Rise of Flight

June 26, 2012 4:52 PM

Rise of Flight is a World War 1 combat flight simulator that focuses on historical accuracy, from realistic engine behavior, impressive damage modeling, and machine gun synchronization to generating historic dogfight scenarios based on the date. But to be honest, crashing is half the fun! Want a closer look? Check out GiantBomb's RoF Gameplay video or the Trailer.

You get the game (and a Spad and Albatross) for free, but you buy the other planes (and extra guns!) individually.

There are many tutorials on Youtube for skills and tactics, from how to take off and land, to working in tandem with other players. Once you start playing, you should probably learn how to Rope a Dope and Boom 'n' zoom

With the realism in the game comes ultra realism clubs. At the other end of the spectrum, there are servers for beginners only.

When you are finished learning the basic principles of flight, tactics and the basic mechanical stuff that are needed to keep in the fight, be sure to take some time to read books about that period, even watching documentaries will help give you crucial insight into the minds of those great men who blazed the trails of air combat with no prior frame of reference. Here is a link where you can download a nice bundle of books that were written in that period.

Also, be sure to check out The Aerodrome. This forum is a one stop shop for all things about WWI air combat, you are bound to find something that will come in handy (or just help you get immersed in the world and history)

posted by rebent (67 comments total)

My PayPal account just began to tremble in fear.
posted by mecran01 at 4:59 PM on June 26, 2012 [5 favorites]

"Servers for beginners only" should come with an asterisk, as that server is often frequented by people with many hundreds of hours of flight time who are trying to feel better about themselves.

Fortunately, MeFi's cousin, MeFghtClub has sessions every Friday night, (MeFight MeFlight Friday Night Rise of Flight Fight Night), that focus absolutely on the fun aspect and are very welcoming to new people who are just learning how ridiculous these moderately-powered flying lawnmowers are.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 5:07 PM on June 26, 2012 [11 favorites]

Looks like someone forgot about rules 1 and 2.
posted by zombieflanders at 5:08 PM on June 26, 2012 [4 favorites]

I read the first three words of this post and thought "I have to alert Mr. Bismarck." Good to see you're already here.
posted by boo_radley at 5:10 PM on June 26, 2012 [1 favorite]

RoF represent! I have been playing this since the Iron Cross edition was released. It's truly a mindblowing experience, if you like early aviation. I have been flying WW1 combat sims since the late 90s (starting with DoA 2.x) and am nowhere near mastery of the flight models in RoF. The sim also enables engine-management if you so schoose, a crucial component of the actual flight experience for these early birds. I'd settle for just getting my N17 up without a cracked left strut.

I went with a triple-head 3-monitor setup and trackir for viewpoint management but the Matrox did not support rotated screens, so I ended up going back to one screen with the trackir.

In fairness, it should be noted that in the late 90s I would invest five or six hours into a session several times a week and these days I'm lucky to have two hours a month to invest.
posted by mwhybark at 5:18 PM on June 26, 2012 [1 favorite]

what? MeFight club RoF night? MY PEOPLE! I HEAR YOUR VOICES OVER THE PISTONS!
posted by mwhybark at 5:19 PM on June 26, 2012 [4 favorites]

Watching the videos makes me want to buy a Windows machine just for this.

It also makes me glad we don't make airplane wings from fabric anymore.
posted by malocchio at 5:23 PM on June 26, 2012 [1 favorite]

It is moments like these that I am thankful to be old, married, and with young children. Because otherwise I would play the shit out of this game all day and all night. To use the technical term, this shit gives me a huge boner. I played WWI flying ace games on hex maps in the eighties, for fuck's sake. "Ace of Aces," the "dueling book" game, was an all-time favorite.

Jeebus, this thing looks amazing. If only I had the time and money to have stupid obsessions anymore. ARGH!
posted by Harvey Jerkwater at 5:31 PM on June 26, 2012 [11 favorites]

Oh god, I love it when Vinny, Drew and Dave do their hardcore-flight-sim quick looks. Definitely watch the A-10 Warthog simulator video for a good laugh or ten.
posted by chrominance at 5:34 PM on June 26, 2012 [2 favorites]

All the training you will need.
posted by Sys Rq at 5:36 PM on June 26, 2012 [2 favorites]

FYI fabric covered airplanes didn't disappear. You can buy a brand new one today.
posted by maniabug at 5:37 PM on June 26, 2012 [2 favorites]

You'll want the "Combat flight sim" thread on there, mwhybark.

