Nuclear Option
by Shockfront Studios · 15 Oct, 2023
126 downloads
About the Game
Nuclear Option is a combat flight game set on a dynamic and realistic battlefield of the near future. Use an array of advanced weapons to change the course of battles as you intercept bombers, duel fighters, fly under the radar, or unleash the fury of nuclear weapons on enemy formations.
Each aircraft comes with an immersive cockpit featuring a situational awareness HUD, identifying nearby targets and threats. Aircraft can be flown with various controllers or with a mouse-controlled "virtual joystick", requiring no special hardware.
Experience realistic flight dynamics, with stalls, spins and g-force effects fully implemented, as each aircraft is composed of up to 50 individually simulated physics parts . A highly detailed damage model means that the condition of each part affects the way your aircraft flies.
Build your own missions using the included mission editor, and then fly your mission solo or with friends in PVP or PVE multiplayer combat.
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CI-22 "Cricket" counter-insurgency aircraft
T/A-30 "Compass" light attack/trainer aircraft
UH-90 "Ibis" utility helicopter
SAH-46 "Chicane" stealth attack helicopter
FS-12 "Revoker" air superiority fighter
FS-20 "Vortex" VTOL fighter
VL-49 "Tarantula" Heavy vertical lift VTOL
KR-67 "Ifrit" multirole fighter
EW-25 "Medusa" electronic warfare aircraft
SFB-81 "Darkreach" strike bomber
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Nine playable aircraft, each with scenarios highlighting their capabilities
Realistic flight physics, simulated across dozens of aerodynamic surfaces per aircraft
Detailed damage model with 30-50 detachable parts per aircraft
Player hosted multiplayer with a public lobby browser, supporting cooperative or competitive play
Various AI controlled ground vehicles and AI aircraft engaging in large, dynamic battles
Persistent battlefields with lingering wreckage and smoke
Targeting HUD and Target view screen in cockpits
Flight HUD with detailed aircraft parameters including angle of attack, velocity vector, climb rate, G force and radar altitude
Many guided and unguided weapons, including guns, air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles, bombs, cruise and ballistic missiles
Accurately simulated blast effects for explosions
Accurately simulated nuclear weapons with shockwave propagation
A 100km-wide map including various biomes and terrain types
A new, larger naval-themed map situated in an archipelago of occupied islands
Custom Mission Editor
Night missions with night-vision cockpit functionality
Countermeasures including IR flares and radar jammer
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Screenshots
17 images
Version Information
Steam Patch Notes
Official update history
Fixed pitch oscillations in event content
Increased CI-22 Cricket roll authority
Fixed Argus Class Frigate missing lighting effects
Fixed cases of flickering/discontinuous rocket motor effects in missiles
Fixed rocket motor effects continuing to play after missile destruction
Fixed mission editor outcome 'Complete Some' percentage textbox value not being parsed correctly
Fixed Modify environment cloud height resetting to default value
Fixed Workshop mission filename and meta mismatch breaking mission select menu
Fixed stall horn continuing to play in external view
Fixed virtual joystick not recentering in external view
Added controls hints to debug windows
Fixed HUD options not updating properly
Reduced supply crates visibility (1250m for 6m container, 1000m for 4.8m pallet, 750m for 2.5m fuel tank)
Fixed max number of lines in kill feed not applying
Fixed sonic boom effects breaking when multiple supersonic aircraft are present
Improved grass render distribution and fixed cases of jittering
Improved multiplayer server-side error detection
Fixing play from mission editor error when using default mission
Allowing steamcmd download for workshop items
Added 0.5s guidance delay to AAM-29 Scythe, reduced steering torque by 25%
Fixed instances of BDF fleet escorts failing to navigate correctly at the start of Terminal Control
