that hasn't been untouched, there is little to no reason to get on the game nowadays. I wish I could play Jetborne and not get bored in 30 minutes. I want to play it with my friends and not have them feel guilty for buying what effectively is a dead game. On the other hand, I will still play VTOL VR and its great mods, that is what keeps that game alive. 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

The electromagnetic maestro of virtual reality combat While Electronic Warfare (EW) in VTOL VR may not be Technical White Paper accurate with a mountain of declassified documentation to back it, you have to find the balance between a 1:1 battlefield tested and sourced representation of EW and no representation at all. That being said, I feel like the portrayal of EW in VTOL VR may be one of the best attempted in flight games. While many aircraft in this simulator have externally mounted self-protection jammer pods or AESA radar based electronic countermeasures, the electromagnetic maestro of this flight sim is the EF-24G Mischief . Official trailer for the EF-24G. After this aircraft's introduction as downloadable content on December 21st, 2023, the virtual reality battlefields of VTOL VR now have to contend with a high speed, swing-wing, two seat electronic warfare aircraft. Its capabilities allow it to survive in environments even this game's fifth generation stealth fighter would have difficulties operating in while enabling all aircraft in the area of operations to be even more effective and better defended from certain types of threats. The Mischief redefines how VTOL VR can be played. The "Tomcat" They Warned You About? The moment anyone sees something shaped like the legendary F-14 with radar cross section reduction design cues and touchscreen displays, it is hard not to think about the old Grumman proposals for advanced variants of the F-14. While nostalgia makes the vibes around these potential upgrades seem like it would essentially be a navalized F-22 Raptor, even the proposals for a future Tomcat placed them more as an advanced multirole fighter. I believe that the developer of VTOL VR built off these proposals while benefitting from the reality of how fixed-wing combat aircraft have evolved technologically in the past decade. Gruman proposal for Advanced F-14 Family. For air-to-air combat the EF-24G maintains the interceptor like speed of the F-14 Super Tomcat with its known weapons like the semi-active AIM-7 and active radar homing AIM-54C. However, it can also carry more technologically advanced air-to-air missiles like thrust vectoring, high off boresight short-ranged infrared missiles and more advanced AIM-120D AMRAAMs. In anti-surface capacity, the EF-24G carries weapons familiar to the F-14B "Bombcat" and F-14D Super Tomcat: unguided bombs, laser guided bombs and GPS guided bombs. Its ability to use targeting pods to visually find it owns targets is beneficial to itself, but thanks to its modernized avionics that allow it to datalink to all friendlies in combat, the EF-24G can perform stand-off attacks on identified targets with anti-ship cruise missiles, land attack cruise missiles and small diameter bombs. The only thing it is lacking in is shorter ranged optically guided, IR guided or laser guided missiles that would make it effective against engaging small, potentially mobile ground targets. The Mischief is a highly effective suppression of enemy air defense platform. In a missile heavy configuration, it can carry up to 10 anti-radiation missiles (ARM). It can carry four different types of ARMs including the short range Sidearm and longer range variants of the AGM-88 HARM. It is important to highlight compatibility with the AGM-188 MARM. This missile can not only attack emitting radars with a top-down attack profile to increase its effectiveness, but the EF-24G can launch these missiles with home on jam functionality. This makes the AGM-188 able to seek out and destroy radar decoys with little input from the aircrew and gives the missile a limited air to air capability as it will also track onto ECM being emitted from aircraft. EF-24G with heavy ARM loadout and ECM pods. You can make a quick comparison of the EF-24G as the highspeed parallel of the entire F/A-18 Super Hornet family. Though it has more of the DNA of the EA-18G Growler than may be expected when looking from the outside in. Immense Electronic Warfare The "E" in the aircraft's designation denotes electronic warfare capability; the capstone of the aircraft. Electronic Warfare has been a difficult subject for many combat flight simulators. It is often simplified in lieu of the deeply complex facet of the wide spectrum battlefield it truly is. Simulators that pride themselves on being as accurate as possible dare not get too deep into the understandably touchy subject. Developers simplifying complex systems while hyper fixating on the accuracy of what players see as less important systems is the type of juxtaposition that only seasoned flight simmers could truly delineate. But let's be real, if the general public ever gets an absolutely accurate portrayal of EW it means various intelligence agencies have failed to do their jobs and said developers may have a knock at their door sooner than later. That being said, the VTOL VR representation of EW is detailed enough for me to genuinely suggest reading some of the community created manuals  for concepts related to it. Specifically pages 40 through 50 of the EF-24G Mischief NATOPS  to completely wrap your head around EW and start to understand its finer details. The electronic attack and detection capability of the internally carried AN/ASQ-289 Combined Electronic Warfare Suite coupled with AN/ALQ-245 electronic warfare pods allows the EF-24G multiple methods of EW attack and identification. As with real world electronic warfare the focus is on the radio spectrum composed of a wide frequency range from 3hz to 3,000 GHz that are organized into 'bands' or general ranges of frequencies. In VTOL VR the core of the EW system is the three frequency bands: Low Band (30hz-2GHz), Mid Band (2GHz-8GHz) and High Band (8GHz-27GHz). These methods across these bands include Noise Jamming  that degrades emitters by bombarding them with continuous pulses of energy, Signature Augmentation  that makes the emitting aircraft appear as a different aircraft to deceive hostiles and Digital Radio Frequency Memory  to create false radar contacts to complicate the identification and targeting process of the effected emitter. It is possible to go much deeper into effective jamming over distances, burn through ranges, power output levels, etc. Effective EW can disrupt search and track radars, degrade missile approach warning systems, make GPS systems drift - in player vs player matches it can even block radio communications. EF-24G with F-45A stealth fighters. The Mischief can also easily find and fix radar emitters passing their coordinates onto other friendly units via datalink. Both the identification and electronic warfare capabilities of the EF-24G can be further extended by with deployment of datalink equipped ADM-160J MALD jet powered decoys. We go into more detail about them in a separate article . All of this combines to let a single EF-24G Mischief to become the central point of disrupting the opposing forces' radar, navigation and communication capabilities. Its jamming capabilities can both help protect singular aircraft or create entire corridors of electronic warfare interference to enable strike packages to operate within an intergraded air defense system. Fast SEAD / DEAD The considerable ARM magazine of the aircraft combined with its EW capabilities can make the EF-24G an monster of an opponent for air defenses. In the Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses or Destruction of Enemy Air Defenses role the EF-24G can handle the bulk of radar detection, ECM suppression and kinetic attack on its own. A core system in this is the FRAZ (Frequency/Azimuth) display. The FRAZ works in concert with the Tactical Situation Display (TSD). Whereas the TSD is used to monitor and attack all detected enemies via datalink, the FRAZ is more akin to the HARM Targeting System in the F-16 Fighting Falcon or the HARM Display of the Legacy F/A-18 specifically in Target Of Opportunity mode. Example of FRAZ display (Source: SpitefulCartographer) The FRAZ visualizes detected radar emitters on a screen separating their frequency strengths between low, mid and high bands of radar energy. This makes it easier to keep track of different radar types, their states of alert and offers a fast way to lock sensors or weapons onto high priority emitters that switch from search to targeting. Rather than trying to manually sort through radars on the TSD, a crew member can use the FRAZ to quickly highlight a radar of interest and illuminate it with any type of available electronic countermeasure in just two or three button or trigger presses. In situations where interceptors are attempting to target the EF-24G or a far-off surface-to-air missile site switches on to attack friendlies, FRAZ enables the Mischief to reach out and interfere within seconds. Single Seat or Multicrew With great capability comes great flight crew workload. Managing every offensive, defensive, navigational and electronic warfare related system is a lot to handle. Even more so when you are being shot at or trying to keep track of dozens of friendly and hostile contacts. Getting a "helmet fire" in the EF-24G is a very real side affect of combat in the aircraft. The Mischief relies on cockpit modernizations on par with the Saab JAS-39E Wide Area Display or the Boeing F-15EX Eagle Large Area Display. Large touch screens able to configure and resize multiple system displays with a few finger presses. The ease of switching screens and prioritizing certain data is a vital tool for the common high threat environments in VTOL VR. The simulator's ability to save up to four specific screen configurations - referred to as L1, L2, L3 and L4 - can also simplify switching the aircraft into specific roles. Rather than rebuilding the layouts every time the aircraft is cold started, perhaps the player could set L1 to be focused on navigation with L4 focused on electronic warfare. Front seat cockpit during SEAD attack. This may be a less-than-popular opinion but one of the highest hurdles to clear with multicrew aircraft is needing to have a second person that is guaranteed to fly with you every time you feel like it. Civilian and combat flight simulators usually automate the position of a co-pilot or weapon system officer to allow a single player to fly aircraft that are required to have two or more crew members. VTOL VR went the route of the F-15EX in this case with the pilot able to use all systems without the need of a dedicated electronic warfare officer (EWO) in the backseat. However, the experience of having a human EWO is night and day. Within a handful of sorties together, crew coordination makes the EF-24G even more effective. Traditionally the EWO would be managing electronic warfare systems and coordinating with allies with the pilot focused on aviating and weapon deployment. However, with all systems being the same in the front and back seat, the pilot can also take up other tasks depending on the situation. While the EWO is passing GPS coordinates to other allies and creating new coordinates for ADM-160J decoys to follow, the pilot can take over electronic warfare duties. Or, in a close-range dogfight, the EWO can even take over thrust vectored IR missiles with their helmet mounted display while the pilot maneuvers against hostile aircraft relying on the 20mm internal gun. After flying the aircraft solo and with various back seaters over the course of a few months, the aircraft has proven itself to be one of the most complex but rewarding aircraft to fly in VTOL VR. Being an absolute missile truck in the F/A-26B Wasp is one thing and sneaking around stealthily in the F-45A Ghost is another thing, but there is something irreplaceable about the role the EF-24G Mischief plays. I am hard pressed to think of a different aircraft in a different simulator that provides the same experience. Again, when looking through the perspective of how EW aircraft and their capabilities are shown in flight arcade games and flight simulators, it truly stands out when you take into consideration the finer details of its capabilities. This leads me into an entirely different thought on how VTOL VR provides an idea of how present day peer vs peer combat plays out, but that is a discussion for another day. EF-24G coming in to land. 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 .

VRChat has been home to some of the best and most fun VR flight experiences for a some years now, but it is clear that most worlds do tend to feel very same-y. Cookie cutter modern military aircraft, some terrain and wide skies. That has been the winning formula so far. But on the Japanese side of the VRChat Aviation community, there are creators that want to push a different style and experience to the scene. You keep the military aircraft, add a bit of magic, wonder and some spells, all encapsulated in a stereotypical JRPG aesthetic. That is what Symphony, a well known Japanese creator, accomplished in Fantasy Vehicle World. AN UNEXPECTED SETTING When you join an aviation world in VRChat, you are usually greeted by a runway in front of you, a flight line full of aircraft and not much else. It tends to be very simple and to the point, since the focus of the world is the aircraft and not the world itself. That is where Fantasy Vehicle World sets itself apart from the very beginning. The spawn area is more reminiscent of an MMO or a JRPG town, a place where I would be expected to pick up quests and turn in missions. You can even see some very basic NPCs that have a single line of dialogue in text, all of them in Japanese, of course. The entire town is explorable, but don't expect to find much aside from some chests that have hidden objects inside. It is certainly a big town, but it is still very much the backdrop for what the world is really about: flying. You can access one of the two available aircraft spawn areas through walk-through portals located to the right of the initial respawn position. In these areas you can find three types of aircraft, all of them fictional versions of the following: Su-33, UH-60L and CH-47D. NO COMBAT, ALL FUN Just because these are all military aircraft doesn't mean that this is a combat-focused world, it's actually quite the opposite. The focus of this world is to peacefully fly around the walled city and enjoy the fantasy-filled views from the skies. That is why this is such a good place for the two helicopters that we found ourselves using the most. The Blackhawk feels nimble and agile, while the Chinook feels heavy and planted. Both of them are adorned in a gray livery, with small but deliberate white accents all over. This look is one I found myself growing fond off, since they reminded me of some of the designs I used to do back in the day for aircraft in IL-2 1946 or even DCS. The mixture of that modern cockpit with the fantasy medieval views that are straight out of any popular JRPG is quite the contrast, and one that I just hadn't seen done properly in VRChat or anywhere else. I was so used to the typical boring airbases and aircraft carriers that this world just struck a cord with me. Some of the most fun that we had while we were flying was actually using the Chinook to airlift a Blackhawk while one of our friends, Psyrenkun, was inside it. It took us a couple of tries to properly line up the Chinook and the help of Hueman as a ground spotter, but we had the UH-60L hooked and flying, not under its own power. Have I done this with aircraft in other worlds? Yes. Have I done this in a fantasy world with modern helicopters and placed a Blackhawk on top of a tower like an Amazon Delivery drone? No, I have not. Therefore, this world has delivered a completely new experience. GIVE THIS WORLD A TRY! This world is, at the very least, a very optimized fantasy flight experience that I would recommend to anyone. If what you want is to just relax with your friends, fly around some helicopters or some Sukhois, this world is a decent option for you. Symphony did a fantastic job with the world, and the vibes are so on point that I will surely find myself coming back here just to fly around the city again. And so should you. 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

An Upcoming Flight Game Gets Us Soliloquizing Skyward Flight Media has a lot of love for seaplanes. Whether they are real world wonders that can land in hard-to-reach locations or fictional designs like our SW-201 Dragonfly that intrigues virtual reality players, aircraft that can fly through the sky and land on the water may be one of the freest forms of aviation there is. Lakehopper  by Photon Games  seems to be on its way to be the next notable seaplane focused flight game. Though I have been watching this indie developer work since November 2025, at a glance work on Lakehopper has been happening for at least nine months now. With a 360,000 square km (140,000 square mi) map using realistic terrain based on real world landscapes, the Steam page describes the setting of this game: "Fly between isolated communities in a flooded, rugged landscape that only seaplanes can serve. Deliver cargo and help connect towns separated by huge distances of nothing but mountains and open stretches of water. Use your skills as a pilot, and the navigational tools at your disposal, to hop between far-flung destinations. Keep your deliveries safe in unforgiving terrain and treacherous waters." The description goes on to talk about how this massive world is persistent; as in, once something has happened it cannot be taken back. A bit more like the real world. As players use their aircraft to fly across the region with the game's physics-based flight model, the aircraft gradually receives wear and tear that comes with this type of backcountry flying. With the mention of airframe and component fatigue in a persistent world my mind flew to an idea I have discussed with other flight simulation enthusiasts. My latest willing victim being fellow Skyward staff member Caio aka "Hueman". Thanks to him I was able to better express my thoughts. Flying vs Operating In my opinion there is a difference between flying an aircraft and operating an aircraft in flight simulation. In Microsoft Flight Simulator, Digital Combat Simulator World, X-Plane and similar flight simulators I believe that you fly aircraft . Everything revolves around the startup, duration of flight, landing and aircraft shutdown. The universal standard is that each aircraft is essentially brand new from the factory or in a near peak flying condition at the beginning of each flight. There are exceptions to this rule, but generally once you are done flying the aircraft it is out of sight and out of mind. Just grab a new aircraft every new session or sortie, you know? Even Digital Combat Simulator aircraft that are heavily damaged then limped back to a friendly airbase can be either be replaced with a new one within a few minutes or repaired on an airfield in about 10 minutes or so. The aircraft returned to a state of near perfection after using the Radio Menu to request repair from ground crews. That or the next time you load up the simulator and grab your go-to aircraft, it is highly likely it will not be the same one you used yesterday. Flying into the sun towards adventure. Lakehopper seems to be going for the experience of what I would consider operating an aircraft . Things do not end with a flight from point A to point B. With airframe and component wear and tear occurring even if the flight goes as planned with the softest of landings, players are not just flying the aircraft and leaving it behind. Now maintaining the aircraft is also the player's responsibility. From the fuel to the airframe to the flight control surfaces to its flight systems. That and gaining the money to support aircraft maintenance while turning a profit. With it being equal parts aviating and maintaining, the aircraft truly would "belong" to the player. Assumingly even the quality and consistency of the player's flight skills would be a factor. More easy coordinated turns over frequent high-G maneuvers. Preference towards flights that avoid dangerous terrain and weather to opt for more easily accessible routes that demand less of the aircraft. A notable feature the developer mentions is that players are able to leave the flight deck while the aircraft is in flight to do other tasks. Walking through the aircraft to reconfigure systems and do in-flight repairs are mentioned. If aircraft components are not maintained properly suddenly having to address an in-flight emergency is a very real possibility. There are not a lot of high-fidelity flight simulators or highly experimental indie flight games that let players do this. Depending on how developer Photon Games implements this, it could be a defining feature for this title. Refueling an aircraft at a dock. Customizing Aircraft With the developer also mentioning over 100 parts to be made available, even aircraft design or upgrades to sub-systems would be a factor. Imagine the tangible relief of purchasing and installing trim tabs for ailerons, elevators or rudders after flying without them for a time. That being something on the level of aircraft builder games like Flyout or Aviassembly or maybe even a bit more like X-Plane's Plane Maker. Looking at early screenshots of the flight deck, you can envision gradually adding new, more advanced instruments or even doing minor upgrades of the basic six pack would be great. It is easy to take for granted the advancements in aviation design and technology it is handed to you, but is something different when you have to work to gain the Glass Cockpits we are so familiar with. Keeping Up with Development Utilizing a VTuber model that represents a laser warning sign come to life named Lux, they frequently livestream development of this game on their Twitch channel . The developer engages with the audience and talks through their progress both on stream and Discord server. Watching a developer livestream their work on a project is always a great way to see how your favorite games are actually made and even ask a few questions. Example of game developing on livestream. Truly customizing the aircraft and then being responsible for if it is operating efficiently or lands in one piece sounds like it could be a rather eye-opening experience. Because of this I somewhat frequently check in to see how things are going. You should too! Connect with Lakehopper by Photon Games Bluesky Discord Steam Twitch 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 ]

Using Digital Combat Simulator and War Thunder to present historical air combat from around the world. Depending on which country you were born and raised in, the view of what real-world air combat looked like may vary considerably for a combat flight simulator enthusiast. As an American enamored with military aircraft, I grew up on books about World War II bomber streams, verbally recited stories of aerial ambushes in Vietnam, and documentaries of coalition air power over the skies of Iraq. Growing up with a somewhat preshaped view on the subject, expanding my knowledge by studying the international history of air combat via different forms of media has been one of my favorite pass times. This is why Showtime112 has had my attention for roughly two years. Where a majority of Digital Combat Simulator-focused creators prioritize the nuts and bolts of air operations or playthroughs of fictional scenarios, his content for well over a year now focuses on recreating historical events from conflicts I knew little about or had never heard of. One of the best ways to learn tips and tricks is to listen to how other people may approach a process you're already familiar with. A change in point of view or an additional minor detail they prioritize can yield some useful information. My introduction to Showtime112 came during a session of looking for tutorials from smaller video channels. I stumbled into a set of videos in Croatian. As I don't speak the language, I had planned to click away, but a recommendation for Syrian air force operations against the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant popped up. This led me to watch videos from this channel in the English language about other Syrian and Russian operations at that time. Using a flight simulator as a medium to tell history aviation history is a great way to repurpose an existing product. With aircraft in flight on screen, many camera angles you won't find in documentaries, and complete control over the environment, Showtime 112's recreations can be solid representations of historical events. Each of his videos have sleek introductions using text on the screen to introduce the video's setting before transitioning into the start of the narration. In my opinion, the most important aspects of his presentation are the tone of the narration and the willingness to stick to facts. The long-term quality of his videos is ensured by not using sensationalism to heighten the tension of events or giving into bias to represent one side more than the other. Even when facts from various parties and individuals conflict with one another, the different iterations of the event are explained to the audience. Sources for the content of his videos are provided in the video description for viewers to double check his work if they so choose. So far, the bulk of content he has produced ranges between the 1950s and the early 2000s. Specific events from well-known conflicts like the Korean War, Vietnam War, Iran-Iraq War, and the Gulf War are covered, but I find myself most interested in the lesser-discussed conflicts. Indo-Pakistani conflicts, missions over Bosnia during Operation Allied Force, and especially conflicts throughout the African continent. It is also notable that more recent conflicts that are still ongoing or have impacted current world events have been covered. These include the Russo-Georgian War (2008), the ongoing Syrian Civil War, and the Russo-Ukranian War. These are sensitive topics, to be sure, but even they are handled in the same fact-based style as every other video on his channel. It's a respectable venture. Digital Combat Simulator World has been the primary simulator Showtime 112 has used, but recently War Thunder has also been utilized. War Thunder has primarily been used for videos set in World War II or conflicts after the year 1945 that utilized aircraft produced during World War II. Recently, viewers of his channel have also assisted with video creation, both as extra pilots or with details like the proper pronunciation of the pilots' names and locations. Besides the YouTube channel , Showtime 112's community includes a Discord server where people can hang out with the creator with supplemental Facebook and Instagram accounts. An official Patreon account has been more of a focus lately, with exclusive content hitting there first before it reaches YouTube. With the time and effort it takes to produce this content 'full-time,' the creator has emphasized that its possible production will stop since the effort put into the venture isn't sustainable with the volatile returns provided by things like Google Ads and occasional sponsors alone. An all too common problem for video-focused creators these days. Showtime112 has been a reliable source of consistent and informative historical air combat content. I sincerely hope that his work continues well into the future, with more attention brought to what he has been doing for quite a while now. 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 .

