Customer Reviews

Rise of Flight: The First Great Air War

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(29)

 

 

I got Rise of Flight about a week ago and I liked it just fine, but now they released two additional planes for FREE, the Albatros D.5 and the Nieuport 28! Now I really like this simulation and the developer posted a very nice statement about future plans and I like what I see. Plus they recently rolled out a patch that fixed issues with joystick inversion and TrackIR. Also, I've never seen a product like this generate such passionate and harsh comments amongst us flight-simmers. Weird.

Anyways, here's what I like and dislike about it.

Likes
- Very pretty visuals. 3D Models, lighting, explosions, clouds, weather are all top notch.
- Awesome damage model. Canvass did not stop bullets very well. The best damage model in the genre by far in my opinion.
- Fantastic Flight Model.
- Good sounds.
- Animated pilot with hand signals.
- Once in cockpit a very high level of immersion.
- Dogfights are a ton of fun. You're sweating by the end.
- Flexible view system with TrackIR 6DOF support.
- Many tweakable settings and cheats to make it a little easier.
All these positives combine to make the flying and fighting experience in ROF one of the best I have ever had.

Dislikes
- Activation scheme. Seems excessive, but I see why they did it. Hope they lighten up a bit.
- Multi-play is not that popular yet. Maybe now that they added more planes it will pick up.
- Hard to hit targets. Maybe the flight model is too real?
- Can't adjust stick sensitivity.
- GUI needs tweaking.
- Missing good mission de-briefs.
The negatives make some of the outside the cockpit experiences not as fun or as polished as it could be, but all this can be fixed.

Overall I really like flying ROF. Most of the complaints I see are about things outside of the cockpit. I do most of my flying in the cockpit not in the GUI, so personally I am happy with my purchase of ROF and recommend it to my simmer friends. It's not perfect by any stretch, but I like the direction the developer is going. Just like many other flight-sims the best is yet to come, but this one should get there pretty quick. I respect those that disagree though.

Rise of Flight is not a perfect game. Far from it. However, what it offers is some of the best flight modeling and most exhilarating dogfighting you're likely to experience this side of an LCD screen. I've seen a lot of complaints and while some have footing, others do not.

To address some of the common complaints and my take on them:

-Yes, there are "only" 4 planes to fly out of the box (more on the way).
Yes, you have to pay ~7 bucks to download more. However, there is a reason the mona lisa is worth millions and yet I can also buy a cd of 35,000 pieces of crappy clipart for 5 bucks. These planes are so exquisitely modeled as to take a considerable amount of time to fully master each individual plane's quirky characteristics and idiosyncrasies. To complain about quantity and ignore quality is to announce oneself a fool.

-Yes, the flight controls are sensitive.
I don't have a lot of respect for anyone who sees this as a barrier for entry. All sims require learning. This one is no different. Find ways to adjust it or learn to be gentle with your aircraft.

Rather than making wild and drastic inputs (like I assume many who complain about "sensitivity" issues are doing), take some time to learn how the aircraft behaves. Learn to expect and anticipate its reactions to speed, pitch, roll rates, etc. Make the smallest inputs necessary to get the plane where you need it to go. I've found doing this greatly decreases the perceived "instability" of the old planes and has increased my lethality in combat greatly.

-Yes, the activation scheme does suck.
No excuses for that, however, as a developer myself, I can respect that a small developer wishes to keep piracy low and see return on their huge investment of blood, sweat, tears and money. I can put up with a minor inconvenience if it means they are rewarded for their time and efforts.

-Yes, the missions can be fairly banal.
Sometimes on patrol, you never encounter an enemy. While this is as it should be in something considering itself a sim, it doesn't always make for exciting flights. This isn't Over Flanders Field, however I don't expect it to be. The developers obviously did not spend as much time on the campaigns as they did on the single most important thing in a sim and the very reason Rise of Flight is worth every penny:



- THE FLIGHT IMMERSION IS AMAZING -

Pure and simple.

