Dev's Diary...

[Phantom88 3,287]

260

Dear friends,

The Autumn is here and our project is very close to another milestone. The next version 4.501 that will be released in a few weeks will contain very important improvements. For instance, after constructive discussions in our community, we have come to decisions on two aspects of the sim which are very important for the players: providing a required visibility level for the airplanes in a dogfight and modeling a pilot reaction to high-G loads. We’re working on both things right now and the result of this work should be released in the aforementioned update. Another addition will be the MSAA x8 graphics setting, but please note that it will put quite a load on your graphics card.

We have almost finished two neat features for Tank Crew as well: controlling a turret using your joystick or buttons and looking through the visors and view slits with the help of preset cameras. Good news for Bodenplatte owners: the long-awaited campaign for this module will be included in this update as well - its author Alexander =BlackSix= Timoshkov has much to tell you about it:

In today’s Dev Blog we’d like to tell you more about the new historical campaign ‘Wind of Fury’ that will be released for free for all Bodenplatte owners very soon.

It is dedicated to the No. 486 (New Zealand) Squadron RAF that flew Tempest Mk.V fighters and will picture the unfolding of the air battle in the skies of North-Western Europe since October 1st, 1944, till January 1st, 1945.

With the V-1 launch sites in Northern France captured or destroyed and this threat against the England territory eliminated, at the end of September 1944 it was decided to relieve the five existing squadrons of Tempest interceptors from the ADGB (Air Defence of Great Britain) duties and move them to the continent. Unlike Spitfires and Typhoons, Tempests could not carry rockets or bombs at the moment, making them inadequate for a fighter/bomber role, so the 2nd Tactical Air Force had tasked them with patrolling over own territory, intercept attempts against the German Me 262 jets and free hunting for enemy aircraft and road and railway traffic far behind the enemy lines.

The story of the campaign is based on the Operations Record Books of the 486th for the second half of 1944 and the historical works on the late war RAF and Luftwaffe actions available in English. After doing the research of the ORB, the most interesting missions were selected that were not too long to require the external fuel tanks which are not yet available in our sim yet. In reality, Tempests were flying with additional fuel tanks almost all the time and we’ll add them to the campaign later, but for now, you’ll be able to finish any mission with a default fuel amount.

There are no B-26 and Typhoon escort missions yet as well - these birds will be available a few months later in the Battle of Normandy Early Access program. We plan to add all the required, but not yet available, objects like B-26, C-47, Typhoon Mk.Ib, Spitfire Mk.XIV, Fw 190 A-6, Bf 109 G-6 Late as well as the British ground vehicles and artillery to the campaign at a later date.

It may appear counterintuitive, but having detailed reports on the squadron actions for many days and even hours may affect the campaign and its gameplay negatively if you use such data as is. During the long life of the IL-2 Sturmovik series, there were many attempts in the community to do just that, dramatize the historical documents or famous pilot memoirs word by word, but they reached only limited success, if not a failure.

This is caused mostly by the well-known fact that most of the missions were routine and repeating, ‘Groundhog Day’ type ones and enemy encounters did not happen in each one, but also by the peculiarities of the process of recreating real combat operations in a flight sim. Even when you select the most interesting missions with much action going around and that are not too long, you may have a rude awakening finding out that:

• several subsequent missions happen in the same time of day;
• direct time of day recreation makes a ground attack mission nearly unplayable during dawn or dusk hours;
• too few aircraft or vehicles participated in the action so the players will find the mission too dull and empty, even if real pilots back then thought that it was more than enough action for them (or vice versa, too many and the performance reasons come into play).

Such factors mean that simulated events will differ from reality even if it is possible to recreate them exactly because of the performance, convenience and gameplay reasons. In the practice this means that a takeoff can happen in a different time, there will be less allies, but more enemy encounters or more enemy aircraft in a certain dogfight, etc.

In general, Wind of Fury campaign will make you familiar with nearly the entire range of the real combat missions flown by Tempest pilots during the second half of 1944, briefly including the Battle of the Bulge, and will end with the Bodenplatte strike on the allied airfields on January 1st, 1945.

P.S. We would like to thank the community member @Obelix for his 4K skins for the Tempests of 486th squadron which were used to create the images for the campaign and his advice on the additional official Tempest skin with the invasion stripes that was added to the sim.

We will continue our Dev Blog with another important change that affects the aircraft visibility - update 4.501 will include the atmospheric haze setting. It will be adjustable in Quick Mission Builder for your liking and can be set by an author in other missions. The minimal setting corresponds to the haze level in the current public version while higher values will look like these screenshots. By the way, you can see the progress made on another important thing on them as well 

We’ll finish with a short report on the Normandy development. Here’s our hero of the day - USAAF pilot in early war uniform and without the G-suit that was introduced in the theater later.

 

[Phantom88 3,287]

Update 4.501

Dear friends,

We just released the new update - 4.501. Its shifted version number means it is a kind of a milestone and it really is. First, the research we did on the community opinion on the aircraft spotting allowed us to make many improvements to this important part of the sim. The distant LOD scaling system has been adjusted, their lighting has been made full, atmospheric haze option and an increased MSAA level have been added. We’re sure that this update will make the online multiplayer experience totally different from how it was before. Now our next target, for the next update, is the improved pilot G tolerance model we do after asking the community taking the account the new reference data provided by the community members.

Please take in attention: adding Haze option to the mission format makes previously saved .msnbin mission files obsolete. Delete them and save the new version using .Mission files.

 1

In addition to these very important changes, today’s update brings you the new campaign ‘Wind of Fury’ by Alexander =BlackSix= Timoshkov that is included in the Bodenplatte module. This means that our promises on what Bodenplatte will include are finally fulfilled. Of course, it doesn’t mean we’ll stop improving it, for instance, now we plan to improve the Rhineland Career mode.

Also, P-39L-1 “Aircrobra” (Battle of Kuban) and Bf 109 G-6 now have 4k quality external texturing created by Martin =ICDP= Catney. The work on bringing all the aircraft in the sim to 4K texturing continues.

Tank Crew gets the last planned features for its release in this update, making 4.501 a milestone for it as well. The new turret and gun control mode and fixed visor cameras were requested by the community for a long time and they are available now.

We think that this update will mark an important step for our sim and we hope you’ll enjoy it!