War Thunder can bring out the best and the worst in people, all at once. It is a glass bowl full of folded papers with emotions written on them, from which you draw a couple of strips every match to determine how you will feel during and after that match. Sometimes it can be happiness and delight, sometimes it can be surprise and disappointment. It will all depend on what you play and with whom you play it with, as to say, that it is nothing but random chance if you will have a good time. That being said, there is a place many long-term players dread: top-tier matches. If you feel like subjecting yourself to the dread that can be induced by playing Air Realistic Battles, then now you can pay a pretty penny to get there without the multi-year grind by getting the Venezuelan Su-30MK2 for the Soviet/Russian tech-tree. This might not be the first time a top-tier premium jet is available for sale, but it is one of the first times that one can actually carry these many missiles. TOP TIER: WHAT'S THE PROBLEM? There are so many little issues with top tier gameplay that going one by one would take as much space as a short movie script. So let's keep it short. Matches feel like a missile jousting simulator, and are usually just determined by who can get their missiles out first. A typical match, whenever you don't get uptiered, is composed of a mix of every nation's top tiers with a prevalence of US and Soviet jets. The US and Western aircraft have a clear advantage thanks to their AIM-120s and equal missiles having superior range to Soviet-made R-77s, leaving you with longer range but semi-active R-27R and R-27T. This leads to you getting shot down before you even have the chance to launch your missiles into any sort of effective range, which ends in one of two ways: You either avoid the oncoming barrage of enemy light poles and start terrain masking and play a different game until you inevitably get shot down Or pray to the Snail that you will somehow avoid detection by terrain masking from the beginning, avoiding getting spotted and taking the enemy by surprise. The latter is the most effective on this Su-30MK2, but barely. THE SU-30MK2, A CAPABLE PREMIUM SURROUNDED BY FEARFUL PEERS Almost every single aircraft around you, premium or not, will be as capable or more capable than you. This Flanker is not the most agile, since it doesn't have thrust vectoring or canards, but it does have the classic Flanker swiftness that we all know and, some, love. While it can carry some interesting air-to-air and air-to-ground weaponry, it does seem to have a worse sensor suite than the ones present in other Flankers such as the Su-30SM or even the J-11B. Do not come in expecting this to be the best Flanker in the game, because it is most definitely not. When facing enemies at BVR, you will have to rely on your radar's TWS HDN mode to guide the very mediocre R-77s home. In the hands of a competent pilot, the Su-30MK2's radar can be made to work, it is no AESA, but it can still detect targets at around 60 to 70Km away. Does that mean that you will be able to engage at those ranges? No, forget about it. The longest range I would recommend you launch your R-77s would be inside 25Kms, since you would be lowering your hit chance by quite a bit were you to launch earlier than that. You can try lobbing the missiles to extend range by some kilometers, but forget about 70 to 80Km shots with these missiles. They do not guide reliably enough at such ranges. Example of such a trade. The Mirage 2000 (background) got downed by my R-77, but now I am about to meet their missile and my maker (foreground) Even when I get a shot off that I know will hit, I usually end up trading or getting wrecked by some random guy that will call me names on the in-game chat for using the Venezuelan Premium plane. Something that I find quite amusing, considering that I am Venezuelan. SO, IS THIS FLANKER WORTH IT? Short answer, no. Long answer, it will depend on how desperately you want to get to experience what top tier is like in War Thunder, or how hard you want to speed up your grind through the Soviet tech tree. As a premium, it is excellent. It will help you unlock a lot of extremely fun aircraft that you will, most likely, enjoy even more than the Flanker. Even early jets can be extremely fun, ones such as the MiG-15 or even the early MiG-21s, a BR where missiles are still trash. The core of what can be considered fun in War Thunder is directly proportional with how advanced they are on the tech tree. I have a blast with low-tier tanks and aircraft, so if what you want is a way to get to that fun the fastest, then this premium aircraft is for you. You will be able to unlock the entirety of the Soviet aircraft tech tree in no time, as long as you get consistent kills with the Su-30MK2. Whether getting to those vehicles as fast as possible is worth 80 of your hard-earned dollars and selling your soul to the Snail? Well, that I cannot tell you; but remember that you also get 30 days of premium with this purchase, for as much as that is worth, anyway. 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

An Indie World War II Title That Slipped Under Our Radar During my Christmas break I caught up on all sorts of World War 1 and 2 media with my fiancée. Of them was a video from Showtime112 about the contributions of Polish pilots during The Battle of France in May-June 1940. Seeing the brave Polish pilots flying lesser-known French aircraft made me yearn for the flying similarly obscure aircraft in the same conflict. For various reasons I never embraced the IL-2 series as my go-to World War II simulator and I avoid playing War Thunder after a few years of near laser focused obsession with it. But frankly, outside of those two intellectual properties there are very few quality options for flight games that focus on World War II aircraft. During one of my recent searches for upcoming flight games or ones I have missed in the past few years, I came across Sky On Fire: 1940 (2020) by ISNI Industries. Game trailer. Sky On Fire was released on Itch.io on November 2nd, 2020, though it was also released on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store a month or two before that. While this game can be played on smart phones and computer tablets, I opted for the personal computer version for my first experience. Simple Looks, Quality Details While INSI Industries chose to have low poly graphics for the terrain, sky and 3D models, I would not be fooled by equate "basic" graphics to an equally simplistic flight experience. The game uses realistic flight physics and airfoils with a solid aircraft damage model. I can confidently consider this a flight sim lite more than anything else. Rather than each aircraft having a set number of 'hit points', the damage model of each aircraft is detailed enough to allow for engines to be disabled and specific crew members of larger aircraft to be killed in combat. Fighter sized aircraft can have wings snapped off the fuselage, aircraft can catch fire, flaps can be shot away, etc. Pilots with good aim and limited ammunition can be immensely effective. Especially with cannon shells being in short supply but highly effective against aircraft of this era. Understanding the muzzle velocity of the weapons used on each aircraft is important. This is something only practice can help players with. As you would expect from even a semi-realistic flight simulator focused on warbirds, energy management is vital at all times. Even the nimblest fighter with the most lightweight configuration possible is not going to be freely climbing and turning without a care in the world like most flight arcade games. Blacking out, reding out, getting energy trapped by decently challenging AI - do expect the flight experience to be more realistic than you would think it is at first glance. Picture by ISNI Industries. Aircraft Selection Compared to IL-2 and War Thunder, you could consider the aircraft list to be lacking. But I'd argue it is short but distinguished. We have to keep in mind that Sky On Fire is a time locked flight sim lite set in the year 1940. The general location all combat takes place in is in the town of Dover and Folkstone in the United Kingdom and the surrounding region. With aircraft only available from England, France, Germany and Italy, this makes sense for the year and location, as that would place most combat happening during the Battle of Britain. Purchasing this game on Itch.io, there are 28 aircraft available. These include well known fighters like the Spitfire and ME-109, lesser discussed aircraft like the HS-75 and D.520 S and multi-crew aircraft like the He-111 and Blenheim. Many of these have a few specific variants available. Samples of the aircraft list. The developer has a few downloadable content packs that add more aircraft, like the Westland Whirlwind, Me-262A-1 and some other funny fictional aircraft designs. Though, with the game's flight model being realistic enough to truly show the difference between certain aircraft designs, there are cases where one aircraft is simply just better designed and better built leaving only the skill of the pilot of the lesser aircraft to be the deciding factor in victory or loss. Mod Support The community around Sky On Fire: 1940 has some interesting mods. A majority of them focus on including other World War II era aircraft that were operational beyond 1940 or adding historic and fictional liveries to the existing aircraft roster. Some of the more advanced mods include jet fighters, new maps and other new vehicles. While some of the liveries do have websites that can be accessed, most of the mods and custom liveries are scattered on different websites between different creators. Web searching for terms like "Sky On Fire: 1940", "mods", "liveries" and "downloads". Photo and Video Mode Any flight game that incorporates an in-game photo mode or video mode earns positive marks from me. I simply have to mention it. In each mode players can control the camera position, adjust zoom, tilt angle and slow motion playback speed. In video mode there are also six camera presets that can be assigned to specific slots making it easier to capture video from multiple dynamic angles easily. You can tell that in these modes are more designed for smart device use, as the buttons on screen can be mouse clicked to activate them. The camera position can be dragged and dropped using the left and right mouse clicks. Short Missions The primary game mode of Sky On Fire is called 'Short Missions'. All four categories of Short Missions. Takeoff lets player practice with any aircraft to start up and take off. Landing is the same just focused on landing. Either mode can double as a free flight for players to learn their aircraft of choice without being shot at. Mission Library offers three single player missions from the developer that give specific mission sets. Scrambling to intercept incoming fighters, leading a small formation of bombers to strike an airfield and intercepting a bomber formation. These are relatively short, straightforward missions. Dogfight is an air battle generator where players can choose one aircraft type they will fly while choosing the aircraft the enemy will fly. There are settings for time of day, starting altitude, enemy difficulty and amount of aircraft per side. It is possible to have massive air battles up with up to 18 or more aircraft. Nine aircraft on each side. Dogfight game mode. Mission Editor To get the most out of Sky On Fire, learn the easy-to-use Mission Editor. For players looking for large scale Battle of Britain style missions, they can create them in Mission Editor. Don't let the name of "Mission Editor" spook you. This is not Digital Combat Simulator or Nuclear Option. In fact, the screenshot below showing a Luftwaffe bomber raid against the port of Dover was created in less than five minutes with roughly 20 to 30 left mouse button clicks. Turning on the Warships & AAA unit options brings around the true "big battle" feel. Again, keep the point of view of the Battle of Britain in mind. Players flying as an Ally will primarily be locked in air-to-air combat against Axis air attacks. Players that want to bomb military bases, ports and hunt ship convoys will need to fly as the Axis as all land and sea-based targets will be in the United Kingdom. During air raids and anti-ship attacks, anti-aircraft fire is rather significant. While the volume of AAA is not on the level of what you would see in Hollywood movies, occasionally the accuracy of the incoming flak is so accurate, aborting an attack early to reattack from a new angle is the best course of action. The seemingly low volume of fire has a higher than normal accuracy, but not on the level of the laser accurate AAA fire you might expect from War Thunder AI units around airfields. With there being no way to set a win or lose condition, players can play these missions until they meet whatever objective they set for themselves before ending the mission or restarting it to play again. If there were more base game missions like those that could be created in the mission editor, it would be an all-around positive. Start of a bomber formation interception in Mission Editor. Extensive Multi-Crew Simply calling what Sky On Fire has as multi-crew is a bit of an understatement. At the most basic level, any aircraft that has more crew than just a pilot can be selected with the Function Keys (F1, F2, F3, etc). When flying as the pilot the gunners will operate autonomously. When taking control of the positions the player must aim each gun manually at the targets. While the computer gunners can do a decent job, sometimes the human aim is just better. In aircraft that have bombardiers, players must occupy the position and work the bomb sight. Manually opening the doors, adding minor steering adjustments to get on target, setting bomb intervals and dropping the bombs. All while the rest of the gunners maintain defensive fire arcs. Opening the pause menu mid-mission will let players select any other aircraft in their flight to complete the mission as. However, it will also let them select aircraft from the opposing side. Letting them switch sides mid-mission if desired. Finally, the mid-mission unit switch also extends to land and sea units. Whether they are 40mm Bofors autocannons at airfields or the 20mm machine guns, 40mm autocannons or deck guns on I-class Destroyers, Flower-class Corvettes or even Kingfisher-class Sloops. Virtual Reality Roughly three years ago ISNI Industries was working on a virtual reality version of the game. The VR build can be purchased on Itch.io. However, this build has not been updated to the same level of completion as the desktop version. With the VR build so outdated, I felt as though showing video of it from YouTube would suffice rather than take the effort to download it and try it myself. The primary reason for this version mismatch is the developer's focus on remaking many of the systems of the game. On April 8th, 2025, a rare devblog from the solo developer says much of the code was made from when they were new to game development and learning while continuing development. After taking much time to rebuild most of the systems with their newer skills, work towards new content for an upcoming update has been underway. A Curious Future According to a post in the official Discord server for the game, the developer's road map includes a new 200x200 km procedural map, more props like villages and trees, an optional simplified flight model used by aircraft no engaged in air combat which would improve frame rate in large formations of aircraft scenarios, improved mission editor and much more. While I do not expect the virtual reality build of the game to match the desktop version anytime soon, it would be interesting to see how the developer expands on the content of the game without leaving the scope of the year 1940. I'm grateful to have a smaller flight sim lite like this still active in 2026. Connect with 'Sky On Fire: 1940' Itch.io Apple Store Google Play Store Discord Intercepting bombers over a naval convoy. 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 ]

While it was previously known for being a community-made mod, IndiaFoxtEcho's official entry is the MB-339A, an Italian jet trainer/light attacker. It has been developed, in no small part, by the same developers behind the original mod. To say that I have been excited about this module would be an understatement; I have been waiting for the moment I could get my hands on this trainer for years now. In this review, we will be taking a look at each aspect of this small but powerful aircraft to see if it is a fit for you and your playstyle: External and internal 3D models Visual and sound effects Flight modelling Mission capability Armament Ease of use and learning curve Training and Multicrew Is this aircraft for you? EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL 3D MODELS The external assets are absolutely gorgeous, which is unsurprising knowing the devs that were behind this project. The Macchi has been recreated with painstaking detail. Every divot, rivet and bump is there and looks great. The same can be said about the external textures as more you zoom into them, the more detail you can see. A good example of this are the areas surrounding panels and covers as there are marks from oil dripping from them. The same can be said about the areas near the exhaust and even the "remove before flight" tags and covers. It is absolutely amazing so here, take a look for yourself: As for the cockpit, it is also excellent. All the instruments look properly textured and the gauges look excellent under any light condition. The night lighting is unique-looking and allows for excellent visibility at dead of night. The labels and text in the cockpit are really high resolution, with the exception of some of the auxiliary tables to the sides of the cockpit. But, that being said, this is some excellent work by the team over at IndiaFoxtEcho. VISUAL EFFECTS Exterior wise, it is a very simple module. The night lighting is perfectly serviceable, that includes the anti-collision lights, navigation lights and formation lights. Additionally, when pulling Gs at high speeds, vapor will appear over the wings. There is also the cockpit shake at low speed but high AoA conditions, a good way to tell pilots when they are pushing it. Interior wise, there are two effects that surprised me a lot. These being the canopy misting and icing effects. These are triggered by external temperature factors. When your internal temperature is colder than the outside, it will mist. When the outside temperature is extremely low, it will ice up! You will have to use your canopy de-mister and anti-ice measure to solve each problem, which adds a lot to the immersion. Here is the mist effect: 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 I do not have any real world experience with this craft. I will only base my opinion on practical experience and knowledge of practical aerodynamics and the theoretical behavior that a MB-339 should have under certain scenarios. Now that we can continue, I will be completely honest: it feels great to fly. You can really feel the low thrust that this engine has as you will struggle with a heavy aircraft as well as requiring special procedures on wet take-offs. The lack of any active stabilization system is very noticeable too, as you will need to coordinate your turns more carefully. She is pretty maneuverable too, as long as you have the energy to spend. When you push her to the low-speed regime she behaves well, even in a stall. It is extremely easy to recover from a stall. That being said, there is one issue I did find when flying. When pulling out of a dive, it is extremely easy to over-g the wings and rip them clean off of the plane. There is no warning or anything. No cockpit shake unlike in the high AoA scenarios. Just a clean cut and then you are forced to eject. The only other aircraft with a similar issue at the moment is the F-5E. I hope that some sort of warning is added (cockpit shake, rattle, etc.) or a correction to the flight model is done to asses this problem. MISSION CAPABILITIES MB-339A This is the trainer/light attack variant of the Macchi, which means it is the one that most people will be flying. It can be equipped with a plethora of weapons to perform its duties. It lacks any kind of countermeasures, both EW and dispensable, so make sure that you will be flying with clear skies and complete air superiority. MB-339A/PAN This is the variant flown by the Frecce Tricolori. It is not a combat-capable aircraft anymore as it has been set up for airshow performances with the addition of several cockpit modifications as well as modifications to the engine to allow for smoke oil to be mixed in with the exhaust. ARMAMENT (AS OF 4/11/2022) GUN PODS While they are draggy, they are the most versatile weapon system at your disposal. You have two varieties to choose from: DEFA 553 30mm cannons M3 50.Cal machine guns ROCKET PODS Classic. Depress the button and have fun seeing your rockets fly towards the target. you will have four types of pods: LAU-10 (Zuni rockets) LAU-3 (Hydra rockets) LR-25 (ARF-8 rockets) MATRA TYPE 155 BOMBS Good ol' irons. No guided bombs here. There are plenty of choices, though! Mk-81 (250lb HE) Mk-82 (500lb HE) Mk-83 (1000lb HE) BL-755 (Cluster bomb) Belougas (Cluster bomb) Practice Bombs (25lbs and 5lbs) ROCKET BOOSTED PENETRATOR BOMBS The best type of bomb for the right job, as long you are targeting something whose name's "runway" or "stationary target". There's three types: BAP-100 Concrete penetrators. BAP-120 HE/FRAG Durandal Concrete penetrators. EASE OF USE AND LEARNING CURVE This is a trainer, so it is only natural that it is a breeze to learn and fly. It is extremely easy to set up your controls and to fly it. There really is nothing else to say other than that this is an excellent training platform that can be use to teach someone the basics of jet flight, navigation and the use of unguided weaponry in any type of weather. TRAINING AND MULTICREW Training is the most important aspect of this module and, while it is certainly well equipped to do it thanks to its multicrew and the blind flying hood, I did find certain aspects of it a bit odd. The synchronization between the trainee and instructor sides of the cockpit can, sometimes, break completely. I noticed this while doing testing with Aaron, as I had to exit the aircraft multiple times due to his throttle overriding my inputs, even when I had already taken control of the aircraft. I suppose most of these issues will be resolved in the next couple of updates. This means that, when resolved, this should be as good of a trainer as any of the other aircraft available for this role in the game currently. The fact that environmental temperature affects the canopy means that the trainee will learn how to deal with these issues at the same time as they learn how to fly jets from their instructor. IS THIS AIRCRAFT FOR YOU? If what you want in a module is: An amazing trainer. An excellent flight model that will help you hone-in your skills. A module that came out as complete as it is humanly possible. A slow flying jet to take into low-threat combat. If you don't mind: Not having any air to air weapons, as this was not designed to do those tasks. The small imperfections of the flight model and the early access bugs Having to adapt to a more analog experience. If all or some of the above is what you want, then IndiaFoxtEcho's MB-339A is for you! 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 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 writer ever since. Twitter | Discord : Cubeboy #9034

Want to know a funny behind the scenes fact? I was finishing this article on the evening of December 11th, 2025, when I saw the official trailer for Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve premier during the Game Awards live stream. This article was originally going to be about how a potential remake of Ace Combat 3 could be the basis for the still unknown plot for Ace Combat 8. What a time for a rewrite... As a die-hard fan of Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere , I must say that it is rather difficult to not just bring this game up every few months. It is about as hard as not overreacting at the gradual changes of the Ace Combat brand's approach to sidestepping this game or lightly acknowledging it. I try my best to not just jump at every perceived head nod or indirect reference within the series and its massive worldbuilding timeline. However, the time has come for me to finally connect the dots and give a reasonable article on the perceived resurgence and how a realistic remake of Ace Combat 3 could work. A Tale of Two Releases Since its release, Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere (1999) has existed in a rather unusual place within the Ace Combat series of games and with the fan base. Putting this in the most basic terms, without deep diving into the finer points of the story and gameplay, this primarily comes from the game having two starkly different versions. Ace Combat Series 30th Anniversary video for Ace Combat 3. The Japanese version or 'original version' has a full cast of characters, a choose your own path storyline with 52 missions, five endings, Japanese anime style voice acted cutscenes, and many other smaller features available in a two-disc game case. There was even an optional third disc that offered more content. According to the game, its timeline places it somewhere in the year 2040 and centers around the conflict between two mega corporations General Resource LTD, Neucom Inc, a peacekeeping organization known at the Universal Peace Enforcement Organization and a plot of sci-fi intrigue. The second version of the game is the 'International version' which was exported to regions outside of Japan. A majority of that content was cut with what remains noticeably altered. It is a very different story only explained through text, 36 missions with a single ending, no animated cut scenes and not much else in the way of extra content. Everything fitting on a single disc. It truly does feel like a completely different game when you play them both back-to-back. Cut Content and Consistent Desire I believe it is fair to say that a large part of the interest that has surrounded Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere lies in the version difference. The global inaccessibility of content from the original version was maintained up until fan translation projects like ' Project Nemo ' in the 2010s and the ' load word team ' in the 2020s. The free to download files the translation projects produced along with easy to access emulation software made it possible to play the original version of Ace Combat 3 with English, Italian or Spanish subtitles. Projects that explore the game's used and unused assets by creators like Khristy have further kept the Ace Combat enthusiasts engaged and wondering. Once again, the fandom of a Japanese intellectual property went above and beyond to make something internationally accessible purely through passion. Call it a tradition at this point. Example of English translation improvements circa 2023. The big question still stands though: why such a massive difference between each release? As of the time this article has been published, there is not an official company statement as to why it happened. Throughout the years fans of the series have asked Project Aces - the development team behind the Ace Combat series - if the game could be remade or re-released with full official localization. The common response from Project Aces staff members is that the team does not have the capacity to support localization of a complex title like Ace Combat 3, presumably while they are developing new games and concepts. There are anecdotes from people involved with localization efforts in 1999 that say the intention was to translate the game in full, but Namco cancelled funding for localization early. The Skyward Flight Media analysis and free to download copy of the Ace Combat 3 PAL Press Kit goes into more detail on this subject with official documents showing localization being underway. Building models seen in Expo City (Ace Combat 3 promotional art). I believe the most realistic take on why localization was not done back then lies in the sales figures and the staggered release dates between the game in Japan (May 27th, 1999) and other regions (January 21st and March 2nd, 2000). Ace Combat 3 sold around 1.1 million units combined between both of its versions. The first Ace Combat (1995) sold 2.2 million and Ace Combat 2 (1997) sold roughly 1 million units. If sales in Japan were not matching some sort of projected number of sales within a set amount of time, it is highly possible that removal of funding for localization was done by Namco over the perception that such a large investment in other markets may not see significant sales return. While I have laid out my thoughts on this, do remember that this is strictly conjecture. Again, there is no official explanation given. The Series Moves On Throughout the 2000s the Ace Combat games released on the Sony PlayStation 2, Sony PlayStation Portable and Microsoft Xbox 360 brought new financial success. They also introduced the Strangereal World timeline, which rapidly expanded worldbuilding of the series beyond the loose storyline seen in the first three games on the Sony PlayStation 1 in the 1990s. In the 2010s a reboot of the Ace Combat as brand was attempted, new world building efforts brought in new timelines. Successes and failures occurred. Game design wise, Ace Combat 3's formula was never really repeated. Story wise, it being set so far into the future in the year 2040, but not far enough to where it could be ignored, made it a difficult piece to fit into the new worldbuilding puzzle. The Ace Combat games that were released after Ace Combat 3 have done an odd waltz around its existence. It is a bit like when an author writes themselves into a corner in their own story. At some time in an earlier book they gave their story or world an expected outcome, but as time goes on the author's ideas change, new story or stories come up and somehow the author must avoid the ending they wrote earlier. Someday it needs to be addressed but how and when? Easter Eggs and References From 2001 to 2013 the interest in Ace Combat 3 was carried on with fans asking the developer and publisher about remakes, the fan translation projects and now Bandai-Namco continuing to reference parts of the game with easter eggs or "non-canon" events. References to the companies, organizations and systems of Ace Combat 3 have appeared in the Ridge Racer series, Tekken series and other Bandai-Namco owned IPs. Mainly in the form of logos appearing on billboards, car decals, etc. The farthest outlier of Ace Combat 3 being referenced is the canon inclusion of the game in the United Galaxy Space Force Timeline . Something that includes classic games like Galaga, Star Luster, Galaxian and Dig Dug. In some of the games in this timeline General Resource and Neucom are still engaged in activities as far out as the year 2810. In the games themselves, the Ace Combat 3 references continued to gradually build. Cargo shipping containers with General Resource logos appeared in certain areas of Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation (2007). Aircraft of with a very similar design philosophy to the Radical Aircraft or R- series from Neucom Inc., a key organization in Ace Combat 3, appeared in Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception (2006), Ace Combat Xi: Skies of Incursion (2009) and Ace Combat: Joint Assault (2010). General Resource LTD containers on a ship in occupied Gracemeria in Ace Combat 6. (Source: Ace Combat Wiki) A military branch of General Resource was the antagonist in Ace Combat Advance (2005), though this game is not considered canon in the main series. Though it also had its own timeline, Ace Combat Infinity (2014) was by far the most high-profile presentation of Ace Combat 3 content in the series since 1999. This defunct online multiplayer free-to-play game proudly referenced many Ace Combat games. It interwove certain parts of their identity into something new while providing players with a massive selection of aircraft. These included original design Ace Combat only aircraft such as the R-101 Delphinus and X-49 Night Raven from Ace Combat 3. With faithfully recreated 3D models and reintroduced user interface from that game, it certainly was a stoke in the fire of Electrosphere fans. Ace Combat Infinity trailer introduced the R-101 from Ace Combat 3. Resurgence Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown (2019) included so many direct and indirect ties to Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere that it is hard to miss. In promotional and website material for the new game, Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere was formally included into the timeline. Both in inforgraphics before the game was released and after a major update to the official website in 2025. Worldbuilding articles, a staple of the more hardcore Ace Combat fandom, were available on the official Project Aces website. They discuss the rise of General Resource and their indirect impact on the story of Ace Combat 7. In the game there are two known characters on the side opposing the player that are important to the story of Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere. They are referenced in cutscenes or seen in cutscenes of Ace Combat 7 interacting with the main cast of characters. They are also seen in the Aces At War 2019 book in artwork with an ADF-11 Raven. One of the player's allies in the game is named Jager. He is the father of a person that would become a pilot in Ace Combat 3 flying alongside the player in that game. He frequently talks about telling his son about his war stories once the war is over. In the downloadable content campaign, two of the enemies that appear, known as "Mimic", are General Resource Guard Mercenaries flying a pair of Su-47 Berkut. GRGM Su-47 in combat (image by MyNamesFurii) And now, after the announcement of Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve (2026), General Resource's presence is once again seen passively in the first trailer released. A Realistic Remake This may sound crazy coming from a self-proclaimed diehard fan of Ace Combat 3 like myself, but a 1:1 remake of that game is not only technically infeasible but would most likely be a step back for the current identity for the series. It has been a long time since 1999. The development team has changed quite a bit, Bandai-Namco is a massive multimedia company with multiple IPs, game development technology has moved forward and the culture of the world that an Ace Combat 3 was developed in has also changed greatly. Not to mention that the aforementioned worldbuilding that has become a core part of the series identity has done has evolved so much, not incorporating it into a potential remake of Ace Combat 3 would be tonally confusing. Thus far there is only one real example of a reasonable remake of an older Ace Combat game. It is not the PlayStation 4 version of Ace Combat 5. That is an enhanced digital port of the original PlayStation 2 game offered as a pre-order bonus with Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown in 2019. Nor is is the defunct mobile phone ports of Air Combat. The best example would be Ace Combat 3D: Cross Rumble / Assault Horizon Legacy (2011). This remake maintained the recognizable plot points, certain missions and characters from Ace Combat 2 while expanding upon them significantly. New missions were made alongside familiar plot points, voice acting and some expected game mechanics that the series introduced after the 1990s. Even the new worldbuilding was incorporated in a way it did not significantly change the events of all other titles while firmly placing the events Ace Combat 2 directly into the main timeline. Trailer for Ace Combat 3DS / Assault Horizon Legacy. A potential Ace Combat 3 remake would need to follow a similar formula with the biggest hurdle being its massive story and all the player driven options. The complexity of the story can be distilled to a linear ending to fit in line with that Project Aces has been producing since 2001. Explained simply, the 'true ending' of Ace Combat 3 is that all possible outcomes of the game are a simulation based on events, known individuals or trends happening in their real world at the time. Each possible branch of the story was based on known data points with the player being the uncontrolled factor in how the story unfolds. The multiple endings are only possible because of the player's actions. With none of the events in the story being canon from this viewpoint, it means that there is no reason to abide by every small detail of the game from 1999. This could be the explanation to justify a remake. The method to setting the story could follow the same model as Ace Combat 3D: Cross Rumble. Using known characters, organizations and key story plot points to maintain the spirit of Electrosphere, while filling the majority of the story with new missions or missions similar to ones that would be familiar to the fan base. Cutting down the 52 possible missions from the original Ace Combat 3 to a 20-something mission campaign that combines known plot points from all branches of the original to create a new set ending. A more concentrated story could sidestep the need for a large-scale localization effort. More expansive details like the in-game database could be put onto one of the official Ace Combat websites instead of a full blown in-game database as the original did. Development methods and gameplay can follow the tried-and-true original Ace Combat formula that Ace Combat 7 restored to the series. Project Aces would be unhindered by trying to repeat something step-by-step from the turn of the century. Do I want a 1:1 remake? More than anything. But I also have to live in the reality that if the development team has spent over 25 years saying it is not possible, it may be time to believe them and instead check their track record to see what is possible. With Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve being announced on December 11th, 2025, the hope for side-by-side development of a carbon copy Ace Combat 3 is definitely not a possibility. However, an Ace Combat 9 could be a remake of the unicorn Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere that captures the spirit of the game while providing new content to the series without handcuffing the development team. UPEO Su-37 landing (Ace Combat 3 promotional art) 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 ]

