LATEST NEWS
- 28 replies
- 8,969 views
- Add Reply
- 1 reply
- 8,910 views
- Add Reply
- 2 replies
- 3,446 views
- Add Reply
- 1 reply
- 3,357 views
- Add Reply
- 21 replies
- 12,334 views
- Add Reply
- 6 replies
- 7,405 views
- Add Reply
CombatACE New Theme Music
By Erik,
In an exciting announcement CombatACE is proud to introduce our new theme music. More on that in a moment.
In a heated debate this morning over stale donuts and wrongful coffee we had a discussion about the ads on our site and ad blocker extensions or plugins. We learned a tremendous amount from our time this morning and our discussion brought in experts and viewpoints for both the pros and cons of ad blocking software. Our focus group enlisted the past experiences from ARS Technica who like us have been online for 12 years or more. This is without a doubt one very interesting and well written editorial comment. I encourage you to take a few moments to read this:
BLOCKING ADS AND OUR FUTURE
I'm proud to announce that our decision falls directly in line with ARS Technica. While we could nag, or mention when we know software is being used we have elected not to. We have found no reason to force anyone to do anything because in today's world we know it's about choice. However like ARS Technica we hope you understand why our ads pay the bills and what we face every month to provide our services. Like ARS we are very grateful for everything you all do to help out, and we know our strength is in our community, and that's where we should focus our time. If you have taken the time to whitelist combatace.com in your adblocker or view our ads we want to recognize you as well, thank you.
Now as promised, our new theme music.
THEME MUSIC
IL2 - World War One
By 33LIMA,
Fighting World War One in the air, IL-2 style
Dark Blue World 1916
This is intended to be the first in a short series of mission reports, designed to showcase a new kid on the World War One airwar block - IL-2 Dark Blue World (DBW) 1916. This 'mod within a mod', as the title suggests, adds a 'Great War' experience to that long-running and still popular WW2 classic, IL-2. It's is not new, but it has been recently updated and expanded, to the point where it's now a serious contender for any WW1 flight sim enthusiast.
For anyone new to DBW 1916, I'll respectfully refer them to this post, in which I've attempted to describe how to get up-and-running with DBW and the latest version of DBW 1916:
http://combatace.com/topic/78684-a-nieuport-28-campaign-sim-by-sim/?p=631496
DBW 1916 started with mostly 'Frankenplanes', adaptions of some existing IL-2 types like the Po-2 biplane. These are still there, but they have now been joined by a considerable variety of authentic British, French and German aircraft, including not only favourites like the Camel, Fokker triplane and Nieuport 17, but also some less-often-seen types like the German Roland DII 'scout' and AEG CV two-seater, seen below:
I've purchased and flown pretty well every version of IL-2 since the original, but it's only with the advent of Dark Blue World that I've spent much time with the sim. DBW adds many planes, maps, better visuals and sounds, and most important to me, does a better job than previous (payware) addons in bringing the European Theatre of Operations to IL-2. So I was intrigued to read modder VPMedia's announcement on another site that the basic 1916 component that comes with DBW had been updated. So I gave it a try, and while DBW 1916 is still something of a diamond in the rough, I was most favourably impressed with the package in its current form.
Having so far played around with quick missions, I decided it was time to get serious - and fly a campaign! The single-player campaign is, to my mind, the heart of a good sim. There are now several campaigns available for DBW 1916, which you can find here:
http://www.sas1946.com/main/index.php/topic,34834.msg377269.html#msg377269
These campaigns are sets of linked missions, which you simply unzip into your IL-2 'Missions' folder - everything else you need to fly them, comes with the latest version of DBW 1916. Some of the mod's planes like the Camel (and even the inline-engined Albatros DIII!) have their engine power controlled by the magneto (via whatever key you assign in the 'setup' screen) rather than the throttle. You can search 'blip switch' at the aerodrome.com for a good description of how rotary engines did this. Perhaps because I have on-screen messages like power settings turned off in IL-2, I found this magneto power control hard to get the hang of. So I elected to fly a campaign in an aircraft which DBW 1916 gives a conventional throttle, the Royal Aircraft Factory SE5a. Of the two campaigns available for that aeroplane, I chose the Western front-based 'Code of Honour' campaign, in preference to the Palestine-based 'Angels of Armageddon'.
DBW 1916 includes very pleasing WW1-themed loading and menu screens. It also features, as menu music, recordings of songs from that era, including the iconic 'It's a Long Way to Tipperary'. To get the full effect, you might want to try humming or singing this to yourself, while studying the screenie below:
Campaign Preliminaries
'Code of Honour' assigns us to the Royal Flying Corps' famous 56 Squadron, formed in England in Spring 1917 to fly the new SE5, of which great things were expected, after the hammering the RFC had taken during 'Bloody April', when a hard price was paid for its successful support of the British Expeditionary Force in the Battle of Arras. The squadron included some experienced pilots, not least the great ace Albert Ball. Ball hated the SE5 at first, calling it 'a dud' and regarding it as inferior to the Nieuport types he was used to. In fact, when the squadron took the field in France, Ball was allowed to have a Nieuport for his solo patrols, flying the SE when operating with the rest of the squadron.
This DBW 1916 campaign starts - some months after 'Fifty-six' deployed to France - on 31 July 1917, at the beginning of the Third Battle of Ypres (pronounced 'Wipers' by the British 'Tommies'!), also known as the Battle of Passchendale. By this time, most pilots flying the type would have appreciated the SE5's virtues, although in 'Sagittarius Rising', CS Lewis, who served with Ball in 'fifty-six' from the start, recorded that 'unfortunately, it soon became clear that, good as the SE5 was, it was still not equal to the enemy. Scrapping at high altitudes, fifteen to eighteen thousand feet, the Huns had a marked superiority in performance'. Evidently, the SE really needed the extra 50hp it soon got, with the more powerful geared 'Hisso' and later, the ungeared British Wolseley Viper development of that famous Franco-Spanish-Swiss engine.
Back to the campaign! 'Code of Honour' uses a Somme map. This actually covers an area well to the south of the real-life 'Third Ypres' battlefield. By the time of that battle, the tide had begun to turn, thanks in part to the arrival of the SE5/SE5a, which had been joined, by then, by the RE8 and the equally-famous Sopwith Camel.
Our first mission was what would have been called, at the time, a Line Patrol - a flight up to and then along the trench lines. The main aim of such patrols was to destroy or drive off enemy two-seaters flying artillery observation or reconnaisance missions in our patrol area; and to protect our own two-seaters, who would be doing the same thing. We were flying in two flights of four each, with myself as number four in the right-hand flight. In 'normal' IL2 campaigns, you can get to lead a mission or flight by setting your starting rank high enough in the campaign setup screens. But in a campaign, like 'Code of Honour', which is actually composed of single missions, there's no such facility, I believe. So I could forget about leading a flight ,on this mission!
Here's the mission briefing, showing our area of operations. As you can see, this being a single mission, you can change quite a few mission parameters here. I left them alone, except that I used the 'arming' option to replace the default skin (actually one of the colourful schemes briefly used by 60 Squadron) with a skin for a machine flown by the legendary RFC ace JTB 'Jimmy' McCudden, which carried Fifty-six's early squadron marking, a broad white rear fuselage band. This skin, I believe, came with a series of skin packs which are already available for DBW 1916, which I had previously installed.
The mission begins
At last, it's time to fire up the mission, and see what the latest DBW 1916 and 'Code of Honour' SE5 campaign have in store for us!