Main features

1. The new scenario campaign “Wind of Fury” is now available to all owners of the Bodenplatte project for free;
2. P-39L-1 “Airacobra” and Bf 109 G-6 fighters now have 4K quality external textures created by Martin = ICDP = Catney;
3. The long-range LODs scaling system for aircraft has been adjusted. Aircraft spotting at short to medium distances, especially when using wide camera angles, is greatly improved. The visibility at distance has been adjusted to be closer to reality.
4. Alternate Visibility has been renamed Enhanced Visibility: this mode gives a much greater increase in aircraft visibility at long ranges compared to the new standard visibility. At medium ranges, visibility is also significantly improved compared to the old Alternate Visibility option;
5. MSAA x8 option has been added, but please note that this level of AA is very demanding to the graphics card performance;
6. The atmospheric haze density option has been added to the Quick Mission Builder. Its minimum value corresponds to the haze density available earlier;
7. Dawn/Dusk Fog option has been added to the Quick Mission Builder. This option is available only when the haze density is set to half of the maximum value or more;
8. The haze density option (from 0.0 to 1.0) is now stored in a mission file. Radiation fog appears at dusk if the value of the haze is more than 0.5 and the weather preset name contains an odd number at the end. The denser haze makes it easier to spot other aircraft against the background of the landscape when the distance from the observer to the target is much less than the distance from the observer to the landscape behind the target. This can be used when designing multiplayer missions for game servers;
9. Distant levels of detail (LODs) of the aircraft now have the same surface material setting as closer and more detailed LODs, making the lighting of distant aircraft much more realistic and enabling reflections and glints when the relative position of a contact, an observer and the light source(s) is right;
10. In a multiplayer game, a tooltip has been added to the list of game servers when hovering the mouse cursor over the difficulty preset icon. This tooltip displays all the difficulty settings of this multiplayer server;
11. This information is also available in the multiplayer server lobby (“About the server” section);

AI improvements
12. AI wingmen keep the optimal climb speed when the wing leader is far and higher;
13. AI aircraft now use combat and emergency engine modes for a fastest possible climb when following the terrain;
14. AI fighters now more actively attack maneuvering targets at lower speeds;

Player controllable tanks improvements
15. New control mode allows aiming a tank gun using a joystick (or buttons);
16. Aiming the tank guns and machine guns with the mouse is more convenient;
17. Fixed cameras added to tank visors and other observation devices. Loader viewing devices are, most often, can be used from the gunner’s station. You can cycle the views using LShift + V keys;
18. The target marking cursor when giving orders as a tank commander is visible at any settings;
19. The current sight or observation device is indicated;
20. In multiplayer, a connected player in someone else’s tank will correctly see the messages from the loader and see the ammo information in the HUD;
21. The time required for repairing the tank systems outside the service areas is doubled;
22. The projectiles correctly penetrate the armor if they hit certain extremely thin areas of the object’s surface (a rare issue);
23. Ferdinand: the inverted direction of inclination of the panoramic viewing devices has been fixed;
24. An SPG AI gunner correctly fires at an invisible target by the order of the SPG commander (using the direction and range);
25. Fixed the issue where the AI gunner did not follow the commander’s instructions to choose the ammo type in certain situations;
26. Pz-III-M: the KFF 2 binocular periscope is functional (when using the camera selected by LShift + V);
27. SU-152 commander can’t use the panoramic sight when unbuttoned;

Other changes
28. Fixed an issue with parts of the canopy and cockpit instruments that could not be restored after repair;
29. Flare gun and sidearm ammo can be replenished in the reload zones just like other ammo;
30. SdKfZ 251 and similar vehicles and tanks can function as supply vehicles if set this way in the Mission Editor;
31. The dawn/dusk fog level has been corrected on Moscow, Stalingrad, Prokhorovka, Velikiye Luki, Lapino and Novosokolniki maps, it appears in the lowlands;
32. Due to the introduction of the atmospheric haze option, the issue of the dawn/dusk fog blinking near the horizon has been minimized;
33. The difference in the density of atmospheric haze is minimal when using the minimum (40 km) and maximum (150 km) visibility range options;
34. For a tank crewmember to recover from the loss of consciousness in the event of powder gases poisoning it is required for the air to become noticeably cleaner (now the loss of consciousness will last longer);
35. Fixed a graphical artifact at the base of the La-5FN headlamp switch;
36. Fixed the lack of sound when releasing or retracting the landing gear on I-16 and Ju-88;

37. Added the Spitfire IX invasion paint scheme.

 

[Phantom88 3,287]

Attention All Pilots and Tankers!

We are excited to announce the newest additions to IL-2 Sturmovik: Great Battles line-up – the Sd.Kfz. 10/5 Flak 38 and GAZ-MM 72-K vehicle mounted anti-aircraft guns!

These two unique and deadly vehicles are our first Collector Vehicles and they will bring a new type of gameplay to the Great Battles series. Now your airfield or supply column can be protected by actual humans driving or manning these rapid fire and deadly AAA batteries!

Our awesome partners at DigitalForms, the same team who built our amazing tanks for Tank Crew, are once again lending their considerable modeling talents to the GAZ-MM 72-K and Sd.Kfz. 10/5 Flak 38. When completed this will no doubt be must-haves for your IL-2 collection!

Pre-Sales of these vehicles are NOW AVAILABLE in the IL-2 Official Webstore . Regular price is $24.99, but pre-orders are available for just $19.99! The GAZ-MM 72-K is tentatively scheduled for release by the end of the year and the Sd.Kfz. 10/5 Flak 38 by Q2 2021.

GAZ-MM 72-K (25mm) Vehicle Mounted Anti-Aircraft Gun

  

  

The GAZ-MM was a double-axle 1.5-ton truck used for both general purpose and specialized purposes by the Soviet Union during WWII. It was a licensed copy of the American built Ford-AA truck, albeit a simpler version with a more powerful motor than the original GAZ-AA truck. At the outbreak of WWII the Soviet Union had over 150,000 vehicles in use and by the end of it’s production run there were nearly 1 million vehicles built. During the war, several different versions of the GAZ-MM appeared, some with no doors, bumpers and some with no front brakes and only one headlight. These changes were made to keep production costs and time as simple as possible. It was a rugged truck and served the Soviet Union well during the war.

