Oldschool and Realism: choose your flight

Oldschool is now the standard flight style. You can move one way and aim another, with momentum and a short, gradually slowing glide when you release movement. New Oldschool runs have no Oldschool score penalty.

We introduced force-driven flight to make room for more strategy in later game modes: choosing when to build speed, brake and commit to a route. We also want the people already playing to enjoy how their ship handles. That flight style is still available as Realism, through a setting and a mutator. How these choices work may evolve during Early Access.

This guide covers v0.63.57. Older builds used different defaults and an Oldschool score modifier.

Choose your flight style

1. Open Settings from the main menu or pause menu. In Sandbox Fly mode, use F4 / Settings.
2. Open INPUT, then select FLIGHT MODE.
3. Choose OLDSCHOOL for standard handling or REALISM for force-driven flight.
4. With Oldschool selected, choose OLDSCHOOL FRAME: AXES or FLUID.
5. Back out of Settings to save your preference.

These settings affect both keyboard and gamepad. You can also select REALISM in the mutator list before a run. A Custom map can require Realism; in that case its required handling stays active until you leave the map.

On your first upgrade to this version, flight switches to Oldschool. Your Axes/Fluid choice is retained. You can select Realism again and that preference will be saved.

Oldschool: Axes or Fluid?

Axes — move relative to the screen

• W / up: move toward the top of the screen.
• S / down: move toward the bottom.
• A / left and D / right: move left and right across the screen.
• Aim freely without changing those movement directions.

Try it: aim right and hold W. Your ship moves up while shooting right.

Fluid — move relative to your aim

• W / up: move forward toward your aim.
• S / down: move backward, away from your aim.
• A/D / left/right: strafe relative to that facing direction.

Try it: aim right and hold W to move right. Hold S to move left instead.

Both styles retain acceleration, momentum and a soft stop. Neither instantly erases the velocity you already have. If Fluid feels unfamiliar, start with Axes.

Realism: fly with engine force

Realism builds speed through engine force. Turning your aim changes where the engine pushes, rather than instantly redirecting existing momentum.

For the standard Realism ships:

• W / up: thrust toward your aim.
• S / down: brake. This does not drive the ship backward.
• A/D / left/right: use side jets relative to your aim.
• Release movement: coast. Brake to shed speed more deliberately.

Mothership uses two-axis hovering movement in Realism, with momentum. It does not use the same forward-engine/reverse-brake arrangement as the other hulls.

Try building speed, releasing movement and then braking in a quiet Sandbox map. Leave room for the drift you carry through a turn.

Warp: follow your glide or aim it

By default, Warp follows the direction you are gliding, on every ship—including Mothership—and in both flight styles. If you are nearly stationary, it uses the direction your ship is facing.

Enable the PRECISION WARP mutator to warp toward your cursor or gamepad aim instead.

Both versions capture direction when Warp begins. Moving your aim during the warp does not bend it, and extending the gamepad aim line does not increase travel distance. The warp still respects solid obstacles.

Try it: move left while aiming right. Standard Warp carries you left; Precision Warp sends you right.

Scores and switching

Oldschool has no penalty on new runs. Realism and Precision Warp are score-neutral. Other mutators retain their own score modifiers.

Changing Flight Mode during a run preserves velocity and clears the previous engine effects. If you used Realism, its label remains on that run's record even after switching back to Oldschool. Repeated switches do not stack a penalty or bonus.

Historical Oldschool leaderboard entries keep their original labels and scoring; the update does not rewrite old results.

Useful settings

• INVERT SIDE THRUST swaps left/right movement inputs for keyboard and gamepad. The examples above assume it is off.
• PAD AIM DISTANCE sets the maximum gamepad aim-line reach. Stick pressure controls distance within that limit.
• On a slider, use left/right for small changes, or confirm to open the precise value controls. Confirm applies; Back cancels.
• Settings → CONTROLS opens the full control reference.

If something behaves differently, reply in the Discord guide with your game version, ship, keyboard/controller, flight style, Oldschool frame and active mutators.