Steam News2 July 20264d ago

Test New Features Early - Air Control Towers, Fire & More

A few weeks ago, we gave you a preview of some of the upcoming features. We’re now far enough along in development that we’d like to test them with the community and gather your feedback before the official release.

In this update12

Full notes

Full Ground of Aces update

Read the full published notes in a cleaner layout. The original post stays linked below.

What changed

0 fixes6 additions3 changes0 removals

Gameplay
Balance
Performance

changedWe’ve updated the testing branch , which is available to everyone who owns Ground of Aces on Steam.

addedHow to Switch to the Testing BranchWe recommend starting with a new save game. You can try loading an older save game; it may work without any big problems, but when we change and introduce new systems, we can't promise 100% that there are no unexpected issues when you load an older save.

addedSend Us Your Bug Reports & FeedbackTry the new features and use the in-game feedback tool to send back your findings.

addedAirplane AccidentsWe didn’t reveal this feature in our previous preview yet, but here we can tell you that airplane accidents are coming to Ground of Aces. Aircraft now have a chance of experiencing an accident when landing at your airbase. Several different types of accidents can occur.

changedAir Control TowersBuild an Air Control Tower from the construction menu and assign crew members to it. Each assigned crew member reduces the chance of airplane accidents by 1% .

addedFireExplosions, crashes, and other incidents can now start fires. Fires can spread across terrain, buildings, aircraft, and crew members, and must be extinguished before they get out of control.

Ground of Aces changes

changedWe’ve updated the testing branch , which is available to everyone who owns Ground of Aces on Steam.

addedWe recommend starting with a new save game. You can try loading an older save game; it may work without any big problems, but when we change and introduce new systems, we can't promise 100% that there are no unexpected issues when you load an older save.

addedTry the new features and use the in-game feedback tool to send back your findings.

addedWe didn’t reveal this feature in our previous preview yet, but here we can tell you that airplane accidents are coming to Ground of Aces. Aircraft now have a chance of experiencing an accident when landing at your airbase. Several different types of accidents can occur.

changedBuild an Air Control Tower from the construction menu and assign crew members to it. Each assigned crew member reduces the chance of airplane accidents by 1% .

We’ve updated the testing branch, which is available to everyone who owns Ground of Aces on Steam.

Your feedback helps us figure out what we need to adjust and if there are unexpected bugs that haven't appeared in our testing sessions yet. The official update release is planned for later in the month.

How to Switch to the Testing Branch

Right-click Ground of Aces in the Steam library list.
Select “Properties…” in the dropdown menu.
Go to “Game Versions & Betas”
Switch to “alpha - Alpha test”
You can switch back to the public default version at any time. --> Do this when the update is out officially.

We recommend starting with a new save game. You can try loading an older save game; it may work without any big problems, but when we change and introduce new systems, we can't promise 100% that there are no unexpected issues when you load an older save.

Send Us Your Bug Reports & Feedback

Try the new features and use the in-game feedback tool to send back your findings.

The feedback tool sends us the information of the game version; we will see which reports are about this test version, and we can filter the feedback.

More complicated issues related to this version should be reported in the designated Discord channel #⁠bugs-testingbranch. We can directly ask questions there, and you can upload your save file if needed.

JOIN OUR DISCORD

What Is New

Airplane Accidents

We didn’t reveal this feature in our previous preview yet, but here we can tell you that airplane accidents are coming to Ground of Aces. Aircraft now have a chance of experiencing an accident when landing at your airbase. Several different types of accidents can occur.

Air Control Towers

Build an Air Control Tower from the construction menu and assign crew members to it. Each assigned crew member reduces the chance of airplane accidents by 1%.

Fire

Explosions, crashes, and other incidents can now start fires. Fires can spread across terrain, buildings, aircraft, and crew members, and must be extinguished before they get out of control.

Fire Fighting

Crew members can now be assigned to the new Fight Fire task in the Crew Management window. Like Building or Gathering, Fire Fighting has its own work priority. Crew members assigned to this task will even wake up from sleep to respond to emergencies.

Transparent Glass

Aircraft now feature transparent cockpit glass, allowing you to see your aircrew while they’re inside their planes.

New Aircraft in Wings of Valor DLC

The De Havilland Vampire has been added as a new aircraft for the Wings of Valor DLC.

Things Being Worked On:

Fire & Fire Fighting
- Manually Assigning Firefighting Tasks
- Firefighting Task Right-Click Prioritisation
- Implementation of Fire Hazard Accidents
- Better reconstruction tools for destroyed assets
Air Control Tower & Safety
- 3D models & 2D icons of the towers
- Air control task animations for the characters
Airplane Crashes
- Enemy airplane crashes
- Having crashed planes harvestable

Thank you for testing these features early and for your feedback!

Source

Steam News / 2 July 2026

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