The first thing you notice is the new loading screen. This looks like a couple of pages from a contemporary illustrated magazine. It's another neat touch, giving DBW 1916 a professional touch as well as adding a bit of atmosphere.
Now, to the flight line! I should perhaps have used the mission setup screen to roll the clock forward a tad, as it was still rather dark. Light enough, though, to get a good look at my mount and at our airfield.
You may be able to make out that the planes in my flight, ahead of me, carry the default 60 Squadron skin with distinctive white-edged blue markings, while the second flight, to my left, has the white converging lines that 56 Squadron used later on in the war. The broad white rear fuselage band of the skin I'd chosen was correct for the unit at the time of this campaign, I'm fairly certain.
As for the DBW 1916 SE5a, it's a decent representation. The interesting thing is that it's an early variant - a proper 1917 model, rather than the 1918 Wolseley Viper-engined models generally featured in other sims (tho OFF does have a version of this with some cosmetic modifications to resemble an earlier machine).
The main points of identification are the sharply-upswept underside to the nose, relatively shallow radiator and low thrust line/prop. These indicate the DBW 1916 SE is powered by the 150hp direct drive Hispano Suiza engine. This was fitted to the original SE5 - and to the first SE5a's. Apparently, the 'a' suffix does not, as commonly reported, denote the later 200hp engine, but the fitting of more squared wingtips. The DBW SE has quite raked wingtips, so it might actually be an original SE5, not the SE5a that it's billed as. The SE5 had the 150hp engine with upswept lower nose, and raked, not more squared, wingtips. It was modified before entering combat, most visibly by the original, unpopular 'greenhouse' windshield being removed and replaced with a much smaller, conventional one, and the centre section being modified to replace a prominent 'blister' gravity fuel tank, with one neatly built in. The DBW SE5 has a four-bladed propeller, though, which usually came with the later 200hp engine. This had a higher thrust line - because it drove the prop via a gearbox, not direct - which the DBW model does not have.
Either way, despite some mixed features, it's an early SE5, and ideal for the 1917 era.
The REALLY impressive thing was the airfield and its environs. Even in the half-light, I could see it was heavily populated with figures, vehicles and all the paraphernalia of a busy operational airfield.And all around, were the trappings of the French countryside, including a windmill and a small but impressive chateau. DBW 1916 has the most detailed and impressive airfields of any WW1 sim.
I'm not sure if there was ever an airfield called 'Albert' at the much-knocked-about French town, close to the lines, whose teetering church tower statue of the Virgin Mary was a local landmark in WW1. And if there was, its complement of aircraft would not have included a large four-engined bomber bearing a suspicious resemblance to the later Soviet TB-3 with an extra wing - one of those aptly-named 'Frankenplanes', as some enthusiasts dubbed them. But the airfield was a truly impressive spectacle, even in the poor light: just full of detail (tho I had to use the latest Nvidia driver's ability to set Vsynch to 'Adaptive (half refresh rate)' to avoid serious stutter around airfields).
Our two four-plane flights were drawn up in parallel, in line astern, with me at the rear of the right-hand flight. I tested my controls, fired up the engine and held the joystick hard back, which in this position acts as a brake. Soon I was roaring off into the lightening skies, past the parked biplane bomber 'Frankenplane' and after my flight-mates.
Into battle!
Our two flights climbed steadily for the Lines, leaving our airfield behind us. You can perhaps make out in the shot below the tethered baloon. I suppose we were just about close enough to the front for an observation balloon to be viable! The Somme map landscape was excellent; the preponderance of red-roofed, whitewashed buildings might have better suited the south of France but it is pretty impressive. It's a matter of taste but like the airfields, I'd rate the DBW 1916 Somme terrain as another area where this mod excels. It's ultimately a matter of taste, but overall, the DBW 1916 terrain is perhaps the best available in any WW1 sim or mod. RoF has better water effects but otherwise I think I like DBW-Somme best.
Below is the DBW 1916 SE5 cockpit, with those of other sims below again, for comparison. Adequate, perhaps, but while the control column looks about right, the layout otherwise does not appear particularly accurate - short of instruments and no sign of the breech end of the Vickers gun on the left, for example. Nicely textured, though. As far as the audio was concerned, the engine sound was a little quiet to my ears, inside and out, tho the revs did audibly pick up in a dive, a neat feature.
DBW 1916:
Rise of Fight:
First Eagles 2:
As we came up to the Lines, we encountered two other areas - besides the airfields and surrounding countryside - where DBW 1916 stands out from the other WW1 sims - the front, and the flak.
Over Flanders Fields has been the champ, in its more varied, more convincing and more active portrayal of the 'shelled area', the lines of opposing trenches which cut across NW France, Belgium and Holland. In that department, OFF now has some serious competition, from DBW 1916. The front lines ahead of us were alive with noise, shellbursts, fires and explosions; it was like looking down onto a scene from Danté's 'Inferno'. And the terrain itself was most convincing; there was no 'river of brown mud' with regular trench lines, but a much more varied, tangled and ultimately more convincing battlefield landscape, well up to the high standard set by OFF's front line. In the twilight, some of the shellburst effects looked like rather large lightbulbs being switched on and off; to my eyes, a little too white, a little too long-lasting. All in all, though, the spectacle was impressive, immersive and pretty convincing. Another big plus for DBW 1916.
We then experienced the other area where DBW 1916 excels - Archie, to use the RFC's dismissive jargon for anti-aircraft fire (based on the contemporary music hall refrain where a wife reins in her husband with the line 'Archibald! Certainly not!').
By now, we were on the leg of our patrol which took us south, down the Lines. Suddenly, the deeper rumble of the shellfire below was drowned out with a series of sharper bangs as the sky ahead of us came alive with the flashes of bursting anti-aircraft fire. In all the sims I have played, I have not so far come across a more convincing, visceral and downright scary portrayal of AA fire. I have even seen aircraft reel under the impact of close bursts. Brilliant!
I could see that Archie was not shooting at us, but at something up ahead. That 'something' was a flight of enemy scouts, which swept straight towards us, head on and still under AA fire. As they closed, the rapidly-diminishing space between the two sides was filled with glowing chains of tracer fire.
It was another impressive spectacle; the peaceful skies, one moment quiet and full of gentle pastel shades, had suddenly sprung into aggressive, violent life. The DBW '16 visuals did a great job of making the point that the joyride was over, and a life-or-death fight had begun.
The DBW 1916 SE5 seems quite handy and I whipped around after one of the Huns, who turned out to be a flight of Albatrosses. At this point, I failed to get padlock working, and tried to track my enemy with mouselook, instead.
I got in a few bursts but soon lost him in the general gloom and ground mist. The others, friend and foe alike, seemed to have gone for the deck fairly quickly, judging from the occasional bursts of tracer fire which I could see snaking about at low level.
Even though I was now apparently on my own, I was reluctant to lose altitude until I was quite sure that there were no more Huns up at my level. By the time I had decided that this was so, there was no sign even of the tracer fire. I banked around, then leveled out, wondering what to do next.
You can see from the cockpit shots that there are some issues with rendering, including the disconnected gunsight, 'loose ends' to some bracing wires, and the misplaced aileron. I've seem similar issues in the DBW 1916 Nieuport 28.
Anyway, there I was, but where was everyone else?
Whither away?
I banked around, looking for any sign of other aircraft. After a bit, I saw some more tracer fire, evidently an air fight resuming down below. In the murk I could not make out the planes involved, and by the time I got down there, it had all gone quiet again. In the air, at any rate.
