zack1234 
I challenge you to a dual 
Look forward to it Zack
Maybe after you have shot me down a few times we can wing together.
Is rise of flight like Aces-High just with better graphics and WW1 centered instead of WW2?
It has it's some similarities Tyrannis, but also a lot of uniqueness, it's not as similar as say Aces High is to WarBirds, it can be quite a different game.
Offline play is very different in that there is far more to do, a bit
too much IMHO, some players never make it past offline play to the online because of this.
Offline basically breaks down to four main types of play, Quick Mission
builder (QMB), Missions, Campaigns, and Career.
Quick Mission
builder (QMB): Easy to set up via sliders and tick boxes for start altitude, weather, icons, difficulty, aircraft types and numbers, etc (anything from solo, to 15v15), all AI driven (the best way to get started in RoF IMHO)
Missions: Pre-set tasks and training against AI.
Campaigns: Pre-set tasks and missions against AI on a lager scale.
Career: Fairly new and unique, start off as a junior in a squadron and work your way up to wing commander if you survive long enough (proving to be very popular, again all against AI).
There is also a Mission Builder: Not very intuitive and difficult get into, but allows the few dedicate soles who have mastered this to build missions for the rest of the community (both for offline and online use).
Online play has three types of arenas, Co-op, Capture the Flag, and Team Death Match (can be set up as all start together or more normally join anytime similar to AH)
777 Studios don't host any arenas themselves, so the arenas break down into two types, player hosted & dedicated server.
Player hosted is very similar to AH Custom Arenas, one player hosts and chooses the settings and type of play, others log in via the main multiplayer menu. These tend to be private password protected arenas although some are open to anyone, numbers online tend to be small though.
Dedicated servers tend to be run by groups and have their own websites, stats etc, but open to anyone. The servers are usually 24 hour with "missions" running for 5-6 hours at a time (come and go at anytime during a mission normally). Each has it's own flavour and settings. Some of the more popular ones are:
The Newbie Dogfighting server: probably the closest to AH, don't be fooled by the name the only thing "Newbie" about this arenas is the "Icons On" and "Simplified engine management" settings (no mixture or radiator controls to worry about). A bit of a cross between Furball Lake and MA, come and go at anytime, air starts sometimes, alternates between Capture the Flag and Team Death match.
The Fast Food Dogfight Server: similar to "The Newbie Dogfighting server" but full realism settings i.e. no icons and full engine management required.
The Les Hellequins Server: Full realism settings, ground starts,
own stats & leaderboard, more "serious" style play.
Syndicate Full realism: Full realism settings, ground starts, similar to Les Hellequins but more mission based.
The Snarling Trolls server: set up varies, newbie training, fun events, racing etc. (a bit less
serious than some of the arenas).
The game isn't MMO in the same way as AH, with the maximum number per arena being limited to around 70. Having said that it isn't uncommon to find to that number online, which is quite different to the AH WWI arena where I was struggling to find anyone to fly against in the evening (UK time).
A quick look at the country flags on the
Overall leaderboard shows the game has a very varied international following. RoF has many USA based players but there are far more from else where. Peak time online tends to be during the European evening, and multiplayer numbers can drop off sharply by the USA peak time.
Online coms is poor IMHO, you can only text to "Everyone" or "All Country", not direct to a player or squad, and there's also no in game voice function (although many of the deducted servers or squads run a TeamSpeak server).
There's no formal "squads" as per AH, many players form squads and have their own websites, but in game you can only "be part of a squad" as such by setting it up in your callsign, hence the "=AH= Sid", the =AH= just made it easy for a bunch of us that moved over from the Aces High WWI arena to find each other, we're not a formal squad, we have no web site or joining requirements. Anyone wishing to add it to their callsign and "wing" with us is welcome to do so (note: each player is allowed 3 online callsigns or profiles, so setting one up this way isn't a big problem).
RoF also has a film recorder, IMHO not as good as AH as there's no "trails" function or ability to sit in another aircraft other than your own, It does have the advantage of recording your head movements using TrackIR and the "Free camera" lends it's self very well to making some great YouTube films.
Engine management is probably the biggest difference in RoF, in full realism (which most of the online servers tend to be) you need to look after the magnetos, fuel, mixture setting, engine temp (both too hot and too cold will damage the engine), Radiator shutters, Engine RPM (it's very easy to over rev and damage an engine as there's no sound associated with the damage until it's too late), along with negative G cut-outs and "blip" switches.
There's some great guides to engine management from Requiems' YouTube
Training FilmsEngine Management #1 - Overcooling Engine Management #2 - Flamed EnginesEngine Management #3 - Manual Mixture ControlEngine Management #4 - Cold Starts and Blip SwitchA few other things to watch out for online, Unlike AH don't expect to be left to dual it out, Ganging, HOing, and Hit & Run are the norm. Best advise is to get a wingman. Another difference from AH, there is no "Kill Shooter", be careful whom you shoot at, and the same goes for collisions. Also have a quick look to make sure it's clear before you start your takeoff run, colliding with a fellow countryman while he's landing a 10 kill sortie, might not make you flavour of the month!
The above is all IMHO of course, I'm still a newbie myself
As I say similar in some respects, very different in others, but free to download and use for an unlimited amount of time both Offline and On (in the Spad XIII & Albatros D.Va), you can also man any of the gunner positions in the two seaters and bombers (unlike AH you don't need a player permission to do this, just click on the "Occupy plane crew positions" and select a free position, again be careful what you shoot at, remember you can shoot your own side down here, you can also damage the plane your in if you fire at it!)