Three decades of context for the newest game in the series Let's be honest. No one was prepared for the Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve  to debut at The Game Awards 2025. Why? All official sources related to the Project Aces development team and Bandai-Namco Entertainment were rather airtight about information related to the development timeline of Ace Combat 8 or any potential release dates. There were many video game expos that have come and gone since Ace Combat 7 was released in 2019. The most high-profile flight action game series releasing its most important video in seven years at a video game award show was probably in no one’s cards on December 11th, 2025. This is quite the way for the now over 30-year-old Ace Combat series to take its next step. Before we go on, watch the trailer below: It has been two days since the announcement. The fever pitched hype has settled into high level hype, various content creators and media outlets have given their first impressions and even the crew at the Ace Combat Wiki had every molecule of new information added to their database within the same hour the trailer and official websites went public. Skyward Flight Media also had time to scream, settle, think hard and produce an extensive article that combines the thoughts of two of our writers with the backdrop of 30 years of Ace Combat series context to the known facts of Ace Combat 8. Aaron "Ribbon-Blue" Mendoza and T.J. "Millie" Archer have interests deeply interwoven with the Ace Combat series. From playing the Ace Combat games of the 1990s when they were brand new to founding a forum-based Ace Combat database while they were in High School in 2005. Get a drink, grab your Ace Combat series Spotify playlist and let's get started. First Impression Quality The announcement trailer for Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is an example of a hard lesson well learned. While there were light references to Ace Combat 8 via Project Aces staff social media channels and some interviews with gaming news outlets, hard facts about Ace Combat 8 were withheld rather tightly. The world was then given a single video trailer that summarized what people can expect within just one year. Why does this matter? Pilot callsign "Rex" in combat. The announcement trailer of Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown (2019) was released at PlayStation Experience 2015 on December 5th, 2015. Though it was all recorded using its in-game engine, it was a cinematic video with questionable quality voice acting and no representation of actual gameplay. Even the story was rather unclear. It very much felt unready to be shown. Something most likely unhelpful with the very real internal company struggle of Ace Combat 7's development behind closed doors. From the public's perspective, the release of Ace Combat 7 was a somewhat rough trail of breadcrumbs to follow in terms of announcements and promotional material . The game was announced in 2015 with a release date set in 2017. It was then delayed to 2018, then delayed again to releasing on January 18th, 2019. T railers showing gameplay and the story of the game appeared did not start appearing until 2017. Ace Combat 8 debuting with a concise trailer that explains the premise of the story, the setting, introduces characters and showed some gameplay with a release date that is at most a year away is a massive improvement compared to the last promotional run. Even if Ace Combat 8 gets delayed to 2027, to the public this seems like it will be very different from arduous experience from 2015 to 2019. A Fabricated Ace for Wartime Hope Say what you will about the development cycles of Project Aces, but they have a decent track record of grabbing onto popular or upcoming real-world concepts, usually of technology, and incorporating them into their titles.  In the announcement trailer for Ace Combat 8, the player starts the story as the Weapon System Officer in an F/A-18F Super Hornet for the greatest ace pilot in the Federation of Central Usea (FCU). This pilot, Jan "Rex" Cope, is known as the Wings of Theve - the name Theve being the capital city of the FCU. Though the invading country, the Republic of Sotoa, has the upper hand in this war. Their lightning-fast attack eventually resulted in most of the FCU occupied by Sotoan forces and what remains of the FCU armed forces scattered. The FCU Navy is so badly damaged, the Wings of Theve and his wingmen operate from an aging aircraft carrier partially acting as a refugee ship. The great hero of the FCU continues to fight on regardless. The existence of the Wings of Theve is so well known, even a squadron of skilled pilots from Sotoa known as The Shadows recognize the red wing logo on the tail of Jan's aircraft, referring to him as "Wings" in combat. However, the unexpected happens. Jan "Rex" Cope is killed during a mission. The player survives the aircraft crashing into the ocean, they are rescued by allied forces, and the death of the top ace pilot is hidden. For the sake of keeping the legend alive, the player takes on the identity of "Rex" and continues combat missions. An unidentified character in a suit discusses how the legendary Wings of Theve is no more than a social media tool - a weapon in modern day cyberwarfare - to fight for the narrative of the war. To project hope and resistance to the world as combat continues. In the real world one such hero existed just a few years ago. The death of Jan "Rex" Cope. Jan "Rex" Cope's flight helmet being given to "the new Rex". On February 24th, 2022, the Russian Federation invaded Ukraine sparking the next phase of the Russo-Ukrainian War. A significant portion of the air, land and sea forces of Russia pressed into Ukrainian territory to seize the capital city of Kyiv in just a few days. The Ukrainian government and military chose to stay and wage war against the invading force. Within the first week of the invasion, exploits of a lone Ukrainian Air Force pilot flying an aircraft more than three decades old circulated through social media and eventually world news. This pilot, known as the Ghost of Kyiv, was not only surviving against a technologically and numerically superior military, but had shot down at least six aircraft in air-to-air combat. They would become the first ace pilot of the new millennium. After the successful defense of Kyiv and as the war continued on, it was later revealed that the Ghost of Kyiv did not exist. They were the concept of an instant legend manufactured to raise morale during a time Ukraine's military and civilian population needed it the most. The exploits of the Ghost of Kyiv went far beyond the borders of Ukraine and became one of many things that people used to form an opinion on what was happening within the first phase of that war. To a degree it may have been a part of how the rest of the world viewed the war and the actions of individuals and nations to follow. Having the start of the of Ace Combat 8 taking cues from the most recent combat aviation legend is a highly aware of global events decision by Project Aces. This is a great decision. The Wingmen and Commands When the player takes the persona of the Wings of Theve, they also become the flight leader of the FCU Navy FAS-830 Joker squadron. The player fights on with three wingmen under their command who are only known as Noise, Professor and Tasha for now. There are two important points here. First, the influence of Top Gun: Maverick. Between the hyper focus of various types of F/A-18s in the initial promotional media, the stylized flight helmets with the callsigns of each character prominent and the enemy ace flying a Su-57 Felon performing what seems to be a modified Kvochur Bell (Sotoa calls it a Parthian Shot apparently) it is hard to not notice the impact that Top Gun: Maverick had. Wingman "Professor" flying in formation. This seems to be Project Aces embracing this aviation enthusiast culture cue to further increase the enthusiasm around their latest project. A fair business move to utilize the cultural hype around the largest aviation focused movie that has come out since... well... the first Top Gun movie. Second, in the brief flashes we have of the in-game user interface, there is a tell-tale sign of Wingman Commands returning to the Ace Combat series. As seen in Ace Combat 5 (2004), Ace Combat Zero (2006) and Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation (2007) in varying degrees, Wingman Commands are a quick select menu of actions that players can tell their wingmen to do in game. They can range from telling allies to protect the player from enemy attacks, dispersing the wingmen to find their own targets or even initiate a large-scale combined arms strike. Players press different directions on the gamepad to select these options literally "on the fly". F/A-18 Hornets of FCU Navy FAS-830. A return to Wingman Commands almost a decade later is a rather unexpected move. The question now is just how detailed will it be? Will it be as basic as telling allies to attack or defend the player like in Ace Combat 6 or will it be more detailed like in Ace Combat Zero where the player's ally could even be told to attack specific types of targets. Building camaraderie through combat hits differently when you know that the allies flying alongside you are useful in combat. It is one thing to see your fellow pilots in cutscenes or as far off icons on your heads up display, but it is something entirely different when those allies are at your command and visibly pursuing enemies' players designate. Multi-Platform It is great to see that the Ace Combat series is continuing to release their games on multiple gaming platforms. The announcement trailer for Ace Combat 8 shows that it will be available on Steam, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. That may sound like a weird statement, as it is just a given to release a game across as many platforms as possible these days. But for Ace Combat it has not always been like that. Despite Ace Combat’s first game coming out in 1995 it was not until Ace Combat: Assault Horizon in 2011 that they released a game across multiple consoles and on personal computer. Every game before that was a console exclusive in one way or another. Even the games that came out between 2012 - 2018 were also platform locked. It cannot be argued that Ace Combat 7 selling over 7 million units is also largely due to it being distributed on personal computer via Steam, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and even the Nintendo Switch. Online Gameplay According to its Steam page, Ace Combat 8 will have online player vs player game modes and online co-op. Something Ace Combat 7 suffered from within a year of launch was decline of activity in online multiplayer. Despite being released in 2019, Ace Combat 7 is not a cross-platform game. The player populations of the four platforms it released on remained separate, quickening online multiplayer stagnation. The multiplayer for Ace Combat 7 consisted of two player vs player game modes: Team Deathmatch and Battle Royal. Each mode has a maximum of eight players fighting over 6 maps with limited options for customizing lobbies. The player base will immediately draw comparisons to Ace Combat Infinity which offered much more variety in every way possible. Yes, that game was designed from the ground up with a different concept in mind, but it had a robust amount of online multiplayer content that kept its online community active for four years. All the way up until the game was shutdown by Bandai-Namco in 2018 despite the online activity being consistent. Legacy F/A-18 Hornets of FCU Navy FAS-830 Joker squadron. Coming from Ace Combat Infinity online multiplayer's player vs player, competitive co-op, scoring based competitions, air races, raid boss style special events and variations of existing game types, the limited offerings of Ace Combat 7 seem jarring. While there is no information to confirm this opinion, Ace Combat 8 having online game mode offerings similar to Ace Combat 7 seems likely. Looking at Project Aces' online multiplayer offerings from 2006 - 2013, what Ace Combat 7 offered is in line with what Project Aces has consistently produced. Ace Combat Infinity is truly the outlier. However, the mention of online co-op on the Steam page for Ace Combat 8 is a major point of interest. Scrolling through social media, forums and Discord servers, it is one of the most discussed topics. Whether it is in the style of Ace Combat Infinity's competitive co-op, Ace Combat 6's limited set of co-op missions or the full four player co-op campaign of Ace Combat: Joint Assault (2010), at this point more game modes beyond limited focus PVP will be a net positive. First Person View = Virtual Reality? At the time of announcement, there is no official confirmation that Ace Combat 8 will have virtual reality support. The promotional material for the game highlights first person view in cut scenes being an important part of the experience. In the trailer walking through hallways of a warship, being examined for injuries after a crash, sitting to eat lunch, - it seems like this human level of interaction will be a large part of Ace Combat 8's identity. Example of first-person view scenes. While Ace Combat: Assault Horizon had a few cutscenes where the player saw things from the first-person point of view of the protagonist, it was not something that was consistently used in a way that Ace Combat 8 implies. In 2025, a game heavily relying on a first-person point of view can make people believe that it may be a virtual reality (VR) inclusive game. Also, because of Ace Combat 7's official VR support, it is natural that the question would immediately arise about Ace Combat 8. After the release of Ace Combat 7, Project Aces has stated in many interviews that developing an Ace Combat game for VR would have to be handled a bit differently than their usual process. We also asked about virtual reality support in our  2019 interview  with Ace Combat series brand director Kazutoki Kono. His response was: “It is possible. Despite problems from a business point-of-view. We gained experience in the methods and know-how of how to create an Ace Combat specialized for VR. We’ve said this many times before, but if we were to create an Ace Combat game solely for VR, the storytelling and presentation will be completely different from previous installments. If it’s a product that requires that much effort, there needs to be a correspondingly high demand for it.” With Ace Combat 8 currently touting the importance of first-person point of view and with previous statements about the next Ace Combat game needing to be designed in a specific way to make it feasible, it is hard not to jump the gun and say Ace Combat 8 may be designed for it. For now, let's wait for facts. In the meantime, looking back at the virtual reality campaign for Ace Combat 7, you can see where Project Aces is coming from. Or at least in their implementation of VR at the time. For Ace Combat 7 they essentially developed a second game with its own storyline, a few bespoke weapons that had a helmet mounted display style implementation and an airshow style game mode where players can move around an aircraft carrier and direct aircraft to perform aerobatics on command. All of it standalone - detached from the main game and to this day is a PlayStation VR 1 exclusive.  Soldiers and refugees enjoying an aircraft carrier concert. Right now, there is no mention of Ace Combat 8 having any level of virtual reality support according to official websites or digital distribution website like steam. However, if it will, it would be beneficial for it to at least follow the now standard way flight arcade games incorporate virtual reality. Just let players wear a VR headset to enjoy that experience during missions while all cutscenes or menu interactions appear flat screen in the headset. Other IPs have done this and seen success. Even modders creating tools like UEVR to play all of Ace Combat 7 in VR despite it not being purpose built for it have garnered far more support and positivity than outcry and negativity. If the go-to option is another one-off platform locked VR experience, that may actually be somewhat detrimental. Though, there is another option. An example of that being Star Wars: Squadrons. That space flight game was fully compatible with flat screen and virtual reality headsets, even if the VR experience limited players to standing in the same position as the camera POV in flat screen gameplay while having players use physical controllers instead of touch controllers. Looking at the flight game demographic since 2019, it is clear that people would prefer 80% to 100% of a decent VR experience rather than nothing at all. Three Special Weapons Ace Combat 8 shows combat aircraft carrying multiple weapons. Known as 'Special Weapons' within the series, these are secondary weapons that are used besides the traditional aircraft cannon and Standard Missiles that define this genre of flight action games. There are precision guided bombs, long-range air-to-air missiles, unguided rocket pods, etc. Though each aircraft in the games usually has more than one Special Weapon to choose from in pre-mission selection, players are often only allowed to carry one of them into combat. Though there are minor exceptions to the rule like Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere (1999) and Ace Combat: Joint Assault, that is generally the rule for the series. Ace Combat 8 giving players the option to carry multiple Special Weapons at once is not an innovation, but a response. Arcade flight action games created by indie game developers and/or distributed by indie game publishers have been more prevalent in the genre since roughly the mid-2010s. One of them, Project Wingman, which saw a high level of success after its release in 2020. It even went as far as far as getting onto game consoles, securing a PlayStation VR 2 port of a six-mission campaign. One of Project Wingman's most notable features was the ability for all aircraft to carry multiple special weapons during combat. While Ace Combat 7 maintained its tradition of one special weapon used per aircraft in 2019, it is notable that flight action games that have come out since 2020 or started development around that time include the use of multiple special weapons. Ace Combat 8 now including this function is certainly a response to its fan base that has wanted this ability for literal decades now. Some of the mods created for Ace Combat 7 are aircraft 3D model visual modifications that show fuel tanks and other weapons on the aircraft purely for the visual aesthetic while wishing for the functionality. But the timing of this is also clearly an acknowledgment of the current state of the genre and what its fans expect of it. New Life for Existing Strangereal Lore A key part of the identity of Ace Combat is its original world known as Strangereal. If there is one thing Ace Combat fans have wanted from the series it is to see more of the expansive world it has fostered since the 1990s - or since 2004 depending on how you view certain things about Project Aces' development goals. This original world known officially as Strangereal, is the perfect fictional setting for frequent, that massive, generation defining nation state versus nation state combat a frequent occurrence. Thus far the two fandom shaking references seen in the trailer and mentioned on the official website are the Federation of Central Usea and the Republic of Sotoa. An interesting juxtaposition.  The Strangereal World of Ace Combat. Sotoa is a nation that has only been a name on a map since it first appeared in November 2015. There is nothing known about this country beyond a passing reference or two in official lore books. Project Aces is known for re-treading both story locations, certain antagonists and themes, so having a truly unknown or new country could present new possibilities, fresh concepts and further expansion of the Strangereal world. The screenshots of presumably two Sotoan military officers and the name reference of their nation's version of a Kubilt maneuver is about as much information as the fandom has known about it in the past 30 years. That is truly new, untrodden territory. Unidentified Sotoa military officers. The Federation of Central Usea has been passively involved or mentioned in multiple games and official media since Ace Combat 04 (2001). If we want to get technical and include some retconning, since Ace Combat 1 (1995). Seeing the FCU appear directly and not within the written lore or implied in game presence appeases the idea of new countries being brought forward in the world. But the FCU exists on the Usean continent. From where the Ace Combat series started and where it seems to frequently return to. The tried-and-true setting. Frankly, our feelings on this decision are mixed. In fact, it opens up a discussion on a known part of Project Aces' decision making in regard to Ace Combat's identity. Simmering Sentiments About Re-Treading Setting The clean slate of opportunity brought by new nations being counterweighted by the Usean continent is... a choice. This was a chance to have an Ace Combat entry on a completely different continent with a second new or barely known country. Something far from the long reach the Osean Federation since Ace Combat 5 or the ever-present specter of the deceitful Principality of Belka somehow being the near root cause of everything. At the minimum something away from the Usean continent. We have deep love for the Ace Combat series, but the Usean continent has been the setting for at least six Ace Combat games now; if we are not counting certain non-canon games. Instead of the Federation of Central Usea, the player could have been flying and fighting with a nation much closer to Sotoa on the same continent or even on a completely different side of the planet. The basic facts of the story of Ace Combat 8 as we know it now would not have changed much. Pilots floating in a life raft near the FCU coastline. It would have been a great way to push back against the sentiment of Project Aces re-treading, but with the Ace Combat series finally hitting a massive success with Ace Combat 7 after the tumultuous years that preceded it, going off the familiar path again is most likely something the development team is not interested in at this time. Maintaining focus on the well-known and developed Usea, continent is the cautious choice, but frankly, sometimes, it feels... tired. Maybe it’s how long we’ve sat on Ace Combat 7 and wondered what was next. Maybe there has been so much time to think about where the next chapter could go, hardcore fans have derived just about every new storyline and mission that could happen in extensive detail. So, what first impressions do we get? Overly familiar tropes that we’ve experienced over and over again. Maybe it’s the tired impression of post stall maneuvers from an enemy ace in an aircraft designed by Sukhoi. Maybe it’s yet another ultra-large aircraft that plays a key role in the story. Maybe it's the familiar exaggerated voice lines or the unknown soldier to true hero pipeline. When you think back on the storied history of the Usean continent and the Ace Combat brand's formula as a whole it is hard not to look upon the repeating notes and feel... tired. Is this repetition, this “signature identity” really what the community wants and what the developers want to keep doing? Closing: Riding on the Wind of Hype All of that being said, Aaron "Ribbon-Blue" Mendoza , T.J. "Millie" Archer and the rest of the Skyward Flight Media crew will be there for Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve on release day. And of course, we will be discussing Ace Combat 8 and previous titles from the series as we always have. Our excitement over this new game is real, it is positive, but it is based in reality and backed with facts. We hope that this extensive article on our thoughts about Ace Combat 8 with the context of three decades of the how the Ace Combat series has played out is a nice entry in the ongoing winds of hype we are all riding within this moment. ...Oh, and if this is all Belka's fault again, we're flipping a table.