This sim digs deep into that primal sense of awe and wonder that flight has inspired in man for the last 110 years. Nothing else comes close to eliciting the feelings of glee and fear while pulling a reversement with a damaged engine and praying that you won't loose too much altitude and splash into the treetops all the while wondering if the enemy has the turning radius to come around again after the last strafe of fire tore into your wing fabric. Of flying in formation on a blistering day and straining to see the aerodrome after a particularly nasty sortie, knowing full well that just landing in the rain and gusts is just as dangerous as the flack you've been dodging all afternoon.

Rise of Flight is full of strenuous moments of heroism and perilous decisions that remain memorable long after you've shut your computer down. If you are looking for a history lesson, look elsewhere. In that Rise of Flight sheds a glimpse into the mindsets and skillsets necessary to be a WW1 fighter pilot, it is worth every penny.

Ok, I have been flying this sim now for a couple of weeks. I will be as objective as possible.

First the bad items.

The game has the potential to be one of, if not the greatest flight sim so far. In my opinion it was released to early. It basically has no manual, the one included with the game can be read in 5 minutes. It does have a good map of the flying area that comes with it though. It has a mission editor that allows you to make your own missions however it has no documentation with it and it is not user friendly. The game only comes with 4 flyable airplanes. Originally it was 2 but so many people were upset that they provided 2 more. There are several others that you can purchase for a nominal 7-8 bucks. The interface to the game is clunky. In order to make any changes to the graphics, etc. you must go out of the game, start it back up and make them before the game starts. The flight model is that of an advanced sim. If you are looking for a game for your 7 year old kid, this is probably not it. You must fly these planes, they don't fly themselves. That is another issue with the game. The flight models, while realistic to a point, are rough. The SE-5 which seems to suffer from this the most of any plane, requires that you constantly hold the joystick forward quite a bit just to fly level. This is at low, medium or high power settings. Of course this makes dog fighting hard. There are other things as well such as buggy game play, crashes, etc. The multiplayer mode in my opinion needs work. You can enter a multiplayer mission but you must wait until the current mission is over. I have waited 10-15 minutes at a time just to enter a mission. At present there are no dogfight missions where you can just enter, take off and go find a fight.

Now the good stuff.

As I said above, this sim has the potential to be one of if not the best flight sims so far. They have released a patch or two so far that addresses issues and from all indications the developers are working hard to fix the bugs and add new planes and features to the sim. I very much enjoy (other than the flight model issues mentioned above) taking one of these plans out for a spin. I bought Track IR 5 just after I bought this product and together rock.

Now the big question. Is it worth it? Would you buy it again if you had the choice. The answer is YES. It does have its bugs and it is very frustrating at times but I have already spent several hours playing it and when you compare the cost of other forms of entertainment (movies, etc.) it is a pretty good investment. I very much anticipate the next year of development in the life of ROF.

Having flown flight simulators for the past 15 years, I can say that Rise of Flight is the most advanced flight sim ever released. Designed and built by a very dedicated group of enthusiasts, Rise of Flight's attention to detail is unequaled. While flying your Sopwith Camel, you look over the side and 1500 meters below lies No-Man's land, pocked with craters. The ground is shrouded with smoke from artillery rounds. There are pockets of clearing where you can see trenches, blasted trees, barbed wire, and tanks. The sun breaks though the clouds, glinting off your cowling, and momentarily blinds you. Suddenly there is the sound of another engine: friend or foe? Bullets whiz by your ear as fabric tears and wood splinters. Over your shoulder you catch a glimpse of a German DR1 and the flashes of its twin spandaus. You start jinxing left, then right, but you cannot shake this plane off your six. You dive for the deck and now you are skimming twenty feet off the ground. The shadow of your plane on the ground seems to be your only friend. Trees rush past you, their branches moving in the wind. As you pass over a river, your plane's reflection reveals the damage you've taken. You go lower. Now you're ten feet off the ground. Blades of grass and reeds sway in the gentle breeze, oblivious of your peril. In front of you, the DR1's bullets are thudding into the ground, kicking up wisps of dirt. One round hits your engine and now smoke bellows, leaving a long, black trail. The German closes in for the kill. As you prepare for your final moments on earth, the DR1 suddenly breaks away. Behind him is another Camel. It's your wingman, and now the tables are turned: the hunter is now the hunted. Soon the DR1 lights on fire and nosedives into the trees. You are hurt, but you will make it back to your base. You give your wingman a thumbs up and limp home. As you land, you are still sweating and your heart is still pounding. You reach over to your desk to take a swig of Coke, and you think to yourself, "This is a game?"