The Soviet 25mm automatic air-defense gun M1940 or 72-K as it was known was designed for protecting infantry units from air attack. It was normally mounted on a four-wheeled carriage that could be towed by a truck or other vehicle. It had a slant range of up to 2.4km and could hit aerial targets up to 2km in altitude. The gun could also be used against ground targets and light vehicles if necessary. It was manned by a six-person crew and was an automatic weapon with rounds loaded from the top via a feeding mechanism. The 72-K saw extensive use by the Soviet Union’s armed forces for many years only being finally phased out in the 1960s.

When loaded into the bed of a GAZ-MM truck it becomes a mobile AAA battery allowing you to protect an armored column, supply convoy, infantry unit or a stationary target like an airbase with accurate and deadly fire.

Our GAZ-MM 72-K can be used in both single-player and multiplayer scenarios and it will include several custom-made missions to demonstrate its ability at knocking down enemy planes!

Sd.Kfz. 10/5 Flak 38 (20mm) Vehicle Mounted Anti-Aircraft Gun

*Development pictures not yet available.

The Sd.Kfz. 10 or Sonderkraftfahrzeug (special motorized vehicle) was a German half-track that saw action throughout World War II and on all fronts in Europe and North Africa. Its main role was as a prime mover for small towed guns or liquid agents and it could also carry eight troops. Different models could be specialized for a wide range of duties.

It was powered by a Maybach 6-cylinder water-cooled gasoline engine. It had a semi-automatic Maybach Variorex-transmission with seven forward and three reverse gears. It could attain 65 km/h (40 mph), while the cruising speed was 45 km/h (28 mph). Steering was performed by both the front wheels and caterpillar threads. Shallow turns were done using the front wheels and sharper turns were done using the treads with one braking like a tank would.

Sd.Kfz. 10 /5 carried the Flak 38 anti-aircraft gun in its rear bed and fired a 20mm projectile. The Flak 38 was an improvement over the older Flak 30 design and it had a rate of fire of 220 rounds per minute and weighed 420 Kilograms. Its use was ubiquitous throughout the war in all German theaters of operation and was the most produced artillery piece of the war by the Germans. Later designs mounted four Flak 38 cannons together for an added punch. The Flak 38 could also be towed by trucks or other vehicles when not mounted on Sd.Kfz. 10 half-tracks. In the right hands this gun was deadly to low flying Allied fighters.

Our Sd.Kfz. 10 /5 Flak 38 can be used in both single-player and multiplayer scenarios and it will include several custom-made missions to showcase its ability to protect its airspace!

We hope you will like these new vehicles!

The Sturmovik Team

[Phantom88 3,287]

262

 

Dear friends,

 

Today we'll continue to show you the progress of the aircraft currently in development. The hero of the day is two-seater this time, twin-engine fighter/bomber De Havilland Mosquito F.B.Mk.VI Series II we're making for Battle of Normandy. This famous and popular WWII British RAF plane had an unusual and distinct look (well, the same can be said about most British aircraft). But it's interesting not only because of its appearance - it reached high speeds in its class despite being partly wooden. Moreover, it kept its high-speed capability even when carrying bombs thanks to the internal bomb bay.

 

2000 pounds of bombs, four 20mm guns and four 7.69mm MGs the Mosquito carried made him a dangerous adversary for the enemy. In our sim, there will be additional weapon modifications available - eight RP-3 unguided rockets and 57mm anti-tank gun (!). Here are the first 3D renders of this bird of prey at its current development stage:

 

 

The recently announced player controllable mobile AA guns are also showing good progress. Along with the work on their visual models, we're improving the realistic physics model of the wheeled ground vehicles movement even more. And don't forget about their crews as well:  

 

 

[Phantom88 3,287]

Dear Friends,

 

It's the middle of Autumn already and the work on the project progresses well. For instance, the AI-controlled transport plane C-47A Skytrain (Dakota) for Battle of Normandy is almost ready and you'll get it in the next update. This WWII veteran served in air forces and civilian air fleets of many countries for several decades - one of the iconic symbols of the piston era of aviation. These aircraft played a tremendous role in the Battle of Normandy, dropping paratroopers, supplies and towing assault gliders. This legend will be finally reconstructed in our project, even if it is an AI only aircraft for now. Later on, when we complete another stage of the Career mode improvements, it will be used in this mode for transporting cargo loads, airdropping paratroopers and parachute supply containers for the troops on the front-lines. At the moment the new paratrooper model and its integration in the Career mode are not yet ready for Early Access, so this aircraft will be available in QMB and community-created custom missions as an ally or enemy loaded with cargo or parachute supply containers.

 

 

The second hero of the day is the upcoming Collector Plane - the British Hawker Hurricane Mk.II fighter. This legendary early war aircraft saw much action in the Battle of Britain and later on the Eastern Front with the Red Army Air Force via the lend-lease program. This fighter actively participated in the Battle of Moscow and Battle of Stalingrad and the owners of this Collector Plane will be able to use it in the Battle of Moscow and Battle of Stalingrad careers in the coming update. There were many different modifications of this plane, the most interesting ones will be available in our sim:

• Hurricane Mk.IIa - default model with eight Browning .303 MGs;
• Hurricane Mk.IIb - modification with twelve (!) Browning .303 MGs;
• Hurricane Mk.IIc - modification with four 20mm Hispano Mk.II guns;
• Hurricane Mk.IId - two assault modifications with two Browning .303 MGs and two 40mm Vickers S Class guns, with or without additional armor plates;
• Hurricane Mk.II Soviet - modification armed with Soviet bombs, unguided rockets, two 12.7mm UBK MGs and two 20mm ShVAK cannons;
• In addition, either of the modifications listed above can be equipped with a Merlin engine with an additional boost, air cleaner for dusty conditions and rear-view mirror.

 

 

The work on Tank Crew is continuing as well. The coming update will include very important changes for ground vehicle AI, both detailed and simpler modeled vehicles, making the AI gunner actions more realistic. To hit a target at a distance, they will usually bracket a target with gunfire as they find the proper range. Spotting a target to the side of the current aiming line will require more time the more distant it is. Both of these actions will depend on the AI proficiency level set in the mission. The AI gunner will also behave more naturally when the target is destroyed or no longer visible - it won't rotate the turret to the default position immediately, but will wait for some time, looking for more targets in the same general direction. Many smaller improvements and changes will be added as well, as we prepare Tank Crew for its official release. 