MINOR EDITS: 3/30/2024 - ORIGINAL POST: 10/01/2022 I think it is fair to say that the Cold War scene has been on the rise as of late. It is a very interesting development, like we already mentioned in one of our previous articles , seeing as this era is much more driven by old school techniques rather than relying on sensors to do most of the work for you when you enter combat with someone else. This feeling of complete analog combat is what drove me to test Enigma. I have not been the most successful pilot, but I had a couple of interesting sorties. But none of those compare to the feeling that I had when I decided to finally go on a sortie with the Hind. To say that I had fun would be an understatement. I found myself in situations where I had not found myself in before, situations which forced me to use the Hind in ways I just hadn't before. I took off from one of the FOBs and went straight to the frontline with four AT-6s, two R-60s and two rocket pods. In order to carry all of that, I had to reduce my fuel load, which is fine. Recreation external view image, since external views are disabled. The fly from the FOB to the frontline was uneventful, at least for me. Over me, an aerial battle was being fought between a Mirage F1 and a pair of MiG-21s. It was kind of terrifying, because I was just a couple of hundred feet from the furball: hiding at tree top level. I flew as fast as I could, with my R-60s prepped and my left thumb over the countermeasures button. Thankfully, the pair of Fishbeds won, and the Mirage went down in a ball of flames. At this point I had already reached the frontline. Since I had already vectored myself thanks to a friendly recon flight, I went for a quick attack on an enemy FOB with my rockets. I was not the most successful, but you can't ask much from ED's standard damage model. Splash damage feels very much nonexistent, depending on the circumstances. Recreation external view image, since external views are disabled. It was during one of these rocket passes that I saw a small dot in the distance: an aircraft. It was flying at treetop level and going slow, so it had to be another helicopter. Judging by its direction, it had to be an enemy one! I called off my last rocket pass and armed my R-60s. The hunt had begun! THE HUNT I continued closing distance with the enemy helicopter, which I now confirmed to be an enemy Gazelle. I chose to approach it from the side and then proceeded to place myself at its six o-clock. Not only that, but I got tone and the missile flew off my rail. It took it a bit to make contact but, when it did, that Gazelle's tail assembly had a different zip code. Recreation external view image, since external views are disabled. That tail flew off the Gazelle, and it came tumbling down, crashing in a ball of fire. That was the first kill. I had no time to celebrate, though. In the distance, I managed to see what looked to be flares from a recce team. That meant that another helicopter was nearby. I looked in that direction and found another dot, one that belonged to a Huey. I did the same, went in for the kill. That was the second one. Unexpectedly, just a kilometer away, two other Hueys were strafing one of our positions. It was at that moment that I heard a jet engine roaring past me. A Mirage had flown over me. I tried to line up a shot, but by the time I had turned around, it was long gone. With the Mirage gone, I prayed I wasn't in any immediate danger as I vectored towards the Hueys. I was joined by an allied Hind and a Hip, both which seemed to have been operating around the same area as me. The Hueys strafed the Hip, hitting it a couple of times. I rushed in, getting into what was my first helicopter dogfight. The Hueys and I danced around, trying to get a proper shooting position. The Huey hit me a couple of times with the miniguns, but nothing important was hit. At least to my knowledge. Recreation external view image, since external views are disabled. It wasn't until one of the Hueys extended a turn that I whipped myself around, took aim and fired at him with my 30mm. His main rotor shattered, sending him to a painful death. That being said, I never knew what became of that second Huey. Sadly, even after 3 kills, my flight did not end in the best of ways. I landed in the middle of a field close to the Huey's wreck to unload a recon team I had loaded. I let them do their thing, and then I got the prompt to pick them back up. That is when I got overconfident and, while trying to do an expedited descent, entered DCS' exaggerated VRS (Vortex Ring State) and crashed right next to my team. IF YOU LIKE HELOS, GIVE ENIGMA'S A TRY If you find yourself wanting a place to go on helicopter sorties with your friend to have what has got to be an unparalleled Cold War experience with helicopters, Enigma is the place to go. Helicopters play a crucial role in the mission and fit perfectly in it. This is not common in popular servers, which are usually much more focused on the experience that supersonic fixed-wing fighters will have, not the slow rotary-wing aircraft. 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

From Rolling Mountains to Gleaming Beaches "Well, damn." It has been a while since I've had a flight where the only way I can sum it up is a single socially acceptable explicative. But when you absolutely grease a difficult landing, it is hard not to feel a bit impressed with yourself. Gliding, engine off, tires hydroplaning on the ocean surface, cycling flaps to tweak the lift ratio and float over sea debris on the beach. The aircraft coming to a short stop on a picturesque beach... now that is flying. GroundFall by Snow Creature has come a long-long way since 2021. Back then this bush flight focused game relied on survival game mechanics to survive in the mountain wilderness and scrounging fuel and repair kits to keep your aircraft flying. Eating beans around a campfire at dusk was just as vital as repairing the warped wing that bashed against a small tree during landing. The survival game mechanics are now optional for those that prefer a flight focused experience expected from a more traditional flight simulator. As of the last two or three major updates, GroundFall has undergone quite the transformation. The familiar mountains and forests from the base game are here and still being updated, though it is clear that the current focus is on the more tropical style bush flying. Honestly? I love the shift. I think the developer made the right call in making this change. There are bush flight scenarios in various Microsoft Flight Simulator iterations, and some standalone projects mainly focus on bush flying in North American Wilderness or Australian Outback type settings. As GroundFall is now, its new maps give an experience similar to that of landing in the hillside airstrips in places like Indonesia or the Philippines. Despite being smaller landmasses, some of the islands still have the steep hills, valleys and considerable foliage players would expect from the type of bush flying they imagine. You could argue that massive forests in the Alaskan style terrain of the original maps are just as inaccessible as an ocean, but I would counter that by saying: water assisted landings. Water assisted landing. That's right! Even the shortest patch of grass near a shoreline or a sandy beach can become an accessible runway with just enough airspeed and the right flap setting. This is a facet of flying I appreciate deeply. In the new maps players are flying the nimble Kitfox 7. Though this aircraft does not have internal storage capacity like Piper Cub in the original three maps, the Kitfox feels easier to maneuver at dangerously low speeds. Players that take the time to become proficient with extreme low speed flying will find their efforts rewarded with some of the most engaging landings they have had in some time. Speaking of the aircraft, a decent amount has updated on that as well. Trim settings can be adjusted automatically with airspeed and flight stick inputs, as mentioned water assisted landings are possible, the flight model is fine tuned to a point that flying into especially difficult airstrips with the engine off is viable. At times, it feels like that is the best way to approach airstrips that have no clear way to fly out of in the case of a botched approach. On the ground the aircraft can be moved by hand with the new Push Point system. No longer does the aircraft engine need to be on with differential braking used to turn the aircraft around. In scenarios where the aircraft came to a stop in particularly tight places, being able to move the aircraft by hand both prevents potential damage and saves gas. The dynamic airplane damage system certainly makes landing and maneuvering the aircraft as careful as possible a major priority. Click a Push Point on the aircraft to move it a few feet in the specific direction. NPC characters offer objectives that encourage players to explore and pay in cash. Items that would normally be scavenged for can be purchased. The side objectives include turning on radio towers, flying to islands to spend a day fishing and even a few beer runs for the broskis. Of course, there are more than that, but that's an eclectic mix for sure. The new side objectives can be accomplished while fulfilling the standard land at every runway on the map checklist that is the default goal of GroundFall as a whole. To say that my return to GroundFall was refreshing would be an understatement. It seems that every time I interact with this game, I find myself wanting to complete it from start to end over and over again. 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 ]

Hey, howa’ doin? FlyAwayNow here again with a pair of interviews to introduce some of the plane game indie devs to give you some insight into, perhaps, the future of the Genre, or at least into the minds of those making these games. Here today I’ve got developer Kirk Woodes, and developer Zhakami Zhako on the stand, testifying on behalf of their own projects or games: One at the bleeding edge of format, that is the virtual reality, and the other whose game is still so freshly baking it doesn’t even have a name yet! With one steeped in the fidelity and art style of yesterday, and the other very much front and center of the future by way of homage and function, I see no better way to balance this article! Kirk Woodes Website Links: Bluesky  | X.com   Who are you? I'm an amateur game developer working in C with OpenGL. I'm making a 3D dogfighting game with floating islands and a base that the player can explore between missions Why are you making your game and this type of game? It grew out of a top-down 2D dogfighting game that I was making to learn how to program about ten years ago. After dropping game dev for a few years, I got back into it with learning 3D graphics with OpenGL. The floating islands and base segments were ideas I originally had with the 2D game, but those ideas seemed like they would work much better in a 3D game, so I made the switch. How would you describe your particular visual style? PS2-era programmer art. What's your favorite game in this genre or related media? Not a deep cut, but Ace Combat Zero is my favorite. What you want this game to be? I want the game to have a strong emphasis on dogfights against enemies that can use the floating terrain to their advantage. My goal is to have enemy AI that can give the player a challenge and feel like a fair fight. I want the base segments to give the player a better sense of immersion than the menus in a lot of flight games, and give them a way to interact more with characters and the setting in a genre that hasn't usually had ways to do that. I mean we have two big things here I'd just like for you to comment a bit more on: The floating terrain that we see in your social media posts, and then also that idea of on base segments, where does stuff like that come from for you? The floating terrain was originally just an idea for a cool visual, especially in 2D. The more I tried them out in game the more I liked them, especially with how they work with some mechanics that I've experimented with like restricting the player to semi-active missiles that can easily lose their lock if an enemy flies behind an island. I also thought Project Wingman's airships proved my theory that having more stuff in the air that you needed to keep track of was a fun mechanic, and the islands take that idea a little further.  The base segments come from my personal background growing up on base, so I felt like I could capture that feeling while also improving on what I've always thought was a bit of a missed opportunity with Ace Combat's reliance on menus for everything between missions.  So alongside floating islands, any other environmental or level design tricks you have up your sleeve? Not too much, but the islands do support tunnels, so look forward to that. So there's a gradient of simulation that these types of games have. Nuclear Option and War Thunder for example lean on accessible sim realism with physics and damage models, while games like Ace Combat are extremely arcadey in their flight models for the sake of ease of use. Where does your game fall? The physics are a little more realistic than Ace Combat, with some pretty detailed force and torque math, but it still has an arcade feel. I've actually never played War Thunder even once, so I can't speak to that comparison. The damage model is all arcade though. It's just a simple health bar and missiles that deal fixed damage on hits. How about weapon loadout and the theory behind them? Is that more arcade aligned? Weapons are an area where I'm trying to break out of the Ace Combat mold a bit. The semi-active missiles are my attempt at making the player really have to stick to enemies through some harder terrain than with Ace Combat's fire and forget standard missiles, and I like the idea of testing the player's flying skills by requiring them to keep a lock. I haven't decided what other options the player will have for things like attacking ground targets, but I'd like it to fit that same philosophy. So we've seen you talk about a pilot fatigue system, what's that about? The main goal with the fatigue system is to reward being able to maintain pursuit of an enemy rather than getting the lock, launching a fire-and-forget missile, and calling it good. It ties a lot into the semi-active missiles in that way. I think that, ideally, if you can stay on an enemy's tail long enough, you should eventually be rewarded with a near-guaranteed shot. You mentioned base segments, and from what we've seen from your publicly posted WIPs, you're walking around, talking and interacting with characters. How in depth do you want that to go? Vazgriz, and then Sanikku for Project Aggressors, are planning a similar system, and although it will be a long time until we are able to compare them, I have to ask what do you want to accomplish with this mechanically or emotionally more specifically; like will on-base segments affect dogfighting gameplay? I'm keeping my intentions pretty modest. I think there's a lot of cool things you could do, but some simple, optional dialogue and a little bit of exploration is all I'm shooting for. I want something that gives the player a little more investment in their squadron and the conflict. What type of writing and tone can we expect from you? I haven't gotten far with the writing, but I think it'll be lower stakes with a focus on the dissonance between combat and the mundanity back at base. I don't have any writing experience, but it's the part I'm most excited to give a try, and I think that tone is something I can portray well. We've seen a few aircraft in your social media sharings so far, can you speak about what type of planes you intend to include in your game? This one depends a lot on how much air-to-ground combat ends up in the game and whether I continue to try to do all the plane models myself, but one thing I definitely intend on is custom plane modding in some form. I'm already building a lot of my own tools, such as my level editing scripts in Blender, so I plan to have a plane editor that I can hopefully make publicly available. Not having some decent modding tools would feel like squandering one of the big advantages of building my own engine. Want to talk a bit on why you pursued a custom engine? My coding background is in C, so it's just what I'm most comfortable with. I like being able to write my core gameplay logic in C, but learning OpenGL and handwriting shaders has made visual design and experimentation painful. I think it would have been a much smoother process if I had gone into game development with a clearer idea of what I actually wanted the game to look like. One dream feature or thing you'd like to add into your game even if you might not be able to do it? I'd like to limit the player's loadout size to be more realistic, but with the ability to quickly land on bases on the islands and rearm. If I implement takeoff and landing mechanics, I'd want them to be more forgiving than most flight sims, but much more closely integrated into missions. Do you have any idea what you might name this game in the end? It's got a working title, but I want to make sure I have something I'm really happy with before I make anything public. Zhakami Zhako Website Links: X.com  | Project Fairy  | VRChat Who are you? I'm Zhakami Zhako, a programmer with very odd habits. Most people just call me Zhak. I work as a Software Engineer and do Game Development in my spare time. What are you working on? It's a project called "Project Fairy", which primarily is inspired by Sentou Yousei Yukikaze (Battle Fairy Yukikaze). It is a fan project that aims to recreate scenes that is based from the original game, the OVA and the novels as well as fan depictions/interpretation(s) of certain scenes; Hence the name "Fairy", as it takes place on planet Faery which is where most of Yukikaze's story unfolds. It is primarily a story driven ace arcade combat style game; Played in different pilot's POV's, to which it wont be only limited to B-3 (Fukai Rei) but also from various characters as well. My initial plan for it is to create multiple episodes and have each episode be their own build/world. At least for the VRC releases as I am also considering possibly creating a standalone. Released October 26th, 2021, 'Sugar Rush' was the first prototype flight arcade world for Project Fairy. Development has continued far beyond this point. The gameplay concept is straightforward dogfighting against JAM (At least initially) while keeping the core part of SaccFlight's handling (Flight, Movement, AOA, Controls, etc.); Multiple weapons (AAM-5, AAM-3, Gun, etc.), while doing TARP scans on certain episodes/objectives; Whilst keeping the core VR/C intact (VR Controls, Avatar, etc.) Project Fairy, however, isn't exactly only limited to the scope of Yukikaze as I somehow produce it as some sort of a result of various experimentations in Unity and VRChat's SDK; "If it's possible in VRC, then it's possible to do it in Unity." Other than the Yukikaze inspired part, I am also creating experimental worlds in VRChat, emulating a bit of fidelity with the aircrafts and possibly porting them into a standalone build as well. Maybe my own story at some point. Project Fairy WIP Canyon Run ( 2025 ) Are you inspired by anything in particular? Top Gun Combat Zones, Ace Combat (5, Zero, Assault Horizon, 7), HAWX, IL-2 Sturmovik and of course... Sentou Yousei Yukikaze. TG:CZ was my first ace arcade game when I was young; running with a really outdated PC hardware that renders everything transparent. Despite the poor presentation due to the hardware, it opened me to look into the genre; Planes, Arcade-Flight-Sim.  IL-2 Sturmovik opened my eyes further, tackling WWII, Physics and aircraft handling; Despite the fact that it is a sim rather than an ace arcade. HAWX, specifically HAWX 1 may have further inspired me to look into visuals especially during the time when it was released. Ace Combat of course, as it is what everyone is talking about... Ace combat; that pretty much defined a genre. Albeit that, people would probably fry me alive as I say that Assault Horizon was my first Ace Combat game before I was able to play 5, Zero and so forth. Lastly... Sentou Yousei Yukikaze. The concept of being at war at an unknown alien, having various unique aircraft designs, the uncertainty of things... It has been haunting me since I was a kid; And may have been calling for me to make a little something for it. Why are you in this space (VRC) instead of something more independent? It more or less has to do with wanting the project to be accessible for everyone that has VRChat than a standalone build which you need to upload somewhere. The base flight mechanics of the whole system is based on Sacchan's SaccFlight for VRChat, and most users that are familiar with SaccFlight Worlds should be able to adapt almost immediately. The systems that I've used in VRC can be ported to standalone as I am also working on porting the whole system(s) involving SaccFlight and the custom stuff that I have made from scratch. Most flight worlds in VRChat are first person cockpit flights, socializing and hangout worlds that often times have players just end up having mock dogfights, a free for all, a bit of PVE as well as multiple worlds that's involving groups having event sessions (Educational stuff like learn-how-to-fly, how to BVR, How to DFM, General aviation protocols, and special events like airshows.) During the rise of these worlds around 2020-2021 when SaccFlight was initially released, I've decided to experiment and make something that's unique for VRChat. Hence the need of creating an ace-arcade-like gameplay in VRChat. ZhakamiZhako Original Project 2 (2025) How has your experience been in VRC been? It's great so far. I wouldn't have ended up making a flight game if I have not started playing VRChat. I've started playing VRC around early March 2020 during the height of the pandemic. I started learning to socialize with people virtually and basically a month later after meeting a certain HolyKnightAD, Zweikaku and Sacchan... it may have driven me to start creating flight related worlds. What's interesting in VRC is you get to see various worlds from hangouts to scenic views, to socializing, to minigames and then... dogfighting. I've been part of a community in VRChat for aviation enthusiasts, The Black Aces . We hosts events, tournaments and other things in VRChat. I've contributed various systems for various communities as well. Other than that, there's a lot of flight communities in VRChat that hosts events such as how-to-fly, how to BVR, how to BFM/Dogfight, Educational/General Aviation and even airshows. They're mostly my friends as well. ZhakamiZhako Original Project 1 (2025) What are the limitations of trying to make plane-based experiences in VR? The benefits? In general, it's more or less the adoption of the gameplay in VR, especially if you're developing an ace-like gameplay.  If you're making your game in Desktop-first, creating a VR compatible build may prove challenging especially with controls, scenes and among other things Questions like "Does this scene look nice in Desktop?", "Does the VR Build show a much more enhanced scene?", "Are the controls working in VR? How should we have the controls work in VR? Do we use the VR Native controllers? Do we use Virtual flight sticks in VR instead of the joysticks?" The benefits however, would be a complete immersion into the game you are trying to develop; Especially for a story driven ace-like gameplay and when it comes to the narrative being… "You" are the Pilot, you are seeing the point of view of the pilot as you fly in the skies.  "You" are holding the controls literally in VR. "You" are reaching out to press a button.  Mix that with a proper story and gameplay... You can end up asking yourself whether the "World" you've played into is real or was it just a fever dream as you take off your headset... Which is one of my many goals as I develop this game. In VRChat in terms of development, one of the many things that's also challenging is keeping builds the same experience or optimized on one type or another. One example is keeping the Desktop Experience the same as the VR Experience. Another is keeping the PCVR experience the same as the Quest/Android build, considering that there is also the Quest versions in VRChat. It may depend on which userbase you are primarily targeting as well (Quest Users first? VR Users only? Desktop to VR only? etc.) Building a Quest version needs to be debugged whether if certain shaders work in the android build and if it looks okay compared to the PC build; Another that's somewhat holding it back since this is still tied up to VRChat's SDK is primarily its blacklisted components and the adoption of a slow Udon/UdonSharp VM; Code runs slow, Certain assets cannot be used from the Unity Store, and even more.  Albeit these somewhat impact developing Project Fairy, it still gives me the thrill to push its limits while optimizing the whole thing so that it can be played by various VR Users. Project Fairy WIP Footage (2025) Any closing thoughts or things you want to say? Probably a thought that Ace Arcade Genre, nevertheless a flight-sim, sim-cade, arcade... this style of gameplay will always continue to evolve; one game to another. As a developer towards fellow developers, keep doing your thing; keep that vision and keep chasing after that vision. As developer towards the players, I hope you will continue to look forward towards each and every developer that chases their vision. As a developer towards the fanbase and towards any other fanbases, a passion project will always be a passion. A big shoutout to Project Wingman as well, as it is also a huge inspiration (and good god the music). A big thanks to the Jetboys / Black Aces; Wouldn't have gotten this far to the project without their support. Big thanks to SkywardFM, the Japanese Communities, Boris, the people who have helped so far, the people who are following the project and development, the fanbases, and even to you Matt.  I will always be grateful to you all. And please look forward to the project. About the Interviewer Matthew "FlyAwayNow" Nguyen Artwork by alice (@atrousyolks) Producer, writer, incidentally personified online as a rooster. One of the three main developers of Project Wingman and now working across the board on several other combat flight videogames, audioplays, podcasts, and books. Advocate for indie creators, fanfiction, and critical analysis of what you love. [ Bluesky  / Linkedin  / X.com ]

Next Sunday, the first 200 FSA Captains to register will save more than $30 on ‘Entire Event’ tickets. Get your FlightSimExpo tickets early for the best prices! Plus, hotel, airfare, and car rental discounts are available now. FlightSimExpo 2026 tickets go on sale at 12pm CT next Sunday, December 14. An ‘Entire Event’ ticket includes all seminars and workshops, #FSExpoFriday, 3 days of exhibits—including the new Friday Exhibit Hall Preview—and exclusive access to post-event seminar recordings. Starting Sunday, December 14, the first 200 FSA Captains to register will have access to an FSA Captain Special: an ‘Entire Event’ ticket for just $50! If you’re not yet an FSA Captain, subscribe today at flightsimassociation.com . Non-Captains can buy ‘Entire Event’ tickets for $75, with single-day options also available. “We’re proud to share that – in a world where everything seems to be getting more expensive – we’ve been able to reduce ticket prices for FlightSimExpo 2026,” said FSA Co-Founder Phil Coyle. “Last year, an ‘Entire Event’ ticket was $84. This year, it’s $75—and you get 20% more time in the exhibit hall. Alongside hotel rates that are about 25% lower than in 2025, we’ve made the show even more affordable in 2026.” FlightSimExpo 2026 takes place June 12-14, 2026 at the Saint Paul RiverCentre, an 8-mile drive from Minneapolis/Saint Paul International Airport (MSP) and 20 minutes from the Mall of America®. For more details on all ticket options and pricing, visit flightsimexpo.com/register . Register to Sponsor and Exhibit at FlightSimExpo 2026. FlightSimExpo welcomes software developers, hardware vendors, communities, and other flight simulation organizations to participate as sponsors, exhibitors, and speakers. All exhibit booths include furnishings, internet, electricity, and event passes. Educational speaking opportunities are available at no charge. Details on getting involved are available at flightsimexpo.com/partner . Book your travel now. A detailed schedule and exhibitor updates are coming in 2026. Discounted hotel rooms and airfare deals from Delta, United, Southwest, and codeshare partners are available now. Make your plans early to take advantage of rates as low as $149/night plus tax. Details: flightsimexpo.com/travel . FlightSimExpo 2026 will feature product reveals, exhibits, virtual reality and training demonstrations, and how-to seminars from the biggest names in flight sim. For the first time, attendees will also get access to a Friday Exhibit Hall Preview immediately following #FSExpoFriday on June 12, 2026. An initial list of sponsors and exhibitors will be shared in March 2026. About FlightSimExpo. FlightSimExpo is one of the world’s largest flight simulation conventions. The event has welcomed almost 10,000 attendees to events in Las Vegas, Orlando, San Diego, Houston, and Providence since 2018. FlightSimExpo is produced by Flight Simulation Association, a community-driven organization of developers, simmers, and real-world pilots working to make it easier to get started in home simulation. Join the community today—free—at flightsimassociation.com for resources, learning content, webinars, and discounts on top add-ons and simulation hardware.