We try to self balance, both by changing sides and changing planes - EIII vs HP400 yo! - and have no restrictions really. If you own it, you can fly it. Unless it's the Gotha. No one knows how to fly that.

The game is also really very pretty indeed.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 5:38 PM on June 26, 2012 [2 favorites]

I am a big enthusiast of this game, regardless of my unhoned skills.
There is a learning curve to the game, even just manning the guns, but give it a short while and you'll get that thrill of watching some pestering craft catch fire, it's pilot trying to wipe the oil from their goggles. Or who knows, you could find yourself gifted at flying these things, I cannot speak from that experience.

I enjoy playing single-player campaigns, but cherish the Friday night circuses.

Also, I have stocked up on a number of extra planes, mostly early era.
Also, I have some personalization packs, which give you MULTIPLE COLORED FLARES to harangue your enemies (and allies). Also, a streamer and a Colt 1911.

If you feel like this game is tickling your special parts, please feel free to reach out to me, and let me know your handle, and I will do my part to enhance your experience in some small way.

JOIN US.
posted by Busithoth at 5:39 PM on June 26, 2012 [1 favorite]

All I'm saying is, it's no Sopwith.
posted by bicyclefish at 5:40 PM on June 26, 2012 [4 favorites]

FYI fabric covered airplanes didn't disappear.

Oh, I've flown in one and it's perfectly safe, as long as bullets aren't ripping through them.
posted by malocchio at 5:40 PM on June 26, 2012 [1 favorite]

Now, of course, I'm pining for updates or reboots of Battle of Britain and Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe. Give up them trademarks, Lucasarts! You're just making innumerable Star Wars games anyway.
posted by zombieflanders at 5:44 PM on June 26, 2012

malocchio: "Oh, I've flown in one and it's perfectly safe, as long as bullets aren't ripping through them."

So, you know, caveat emptor and all.
posted by boo_radley at 5:44 PM on June 26, 2012 [1 favorite]

Oh, I've flown in one and it's perfectly safe, as long as bullets aren't ripping through them.

They're usually pretty safe even then - they're remarkably durable.

It's the bullets that are unsafe.

Way back when 3Com's website would direct you to recieve news and updates from their BBS (1-800 even!) I would play on Airwarrior's WWI arena with some frequency. I liked the knife fights in the dirt over the BnZ tactics that came to dominate in the late WWII areas.

If you're looking for another WWI/WWII flight sim, check out Aces High.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 5:49 PM on June 26, 2012 [1 favorite]

All I'm saying is, it's no Sopwith.

We have a little saying over on MeFightClub about the Sopwith Camel: Whenever you take off in a Camel, somebody is going to die. Occasionally it's even the enemy!

It has turned out to be my favorite plane in the game. It can turn as well or better than pretty much any other plane, but if you push it just a bit too hard it'll flip over or go into a spin. The rotary engine makes it even more exciting to fly.

Somewhat perversely, one of my other favorite planes is the previously mentioned Gotha G.V, which was built with an engine on each wing, and a rudder in the middle of the plane. Without any prop blast on the rudder, at low speeds the rudder is completely ineffective.

On the ground, you have to steer it with adverse yaw (by moving the stick in the "wrong" direction), which is... a bit difficult to get one's head around at times. The same adverse yaw makes it easy to get "stuck" in a steep turn, and you find you can only get out of it by releasing the stick and using rudder only to straighten it out.

All the planes have their own character like this, and of all the flight simulators I've used over the past couple of decades, Rise of Flight feels the most like you're flying a real flying machine.
posted by FishBike at 5:49 PM on June 26, 2012 [5 favorites]

Oh, god, I love this game. I should've known there was a MeFiteClub thing around it. I'll have to try and stop by this Friday!
posted by adamdschneider at 5:50 PM on June 26, 2012 [1 favorite]

So, does it work under crossover?
posted by pompomtom at 5:53 PM on June 26, 2012

*Glares at five-year-old computer, the one that had a crappy graphics card even when new. Sighs, goes back to playing Warlight*.
posted by zardoz at 5:55 PM on June 26, 2012 [1 favorite]

All right, I shouldn't have bagged on the canvas.
posted by malocchio at 5:59 PM on June 26, 2012 [2 favorites]

Aces High is helmed by some ex-lifers from the DoA era. I seem to recall that they set out to recreate the FMs from DoA 3.1 or 2.n which were lost when the publisher of DoA merged the codebase with Warbirds.

