Rotary Knights News

[p]I know some of you have been asking — the demo was supposed to ship on March 24. I felt the initial prologue needed a bit more intrigue and decision making, so I am adding a bit more content to the demo before releasing. [/p][p]
[/p][h3]Why I Held It[/h3][p]
[/p][p]The demo is playable. The prologue, Act 1, and the demo ending all work. Save transfer to Early Access works. But I felt the game need a bit more excitement in the beginning, so I will be launch in a few weeks.[/p][p]
[/p][p]This upcoming week, I will be running automated QA agents against the demo build — each one playing a different specialization and playstyle, capturing thousands of screenshots, and scoring every screen for visual quality, clarity, and engagement.
[/p][p]Based upon issues, identified by the QA Agents and play testers, I will fix each one and then release soon. [/p][p][/p][h3]When[/h3][p]
[/p][p]Early April. I am not setting a specific date. The demo ships when the QA agents stop finding issues worth fixing. Based on the last 15 QA cycles, that is days, not weeks.[/p][p]
[/p][h2]What You Get in the Demo[/h2][p]
The demo covers the first act of the war — summer 1914 through your first combat patrols over the Western Front.[/p][p]
[/p]

• [p]Pilot creation with consequences. Choose your name, specialization (fighter, recon, or bomber), and origin story. Every choice shapes your temperament — Daring, Methodical, or Cautious — and the war responds differently to each.[/p]

• [p]Your first sorties. 1914 aviation means wood, canvas, and a sidearm. Reconnaissance flights escalate into first contact with German aircraft. The encounters are not scripted — your specialization and playstyle determine what you face.[/p]

• [p]Hex tactical combat. Position your aircraft, manage altitude and deflection angles, and outmaneuver the enemy on a hex grid inspired by classic WWI aerial board games.[/p]

• [p]Aerodrome management. Allocate supplies, build facilities, manage personnel. The decisions you make on the ground shape what is possible in the air.[/p]

• [p]Your save carries forward. The demo ends at a narrative turning point with a cutscene tailored to how you played. When Early Access launches, you pick up exactly where you left off — same pilot, same choices, same war.[/p]

[p]
[/p][h3]What Changed Since Dev Update #2[/h3][p]
[/p][p]Three polish passes since the last update (v0.4.38 through v0.5.90):[/p][p]
[/p]

• [p]1,575 automated tests passing[/p]
• [p]Flights between sectors now include atmospheric micro-events — weather shifts, AA fire, ground observations. Quiet stretches feel alive instead of empty.[/p]
• [p]Combat debriefs track your closest call and near-misses. You see how close you came.[/p]
• [p]Return-to-base narratives expanded from 32 to 64 variants. Repeat sorties feel distinct.[/p]
• [p]Prologue scenes enriched with longer narrative context and larger character art.[/p]
• [p]Numerous display artifacts[/p]

[p]

[/p][p]Wishlist Rotary Knights to get notified the moment the demo drops. If you are in the Discord, I will be posting QA results and progress updates there as they come in.[/p][p]
[/p][p]Clear skies,[/p][p]— Steve, Old Blue Chair[/p]