I bought this sim when it originally came out and didn't fly it very much. But I came back to it 2 months ago, and through the sales they were having I bought all the planes.

Now with 2 new planes out the Sopwith Pup and the Sopwith Triplane they actually gifted me the Pup and sold me the Triplane for $3.99 to say thankyou for the support buying the planes in the past.

This is the sort of company that now owns the sim, and I've noticed they listen to us the community and they are dedicated to developing it further. The career mode they are building could rival the red baron 3d, and soon we will have the massive multi-engined multi-seat bombers to play with!

As for the flight models they are the most detailed I have come across and it beats anything else out there in the consumer market. We have advanced flight models of 20 planes to play with, and it actually feels real with the sound of the wind and everything else that happens when you fly especially if you make a wrong move!!

The main thing I want to say is that you should only consider reviews from September 2010 onwards, as that's when serious improvements started. This is going to be the best sim in the market I think and it already is my favourite.

To summarise in point form:

POSITIVES:
* Most real "feeling" of any flight sim
* Challenging multiplayer, there are some great aces out there that will keep you very busy
* Immersion, with realistic multiplayer servers giving you the feeling of "being there"
* Community - regular events and the forum is very active and helpful
* Unique planes - every single plane I have flown has genuine major differences in flight model in all aspects
* Performance - I regularly get 60 frames per second on 2560x1600 resolution, with all graphics at high except HDR Bloom post effects
* No Cheats - because all the planes/content are controlled, I've never seen a cheat.
* Cheap planes - now they have reduced plane prices and have bundles to make it cheaper.

NEGATIVES:
* To get the most out of it, a good joystick and rudder pedals are needed. And even better if you have trackir. BUT - this is the same for any flight sim.
* It IS a SIMULATOR. If you don't turn on the easy options, don't expect to be able to handle every plane without crashing immediately. It's meant to be realistic and that is the fun challenge of it. This is only a negative if you are looking for an instant gratification "sim" that lets you shoot down everything in sight very easily without getting killed yourself.
* Career/Campaign mode is currently fairly simple, but in December they will release the new generation of dynamic campaign.
* Single player AI are easy to beat once you become an ace pilot
* Multiplayer and Career mode need an internet connection to check your account. Single player missions do not.

Overall I would give it a 7/10 for current, and when the things I've seen in the pipeline at simhq come out end of the year I think it will be a 9.5/10.

This is simply an amazing piece of software - but if you have no experience with flight sims you might be in a bit over your head at first. A decent gaming rig is going to help a lot - I'm running a Q6600 quad core with a GTS 250 card, 3Gb of ram, x52 pro stick, and TrackIR. TrackIR is an absolute must for any flight sim - even more so here. I downloaded the software and completed the install with no problems. I purchased the license via the ROF website store, entered the initial settings, and mapped my controls. I started a free flight mission and 5 minutes in I did not regret making the purchase! The scenery is gorgeous, the flight modeling is great, and the missions are realistic and fun.

The tantrum some people throw regarding purchasing extra aircraft (for less than $8) is just not understandable. I regularly spend $20-$50 on single aircraft for FSX. Not having the aircraft does not affect game play one bit.