I wheeled around a bit more. Finally, I saw more low-level tracer fire, further away this time, and again turned my nose in that direction.
Whatever it was, it was over well before I got there. I met two SEs from my squadron coming the other way, having evidently settled matters without my assistance. I turned in after them as they swept past, back onto our patrol route.
By this time, the Hun Archies were in full swing and the sky around us was soon flecked with noisy bursts of orange fire, which faded to black smoke and trailed away behind us. Some rounds burst quite close to me and although I seemed to escape damage, the effect was really quite scary, and I threw in some evasive action, just in case. Really, DBW 1916 brings AA fire to life in a way the other WW1 sims don't quite manage.
By this time, we had reached the southern limit of the leg down the Lines and the pair I was following turned onto the next leg, heading back into friendly territory. It was something of a relief to leave the ferocious AA fire behind, even if its bark was worse than its bite.
A glance at the inflight map confirmed that we were indeed homeward bound. Seemingly, the patrol was 'programmed' just to fly one big circuit, rather than, more realistically, flying a 'beat' in a given area for as long as our fuel loads permitted.
There was at least still some opportunity to practice my formation-flying. This I managed to do, rather better than I would have in Rise of flight; perhaps because the DBW 1916 SE5 is fairly well balanced, stable and steady, which I think she should be. For some reason, my companions climbed into some cloud, but I managed to come out the other side still in reasonably good position. 'Am I finally getting good at this, or what?' I asked myself, rhetorically. You can see that the other two aircraft carried the coloured noses, fuselage stripes and fins used, in 'Flight' colours, by the SE's of 60 Squadron for a time, before the RFC powers-that-be insisted that such unofficial and un-British markings were removed.
Home, sweet home!
En route back to our airfield close to the front, there was little to do except keep formation and admire the view. The light was improving but there was still a light mist around. DBW 1916 makes the most of the excellent IL-2 atmospheric effects.
Nearing the aerodrome, the other two SE's split left and right. At this point the usual IL-2 ground control radio chatter intruded; I thought I had that muted, so that's something I will need to do. I had already edited the config file so as not to display on-screen messages or warnings, from flying the parent sim in WW2.
Without further ado, I spiraled down to lose a bit of height, turned into a final approach, and settled down into a nice steady descent towards terra firma, well throttled back.
On 'short finals', I roundly cursed whoever had left that b***dy windmill standing right at the edge of the airfield, having realised, quite late on, that I was heading straight for its outstretched sails.
Having managed to avoid tilting at that particular windmill - which I am sure my virtual self would have been a long time living down, in the virtual Officer's Mess - I taxied right up to the canvas hangars, where you can see the quite extraordinary level of detail that goes into airfields in DBW 1916.
So concluded my first campaign mission in Dark Blue World 1916. Being new to the package, I was a bit lost during the air combat, like a tyro in his first sortie, all over again. The mod has some rough edges, to be sure; notably some rendering issues in cockpit views and those 'Frankenplanes'. And as yet, the only campaigns available seem to be themed mission sets. But it is still developing, and already, DBW 1916 has some really outstanding features, that rank with or above the best the others can offer. Definitely recommended.
Kudos to SAS~CirX, VPMedia and teams for bringing us Dark Blue World, a mod which first transformed single player IL-2, and has now added a very creditable WW1 capability to what is still one of the top-notch propsims you can play today.
To follow - another DBW 1916 mission in a different campaign.
Dark Blue World 1916
This is intended to be the first in a short series of mission reports, designed to showcase a new kid on the World War One airwar block - IL-2 Dark Blue World (DBW) 1916. This 'mod within a mod', as the title suggests, adds a 'Great War' experience to that long-running and still popular WW2 classic, IL-2. It's is not new, but it has been recently updated and expanded, to the point where it's now a serious contender for any WW1 flight sim enthusiast.
For anyone new to DBW 1916, I'll respectfully refer them to this post, in which I've attempted to describe how to get up-and-running with DBW and the latest version of DBW 1916:
http://combatace.com/topic/78684-a-nieuport-28-campaign-sim-by-sim/?p=631496
DBW 1916 started with mostly 'Frankenplanes', adaptions of some existing IL-2 types like the Po-2 biplane. These are still there, but they have now been joined by a considerable variety of authentic British, French and German aircraft, including not only favourites like the Camel, Fokker triplane and Nieuport 17, but also some less-often-seen types like the German Roland DII 'scout' and AEG CV two-seater, seen below:
I've purchased and flown pretty well every version of IL-2 since the original, but it's only with the advent of Dark Blue World that I've spent much time with the sim. DBW adds many planes, maps, better visuals and sounds, and most important to me, does a better job than previous (payware) addons in bringing the European Theatre of Operations to IL-2. So I was intrigued to read modder VPMedia's announcement on another site that the basic 1916 component that comes with DBW had been updated. So I gave it a try, and while DBW 1916 is still something of a diamond in the rough, I was most favourably impressed with the package in its current form.
Having so far played around with quick missions, I decided it was time to get serious - and fly a campaign! The single-player campaign is, to my mind, the heart of a good sim. There are now several campaigns available for DBW 1916, which you can find here:
http://www.sas1946.com/main/index.php/topic,34834.msg377269.html#msg377269
These campaigns are sets of linked missions, which you simply unzip into your IL-2 'Missions' folder - everything else you need to fly them, comes with the latest version of DBW 1916. Some of the mod's planes like the Camel (and even the inline-engined Albatros DIII!) have their engine power controlled by the magneto (via whatever key you assign in the 'setup' screen) rather than the throttle. You can search 'blip switch' at the aerodrome.com for a good description of how rotary engines did this. Perhaps because I have on-screen messages like power settings turned off in IL-2, I found this magneto power control hard to get the hang of. So I elected to fly a campaign in an aircraft which DBW 1916 gives a conventional throttle, the Royal Aircraft Factory SE5a. Of the two campaigns available for that aeroplane, I chose the Western front-based 'Code of Honour' campaign, in preference to the Palestine-based 'Angels of Armageddon'.
DBW 1916 includes very pleasing WW1-themed loading and menu screens. It also features, as menu music, recordings of songs from that era, including the iconic 'It's a Long Way to Tipperary'. To get the full effect, you might want to try humming or singing this to yourself, while studying the screenie below:
Campaign Preliminaries
'Code of Honour' assigns us to the Royal Flying Corps' famous 56 Squadron, formed in England in Spring 1917 to fly the new SE5, of which great things were expected, after the hammering the RFC had taken during 'Bloody April', when a hard price was paid for its successful support of the British Expeditionary Force in the Battle of Arras. The squadron included some experienced pilots, not least the great ace Albert Ball. Ball hated the SE5 at first, calling it 'a dud' and regarding it as inferior to the Nieuport types he was used to. In fact, when the squadron took the field in France, Ball was allowed to have a Nieuport for his solo patrols, flying the SE when operating with the rest of the squadron.
This DBW 1916 campaign starts - some months after 'Fifty-six' deployed to France - on 31 July 1917, at the beginning of the Third Battle of Ypres (pronounced 'Wipers' by the British 'Tommies'!), also known as the Battle of Passchendale. By this time, most pilots flying the type would have appreciated the SE5's virtues, although in 'Sagittarius Rising', CS Lewis, who served with Ball in 'fifty-six' from the start, recorded that 'unfortunately, it soon became clear that, good as the SE5 was, it was still not equal to the enemy. Scrapping at high altitudes, fifteen to eighteen thousand feet, the Huns had a marked superiority in performance'. Evidently, the SE really needed the extra 50hp it soon got, with the more powerful geared 'Hisso' and later, the ungeared British Wolseley Viper development of that famous Franco-Spanish-Swiss engine.
