At Infinite State Games, we are of the older ilk of gamer. From a time when a tight arcade game loop was enough to keep you coming back, and the struggle to beat your own score and the promise of unlocking more things was the motivation to keep you going.
And Rogue Aces very much follows this old school model.
But I’m seeing a lot of wrong information floating around about the game modes and how to unlock them. Given that we’ve locked all the modes behind skill gates relevant to the mode, I’m not too worried about spoilers – you still need to ‘git gud’ 🙂
So to kick off this series about how the game works underneath, let’s first look at what game modes we’ve got and how to access them…
Campaign Modes
- Normal Campaign – the default game mode unlocked from the start. Enemy planes and mission targets are marked, and auto landing is allowed.
- Frontline Campaign – every island in this mode requires you to capture a base, so you unlock this mode when you capture your first enemy base (see More->Tutorials->Capturing Bases for more info). Only the nearest Allied Base is marked, but auto landing is allowed.
- Veteran Campaign – this mode is for the best of the best, so it is unlocked when you prove you can reach mission 20 in the campaign and defeat your first Baron. In this mode there are more enemy forces (land, sea and air) and they are stronger. Mission targets are marked as usual, but enemy planes are not. There is also no auto landing, so check out that Landing Guide!
Arcade Modes
- Survival – this is a mode for the dog fighting purists out there, and so is simply unlocked by, well, dog fighting. Kill 20 planes in campaign mode to unlock this mode. Planes are marked, but there is no auto landing. But then landing resets your multiplier, so you’ll probably want to find another way to stay in the fight.
- Bomber Defence – this one is a little bit different and a little bit hidden. To unlock this mode you need to view the Credits. Eventually you can control a bomber. Once you’ve scored 5 kills the mode will unlock.
- Hot Potato – this mode is what happens when your game spends too long in development! You have no weapons and must hop from plane to plane via Aerial Steals. And so you unlock it by getting 3 or more Aerial Steals in any game mode that allows it.
- Rogue Ace – the final, and arguably best, mode. This mode has no missions or upgrades – your plane is fully maxed out for pure arcade craziness. But so are the enemy! Unlock this mode by upgrading your plane to 50% of its maximum power (in Normal Campaign this may happen around mission 40, but is a little random). The only thing marked is the nearest Allied Base, and there is no auto land. But landing is for rookies 🙂
Bonus
- Training Ground – this mode is unlocked by default. It is an excellent place to come and practise your flying skills as there is no map collision. And for extra fun you have infinite rockets and bombs. That never gets old!
Good luck unlocking them all, pilot!
Infinite State Games 
