Location
The Cliff
A fictional island with a sea cliff, hand-sculpted terrain shaped by erosion, and open sea below. Work the ridge and see how long the wind will hold you up.
Free-flight simulator · Prototype
Ridge &
Thermal
A realistic free-flight simulator, not an arcade game. It starts with paragliding, and the wing is real simulated cloth: every cell, line and brake is physics, so collapses, stalls and spins happen on their own.
Made by one person. Patreon is what keeps it flying.
The simulator
The wing is real cloth.
Ridge & Thermal is a realistic free-flight simulator for Windows PC. It starts with paragliding. The canopy isn't an animation: it's real simulated fabric with real lines, held open by the air that fills it.
You fly it with analog brakes, weight shift, a speed bar and big ears. The wind follows the terrain, so the sea cliff gives you ridge lift on its face and rotor behind the edge. Fly it badly and it collapses, stalls or spins, because that's what the physics does.
One sky, every wing.
Paragliding is what's being built right now. The rest of free flight comes after it.
- In developmentParagliding
- PlannedParamotor
- PlannedSpeed gliding
- PlannedParakiting
- PlannedBASE jumping
- PlannedWingsuit
- Coming to Steam
- Windows PC
- Xbox controller or keyboard
- English & Spanish
Features
Physics, not animations.
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01
Cloth canopy
A wing made of real simulated fabric, held open by the air that fills it. It flexes, folds and reinflates on its own.
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02
Real lines
Every line is simulated and touches the fabric, brake lines included. Pull one and the whole wing answers.
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03
Nothing scripted
Frontal and asymmetric collapses, stalls, spins, spirals and big ears all come out of the physics.
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04
Terrain wind
Ridge lift on the cliff face, rotor behind the edge, gusts and turbulence. Change strength and direction mid-flight.
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05
Analog control
Progressive brakes on the triggers, weight shift, a speed bar that stays where you leave it, and big ears.
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06
Touch down
Land on the cliff top, or come in too hard and the pilot goes ragdoll.
- E-ink varioAltitude and ground speed, plus a wind readout.
- Sound that flies with youWind noise, vario beeps and collapses.
- Living skyA realistic atmosphere with adjustable time of day.
Thermals are next. Patreon is what pays for the time to build them.
Support on PatreonRoadmap
Where it's at.
-
Now
Prototype
In development since August 2026. Flying the ridge at The Cliff.
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Next · Big one
Thermals & clouds
The feature in the name. Warm air to find and climb, and the clouds that come with it.
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Then
And after that
- Bigger terrainBig mountain ranges to fly cross-country.
- More wingsNew canopies to fly.
- On footWalk, run and launch by hand.
- MultiplayerShare the sky with other pilots.
- VRFly it from inside the harness.
- More disciplinesParamotor, speed gliding, parakiting, BASE jumping and wingsuit.
No dates yet. Every pledge buys time to get there.Back it on Patreon
Support the project
Help Ridge & Thermal take off.
I'm building it on my own, and Patreon is how it gets made. Your support turns straight into development time.
Who's behind it
I fly RC slope gliders, miniature paragliders and kitesurf kites. I sculpted the terrain, designed the wing layout, modelled the pilot and made the sound.
“I want it as true to reality as possible. I want to turn this into the most played free-flight simulator in the world.”
- Buy development timeOne person builds all of it. Your pledge turns into hours on the simulator.
- Bring thermals closerThe next big feature, and the one in the name.
- Be there from the startBack it at prototype stage, while it's still taking shape.
Any amount helps. You can change or cancel your pledge anytime on Patreon.
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