September 12, 2016 — As the big things of this world — governments, corporations, institutions — are losing traction, independent air-combat action game Flying Tigers: Shadows Over China (FTSOC) grinds along like an old riverbarge up Burma’s Salween gorge, fending off Japanese assaults on the left while expecting Allied reinforcements from the right. It’s been quite some time since you’ve heard from us gamedev-mechanics here at Ace Maddox, so hopefully today’s additions will make you all pleased.

YouTube Video URL: https://youtu.be/Zy4WPjSZ3Tc
Download Screenshots: FTSOC-Cockpit-Campaign-EPK.zip
Steam Store URL: store.steampowered.com/app/365810
Official YouTube: AirCombatAction.TV

Live on Steam now, this straight-forward update adds a good amount of content and bugfixes, and we’ve simply decided to call it “COCKPIT/CAMPAIGN”. Check out the voiced YouTube video for a thorough overview, or scour the changelog below for a quick rundown.

Update History/Changelog:

• Four new cockpits and “wide” interior camera added. Hop inside the P-40E, Buffalo Mk. I, Lysander Mk. II or the Japanese Ki-43 fighter! If you’re playing on keyboard and/or mouse, just press the V key to check out the newly added cockpit “wide” camera. And, there’s also a refurbished bomb-targeting system for when you’re seated in cockpit mode.
• Voice actors exhausted as Campaign nears competion. Development of FTSOC’s historical single player campaign is almost complete. We’ve updated some of the older voices, while a multitude of actors have been working around the clock to record the remainder of the Campaign mission’s screenplay in proper. We suggest you give the Campaign a full playthrough, so you can hear for yourselves.
• Controller vibration. For those of you who prefer to play/fly with a gamepad, there’s now controller rumble for stronger “immersion”.
• Improved rendering. Shadows and reflections look sharper and are more stable now, this specially noticeable when you’re seated inside.
• Toggle HUD elements on the fly. Press the H key while flying to control displaymode of the various HUD elements (handy feature when recording video or FRAPSing stills).
• Ship models. We’ve updated most of the game’s warship models, plus added a typical Southeast Asian wooden cargo ship, namely the Malayan Bedar (which, incidentally, does not look entirely unrelated to the Chinese junk).
• More Challenges. We’ve added two new mini-missions in the form of challenges, so go ahead and take that dusty old Vildebeest for a bit of tinfish-safari off the Akyab coast in the new TORPEDOGS challenge, or try out the bombs and machine guns of the Allied P-43A fighter in GROUND ATTACK.
• Added captured Japanese fighter. We’ve implemented a captured P-40E fighter, bombs included, to spice up multiplayer cockpit-dogfighting a little. Enjoy the flight!

About Flying Tigers: Shadows Over China
Currently in Steam Early Access, Flying Tigers: Shadows Over China (FTSOC) is a historical air-combat action game based on the true events of America’s secret volunteer squadrons that flew against Japan in the China-Burma-India (CBI) Theatre of World War 2. Secretly recruited under President Roosevelt’s authority, the Flying Tigers were officially known as the “American Volunteer Group”.

About Ace Maddox
Specializing in air-combat action games, Ace Maddox is an independent game developer head-quartered in Sweden. Its distributed development team shares a wild interest in combat aviation and arcade games, and is formed by industry veterans with backgrounds in the games, digital media and music industries. Visit AceMaddox.com for more info or follow @AirCombatAction on Twitter.