Infinite Flight for iOS v1.0.0.0
Mobile stand-alone payware flight simulator
Developer: Flying Development Studio
Hardware Used
While normally I would dive into the product first and cover hardware later, I think it's important to note in this case that an iPod touch 4th generation (latest) was used for all testing, and that the experience on other iOS devices may vary significantly. Infinite Flight is also compatible with the iPhone 4 and better, and iPad. With that said, on to the review.
Background
Infinite Flight for iOS is a port from Windows Phone 7, where all indications lead me to believe that the app is the only real flight simulator for that particular platform.
iOS, on the other hand, has had X-Plane for quite a while, as well as the F-Sim Space Shuttle simulator (although that's obviously not a general flight simulator). For the most part, I will avoid drawing comparisons between Infinite Flight and these contenders except where I feel it necessary, and instead let you decide for yourself.
As of this writing, there is no demo version of the app available on the app store, which I find to be questionable given the $4.99 price of the app. This may be due to the fact that the app is a new release, or it may be a decision on the part of the developer. At either rate, I think that adding a version with even just the Cessna, a very limited area and a time limit would go far towards helping justify that purchase price.
It should also be mentioned that this is the first version of the app for iOS, so I have tried to keep in mind the app's status while writing this review, and I think that this is something that potential buyers might want to take into consideration: even if Infinite Flight isn't your cup of tea now, you may find it worth keeping in the back of your mind for when updates are released.
First Impressions and Tutorial
When you first start up Infinite Flight, and every time after until you uncheck the "Show at startup" option, you are offered a welcome screen allowing you to either begin a flight lesson tutorial, or go straight to the main menu.
Of course, not everyone picking up Infinite Flight will be a seasoned armchair pilot; the tutorial puts you in a Cessna 172SP already in the air and provides some basic guidance about airspeed, altitude, vertical speed, and heading, and then puts it to use by directing you to first practice climbing and descending, then turning, and then finally on combining these elements. Even if you have flown simulators before (as I suspect most reading this have), this can be useful for getting used to the accelerometer controls in a relatively easy environment and with the autopilot allowing you to focus on one element of controlling the aircraft without having to worry about the others.
Red boxes clearly show the item in question
Executing a simultaneous turn and descent
Somewhat unfortunately for the beginner pilot, the tutorial leaves the player to fly around and offers no assistance when it comes to more advanced topics such as landing the plane. The closest airport was Half Moon Bay (HAF/KHAF), so I decided to land there.
By default setting, the simulator shows a row of red boxes starting a short distance from the runway and leading down, which will undoubtedly help beginner pilots. In addition, the "Help" screen which can be accessed from the main menu points to more lessons and even video tutorials possibly on the way.
It's also worth noting that Infinite Flight's only real competitor, X-Plane, offers basic guidance on taking off, climbing, turning around, and landing, but doesn't offer any instruction on turning to a certain heading or maintaining a particular altitude.
Interface
This is one area where Infinite Flight really shines. Perhaps it's a holdover from the Windows Phone 7, but the interface seems to work really well for the flight simulation genre.
The main menu can be compared to Flight Simulator X's Free Flight menu, allowing you to choose an aircraft, location, weather, and time of day before you fly.
Under both the region selection and aircraft selection pages, there are buttons in the program to send a request for a new aircraft or region to the developer. These both bring you to a feedback forum in Safari that allow you to make any request and vote on existing requests to be reviewed by the developer.
The weather tab offers some simple weather options, such as visibility and wind direction, velocity, and gusts. Wind had noticeable effects in the simulator, and is definitely noticeable during takeoff and landing. Unfortunately, Infinite Flight does not include more advanced weather options, such as clouds, turbulence, and weather conditions such as storms, features that you don't so much notice when they're there as you notice when they're missing.
Time selection allows you to choose between sunrise, noon, sunset, and night.
Sunrise
Noon
Sunset
Night
At all times with the exception of noon, aircraft and runway lights are automatically lit up, with no intervention possible. Flying at night can be a bit tricky, as runway lighting did seem rather poor at night, even at large airports (and especially when compared with X-Plane), making night VFR flight very difficult.
Accessible from both the main menu and in-game pause menu is the settings menu. You can turn the red landing aid boxes (as seen in the tutorial screenshots above) off if you so wish, or turn the display of airport names on (which I find helpful for flights if I just want to fly around and then pick an airport to land at on the spot), among numerous other options.
Also, it's worth noting that if you switch out of the app and switch back in without first opening the menu, it will put you right back into flight, which can be jarring.
Graphics and Sound
The graphics in Infinite Flight, while certainly not bad, seem like nothing special, especially when you take into consideration the ever-increasing quality of new game apps.