 

 

Enjoy!

 

[Phantom88 3,287]

ttention Pilots!

 

On this chilly Autumn day, we’re releasing a large update to IL-2 Sturmovik - update 4.502 is here! The star of this update is the new Hurricane Mk.II Collector Plane. This plane has the most modifications in our sim and with a wide range of weapon loadouts available this makes it 5 aircraft in 1. You get several variants including the IIa, IIb, IIc, IId and the one with the Soviet armament. The famous Dust Filter and Merlin XX engine with +14lb boost are also available. On top of all that, you can use the new bird in the Career mode right away - we added it to the Battle of Moscow and the Battle of Stalingrad careers. In addition to the Hurricane we have added the legendary С-47А "Skytrain" transport plane for the Battle of Normandy. The C-47 is AI only, but adds a new dimension to our missions and variety of Allied aircraft you will encounter in the sky. It is also great for mission makers who want to make supply runs an integral part of their battle. And finally, Battle of Moscow players receive new 4K quality skins for the Bf-110 E-2 thanks to our talented friend Martin =ICDP= Catney.

 

 

 

 

On the technical front we have added a new and more realistic G-load physiology modeling system. This work was described in great detail in our Developer Diary #263. Additionally, a lot of work was done on all the aspects of the ground battles, significantly improving the quality and realism of Tank Crew engagements. There are many improvements to the pilot AI as well in this update. And finally, long-awaited Career mode improvements are finally starting to arrive.

 

 

Main Features
1. The Hurricane Mk.II Collector Plane is now available to its owners;
2. The C-47A transport aircraft is now available in the sim as an AI enemy or ally in the Quick Mission mode. It can also be used in the custom missions as an AI transport aircraft;
3. Female crews got female voices in the radio messages;
4. Pilot physiology modeling has been improved significantly. This is described in detail in the Developers Diary #263;
5. The zoom function now works correctly on VR devices with canted displays (Pimax) without using the performance-intensive Parallel Projection mode;
6. New multiplayer scenarios, including Cooperative ones, are added for Tank Crew (you can create a server directly from the game by selecting a scenario or scenarios from the Multiplayer\Cooperative\TankCrew or Multiplayer\Dogfight\TankCrew folders);
7. 4K external textures for Bf 110E heavy fighter (Battle of Moscow) are added thanks to Martin =ICDP= Catney;
8. A-20 and B-25 bombers got new paint schemes with invasion stripes for different timeframes;

 

Tank Crew Improvements
9. Several missions of the Soviet tank campaign "Breaking point" were improved;
10. Both tank campaigns are now available in Simplified Chinese, German and French;
11. KV-1s got an additional paint scheme;
12. It is now possible to use binoculars or personal weapons after pressing the "T" button (except for the M4A2 tank, where binoculars and personal weapons cannot be used simultaneously with a machine gun);
13. It is now possible to designate a waypoint on the ground in a command mode while using binoculars;
14. The enemy spawn point in Tank duel quick mission is correctly randomized after the destruction of a previous one if the player did not leave its spawn point;
15. It is now possible to designate a target in a command mode while using binoculars;
16. Fixed the issue that prevented the tank commander from using binoculars or personal weapons after pressing the "T" key if he does not have a machine gun to operate;
17. Trying to fire the M4A2 machine gun while using binoculars or personal weapons won’t work;
18. AI gunners use bracketing the target with fire when engaging the ground targets both for the range and (if the target is moving or there is a wind) the azimuth error. The size of the initial aiming error depends on the AI level, distance, target speed and wind;
19. Ground AI gunners now have a certain delay in detecting and starting aiming at a new target depending on the AI level, distance and density of the group of enemy targets;
20. Ground AI vehicles return the turret and/or gun to the traveling position only after a considerable time after the destruction or disappearance of the last enemy target from the field of view;
21. Fixed an issue where detailed AI tanks (and especially self-propelled guns) could not hit the target at minimum distances (they were firing above the target);
22. SU-152 will correctly stop for a shot and won’t drive towards the target without firing;
23. The extra (maximum) AI level parameter has been removed from the Quick Mission, it caused errors in the AI functioning;
24. Fixed a bug due to which the AI controlled tanks did not attack obviously visible targets in some rare circumstances;
25. A bug has been fixed due to which there was no difference between aircraft or ground vehicle gunners with different AI levels;
26. The enemies and allies have correct marker colors in tank Coop missions;
27. Detailed damage buildings on Prokhorovka map are correctly displayed at far distances (the inner side of the walls was invisible far away);

 

Airplanes physics, systems and damage model improvements
28. 13mm German and 12.7mm Italian machine guns are no longer loaded with HE ammo only due to a bug;
29. USAAF pilots wear G-suits only when piloting P-47D-22, P-51D-15 and P-38J-25 in September 1944 or later;
30. A circular limit of the movable aiming mark of the Mk IID and K-14A gyro reticles has been implemented. The mark also bounces and stops at the working range boundary when the gyro mirror reaches its stop;
31. The characteristic whistle of P-51 machine guns ports during active maneuvering that disappeared before due to an error is back now;
32. P-51 and P-38 fighters won’t be pulled into a dive when their tail section is damaged;
33. Ju-52 / 3m g4e cargo containers drop animation has been corrected;
34. The mixture control of al aircraft with M-105 PF engine became standard (similar to Yak-7/9);
35. According to the historical data found, Ju-87D ammo counters are disabled when the BK 37 outboard guns are fitted;
36. Fixed an issue due to which hit effects weren’t visible on certain parts of the P-51 fuselage;
37. Bf 109F-2 cockpit canopy correctly jettisons;
38. All Fw 190 aircraft are less stable after rudder loss;
39. Tail combat damage causes less shaking;
40. Closed landing gear doors on P-51D-15 won’t be torn off at high speeds;
41. The top gunner of the He-111H-6 and the bottom gunner of the A-20B won’t always hold their machine guns and its hatches won’t be always open;
42. The turret hatch on certain aircraft turrets won’t start to close before the machine gun is returned to the stowed position;
43. U-2VS shooter's leg won’t clip through the fuselage;
44. Incorrect (missing) armor value of the armored glass visor and headrest has been fixed for La-5FN;
45. TIncorrect (missing) armor value of the armored headrest has been fixed for P-38J;