Being online all the time has presented no issues for me either - of course I am always online when I play a MMO or any multiplayer game so I guess it does not really strike me as odd.

The flight model in ROF is amazing - the best of any home flight simulator to date imho. This means that you have to know how to fly at a reasonable level if you turn off the flight assist and simple physics. If you stall in a bank you'll spin. If you don't counteract p-factor and torque properly you'll never get off the ground. These are strengths not bugs. If you are expecting Ace Combat or Hawx "flight" model you'll be very disappointed. If you liked the FM's in IL2 you will be even happier here.

If you're looking for a real flying experience which draws you back to seat of the pants flying, then Rise of Flight is for you.
As an immersive simulator the game delivers a staggeringly realstic flight model and physics engine, which meticulously recreates the perils of flying a largely canvas and wood framed aircraft.

You begin with a career mode and have, out of the box, four different aircraft to chose from: the Spad 13.C1, the Fokker D.VII, the Albatros D. Va and the Nieuport 28.C1. Each of which is faithfully and accurately recreated in every perceivable detail. How real does it get? Well, how real do you want your simulator? In all honesty, this is the most acurate flight model and physics system I've ever had the good fortune to purchase.

Each of the aforementioned planes, and there are others to fly and purchase separately from the developers, has it's own characteristics. There are strengths weaknesses and quirks to get used to and it takes time to learn to fly each one, as you'd expect.

The game has six training missions to complete before you can access other aircraft in missions and the campaigns, and forces you to learn the craft of flying a bi-plane from the latter war period. Even experienced veterans will find there is something to learn and of course be wowed by the simply stunning graphics.

The Russian developers have spent a lot of time recreating more than 125,000sq kms of authentic landscape and it is quite breathtaking. Trees, grass, bridges and rivers can make it difficult to distinguish between a video game or actually being on board, which massively increases the immersion experiences. The more powerful your system, the more the game will deliver in terms of realism, but you can tone down the full effects. My system hovers on the lower end of the recommended specs, more RAM would be nice and I had to reduce some of the settings to prevent lagging inputs and an overall poorer flight experience.

The wind will buffet your plane around and you can skirt around fluffy clouds or get lost in them to evade enemy air threats or even AA attacks. The aircraft themselves are highly detailed too and you'll hear and see the damage from hostile bullets tearing into your aircraft. One minute you're in full control, then suddenly wooden struts have been shot away, and there are holes in the wings and your beautiful bi-plane is a shuddering, spluttering death trap. It's all you can do to avoid being shot out of the sky by the enemy and bring the thing back to earth.

It is really amazing to hear the wind and the gurgle of the old engines as they spew smoke and oil. Flying is fairly straight forward, but dog-fighting, I confess, is still something I'm getting my head around. It didn't take long to get my first kill and unlike the modern F16's or similar simulators, this one was up close and personal and bloody difficult to execute, bringing an even greater degree of satisfaction. The detail and damage model is outstanding and I wrecked several times making stupid mistakes or overstressing the airframe, where wires will even ping under high g-loads.

Some people have complained about landings and take-offs, I really don't see what the fuss is about. There are some useful tips on the website from community members, oh, and it pays to push the stick forward on take off to reduce the tails drag and give you more vertical speed before gentling pulling back. You do need to put corrective yaw input, especially with the rotary aircraft which have more torque, but it's all part of the realism.

In short the game is a lot of fun, but it is more challenging than many other flight sims I've played. In full simulation mode you can expect to warm the engine, fiddle with the fuel mixture and radiator openings almost constantly and have to keep track of your enemy and find your way home. In terms of realism, I haven't seen an equivalent on the market. Otlichnaya robota, neoqb(I think this is the correct Russian spelling!)

