Thrust & Shoot : Flight School

can't control my ship, i just continually roll in circles with no way to stop it or regain control. pretty useless waste of hard drive space.

The game COULD be nice. Really, the idea of proper, hardcore realistic spaceflight is greatly underused, and this game ALMOST nails it. Emphasis on "almost".

The flight model in itself is good and accurate. The problem is the absolute lack of information on vectors. Sure, you have a pointer at the front and back to let you know where you are going, but that's all. No other indication of angles from your current velocity vector or anything. Since the only way to correct your course is by angling your ship and burning the main torch, it is an inexcusable lack.

Or rather, it wouldn't be so bad in itself if it weren't for the incredibly annoying fact that you can't play any level as you please. In a combat scenario it doesn't hinder you too much, but you must go through the "obstacle course", which is, quite litteraly, jumping through hoops. Which are WAY too close for the speed at which you're generally moving, making it incredibly frustrating. Even by reducing my speed to one third of that at which I had launched, I found correcting my trajectory impossible to get them properly. All that because you can't see s***, have no indication of where the next one will be, so you can't anticipate, and you have to either go very slow and completely break the flow of the so-called "race" or correct your course blindly and hope the angle was right.

This level alone is good enough a reason not to recommend this game.

This is a really disappointing space flight sim. It doesn't let you use multiple joysticks without the use of third-party applications like Joystick Gremlin. It doesn't have an option for mapping any thrust axes. It doesn't even have an option for mapping reverse thrust - this is important because without it you can't even complete the second required step of the tutorial! The lack of modern customizable options in this game is just shameful.

not what i expected

Oh wow. A Newtonian physics space flight shooter?
Yes please!
I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar!

You fly what seems to be basically a Battlestar Galactica Viper - like space fighter.
The radar and HUD indicators are easy enough to grasp.
Graphics are ok. Missions are simple enough.
You will be able to finish it in 2 hours, but I'll be back to ace the achievements.

Do you like to use the "slide" function from Tachyon: the Fringe? Oh boy, do I have a game for you.

Sort of a space sim hidden gem IMO. Game is short, but excels in what it is trying to do. Physics in this game is very good; and it has simple but good soundtrack and sound effects (I think most indie games fail in that point), although I run into some weird sound clipping when starting the game that stabilizes through time.

There are other games with good newtonian physics (Independence Wars for example), but they are mostly 6DoF, and have some sort of automatic assist. There is nothing, as far as I know, similar to Thrust & Shoot.

Would love to see more content for this game.

edit: errors

Quick:

4/5. I am glad that I purchased the game and I eagerly await more content or a sequel.

More:

Thrust & Shoot: Flight School is exactly what I was looking for when I purchased it. I was browsing the Steam marketplace and looking for a flight-game, or space-sim like the old-school PlayStation flight games. This game delivered.
It's a very short game with a few missions. The graphics are basic, yet aesthetically pleasing. The control scheme is fun and interesting. The HUD is basic... in the best way. The forward and reverse vector indicators, and the map are my favorite features in the game. They are fun to use and easy to understand. My hopes for the game are that it gets more missions and a 'free-look' button / feature. The fun of controlling the ship and the game's retro style are perfect.
Less is more with Thrust & Shoot: Flight School. The simplicity of the game's controls and minimalist aesthetic are it's strongest features.

Reminds Me Of:

Descent, Warhawk, House Of The Dying Sun

I've been searching for different space simulator games, and this game is definately on the list of REQUIRED games to play. It's one of a kind in it's simplicity, and is the absolute answer to "asteroid 3d". Other games introduce many mechanics that make them their own, or more specially categorized, but this game is alone in ACTUALLY OFFERING "asteroid 3d" flight mechanics. use a game controller, and get used to using the "radar" to change direction towards your objectives right away. (you can't see anything out the window for now,,, hopefully windows vr will be a plan, so you can at least look to each side,,,, and of course your top will be a good reason to start rolling so up is front)

Dev(s) more please!

Love how retro (mid/late 90s) this one feels, be it full Newtonian physics or the grey green red palette of the cockpit.
Little detail of thrusters and accompanying sound fx sold me on this one.
Right now not much in here but it is above all fun and makes you think... in 3D ;)

Never got a chance to play, game crashes on launch

So, after less than 5 hours, I've finished the tutorial... and the game, since so far, the game IS the tutorial.

Yet, I recommend it for anyone who enjoyed Lucasarts X-wing/Tie-fighter as a kid and the piloting part of KSP.