[h2]Demo — March 24[/h2][p]Steam demo drops March 24. It covers summer 1914 through your first combat patrols — the opening act of the war.[/p][p]You'll create your pilot, pick a specialization (fighter, recon, or bomber), fly your first sorties over the Western Front, and get into your first hex tactical fights. It's a real slice of the game, not a tutorial. Your choices stick, your kills count, and the war moves whether you're ready or not.[/p][p]Wishlist now so you don't miss it.[/p][h2]Player Experience Overhaul[/h2][p]Last update was about visuals. This one's about feel — making the game actually respond to what you're doing, moment to moment.[/p][p]Near-miss urgency. When your aircraft gets shot up, you know it. HP below 50% triggers damage warnings. Below 25%, critical. On fire? You see it immediately. Enemy trailing smoke? You know you're close to a kill.[/p][p]Enriched victories. Downing an enemy now shows wreckage, combat stats (rounds fired, damage dealt, ammo remaining), and atmospheric text. No more winning a dogfight and getting a one-liner.[/p][p]Decoration ceremonies. Earn a Military Cross or Distinguished Flying Cross and you get a proper ceremony screen — royal warrant, squadron reactions, the weight of the moment. Not a line in a log.[/p][p]Observation feedback. Every observation choice during sorties now produces visible consequences — 30 variants across mission types and pilot temperaments. No more choices that vanish into nothing.[/p][p]Narrative variety. Quiet return flights, no-encounter patrols, sortie vignettes — all expanded from 1–2 variants to 8+ per category. Repeat playthroughs actually feel different.[/p][p]The through-line: every screen should feel like something is happening. You make a choice, the game reacts. You survive a dogfight, the game acknowledges it.[/p][h2]Build Quality[/h2][p]Build is tight. 15 dedicated QA passes since last update — full playthrough sweeps across all six acts, all three specializations, dozens of edge cases. Automated test suite grew from 1,414 to 1,547 tests, all passing.[/p][p]Historical accuracy got a close look too. Aircraft date-gated to actual service entry. RFC transitions to RAF in April 1918. Aces appear and disappear at historically correct dates. Anachronistic references scrubbed from mission briefings and events.[/p][p]Combat math, viewport layout, save/load fidelity, screen density — all ground through methodically. Goal: nothing feels unfinished or broken on day one.[/p][h2]What's Next[/h2][p]Between now and March 24:[/p]

• [p]Continued polish — every screen, every edge case[/p]
• [p]Demo tuning — first hour needs to be airtight[/p]
• [p]Steam integration — achievements, cloud saves[/p]

[p]Wishlist Rotary Knights to get notified when the demo drops. Join the Discord if you want to follow the day-to-day.[/p][p]Clear skies, — Steve, Old Blue Chair[/p]

[p]Rotary Knights is getting closer to takeoff. Here's what I've been working on.[/p][p][/p][h2]Visual Overhaul: Dogfight Hex Map[/h2][p]I'm overhauling the dogfight combat screen with a new visual direction inspired by classic hex wargames.[/p][p][/p][p]What changed:[/p]

• [p]Aircraft now sit inside faction-colored unit counters — RFC khaki for your side, German feldgrau for the enemy — with altitude badges, heading indicators, and HP bars. Readable at a glance, the way a proper wargame board should be.[/p]
• [p]The hex grid itself has been cleaned up with a uniform sky palette that keeps the focus on tactical positioning instead of visual noise.[/p]
• [p]HUD panels now match the Western Front campaign map's board-game aesthetic — warm brown borders, opaque panels, faction roundels.[/p]

[p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]I want every dogfight to feel like you're commanding chits on a squadron table. The old dark leather look is gone — replaced with a sky gradient and crisp grid lines that make altitude, range, and firing arcs easy to read at any zoom level.[/p][p][/p][h2]Bug Squashing[/h2][p]I've been grinding through the bug backlog with extensive automated testing — running play-throughs against the live build, then fixing what they find. The last two passes alone addressed 112 issues across combat, events, the terminal UI, and edge cases in the 6-act campaign.[/p][p][/p][p]The current build has 1,414 automated tests passing. The goal is a stable, tight experience on day one of Early Access.[/p][p][/p][h2]What's in the Build[/h2][p]For anyone new — Rotary Knights is a text-based RPG spanning WWI aviation from 1914 to 1918. Fly 37 aircraft, fight hex tactical dogfights, manage your aerodrome on the Western Front, and survive a branching 6-act campaign with permadeath. Full details on the store page.[/p][p][/p][h2]What's Next[/h2][p]
Launch is close. I'll announce the date soon. In the meantime — wishlist if you haven't, and join the Discord to follow development in real time. [/p][p][/p][p]Clear skies, [/p][p]— Steve, ChoiceRealms[/p]