A simcade that lets players fly helicopters as we imagine them Helicopters are wonderous, highly flexible, complicated aerial vehicles that provide humanity with some of the most versatile mission sets possible. In order to fly these vehicles in the way we imagine them in our mind's eye, you would need a flight simulator that would let you take on sets of jobs helicopters are well known for. Immaculate Lift Studio seemingly created RotorSim to not only let people be enamored by the capabilities of helicopters, but also just enjoy the experience in a nicely packaged, accessible, adventurous experience. Looking at publicly available information, the developer is self-taught. They create games and functional apps for the Godot Engine. In fact, looking at their Gitbhub repositories, it seems like four key parts of Rotor Sim are readily available for use or to study. An indie developer providing the building blocks of their own projects, à la Why485 and Vazgriz , is somewhat uncommon, but great to see. Hopefully others feel a bit inspired to try and make their own projects. The earliest updates that can be traced through the Discord server and Itch.io at least goes as far back as May 23rd, 2024. The early builds of the game were available through Itch.io, but the version 1.0 release brought with it the release of the game on Steam on July 3rd, 2025. A demo of the game is also available on Steam, which is how I first interacted with this game, buying it shortly afterward. A sample of the in-game manual. Rotor Sim has two game modes. The Free Flight game mode, which, as you may have guessed, lets players fly in any condition with any aircraft in the game. An easy way to get familiar with the map. In the single player campaign, the player flies as a new pilot in AeroAssist aircraft utility services. The description of the company according to the in-game pilot manual (a stylish choice) describes the company in a well-grounded way: "AeroAssist began as a small venture aimed at providing crucial aerial support to inaccessible areas using governmental grants, at no cost to the affected region. Over the years, we have expanded our services globally, supporting disaster relief, medical transport, time-critical passenger movement and urgent supply delivery." AeroAssist operates from what looks like a slightly upgraded cargo ship with a helipad on the forward deck. Players operate from this ship throughout the course of their contract. At the start of each mission players lift off from the ship in a helicopter. The mission contract dictates whether it is one of three helicopters: the Sparrow (Robinson R-44 like), the Eagle (UH-1 Huey like) or the Condor (Mi-8 Hip like). Each of them with different, noticeable flight characteristics. After a mission is complete the level usually closes sending players to the menu to decide their next action, but by setting the Mission Completion Reset option to 'No Reset', players will have to fly back to the boat to complete the mission. The better option to really round out the experience in my opinion. It also increases the amount of flying players do, which is always positive. In Rotor Sim, all 30 missions of the single player take place in Windy Isle; a compact but diverse set of islands. There are mountains, a literal castle, an airport, a city, air traffic, sea traffic, docks, a shady research facility - just about everything you would expect from a decently populated area. Most important to the setting, the weather. From fog to rain to a full-blown storm that heavily reduces visibility an effect the way a helicopter flies. Coupling weather conditions with heavy cargo weights can be rather dangerous. Careful flying is required in such conditions. Just slowly trudging through low visibility situations while keeping an eye on terrain is sometimes the only path to success in some missions. This is about as dangerous as the environment gets, but the flight model is detailed enough to have a few more dangerous but realistic points. Rescuing passengers from a sinking ship. You can definitely tell that the seemingly casual flight model that can be enjoyed with a gamepad has a few simulator-like details specific to helicopters. From minor details like the cargo hook only able to pick up objects and a gantry that must be extended to lower a hoist to rescue people. To flight model specifics, I nearly failed a mission due to sudden episodes of Vortex Ring State and Rotor RPM Droop catching me completely unprepared. The momentum and weight these helicopters have with this flight model is manageable with a gamepad but can get out of hand if players are simply mashing the controls and throwing the stick around without a care in the world. Flying helicopters as you would within the real world is the best way to go. While doing research for this article I happened to come across the game's developer, who elaborated a bit more on Rotor Sim. Quoting them directly: "I originally started this project because I couldn't for the life of me find a simple heli sim that felt good to play without it being attached to something much larger and more complicated (like ARMA or GTA). I just wanted to fly around and do helicopter things. I've played basically every heli game that's come out in the last 10 years and most of them feel like asset flips, or at least not made with the attention that a true nerd would have. The control and feel of the helicopter was based on many years of flying in helicopters and wanting to recapture that sense of motion and chaos." All of this being done in a non-combat scenario may sound boring, but let me tell you, that is a major part of the enjoyment of Rotor Sim. Not constantly ducking between hills to evade ground fire or have a mission potentially fail because of a roving fighter jet gives players time to fully enjoy the flight model and immerse themselves in "helicopter things" as the developer puts it. Plucking people from dangerous situations with a hoist, delivering supplies, transporting VIPs, searching for lost hikers - a nice helicopter specific set of tasks. Example of the story driven campaign. Each mission has a small story within it and around it told by the contract description text and commentary from the characters during the mission. Working with different clients in this location gives one-off stories and a consistent storyline that is rather eyebrow raising from time to time. It is so interesting I do not feel like completely disclosing it in this article but know that there is intrigue abound. Mid-mission dialogue. Immaculate Lift Studio is already working on a sequel that is taking the concept of the original game even farther. Currently known as Rotor Sim World , some of the known details posted on the studio's Github mentions: Many more interesting helicopters (all shapes and sizes). Get out of your helicopter and drive cars, trucks, complete missions, and explore. 64km² world with cities, a coastline, forests, and secrets. Expanded mission types, such as firefighting, more involved and complicated cargo operations, and smuggling. NPCs! Thousands of citizens going about their daily lives and interacting with you. The story of AeroAssist continues, with new characters and some old favorites coming back. While I seem to have joined in to the Rotor Sim party a bit late, I am just on time for the pre-alpha phase of Rotor Sim World. I look forward to presenting my thoughts on the project so far and seeing where the developer takes it. Connect with 'Rotor Sim' Discord Github Itch.io 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 ]

This past week, we have now gotten back into flying in DCS after what felt like an eternity. We had our reasons to do so, but most importantly, that period of time is behind us. While I was trying to come back and coordinate with the other Skyward boys on what to do in DCS, I was reminded that not everything in DCS has to be the same mission over and over again. That is when we decided to go and experience DCS multiplayer within the Rotorheads community. WHAT IS THIS SERVER ABOUT? This server has a very different focus than other sandbox ones, such as 4YA and Through the Inferno, due to the very clear and refreshing focus on rotary wing aircraft and their operations. On what seems to be a first, or at least a popular first, a server has decided that fixed wing aircraft will take a step back and leave the limelight to the helicopters and, surprisingly, the logistics focused C-130J (mod, for now). The server is organized in big campaigns that run for several weeks. Player action and decisions permanently impact the mission, and future operations through direct action. Troop deployments and an emphasis on coordinated multi-front engagements , the server does set itself apart from other more casual experiences, something that is made clear by the fact that you have to join their discord server and read their rules to even be able to join the DCS server itself. You are given a code that you will have to enter, otherwise, you will get removed from the server. In this sense, you could say that this emphasis on community curation does lead to a more focused and less casual community. Does this mean the community is closed to everyone but the most professional pilots? No, absolutely not. GAMEPLAY AND WHAT WE GOT UP TO Since a mix of fixed and rotary wing operations are allowed, we decided to do some JTAC missions where I would designate from my Kiowa while RibbonBlue would engage from his Hornet while he used laser-guided Mavericks. It was very, very doable and sincerely, I had a lot of fun. Doing this on a normal server would have entailed starting a 1-hour-long journey towards the AO , with a possibility of our target being gone by the time I reached the agreed meeting point. In Rotorheads, the AO is 5 to 10 minutes away, which means that flying into combat is painless! This was such a nice change of pace and something that made our time during the server a much better one. While we were doing our mission, it was very cool to have a lot of other people around us running their own. There were attack helicopters doing runs on enemy armor, transport helicopters running troop insertion and vehicle deployment, and also some dedicated and very organized cargo pilots setting up defenses and moving the front line forward. RibbonBlue took note that Blackhawk and Chinook pilots were extremely proactive with unit deployment during one of our sessions, which left me quite impressed, considering that I thought that the Chinook player base was close to the double digits in terms of active users. Additionally, there is something very useful that this server runs alongside the mission: an active web-hosted heatmap that is pseudo-real time. You can find it here . This allows players and spectators to follow the flow of battle and see areas where enemies have been spotted, and where friendly pilots have been downed. Very neat, huh? GO FLY IN ROTORHEADS This server is paradise to those of us that love our whirlybirds, but it also remains friendly to those that are scared of having their wings rotate. Everyone can find a way to have fun within this server, so I encourage you to come here and fly.} The server is also running the AH-6, UH-60L and C-130J mods at the moment. This means that you will not have to buy any modules to enjoy it to the fullest. No excuses! You can see the requirements to join their server by clicking the button below, there you will find all the details including the server IP. What are you waiting for? Join the fight, it's worth it! 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

A generation of gamepad style flight controllers takes shape It seems like the Yawman Arrow may have been the first shot in a volley of handheld flight controllers. In the year 2023 the concept of a handheld flight controller was undoubtedly seen as an anomaly in flight simulation hardware. However, with two new prototype handheld flight controllers appearing at multiple flight simulation conventions in 2025 and now a confirmed release date for one of these controllers at the end of the same year, it is time to talk about this upcoming era of handheld flight controllers. Perspective As we start, I would like to establish my perspective and experience with the concept of handheld flight controllers. In the context of this article, the discussion of handheld flight controllers starts in 2023 with the debut of the newly established Yawman flight peripheral company and their Arrow flight controller. This gamepad style controller immediately started a conversation of the validity of this type of device in flight simulators. Arguments against the concept these specialized controllers can be summarized as: Concern about similar price point to existing entry level yokes and rudder pedals. The utility and value of a gamepad controller that is only designed for flight simulators. Gamepads for game consoles and personal computers have been pressed into service for flight games in the past. Why get a specialized device that is not a traditional flight peripheral (HOTAS, yoke, etc). Skyward Flight Media (Skyward FM) made initial contact with Yawman during their debut in 2023 at Flight Sim Expo (FSE). Our contact with the Yawman team eventually led to a review unit of the Arrow being sent to Aaron "Ribbon-Blue" Mendoza for a launch review of the controller in early 2024. Our review process took the Arrow far beyond its tailor-made use in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and X-Plane 12. We took the Arrow from high fidelity general aviation simulators to AMRAAM slinging BVR engagements. From World War I flight arcade dogfights to alien world space station freight delivery. By the end of the review process, we found that a handheld flight controller does have a legitimate place in even the most experienced flight simmer's collection. It certainly does not replace hardware to the point there is no purpose in purchasing a dedicated trim wheel or throttle quadrant for higher fidelity flight simulation. However, this type of controller and its backend support did make it very easy to access higher quality flight simming without needing to bring out a full sim rig each time. For over a year now, many of the games and simulators Skyward FM has interacted with have been flown with the Yawman Arrow in varying degrees. Perhaps not every single flight done with the controller, but it was plugged in and assessed to see how feasible it would be for whichever title is being played. From there the Arrow would be used in a rotation that made sense. Skyward Flight Media has been classified as a power user of the Arrow by Yawman themselves, taking into account everything that was previously stated. All of that to say that the Skyward FM perspective of the handheld flight controller concept is shaped by the realities of best case and worst-case use from a wide array of flight titles while understanding the limitations of these devices compared to traditional flight simulation hardware. Yawman Arrow To the established flight sim market in 2023, a daring new yoke design is seen as a safer bet in comparison to a true unknown like the Arrow was. The concept of a flight simulation peripheral in the form factor of a game console controller was a wildcard at the time. 2024 graphic. The design of the Yawman Arrow has remained unchanged since release in January 8th, 2024. Its straightforward design incorporates an instrument six-pack button layout which can double as button modifiers to layer controls in simulators. Its sliders on the bottom right faceplate and vernier poles on the underside of the controller are axises that can be reassigned to whatever is needed depending on the simulator it is used on. The built in trim wheel on the bottom left is also a solid addition that is placed far from where the most common button presses and finger sweeps occur. Arguably the Arrow's signature feature is its patent pending mechanically linked triggers which act exactly as full-size rudder pedals. The consistent stiffness of the triggers improves the precision of rudder controls of aircraft flown in simulator. However, that same stiffness is somewhat of a hurdle for users that use them roughly. In the Skyward FM review of the Arrow, I made a note of the potential danger of multiple rapid full force trigger pulls. While the core of the linked triggers inside the body of the controller is rather well built, there are cases of the plastic finger pads of the triggers snapping under consistent, vigorous use. During my conversation with the Yawman team at FSE 2025, they have guided customers through processes to repair or replace parts on the controller, though these did not sound like they were regular occurrences. At launch the price point of the Yawman Arrow in comparison to other traditional flight controllers was a hurdle for potential customers who saw prices of more entry level yokes being close to what Yawman initially offered. The first batch of Arrow controllers sold out on launch day, January 10th, 2025. A second batch of controllers was made ready by January 15th. A price drop from $250.00 USD to $199.00 USD was announced on January 18th, but it does not seem to be something that was done because of commercial failure. Yawman goes deeper into the reasons in their blog post  about it, but the Arrow has continued production and sales since its launch day with Yawman developing new projects. Reviews of the Arrow have continued to be mostly favorable even now. Most pushback against its design centers on the somewhat unflattering visual design, desire for more tactile feedback when pressing certain buttons and higher quality material used on certain parts like the vernier poles at the bottom of the controller. But complains of the device being totally unusable and completely failing are few and far between. Though, as of November 18th, 2025, it seems like the design of the Arrow will need to be reviewed by the Yawman team to remain competitive with the next gamepad style flight controller. Honeycomb Aeronautical Echo It just so happens that while I started writing this article earlier this week, Honeycomb Aeronautical released the reveal trailer for their Echo Aviation Controller with a general release date of December 2025. Talk about good timing. To have such a well-established company like Honeycomb Aeronautical actively develop a controller like this is rather interesting. The Echo Aviation Controller first appeared at the Honeycomb Aeronautical Industry Preview Days hosted in London in July 2025 with the public able to try the prototypes at FlightSimExpo 2025. While Skyward FM did have some time with the controllers at FSE 2025, frankly the Echo has undergone such a considerable change as seen in the November 18th trailer, I had to re-write this entire section of the article. My initial observations and concerns about the mid-2025 prototype of the Echo centered around the positioning of the four levers in the middle of the controller, the size of some of the flight controls at the bottom of the controller and on the face of the controller. My concerns were about the difficult of sweeping fingers over dense clusters of controls and the somewhat unusual placement of things like the trim hat switch and a few of the other non-gamepad standard buttons across the bottom and the top right of the faceplate. However, the Honeycomb team seems to have taken all of the feedback from industry insiders and flight simmers to heart. In terms of customization, the Echo has a pretty much set in stone design with exception to the four controller levers / axises that can now have their caps replaced with color coded knobs. This lends these levers to then become functions like fuel mixture, separate engine thrust levers, etc. The Bravo Throttle Quadrant from Honeycomb has the same capability. Something that has inspired similar General Aviation yoke and throttle combos like the Turtle Beach VelocityOne Flight Universal Control System. The presence of mechanically linked triggers acting as aircraft rudder pedals was one of the most eyebrow raising parts of the Echo for me. This type of control system is the signature feature of the Yawman Arrow. Such a specialized mechanism both needs to be sturdy enough to handle long term use while frequently being held within very specific positions. All without the device losing tension or becoming detrimental to minute flight inputs during maneuvers. For Skyward FM this is all said from the outside looking in for now. With the redesign of the Echo having a general release date of December 2025, it seems like we will be able to go hands on sooner than later. MeridianGMT X-Ray Flight Sim Controller This company was founded on March 12th, 2025, by former Honeycomb Aeronautical Founder, Nicki Repenning. One of the main messages MeridianGMT has been pushing is modular or expandable design in all of its hardware. Rather than purchasing a single yoke that may cover functionality of a small selection of aircraft, in theory a Meridian yoke could have specific parts of it physically removed and replaced with other modules by the customer themselves. A yoke initially purchased in a single engine light aircraft could be reconfigured for other aircraft types. Of their initial products they have showcased, the X-Ray Flight Sim Controller is a gamepad patterned flight controller with multiple flight focused physical inputs. Official graphic. The X-Ray follows the MeridianGMT theory of as much modularity as possible giving the consumer the ability to quicky swap out modules without hand tools. When imagining a handheld controller you can reconfigure, devices like SCUF gamepads, Thrustmaster eSwap and Turtle Beach Victrix Pro come to mind. On the face of it (literally!) the faceplate of the controller can be pulled from the frame of the controller with a new faceplate inserted. A United States Coast Guard faceplate was show at one point. That level of aesthetic customization is nice, but not required per se. Moving deeper into the controller, the promotional material and the physical prototype, the X-Ray comes with eye catching inputs like spring-loaded flap levers, separate rudder triggers and mentions of a collective/cyclic hub for rotary-wing aircraft. On the back of the controller are extra programmable buttons for specific buttons or input combos. Upon seeing them I think of modifier buttons immediately. MeridianGMT claims that the controller is currently in development with support from Microsoft and Digital Combat Simulator developers. On personal computer plug and play use prioritized. At FlightSimExpo 2025, MeridianGMT announced that they secured a deal with Microsoft to ensure their products to Xbox game consoles. Considering the existence of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, that is a fair point. It does make you wonder if a similar deal would need to be signed with Sony to ensure device compatibility with MSFS 2024 on the PlayStation 5. Key Points Going Forward When I combine hands on experiences at trade shows, extensive presentation watching and my own long-term use of handheld flight controllers. There are a few key points that need to be achieved for the success of, let's call them, the first generation of flight controllers. Acknowledging the wide reach of Microsoft Flight Simulator and ensuring their controllers are game console compatible to reach the now well-established game console flight simulation demographic. Ensuring the pursuit of incorporating traditional flight simulation controls (levers, hat switches, trim wheels, etc.) do not clutter the controllers to the point it negatively impacts user experience during flight. A moderate degree of button customization via software to allow players to assign custom key binds or specific in-simulator functions reliably. The price point of these controllers being equal to or slightly below the cost of entry level flight yokes, rudder pedals, etc. to further entice potential first-time buyers. Controller connection method being either wired or preferably wireless to match what consumers already expect from what is considered standard for gamepads these days. Personally, I find myself being very excited at the prospect of handheld flight controllers becoming a long-term part of the now well-established game console demographic. Hopefully controllers like this could get a new wave of simmers to make the next big step towards getting more advanced flight simulation gear but also enable already established simmers to increase how much they fly thanks to ease of access or add a new portable controller for travel. It just so happens that I was already working on an updated review of the Yawman Arrow over a year after consistent use with it. I look forward to adding a review for Honeycomb's Echo as well. 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 ]

Additionally, organizers announced that sponsor and exhibitor registration has begun. Flight sim developers of all sizes are encouraged to see how they can support the show by visiting flightsimexpo.com/partner The Flight Simulation Association (FSA) announced that, in response to attendee and partner feedback, FlightSimExpo 2026 will feature a Friday exhibit hall for the first time! The event will also be offering new single-day ticket options for flight simmers who can’t attend the full, 3-day event. Friday Exhibit Hall Access New in 2026, the exhibit hall will be open from 4:30pm – 7:00pm on Friday, June 12. The doors will open immediately following the conclusion of #FSExpoFriday’s product reveals and developer updates. “We’ve heard from attendees and developers that their favorite part of FlightSimExpo is the chance to interact with developers and try the latest software and hardware,” said FSA Co-Founder and VATSIM controller Evan Reiter. “This change allows us to offer attendees 20% more time in the exhibit hall without changing the overall travel footprint for our partners.” #FSExpoFriday 2026 will begin at 12pm CDT, one hour earlier than last year. Attendees can expect the same weekend schedule as in previous years, including announcements, hands-on exhibits and demos, product updates, developer Q&As, workshops, and more happening on Saturday and Sunday. “At our past shows, attendees have enjoyed behind-the-scenes access to air traffic control towers, airports, museum visits, and more,” says FSA Co-Founder Phil Coyle. “We’re working on offering similar experiences for FlightSimExpo 2026’s attendees, with more details on these to come early in the new year.” For the full event experience, attendees should plan to arrive in Saint Paul by Thursday, June 11 and leave on Monday, June 15. More Single-Day Ticket Options will be Available for 2026 Organizers are also happy to share that more single-day ticket options will be available for flight simmers who can’t attend the entire 3-day show. “Based on the popularity of our ‘Sunday-Only’ option in 2025, we’ll be offering single-day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday ticket options in 2026,” says FSA Co-Founder Phil Coyle. “While the best experience is always for those who can attend the entire show, these new ticket options will make it easier for people who can’t attend all three days, especially for those local to the MSP area.” Organizers will be sharing details and pricing on the new ticket options in the FSA Discord . Attendee registration opens in December. As in previous years, attendees unable to make the in-person event in Minneapolis/Saint Paul have the option to watch the event online via the FSA Captain subscription or a one-time $15 purchase. FlightSimExpo Partner Registration is Open Now FlightSimExpo welcomes software developers, hardware vendors, non-profits, and other flight sim organizations to participate as sponsors, exhibitors, and speakers at the 2026 event. It’s easy to have an exhibit booth: the show’s all-in options include furnishings, internet, electricity, and event passes starting at just $750. Educational speaking opportunities are available at no charge. Anyone interested in sponsoring, exhibiting, or speaking at FlightSimExpo 2026 show can see all the details at flightsimexpo.com/partner . The Venue FlightSimExpo 2026 will be held at the Saint Paul RiverCentre, an 8-mile drive from Minneapolis/Saint Paul International Airport (MSP) in Minnesota. MSP airport offers more than 130 non-stop destinations across the country and around the world. Saint Paul is also served by Amtrak's Borealis and Empire Builder routes. Amongst many other attractions, the Saint Paul RiverCentre is just 20 minutes from the Mall of America®, a leading retail, entertainment, and attractions destination, welcoming millions of visitors from around the world since 1992. Discounted hotel rates are available for FlightSimExpo attendees. Attendees can also use links from the FlightSimExpo website to save on airfares from Delta, United, Southwest, and codeshare partners like Air Canada and WestJet. Details at flightsimexpo.com/discounts . Attendee registration opens in December. ### About FlightSimExpo FlightSimExpo is one of the world’s largest flight simulation conventions. The event has welcomed almost 10,000 attendees to events in Las Vegas, Orlando, San Diego, Houston, and Providence since 2018. FlightSimExpo is produced by Flight Simulation Association, a community-driven organization of developers, simmers, and real-world pilots working to make it easier to get started in home simulation. Join the community today—free—at flightsimassociation.com for resources, learning content, webinars, and discounts on top add-ons and simulation hardware.

