Hello everyone!
I'd like to share a project I've been working on – AirTactics, a free turn-based strategy (wargame) focused on air combat during World War II. The game draws strong inspiration from classics like Achtung Spitfire! and Over the Reich.
At the current stage, the game features a series of historical missions set throughout World War II. You can use aircraft from seven nations — the UK, USA, USSR, Germany, Japan, France, and Poland — each with distinct flight characteristics and tactical roles.
Looking ahead, I'm planning to add a full dynamic campaign, inspired by what Achtung Spitfire! offered. Players will be able to recruit and manage pilots, assign them to different aircraft, and develop their skills over time. Pilots may be killed or go missing in action, which adds a personal and long-term layer to the tactical gameplay.
The game is fully free and available for Android, Windows, Linux. For MacOS I didn't tested.
You can download full version at the following websites:
https://airtactics.itch.io/air-tactics
https://www.indiedb.com/members/airtactics/downloads
I'd love to hear your feedback, especially around gameplay feel, balance, UI clarity, and mission structure. Thanks for taking the time to check it out!
Best regards,
Serg
Thanks for sharing. Looks really neat.
My first question, though...why health bars?
Overall, very cool though and good luck!
Quote from: Jarhead0331 on September 28, 2025, 04:43:58 AMMy first question, though...why health bars?
Thank you for reply!
First and foremost, it's probably for simplicity's sake, as a general indicator of the aircraft's health. The game Achtung Spitfire! also had HP in percentage, but it wasn't displayed as a lifebar, just as a number in the HUD. After all, the lifebar has already become somewhat standard, familiar to all gamers:)
I decided not to make a more complex modular damage system for now..
Best regards,
Serg
My feedback is for you to consider different ways of displaying levels of damage. The health bars are very immersion breaking and make the game look more like an arcade title than a detailed wargame such as your inspirations.
Just my .02. :notworthy:
I have played BigTime's AS and OTR a lot. Still have on a old portable running Virtual Win98. Great games-very relaxing. Also play JD Websters board game that AS and OTR were based on. FYI, AS and OTR did have detailed damages. If you clicked on the damage percentage on the pilot panel it would show detailed damages on your planes (not the enemy's). Damages such as pilot wounded, fuel leak, rudder, aileron, other structural damages, pilot unconscious, specific engine damage, even individual gunners on bombers. etc. These damages do effect the aircraft. I don't think many players at the time knew that detail was in these games.
Good luck with you project! I will test
Quote from: Vox on September 28, 2025, 09:54:22 AMGood luck with you project! I will test
Thank you for your reply! I will think how to improve the aircraft damage system.
One more question:
Was you able to run the game on Windows? Or may be on Android? Was it easy enough for you?
Best regards,
Serg
I installed and ran your game on a Win7/ 64 bit PC, running Java 9- no problems. You used many of the assets from the Bigtime games. I tested a variety of missions. I did not get the button screens shown in the "Help" menu, but I was able to find a key to do most things. For bombing missions, I could not find a way to switch to bombs since a graphic shown in the Help did not appear. Targeting with guns, turning etc was easy and worked as described in the Help file.
It appears the game is played only in the horizontal plane. For me, the vertical dimension is needed for proper air combat maneuvering (ACM). The vertical is available in AS and OTR under "General" difficulty. Maneuvers like Immelmann, Split S, Scissors, Hammerhead, etc. With maneuvers like these the differences between aircraft types really matter and its fun to experiment.
One of the biggest weaknesses of flight simulations in general, is wingmen and squadron tactics. In these games the player can effectively test these tactics.
Good luck! 🫡
Ohh this looks nifty, will have to give it a try. Thanks!
Quote from: Vox on October 05, 2025, 11:16:32 AMI did not get the button screens shown in the "Help" men
Thanks for your review!
No buttons shown? :undecided: Hmm... it's a very strange... Is it possible to send a screenshot with the whole window of the game?
Yes, vertical maneuvering is a cool idea! but it needs to think carefully about how to implement it in 2D.
Quote from: SpaceGameJunkie on October 05, 2025, 08:17:30 PMOhh this looks nifty, will have to give it a try. Thanks!
Looking forward for your review :azn:
Best regards,
Serg
Quote from: AirTactics on October 06, 2025, 04:43:22 AMQuote from: Vox on October 05, 2025, 11:16:32 AMI did not get the button screens shown in the "Help" men
Thanks for your review!
No buttons shown? :undecided: Hmm... it's a very strange... Is it possible to send a screenshot with the whole window of the game
I changed my desktop's resolution back to native 1920x1080(it was 1280x720), and now I see all buttons on the display-All good. 😊