Fridays, eh? I better, uh, get on the stick.
posted by mwhybark at 6:03 PM on June 26, 2012

Ooh yessss. I bought this game for my son (yeah, that's the ticket! my son!) as part of our ongoing "what would happen if a 12-year old piloted this?" computer sim experiment. Last night he sucessfully landed a Handley-Page bomber, only to blow himself up by dropping his bombs on the runway.

Someday I'm going to have to commandeer the gaming rig and give it a shot myself. I tell him that in my day we had to play Richthofen's War after school.
posted by gamera at 6:40 PM on June 26, 2012 [1 favorite]

It makes sense, but it's still strange to see something billed as an ultra-realistic WWI combat simulation rated E10, while cartoon violence elsewhere is deemed adult-only.
posted by -harlequin- at 6:42 PM on June 26, 2012 [1 favorite]

It's because you don't have to see the despair in their eyes as they put the pistol to their head because the ship's on fire and command won't let them have parachutes.
posted by adamdschneider at 6:49 PM on June 26, 2012 [6 favorites]

Goddamn, the prices are insane. $15 for one plane? $5 for a gun? Screw that.
posted by Malor at 7:01 PM on June 26, 2012 [1 favorite]

There are frequent enough sales on planes (typically 50% off), and you can always man the gun someone else paid for, providing they don't lock the position from others joining. You pay nothing!
posted by Busithoth at 7:07 PM on June 26, 2012 [1 favorite]

Not interested. If they had some kind of package deal, "pay $X one time and get everything", then I'd be interested, even if the price was fairly high. But I am utterly, absolutely opposed to the 'freemium' bullshit, because the goal is to extract more money out of my wallet by, in essence, lying to me about how much it costs.
posted by Malor at 7:10 PM on June 26, 2012 [4 favorites]

Malor, you can "buy everything" with the Demo Upgrades. Sadly, it is woefully out of date. Hopefully they will update that soon, or when the Chanel Map comes out. But even still, I'm sure it would be cheaper to just buy every plane on sale because the sales usually make it so that the more you buy, the larger the discount.
posted by rebent at 7:33 PM on June 26, 2012 [1 favorite]

You seemed to find the prices easily enough, but every war has a conscientious objector, eh?
I think the real joke is that I think one gets better as a pilot by choosing a plane and LEARNING it.
There's a disincentive to expand your hangar (which I ignored completely), and there are still planes which I bought and haven't used.
The gun mods just came out and it isn't clear how they'll affect gameplay, except the rather obvious fact that Le Prieur Rockets are fueled by awesome sauce.
posted by Busithoth at 7:39 PM on June 26, 2012 [1 favorite]

For the longest time, I played the WW II combat version of MS Flight Sim, but towards the end, I found that I was keeping the flight controls simple (in the belief that pounding a keyboard was not all that realistic anyway), hiding the cockpit , using the totally anachronistic 'radar' to find enemies, and just flying around and shooting stuff. Missions? Bah. Stress relief.

But this sounds interesting, and worth a try. thanks.
posted by Artful Codger at 8:07 PM on June 26, 2012

Malor: "Not interested. If they had some kind of package deal, "pay $X one time and get everything", then I'd be interested"

They have deals like that fairly often, I picked up the Iron Cross Edition (most of the better aircraft) for under $10 on sale and have purchased few aircraft since then. "Freemium" is a relative term - nobody pays $15 for the Gotha to be the baddest MF in the air, and you get the Spad 13.C1 (arguably one of the best fighters of the war) for free.

I've probably put in over 100 hours of flying time into this game, and I've still spent less than the normal price for a triple A title. As Busithoth mentioned, the recommended approach is to pick an aircraft and get really good at it.
posted by vanar sena at 8:14 PM on June 26, 2012 [1 favorite]

To be realistic, you should be allowed about a dozen hours of training before being thrown into combat against veterans with hundreds or thousands of hours of experience who have shot down dozens of newbies. And if you die you'd get permanently locked out of the game.
posted by LastOfHisKind at 8:18 PM on June 26, 2012

I have a feeling that this is much more my speed. Love to try the sequel sometime too, but it hasn't been ported to PC.
posted by radwolf76 at 8:50 PM on June 26, 2012

While I don't play flight sims, The Dawn Patrol with Errol Flynn and Basil Rathbone is one of my favourite movies of all time, so I support the idea of this game.

