Sim Speak: Rise of Flight's Steady Climb to Greatness

If you ever needed proof that a hardcore flight simulation can survive and flourish in our current PC gaming environment, look no further than Rise of Flight. This Russian-built (and now American-managed) World War I dogfighting opus recently celebrated its third birthday and, judging by its growing feature list and legions of rabid fans, it's likely to outlast the four-year global conflict that it models by a wide margin.


For all of its recent accolades and positive reviews, RoF didn't exactly hit the ground running (no pun intended). Initially developed and released by Moscow-based neoqb in 2009, Rise of Flight: The First Great Air War shipped with a limited aircraft selection, numerous bugs, and an annoying DRM system that required a constant internet connection to even run. Fortunately, patches began arriving shortly thereafter and, when 777 Studios assumed control of development and re-released it as Rise of Flight: Iron Cross Edition in mid-2010, it launched a meteoric climb that mimicked the buoyant moniker. Several intricately modeled new aircraft (including two-seaters and bombers) have since filled the hangars, a new dynamic campaign career mode added depth, and a fully functional offline mode muzzled many early critics.

We Want Guns

With dozens of updates already behind it (addressing and correcting almost every issue raised by the growing community of fans), 777 says RoF will continue to press ahead in 2012 with even more ambitious features. "Version 1.026 will be an important milestone update which introduces weapon mods," explains 777 Studios chief Jason Williams, referring to purchasable aircraft weaponry upgrades like rockets and heavier machine guns. "It will also include many desired improvements to how our weapons work, how the gunner positions function, and a couple graphical enhancements like heat blur for fires and a sharper texture option. The level of personal aircraft customization really adds a whole new level of immersion to the sim."


"Some of the weapon mods are quite useful in combat and some are not," he continues. "For instance, the Le Prieur rockets that were used for balloon-busting are not very accurate and look like bottle rockets on steroids. However, adding an extra over-wing Lewis gun can give you that extra needed firepower to take down an enemy plane sooner. And the German Becker 20mm auto cannon is a real menace to planes made of canvas and wood!"

Another soon-to-be-released development is an English Channel map that'll significantly expand RoF's current 50,000-square-mile Western European theater. The Channel add-on will also accommodate a couple of new seaplanes -- the British Felixstowe F.2A flying boat and the German Hansa-Brandenburg W.12 floatplane -- and will feature a new 3D water model with dynamic maritime activity.

Menu Please

It's not all free, though. Although Rise of Flight's basic two-aircraft game is still available as a free-to-play download, additional planes, weapon mods, field mods, and add-on campaigns (including the Channel map) will cost you. Most of the small fighters retail for $7.62, two-seaters and bombers cost $11 to $15, and preordering the Channel map will run $20. If you buy everything a la carte (not a wise move) your PayPal or credit card bill could easily top a couple of hundred dollars. Fortunately, 777 Studios offers a number of cost-saving bundles that can cut your expenditure in half (there are also discounts and sales every month or so).


RoF's existing fanbase doesn't seem to have any issues with this buy-what-you-need economic model because it allows them to tailor their costs to match their interest level. The free-to-play download offers access to single-player, multiplayer, and career modes for its two aircraft (the SPAD 13 and Albatros D.Va), a functioning Mission Editor, and the option to man gunner positions in multi-crew bombers and recon aircraft during multiplayer, while a modest $35 Iron Cross Edition investment ups the plane count to nine. If you want it all, even the hardest of the hardcore won't need to break the bank to experience the unique personalities of more than 30 wonderfully modeled WWI classics in their native habitat.

"We realized early on that the PC gaming market -- and by extension the flight simming market -- was evolving, and something different would have to be done to survive in this new reality," states Williams. "The RoF team built a flexible system that allowed us to not rely solely on traditional retail to pay the bills. We adopted a system that allows users to add content to our flight sim through small purchases, which allows us to keep developing the product and its engine after initial release."

Compass Check

And what are the future applications for that engine? Will we ever see a WWII or Korean War combat sim from the ROF dev team? "Moving to WWII at this time seems premature when there are still so many cool things to explore about WWI," Williams answers. "And with other forthcoming sim titles from other companies focusing on WWII, it seemed like a crowded field to jump into. Our Digital Nature engine can certainly handle WWII and even the Korean War, but some tweaking would be needed. Given enough time and money we can do anything, but for now it is all about the First Great Air War."


Hard to argue with that when you consider the depth and quality of 777's current product. Rise of Flight is handily the best WWI combat flight simulator to hit the market since the glory days of Microprose's Knights of the Sky and Dynamix's Red Baron, and it's only gonna get bigger and better in the months and years ahead.


Spy Guy says: The original Red Baron is one of my all-time favorite WWI flight simulators ever made. Not to mention it's a period that really hasn't been overblown out of proportion yet. What's your favorite WWI sim? Have you tried Rise of Flight before?