I’ve been following @Why485 on Twitter for years now as the developer has worked away on the prototype for a flight simulation combat game now titled Tiny Combat Arena. The title, picked up by Microprose, is intended to be fast and fun with plenty of simulation aspects. It’s coming Feb 22nd and here are some key details!
Cold War simulator action
At it’s core, Tiny Combat Arena has been programmed like a combat flight sim. Although some aspects of the sim are simplified and intended to be easier to get into than something like DCS, I still get the feeling that this sim is aiming to straddle the line between fun action and strong simulator feel.
Take one look at it and you can tell that this is inspired by titles like Dynamix’s A-10, Microprose’s own F-15 Strike Eagle series, F-19 Stealth Fighter, and Harrier Jump Jet.
Check out the Announcement Trailer that came out several months ago if you haven’t seen it yet.
Early access content
Coming on February 22nd, the title is expected to have a roughly 12-18 month early access period where the developer will work with community members to fill out the sim and add new content and features. At launch it promises to have the following:
- One flyable aircraft (AV8B)
- One instant action map
- One Arena map/scenario
- Limited, but representative set of 5 weapons
- Limited, but representative presets for loadouts
I can’t seem to find pricing yet so I expect that will be announced closer to launch. Look for more information to be released soon!
Stormbirds 
Do you think it will run on an 8-core CPU and 32GB of RAM or should I upgrade?
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Haha I think it’ll run brilliantly 🙂
But if you want an excuse to upgrade I’m sure we can come up with something. After 7 years, I am finally updating my system right now.
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Shamrock, does that mean you’ll be dipping your toes in VR? The niche is missing your perspective.
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I’m not sure yet. I really struggle with even a light weight headset on my head for TrackIR/OpenTrack applications. Something heavier would probably cause my preexisting neck issues to be worse.
I’m angling more towards larger 4K monitors at the moment than VR.
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@Canadaone Definitely need to upgrade unless you are happy with 10 to 20 fps.
Looking forward to this one.
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They need to work on their PBR, and the fonts of the cockpit instruments are totally wrong 😉
I saw some pretty nice flight dynamics in there!
And though low-poly, the modeling of many of the planes & other vehicles is seemingly accurate to the point that there’s no doubt what’s being represented.
Dare I say this is like a flat screen version of VTOL VR, with more realistic models?
Great concept, and I hope it sells like hot cakes 🙂
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thanks for the notice! I’ve been looking forward to this one too. Basically pure unadulterated flightsim fun! in the same vein as VTOL-VR which by the way is fantastic.
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No VR, no buy.
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VR has been a must have feature for a lot of sims. With just a single developer indie game title here it may be difficult for them to contemplate that at this point – but I’ll certainly report if they do add VR.
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Getting some Dogfight/Airduel vibes there (https://www.mobygames.com/game/air-duel-80-years-of-dogfighting).
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looking forward to this one!
regarding VR vs large 4K monitor. been there done that. I mean returned VR goggles and am back to 55″ 4K TV for siming. no regrets.
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