If I actually owned a joystick I might try it, I played X-Wing and Tie Fighter back when I was a kid, and enjoyed them.
posted by Canageek at 9:46 PM on June 26, 2012

I can't wait to try this on my Mac.

but I will have to wait, probably forever
posted by davejay at 10:12 PM on June 26, 2012 [1 favorite]

In theory, if you have a dual-boot Mac Pro and can stomach booting Windows, you can run this on your Mac. I can assure you that I found it unplayable even booting Windows on a 2.5ghz dual-core MPB.
posted by mwhybark at 10:22 PM on June 26, 2012

Definitely watch the A-10 Warthog simulator video yt for a good laugh or ten.

Thanks, that was surprisingly engrossing! I can't believe I actually watched the first 25 minutes of it straight through. (And that they never managed to get the engines started during that time!)
posted by asterix at 10:56 PM on June 26, 2012

Old-school flight sim
posted by stbalbach at 11:23 PM on June 26, 2012 [1 favorite]

How did I not find this last year when I spent a slow afternoon at work looking for something exactly after getting nostalgic over Red Barron?

/Starts unboxing new joystick
posted by Hello, I'm David McGahan at 12:54 AM on June 27, 2012

Umm, did anyone else use AVG and get a threat alert when they downloaded the file for the torrent download?
posted by Hello, I'm David McGahan at 12:58 AM on June 27, 2012

try another link?

http://riseofflight.com/tryrof/en

My install was ages ago, so no useful experiential info for you, and I did not check the OP links.
posted by mwhybark at 1:14 AM on June 27, 2012

Yeah trying one of the http links now. Weirdly, the link for the torrent tracker has a .exe extension.
posted by Hello, I'm David McGahan at 1:34 AM on June 27, 2012

Question: is this playable with just keyboard and mouse, or are there zillions of key combos to be learned?

(Red Baron btw has just been on sale at gog.com, who are doing a summer promotion: 2 games are discounted and the users can decide which one gets the 40 percent and which one the sixty percent discount. I've been buying games quicker than I can play them.)
posted by MartinWisse at 2:26 AM on June 27, 2012

I played a lot of IL-2 with just keyboard+mouse and while not perfect it was playable.
posted by Hello, I'm David McGahan at 3:06 AM on June 27, 2012

MartinWisse: There are default keyboard and mouse controls... but that doesn't mean it's playable. I started playing with an Xbox controller... It was enough to get me in the sky!
posted by rebent at 4:43 AM on June 27, 2012

Yes, this seems somewhat... harder than IL2
posted by Hello, I'm David McGahan at 5:15 AM on June 27, 2012

Question: is this playable with just keyboard and mouse, or are there zillions of key combos to be learned?

Technically, yes, you can play it that way. There are not zillions of key combos for flying the planes and shooting the guns, since the actual planes were so simple, so in that sense it's sort of the spiritual opposite of games like DCS A-10C.

But it's very, very difficult to fly the planes that way--about like trying to drive your car on the highway using your TV remote. People seem to struggle even with game controllers since they don't have enough precision control available. A joystick, even a cheap one, is pretty much a minimum requirement I'd say.
posted by FishBike at 5:16 AM on June 27, 2012

I started off using an XBox controller with a bunch of flight assists on and it was ok - enough to hook me on the game at least.

However, one noticeable difference with WWI planes is that the rudder is critically important - both the Camel and the Fokker DrI will react very badly indeed to turning without appropriate rudder - so a stick with at least twist, or a rocker is much preferable. Assigning the rudder to the right thumbstick of my XBox controller really didn't measure up to the sheer amount of input required.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 6:04 AM on June 27, 2012

Yeah trying one of the http links now. Weirdly, the link for the torrent tracker has a .exe extension.

Yeah, it installs some client to download the torrent. Weird, but it's legit.

the rudder is critically important - both the el and the Fokker DrI will react very badlyindeed rning without appropriate rudder

The SE5a has the worst adverse yaw effect I've seen, but in some planes (like the Pup and Dolphin) it's not very noticeable. There's an "autorudder" setting, but I've never used it so I don't know how well it works.

Both together, always.
posted by adamdschneider at 6:13 AM on June 27, 2012

Yeah, it installs some client to download the torrent. Weird, but it's legit.

Well, better you than me, AVG is getting a bit jumpy recently (what that you say AVG, Firefox is using a lot of memory!! Dastardly.)

Seriously though. "Some Client"? Thought I was downloading a tracker file here. Good game. Really good. (ended up downloading over http =/ But given that my virus scanner identified known trojans would like just a little more than "it's legit"...
posted by Hello, I'm David McGahan at 6:40 AM on June 27, 2012

Hmm. I am dunderheaded about these things, but now that you bring it up, I suppose it WOULD be good to verify the files, however that is possible. Maybe I put too much faith in the google and the number of people who've used the client without alerting anyone.