 

Visual aircraft improvements
46. Yak-9 s. 2, Yak-9T s.2, Fw 190 D-9, P-47D-22, P-38J-25, P-51D-15: jettisoned cockpit canopy has all the details;
47. Fixes for Bf 109 G-6 4K textures from Martin = ICDP = Catney (Barkhorn and Hartman planes);
48. The A-20B tail lamp no longer visibly detaches from the aircraft at a significant distance from the observer;
49. Fixed an issue where some of the glass fragments could be visible next to torn P-51D elements;
50. When moving the camera away from Yak-9 aircraft its effects won’t disappear;
51. In the upper MG turret of He 111 H-6 bomber some elements won’t visually jitter;
52. Damaged Pe-2 series 35 cockpit windows have a correct color;
53. Some of the Fokker D.VII airplane debris pieces won’t have extra engines visually attached to them;

 

Aircraft AI corrections
54. An AI issue that could cause a fighter AI to be unable to engage a slowly moving target flying in a circle has been fixed;
55. An AI issue that could cause excessive error in aiming the forward firing armament at ground and air targets (especially in a frontal aerial attack) has been eliminated;
56. Heavy aircraft will use the differential brakes after landing correctly to turn to a taxiway, preventing unintentional turns;
57. An AI issue that could make the bombers unable to start a bombing run after a failed first bombing run has been fixed;
58. U-2VS AI pilot can fire unguided rockets at the ground targets;
59. AI pilots attacking a ground target from a high altitude will reduce the altitude in a downward spiral first;
60. AI pilots now try to reduce the G-load they experience in order to prevent loss of consciousness if their condition is deteriorated due to fatigue or other factors;

 

Career mode improvements
61. An AI in Career mode won’t stuck at the first route waypoint after takeoff if its assigned target is very near (less than 5500 meters);
62. A random issue that could cause the bombers to stuck in a circle above the target area after dropping their bombs has been fixed;
63. Several typos in the Battle of the Rhine cutscenes were corrected;
64. Hurricane Mk.II fighters have been added to the Battle of Moscow Career mode, they are available in 5 squadrons: 1st GIAP (former 29th IAP), 67th IAP PVO, 157th IAP, 287th IAP, 736th IAP PVO;
65. Hurricane Mk.II fighters have been added to the Battle of Stalingrad Career mode, they are available in 2 squadrons: 651st IAP PVO and 629th IAP PVO;
66. There are now 13 additional subphases in the Rheinland Career frontline (18 different frontline positions according to the current career date in total);
67. Three American squadrons were added to the Rheinland Career, one of them is  available for the player to join - 412th Fighter Squadron, 373rd FG (P-47s) and two are AI squadrons 410th Fighter Squadron, 373rd FG and 411th Fighter Squadron, 373rd FG;
68. 18 new target locations added for the following mission types in Rheinland Career: Ground troops cover, Enemy Troops Concentration Attack, Enemy Troops Concentration Bombing Strike, Railway Junction Attack and Railway Junction Bombing Strike.

 

[Phantom88 3,287]

Dear Friends,

 

We know that the Battle of Normandy pre-order customers are eagerly waiting for its planes to arrive. It's understandable, but in spite of our team keeping the development rate at a very high level, creating an aircraft with the fidelity worthy of our simulation from scratch is very time consuming and labor intensive. The main bulk of the Normandy planes list will arrive next year. However, some of the planes that are based on the previous ones will arrive sooner.

 

We have already released the P-47D-22 'Razorback' and as soon as next week another one will arrive - the German Bf 109 G-6 Late fighter with an enlarged tail and additional modifications which are characteristic for the year 1944. This includes the MW-50 water-methanol injection system and an improved cockpit canopy - the 'Erla Haube'. Being part of the 109 family, this fighter also has very good flying characteristics and powerful weaponry. The MW-50 allows increasing the power near the deck from 1480 to 1800 HP, increasing the maximum speed from 528 to 573 km/h. Of course, the engine power increase also improves the turn radius and climb rate which are invaluable in a dogfight. This late G-6 variant could also carry the WGR.21 heavy unguided rockets in jettisonable underwing launchers.

 

 

 

 

Enjoy!

The Sturmovik Team

[Phantom88 3,287]

 

[Phantom88 3,287]

267

 

Hello everybody,

 

Many of you ask us how is the development of the recently announced mobile AAA is going. The physical model of a wheeled vehicle is nearly complete while the visual model of the Soviet GAZ-MM with 72-K AA gun being developed by our partners at Digital Forms has made good progress. You can see the attention to detail on these screenshots, it's really a labor of love:

 

 

You may wonder how fast the German half-track chassis can be developed since it is partly wheeled and partly tracked, but in our engine, the player controllable vehicles have a sophisticated module structure where a combination of various propulsion types is possible. We plan to start the implementation of the German AAA half truck soon. On the other hand, the AA gunsights are a new thing, but we hope to make them as functional as Tank Crew artillery sights.

 

Meanwhile, we're working on updating all the existing aircraft in the sim with the new visual models of the crew. All the fighters were given the new pilot models where it was possible to do in a universal way previously, and now we're adding the new models to the planes where unique adjustments are required. In the coming update, you'll get the new pilot model for P-39L-1. More detailed pilot appearance aside, this also means that an American or British pilot will be displayed if a P-39 is set to one of the countries in the mission file. Also, our friend Martin =ICDP= Catney have created an additional RAF skin for this airplane.

 

 

Another of the many questions we got recently after showing the video of the new terrain effect on the vehicles, is how the new detailed terrain roughness will affect the aircraft outside the prepared airfields when making an emergency landing for instance or taking off from a field (which is an even more difficult task naturally). We think the best answer would be another short video:

 

 

Enj

[Phantom88 3,287]

Dear Friends,
 
1C Game Studios and Ugra Media are proud to announce our next Great War themed product – FLYING CIRCUS: VOLUME II!
 
