Nuclear Option
Early Access
- Developer
- Shockfront Studios
- Released
- Oct 15, 2023
- Steam reviews
- 96% of players recommend it, from 11,267 reviews — Steam calls that “Overwhelmingly Positive”
- Tags
- ActionIndieSimulation
On Linux, Steam Deck and Steam Machine
This game runs perfectly out of the box under Proton, per ProtonDB reports (66 reports). Valve rates it Playable on Steam Deck.
Valve rates it Playable on Steam Machine. Valve marks it SteamOS Compatible.
Proton tier: ProtonDB · Deck rating: Valve · Steam Machine, Steam Frame and SteamOS ratings: Valve · Compare 2,053 games · Every game Valve rated for Steam Machine
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About this game
The developer's description, from the game's Steam store page.
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.


CI-22 "Cricket" counter-insurgency aircraft
T/A-30 "Compass" light attack/trainer aircraft
VT-7 "Vagrant" VTOL trainer
UH-90 "Ibis" utility helicopter
A-19 "Brawler" close air support aircraft
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" strategic bomber
"Alkyon" AB-4 strike bomber


- Thirteen 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 https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/2168680/extras/screenshot_damageModel.JPG?t=1785376005
- 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 https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/2168680/extras/screenhsot_missionEditor.JPG?t=1785376005
- Night missions with night-vision cockpit functionality https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/2168680/extras/1c9f52dbfafb8700ad564d898a69bdb0.avif?t=1785376005
- Countermeasures including IR flares and radar jammer

System requirements
As Steam lists them.
Windows
Minimum
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS
- Windows 10
- Processor
- Intel Core i5-8400 / AMD Ryzen 5 2600 (or equivalent)
- Memory
- 8 GB RAM
- Graphics
- GeForce GTX 1050 Ti / Radeon RX 560 / Intel Arc A380
- DirectX
- Version 11
- Storage
- 4 GB available space
Recommended
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS
- Windows 10 / 11
- Processor
- Intel Core i5-12400F / AMD Ryzen 5 5600X (or equivalent)
- Memory
- 16 GB RAM
- Graphics
- GeForce RTX 3050 (8GB) / Radeon RX 6600 / Intel Arc A580
- DirectX
- Version 12
- Storage
- 4 GB available space
Downloadable content
Steam lists 1 item of downloadable content for this game.
News
What Nuclear Option's studio and the outlets Valve syndicates on Steam have said recently.
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