I guess I also figured that if they were trying to distribute a trojan they'd make the damned game easier.
posted by Busithoth at 7:02 AM on June 27, 2012

I just figured the likelihood of 777 distributing malware was fairly low, especially since I'm already downloading and running an executable of theirs. I only did it that way because I couldn't find my DVD and the direct download was taking.forever. It's torrent2somethingorother.
posted by adamdschneider at 7:11 AM on June 27, 2012

After reading this thread I went home and did some balloon busting, then after a bit of that fired up DCS P-51D. Amazing the total difference in feeling. After those old crates, the sheer power of the Mustang. You can do anything!
posted by adamdschneider at 7:17 AM on June 27, 2012

adamdschneider: " Amazing the total difference in feeling. After those old crates, the sheer power of the Mustang. You can do anything!"

The WWI planes' lack of power and agility makes dogfighting more exciting, IMHO. Everything feels much more up close and personal, since you're generally flying pretty low and slow and the weapons are less powerful so you have to get closer. During our weekly furballs, everything tends to happen below 1km and there is a LOT of crashing into each other (both accidental and deliberate).
posted by vanar sena at 10:50 AM on June 27, 2012

for those folks that think these are "lawnmowers" or "made of fabric," I'd gently suggest that up until a few short years ago the MOST competitive aerobatic airplanes (e.g. Pitts Special and associated biplane types) were made of essentially the same basic construction and layout. What amazes me is not how antediluvian these aircraft were but how smartly crafted and well engineered many of them became just a few short years after Kittyhawk.
posted by lomcovak at 1:25 PM on June 27, 2012

I know! Kayaks with engines, that fly! Amazing!
posted by mwhybark at 1:29 PM on June 27, 2012

lomcovak, you just got dibs on one of my extra AirCo DH2's.
posted by Busithoth at 1:57 PM on June 27, 2012 [1 favorite]

for those folks that think these are "lawnmowers" or "made of fabric," I'd gently suggest that up until a few short years ago the MOST competitiveaerobatic airplanes (e.g. Pitts Special and associated biplane types) were made of essentially the same basic construction and layout. What amazes me is not how antediluvian these aircraft were but how smartly crafted and well engineered many of them became just a few short years after Kittyhawk.

Oh, yeah, the evolution of flight in the first, what, thee decades of the century is insane. Even just going from the Eindekker to the D.VII is pretty big. I love the old birds, but aerobatic they are not. I remember the first time I fired up RoF and trying to do a loop in the SPAD. Heh. Hehe.
posted by adamdschneider at 3:22 PM on June 27, 2012

I remember the first time I fired up RoF and trying to do a loop in the SPAD. Heh. Hehe

I've flown a reproduction SPAD X.III with a round engine. 220hp. Not a sim. Built to stock specs. It loops just fine. It also rolls, spins (scary), and probably would even do a lomcovak (heh) if you screwed up in the push. Amazing torque and tons of P-factor but I consider it fully aerobatic as did the pilots of the day.

Flying aerobatics in a sim is different than IRL. That's as true for a jet sim as this one. Great game but some of the similitude is lost in the interface (no matter how many screens and hi-fi input devices you own).
posted by lomcovak at 5:09 PM on June 27, 2012 [1 favorite]

No shit. Where?
posted by adamdschneider at 5:58 PM on June 27, 2012

Oh, no.. I'm downloading it. Here we go, not leaving the house for another few weeks. Damn you, rebent!
Hey, people that are playing it - I have a Saitek X52 (not the Pro)... how well does it interface? Any tips on joystick setup? Any control configuration tips or is it pretty much whatever feels comfortable?
Once I get used to not flying a space sim, I'll see about joining MeFightClub.
posted by Zack_Replica at 11:19 PM on June 27, 2012

Sign up on MFC anyway. There are plenty of folks in the combat flight sims thread who are using the X52 and can help you get it set up (not me, however - I'm just using a basic Logitech joystick).
posted by vanar sena at 8:15 AM on June 28, 2012

Wait, I thought Necrovision was the most realistic WWI combat simulator!
posted by Gable Oak at 3:46 PM on June 28, 2012

Hey, MeFight vets, clarify the server thing in the CFS thread. I know a couple of you are othwise engaged, but I dropped in over there a couple times and left, scratching my head. I'm prolly out tonight after this but will drop a line over there too.
posted by mwhybark at 4:26 PM on June 29, 2012