It’s been over 100 years since the end of WWI, a conflict that shaped the modern world and killed tens of millions of people. It was an era that saw a new invention, the airplane, become a weapon of war. It also saw devastation like never before all along the vast Western Front in France. Trench warfare, artillery barrages, machine guns nests, and poison gas made ground combat an ugly, nasty affair. But above the brutal meatgrinder, a ballet of winged machines made largely of canvas and wood, piloted by knights for a new age, dueled to the death in a most personal way. Flying Circus: Volume II brings a renewed effort to recreate the WWI aerial battlefield on your PC and expand upon the work of Flying Circus: Volume I with a more diverse plane-set, a larger map and a Pilot Career mode.
 

 

This is one part of a new two-part plan to create not only FC2, but also FC3 with our partner Ugra Media. Completion of this new plan will make the first three volumes of Flying Circus an exhilarating combat flying experience that will usher in a new era of development for Great War titles and content. 

Content
 
Flying Circus: Volume II will continue our long tradition of bringing WWI aerial warfare to your computer with an explosive plane-set that includes not only fighters, but bombers and recon aircraft. This will bring a more diverse range of missions available to the user. When combined with the existing plane-set from FC1 most of the aircraft that saw combat from 1917 to the end of the war in 1918 are represented. Flying Circus: Volume II is a big leap forward in aircraft, map and mission content setting up the Flying Circus range of products for an exciting future.  

Flying Circus: Volume II Plane-set: 
 
Spad 7.C1
Airco DH.4
Sopwith Triplane
Nieuport 28.C1 
Breguet 14.B2
Handley Page 0-400
Pfalz D.XII
Fokker D.VIII
DFW C.V.
Gotha G.V.

 

We plan to have the first aircraft from FC2 flying into your Early-Access hangar by Spring 2021 with more aircraft from the plane-set released on a steady clip after that. The Phase II map will likely we ready near the end of 2021. 
 
Flying Circus: Volume II Map
 
The map we will build for FC2 will be much larger than our FC1 map and will aim to re-create the huge Western Front battlefield we created in our original WWI title – Rise of Flight. Of course, this map will use our latest map technologies which is currently showcased in our Arras map of Flying Circus: Volume I. This new map will be built in two phases. Phase I which is the Arras Map, was the testbed for making a WWI map in the Sturmovik engine and has been completed. Phases II and III will expand that work to eventually, over two product dev cycles, complete the map. We plan to make multiple seasons for this map to allow maximum opportunities to fly in various weather conditions. Also, once the larger map is completed, we plan to offer it to FC1 users. 

 

We have designed each map phase to match the plane-set for each volume and the battles those planes participated in. By time FC3 is complete, the map itself will be whole and an amazing canvas to fly and fight over.   

 

 

Flying Circus: Volume II Pre-Order Now Available and Special Discounts! 

To kick off Flying Circus: Volume II development we have opened Pre-Orders today! For a limited time, our Pre-Order discount price is $20 Off MSRP at $59.99. This discount is good on all pre-orders through January 15th 2021. After that, the Pre-Order discount will be our usual $10 Off until release. The final MSRP at time of release will be $79.99.

 

We have also put FC1 on sale at 66% Off. This discount also lasts through January 15th 2021. This is the perfect time to pick up both FC1 and FC2 for an awesome discount!

 

FC1 + FC2 makes an amazing Christmas gift for your best wingmates! 

 

Pre-Order Flying Circus: Volume II Here

 

Order Flying Circus: Volume I Here
 
We here at 1CGS and our friends at Ugra Media hope you are as excited as we are to build Flying Circus: Volume II and we appreciate everyone who has purchased Volume I this past year making Volume II possible. 

 

We also wish you the absolute best this Holiday Season to you, your family, your friends and our dedicated development partners all over the world. We appreciate all the support and encouragement during this most difficult year. We will continue to do the hard work of making our flight-sim and armor-sim products the best they can be in 2021. 
 
We’ll see you over the Front! 
 
The 1CGS and Ugra Media Teams
 

You can discuss this announcement HERE.

[Phantom88 3,287]

Update 4.504

Dear Friends,

New player controllable aircraft or vehicles aren’t ready yet, but we have decided to release the update 4.504 that improves many aspects of the sim. The main feature of this update is the increased visual detail of the landscape at close distances, which is a graphics option. It makes the terrain bumps and unevenness, that were previously only calculated in physics, to be visible. Overall, this improvement makes the vehicle and aircraft movement on the ground look much better and natural.



The second main feature is a nearly complete overhaul of the sound volume balance in the aircraft cockpits which was done with the help of pilots that have experience flying similar aircraft, resulting in a more realistic sound environment in the cockpit.



There are many other important changes as well, for instance, many graphical effects were improved like large structural fires in cities and more detailed tank cannon fire effects. Even the grass now bends when you fire the tank main gun! The full changelist follows:

Main features

1. The terrain bumps that were previously only in the physics are now visible at a short distance, resulting in a much better visual look of the wheeled and tracked vehicles and planes on the ground movement. The detail of this visualization can be adjusted or completely disabled and works at ‘Medium’ or better graphics settings preset;
2. The movement of all simplified ground vehicles (cars and tracked vehicles) also looks more realistic since the benefit from the new tech as well;
3. Tanks transmission modeling was made more detailed, increasing their maximum climb angle;
4. New RAF paint scheme added for P-39L-1 by Martin =ICDP= Catney;
5. P-39L-1 pilot got a new visual model, animation of removing glasses on the ground and donning an oxygen mask at high altitude. In addition, setting the country of the plane to the UK or USA in the mission file changes the pilot model to UK or USA pilot accordingly;
6. The ram air noise sounds depend on the flight speed, taking into account the position of the pilot's head in the cockpit (in the center, near the side, overboard) and the cockpit canopy state (open or closed). The volume of the ram air noise has been increased, giving more audio cues in a closed cockpit;
7. Airflow noise sound when stalling or at a high-G load has been improved;
8. Stall sound on Yak fighters was adjusted to be more informative at high angles of attack;
9. The volume of other sounds in the cockpit (the noise of the aircraft moving on the ground on the landing gear, the hissing of the flaps and landing gear valves, the background power grid noise, radio communications, etc.) is balanced according to the new volume of the airflow noise. Corrections were made to the sound volume of several engines as well;

Tank improvements

10. New motion blur effect improves the look of the player controllable tank tracks if the ‘Cinematic Camera’ option is checked;
11. All Tank Crew module tanks got new gun and machine gun firing effects that depend on the muzzle power. If a gun has a muzzle brake, the effect has a corresponding shape. In addition, firing the main gun temporarily causes the grass nearby to bend down;
12. The "jitter" animation issue of aircraft and tank gunners when the player left the corresponding station has been fixed;
13. The tank turret stays in place when the player switches from the gunsight view to another station and there are no visible enemy targets for AI gunner to engage;
14. When giving an order to other tanks in the platoon only existing tanks are shown in the menu;
15. Only existing ammo types are shown in the commander menu when selecting the ammo for your tank;
16. AI gunners will correctly engage a target when several different targets were assigned by the commander one subsequently;
17. AI will load correct ammo as instructed by the commander;
18. Gunsight zoom on VR devices with canted displays and Parallel Projection mode works correctly;
19. M4A2 visors won’t look too bright in an external view;
20. The remaining .50 cal ammo is shown correctly when the M2 MG installed on the M4A2 tank is in the anti-aircraft firing position;
21. It’s no longer possible to hit the M4A2 turret by pushing the AA MG down and left to the limit when firing;
22. The free T-34/76 STZ (1942) tank turret switches to manual turret traverse when the generator is not working;
23. The free T-34/76 STZ (1942) tank field of view when looking through the gunsight has been fixed;
24. Free T-34/76 STZ (1942) and Pz.Kpfw.III Ausf.L tanks have their turret traverse speeds reduced the more they are tilted, just like Tank Crew tanks;
25. SU-122 SPG mass has been corrected according to the latest data found (30900 kg);
26. Commander's machine guns (KV-1s and M4A2) won’t ‘stuck’ when trying to swivel them looking through the sights in VR mode;
27. The graphic effect and sound of a machine gun or tank gun firing won’t stuck when the tank is blown up;
28. In Quick Mission - Duel, tank settings are correctly applied;
29. The 1st and 3rd missions of the "Last Chance" German tank campaign were optimized to be playable on 3.0 GHz processors (without time compression);
30. The vertical adjustment sound of the PT4-7 and PG panoramas (KV-1s, T-34UVZ-43, SU-122 and SU-152) was removed since they can be adjusted along this axis separately;

Aircraft improvements

31. Pilot AI won’t dive into the ground after receiving a command to attack a ground target if there is no ammo;
32. Fighter pilot AI won’t open fire too far away in a ‘face to face’ attack;
33. A rare issue that could make an aircraft to levitate above the ground or sink into it up to 1m depth (it happened more frequently on Arras map) and therefore cause damage to it has been fixed;
34. U-2VS wing damage when touching the ground during taxiing has been reduced and the landing gear damping settings have been corrected. Now it is possible to land and take off on an unprepared field with a bit of luck;
35. U-2VS formation and landing lights functioning was corrected;
36. Pe-2 series 87 top turret camera corrected in VR mode;
37. Torn off A-20B bomb bay doors behave in a physically correct way;
38. A-20B bomb bay doors will be torn off during an emergency landing (landing gear up) only if they were opened;
39. A-20B cockpit view won’t shake when the mission starts;
40. P-51D level autopilot won’t turn off by itself at the start of the mission in the air if the fuel tanks are full;
41. Visually inverted MC.202 propeller pitch has been corrected;
42. The P-39L-1 antenna won’t ‘hang’ in the air if the tail section is broken;
43. Audio and visual effects when hitting the outboard cannons and bomb and rocket racks were corrected for IL-2 (all modifications), Bf-109 (all modifications), FW-190 (all modifications) and MC.202;
44. IL-2 mod. 43 gunner and rear fuel tank armor has been corrected;
45. An issue that could cause the aircraft with a repaired wing to move instead of stop when applying the wheel brakes has been fixed;
46. Pe-2 series 87 surface material won’t visually change when moving away from it;
47. A-20 cockpit glass won’t visually change when moving away from it;
48. P-51D-15 spinner was made less shiny;
49. Visual artifacts on the Bf 109 E-7 cockpit glass were eliminated;

Other improvements

50. The visual image of the sea surface was improved up close (the blackness on wave crests, shadows shake, reflection and glare when the camera was directed downward very close were corrected);
51. Fixed an issue that caused ships and aircraft on the sea surface to be unaffected by the movement of the waves;
52. Fixed an issue that prevented the submarines from moving when the waves were high;
53. Fixed a rare issue that could display a black screen when switching to F11 free camera;
54. F11 camera movement was made smoother;
55. An incorrect factory building roof in Stalingrad that glowed at night has been corrected;
56. The visibility range of large fires (static effects City_Fire, City_FireSmall, VillageSmoke and their new cyclic versions) has been increased to 100 km;
57. Settlement fire effects in Career, Quick Missions and tank campaigns won’t periodically disappear and reappear or ‘flip’ when you move the camera around them. These effects now illuminate the surroundings as well;
58. Three factory chimney smoke effects for mission creators were added: Chimneystalk_smoke_white, Chimneystalk_smoke_grey, Chimneystalk_smoke_black;
59. The “DummyGroundExpl” explosion effect set in the mission has been restored;
60. Visual mission effects AmmoExplosion and AmmoExplosion_Big have corresponding sounds;
61. House_smoke effect starts correctly, without an overly intense and dark first phase;
62. Сyclic settlement fire effects City_Fire_Loop, City_FireSmall_Loop and VillageSmoke_Loop won’t visibly disappear and reappear or ‘flip’ when you move the camera around them, greatly simplifying their use by mission designers and reducing the resulting performance impact;
63. German and French translations of Last Chance, Breaking Point and Wind of Fury campaigns were corrected.


 

[Phantom88 3,287]

Update 4.505

Dear friends,

The IL-2 Sturmovik development team wishes you the best in the coming year and has a small gift for you - another update. It includes the work of the community enthusiast Chiawei =Oyster_KAI= Liang who agreed to work with us more closely and make his textures even better to be included in the sim officially. All the player controllable aircraft in this update have their cockpit textures considerably upscaled and sometimes corrected, resulting in a much better look of their cockpits. At the same time, Martin =ICDP= Catney has finished working on the external textures of another plane - this time it is I-16 - and they look great. There are many other fixes and improvements you can see in the changelist below.

