Get the Client

The Flying Circus client is a patched build of the original 1999 game, pre-configured to connect to AKVaska+'s preservation server. Download it, unzip, set up your joystick, and fly.

1.8 MB · build 2026-07-10 · Windows · joystick required

Sign in to download

The client download is limited to registered pilots. It's free and takes a minute.

Register a callsign Log in

2 · Unzip — keep all files together

Unzip into one folder. Do not separate the files — the game needs all of them side by side:

• flycircus.exe — the game (run THIS one, not circus.exe).
• ddraw.dll + ddraw.ini — graphics wrapper that lets the 1999 game run on modern Windows. Leave them in the folder.
• flyingc.dat — game data. squad.bmp — the logo shown in the ready room.

3 · Set up your joystick (required)

The 1999 game reads exactly one legacy joystick — the one Windows presents at joy.cpl as the preferred device. How you get there depends on your setup:

3a · Twist stick with a throttle wheel (single controller)

If your joystick has a twist axis for rudder and a throttle wheel/lever built in, you're a one-device pilot. This is what the game was designed for.

1. Plug in the joystick.
2. Press Win + R, type joy.cpl, press Enter.
3. Select your controller → Properties → Test to confirm Windows sees all the axes and buttons, and Settings → Calibrate if the stick drifts.
4. If it's not listed, Windows doesn't see it yet — reconnect it or install its driver, then re-open joy.cpl.

Get this working before launching the game — circus reads the joystick at startup.

3b · Separate stick + throttle + rudder pedals (multi-device HOTAS)

If you fly with three physical devices — a stick and a standalone throttle and rudder pedals — the 1999 game can't read them directly. It only reads the one legacy device Windows advertises. You have to combine your three real controllers into a single virtual joystick and let the game see just that one. This is the same setup people use for DCS, IL-2, and other older sims on modern Windows.

One-time setup (Windows):

1. Install vJoy. This creates a "fake" virtual joystick device that other programs can feed inputs to. Get it from sourceforge.net/projects/vjoystick. After install, run the Configure vJoy shortcut and make sure device #1 has the axes you need — at minimum X, Y, Z, Rx, Ry, Rz plus a few buttons. Save and reboot if it asks.
2. Install Joystick Gremlin. This is the mapper that reads your real devices and writes to the vJoy device. Grab it from whitemagic.github.io/JoystickGremlin. Launch it, load a fresh profile.
3. Map your real devices → vJoy #1. In Joystick Gremlin, add each real axis and route it to the vJoy axis you want the game to see. A typical layout:
   • Stick X → vJoy X (aileron / roll)
   • Stick Y → vJoy Y (elevator / pitch)
   • Rudder pedals → vJoy Z Rotation (or vJoy Rudder)
   • Throttle lever → vJoy Z (or vJoy Slider)
   • Stick / throttle buttons → vJoy buttons 1..N (map the trigger to button 1 for firing)
   Click Activate at the top of Gremlin to start passing inputs through.
4. Install HidHide. Without this, the game sees ALL your controllers (real ones + vJoy) and gets confused about which is "the" joystick. HidHide lets you tell Windows: "hide these physical devices from this application." Download from github.com/nefarius/HidHide. In its config UI:
   • Devices tab: tick your real stick, throttle, and pedals.
   • Applications tab: add flycircus.exe.
   • Enable the cloak toggle at the top. Now the game sees only vJoy; Joystick Gremlin still sees the real hardware.
5. Point the game at vJoy. Press Win + R, type joy.cpl, press Enter. You should see vJoy Device in the list. If you see more than one entry, select vJoy Device and click Advanced → Preferred device → vJoy → OK. Then hit Properties → Test and wiggle your real stick, twist the pedals, run the throttle — every input should show on the vJoy properties graph.

From then on, launch Joystick Gremlin (it can be set to auto-start), then launch flycircus.exe. The game sees a single joystick with pitch/roll/rudder/throttle + trigger + buttons, exactly like the twist-stick pilots.

4 · Start & log in

1. Run flycircus.exe. Choose Fly Online on the startup dialog.
2. Account: type your registered callsign.
   Short callsigns work — no padding needed.
3. Password: your website password. Pick your side (Allied or Central) and click Logon.
4. On the Arena List, click Main Arena → OK.
5. You land in the Ready Room. If a callsign screen appears, type anything — the server always uses your registered callsign.
6. In the Ready Room, mouse-click the switches to pick your plane, fuel, and armament, then click Fly.

5 · In-game controls

The full keyboard, straight from the original 1999 SimGuild manual.

Stick-only pilots (no throttle axis): use V / B to add and cut power and I to start the engine — firing is on the joystick trigger. A joystick throttle, if you have one, overrides the V/B keys.

6 · Command line (press F9, type, then Enter)

You can also set the radio channel from the Ready Room — turn Rdo on, click the Channel toggle, type a number, and press Enter.

Combat & fields — original 1999 rules

These are the rules the original 1999 SimGuild client and server enforced. The preservation server implements them unchanged.

• Damage takes marksmanship. Bullets to critical each section: pilot / guns / landing gear = 3, engine = 15, wings / elevator / rudder = 31. (1999 SimGuild FAQ.)
• Bombs damage hangars and aerodromes; they won't detonate on your own fields.
• An aerodrome at 50% or less operational can't be taken off from (name shows grey on the map).
• Friendly fire has consequences: 5 hits on a friendly = traitor warning; 10 = your own death.
• Stall below airspeed 50; hard turns and rudder in a hard turn bleed speed fast; a stall with rudder input can put you in a spin (needs altitude to recover).
• Don't land or taxi on water — it destroys your aircraft.