There are only a couple of flight worlds in VRChat where there's not only aircraft variety, but also all the aircraft made are designed and modeled in-house by the world creator. One of these worlds is Gomasaba Archipelago by Yakisaba . This world just celebrated its first anniversary , so we thought it would be a good idea to come back and revisit this world with a new pair of eyes. We also convinced some of our friends and partners to tag along, which made the experience a lot more social and dynamic. WORLD LAYOUT AND IDEA This world is made to be explored, as it consists of many small, disconnected islands that could or could not have something for you to discover on them. There are a plethora of different vehicles and ways to move around, as well as a couple of static hot air balloons and a dirigible platform for those that would just like to take in the views instead. There is a port area, two dedicated airports on different islands and a road circuit around one of the main island. This allows anyone to just grab the type of aircraft, car or boat they want, and enjoy the world the way they want. This type of experience is quite rare in VRChat, and is quite refreshing to see that it is still getting some love even a year after its release. AIRCRAFT AND VEHICLES The focus of the world, more than in its terrain or architecture, lies on its aircraft and ground vehicles. The main aircraft and the most representative of this world is the Ri-Gou . A twin-engine amphibious float plane, this plane can carry 10 players if you include pilot and co-pilot positions. It can be quite fun to just fly your friends around, an idea that I can get behind as our very own Dragonfly has the same design philosophy. The other pure floatplane is the Rogou-2 , which can also be quite fun to fly! There are also some other two-seaters around, such as the Gunnel Biplane, Nigou-ko monoplane and the Nu-gou PC-21-styled Turboprop. All of these aircraft offer a variety of flight experiences and sensations, so I recommend you give them all a try! Another aircraft that is available is the To-gou , a Coaxial Kamov-style helicopter that is impressively fast. It is also float-capable, which means that you will be able to land wherever and whenever you want. In another unique note, all the aircraft present in this world are for sale on the author's Booth page, which you can find here . TRY THIS WORLD OUT! If what you want is to chill out and just enjoy some combat-free flying in VRChat, then Gomasaba Archipelago is the right place to go. We will continue visiting this world in the future, and we will most likely post about that in our socials, so keep an eye out! 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

Where are we now? How does this work? An invite to indie developers! Hello, everyone! Aaron "RIbbon-Blue" Mendoza here with an update for the Indie Highlight Series here on Skyward Flight Media. While there is no release planned in November 2025 for this indie flight action game focused interview series, there are good reasons for that. Meanwhile, this month progress is also still being made for the longevity of the series. We do not want to leave you wondering about what is going on, so let us discuss what is happening this month. SERIES HOME PAGE For anyone unaware, the entries of the ongoing Indie Highlight Series can be found in two locations. On the home page for the series and in a secondary tab on the Indie Flight page of our website. Screenshot of home page. 'FAN' ON BUSINESS Anyone following the series has probably picked up on the general pattern for releases. Usually something happens around this time of each month. A teaser post on a Monday with the next entry of the series posted on the Saturday of the same week. This month the lead interviewer of the series, Matthew "FlyAwayNow" Nguyen (FAN), is on a business trip. This is the primary reason there is not an entry of the series being posted this month. Sometimes it is as simple as that, isn't it? While there is no entry to be released in November 2025, things are still moving in the background to keep the series going. BACKGROUND PROGRESS This was mentioned in the July 21st announcement to formally begin the series, but let's go into a bit more detail about how the series is currently operating. 'FlyAwayNow' is the primary means of contact for indie developers that are featured in the series. Skyward Flight Media staff operates in a support role for all other facets of the series. Once an indie developer has been contacted and an agreement to include them in the series is made, a Google Drive folder is created with permissions for access given to all parties involved. With a set of questions proposed by FAN and some follow up questions proposed by Skyward, the words and media gathered during the interview process are put into the GDrive. The content is assembled by Skyward staff and formatted with any extra needed media gathered from the internet or directly from publicly accessible builds of games or demos. Once a final draft is approved, it is ported to the website with social media posts created. Thus far this team approach has yielded great results for all parties. There are interviews with eight indie games and solo developers so far: Aggressors Fantasy Air Combat Delivery Must Complete Kirk Woodes Modern Jet Fighters Online Nova Squadron Project Fairy Supermaneuver Zakon PUBLIC INVITATION TO ASPIRING DEVELOPERS There are already confirmed upcoming interviews with yet to be announced developers going into 2026. The process to figure out which developers are to be contacted next is usually handled privately with communications made in emails, direct messages or voice calls. Starting this month, we are making a public facing addition to the process. We are putting out an open invitation to indie / grassroot developers creating flight action games . Take a look at the aforementioned developers we have interviewed in the Indie Highlight Series thus far to see if your project would fit. You can contact us in the following ways: FlyAwayNow Bluesky FlyAwayNow X.com Skyward Bluesky Skyward Discord Skyward Email Skyward X.com Keep in mind that even if your particular game does not 100% match up with what this series is currently focused on, Skyward Flight Media as an organization has covered indie flight games of all types since 2020. There is still a good chance that we will cover your project outside of the Indie Highlight Series. All you have to do is shoot your shot and see what happens! Thanks for checking in with the Indie Highlight Series. See you in December with the next release. About the Writer Aaron "Ribbon-Blue" Mendoza Co-founder of Skyward Flight Media. After founding Electrosphere.info, the first English Ace Combat database, he has been involved in creating flight game-related websites, communities, and events since 2005. He explores past and present flight games and simulators with his extensive collection of game consoles and computers. [ Read Staff Profile ]

The Pressure of a Long-Range Threat If there is one thing Nuclear Option by Shockfront Studios needed, it was a new map with longer distances. While the chaos of a full scale, peer-to-peer, nuclear equipped conflict full of constant ground convoys and aircraft falling from the sky is fun, I personally wanted the ability to have somewhat slower paced, but more complex engagements. On March 24th, 2025, a second map was released with topography that favors beyond visual range engagements. Here, across the open ocean, the unrestricted threat of long-range surface-to-air missiles can truly be felt. Second Map Ignus Archipelago Ignus Archipelago is the second map for Nuclear Option. The original map, now known as Heartland, is at roughly 80% land in the areas frequently used by players. In comparison, the archipelago is quite the opposite. Ocean occupies most of it, with few hills and mountain ranges across its islands. Ignus is also quite a large, with map dimensions of 164 x 82 kilometers. All of this open ocean is ideal for naval based operations, while land based aircraft operations will frequently cover long distances in comparison to the shorter distance flights on the Homeland map which frequently center around large-scale battles between land forces. Gameplay is noticeably different between the two maps. Purpose Built SAM Sites During the initial research sessions of this map in the mission editor, my focus first fell onto the air bases and airports across the archipelago that players will use during every session. To my great surprise, four of the islands include purpose built surface-to-air missile (SAM) sites. They can be found on Ashwood, Broken Atoll, Cliffline and Harmony Sands. Static SAM site. Their design is based on real world configurations of semi-permanent / permanent SAM sites. While any anti-aircraft unit in Nuclear Option will fit, these seem to be purpose built for the longest range SAM in the game, the Stratolance R9. It is analog to real world long-range SAM site systems like David's Sling, HQ-9 or MIM-104 Patriot. The SAM sites features dug outs or earth-barriers for mobile erector launchers, with a raised terrain pedestal for the search and track radar (HLT Radar Truck) in the middle of the installation. There are extra pads that can be used for whatever the mission editor decides, but incorporating a short-range air defense system of some type along with a Munitions Truck seems to be a good use. The Munitions Truck in particular is useful for both keeping the SAM site constantly supplied with missiles while giving players an incentive for hitting the munitions trick, potentially causing it to explode and splash damage the rest of the missile launchers or radar vehicle. There are a few other areas in the islands that are austere, but compatible with medium and long-range SAM sites. A remote SAM site. Area Denial The long range of the Stratolance R9 is especially prevalent when deployed correctly in the Ignus Archipelago. I would even go as far as describing it as genuinely overwhelming for combat aircraft attempting to approach it without a game plan. So long as the HLT Radar Truck of the SAM site can detect and illuminate incoming targets, they will guide semi-active radar guided missiles from up to 50 kilometers away. Depending on the aircraft and weapons players are using, even approaching the SAM site is a type of boss battle in itself. With Nuclear Option incorporating radar notch game mechanics and a visual reference in the player's Heads Up Displays suggesting which direction players should turn to defend against incoming missiles with optional use of self-protection jammers. When approaching from long distance with no terrain to mask behind, players and non-player controlled units must frequently evade while trying to close distance. They will need to choose when to evade and when to press the attack directly into the incoming missiles to close a few more kilometers at a time before turning to evade missiles in the last seconds before impact. It could take a single, unsupported aircraft quite a while to close distance and successfully suppress the SAM site. KR-67 Ifrit in a failed radar notch maneuver. The Stratolance is also able to intercept weapons that are attempting to destroy it. Anti-radiation missiles, glide bombs and cruise missiles can be reliably intercepted at maximum range. Even friendly Stratolance missiles engaging enemy aircraft or ordinance can be counter-intercepted by hostile Stratolance SAM sites. These purpose built surface-to-air missile complexes can be further hardened by surrounding them with short range air defenses (SHORAD) - as they would according to real world doctrine. Tactics, Technology The most obvious answer to overcoming such a sturdy surface-to-air missile site would be the use of an electronic warfare aircraft, like the EW-25 Medusa. While it can automatically triangulate the position of radars and share those positions via datalink, the electronic countermeasure pods are the most effective means to suppress SAM sites. However, these jammer pods have a generally effective maximum range around 40 kilometers . With the ECM pods using a capacitor that only lasts for a few minutes at a time, the EW-25 would need to press into the edge of the Stratolance engagement envelope while cycling its jammer pods off and on to suppress the SAM site. With the radar unable to guide missiles, the Medusa or other aircraft have a window to rapidly close distance and attack. While this purpose built technology is great for the EW-25, all other aircraft in the game must do things the hard way over the open ocean. EW-25 launching anti-radiation missiles from standoff range. Saturation attacks from standoff range with air launched cruise missiles, anti-radiation missiles and/or glide bombs can be effective. Though, a large quantity of munitions is needed, as the Stratolance R9 will have ample time to intercept many of these weapons. The go-to tactic is to rely on radar notching against volleys of missiles to close range with the SAM site and increase the likelihood weapons launched from aircraft reach the SAM site. Flying in at wave top altitude in an attempt to get beneath the azimuth of radar emitters is also possible depending on the topography of the landmass the SAM site is placed on, though players can still expect to notch incoming missile volleys until they are close enough to take advantage of a potential radar blind spot. A mixture of these tactics and technology is the most effective way to suppress or destroy these purpose built SAM sites. T/A-30 Compass ingressing at low altitude to an island housing a long-range SAM site. Skyward's Reception The impact of these surface-to-air missile sites is substantial in the eyes of the Skyward Flight Media mission editor. Their impacts on gameplay are being further explored, as they are now key parts of two upcoming missions that already have working prototypes. One mission focused on naval rotary wing operations during a raid, and the other focused on long-range suppression of enemy air defense missions against an integrated air defense system. Look forward to them! 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 .

Ever since it came out, I have been keeping my eye on the JF-17 Thunder by Deka Ironworks. Recently, I finally got my hands on it. My expectations were rather high since I had heard great things about it from some of my close friends. Expect a full review at some point. The module looks the part and has been masterfully crafted. But today I wanted to talk about the feature that surprised me the most: its functional programmable data cartridge (DTC) system! Not only has this feature been wonderfully implemented, but highlights a gap that exists on several DCS modules. To access the feature, you will have to go to OPTIONS and the click on the SPECIAL tab. From there, to the right, scroll through your modules until you find the JF-17. You will be presented with all of these options: You can edit your entire DTC from here. You can tune and program your countermeasure programs, set bingo quantities for chaff and flares, select which gunsight type you prefer, set your gun burst time limiter and even switch between different voices for your warning annunciator! Customization seems to have been a priority for Deka it really shows. After you are done setting it up, the configurations will apply to ALL your flights. No more will you need to program your countermeasures programs at the beginning of each flight. It saves a lot of time and makes flying the Jeff an even better experience. With such a good implementation of a data cartridge already in the game, it makes you wonder why modules such as the F/A-18C Hornet or the F-16CM Viper lack this kind of customization . In particular, I am extremely puzzled as to why the Viper does not have something like this. The F-16C has a similar DTC system on board , one that can store pilot preferences just like these. MFD page presets per mode, countermeasure programs, radio frequencies, etc. It is a feature I have used extensively in Falcon BMS for a long time, and it is one that I hope gets prioritized by the devs over at Eagle Dynamics. We know the feature is coming from the feature list that ED released earlier this year. For now, I will just keep enjoying the wonderful DYC that Deka have provided us and just keep on programming my countermeasures every time that I use the Viper, which is quite frequently. 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 a writer and the co-founder of Skyward ever since. Twitter | Discord : Cubeboy #9034

A Real Heads Up Display Changes Everything Long before Skyward went "wheels up" for Flight Sim Expo 2023 , we had a set list of planned visits with the many companies and communities in attendance. While winding through the elaborate displays and small but informational booths, I had walked past something that made me triple take. Looking not once, not twice, but three times to assure myself that what I saw was real. There in a quiet corner away from the Microsoft Flight Simulator couches and behind a row of museum aircraft was a row of heads up displays. Actual heads up displays. Not a computer tablet using its camera to superimpose the image. A genuine, image projecting, collimation reliant, beam splitting glass heads up display. Pictures of the booth are below: Since then, conversations with Dan Hall, CEO of Heads Up View LLC , started an ongoing relationship between the two companies. This has led to this product unboxing and first impression of their DT1 HUD . I'll take a moment here to thank them for this opportunity to not only unbox it, but use it long-term for many flights in many simulators to come. Of course, despite Heads Up View recently being announced as a sponsor of Skyward Flight Media, this is a honest take on a rather unique piece of flight simulation kit. Unboxing Skyward Flight Media staff members, T.J. "Millie" Archer and Aaron "Ribbon-Blue" Mendoza , performed the unboxing after receiving the product from Heads Up View. The box itself contains: (1) dust cover, branded (2) gloves (1) heads up display base (2) HUD brackets (1) HUD beamsplitter glass (4) HUD bolts (4) HUD washers (1) microfiber cloth (1) protective gloves (1) 10' Video Cable/HDMI Cable (1) 10' 12V Power Cable (1) setup guide An extra set of minor instructions were sent to us as well, to be included in upcoming shipments. These units come with a 30-day money-back guarantee from the date the customer receives the order. It states that if for any reason the customer is not satisfied, the return of the unit in its original packaging will validate a full refund. HUV LLC provides a 1-year warranty from the original invoice date, guaranteeing its workmanship and material quality free from defect. The company agrees to, at its option during the warranty period, to repair any defect in materials, components or workmanship or to furnish a replacement unit free of charge. All of this information was explained in a letter placed beneath the top flap of the box, making it the first thing customers see when they open the box. An extra set of minor instructions were sent to us as well, to be included in upcoming DT1 and SC1 shipments. To receive warranty service, emailing support@headsupview.com starts the process. The most notable part of the box from the outside is the sheer size and weight. It looks and feels like a solid piece of kit. But rather than being packed from top to bottom with bubble wrap, a significant portion of it was protective styrofoam packaging. Two layers of sturdy styrofoam panels on all sides of the hardware itself. So secure, it was a bit hard to remove certain items from the box. A good problem to have. Admittedly, one of the things we worried about with something as sensitive as this piece of equipment. Hardware All items in the box come in separate packages, with the main part of the HUD being the heaviest item in the box. A pair of blue vinyl gloves were helpful when handling the more delicate equipment like the beam splitting glass pane and the 6-inch lens on the top of the HUD base. The smaller components like the HDMI cable, DC 12V power supply and HUD glass mounting brackets were made of reliable material, though now that I know adjustable metal HUD brackets are on the way, I certainly look forward to using those in the near future. The most difficult part of the unboxing was removal of the blue protective film on the HUD glass and projection lens. The protective film was very firmly attached to each surface. The included gloves did reduce the chances of accidentally causing damage during installation, but patience in slowly removing the film to reduce stress on the glass is important. Curiously, the HUD base has a speaker built into it. Alongside the ample amount of power sources and display ports on the back of the unit, the presence of audio ports and the speaker was unexpected. During our initial use we did not use the speaker, but did need to disable it as an audio output on our computer to prevent it from grabbing audio. With a handful of screws and a screwdriver, it took very little effort and know how to assemble the HUD correctly. It was very straightforward with an easy to understand double sided piece of paper guide. The overall size of the DT1 is a bit on the large side height wise, but minor redesigns are already in the works to alleviate this somewhat. The space requirement from between the PC monitor and the rear of the DT1 being about 8 to 12 inches did trigger an unusual on the spot redesign to accommodate the HUD for testing. As someone that has frequently favored more compact desktop flight simulator setups that emphasize modularity and the ability to detach flight sim gear as needed, this heads up display was somewhat incompatible. Some quick thinking and readjustments resolved this issue, but this was an example of how the design philosophy of a cockpit focused builder and a desktop flight sim rig are rather different. More on this later. Software This is where we ran into a few problems on our end, and most likely others who do not normally deal with this sort of thing will find a few hang-ups. During this part of the setup, really only patience and the willingness to learn a few new things you may not have done before are what brings the entire process together. The DT1 and other products from Heads Up View LLC acts as a second screen or display for the personal computer. Depending on which flight simulator the HUD is being used with, the ease of integrating the DT1 changes. For example, Lockheed Martin's Prepar3D and older versions of Microsoft Flight Simulator have built in HUD only views that can be undocked into a separate window, then dragged into the DT1 display area. From there field of view adjustments can be made literally on the fly - while flying - without having to type any code; though that is an option for those that are more technical like that. Example of P3D/FSX setup. On the other hand, Eagle Dynamics' Digital Combat Simulator World is very dependent on editing LUA files. The more monitors a user has, the more complicated the setup gets. This is something that has to do with DCS itself, rather than the heads up display. When the DT1 is connected and powered on, DCS does recognize it in its list of monitors. This helps simplify setup to a degree, but for people that are not used to working with .lua files or using multiple displays, this can seem like a daunting task. This is where patience and the willingness to learn a bit come in handy. Fortunately, the Supported Simulations page of the Heads Up View website has all the needed .lua files in .zip files with an ample amount of screenshots to further explain what needs to be done. These files need to be placed in very specific folders. Most importantly, some basic math will need to be done to calculate the combined dimensions of both displays. Those dimensions are then used in the .luas that export the heads up display outside of DCS World into the DT1 secondary display. And of course, since this is editing .luas that are a part of the simulator's base files, it is possible that an update to DCS World could override any user made changes. While that does sound annoying, this problem is easily circumvented just by copying and pasting the user's HUD settings into a separate word document. In the event data is overwritten by an update, pasting the data into that file can be done within a minute or so. Example of DCS World setup tutorial. Once the DT1 is running in sim, further adjustments to HUD position and size can be made to work best with the user's hardware setup. Adjusting the HUD image vertically or horizontally is also done by changing X and Y values in the corresponding .LUA files for each aircraft. Other simulators utitlize third party software to make this process much easier, so it is best to check the HUV website or send an email to their support staff to ask more specific questions. First Impression During our unboxing day, we flew short non-combat sorties using the F/A-18E Super Hornet in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and the F/A-18C Hornet Lot 20 in Digital Combat Simulator. The DT1 worked exactly as advertised, even in the most difficult of visual conditions like bright white clouds in the midday. The HUD image was not completely washed out. The back side of the HUD unit also has its own set of controls for changing contrast, brightness and more. So even the brightest of high definition 4K+ monitors do not washout the colors of the DT1. After further adjustments were made for the desktop setup we used, the DT1's image clarity and its ability to physically project the HUD image had an immediate impact on immersion within each simulator. That authentic feeling of it "really being there" permeated everything we tested. This was especially true when using head tracking with the DT1. Without the heads up display being ever present on the computer monitor, peeking around the HUD or seeing how the information somewhat appears and disappears during changes in the user's seating position further adds that "real feel" experience. With the HUD being an addition that is unmoving, unlike a rudder pedeal or HOTAS that is constantly being manipulated, once it is in place there is no need to relocate it or adjust it. Unless it needs to be removed from a multi-use desk area. With a majority of the visual adjustments to the information displayed made within each simulator, physically moving the HUD out of the way, if needed is not a massive problem. I believe that, on its own merits, the heads up displays from Heads Up View are the most authentic and realistically priced way for very serious flight simulation users to get their hands on this type of accessory. Rather than paying a many thousands of US dollars for a 1:1 design accurate, fully licensed HUD that would only fit in one simpit, the approach of Heads Up View offers a more grounded approach. With their design being more universal, made of more accessible materials and capable of standalone use, simmers can purchase the DT1 at a more realistic price point of around 795.00 USD. Certainly it is still a high price when you think of other flight simulation accessories around or beneath the same pirce point. In conversations with the CEO of Heads Up View, I brought up the point that these devices are very niche in the sense that it is a sea changing piece of flight sim gear but not absolutely vital to all flight sim operations. This truly is a cockpit builder level accessory. I cannot say it is something that will be as prolific as rudder pedals, for example. However, it is an eye opening type of hardware that makes you reconsider how you approach flight simulation as a hobby. Within minutes of flying in each simulator, there was a palpable mix of excitement to see a genuine heads up display working outside a near-professional use simulator and gradually understanding what the addition of this level of flight simulation hardware to a desktop style flight simulation setup means in the long-term. A hand between the DT1 and PC monitor. The Tip of the Iceberg For the past few days the Skyward staff has been discussing what our next step with flight simulation is because of the presence of the Heads Up View DT1 in our collection. As I mentioned in the beginning of this article, the use of the DT1 has pushed us into an unexpected position with this level of flight simulation. In the near future, a second article discussing the DT1 and the next level of flight simulation is set to release with what we think are informative points of view being in this transitional point we are now. Expect an unusual team project from Skyward to be announced in the near future. Heads Up View DT1 with branded dust cover. 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. [Profile]

