Why Early Access?

“Since it's inception, Air Defender has had a fantastic response from many people across the globe, and now has an active and growing community of supporters who have given lots of feedback for feature improvements in the game. Early Access will give the community hands-on experience of the game whilst it is still in development, and will allow the features to be further improved with their feedback. ”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“The game is likely to be in Early Access for around 12 months.”

How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?

“The full version when released, is planned to have a full training suite, giving even the most novice gamer an in-depth understanding of military aviation and the world of air defence.

Also planned is the expansion of available maps, not just the UK, as this has been widely requested, along with an expanded arsenal of aircraft and weapons types.

With input from the community, there should be more generated voice lines and enhanced military/civilian procedures.

Overall, the full version should be a complete and thorough air defence experience building on what is currently available in Early Access.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“Available in the Early Access version are three options:

1. Combat Ready - an endless gameplay mode where you can play as a real world Air Defender, using a RADAR console with access to the capabilities of an Identification Officer, where you need to correctly identify the aircraft in the sky, and a Fighter Allocator, where you manage the Assets (Aircraft/Fuel/Weapons) by strategic placement and management.

In Combat Ready, you will be challenged to defend the population of the UK by ensuring no enemy aircraft breach the UK's defences.

The amount of enemy aircraft and their weapon loads (eg Conventional/Nuclear) depend on how you perform your role. Do you let the bad guys slip through our defences unnoticed, or shoot down aircraft unnecessarily? It all impacts the game play.

2. Basic Training
With a lot still to be added, Basic Training provides an overview of the functions of the game and how the player uses them to maximise their performance.

3. Trade Training
Trade Training gives the player a more advanced set scenarios that highlight the available capabilities of aircraft and systems. There is still a lot of work to do to make this complete.
While, in Early Access you will have access to the Combat Ready endless gameplay, in the full release, you will not be able to access it until you complete Trade Training and gain the Combat Ready qualification.

Currently Available Features:
You can launch Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) aircraft to intercept aircraft you believe to be enemy. These interceptions currently have voice callouts where the pilots update you on the progress of the intercept and what they find. These voice lines are still a work in progress.

As well as launching the QRA, you can select military airfields and manually launch individual interceptor aircraft (Tornado F3s) to identify potential enemy aircraft, direct them to carryout a Combat Air Patrol (CAP) anywhere on the map, and engage threats.

You can also task refueling and AWACS aircraft anywhere on the map. Interceptors and AWACS can refuel in flight to extend their coverage.

The AWACS aircraft provide a RADAR picture and this enables the player to extend RADAR coverage where there are gaps from ground based RADAR stations.

As well as enemy aircraft, the game currently includes civilian aircraft with flight plans and those flying with Visual Flight Rules (VFR). These aircraft perform realistic flight profiles and vary in type dependent on where they fly from, for example international aircraft are generally large commercial jets, whilst those flying from Aberdeen to Shetland are smaller propeller driven aircraft.

Airport departure and arrivals follow realistic flow rates, although currently, this is limited due to FPS limitations and will be improved throughout the development.

There is currently lightweight Electronic Warfare capabilities allowing the player to identify enemy aircraft through the use of Passive sensors at RADAR stations.

RADAR Jamming is represented in the game but is still to be expanded to show realistic clutter.

The RADAR stations featured include Faroes, Saxa Vord, Buchan, Brizlee Wood, Staxton Wold, Neatishead, Portreath and Benbecula. A mobile RADAR provided by 1ACC is featured, however it's placement in the game is still do be decided.

Mode 3 codes are represented and change dependent on which area the aircraft are flying in and who is controlling them.

Enemy aircraft currently include a wide range of bombers, fighters and tankers that were used by the Russian air force in 1998, as well as aircraft from one other adversary.

UI Features:
- Select individual RADAR stations, enable range rings, disable the RADAR
- Cycle through different levels of track data (the digital layer of information shown on screen over the RADAR contact)
- Hook tracks and dynamically zoom/follow selected tracks
- View the flight plan of aircraft by clicking on it's track
- Flight Information is displayed on a panel which includes the aircrafts height/speed/mode 3. This panel also lets you change the tracks identity and also launch the QRA
- The Flight Information Panel has a tab that gives you basic information about that aircraft. What the aircraft is/should be, its flight characteristic and some hints on identification.
- An Assets Panel allows you to see all of the available assets along with remaining fuel/weapons. This panel also lets you task aircraft, or redeploy them to other bases, for strategic placement.
- The Airfield panel which you open by clicking on the airfield on the map, shows the available aircraft/fuel and weapons at that airfield and also lets you task aircraft.
- A Flight Plan panel shows you a list of the aircraft in the game alongside their Flight Plan data
- A Track List gives you a filterable list of all of the tracks in the game and allows you to hook or jump to individual aircraft.
- You can right click on military aircraft to get access to additional functions and commands.
- The main interface includes a contextual menu system based off the ICCS RADAR console.
- The game includes an overlay for a limited number Air-To-Air Refueling Areas (AARA) and Danger Areas.
- You can turn on/off the names of Airfields/Cities and Strategic Assets
- There is an intel feed and basic chat function (ASMA console) that allows you to see what important events are happening in the game and also allow you to send asset update requests. This chat function also has hidden capabilities and access to easter eggs.

Voice/Radio Features:
Currently there are internal radio comms between positions in the bunker, other military bases, and radio calls with aircraft. This is not currently comprehensive.

I am working on a radio channel system to switch between radios as this can be overwhelming when many missions/intercepts are happening at the same time.

The game is playable and challenging, yet there is still a lot of work to do before it is a slick and comprehensive air defence experience.

Be aware that some saved games may break as updates are rolled out. I will do everything to make sure this doesn't happen, but it might.”

Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?

“The price is likely to increase on the release of more comprehensive features and content.”

How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?

“There is currently an active Discord server with over 700 members actively giving feedback on what they've seen so far, as well as input from social media marketing.

I would actively encourage any professionals with far more experience than me to help improve the accuracy of radio comms, flight procedures and capabilities.”