Fixed fuel system status indicator showing incorrect color states
Fixed analogue throttle axis behaviour becoming "crunchy" or "sticky" at high framerates
Fixed starting rank not being set for clients on subsequent games being hosted in the same game session
Mission editor: fixed CompleteSome outcome not working for CompleteOther and SpotUnit objectives
Fixed AGM-48x2 missing from chicane stub tip pylons
Fixed Argus & Cursor Class ships displaying incorrect dimensions in encyclopedia
Fixed missing Piledriver descriptions in encyclopedia
Fixed roadmap displaying incorrect version number
Fixed scimitars achieving ridiculously high hypersonic speeds in thin air at high altitudes - motor now only produces thrust up to Mach 5
Fixed bad surface geometry at Harmony Sands medium hangar spawns
Fixed cases of EW-25 Medusa fly-by-wire oscillations at high altitudes
Fixed ATP-1 undershooting targets during top-down attacks
Fixed rare cases of game freeze caused by spectating an aircraft in the moment before it is recovered and despawned
Fixed restricted weapons appearing in loadout menu dropdowns
Removed landing cam from Alkyon AB-4 (for default settings, configurable in gameplay options)
Fixed 2nd & 3rd Medium hangar spawns at Harmony Sands sunk into terrain
- Increased damping for KR-67 Ifrit fly-by-wire to reduce low speed oscillations
- Increased Argus class frigate NL-98 launcher ammo from 80 to 160
- Alkyon AB-4 swing wing system now reverts to auto swing control if manually set to swept while at high speeds, or to extended while at low speeds
- Updated main menu roadmap
- Fixed cases of ejecting pilot parachutes not appearing in multiplayer
- Fixed laser misalignment on Cursor class LFD (visual only)
Fixed potential game freeze caused by switching spectated aircraft while cockpit is breaking off
Certainly nothing else included
• Improved server checks to prevent loading of prohibited weapons
• Fixed cases of MBTs cooking off in chain reactions
• Added customizable delay for closing dedicated servers after mission end
• Fixed HUD unit markers remaining highlighted if they appear while unit is off-screen
• Added orbit cam spectating buttons for looking at target, looking at nearest enemy aircraft, and jumping to nearest enemy aircraft
• Fixed R9 Stratolance launchers dumb-firing after replacement of fire control radar
• Multiplayer: fixed ejected pilots appearing stationary in mid-air for late joining clients
• Decreased SAH-46 Chicane in-game cost from $35m to $31.5m
• AI will now only use nuclear weapons on appropriate strategic targets
• Increased ammo for T/A-30 Compass 25mm gunpod to account for in-bay storage
• Increased spread on A-19 Brawler 30mm gunpod (to approximately 5 milliradians), added HE damage
• Added new keybinds for spectating camera:
- Spectate Next / Previous : jump to other aircraft of the same faction
- Change Spectated Faction : jump to the closest aircraft of other faction, but keep focus on previous unit by default
- Cycle Look At : look at current aircraft, look at current target, look at previous spectated unit
- Shift + Cycle Look At : switch between target / previous unit"
• Added new controls : grab (G) and rotate (R) in Mission Editor.
• Map can now be used to multiselect units in mission editor
• Added new keybind : focus camera on current spectated unit, previous one or current target.
• Decreased AShM300 visibility (1200) and RCS (0.005), increased pierce damage (500)
• Decreased AGM99 visibility (1000) and RCS (0.008), increased pierce damage (250)
• Reduced CRAM / CIWS reaction times (lock time increased to 0.3s, was 0.2s) and turret rotation (traverse rate 60°/s, was 72°/s)
• Increased Boltstrike and SPAAG turret rotation speeds (traverse rate 45°/s, was 30°/s)
• Adjusted RAM-45 optical visibility (2500m, was 4000m) and RCS (0.05, was 0.1) same as AGM-68 which is similar in size.
• Added obstruction lights to skyscrapers, wind turbines, cranes, refinery
• Split cockpit / external FOV settings
• Further rebalanced Annex and Hyperion damage and sink rates
• Fixed deployable and animated parts still active on moving MSV trucks (radar, TBM launcher, SAM launcher...)