Back to the campaign! 'Code of Honour' uses a Somme map. This actually covers an area well to the south of the real-life 'Third Ypres' battlefield. By the time of that battle, the tide had begun to turn, thanks in part to the arrival of the SE5/SE5a, which had been joined, by then, by the RE8 and the equally-famous Sopwith Camel.
Our first mission was what would have been called, at the time, a Line Patrol - a flight up to and then along the trench lines. The main aim of such patrols was to destroy or drive off enemy two-seaters flying artillery observation or reconnaisance missions in our patrol area; and to protect our own two-seaters, who would be doing the same thing. We were flying in two flights of four each, with myself as number four in the right-hand flight. In 'normal' IL2 campaigns, you can get to lead a mission or flight by setting your starting rank high enough in the campaign setup screens. But in a campaign, like 'Code of Honour', which is actually composed of single missions, there's no such facility, I believe. So I could forget about leading a flight ,on this mission!
Here's the mission briefing, showing our area of operations. As you can see, this being a single mission, you can change quite a few mission parameters here. I left them alone, except that I used the 'arming' option to replace the default skin (actually one of the colourful schemes briefly used by 60 Squadron) with a skin for a machine flown by the legendary RFC ace JTB 'Jimmy' McCudden, which carried Fifty-six's early squadron marking, a broad white rear fuselage band. This skin, I believe, came with a series of skin packs which are already available for DBW 1916, which I had previously installed.
The mission begins
At last, it's time to fire up the mission, and see what the latest DBW 1916 and 'Code of Honour' SE5 campaign have in store for us!
The first thing you notice is the new loading screen. This looks like a couple of pages from a contemporary illustrated magazine. It's another neat touch, giving DBW 1916 a professional touch as well as adding a bit of atmosphere.
Now, to the flight line! I should perhaps have used the mission setup screen to roll the clock forward a tad, as it was still rather dark. Light enough, though, to get a good look at my mount and at our airfield.
You may be able to make out that the planes in my flight, ahead of me, carry the default 60 Squadron skin with distinctive white-edged blue markings, while the second flight, to my left, has the white converging lines that 56 Squadron used later on in the war. The broad white rear fuselage band of the skin I'd chosen was correct for the unit at the time of this campaign, I'm fairly certain.
As for the DBW 1916 SE5a, it's a decent representation. The interesting thing is that it's an early variant - a proper 1917 model, rather than the 1918 Wolseley Viper-engined models generally featured in other sims (tho OFF does have a version of this with some cosmetic modifications to resemble an earlier machine).
The main points of identification are the sharply-upswept underside to the nose, relatively shallow radiator and low thrust line/prop. These indicate the DBW 1916 SE is powered by the 150hp direct drive Hispano Suiza engine. This was fitted to the original SE5 - and to the first SE5a's. Apparently, the 'a' suffix does not, as commonly reported, denote the later 200hp engine, but the fitting of more squared wingtips. The DBW SE has quite raked wingtips, so it might actually be an original SE5, not the SE5a that it's billed as. The SE5 had the 150hp engine with upswept lower nose, and raked, not more squared, wingtips. It was modified before entering combat, most visibly by the original, unpopular 'greenhouse' windshield being removed and replaced with a much smaller, conventional one, and the centre section being modified to replace a prominent 'blister' gravity fuel tank, with one neatly built in. The DBW SE5 has a four-bladed propeller, though, which usually came with the later 200hp engine. This had a higher thrust line - because it drove the prop via a gearbox, not direct - which the DBW model does not have.
Either way, despite some mixed features, it's an early SE5, and ideal for the 1917 era.
The REALLY impressive thing was the airfield and its environs. Even in the half-light, I could see it was heavily populated with figures, vehicles and all the paraphernalia of a busy operational airfield.And all around, were the trappings of the French countryside, including a windmill and a small but impressive chateau. DBW 1916 has the most detailed and impressive airfields of any WW1 sim.
I'm not sure if there was ever an airfield called 'Albert' at the much-knocked-about French town, close to the lines, whose teetering church tower statue of the Virgin Mary was a local landmark in WW1. And if there was, its complement of aircraft would not have included a large four-engined bomber bearing a suspicious resemblance to the later Soviet TB-3 with an extra wing - one of those aptly-named 'Frankenplanes', as some enthusiasts dubbed them. But the airfield was a truly impressive spectacle, even in the poor light: just full of detail (tho I had to use the latest Nvidia driver's ability to set Vsynch to 'Adaptive (half refresh rate)' to avoid serious stutter around airfields).
Our two four-plane flights were drawn up in parallel, in line astern, with me at the rear of the right-hand flight. I tested my controls, fired up the engine and held the joystick hard back, which in this position acts as a brake. Soon I was roaring off into the lightening skies, past the parked biplane bomber 'Frankenplane' and after my flight-mates.
Into battle!
Our two flights climbed steadily for the Lines, leaving our airfield behind us. You can perhaps make out in the shot below the tethered baloon. I suppose we were just about close enough to the front for an observation balloon to be viable! The Somme map landscape was excellent; the preponderance of red-roofed, whitewashed buildings might have better suited the south of France but it is pretty impressive. It's a matter of taste but like the airfields, I'd rate the DBW 1916 Somme terrain as another area where this mod excels. It's ultimately a matter of taste, but overall, the DBW 1916 terrain is perhaps the best available in any WW1 sim or mod. RoF has better water effects but otherwise I think I like DBW-Somme best.
Below is the DBW 1916 SE5 cockpit, with those of other sims below again, for comparison. Adequate, perhaps, but while the control column looks about right, the layout otherwise does not appear particularly accurate - short of instruments and no sign of the breech end of the Vickers gun on the left, for example. Nicely textured, though. As far as the audio was concerned, the engine sound was a little quiet to my ears, inside and out, tho the revs did audibly pick up in a dive, a neat feature.
DBW 1916:
Rise of Fight:
First Eagles 2:
As we came up to the Lines, we encountered two other areas - besides the airfields and surrounding countryside - where DBW 1916 stands out from the other WW1 sims - the front, and the flak.
Over Flanders Fields has been the champ, in its more varied, more convincing and more active portrayal of the 'shelled area', the lines of opposing trenches which cut across NW France, Belgium and Holland. In that department, OFF now has some serious competition, from DBW 1916. The front lines ahead of us were alive with noise, shellbursts, fires and explosions; it was like looking down onto a scene from Danté's 'Inferno'. And the terrain itself was most convincing; there was no 'river of brown mud' with regular trench lines, but a much more varied, tangled and ultimately more convincing battlefield landscape, well up to the high standard set by OFF's front line. In the twilight, some of the shellburst effects looked like rather large lightbulbs being switched on and off; to my eyes, a little too white, a little too long-lasting. All in all, though, the spectacle was impressive, immersive and pretty convincing. Another big plus for DBW 1916.
We then experienced the other area where DBW 1916 excels - Archie, to use the RFC's dismissive jargon for anti-aircraft fire (based on the contemporary music hall refrain where a wife reins in her husband with the line 'Archibald! Certainly not!').
By now, we were on the leg of our patrol which took us south, down the Lines. Suddenly, the deeper rumble of the shellfire below was drowned out with a series of sharper bangs as the sky ahead of us came alive with the flashes of bursting anti-aircraft fire. In all the sims I have played, I have not so far come across a more convincing, visceral and downright scary portrayal of AA fire. I have even seen aircraft reel under the impact of close bursts. Brilliant!
