Instructions

Here’s quick instructions on how to play Assault Wing.

Installing

You can install Assault Wing from Steam for free.

Starting a Local Game — Quick Play

Once you get Assault Wing running, the easiest way to try it out is to play a local game. Use Up Arrow and Down Arrow to select menu entries and Enter to activate. (No no mouse support ATM.) Just select Play Local and then F10 to start the game.

To play online select Play at the Battlefront. Wait a few seconds and at least the Join Official 1 server should appear.

You can also hit Create server to create a local server that all other players can join. (A terminal based dedicated server is also available as a separate installation.)

Controls

Assault Wing is played either on a keyboard or on an XBox 360 controller. You can set up the controls in the Setup menu. It offers keyboard and game pad presets and also allows you to configure each control separately. The default keys are as follows.

  • Up Arrow: Thrust your ship
  • Left Arrow, Right Arrow: Turn your ship
  • Down Arrow: Engage your ship modification
  • Right Ctrl: Fire your ship’s weapon
  • Right Shift: Fire your special weapon

In local game the second player has these keys by default:

  • W: Thrust your ship
  • A, D: Turn your ship
  • S: Engage your ship modification
  • Left Ctrl: Fire your ship’s weapon
  • Left Shift: Fire your special weapon

Pressing Esc will bring up an in-game dialog that allows you to end the game or return back to the ship selection screen. Pressing PrintScreen during game will save a screenshot to “Pictures\Assault Wing”.

Choosing Your Ship and Equipment

When choosing Play Local or when joining a server in network play, you are presented with a ship selection screen. Pressing F10 or game pad Start will start the game. Before that you might want to choose your ship and equipment, though. Use the arrow and WASD keys or your game pads to move your selector up and down and to change your selection. You can choose your ship, your special weapon and your ship modification. Short descriptions of these are shown next to your selection. Some ships, weapons and modifications are better suited for two-player games and some better for large battles. Try them out!

If you have joined a network game but haven’t logged in with your registered pilot, you can also enter your name as the topmost selection. Pressing Tab or game pad Shoulders will cycle through the menu tabs: Equipment, Players, Chat, Game Settings.

Please see the Gameplay guide for more tips and information.

Playing at the Battlefront — Multiplayer over the Internet

Assault Wing is the most fun when many players play over the Internet. Use the Play at the Battlefront menu to create and join games.

You can also join a game server from Assault Wing menus. To do this, start Assault Wing and choose Play at the Battlefront in the main menu. At the bottom of the screen you will also see a countdown to the next scheduled game. Scheduled games are casual events that help players join the servers together. This way we can have larger battles even if there aren’t players online at all times.

Your Steam nick name is used as your player name, but it can be customized from the Setup menu.

After playing online you will be assigned a rating. Rating is calculated using a system similar to the one used in Chess. If you win against powerful opponents your rating will increase proportionally. The rating starts at 1000 and will go up and down depending on your placement at the end of matches.

Your rank is simply your position in the global ranking sorted by each players’ rating number. Your current rank and rating will be visible in the yellow area in the top right corner of the screen in menus. The ranking/rating is powered by a Steam Leaderboard.

Press Enter or game pad A on a server that has some players or is otherwise to your liking and you’ll join the server. You’re now presented with the ship selection screen. Pressing F10 or game pad Start will join the ongoing battle. During a network game, you can change your ship and weapons by pressing Esc, and then re-join the battle by pressing F10 or game pad Start. Your new selections will be activated when you die. Note that the battle doesn’t stop when you’re re-equipping!