From Flyout to Aviassembly and everything in between , we have always had a predilection for covering build-your-own-plane flight games. But, when covering this peculiar genre, there’s always been one game we’ve mentioned, yet never covered on its own; the benchmark, the standard, the one all are compared against. And, alongside the more space-focused KSP, it could be argued it’s what started this genre to begin with. I’m talking, of course, about SimplePlanes. Released in 2015, SimplePlanes did not feature impressive graphics or super detailed flight simulation mechanics. What it did offer, however, was an extremely flexible building system which put almost no bounds on players’ creativity, as well as means to share these creations. The end result is that across its 10 years of existence, SimplePlanes has seen thousands of creations uploaded by its player community, covering everything from airplanes to cars, ships, and even functional, fully articulated mecha. On a personal note, many years ago I was a small part of this playerbase - and though my take on Santos-Dumont’s Demoiselle was once featured on the game’s home page, I never considered myself anywhere close to being one of the best creators out there. The level of quality and detail some folks managed to achieve is truly mindblowing (check out this nearly simulator-level F-5E , for instance!), and while I’m sure the developers could never have anticipated their game would be used in such a way, they did support this community with a great deal of updates designed to give players even more ways to explore their creative madness. So it should come as no surprise when Jundroo announced they would be doing a week-long open playtest of its sequel, we were excited to try it out! Rising Up to the Challenge Of course, there’s a problem with sequels in gaming. A sequel has to at least equal, and hopefully surpass, its predecessor; and when the predecessor in question is a creative sandbox with thousands of user creations attached to it and a highly dedicated player base, that bar is very high. Too often, we see games that either fail to rise up to the expectations set by the original entry, turn out to be a mismanaged mess, or both; and after the catastrophic failure of Kerbal Space Program 2, I’ll admit that I was worried when Jundroo first announced SimplePlanes 2. I had several doubts regarding some of the proposed features, and despite my appreciation for the developer’s work in the original game - or perhaps exactly because of it - I approached this new entry with more than a healthy degree of skepticism. I’m happy to report that this playtest demo has addressed the majority of those doubts. There’s real effort and care put into this game, and the result is very promising. Some key features were not yet available, therefore some questions still linger; but overall, this was a great experience. Cleared for Startup Upon starting the game, you are greeted by the game’s new mascot, Major Chad. He also serves as the avatar for the player and was one of the changes I was deeply worried about but ended up being positively surprised with; we’ll get back to him later. The menu UI is pretty simple and easy to navigate, and upon hopping into the builder/aircraft editor, a list of default crafts built using SimplePlanes 2’s new features is available. Some of the base game vehicles available. Many of these crafts were built by longstanding members of the community which were invited by the developers to participate in internal testing; a showcase of the developer’s engagement with the player base. Unfortunately, players were not able to interact with the game’s building system in the demo; thus, all that was left to do was pick the game’s standard F4U Corsair replica and step into the cockpit. When the scenery loaded up, I was suddenly hit by this strange feeling - the UI was familiar, but much easier on the eyes. The visuals were completely different, yet they still reminded me of the original game somehow; and to top off the cozy atmosphere, the game’s brand new, 80’s-infused soundtrack shows off one of the tricks up its sleeve - it changes dynamically during gameplay! I wasn’t expecting this much effort to be put into the music for a plane builder game, but I’m glad it was - it pairs with the game very well, and while I eventually got tired and switched to my own playlists, that only happened after a few hours of continuous flying. Gone are SP1’s flat oceans and smooth terrain; water now features dynamic waves (which, besides being eye candy, actually affect ships and seaplanes) and clouds are now volumetric, instead of a flat skybox. Comparison between the water in SP2 (left) and the original SimplePlanes (right). The brand new map features greatly improved terrain, both in terms of modelling and textures; airports and towns are decorated by lovingly crafted 3D models which match the game’s visual identity perfectly; and trees now populate the previously barren grasslands, making low-level flying feel much more dynamic. Unfortunately, only a small area of the map was accessible in the demo, encompassing a single island; however, we know Jundroo is working on a much bigger map, full of locations to explore - just like in the original game. But going back to low-level flying, what happens if one of your wings has an unscheduled meeting with local vegetation? Well, the trees have hitboxes, so the result is almost certainly going to be a fireball. If you’ve played the original SimplePlanes, you’re probably expecting the cockpit piece - the part which defines the player’s POV, so often scaled down to 0.1% in order to visually hide it in custom builds - to go flying off to the stratosphere. But this is where Major Chad steps in. Even in craft where the new player character doesn’t show up visually, once the player’s vehicle is destroyed Major Chad jumps from the explosion like an action figure hero, and the player’s controls and POV switch from the vehicle to the character. Even upon being launched towards the ground at 600 knots, the Major will effortlessly come to a standing stop without a scratch, like he’s an anime protagonist or something. Bro’s built different. The player is then free to walk around the scenery, and either respawn the craft (either at the initial or present location) or just wander around. Players may also elect to exit their craft to explore on foot at any time: Major Chad can run, swim, and even push your vehicle around - which comes in handy for smaller airplanes if you need a little pushback in a remote grass strip. Players also have several customization options for their character, which serves as their avatar in multiplayer. This player character was one of my main concerns going into SP2; it is such a major departure from the original game’s concept. Yet, having seen how it’s been implemented firsthand, I can now confidently say this is a great feature and was a smart move by the developers. After testing out the game’s default vehicles and their showcasing of the game’s new features - the new wings with built-in flaps, the targeting pods, the improved aerodynamic simulation system which results in far more believable handling qualities. These are all marked improvements over the previous game; but they are not the game’s most impressive feature. It was time for the real test: Backwards compatibility. Some creations made for the original SimplePlanes are absolutely stunning, such as this bushplane by TheCatBaron As advertised, players would be able to import creations from the previous game into SP2 - a huge deal, since there are literally thousands of them. But with core systems such as the aerodynamic simulation changed in this new game, I wondered how they would behave - it’s no use being able to import a design from SP1 if it is completely non-functional, after all. I open up SimplePlane’s website and look at my creations: Uploaded six years ago. It’s been that long? Holy smokes. I should be worried about this thing’s compatibility with the latest SP1 updates, let alone SP2! I reckon if this works in the new game, anything will. What shall be my airframe of choice for this stress test? My eyes immediately turn their gaze to the most cursed option available - the asymmetric S. Ca. 163 Quimera. It’s got a bunch of custom systems made from SP1 parts - custom landing gear, custom cannon, custom missiles. Most importantly, it is an affront to basic aircraft design principles, has very temperamental handling characteristics, and had several quirks even in its original game. In other words: it’s perfect. Behold. my most adorable abomination! With a certain degree of hesitation, I load it into SimplePlanes 2. It loads into the game’s aircraft editor - immediately, SP2’s new shaders means it looks better than it did in SP1. But will it fly? I take the clumsy bird to the runway, throttle up, rotate… and an ear to ear grin grows on my face. Lo and behold, the imported aircraft work great! Sure, there are a few quirks with very complex designs, but overall, craft imported from SP1 behave just like they did in their native installment. It lives! Look at how happy it is! This is, to me, the very best feature of SimplePlanes 2 ; considering so many of the systems (aerodynamics, construction) are either brand new or thoroughly revamped, it would have been far easier for the developers to just make it a completely separate game. But instead, they deliberately took the extra effort to make the game backwards compatible with the legacy systems of SP1, allowing players to enjoy their old creations alongside SP2’s new toys. This decision highlights the passion the developers have for this project, and the regard in which they hold the community which has formed around their game; it acknowledges the thousands of creations players have made, and shows respect and admiration for the thousands of collective hours spent on them. Instead of being relegated to obsolescence, all of these little products of human creativity are now given a second chance to shine in a brand new stage. I cannot overstate how praiseworthy this is; it is rare to see developers put this much care into acknowledging player’s effort and time, let alone making sure virtually all content from their previous game gets carried over to the sequel. Well done, Jundroo. Airliners, Airships, and Armageddon Unlike its predecessor, SimplePlanes 2 features multiplayer support from the get-go , without any need for mods - and I was very surprised to see it already implemented in this demo. Could use an ATC feature though, I'm not sure this is FAA compliant... Flying your creations (or the standard craft) alongside your friends in SimplePlanes is great - there is nearly unlimited potential for all sorts of silliness and debauchery. For this purpose, SimplePlanes allows you to create private lobbies, from which you can invite your friends via Steam. However, public lobbies are also a thing. What happens when you give people nearly unlimited creative power, weapons which can be XML edited to have ridiculous stats , and the opportunity to use these tools against their fellow humans in a virtual environment? Average day on an SP2 multiplayer server. It doesn’t take a lot of thinking to conclude the answer is pure, utter and unbridled chaos, with so many megatons of explosives being dropped each minute it’d make MacArthur blush. There’s also the players with absurdly overpowered spaceships with auto-aim insta-kill lasers - although admittedly it was fun hunting them down with a bog standard 4th generation fighter. So why on earth would you want to play multiplayer SP2 in a public lobby? Well, because if you happen to come across some people who aren’t solely looking for a power trip, there’s cool interactions to be had. Jundroo knew this would happen, which is why lobby owners can select the “Peaceful Mode” option, which disables weapon damage. Ill-intentioned players can still ram others, or just be a nuisance by causing huge explosions which drop everyone’s frame rate, but these cases can be easily dealt with by kicking the offending players from the lobby. Escorting a Mriya flown by a random player online. In the few hours I spent in peaceful public lobbies, I flew formations with complete strangers, landed a pre-WWI aircraft on top of another player’s sci-fi spaceship carrier, buzzed a player who was drifting their car in the touge-like circuit of the woodlands, and generally got to see a plethora of different vehicles I would have never seen otherwise. The future meets the past: I coordinated this landing with the ship's owner, which walked out to meet me. Another noteworthy feature is the event system - players can start events such as races (both for cars and aircraft), team deathmatches, and even co-op combat events, such as intercepting AI bombers or fighting against an invasion of AI mechs. Get that Gundam out of here, air power is still king! These events can be started both in single and multiplayer, and in the latter case players who do not opt into the event won’t be affected by it. In my opinion, this is a great way to implement this system and I’m eager to see what new events show up in the final product! When in an event, participating players on your team turn blue on the HUD. Outside the Test Envelope Let’s talk about some of the features which were not yet available in the demo, because there are some pretty big items on the list. The first and biggest of them all is the in-game builder itself. In the demo, players were able to access a pretty good selection of default/example vehicles, as well as import creations from SP1; however, all builder features were disabled, meaning there was no way to try out the new parts and building system of the new game. This leaves a lot of questions open: how similar (or different) is it to the original? Are crafts made in SP1 editable in SP2, and if so, how easy will it be to retrofit them with SP2’s new wings, for instance? And most importantly, how on earth did they make the demo aircraft look so beautifully smooth? So smooth! And then there’s the new wings. SP2 uses a completely new wing modelling system, as described in the game’s news hub. This should, in theory, make it a lot easier to get the shape and look you want, without employing the various subterfuges which were necessary in SP1; but crucially, the physics modelling has also been rebuilt from scratch. The new system features a vastly improved drag model; and now accounts for things such as spanwise lift distribution, induced drag (with the associated wingtip vortices!), and control surface moments - which alongside accounting for the effects of flap deployment on the wing’s Cl-Alpha curve, means we finally get flaps which actually work like flaps! All of this sounds very exciting, and has been extensively documented and explained by the developers in their dev blog - a fact I greatly appreciate - and we were indeed able to get a small taste of this new system with the game’s preset aircraft. However, in the demo, this system was a black box - you could not modify or create new wings, so just what new possibilities will be opened by this new implementation are yet unknown. Finally, there’s the new engines and transmission systems. They are now simulated in much greater detail, which should improve the immersion and fidelity of car designs. Players will be able to change the number of cylinders, their sizes, and other such configurations; again, we weren’t able to play around with this, but the game’s default cars do suggest this system is implemented and working. The base game sports car is pretty fun to drive around! The long-time reader may have had a sense of déjà vu with SP2’s new wing and engine systems; and that would be no coincidence, because the procedural systems used for them are a lot similar to what Flyout has implemented (at least on the user-facing end). And thus, the big question is: How easy (or not) will these new systems be to use? While they offer players a lot of new options to play with, SimplePlanes’ greatest strength has so far been its relative simplicity: it strikes a balance between Aviassembly’s casual gameplay and Flyout’s aerospace engineering freshman complexity. It is very approachable at first, and becomes as intricate as your creativity allows. Flyout has also arguably already captured the more hardcore, super-in-depth audience for aircraft building games (a niche within a niche!). It’ll be interesting to see the direction SimplePlanes 2 ultimately takes in this respect. Conclusions When it was first launched, SimplePlanes was criticized for its flat graphics and lack of personality. In other words, it didn’t truly feel like a game; and while I’d argue the community that formed around it is proof that the game found its niche and the early critics missed the point, SimplePlanes 2 does feel like a welcome injection of game-iness into the original concept. With its renewed visuals, charming soundtrack, and lovingly crafted terrain and buildings, the game has a much more interesting atmosphere than the original; and the built-in multiplayer system gives players a whole new dimension to explore that world in. If SimplePlanes 1 was more like an engineering proof-of-concept, SimplePlanes 2 seems to be shaping up to become its final product, the result of a decade of user feedback and developers’ work. The effort and passion the developers have poured into this game is evident, and the retrocompatibility with SP1 ensures the new game can tap into an entire decade of the collective playerbase’s efforts in content. Even though the demo’s gameplay was limited, and some of the new features remain to be seen, it was enough to give the impression SimplePlanes 2 will be what so many sequels fail to: Just like the first one, except better. 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 .

Appreciating a DCS World Content Creator As we mentioned roughly a week ago , the former "Creator Highlight" series here on Skyward Flight Media focused on discussing content creators making flight related content is being revamped. As we find our way forward with the series, including searching for a new series name, we take a look at by far one of my favorite Digital Combat Simulator content creators, Venom Cinematic . Without naming names here, for anyone that has watched DCS gameplay video for a few years now, there is a certain pattern that is followed. Well scripted cinematic videos crafted to show the in-combat actions of a specific aircraft or long casual livestreams that last a few hours. This makes creators that have a different variety to their content rather appealing if you know what you are looking at. Within the last six months or so, Venom Cinematic has been hitting that sweet spot in DCS World content for me. May 9, 2025 This YouTube channel started posting videos as early as May 2022. During the first year of its operation, you could tell that the two reoccurring personalities, one of them being named 'Venom', were relatively new to DCS, but quite invested in learning more about the simulator and jumping into player vs player (PVP) multiplayer servers. While there was a minor variation in content in the beginning as the direction their channel would take, by the time the YouTube channel reached 1000 subscribers on September 7th, 2022, it seemed like more traditionally edited gameplay videos would be the main focus of the channel. Venom Cinematic once had active profiles on Twitch, Twitter, TikTok and Instagram between 2022 to 2024, but while those gradually ebbed and flowed Venom decided to gradually shut those down while maintaining activity on the YouTube channel and letting himself be found in Discord servers attached to DCS multiplayer servers he frequents. Why is that? Who can say. Venom Cinematic has certainly found success in their current video format and approach within the DCS world online community. For example, the first video from this content creator that caught my attention was an official pre-release preview video for the Heatblur F-4E Phantom II for Digital Combat Simulator. A major achievement for a creator of this size. May 17th, 2024 Objectively speaking, this was a notable product preview video as it was not a clinical clickthrough of every switch in the cockpit, but a high energy demonstration of a Pilot and Radar Intercept Officer flying and fighting in the aircraft with live communication, working the instruments as needed to survive and win. At a glance a majority of the videos up to 2024 focused on fixed-wing fighter operations on well-known DCS World multiplayer servers like BlueFlag, BuddySpike, Contention, Enigma's Cold War Server (now Heatblur Simulations Cold War Server), Grayflag, Growling Sidewinder and Tempest's Blue Flash to name a few. What I appreciate is how Venom Cinematic shows experienced, expert level flying in the simulator, while being able to communicate in required brevity for air operations in multiplayer and use casual commentary in between. All in videos much shorter than livestream VODs; between 7 minutes to 30 minutes depending on the video. November 1st, 2025 However, Venom is also fully capable of flying more than just the newest fixed-wing fighter added to the sim. Venom is competent enough to fly missions with multiple different types of aircraft. From Cold War era sweethearts to slightly more unusual aircraft for the simulator like the JF-17 Thunder. It is great to have variety. October 20th, 2025. Further adding to the variety is other people that appear in his videos are either players known to him or complete strangers he works wish to finish the task at hand. This leads to some pretty interesting combinations of aircraft working together. This is exemplified in the videos where Venom is utilizing rotary-wing aircraft working alongside fast jets and combined arms vehicles. Venom is one of the few DCS content creators out there still producing engaging videos of the OH-58 scout helicopter. March 3rd, 2025. Today Venom Cinematic has an engaging blend of well edited gameplay footage from online servers or some limited scenario PVE co-op missions that now incorporates cinematic camera views you would expect from amazing set pieces from other content creators that only make heavliy scripted, mini-movie style videos. Shoutout to Venom for finding their way and keeping the variety going! Connect with 'Venom Cinematic' Instagram YouTube Linktree 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 interview with a proliphic VRChat aviation creator! Over the past three years, VRChat has become an unlikely hub for some aviation enthusiasts thanks to the release SaccFlight, a vehicle system made by Sacchan that enabled users to make properly usable aircraft without coding knowledge. That being said, that does not mean that some creators haven't pushed the limits of the system to their limits. Some have created 3D models of original aircraft designs, some have tried making ridiculously complex fictional aircraft, and others have pushed for a more realistic flight sensation despite the limitations of the system. Today's interviewee, VTail, falls on the latter category. He has pushed the limits of what can be done with SaccFlight to build one of the most interesting aircraft ever made with this system. Hello, thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to speak with us. Please introduce yourself to our readers.  Hello, and thank you for having me. My name's VTail. I am a VRChat world creator and photographer affiliated with a VRChat aviation community called the Black Aces. How did your interest in aviation begin?  My interest in aviation started practically as early as I was born. My father has been an airline pilot for longer than I’ve been alive, and his job and interests ended had a big influence growing up. As I grew older into middle and high school my interest in aviation waned while I was extremely occupied with classes, and it wouldn’t be until the Covid lockdowns where I began to regain that interest. Before becoming a VRChat Aviation world creator, did you have previous game related projects?  Yes I did, back between 2018 and 2019, I spent a lot of my free time learning about the Source Engine and making game maps for Garry’s Mod using the Hammer Editor. I worked on countless files, but only ever publicly released a handful of them. The first ones I made were not that good, but I’d say I ended up making decent maps by the time I stopped developing them. Beyond that however, I went into creating VRC flight worlds blind from a development standpoint. How did you become involved with VRChat?  I began to play VRChat back in the middle of 2017 when I purchased an Oculus Rift CV1. While I had owned early development kits, I hadn’t been too interested in VR by the time the first full VR setups were entering the market. It wasn’t until my brother bought his own CV1 and let me try it out, as well as playing VRChat on desktop, that I then changed my mind. When I first got into the game using VR, I only knew the bare basics on how to upload poorly rigged avatars, and just hung around as a mute. But within the month I was talking with new friends and learning more about Unity and how to create content for the game. You made your first VRCA test world in April 2021. Using the SaccFlight prefab , what were some of the challenges you experienced while experimenting with flight on this platform?  I learned of SaccFlight and plane worlds during a short period of time playing the game again after playing very intermittently. While meeting up with an old friend, they showed me Zweikaku’s F-14 world, and I was so impressed that I wanted to make a flight world as well. When I worked on that first test world though, it was admittedly a lot of trial and error and banging rocks together learning both SaccFlight, and making VRChat worlds as a whole. Beyond Sacchan’s Test Pilots world and Zweikaku’s carrier world existing, I did not know a whole community existed, and I was too nervous to ask either creator for help solving issues with making the planes work. That left me practically flying blind so to speak figuring out how to make a flight world, with just Sacchan’s own documentation file. Thankfully it documented everything on how to set up the prefab, and explained what each variable did to the plane’s handling. After tinkering for almost 2 months, I had several planes flying around in a basic world before losing interest in VRChat for several months. You could say that your first major exposure in the VRCA community as a whole was the Black Aces March 2022 showcase for Russian designed aircraft. Thinking back, do you have any thoughts on it?  It was certainly a lot to process at the time and pretty nerve wracking. When I was given the chance to work on a showcase, it was more so because there was no other creator who had the capacity to make a showcase for that month. I had just released my second world a month prior, but I still was relatively new and felt self-obligated to work on the showcase, if not there wouldn’t have been one that month. Thankfully with collaboration with world creators Non and RaptorItasha, we assembled a showcase world with a really interesting lineup of soviet-era aircraft. But from the moment the event started to the group photo at the end, I was nervous, worried that I had missed something important that would only surface during the actual event. Thankfully, everything ran smoothly without a hitch. Speaking of the Black Aces, you have worked with them for quite a while as the official photographer. Your penchant for large dimension, high resolution photos from both the air and ground is certainly your calling card.  Photography in VRChat is something I almost love more than making flight worlds. Unlike real life, you don’t need thousands of dollars of camera bodies and lenses, just lots of practice, a keen eye, and timing. For me, I love to take photos of planes and events that not just capture the moment, but show the action, the story, or the beauty behind what it is I’m taking a picture of. For each event, there are upwards of 500+ photos I end up taking, and out of all of those, I usually end up getting about 20 photos that I’d consider good. This large amount of files was from lots of experimenting with angles, zoom, focus to create photos that really capture the action. Your most current project, and one that has been in the works for the past 13 months, is the F-14A -Naval Interceptor- world. How has this development journey been for you so far, and which difficulties have you encountered? Developing this world has been nothing short of a rollercoaster. Initially the original scope and concept behind the world was just like any other flight world you would find on VRChat, only with nicer visuals. I figured I didn’t need to properly plan out development like I had done in my previous world since I expected the project to be done in a matter of two to three months. Very quickly however the project ballooned out of scope, with many additional features on the planes and the world itself. Along with the nightmare of trying to wrangle the project together, I ended up in a semi-burnout phase five to six months in, where the overall development crawled to a slow halt. At that point, I’d say at least seventy five percent of what was in the world at launch was completed, but all the small features I wanted to add made meaningful progression quite a mess. It wasn’t until other creators (thankfully) urged me to release the world by the end of the year. With two months left to get the world into a polished state for release, I started to shift development to get the world into a usable state as a normal flight world, then plan updates for the world with all the additions for the future. Of all aircraft you could have chosen after you were done with your Viggen Project, you chose the F-14A. Are there any particular reasons why you chose this aircraft? After finishing the Viggen flight world, I wanted to make another world with the same level of detail or more, but with a more recognizable aircraft. Out of a list of three aircraft I put actual consideration into, it just ended up being the F-14A. Mainly because there was so much about the tomcat that could be done in VRChat that hadn’t been done before. I wanted to try things that hadn’t been seen in a VRC flight world visually or under the hood, and using an aircraft filled with quirks and intricate nuances seemed like the perfect option. Your F-14A might be one of the most complete aircraft ever brought to VRChat, with its plethora of systems and features, but what distinguishes it from other ones?  There are various features that either set the F-14A above the average flight world, and some that allow the plane to stand out amongst everything else available. A lot of care went into the sound design, with a whole system to muffle audio when inside an interior or another plane, being the first flight world to do so. Between fellow VRC world designer Sournetic, various effects like fire, smoke, and explosions were enhanced, while additionally new effects were introduced, such as heat distortion, engine exhaust, contrails, and more that are rare to see in VRChat. With the help of another VRC creator, Zhakami Zhako, each gauge in the cockpit works, the yaw string moves around, and in a future update, even the radar will work. But the plane isn’t just all looks, even the way the plane flies is also significantly different than other worlds. Beyond the flight values that are tuned for a ‘sim-lite’ experience, chunks of Sacchan’s original code were completely rewritten to suit my needs. The biggest example was how the original way SaccFlight calculated thrust and afterburner was extremely arcade-like, so I overhauled the thrust system to allow for a more accurate thrust calculation, and stages of afterburner to progress through to reach full output. Another system overhauled was the original code that handled overstressing the aircraft. Now instead of simply losing health and exploding, pulling way harder than the airframe was designed for could result in the wings ripping off, turning your aircraft into a burning meteor. Developing complex systems that interact with Sacchan’s SaccFlight prefab was not an easy task. Which systems did you manage to implement on your F-14A? Along with the revised code for thrust and over g systems, one feature that is entirely new I coded in was a wing sweep system. Traditionally, wing sweep on planes in VRChat was purely visual and just tied to the airspeed of the aircraft, it never actually meant anything in terms of flight handling or characteristics. I designed a system that not only modifies how the plane flies based on wing angle, but implements the ability for a player to switch between an automatic wing sweep control, to a manual one if they so chose to. I wish I could tell you the reason I did something admittedly overly-complex like this, especially since most players will never touch the wing sweep, but it’s there. Most players probably wouldn’t realize it does affect flying, until they realize having their wings swept forward prohibits them from going supersonic. While a system like that makes perfect sense for any flight game, such effects have not been done on a VRChat flight world until now. You are known for adding more flight simulation like features to your aircraft. What is your inspiration for this?  I was mostly inspired by the large selection of flight games currently available to play such as War Thunder and DCS. While SaccFlight in its basic form was meant to resemble arcade-like flying, I felt like by adding sim-like features, it would make flying in VRChat more diverse and interesting. Even if a SaccFlight plane is made correctly, without either extensive tuning to the flight values or extra features being coded in, most planes end up feeling the same besides speed, armament, and turn rates. But by doing such tuning and adding those features, it makes each plane feel more unique or interesting to fly because there’s so many differences than the usual plane.  What are some of the features in your worlds that you are most proud of?  Definitely the visuals and audio are the elements I’m proud of the most. Despite being superficial at the end of the day under normal circumstances, in my perspective, visuals and audio are extremely important in VR. It’s a fine balance between performance and visuals, but making something that people see and just are stunned by the visuals from the planes, the clouds, the sunrises and sunsets, and above all else, the visceral feeling of flying these planes, that is what I am proud of. Does your approach to world building and creating custom flight characteristics make the development process longer than the average VRCA world process?  Unfortunately it most certainly does. Putting aside my own perfectionist view of what I work on, there are several things that I do that naturally increase development time. One of the largest time sinks during development is everything else but the planes in a world. Traditionally, the terrain of a world is one of the last things thrown in with little thought beyond where the runway is. I however feel that the terrain the planes fly around is as important as the planes themselves, and for better or for worse, take lots of time planning out the terrain for worlds, the design of the airfields, etc. And once I start working on integrating or coding new systems into worlds to suit a plane’s niche functions, naturally the longer the development will take. But in the end I feel like all the extra work is worth it. Thank you for your time with this interview. We appreciate it. Is there anything you would like to say to our viewers in closing? Thank you again for inviting me to talk about my VRChat flight worlds, and what goes on behind the scenes during development. It has been now a multi-year passion, and I want to continue and improve upon it for many more. There’s plenty in store for the F-14 world down the line, along with future worlds that are currently on the drawing board, so keep an eye out! 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