I could see that Archie was not shooting at us, but at something up ahead. That 'something' was a flight of enemy scouts, which swept straight towards us, head on and still under AA fire. As they closed, the rapidly-diminishing space between the two sides was filled with glowing chains of tracer fire.
It was another impressive spectacle; the peaceful skies, one moment quiet and full of gentle pastel shades, had suddenly sprung into aggressive, violent life. The DBW '16 visuals did a great job of making the point that the joyride was over, and a life-or-death fight had begun.
The DBW 1916 SE5 seems quite handy and I whipped around after one of the Huns, who turned out to be a flight of Albatrosses. At this point, I failed to get padlock working, and tried to track my enemy with mouselook, instead.
I got in a few bursts but soon lost him in the general gloom and ground mist. The others, friend and foe alike, seemed to have gone for the deck fairly quickly, judging from the occasional bursts of tracer fire which I could see snaking about at low level.
Even though I was now apparently on my own, I was reluctant to lose altitude until I was quite sure that there were no more Huns up at my level. By the time I had decided that this was so, there was no sign even of the tracer fire. I banked around, then leveled out, wondering what to do next.
You can see from the cockpit shots that there are some issues with rendering, including the disconnected gunsight, 'loose ends' to some bracing wires, and the misplaced aileron. I've seem similar issues in the DBW 1916 Nieuport 28.
Anyway, there I was, but where was everyone else?
Whither away?
I banked around, looking for any sign of other aircraft. After a bit, I saw some more tracer fire, evidently an air fight resuming down below. In the murk I could not make out the planes involved, and by the time I got down there, it had all gone quiet again. In the air, at any rate.
I wheeled around a bit more. Finally, I saw more low-level tracer fire, further away this time, and again turned my nose in that direction.
Whatever it was, it was over well before I got there. I met two SEs from my squadron coming the other way, having evidently settled matters without my assistance. I turned in after them as they swept past, back onto our patrol route.
By this time, the Hun Archies were in full swing and the sky around us was soon flecked with noisy bursts of orange fire, which faded to black smoke and trailed away behind us. Some rounds burst quite close to me and although I seemed to escape damage, the effect was really quite scary, and I threw in some evasive action, just in case. Really, DBW 1916 brings AA fire to life in a way the other WW1 sims don't quite manage.
By this time, we had reached the southern limit of the leg down the Lines and the pair I was following turned onto the next leg, heading back into friendly territory. It was something of a relief to leave the ferocious AA fire behind, even if its bark was worse than its bite.
A glance at the inflight map confirmed that we were indeed homeward bound. Seemingly, the patrol was 'programmed' just to fly one big circuit, rather than, more realistically, flying a 'beat' in a given area for as long as our fuel loads permitted.
There was at least still some opportunity to practice my formation-flying. This I managed to do, rather better than I would have in Rise of flight; perhaps because the DBW 1916 SE5 is fairly well balanced, stable and steady, which I think she should be. For some reason, my companions climbed into some cloud, but I managed to come out the other side still in reasonably good position. 'Am I finally getting good at this, or what?' I asked myself, rhetorically. You can see that the other two aircraft carried the coloured noses, fuselage stripes and fins used, in 'Flight' colours, by the SE's of 60 Squadron for a time, before the RFC powers-that-be insisted that such unofficial and un-British markings were removed.
Home, sweet home!
En route back to our airfield close to the front, there was little to do except keep formation and admire the view. The light was improving but there was still a light mist around. DBW 1916 makes the most of the excellent IL-2 atmospheric effects.
Nearing the aerodrome, the other two SE's split left and right. At this point the usual IL-2 ground control radio chatter intruded; I thought I had that muted, so that's something I will need to do. I had already edited the config file so as not to display on-screen messages or warnings, from flying the parent sim in WW2.
Without further ado, I spiraled down to lose a bit of height, turned into a final approach, and settled down into a nice steady descent towards terra firma, well throttled back.
On 'short finals', I roundly cursed whoever had left that b***dy windmill standing right at the edge of the airfield, having realised, quite late on, that I was heading straight for its outstretched sails.
Having managed to avoid tilting at that particular windmill - which I am sure my virtual self would have been a long time living down, in the virtual Officer's Mess - I taxied right up to the canvas hangars, where you can see the quite extraordinary level of detail that goes into airfields in DBW 1916.
So concluded my first campaign mission in Dark Blue World 1916. Being new to the package, I was a bit lost during the air combat, like a tyro in his first sortie, all over again. The mod has some rough edges, to be sure; notably some rendering issues in cockpit views and those 'Frankenplanes'. And as yet, the only campaigns available seem to be themed mission sets. But it is still developing, and already, DBW 1916 has some really outstanding features, that rank with or above the best the others can offer. Definitely recommended.
Kudos to SAS~CirX, VPMedia and teams for bringing us Dark Blue World, a mod which first transformed single player IL-2, and has now added a very creditable WW1 capability to what is still one of the top-notch propsims you can play today.
To follow - another DBW 1916 mission in a different campaign.
DCS World DLC just went on massive sale
By JonathanRL,
http://store.steampowered.com/app/223750/
DCS Huey; 9 EUR DCS A-10 Warthhog; 11 EUR
DCS P-51 Mustang; 11 EUR
DCS Combined Arms; 8 EUR
DCS Black Shark 2; 11 EUR
DCS SU-25 Flaming Cliff 5 EUR DCS A-10 Flaming Cliff 5 EUR I just wish I could afford Combined Arms but this sale - lasting 47 hours from now - hit me at a very bad time.
DCS Huey; 9 EUR DCS A-10 Warthhog; 11 EUR
DCS P-51 Mustang; 11 EUR
DCS Combined Arms; 8 EUR
DCS Black Shark 2; 11 EUR
DCS SU-25 Flaming Cliff 5 EUR DCS A-10 Flaming Cliff 5 EUR I just wish I could afford Combined Arms but this sale - lasting 47 hours from now - hit me at a very bad time.
DCS: MI-8MTV2 Magnificent Eight Pre-Purchase and DCS Version 1.2.6 Now Available
By Dave,
DUXFORD, UK, September 4, 2013 – The Fighter Collection and Belsimtek now offer DCS: Mi-8MTV2 Magnificent Eight as a digital download pre-purchase for $49.99. Pre-purchase also provides access to early pre-release Beta versions of the title.
Pre-purchase DCS: Mi-8MTV2 Magnificent Eight here:
http://www.digitalcombatsimulator.co...r=shop&lang=en
DCS: Mi-8MTV2 Magnificent Eight is a highly realistic PC simulation of the Mi-8MTV2, a combat transport and fire support helicopter and an upgraded variant of one of the most widely produced helicopters in the world - the Russian Mi-8 (NATO reporting name ‘Hip’). Developed by Belsimtek and Eagle Dynamics, the team behind the hit title DCS: UH-1H Huey, DCS Mi-8MTV2 continues to deliver exceptional realism and immersive gameplay within the DCS World virtual battlefield.
The simulation features accurate modeling of all primary aircraft systems, avionics, and proper functionality of nearly all cockpit switches and controls. Flight and other dynamics are modeled using real-time physics calculations and carefully tuned using actual Mi-8MTV2 documentation and pilots deeply involved in development and testing. The result is not only the most realistic Mi-8 reproduction on the PC, but a comprehensive helicopter model that correctly presents complex dynamic effects particular to helicopter flight, such as: autorotation, vortex ring state (VRS), translational lift, hover in and out of ground effect, and many others.
