.thumb.JPG.a21d9a8016d0bc85ec39429557dbf267.JPG)
LATEST NEWS
- 0 replies
- 1,142 views
- Add Reply
- 0 replies
- 1,047 views
- Add Reply
- 13 replies
- 2,245 views
- Add Reply
- 1 reply
- 1,398 views
- Add Reply
- 0 replies
- 2,272 views
- Add Reply
- 0 replies
- 957 views
- Add Reply
Il2 Update 5.002 released "Many fixes and added features"
By 76.IAP-Blackbird,
Update 5.002
Dear Friends, The huge update 5.002 was just released - it contains both new content and a lot of improvements for all released modules at once. The heavy British infantry tank Churchill IV is released - it is already available in the game for everyone who has purchased it. The tank represents a Lend-Lease program vehicle on the Eastern Front. There is a thorough description of it in the Dev Blog #328 - we recommend you to take a look since there are many interesting features. The update contains really important improvements for ALL aircraft of our projects — now you can customize their tactical numbers. The style of tactical numbers for each aircraft corresponds to the average historical practice: in reality, the numbers were applied with huge differences even on the same model of aircraft, however, the style we have chosen reconstructs historical prototypes well. Unique "fonts" have been created for each country, and the user can choose not only a symbol, but also its color. The available selection depends on the aircraft model according to historical data. In addition to being customizable by the player, in the Quick Mission, Advanced Quick Mission, and Pilot's Career modes the AI-controlled aircraft also have correct tactical numbers. In addition, the technology of dynamic visual damage (DVD) is now applied to ALL aircraft in our project. Essentially it makes the impact marks appear exactly where they should, not just in a general area like part of the wing. You are already familiar with it - earlier it was working on tanks, Flying Circus Vol.2 aircraft and some Battle of Normandy aircraft. Now the new system is used everywhere. It should be noted that since the position of these dynamic marks must be transmitted in a network game, an optimization was in order to avoid a decrease in the performance of the network module: in a multiplayer game, only hit marks from bigger rounds are displayed, bullet hits aren’t due to their number. In single player mode hit marks from all calibers are present. In the version 5.002 ALL aircraft also received a completely new visualization of the rotating propeller. Its appearance is now based on the physical principles and the image is matched to how it looks on video recordings, taking in account interference and strobe effects. The 3/4 view of the propeller corresponds to the direction of its rotation, forming a "crescent" pattern according to how the blades are facing the observer at each place of the propeller disk. The side view at the propeller depends on the propeller pitch. When viewed from the front, there is an effect of scratches flickering in the sun. In addition, the blurred propeller texture changes according to the paint scheme. A long-standing problem related to the excessive visibility of aircraft navigation and formation lights was also resolved. On all aircraft, the visibility of such lights is reduced to a common denominator and in accordance with historical data. There are well over 60 improvements and fixes waiting for you in this update. For instance, three new cargo ships were added for the Battle of Normandy. The full list of changes can be found below. Take a look at the last item on the list - the story of how it made it into the update is very interesting. After the release of Normandy, a gentleman who saw our trailer on YouTube recognized his father’s Typhoon by its tactical number (!), and wrote about it in the comments. He offered to provide more information and send photos. Of course, we updated the information (it is in the description of the paint scheme ‘Collins’), and we have found an excellent use for one photo. As you know, in our sim you can place a photo in the cockpit of aircraft and tanks - by default it is a woman corresponding to the era and country, but the player can replace it with an image of their own loved ones or even put some notes there. Now the Typhoon by default will have the real photo of the wife and child of the 245th squadron leader Jack Collins, who has been killed in action over Normandy - exactly the photo that he would have placed himself in the cockpit of his aircraft in 1944. This is a kind of a digital monument, a tribute to the memory of the pilot and his family. We want to extend this practice to other aircraft and tanks in our simulator - if you happen to know relatives of a pilot or tank crew member who fought in one of them, and they still have wartime photographs showing his family, please tell them to contact us at pr@1cgs.net. 5.002 Main Features Player-controllable detailed tank Churchill IV is now