the First Aces

The game will be released sometime Q4 2026, in an alpha phase

   

The First Aces is an arcade, semi-realistic combat flight simulator, set during the latter half of the First World War. One of the first conflicts to use airplanes on a mass scale, and the first to introduce full scale aerial combat.

Step into the role of one of the first fighter pilots, and partake in both historical and quasi-historical missions and events. Burst some balloons, blow up archies, strafe frenchies in the trenchies, escort bombers, down the fokkers, and hunt down the Richthofen!

Designed for both casual players, and fans of stalling the airplane at any given moment. With the highly modifiable realism and physics settings, you can adjust the gameplay experience to your needs and liking. New players can play on Casual mode with the most simplified physics and controls possible; eventually easing into more realistic modes.

Regardless of chosen difficulty, the game is neither stupidly simplified, nor does it become a full 1:1 simulation. It draws inspirations from the classic WWI flight sims of the 90s, like Wings!, Wings of Glory, and the Red Baron series. And just like them, it puts less emphasis on overtly sophisticated flight mechanics and procedures; instead it focuses more on aerial dogfighting fun!

The game is still being developed, and so the quantity, quality, and diversity of content are all subject to change. Despite that, there is already enough of content that could last for hours:

• Quickplay – a simple mission creator, which allows you to instantly jump into a customizable sortie, with modes like Skirmish, Ground attack, and an Escort mission
• Scenarios – pick one of the sides, and play out a historical scenario like Werner Voss’ last stand, or a quasi-historical one, like a possible early air battle of April 1916
• Modular damage system – while not fully realistic, there are no health bars, and you can take the enemy down in many different and creative ways: set the fuselage ablaze, break off the wings, shut the engine off, cut the control cables, or just snipe the pilot
• Eight different airplanes – each side – RFC and Luftstreitkraefte – has one bomber, and three scout/fighter planes. They vary not only in visuals, but also in quirks of both their design, and engineering typical for their year of introduction
• Big lively battlegrounds – maps up to 400 km² big; farm fields, towns, rivers, and trenches, all that filled with living ground units: machine gunners, artillery, and observation balloons
• Time and weather system – missions can be played at any hour of the day, the speed and direction of wind can change (affecting the flight), and the volumetric clouds can create an overcast, or even a squall

As previously stated, the game host highly modifiable realism settings. While you can set anything – from input response, through overload and wind flags, to specific flight model – there are three exemplary presets:

• Casual – stiff controls, no adverse yaw, no banking, no wind or overload effects… the only thing you need to worry about is speed during climbs and dives. Perfect for people who are completely green, or who are used to more simple flying games
• Realistic – a fair compromise between simplicity and full simulation. Most aerodynamic variables are simulated (even the gyroscopic effect of the rotary engines), but PRY controls still operate on more predictable fixed axis, rather than genuine control surface simulation
• Simulation – has the most realistic flight model (given the resources). While it’s still not a 1:1 simulation, it’s realistic enough to throw you into an uncontrollable flat spin, should you pull too hard on the stick

The game was created as a practical component of my bachelor thesis, the purpose of which was twofold:

• Analyze the WWI flight sim’s genre, and reasons for it’s popularity falloff
• Create a game that would address the issues drawn from the conclusions of the analysis

The current state of the game, was developed during the time of thesis seminar. While the core ideas and mechanics have been successfully implemented, there isn’t much content and the audiovisual aspects need a lot of refining, before we can call this a full game.

Hence the alpha phase. It’ll be an opportunity not only to show the game to the public – but also – to test the effectiveness of applied hypotheses in practice. The fate of further development will be decided, based on the reception of the alpha version.

Minimum recommended requirements:

• Mouse and keyboard, or a gamepad
• 64-bit Windows 7/8/8.1/10/11
• 8 GB of ram
• Any GPU equivalent or better than GTX 1050ti
• 200 MB of free disk space

(Game will also run on lower specs, but the performance may vary)