Here are a few pros and cons :

Pros :

* The innovative realistic piloting system
* The animations (bullets, missiles, explosions, ...)

Cons :

* The lack of rewarding feedback (U will never know if you're hitting an ennemy ship until he has 0 hull point).
* The absence of a campain mode (so far !)
* The alert sound which never goes off when your hull gets low

This is like an infant mix of KSP and Elite... or if Elite had Newtonian physics. It's a challenging concept to grasp for a beginner and will probably intimidate players of space games with 'simple' physics. It's bare bones and only has a few levels but I can see myself spending a least a few hours playing it as the flight model feels genuine.
Only one complaint: the sound gets 'poppy' after a couple minutes of playing.
I'm happy to pay $10 for it, even just to support a single dev on a successful execution of a fairly rare gameplay mechanic.
I really hope this gets made into something much bigger. It's so simple to play but so difficult to be any good.

"fly what is essentially a rocket with guns strapped to it" -Hellride games

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This game is probably the best space simulator I've played. Because of that, it's not for the faint of heart or casuals. I've played my fair share of space sims. Space Engineers, EVERSPACE, Kerbal Space Program, and even some outside of Steam. (Not Star Citizen, sadly. It'd probably barely run it on my 1050 Ti) Of all of these games, Thrust & Shoot: Flight School takes the cake as most realistic. Sure, you might say that KSP is the most realistic, but it comes at the cost of not being able to actually fly your ships. T&S: FS puts you in the cockpit of your very own starfighter, with one of the most realistic flight simulator engines I've seen.

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Movement:

Your thrusts in one direction add force, and your movement is a combination of all of your burn vectors. So if I burn 1 second forward, then turn right and burn for half a second, I'll move forward with a right tilt. But it's space. There's no right, left, up, down, forward, or backwards. It's space. Movement is easy to discern though, because you have two reticules: one, a circle, shows the direction you are heading (prograde), along with relative speed (more on that later), directly opposite that (so, behind, as it were) is a circle with a cross, and shows your backwards direction (retrograde). If you want to 'stop', burn in that direction until relative speed is 0 m/s. Now, you're probably wondering why I'm saying relative speed instead of speed. It's because the two are actually different. Speed is your direction in relation to an objective point, say, the center of everything. In a game, speed is relative to your previous location. 1 m/s speed would allow you to travel 1 m/s from your original location. In a sense, relative speed is just speed, with a moving objective point. 1 m/s relative speed to something moving at 100 m/s speed means that you are moving anywhere from 99-101 m/s, depending on your direction relative to that point. Your movement in this game is shown as relative speed, with the point being your target. If I have an RS of 50 m/s, then I am moving 50 m/s relative to my target. If this makes no sense, congratulations, you're normal.

In layman's terms, you move straight unless you apply force in a different direction, thereby changing your direction. Your speed is not objective, but rather shown in relation to your target. So if your target is moving at 100 m/s and you're moving at 150 m/s, your (relative) speed is 50 m/s.

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Combat:

It's not like most other games. In T&S: FS, bullets are actual entities. They have speed. They move. This means that you can't just shoot at the enemy, you have to lead your target. Referencing back to the movement section, this can lead to some interesting scenarios. You see, even if I'm right next to the enemy (good luck doing that, by the way) I have to aim in front. Why? Because then the enemy will move into the bullets, and you'll score a hit. The farther from the target you are, the less chance you have of hitting (due to weapon inaccuracies and their ever-changing movement vectors), and the farther in front you have to aim. You'll also have to change your reticule placement based on their (relative) speed. But don't worry, the game gives you a little "aim here" crosshair. For those who say it's cheating, you'll still have a hard time hitting that. I sure do.

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Pros:

+ Realistic flight
+ Realistic shooting
+ Easy to learn, difficult to master
+ Intuitive controls
+ Simplistic yet informative layout

Neutrals:

+- Graphics are meh, but they don't hinder the experience
+- AI don't seem to be very smart, but I don't think they're stupid

Cons:

- Controls cannot be rebound (yet) Rebinding available.
- Game lacks content, not too many missions.

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TL; DR

Thrust & Shoot: Flight School is a realistic and inertially accurate game that takes space piloting to the next level. If you're looking for a challenging piloting simulator, you've come to the right place. If you're looking for something simple and easy to pick up, I would suggest giving this game a pass.

alright, we're gonna strap rocket boosters to your arse, and you're gonna thread this needle in the abysmal vacuum of space.


Hell I like it.