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

A Critical Eye of a Series Classic I’m not sure you could make Ace Combat 04 today.  Ace Combat 04 (2001) is an axiomatic military techno-thriller wrapped in a character documentary; a time capsule of a popular interpretation of western military organization and professionalism put through an obsessive Japanese lens surrounded by the post-postmodern framing of a classic war movie. A melting pot of Allied heroism of World War II powered by the echoes of post-Gulf War UN Coalition victory and a recent historical Cold War lens. It hearkens to a time when right made might. But does this even vibe with today’s post-truth forever wars? With Ace Combat’s hell-bent insistence on a postmodern bend through what now makes up the vast majority of its chronology, the classical interpretations of 04 not only feel dated and quaint, it almost seems alien. It feels so distant now that it’s hard to believe we could have ever related to its sincerity. In fact, it seems bizarre to believe that this game was the one that launched the Strangereal universe we follow today. The AC04 Project had its work cut out for it to come off the heels of Ace Combat 3 (1999). Neutered in its export release, it took a few years for the internet to mature for us to understand what we missed in that drop. But for what we had in our hands, it was… kinda strange. Even today it still acts as much its own game outside of its series and can be appreciated as a singular entity. It’s a rather strong (if derivative) cyberpunk postulate disguised as a war game. If we were to be realistic about this game’s western demographic skewing younger than the “teen” ESRB rating would have wanted, Ace Combat 3 probably wasn’t very accessible by the majority of its players. That would change with Ace Combat 04. The 2000 TGS trailer presents a bleak but familiar setting, panning over what you learn to be Newfield Island while a static-stricken pair of aviators speak through. Modern-day aircraft cut through the air as the high-energy trailer unfolds and the music rises in what resonates in desperation while the AWACS and pilot vector to engagement. A flash of light at the end and a receding shot of Anderson Crater, delivering the backdrop of a planet rocked by a cataclysmic event and foreshadowing the world-class visual storytelling to come. It could probably be surmised that Ace Combat 04 was developed in the zeitgeist of the World War II shooters of the time, with the cinematic and story-driven Medal of Honor defining the atmosphere. Project Aces would dip into this type of inspiration many times over the next few years with varying levels of success. UI/UX Design The acuity of Ace Combat 04’s aesthetic delivers an emulsification of digital and analog presentation, almost as though they recognized the end of an oncoming era. On a CRT of the time, the artificial scan lines and faded colors presented a traditional warmth in sharp contrast with Electrosphere. There’s no flash of action here. Just simple options to select, and a muted backdrop. The range of cool blues meet a digital teletype font that feels straight out of the movie WarGames . The distinctive sound of a thrashing hard drive and a flash lamp powering up for each briefing across a simple lined overlay and vector-inspired map invokes a well-equipped but aging technological atmosphere. Music The motif of the Independent State Allied Forces is presciently represented in just about every piece of music that the game presents. The ISAF theme proper itself presents in a triumphant symphony during the introduction of the war’s catalyst, properly driving home the importance of the military alliance that you fight to defend and avenge. Sitting Duck takes the theme and within the short time you hear it provides a trifecta of atmosphere, combining a down tempo electronic/brass introduction and a desperate cadence as it climaxes into a high action guitar. Motifs continue to play an important role in story immersion, with Stonehenge’s theme prominent whenever you are threatened by the turret network’s onslaught in the early game. The theme proper makes an explosive entrance in mission 12, never letting up on the horror of the machination that you are there to destroy. The music expands beyond the tactical into the strategic—once you’ve turned the tide, Second Strike blankets your briefings going forward, injecting fresh energy into the offensive phase of the war. Each time it fires up it enhances the power fantasy that the game builds to with your avatar. The game concludes with the epic symphony and choir of Agnus Dei, revisiting the ISAF motif for a penultimate time in such a massive cacophony that it may not immediately be identifiable to the untrained ear. It succeeds in spades no matter your decision to extend the fight in your engagement with Yellow Squadron or to desperately remove the final Ulysses threat from your fragile victory in Farbanti. Cutscenes It’s remarkable how serious Ace Combat 04 presents its story and its hard to explain how respectful the game treats its outlook on war. Devoid of humor and drowning in melancholy, the intertwining story and themes presented in the narrative interludes weaves brilliantly with Mobius One’s airborne exploits. The hand-drawn, hand-colored illustrations that chronicle the Continental War are presented in the style of a graphic novel while the audio, reminiscent of a radio drama with vocal narration peppered with an effective sound set, follow the experiences of the narrator living as a child in an Erusian occupied San Salvacion. From the first moment we are taken into a very consequential world—kicking the story off with an understated personal tragedy and an enigmatic vow. It carries a quote that is also rather profound:  “War was an abstract idea, nothing more than a show on TV … something that happened in a faraway land.”  Obvious perhaps, but almost deliberately understated. It sets the tone going forward so presciently.  Each cutscene carries purpose and vision, often expressed with poetic resolve. The narration’s gloomy tone never lets up, yet never feels melodramatic or boring. This presentation is world-class, and is just as fitting as a standalone story that remains under-appreciated for video games in the present day, let alone during its own time. It carries multiple themes of resistance, capitulation, self-doubt, and resilience. It slowly interweaves your actions into the story about one-third of the way through as Yellow 13 calls you out, and your actions start having more direct consequences by the halfway point when you down his trusted wingman. This trickle of narrative interplay is key to the atmosphere of the game and carries half the weight of the power fantasy build up that encompasses the mythos of Mobius One—you. The Heroic Ace  Ace Combat 04 introduced the now ‘series standard’ concept of the player becoming a heroic ace pilot in a modern battlefield. In Ace Combat 1 (1995) and Ace Combat 2, we play as barely referred to mercenary forces, who even in the final stages of these games, are not receiving direct name appreciation. The full story of Ace Combat 3 is an abstract concept removed from a traditional war setting with players playing as an artificial intelligence named ‘Nemo’ (Greek for “Nobody”). While their actions impacted the story they were really more of a pawn in an elaborate plot than anything else.  It is not until Ace Combat 04 that the name brand hero tradition begins. Whether it was the silent burning admiration of an opposing squadron or friendly rifleman yelling over the radio in celebration, the ‘legendary’ Mobius One was known to be flying above the battlefield. This same pilot would go on to appear in future releases as easter eggs and standalone game modes in future Ace Combat games. All player controlled protagonists after Ace Combat 04 would be built around common plot points that take them from relatively unknown individuals to known by name heroes that were the sole deciding factor in the ultimate outcome of a war.  While that is great for Ace Combat and the “Ace-like” genre the series has spawned, these days, even the World War coded concept of ace pilots being public facing figures changing the tide of battle and inspiring nations is lost in the modern perception of armed conflict. For example, the same weekend the Ghost of Kyiv was introduced as a staunch defender of Ukrainian skies in 2022, it could be seriously argued that the international view of the existence of such a pilot on a modern battlefield was never fully accepted as fact. It just seemed impossible today. However, when we turn to movies and generation defining flight games like Ace Combat, the belief of the war winning, ode worthy ace pilot still outshines the reality of the conditions such a pilot would exist in.  Control and Gameplay Ace Combat 04 is a return to tradition away from Ace Combat 3, taming turning recoil to such a degree and restoring complete analog control that the only limitations to your capability are yours and yours alone. With a limited selection of aircraft available to you each aircraft feels properly unique in the way it handles. Turn rates have just enough variety as you advance through your hangar selection that you will want to advance your collection. However, roll rates in late-model aircraft will feel exaggerated, with complete rolls being possible in what feels like a split second. Combined together, as mobility stats increase, aircraft tend to exhibit a prominent tailslide which can betray you in a low-altitude pull, with the Su-37 being egregious in this regard. However, between a combination of the modest acceleration and a working low-speed angle-of-attack physics you’ll find that it almost grants you passive post-stall mechanic. The analog triggers of the PlayStation 2 are in full display here, granting fine control of both throttle and yaw. This is best demonstrated when performing carrier ops, where careful manipulation of the throttle provides a modest simulation of a flared nose on takeoff and landing. Though there are clear flaws in the handling mechanics of Ace Combat 04, it retains a unique character that merges Newtonian flight mechanics with arcade feel in ways that no release that followed it provides. All this comes together to provide the familiar gameplay loop we’re used to. The refinement of it perhaps--though Ace Combat 2 defined the base mechanics that we’re used to, Ace Combat 04 solidified it, providing the combination of aircraft, secondary weapon, and livery that persists throughout the series and it’s contemporaries. Mission Design It would be hard to explain that the cliché of the back from the brink bomber intercept didn’t exist in quite the same way as it does today. At the time, Sitting Duck was breathtaking. If you subscribe to the interpretation that Ace Combat 04 is actually a soft reboot of Ace Combat 2 (1997), the implications are self-evident; a graphics and sound uplift rivaling that of the new generation of fidelity that the Playstation 2 represented over it’s predecessor. Combined with the desperation of the muted color palette, music, and voiceovers, what is effectively a simple tutorial mission becomes a perfect jump point for the story. This extends into Imminent Threat, which provides a soft but comprehensive familiarization for ground attack mechanics and a chance to use the secondary weapon that was teased to you in the hanger. It also presents a subtle but important detail of the thought put into what each mission represents tactically. Take out the substation, Mobius One. Deep Strike is still unparalleled in how it hid the fact that it is the representation of the typical canyon strike mission that remains a staple of the flight arcade genre. It also subverts the genre in that it provides story-based context for why you can’t exceed the altitude of the canyon walls as Stonehenge unleashes its fury against you and your comrades. All this wrapped within a rational mission objective that is actually quite satisfying to practice your gun marksmanship on. Comona remains the pinnacle of arcade furballs and has not yet been succeeded, despite valiant efforts in every game following. Fast paced with multiple objectives, its all-air-to-air, all-the-time, with only the most skilled players succeeding in clearing the map of threats. Backed by a screaming rock guitar and offering a plentiful array of targets, this remains the Ace Combat standby for a no-holds barred de facto air skirmish mode. These mission types build upon themselves as the missions go on. One could probably make the argument that Ace Combat 04 is the only video game ever made where the escort mission archetype is actually entertaining to play, though it’s something of an escort-in-name-only as even modest skill will keep your charge from falling to the enemy. Admittedly the mission Broken Arrows might be the only low point in mission design, being both the most egregious filler mission, though still strategically sound for the campaign as a whole. It’s a frustrating tail chase against cruise missiles that bleeds frustration rather than fun. Though it traces its roots back to Ace Combat 2’s late-game missile chase, this is one homage that should have probably stayed tabled. The Death of the Rational War     In the modern day, particularly from a Western perspective, the ISAF almost seems hyper-competent, and unapologetically so. Each mission’s reason and purpose is clearly communicated during each tightly packed briefing. Any wartime concept the player might be unfamiliar with is laconically described and actually seems to require a novice understanding of real-world military strategy. ISAF pilots and ground forces seem highly competent and well-motivated to perform the missions required of them. The grand strategy to eliminate Stonehenge and advance on Farbanti is layered out and each tactical objective seems to lead into it. There’s no in-flight questioning of the politics of the banner you’re fighting under, just what feels like a unified fight to stop the Erusian war machine.     Whether it’s the explanation that Operation Bunker Shot is required due to Stonehenge covering any possible port landing sites or the push to interdict enemy petrochemical supply lines while covering your own alliance’s build out of space-based intelligence operations, the ISAF’s push into the mainland after the destruction of Stonehenge feels justified and satisfying. Something that doesn’t seem to carry over to later parts of this series. At one time it was said that the general banter in Ace Combat 5 (2004) wouldn’t be tolerated due to its politically charged, over-explained, emotionally-driven dialogue. It was “unrealistic” compared to its predecessor.  Perhaps in today’s geopolitical climate the opposite is now true. It would be extremely naïve to think that Ace Combat 04 is nothing but romantic in its portrayal of warfare. Actual combat, no matter what nation partakes, in the air and on the ground, is messy and filled with confusion and chaos. But there was a vestigial aura left over from news, movies, radio, and books that portrayed well-coordinated and well-communicated tactics and strategy from wars fought in the 20th century--A time when wars between powers were as much battles of wit, chivalry, conventions, treaties, and science. A time when wars actually… ended. Looking back on any real-world conflict with rose-tinted glasses probably eschews nothing but privilege, but from the perspective of “the show on TV” that Ace Combat 04 intuitively touches upon, it’s hard to see the action and dialogue in Ace Combat 04 resonating with a young person who might only have experience and memories of a post GWOT-world. Ace Combat 04’s greatest strength and greatest weakness is the swan song that is the portrayal of warfare as a series of rational actions. Even with the interplay between the homefront portrayed in the cutscenes, it can’t help but feel like Ace Combat 04 is now unrelatable. About the Writer T.J. "Millie" Archer T.J. "Millie" Archer is Life-long realist and aviation enthusiast. Once the co-founding Administrator of the Electrosphere.info English Ace Combat Database. In the present day he is freelance, roving the internet in search of the latest aviation news and entertainment. [ Read Staff Profile ]

On October 18th, 2025, Skyward Flight Media posted its 500th release. Founded on March 24th, 2020, this organization has truly come a long way. As we reached and passed this milestone (the article you are reading now is our 503rd release), we take a moment to look back at some of the notable points in our journey so far. Decision Height The organization that preceded Skyward Flight Media was named Project Lighthouse (2017-2019). This community was created with a focus on all things about the Ace Combat series from Bandai-Namco. After two years of operation, there would occasionally be content created about games outside of that series, but not in a substantial way. Project Lighthouse would secure two pivotal interviews in 2019 that would begin a shift in how the content creation branch of that organization would approach future efforts. Their first indie game interview with Johan Persson from Muddy Pixel, developer of Worlds At War and Ace Combat Series Brand Director Kazutoki Kono at PAX South 2019 during the launch weekend of Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown. Finally having the potential to be recognized as a media entity in a more substantial way, the rebranding in 2020 would be influenced by these two interviews. The new organization, Skyward Flight Media, would become highly diverse in the type of content it would create within the flight game and simulation genre with a more standard game journalism style approach. Frecce Tricolori Virtuali A major part of defining the content the newly formed Skyward Flight Media would produce came from our coverage of the activities of Freccee Tricolori Virtuali . In May 2020, our interviews with this virtual air demo team was our first major coverage of content related to Digital Combat Simulator by Eagle Dynamics. While discussing airshow flying and aircraft module development on this platform, our connection with certain individuals that founded IndiaFoxtEcho would also lead to future coverage of their modules in DCS and Microsoft Flight Simulator in the future. Our work with Freccee Tricolori Virtuali would kickstart our Digital Combat Simulator coverage, which would act as a sort of "counterweight" to our still noticeable Ace Combat series focus within the first 10 months of our foundation. Creator Highlight Month 2022 While 2021 was mostly spent trying new types of content, monitoring audience reception, adjusting our social media trends and refining creative processes, one of our defining moments in 2022 was Creator Highlight Month . CHM was a new effort to start covering content creators that interacted with simulated flight operations on their own media channels. The mixture of well-known video content creators and unusual developers successfully opened a new avenue of content. From that time forward discussion of content creators did start on Skyward Flight Media, albeit not in a reoccurring month-long series, but rather multiple single creator focused articles spread out over time. As of October 2025, the Creator Highlight concept is being reviewed for a potential restart as a formal, consistent series with an altered name to deconflict with another series on the website. VRChat Aviation: In Game and Beyond VRChat Aviation had a profound impact on Skyward as an organization and on an individual level. As an organization, our involvement with this subject started in 2020 during the height of COVID 19 lockdown as coverage of flight simulation in a rather unexpected place. Years later, Skyward has become a staple of airshows, tournaments and media coverage for aviation across the entire platform. This includes a level of ' virtual aircraft development ' by two members of the staff designing original aircraft and 3D modeling them from scratch to then fly them in various VRChat worlds. The personal connections with people we have met have spawned many new opportunities. Some of the VRChat focused world developers have started pursuing game development. One of the Skyward staff members found employment as a 3D modeler for an in-development flight game and government contract work. Another staff member has used their passion and skill as an aeronautical engineer to see some of their designs take to the virtual skies. Some of the partnerships Skyward has made on this platform have also created cross community events on other flight games and in-person meet ups. Flight Sim Expo Media Partnership Our involvement with Flight Sim Expo , North America's largest expo focused on flight simulation, was a huge move for us. By May 2021 Skyward Flight Media had found its footing with a rather eclectic mix of content focused on flight games and simulators. Wanting to further expand our content reach, Skyward made contact with the Flight Simulation Association and became a formal media partner for Flight Sim Expo. Since then, Skyward has made it a point to register for each event as media partners and attend as many of these events in person as possible. The experience of meeting so many individuals and companies within flight simulation has been a deeply impactful experience and has changed the way Skyward operates. Indie Highlight Series When deciding what the identity of Skyward Flight Media would be after the rebrand in 2019, we took note that other established flight focused media outlets focused at least 80% of their coverage on two to four flight simulators. Skyward then endeavored to establish itself as an indie flight game supportive platform from its first day of operation. Whether it was the smallest, one-off game created for a game jam or an indie game that reached game consoles, Skyward would be interested in covering it. Looking for a way to further increase our indie content rotation, the Indie Highlight Series was started on May 17th, 2025. The original concept for this series was to create compilation articles that would discuss many indie games per release. Each game mentioned receiving a paragraph or two of coverage within the articles. Release 001 followed this concept. Shortly after the series started discussions with Matthew "FlyAwayNow" Nguyen ( Project Wingman producer / co-writer , flight game focused producer) about his inclusion into the series began. An agreement was made to have FlyAwayNow join the Indie Highlight Series on July 21st, 2025, with a new focus on interviewing upcoming indie developers creating the next generation of flight games. To date, this has been one of the most successful content series in Skyward Flight Media's history. 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 ]