• Added buildings to some empty suburbs around Feldspar on Ignus Archipelago
• Optically guided missiles will now trigger missile warning system if reacquiring the target from behind terrain
• SARH and ARH missile warnings are now hidden temporarily if radar line of sight is briefly broken
• Added Config.Hidden option for dedicated servers
• Network Security improvements
- Fixed server ban bypass using Steam family share
- Adding auto-kick for causing errors
- Timeout for leaving and rejoining a game too often"
• Fixed server accounting error in ammo counts for slow-firing guns
• Increased button hold delay to open camera control UI
• Improved detection of targets behind entrenchments and other low obstacles
• Mission Editor: fixed map buildings (part of the default map) not having hq or factory settings applied
• Fixed player donation of funds and convoys, added a cooldown timer to prevent spam
• Fixed misaligned launcher on MSV TBM truck
• Fixed incorrect RCS value for AGM-68 triple mount
• Tweaked target lock time and accuracy of ship CIWS systems for consistency with CRAM units
• Equipping munitions container loadouts now requires the home airbase to have an attached warhead storage bunker
• Equipping naval supply container loadouts is no longer possible from ships, to prevent self-resupply
Fixed TrackIR crash on mission start
Rebalanced Reprisal mission, clarified objectives & improved messaging
Strengthened A-19 landing gear
Reduced anti-air accuracy of non-anti-air vehicle gun turrets
PAB-80LR - increased resistance to lasers
Spearhead MBT - clamped APS laser max elevation to 80 degrees
Fixed 57mm cannon pod firing faster when linked with other gun types
A-19 Brawler aim assist can now be disabled by turning off flight assist
Added pitch limiter to A-19 Brawler
Fixed low-speed oscillations in A-19 fly by wire
Removed airdrop frames from MSV trucks
Fixed cases in multiplayer of ammo counter decrementing when deploying troops or cargo hook
Reduced A-19 AI pilot roll inputs
Fixed A-19 ejection seat not visible from within cockpit
Fixed A-19 canopy glass casting shadows inside cockpit
Escalation: fixed MSV-FC truck not holding position
• Fixed cases of HUD freeze caused by ships being sunk
• Fixed cases of repeating errors caused by cruise missiles locking onto player aircraft
• Fixed T/A-30 Compass livery opacity issue in cockpit area
• Fixed cloud particles not spawning when far from map center
• Fixed cases of overexposed horizon brightness
• Fixed cases of stars visible in sky during daylight
• Fixed cases of stars and moon visible below horizon at high altitudes
• Fixed cases of Multiplayer lag spikes caused by invalid network positions
• Mission objectives on map now display the name of the objective instead of the type of objective
• Fixed instances of vehicles getting stuck inside Maris Airport Terminal
• Fixed vehicle turrets remaining locked after airdrop landing
• Fixed cockpit AoA effects getting stuck after mission restart
• Improved layout of aircraft selection menu, reduced clicks required to switch aircraft
• Added navigation lights to CI-22 Cricket, FS-12 Revoker, and SFB-81 Darkreach
• Improved lighting and added camera movement for Encyclopedia
• Added LODs to FS-12 Revoker and EW-25 Medusa, and adjusted aircraft LOD distances for consistency
• ARAD-116: increased RCS, slightly reduced speed
• Fixed vehicle depots unable to deploy vehicles after being repaired
• Fixed Stratolance launchers remaining attached to original radar after being transported by sling load
• Added wing vapor effects to FS-20 Vortex
• Improved Ifrit handling characteristics in post-stall regimes
• Patched potential security vulnerability in Unity game engine
Current Release
23062134
Uploaded May 03, 2026
System Requirements
How to Install
NuclearOption.exe to play
Troubleshooting tips
• Run Redist/_CommonRedist installers if game won't start
• Add folder to Windows Defender exclusions
• Run as administrator
Download
Direct link available
1.2 GB
23062134
7F99B46E
9eb01e4695b80e47683792c3dadbdb5d7736d1b9da558ee392911092bd3ba624
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View AllDownload Nuclear Option for PC with a direct link or via torrent. Get the full version of Nuclear Option for free. Nuclear Option is a Action released by Shockfront Studios.