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[CobaltKobold]

unless indoors, in which case they shouldn't be flying in the first place.

...that kills SO many awesome things.

Also, bats

[Dante]

I would imagine that the smaller the creature, the faster and more sharply it can bank, turn, suddenly dive or whatever. Since the game stores creature sizes, and also relative wingsizes to body, it could do something with them. But there would be complications with non-wing-based flight.

Edit: sorry guys

[CobaltKobold]

Square-cube states the opposite. Bigger = clumsier.

But then square-cube kinda outrules flying dragons and that's no fun.

[G-Flex]

I would imagine that the larger the creature, the faster and more sharply it can bank, turn, suddenly dive or whatever. Since the game stores creature sizes, and also relative wingsizes to body, it could do something with them. But there would be complications with non-wing-based flight.

As CobaltKobold said, this isn't true at all. In fact, you can basically observe this just from real life. You ever see a rhino corner as fast as a cat or a dog?

[Sysice]

Flying example: Hummingbirds. Albatrosses. Need I say more?

[LumenPlacidum]

Square-cube states the opposite. Bigger = clumsier.

But then square-cube kinda outrules flying dragons and that's no fun.

I'm assuming you mean that as a creature grows larger, the surface area of the banking/lift surface increases according to the square of size, whereas mass increases according to the cube?  In which case, we could have big things that just have enormous wingspan:body ratios.  Also, the making it impossible for things bigger than a pterodactyl or so is only true for the particular bone structure that is common in the real world.  I could very easily imagine dragon bones having some sort of weird material with a crystalline structure that allowed them to be far stronger than their weight would indicate.

[smjjames]

Albatrosses are graceful and agile in their own way, but they certainly can't fly backwards
(unless a wind gust pushes them backwards, but that's different).

Swimming example: Herring (or any other small schooling fish) and a shark. Although granted that fish in general can take really tight turns just because they are flexible, its the speed and sharpness of the turns that is the difference here.

Square-cube states the opposite. Bigger = clumsier.

But then square-cube kinda outrules flying dragons and that's no fun.

I'm assuming you mean that as a creature grows larger, the surface area of the banking/lift surface increases according to the square of size, whereas mass increases according to the cube?  In which case, we could have big things that just have enormous wingspan:body ratios.  Also, the making it impossible for things bigger than a pterodactyl or so is only true for the particular bone structure that is common in the real world.  I could very easily imagine dragon bones having some sort of weird material with a crystalline structure that allowed them to be far stronger than their weight would indicate.

Erm, there were pterodactyls the size of a small plane you know.

[G-Flex]

No matter what sort of weird fantasy materials you use, the square-cube rule still applies, as well as other considerations.

Sure, you could make a dragon out of magical fantasy materials, but a smaller one made out of magical fantasy-materials would still have certain advantages.

[smjjames]

Read my edit, there were in fact, Pterodactyls the size of a small plane. So, a dragon the size of a small plane (wings included) COULD work.

[LumenPlacidum]

Well of course it still applies, but with stronger, lighter materials you can push it a bit further to bigger and bigger creatures.

Also, just to poke a little bit of harmless fun, if I went to a *really* weird fantasy material without positive density, then the square-cube rule either wouldn't apply or would work in the dragon's favor. 

[Sysice]

Plus, at the time of small-plane-sized pterodactyls, the oxygen content in the air was much higher than today. It doesn't matter how light or strong you are if you can't take in enough air to live.

EDIT: I never said that it caused them to get big. I said it enabled them to get big.

[smjjames]

Maybe if you made the atmosphere denser and/or added some floatation gas bags to the dragons. Although you would get to a point where you put enough gas bags in or on it that it is no longer a dragon, but some alien gas-bag creature.

Edit: I don't think the higher oxygen content was the reason why they got so big.....

[Neruz]

EAGLE RIDERS!

My life is now complete; i can die happy.

[Dante]

Ah, oops, I meant of course smaller creatures, simple typo. Less cumbersome larger ones wouldn't make any sense at all 

Like the noble blowfly; see how he flirts with my hand and spirals giddily away from my attempts to smite him.

The pathing would be the tricky thing I guess. Rather than letting them read any square they can 'flow' to as accessible, it might need a different minimum 'hop' based on the shortest length they could realistically glide or turn by.

[CobaltKobold]

I'm assuming you mean that as a creature grows larger, the surface area of the banking/lift surface increases according to the square of size, whereas mass increases according to the cube?

There is also that the power of a muscle is proportional to cross-section (sq) but mass (cu), more on the way of land animals.

There's also structural integrity, but I haven't taken any engineering to tell you about that.