available to its customers; All Great Battles aircraft have new rotating propellers visualization tech; All Great Battles aircraft now use user-defined tactical numbers. The tactical number format for each aircraft reasonably corresponds to historical prototypes and varies by country. The font of numbers for each country is different and was chosen as the most commonly used from a historical and technical point of view. Additional paint schemes that are compatible with customizable tactical numbers are added; All Great Battles aircraft have the new tech of navigation and formation lights visualization, their visibility range became more realistic; All Great Battles aircraft use the DVD (dynamic visual damage) technology that was previously applied for tanks - the impact marks from bullets and shells are placed in the impact location (not just in a general area like part of the wing). The size and appearance of the marks is consistent with the type and caliber of the projectile, as well as the material of the skin at the point of impact; Bayfield-class assault transport ship added; Liberty cargo ship added; 12,000 ton cargo ship Design 1013 added; Normandy Map Improvements River borders in some French port cities corrected; Rivers near railway bridges and landmarks corrected; Churches in some areas were replaced with more historically suitable models; Coastal cliffs positions corrected; Many railway bridges were replaced with ones more suitable for specific locations; Mulberry A and Mulberry B port plans corrected; Windmills, water towers and production workshops positions corrected throughout the map; Some leftover trees removed from airfields; Several French port layouts corrected according to the new historical data; Fixed a problem with fortification objects partially hanging in the air; Fixed a problem with houses, barracks and production shops partially hanging in the air; Road network refined on the entire map; Manston airfield texturing adjusted; Miscellaneous Changes A-20 cockpit canopy reflections adjusted when viewed from the outside; Bf 109 spinners won’t visibly “turn 180°” when viewed from a distance; Red underwing smoke generator works correctly on SPAD XIII; Colliding with certain houses won’t cause tanks and other ground vehicles to be pushed in the air; Player controllable detailed tanks won’t stuck on the ruins of some houses; Rotating a ground object view camera won’t cause it to freeze or jump to the coordinate root in certain situations; MLRS won’t sometimes ‘creep forward’ when firing; Fixed an issue with the wingmen progressively falling behind in altitude when flying in a formation when the leader is climbing; The V-1 cruise missile autopilot ability to recover from a push has been reduced, making it easier to knock off course; V-1 engine flame effect looks correct from a distance; IL-2 airframe sturdiness has been corrected (now its tail is more resistant to damage); In Quick Missions where you control an AA gun the skins of target aircraft are set in accordance with the side, season and theater; Career: fixed an issue where the flight leader could taxi back to the last taxiing point on the runway before starting the takeoff; Career: fixed an issue that caused an empty bridgehead cover mission generation when choosing to start in the air; Normandy Career and AQM: a car on the runway and a parked plane near the control tower on the Thorney Island airfield were removed; Normandy Career and AQM: signal fires were removed from the airfield A1 Saint-Pierre-du-Mont taxiways; Normandy Career and AQM: static aircraft were removed from the edge of the runway on the Plumelot airfield; Normandy Career: now your character can be captured when landing or bailing out over enemy territory; Mission Editor: fixed an issue where changing the model of a detailed building in a mission could make it indestructible and generate script errors; Mission Editor: fixed the assignment of an object script for detailed buildings after changing the building model via the Properties > Model dialog; Mission Editor: Properties > Model dialog for Artillery, Buildings, Blocks, Blocks Detail and Firing Point object types now contains only the objects of the corresponding type; Mission Editor: the ability to link the objects in different groups has been restored due to a popular demand; Mission Editor: logical objects were removed from the Normandy map templates (this caused a large number of error messages during mission integrity checks, but did not affect the game functioning in any way); Mission Editor: the “/” symbol in the path to the object skin will be read correctly; Historically correct single-barreled 40-mm Bofors guns and the rangefinder post are added to the LST landing ships; Now the amount of time an AI aircraft can spend in a negative G maneuver is limited; Camouflage colors of the Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.G tank and the Flakpanzer IV Mobelwagen self-propelled