You are placed in the cockpit of the Mi-8MTV2 to fly combat transport and support missions as the left pilot, right pilot or gunner. The helicopter can be armed with unguided rockets, gun pods, and on-board machine guns. In the transport role, a cargo of up to four tons can be carried internally or three tons on an external sling system to deliver and retrieve supplies in a wide variety of terrain and weather conditions. A series of single missions and a handcrafted, immersive campaign plunge you into the heat of battle in the DCS World battlefield of countless AI and a variety of player-controlled fighter and attack aircraft, helicopters, and ground units. Get online to play with or against other DCS players in a synthetic online battlefield.
A quickstart guide and interactive training help you get started quickly while the comprehensive Flight Manual details the helicopter’s systems and operational procedures. A wide variety of gameplay options allows each player to tailor their difficulty level as required.
Key Features of DCS: Mi-8MTV2 Magnificent Eight include: Unmatched flight physics providing the most realistic and dynamic conventional helicopter experience on the PC Multiple player positions, including pilot, co-pilot, flight engineer, and door gunner Accurate and highly detailed 3D cockpit featuring six-degrees-of-freedom technology compatible with head-tracking devices Interactive cockpit controls that allow you to operate systems using the mouse Accurate modeling of the Mi-8MTV2 instruments, weapons, engines, radios, fuel, electrical, and hydraulic systems Highly detailed Mi-8MTV2 external 3D model, liveries, and weapons Accurate audio environment based on custom Mi-8MTV2 sound samples Immersive, handcrafted campaign with a variety of transport and fire support missions Training with interactive and video lessons Multiplayer coop mode for crew members of the same helicopter under development for a later update Developed in close cooperation with actual Mi-8MTV2 operators
DCS version 1.2.6 Change Log
DCS World Added new anti-ship penetrating warhead for anti-ship missiles. Increased Max G for the following missiles: R-60 (from 18 to 42), MICA (from 18 to 24), and R-40 (from 8 to 15). R-27ET: Decreased rear hemisphere DLZ. R-73: Corrected mass and thrust. R-77: Corrected time, fuel flow and thrust. SA-8 Osa: Increased range at low altitude from 6 to 8 km. Corrected the lock on range of IR missiles. Added Australia as a new country choice. Renamed APA-50 to APA-5D. Fixed error with coalition.addGroup()function. Added a new 3D model for the B-8V20 rocket launcher. Fog of War: Aircraft will no longer be visible on F10 map once it leaves line of sight of enemy units. Added exhaust smoke to Kusnetsov aircraft carrier. Kills are now tracked in the Log Book for Campaigns. Engagement range of ground units has been adjusted. Su-25T bomb Interval and Quantity are now working correctly. Trigger GROUP DEATH will working with event ON DESTROY. Fixed several SAMs ignoring the set "Alarm State Green". Debriefing: Fixed event recording. This will also correct log book errors. MiG-23 will now attack the moving ground target with rockets. Many minor corrections in the game. Wingman will report leader about enemy radar activity. Multiplayer: Radio communications are now working. Multiplayer: Debriefing window in the mission is now disabled for clients. Multiplayer: Fixed several crashes. New ambient sound system (sea, shallow water, fields, wind, g-breath effect). Wind + turbulence sound depends on mission weather parameters. New wingtip vortices, new touchdown smoke. Flaming Cliffs 3 (A-10A: DCS Flaming Cliffs) A-10A: Removed AAQ-28 TGP. A-10A: Corrected standby compass showing wrong heading. A-10A: Added PAC. A-10A: HUD fixed pitch angle indicator jumping from -90 to +90, when standing still on the ground is fixed. A-10A: Simultaneous engine start now working. A-10A: Fixed AIM-9 air to air mode. A-10A: Removed glideslope indication on the HUD. A-10A: Fixed ADI yellow vertical bar. A-10A: AoA indicator, indexer and AoA sound corrected. A-10A: Fixed HSI outer needle. A-10A: Added Stability Augmentation System (SAS). Su-33: Corrected AoA indexer. MiG-29 and Su-27/33: The vertical scan will not lock target automatically. Instead, player must press and hold the ENTER button to lock the target. Added RShift modifier to Kneeboard next/previous page commands (conflicted with Ka-50 Shkval track gate size controls). Su-25T: Removed targe diamond on the HUD. F-15C: Fixed altitude hold when air to air refueling. AWACS: Decreased the answer pause between picture requests. Corrected some missions. ATC now available for the Kusnetsov aircraft carrier. DCS: A-10C Warthog The engines will start after repair. If PTR switch is set to STOW and back to ABLE the pitch steering bar may freeze is fixed. A-10C. SAS and EAC switches fixed. DCS: Combined Arms Fixed multiplayer crash when land groups are assigned a route. Added German CA Manual. Smoke markers for controlled ground units are limited with 10 smokes at each color. Input: Absent joystick commands restored. HUD: Added cues of masking for line of firing by vehicle elements. HUD: Added health points indicator. MP missions replaced to MP folder. DCS: Black Shark 2 Added RShift modifier to Kneeboard next/previous page commands (conflicted with Ka-50 Shkval track gate size controls). Lighting night vision cockpit switch modifier moved to LCtrl to prevent conflict with Kneeboard ON/OFF key. DCS: P-51D Mustang Fixed no UNSAFE warning light and horn when throttle retarded.
Pre-purchase DCS: Mi-8MTV2 Magnificent Eight here:
http://www.digitalcombatsimulator.co...r=shop&lang=en
DCS: Mi-8MTV2 Magnificent Eight is a highly realistic PC simulation of the Mi-8MTV2, a combat transport and fire support helicopter and an upgraded variant of one of the most widely produced helicopters in the world - the Russian Mi-8 (NATO reporting name ‘Hip’). Developed by Belsimtek and Eagle Dynamics, the team behind the hit title DCS: UH-1H Huey, DCS Mi-8MTV2 continues to deliver exceptional realism and immersive gameplay within the DCS World virtual battlefield.
The simulation features accurate modeling of all primary aircraft systems, avionics, and proper functionality of nearly all cockpit switches and controls. Flight and other dynamics are modeled using real-time physics calculations and carefully tuned using actual Mi-8MTV2 documentation and pilots deeply involved in development and testing. The result is not only the most realistic Mi-8 reproduction on the PC, but a comprehensive helicopter model that correctly presents complex dynamic effects particular to helicopter flight, such as: autorotation, vortex ring state (VRS), translational lift, hover in and out of ground effect, and many others.
You are placed in the cockpit of the Mi-8MTV2 to fly combat transport and support missions as the left pilot, right pilot or gunner. The helicopter can be armed with unguided rockets, gun pods, and on-board machine guns. In the transport role, a cargo of up to four tons can be carried internally or three tons on an external sling system to deliver and retrieve supplies in a wide variety of terrain and weather conditions. A series of single missions and a handcrafted, immersive campaign plunge you into the heat of battle in the DCS World battlefield of countless AI and a variety of player-controlled fighter and attack aircraft, helicopters, and ground units. Get online to play with or against other DCS players in a synthetic online battlefield.
A quickstart guide and interactive training help you get started quickly while the comprehensive Flight Manual details the helicopter’s systems and operational procedures. A wide variety of gameplay options allows each player to tailor their difficulty level as required.