It seems quite reasonable to say that the planes themselves are of much higher quality than their surrounding environments, which contain no clouds and seem a bit excessive on distance fog at times.
One element that does stand out, however, is the detail of the propellers and the fans (on the jets), the former of which looks more like the real thing than other simulations, and the latter of which you can actually see spinning, and looks not unlike the effect on the default FS2004 jets.
Also commendable is the variety of camera options, which mirrors fairly closely what you can find in desktop flight simulators with cockpit (no panel), follow, locked follow, fly-by, and tower views.
You can also remove the HUD and/or flight planner information in the cockpit mode for a different view.
Disappointing to me was the lack of flap and spoiler animations. When you add or take away flaps, although the degree number changes gradually, the flaps change instantly on the model. Spoilers, on the other hand, are not modeled at all.
The sound, on the other hand, seemed quite good. No, it's not real recording good, but then that's not what I would expect from a mobile app.
Also quite good was the difference in sound between the "cockpit" view and the outside views, as well as the change in sound when you zoom in and out of those views.
Flight Modeling, Controls, and Systems
Not having had experience with any of the aircraft here except the Cessna 172SP, it's hard to say how accurate the flight modeling is. While I can't say that the 172 is spot on, it seems to handle fairly reasonably like its real-world counterpart, including when I tested stalling the aircraft. There are no real problems with the handling of the other aircraft I tested.
Controlling the aircraft is about as easy as it gets, and will be familiar if you've played pretty much any mobile simulator or air combat/competition game. The accelerometer is used for the functions of the yoke, while there is a slider for the throttle and buttons for flaps, gear, spoilers, and other controls. One nice touch here is that it has detentes for the flaps (that is, certain preset positions) in degrees instead of using a slider, which is more realistic and far less arbitrary.
One thing that I found rather annoying was how easy it is to accidentally bump the throttle. While having a nice big throttle control that takes up the left side of the screen is nice, it is not so nice when you accidentally bump it and before you know it you are rapidly losing airspeed.
On the topic of annoyances, one other thing that disappointed me is the way the simulator treats flying outside the allotted airspace. X-Plane deals with this by placing you at another edge of the map. Infinite Flight deals with this by idling the throttle. While this is perhaps a more realistic way of dealing with the problem of a limited world, it is quite intrusive, especially considering the ambiguity over where, exactly, the world ends. I think there has to be a better way of handling this problem, but even if the developer opts to keep the current system, it would be nice to have prior warning, with distance from the perimeter for the warning perhaps determined by the typical speed of the aircraft (because there's a big difference between a Cessna and a 737 closing in on the border).
Another area where Infinite Flight clobbers its competition is in the autopilot and flight planning. The former allows you to not only hold an altitude, heading, and speed, but also select specific values, which goes a long way towards helping fly airliners and is more advanced than anything I've seen on a mobile device. The only gripe I have with this is that there is no control over vertical speed when changing altitudes, with the rate being preset (which is not always desirable).
The flight planner, on the other hand, allows you to put together from a map a collection of waypoints, and then displays a small map with the estimated time enroute, distance, and bearing to the next waypoint, much like the default FSX flight planner and GPS. While this might not seem like much, it really makes instrument navigation much more practical.
In addition, you can then choose a runway with an ILS and you will be able to make an instrument landing.
Performance
Performance was of particular concern to me considering the fact that the game was ported from Windows Phone 7 and not originally designed for the iPhone.
With that said, performance was very good for the most part, with some stuttering in external views, especially when looking toward the ground. One has to wonder what performance is like on older iOS devices such as the iPhone 3GS and the 3rd generation iPod touch; users of these devices may wish to seek out details as they become available before deciding to purchase the app.
Load times were also reasonable, with starting a flight taking around 20 seconds.
Conclusion
Infinite Flight might not be the first flight simulator for iOS, or even the most impressive when it comes to graphics, content, and other elements, but it does have some features that are rather new and impressive given the platform.
Also commendable is the developer's apparent commitment to the community forming around the app, with feedback being actively promoted on their website. This is clearly not a static app, but one that is being continuously improved on over time.
This, in turn, brings up the question of where exactly Infinite Flight is headed. The community will undoubtedly want improvements and additions in every area, but I cannot help but hope that the developer does not merely focus on the feature game, but also works towards adding new elements that are different from what's out there - features such as airport selection, the autopilot, and the flight planner - instead of the usual "more jets" and "more scenery" mentality.
As it is, I cannot say that Infinite Flight for iOS is for everybody, at least in its current state. Some will find the available regions and aircraft inadequate; others will demand better graphics. But if you are the kind that's tempted by the new features or you are just happy to see a new flight simulator on the market, I doubt you'll be disappointed.
App store link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/infinite-flight/id471341991
Video from the developer: