IL-2 Great Battles Dev News

That video was like my perfect Christmas.

“What, Really? A Thunderbolt for me? You shouldn’t have! It’s all crated up and everything!”

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Oh, this is good. I’m wondering now how something like this could be used today, and how much more the packaging could have been premade more efficiently…

i’ll be right back- gotta go call an Industrial Engineer buddy of mine…

update
Dear pilots,

The two next Bodenplatte aircraft are not yet finished, but we have decided not to wait for them and release the update that contains the results of our work since 3.005 release. There is a lot of changes, fixes and improvements, some of them are long-awaited ones.

Many graphical effects were reworked and some new ones were added. Other fixes include Career mode, multiplayer, AI and collision system improvements. There is a new content as well - new modifications were added for Fw 190 A-8. The full change list follows:

Graphical effects improvements

  1. Fire effects improved for aircraft and ground vehicles, more dynamic and detailed;
  2. Fuel leak effects improved (less noticeable, but more realistic);
  3. Damaged engine exhaust effects improved (less noticeable, but more realistic);
  4. Tracer smoke effects improved (more smooth and realistic);
  5. Wingtip trails effects improved (more dynamic, less apparent beginning);
  6. Water hit effects improved (more realistic);
  7. Aircraft and vehicle hit effects improved (more difference between AP and HE ammo, more realistic, added debris);
  8. Bomb detonation effects improved for 250kg + bombs, additional flash effect;
  9. Water steam effects added for twin water radiator aircraft (Bf-109, Ju-87, Spitfire Mk.IXe, Pe-2);
  10. Water steam overheating effects added;
  11. Wrong mixture exhaust effects added;
  12. Wood hit effects added for WWI aircraft;
  13. Gunfire smoke effects added;
  14. Oil leak during flight effect adjusted;
  15. Fuel leak effect on the ground added;
  16. Water steam effect on the ground added;

Simulation fixes and graphical effects fixes

  1. The water hit effects no longer appear like ground hit effects;
  2. Bug fix: He-111, Bf-110 and Pe-2 right engine hits won’t damage the left engine cooling system anymore;
  3. Bug fix: Spitfire Mk.VB/IXe oil radiator leak will stop when the left wing is lost;
  4. Bug fix: Ju-88 A4 right supercharger hits will correctly damage it;
  5. Bug fix: engine fire now correctly works on all planes;
  6. Bug fix: damage of the engines far from the cockpit (and the oil leak on Spitfires) won’t make the cockpit windows dirty;

Other improvements

  1. You can set the starting altitude up to 10km in QMB;
  2. Projectiles now can be stopped by trees;
  3. Fw 190 A-8 modification: removal of two 13mm MG 131. This allows to model the bomber variant of the plane; some Sturmjager modification aircraft also had them removed;
  4. Fw 190 A-8 modification: F-8 with a 1000kg bomb with reduced stabilizer;
  5. Flying Circus German and Entente pilots are now animated;
  6. German WWI pilot now has a parachute;
  7. 30 mm and higher caliber guns can overheat (they couldn’t before);
  8. All guns fire dispersion differ while firing single shots and in bursts;
  9. Burst fire dispersion corrected for Soviet fuselage mounted guns;
  10. Burst fire dispersion corrected for German wing mounted guns;
  11. While driving, AI now takes into consideration all nearby vehicles instead of the vehicles of its group only;
  12. AI has learned how to control the advanced (player controllable) tanks, they can be used in missions;
  13. The water in all water cooled engines boils at different temperatures depending on the altitude;
  14. Fuel actually burns out in an event of a fuel tank fire;
  15. Fuel tank fire intenisity decreases when all fuel is burned out;
  16. Fire intensity directly affects the speed of structural damage;
  17. Fuel fires are extinguished when an aircraft hits a water surface;
  18. Mission generator toolset released (you can download it here and unpack into your IL-2 install if you want to try it);

Other fixes

  1. Simple vehicles (not controllable by player) physics modeling improved. They shouldn’t ‘fly’ away from collisions as they sometimes did before anymore;
  2. German aircraft of Bodenplatte timeframe carry bombs of a different color that was used in the late war;
  3. German aircraft of Bodenplatte timeframe carry SD 70 fragmentation bombs instead of SC 50 which production was canceled in 1943;
  4. Aircraft loadout tooltips adjusted;
  5. Career: the game won’t freeze when creating a character in certain squadrons at a certain time;
  6. Career won’t freeze in May 1943;
  7. Career won’t show incorrect days at the end of February;
  8. Player wingmen won’t be captured by the enemy if the player finishes a Career mode mission above the enemy territory;
  9. The player marker shows the character name in Career mode;
  10. A rare crash in multiplayer has been fixed (it could happen when Pe-2 series 35 lost its wing).
  11. The game server and clients won’t crash when a player controlled tank impacts the ground, for instance, after falling from a damaged bridge;
  12. Multiplayer net packets won’t slowly increase in size over time;
  13. Multiplayer net packets now have their CRC checked, this should improve the data transfer stability;
  14. Net load decreased by optimizing the data packets carrying graphical effects data;
  15. Statistics system accuracy increased (this should fix the situations with unaccounted kills);
  16. Minimum starting altitude in QMB on Novosokolniki map has been increased to 250m;
  17. Sharp texture changes were corrected on the Stalingrad map near Golubinsky;
  18. The pilot won’t be injured by the wing fuel tanks fire on Bf 110 E2, Bf 110 G2, P-39L-1 and Yak-7B series 36;
  19. A rare crash has been fixed (it could happen when Pe-2 series 35 detonated after hitting the ground).
  20. Bomb doors handle on He 111 planes is now animated;
  21. Broken window in the lower cockpit fixed on He 111;
  22. Fw 190 A-8 right WGr.21 launcher arming lamp now works;
  23. On Fw 190 A-8 with F-8/G-8 mod the 20mm guns stay on the same fire trigger with MGs;
  24. Radiator assist on MiG-3 and IL-2 won’t overcool the engine at high altitudes;
  25. Pe-2 series 35 upper turret correctly shows ammo left in HUD;
  26. Yak-7B altitude mixture controller corrected;
  27. Coolant overheat warning in technochat corrected;
  28. Damage system performance optimization should decrease the CPU load;
  29. Radiator assist closes or opens radiators in a more smart way;
  30. Fokker Dr.I and SPAD 13.C1 durability are back to RoF values.

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… And what wasn’t in this changelog is another round of optimisation. I could turn on the “HUD” allowing me to read a translation of the radio traffic and turn the shadows to high!

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Latest Dev blog with some new Kites screenshots -

https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/168-developer-diary/?do=findComment&comment=674699

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Hello everybody,

We’re another week closer to our target. We’ve made good progress in Bodenplatte development - Koln (Cologne), Brussels and Charleroi buildings are already placed on the map. The size of the cities and their number required to invent and successfully implement the new development approach. It allows recreating the basic city layout without compromising the schedule and visual quality. Here are some screens:

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It should be noted that Flying Circus map and its cities will be created in the same way, so Lille and Amiens would look like this as well. Meanwhile, our development partners for Flying Circus project were also busy and today we can show you the first in-game screenshots of the fourth WWI aircraft that will be released, German fighter Pfalz D.IIIa. Both Pfalz D.IIIa and Sopwith Camel are already working in the game engine and we’re waiting for their 3D models and cockpit texturing to be finished.

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Hello everybody,

Today’s Dev Blog will be a short one - we have a lot of work to do at the moment. Right now we’re finishing five aircraft: Bf 109 K-4 and P-47D-28 for Bodenplatte, Pfalz D.IIIa and Sopwith Camel for Flying Circus and Po-2VS Collectors Plane. Two maps, Prokhorovka map (the map of the Southern part of the Kursk salient, to be correct) for Tank Crew and Western Europe map for Bodenplatte are also shaping up nicely.

The engineer department continues their work on near-sonic aerodynamics required for late WWII aircraft. The interface is also being worked on - Marschal interface for multiplayer and tank (platoon) commander for Tank Crew. Speaking of more imminent changes, we plan to improve the in-game statistics and ‘who gets the kill’ logic in the next update.

Today we can show you the in-game shots of Fw-190 D-9 Collector Plane:

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208

Hello Everybody,

This week our Executive Producer, Jason Williams, paid a visit to our Moscow studio. Of course, we have many discussions about potential ways of improving the project in the near future and more distant plans. We can’t disclose what we’re discussing yet, but when we’ll be able to tell you we’re sure you’ll be surprised and amused by the new prospects.

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Meanwhile, we continue our current work and can show you some new WIP screenshots. First, the new late WWII German pilot for Bodenplatte:

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Second, here are the first in-game Pfalz D.IIIa cockpit shots:

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And third, here is a sneak peek from our partners, Digital Forms - these images show the 3D models of the PzKpfw IV Ausf.G and M4A2 “Sherman” powertrains:

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This statement probably scares me more than it should :joy:

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They turn out to have bought FASA’s Crimson Skies property and are doing sky pirates in the il2 BoX engine. God that would rock.

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That would be a “shut up and take my money” moment. I love that IP, heck, even when they went to heroclicks it was still great.

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MY GUESS “We Here at 777 Studio’s are Happy to Announce we have acquired the digital rights of the iconic Bomber Sim B-17 Mighty 8th” :slight_smile:

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Please be right about this! PLEASE! :pray:

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Nice to see VikS is still around :slight_smile:

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209

Dear Pilots,

I am wrapping up another trip to our Moscow studio where we discussed the current successes and future challenges that face our team and IL-2 Great Battles series. As always, we have a strong team and the will to keep powering on pushing the limits of ourselves and our products. Battle of Bodenplatte is coming along nicely along with the PO-2 which we will officially rename the U-2 to be more historically correct. This cool little bi-plane is finally nearing the final stage. Matter of fact, we had a real pilot who has experience flying an actual U-2 test our FM. He really liked it and gave us some small pointers that we will incorporate into the FM.

Additionally, Flying Circus work continues as does Tank Crew work including tank platoon commands and the more complex damageable buildings for the Prokhorovka map.

Before I catch my flight back to the U.S. here are some pics of the skins that will ship with the P-47 D-28 “Jug” and the updated faces of our American USAAF pilot and our WWI Entente pilots. Per your feedback we have made them look younger. Quite a rugged, good looking fellow custom fit for the part.

See you soon when I’m back in America.

Jason

P.S. Some of the textures on the ordinance is not finished yet so don’t panic. :salute:

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So excited. Maybe Christmas?

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I dunno man, after extensive research I can safely say the planform area of the vertical tail is easily 2% oversized. I just can’t condone the purchase of the product of such shoddy research and modelling…

(So you’re going to teach us how to properly Jug, right?)

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Nobody dives away from a fight quite like me…

Now that is what I call a beautiful P-47 cockpit!

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TWO WEEKS.

https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/168-developer-diary/?page=6&tab=comments#comment-690091

Also some 109 stuff, and some Sopwith stuff, and some pilot model stuff, and assorted other incidentals that no one in their right mind would care about with a Jug inbound at two weeks

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