Key Features of DCS: Mi-8MTV2 Magnificent Eight include: Unmatched flight physics providing the most realistic and dynamic conventional helicopter experience on the PC Multiple player positions, including pilot, co-pilot, flight engineer, and door gunner Accurate and highly detailed 3D cockpit featuring six-degrees-of-freedom technology compatible with head-tracking devices Interactive cockpit controls that allow you to operate systems using the mouse Accurate modeling of the Mi-8MTV2 instruments, weapons, engines, radios, fuel, electrical, and hydraulic systems Highly detailed Mi-8MTV2 external 3D model, liveries, and weapons Accurate audio environment based on custom Mi-8MTV2 sound samples Immersive, handcrafted campaign with a variety of transport and fire support missions Training with interactive and video lessons Multiplayer coop mode for crew members of the same helicopter under development for a later update Developed in close cooperation with actual Mi-8MTV2 operators
DCS version 1.2.6 Change Log
DCS World Added new anti-ship penetrating warhead for anti-ship missiles. Increased Max G for the following missiles: R-60 (from 18 to 42), MICA (from 18 to 24), and R-40 (from 8 to 15). R-27ET: Decreased rear hemisphere DLZ. R-73: Corrected mass and thrust. R-77: Corrected time, fuel flow and thrust. SA-8 Osa: Increased range at low altitude from 6 to 8 km. Corrected the lock on range of IR missiles. Added Australia as a new country choice. Renamed APA-50 to APA-5D. Fixed error with coalition.addGroup()function. Added a new 3D model for the B-8V20 rocket launcher. Fog of War: Aircraft will no longer be visible on F10 map once it leaves line of sight of enemy units. Added exhaust smoke to Kusnetsov aircraft carrier. Kills are now tracked in the Log Book for Campaigns. Engagement range of ground units has been adjusted. Su-25T bomb Interval and Quantity are now working correctly. Trigger GROUP DEATH will working with event ON DESTROY. Fixed several SAMs ignoring the set "Alarm State Green". Debriefing: Fixed event recording. This will also correct log book errors. MiG-23 will now attack the moving ground target with rockets. Many minor corrections in the game. Wingman will report leader about enemy radar activity. Multiplayer: Radio communications are now working. Multiplayer: Debriefing window in the mission is now disabled for clients. Multiplayer: Fixed several crashes. New ambient sound system (sea, shallow water, fields, wind, g-breath effect). Wind + turbulence sound depends on mission weather parameters. New wingtip vortices, new touchdown smoke. Flaming Cliffs 3 (A-10A: DCS Flaming Cliffs) A-10A: Removed AAQ-28 TGP. A-10A: Corrected standby compass showing wrong heading. A-10A: Added PAC. A-10A: HUD fixed pitch angle indicator jumping from -90 to +90, when standing still on the ground is fixed. A-10A: Simultaneous engine start now working. A-10A: Fixed AIM-9 air to air mode. A-10A: Removed glideslope indication on the HUD. A-10A: Fixed ADI yellow vertical bar. A-10A: AoA indicator, indexer and AoA sound corrected. A-10A: Fixed HSI outer needle. A-10A: Added Stability Augmentation System (SAS). Su-33: Corrected AoA indexer. MiG-29 and Su-27/33: The vertical scan will not lock target automatically. Instead, player must press and hold the ENTER button to lock the target. Added RShift modifier to Kneeboard next/previous page commands (conflicted with Ka-50 Shkval track gate size controls). Su-25T: Removed targe diamond on the HUD. F-15C: Fixed altitude hold when air to air refueling. AWACS: Decreased the answer pause between picture requests. Corrected some missions. ATC now available for the Kusnetsov aircraft carrier. DCS: A-10C Warthog The engines will start after repair. If PTR switch is set to STOW and back to ABLE the pitch steering bar may freeze is fixed. A-10C. SAS and EAC switches fixed. DCS: Combined Arms Fixed multiplayer crash when land groups are assigned a route. Added German CA Manual. Smoke markers for controlled ground units are limited with 10 smokes at each color. Input: Absent joystick commands restored. HUD: Added cues of masking for line of firing by vehicle elements. HUD: Added health points indicator. MP missions replaced to MP folder. DCS: Black Shark 2 Added RShift modifier to Kneeboard next/previous page commands (conflicted with Ka-50 Shkval track gate size controls). Lighting night vision cockpit switch modifier moved to LCtrl to prevent conflict with Kneeboard ON/OFF key. DCS: P-51D Mustang Fixed no UNSAFE warning light and horn when throttle retarded.
DCS WWII: Europe 1944
By Dave,
RRG Studios announces an upcoming Kickstarter campaign for DCS WWII: Europe 1944, a start of an exciting new flight simulation series.
MOSCOW, Russia – September 1, 2013 - Legendary flight simulation designers Ilya Shevchenko, Igor Tishin, and Matt Wagner are excited to announce an upcoming Kickstarter campaign for a new WWII flight simulation being developed for the PC. DCS WWII: Europe 1944 is the start of an exciting new flight simulation series. Built by industry veterans at RRG Studios with the same approach that made famous flight sims of the past great, and in partnership with the experts at the Fighter Collection and Eagle Dynamics, the simulation aims to satisfy seasoned aces as well as attract new pilots to the genre.
DCS WWII: Europe 1944 will take the player to the skies over Western Europe at the height of WWII in 1944. Players will attack enemy ground vehicles in the famous P-47 Thunderbolt in the Battle of Falaise, or intercept waves of B-17 Flying Fortresses in their Messerschmitt Bf.109; or attempt to fend off incredible new Me.262 jet fighters in their suddenly slow and obsolete propeller-driven Spitfires.
With successful Kickstarter funding of stretch goals, the project will include more famous historical aircraft, such as the Lockheed P-38, de Havilland Mosquito, Messerschmitt Me.262, and even a flyable version of the Boeing B-17.
The simulation is based on the award-winning DCS engine used in such stellar products as DCS: P-51D Mustang and DCS: A-10C Warthog. DCS WWII: Europe 1944 will boast an all-new EDGE landscape engine, as well as many new and updated features.
As all simulations in the DCS line, DCS WWII titles will boast detailed recreations of famous WWII aircraft and meticulous modeling of individual aircraft systems. Combat missions over a huge game world painstakingly recreated from period maps will offer rich single-player experience recreating famous battles from both sides.
DCS WWII will also ship with advanced AI that recreates historical tactics and models pilots of varying skill levels, from bumbling rookies to merciless aces. Other features such as the dynamic weather and seasons, comprehensive training, robust multiplayer , a powerful mission and campaign editor, as well as a mission replay system, pilot log book, and other features will all add up to incredible player experience.
“With unparalleled attention to detail, our developers have decades of experience with aerial combat simulations,” said Ilya Shevchenko of RRG Studios. “We are famous for our ability to make our games fun while maintaining unwavering dedication to historical realism. We can do it because the relatively simple aircraft of the WWII era do not require extensive training, and nimble controls and simple weapons naturally lead to fast-paced close-quarters battles.“
“We want to open a new page in WWII combat simulations,” said Matt Wagner of Eagle Dynamics. “At the same time we strive to recapture everything that made the flight simulations of the past great, starting with a thick spiral-bound manual and comprehensive training, and ending with great free-for-all multiplayer. We want to keep creating the content that we enjoy creating and that our fans enjoy playing for years to come.”
The team intends for DCS WWII: Europe 1944 to act as the forerunner of a long-running DCS WWII simulation series covering all theaters of WWII, and expanding into other nearby conflicts, such as the Korean War.