There is a small fly in the ointment and some have identified it as the registration and start up software. I had no problems installing the game, I should stress. But, if you don't have high speed internet, you'll be waiting a long time to download the updates. The game says 256K modem, I have a pocket in my area and decided to risk buying the game even though my home dial-up is less than adequate. It was several days of downloading...but I am a patient man, muaha ha ha. Still...hopefully the developers will eventually loosen up this area and allow one to down-load patches at one's discretion in the future.

The patching software is built into the game's registration and settings start up screen. It also means you have to get joysticks and other settings established before the game can be launched...which is not uncommon, but a little frustrating when you're learning and trying to configure your controllers, only to find you've buggered all the settings up in the menu and then have to quit the game.

Definitely it takes a little while to become accustomed to the set-up of controllers etc, and the game can really only be enjoyed with a good joystick, throttle and pedals set up. Once you're up and running it's only a matter of tweaks and you can save a profile of your configurations. If you have Track IR then you'll be in heaven panning around the cockpit and save with the messy hassles of pre-programming head snap keys to the joy-stick.

If you love flying then this game is simply beautiful visually, it's enjoyable just to get into the air and there is hours of game play. If you have a high speed internet connection and enjoy multi-player, I'll be joining you there in the future...

I purchased this game about a week ago and have really enjoyed getting to grips with it. I had no problems installing and validating the game; set-up was not difficult, although you have to do it before entering the game, unlike IL-2, for instance.

The thing that impresses me most is the "feel" of the game. This is obviously hard to pin down. The sound, aircraft response, beautifully rendered aircraft, and excellent lighting certainly contribute. The landscape is generally not quite up to the same standard as the aircraft. Although, the trees and rivers easily beat IL-2, even modded. As do the clouds and smoke effects over the front.

There are now four free aircraft with the game. This is limited, and is, at first glance, a limitation of the game. In the long-term, however, it is a strength: for the publisher to be able to sell new aircraft add-ons (c. $7), they are going to have to continue to support and improve the product. Moreover, if you don't want to buy an aircraft, you are not forced to to continue to fly online: you can fly against all aircraft, but only fly the ones you buy.

I have a reasonably good machine (i7 920, GTX 620, 6 GB RAM) and it runs with average fps in the 60s. It does sometimes drop into the 30s, but not lower - I have a feeling my older soundcard might be responsible. The only exception to this is the map, which is a known fps killer. I have flown online using the multiplayer facility, which does need some fixing, too. These bugs, though, have not infringed on my enjoyment of the game. Most importantly, I am fully convinced that the developers intend to fix these problems, and to continue investing in the game.

It has been so long since a revolutionary combat flight-sim has come a long that I think many have forgotten that none have come out of the box with no errors. What is important is the apparent commitment of the developers, reminiscent of BDG and A2A's support of the initially god-awful, but now lovely BOB2. Rise of Flight is in far better condition than BOB2 at its release.

I think $37 is a bargain.

Rise of Flight is simply the most amazing flight sim available today.
In the year since it's release, a tremendous amount of content has been added, including a mission flight recorder, 100's of skins, new campaigns, new planes, new missions, new graphic options, new multiplayer modes, dogfight/respawn ability, and the list goes on.
Online connectivity for single player mode was removed (a one time activation online is necessary, but that is it).
Historically accurate missions have been created and are hosted on the multiplayer servers.
And more is on the way.

(The Rise of Flight: Iron Cross Edition was just released, which gives you a number of added planes, and all the content added within the last year....it's the best investment for your money (as opposed to buying the vanilla version and buying all the planes included.)
The flight model and mechanics are so well designed that just flying is amazing.
If you enjoy flight sims, or have an appreciation for biplanes, you'll enjoy this sim.

Do yourself a favor and get this sim! It's truly incredible.

Never before has a game captured the essence of the WWI battlefield. The only thing missing is the smell of Caster Oil and the wind in your face. The general flight dynamics along with the graphics make are so realistic, it makes this game scream "Play Me". From take off to landing, this is a real (as can be-to-life) fly by the seat of your pants game. If you're into fast paced games you won't like this one. At least until the battle begins.