Happy New Year and best of luck to you in 2021!







1. All player-controlled aircraft got 4K quality cockpit textures created by Chiawei = Oyster_KAI = Liang;
2. I-16 type 24 fighter got 4K quality external textures created by Martin = ICDP = Сatney;
3. I-16 type 24 fighter has a new “Silver” skin (painted with aluminum paint) by Martin = ICDP = Catney;
4. New visual effects added for and railway fuel tanks and fuel tanker trucks explosions. The airfield fuel storage also explodes with a new effect if there is an entity assigned to it in the mission file;
5. The A-20B bomber crew visual models were updated, as well as the animation of taking off glasses on the ground and putting on an oxygen mask at altitude. In addition, if the country parameter in the mission file is set to UK or USA the crew models will be British or American respectively;
6. Added missing fire effect to old player controllable tanks (T-34 STZ 1942 and Pz.Kpfw.III Ausf. L);
7. Old player controllable tanks (T-34 STZ 1942 and Pz.Kpfw.III Ausf. L) should no longer shoot at targets when considered destroyed (when their marker is removed);
8. Old player controllable tanks (T-34 STZ 1942 and Pz.Kpfw.III Ausf. L) have visual models of the driver and tank commander;
9. The surviving crewmen of the old player controllable tanks (T-34 STZ 1942 and Pz.Kpfw.III Ausf. L) leave if the tank is knocked out;
10. Old player controllable tanks (T-34 STZ 1942 and Pz.Kpfw.III Ausf. L) commanders have a pistol and binoculars;
11. Several cases of incorrect camera operation have been fixed (for example, when the camera remained in the cockpit of a destroyed aircraft or a tank);
12. The giant smoke columns from the Stalingrad city fires should now be visible up to 100 km away from the player starting point in QMB mode;
13. Wrong tree models on the river island near Stalingrad were corrected on Summer and Autumn maps;
14. The cropping of the ground structures outside the mission zone has been optimized, reducing the load on the system and speeding up the mission loading in the QMB mode on the Stalingrad map (all seasons);
15. The cropping of the ground structures outside the mission zone has been optimized, reducing the load on the system and speeding up the mission loading in all Career mode timeframes (BoM, BoS, BoK, BoBp);
16. All internal equipment of the armored vehicles was made less resistant to the fragments of APHE rounds that detonated inside;
17. Zademyanye airfield on Winter Velikie Luki map has been smoothed;
18. Ju-88 cockpit raindrops effect has been restored;
19. Pe-2 bombers right spinner won't become darker when the propeller is rotating;
20. The auto-oscillations of the La-5 elevator in the simplified control mode at low altitudes have been fixed;
21. A technochat error that could cause an incorrect message about the flaps release has been corrected;
22. Ju-87, Ju-88 and Fw-190 aircraft have technochat messages about releasing the flaps to takeoff and landing positions;
23. Yak-9 and Yak-9T water radiator drag has been corrected when the radiator shutter is closed more than a neutral position;
24. Lighting on both Halberstadt aircraft can be turned on only with cockpit lamp modification present;
25. Technochat flap position messages corrected on aircraft with fixed flap positions;
26. On A-20B bombers, problems with ANOs and bomb bay tail signal lamp at long LODs have been fixed.
 

[Phantom88 3,287]

Nice Review of "Tank Crew"

 

 

[Phantom88 3,287]

WINTER 2.0 SALE HAS BEGUN! JAN. 22ND - FEB. 5TH (WEBSTORE AND STEAM) 30-85% OFF!!

By Jason_Williams, 4 hours ago in Announcements

Jason_Williams

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Posted 4 hours ago

 

Attention Pilots!

 

The Winter 2.0 Sale has begun in the IL-2 Official Webstore and on Steam! Save between 30% to 85% on most items.
 

The Winter 2.0 Sale runs from 10:00am PST January 22nd to 10:00am PST February 5th in the IL-2 Official Webstore and on STEAM.
 

 

IL-2 GREAT BATTLES IN IL-2 OFFICIAL WEBSTORE

 

IL-2 IL-2 GREAT BATTLES ON STEAM

 

Tank Crew - 35% Off  (Webstore & Steam)

 

BOS – 85% Off
BOM – 75% Off
BOK – 75% Off
BOBP – 66% Off
FC1 – 66% Off

 

Hurricane Mk.II - 35% Off

 

Yak-9 – 40% Off
Yak-9T – 40% Off
Fw-190 D-9 – 66% Off
P-38 J-15 – 66% Off
U-2VS -75% Off
Ju-52/3M – 75% Off
Bf-109 G-6 – 75% Off
Yak-1B – 75% Off
Spitfire Mk. VB – 75 % Off
LA-5FN – 75% Off
HS-129 B-2 – 75% Off
P-40E-1 – 85% Off
Macchi MC.202 – 85% Off
Fw-190 A-3 – 85% Off
LA-5 Series 8 – 85% Off

 

Ice Ring – 30% Off

Blazing Steppe – 75% Off
Fortress on the Volga – 75% Off

Hell Hawks Over the Bulge – 30% Off (Webstore Only)
Ten Days of Autumn – 75% Off (Webstore Only)
Havoc Over the Kuban – 75% Off (Webstore Only)
Achtung Spitfire! – 75% Off (Webstore Only)

 

 

IL-2 DOVER SERIES IN IL-2 OFFICIAL WEBSTORE

 

IL-2 DOVER SERIES ON STEAM

 

Desert Wings Tobruk – 35% Off
Cliffs of Dover Blitz – 75% Off

 

 

 

RISE OF FLIGHT IN ROF OFFICIAL WEBSTORE

RISE OF FLIGHT ON STEAM

 

All ROF Content – 75% Off

 

Enjoy!

See you in the skies and on the battlefield! 

 

The Sturmovik Team

[Phantom88 3,287]

Dear friends,

Today we have mostly images for you. Soon we’ll be able to share news on the Battle of Normandy progress in various areas, but today we can show you the first in-game screenshots of Fw 190 A-6. This aircraft will include the assault modifications G3, G3/R5 and Sturmjager and is planned to be released in the coming update along with the new graphical effects and aircraft AI improvements.