In addition to industry-leading attention to detail, incredible graphics, unparalleled flight dynamics, and award-winning multiplayer, DCS WWII: Europe 1944 will also shop with an innovative distribution model. As the last major release in the DCS line, DCS World, DCS WWII will also be distributed via a free-to-play model. The full-featured core game will be available as a free download, allowing anyone to check out the game and its features. Additional modules containing new aircraft or new gameplay areas will be available as a separate purchase.
The free-to-play model allows a wider audience access the core game by, in essence, offering a free demo that allows anyone to try the game before they buy it. At the same time, the model accurately reflects immense development costs attached to historically accurate study sims.
The Kickstarter campaign for the title will launch on September 5th.
About RRG Studios
RRG Studios brings over 10 years of experience with WWII flight simulations to the table. Staffed with flight sim veterans that worked on the greatest WWII flight sim series of the 21st century, we literally wrote the book on the new generation of flight sims.
About Eagle Dynamics
Eagle Dynamics is the studio responsible for the biggest modern aviation sims of the past twenty years. In-house experts have industry-best experience with physics, avionics, ballistics, and all other components that go into making a successful flight simulation. Eagle Dynamics continues to redefine the genre and continuously sets the bar high with each new release.
About the Fighter Collection
The Fighter Collection is the company that manages Eagle Dynamics. It is based in Cambridge, England, and it operates Europe’s largest fleet of airworthy WWII aircraft. The Fighter Collection runs the annual Flying Legends airshow, giving us unprecedented access to the aircraft we simulate.
MOSCOW, Russia – September 1, 2013 - Legendary flight simulation designers Ilya Shevchenko, Igor Tishin, and Matt Wagner are excited to announce an upcoming Kickstarter campaign for a new WWII flight simulation being developed for the PC. DCS WWII: Europe 1944 is the start of an exciting new flight simulation series. Built by industry veterans at RRG Studios with the same approach that made famous flight sims of the past great, and in partnership with the experts at the Fighter Collection and Eagle Dynamics, the simulation aims to satisfy seasoned aces as well as attract new pilots to the genre.
DCS WWII: Europe 1944 will take the player to the skies over Western Europe at the height of WWII in 1944. Players will attack enemy ground vehicles in the famous P-47 Thunderbolt in the Battle of Falaise, or intercept waves of B-17 Flying Fortresses in their Messerschmitt Bf.109; or attempt to fend off incredible new Me.262 jet fighters in their suddenly slow and obsolete propeller-driven Spitfires.
With successful Kickstarter funding of stretch goals, the project will include more famous historical aircraft, such as the Lockheed P-38, de Havilland Mosquito, Messerschmitt Me.262, and even a flyable version of the Boeing B-17.
The simulation is based on the award-winning DCS engine used in such stellar products as DCS: P-51D Mustang and DCS: A-10C Warthog. DCS WWII: Europe 1944 will boast an all-new EDGE landscape engine, as well as many new and updated features.
As all simulations in the DCS line, DCS WWII titles will boast detailed recreations of famous WWII aircraft and meticulous modeling of individual aircraft systems. Combat missions over a huge game world painstakingly recreated from period maps will offer rich single-player experience recreating famous battles from both sides.
DCS WWII will also ship with advanced AI that recreates historical tactics and models pilots of varying skill levels, from bumbling rookies to merciless aces. Other features such as the dynamic weather and seasons, comprehensive training, robust multiplayer , a powerful mission and campaign editor, as well as a mission replay system, pilot log book, and other features will all add up to incredible player experience.
“With unparalleled attention to detail, our developers have decades of experience with aerial combat simulations,” said Ilya Shevchenko of RRG Studios. “We are famous for our ability to make our games fun while maintaining unwavering dedication to historical realism. We can do it because the relatively simple aircraft of the WWII era do not require extensive training, and nimble controls and simple weapons naturally lead to fast-paced close-quarters battles.“
“We want to open a new page in WWII combat simulations,” said Matt Wagner of Eagle Dynamics. “At the same time we strive to recapture everything that made the flight simulations of the past great, starting with a thick spiral-bound manual and comprehensive training, and ending with great free-for-all multiplayer. We want to keep creating the content that we enjoy creating and that our fans enjoy playing for years to come.”
The team intends for DCS WWII: Europe 1944 to act as the forerunner of a long-running DCS WWII simulation series covering all theaters of WWII, and expanding into other nearby conflicts, such as the Korean War.
In addition to industry-leading attention to detail, incredible graphics, unparalleled flight dynamics, and award-winning multiplayer, DCS WWII: Europe 1944 will also shop with an innovative distribution model. As the last major release in the DCS line, DCS World, DCS WWII will also be distributed via a free-to-play model. The full-featured core game will be available as a free download, allowing anyone to check out the game and its features. Additional modules containing new aircraft or new gameplay areas will be available as a separate purchase.
The free-to-play model allows a wider audience access the core game by, in essence, offering a free demo that allows anyone to try the game before they buy it. At the same time, the model accurately reflects immense development costs attached to historically accurate study sims.
The Kickstarter campaign for the title will launch on September 5th.
About RRG Studios
RRG Studios brings over 10 years of experience with WWII flight simulations to the table. Staffed with flight sim veterans that worked on the greatest WWII flight sim series of the 21st century, we literally wrote the book on the new generation of flight sims.
About Eagle Dynamics
Eagle Dynamics is the studio responsible for the biggest modern aviation sims of the past twenty years. In-house experts have industry-best experience with physics, avionics, ballistics, and all other components that go into making a successful flight simulation. Eagle Dynamics continues to redefine the genre and continuously sets the bar high with each new release.
About the Fighter Collection
The Fighter Collection is the company that manages Eagle Dynamics. It is based in Cambridge, England, and it operates Europe’s largest fleet of airworthy WWII aircraft. The Fighter Collection runs the annual Flying Legends airshow, giving us unprecedented access to the aircraft we simulate.
Nemeth Designs - Mil Mi-24V for FSX
By Dave,
The Mi-24 (NATO designation Hind) is one of the most widely-known assault helicopter gunships in the world, and remains in service with at least 50 air arms.
The Mi-24 was developed from the Mi-8 multirole transport helicopter and was first flown in V-24 prototype form in 1969. The definitive initial production variant was the Mi-24D Hind-D. This introduced heavily-armored, stepped cockpits ant an under nose gun turret. This gunship has a crew of three and can carry up to 8 fully-equipped troops.
The Mi-24V type, (NATO code HIND-E), is the advanced version that came from the Mi-24D type. The major change is in the use of a STURM-V device, which is the modern and more efficient navigation system, and the use of 9M 114 (AT-6 SPIRAL) anti-tank guided missiles, which are fired from two cylinder containers mounted at each wing tips. It's capable of 310km/h in high-speed cruise, 750 km maximum flight distance and 12,500 kg maximum takeoff weight.
This addon represents the "Mi-24V Hind F" variant.
Features:
Two variants with 2-2 repaints for each.
Detailed exterior and interior models
Custom dirt and rain windshield effects
Hundreds of custom animations on the exterior and interior models
Night cockpit lighting
Fully clickable dynamic virtual cockpit
3D animated instruments
Based on original blueprints, documentations
PDF manual
This addon requires Acceleration Expansion Pack for FSX pre-installed to run properly.
You can but the add-on for $35.49 from Nemeth Designs at the link below.
http://www.nemethdesigns.com/payware/57-mil-mi-24v-hind-fsx.html#idTab1
-
NEW TOPICS
-
-
-
Gallery Highlights
-
0 -
1
-