anti-aircraft gun were fixed; A disabled detailed tank won’t incorrectly remain a group leader (previously damage to the vehicle could be incorrectly taken into account); AI wingmen execute commands "Attack air targets", "Attack ground targets" and "Attack air and ground targets" better; AI pilots engage brakes on the runway when waiting for the takeoff; Ar 234B2 drag parachutes and the SB 1000/410 bomb look correctly from a distance; Improved display of translucency of camouflage nets at a distance; Fixed graphical bugs in wagon models, due to which some of their parts began to “glow” in the dark in distant views; Fixed a graphical bug in the airfield barracks model (arf_eu_barrackblack) that caused a destroyed building to look like an intact one at a medium middle distance; Fixed display of balloon cables in multiplayer; Fixed an issue with the visual disappearance of the ammo belt and a false message about reloading when correcting a misfire in a bow (forward firing) machine gun on German tanks; The M2 commander's machine gun on the M4A2 tank can overheat and misfire; In multiplayer Dogfight mode a mismatch of tactical codes has been fixed; Fixed a game crash that could occur when a detailed SPG is following Attack Area - Attack Ground order; P-51B-5 some parts of the landing gear won’t "glow"; The size of HE shell DVD hit marks on thin metal and non-metal was increased by 3 times; The M8 Greyhound and Morris C9B combat vehicles have been temporarily removed for revision; Fixed a game crash for a guest commander when the owner of the tank exited the mission and there was an active order to move or attack; Fixed switching to the visor view when the tank is below a certain height above sea level; Last but not the least: the default photo in the Typhoon cockpit has been replaced with a real photo provided by the family of the 245th squadron leader, Jack Collins, who was killed in action over Normandy.
Have fun!!! :)
Dear Friends, The huge update 5.002 was just released - it contains both new content and a lot of improvements for all released modules at once. The heavy British infantry tank Churchill IV is released - it is already available in the game for everyone who has purchased it. The tank represents a Lend-Lease program vehicle on the Eastern Front. There is a thorough description of it in the Dev Blog #328 - we recommend you to take a look since there are many interesting features. The update contains really important improvements for ALL aircraft of our projects — now you can customize their tactical numbers. The style of tactical numbers for each aircraft corresponds to the average historical practice: in reality, the numbers were applied with huge differences even on the same model of aircraft, however, the style we have chosen reconstructs historical prototypes well. Unique "fonts" have been created for each country, and the user can choose not only a symbol, but also its color. The available selection depends on the aircraft model according to historical data. In addition to being customizable by the player, in the Quick Mission, Advanced Quick Mission, and Pilot's Career modes the AI-controlled aircraft also have correct tactical numbers. In addition, the technology of dynamic visual damage (DVD) is now applied to ALL aircraft in our project. Essentially it makes the impact marks appear exactly where they should, not just in a general area like part of the wing. You are already familiar with it - earlier it was working on tanks, Flying Circus Vol.2 aircraft and some Battle of Normandy aircraft. Now the new system is used everywhere. It should be noted that since the position of these dynamic marks must be transmitted in a network game, an optimization was in order to avoid a decrease in the performance of the network module: in a multiplayer game, only hit marks from bigger rounds are displayed, bullet hits aren’t due to their number. In single player mode hit marks from all calibers are present. In the version 5.002 ALL aircraft also received a completely new visualization of the rotating propeller. Its appearance is now based on the physical principles and the image is matched to how it looks on video recordings, taking in account interference and strobe effects. The 3/4 view of the propeller corresponds to the direction of its rotation, forming a "crescent" pattern according to how the blades are facing the observer at each place of the propeller disk. The side view at the propeller depends on the propeller pitch. When viewed from the front, there is an effect of scratches flickering in the sun. In addition, the blurred propeller texture changes according to the paint scheme. A long-standing problem related to the excessive visibility of aircraft navigation and formation lights was also resolved. On all aircraft, the visibility of such lights is reduced to a common denominator and in accordance with historical data. There are well over 60 improvements and fixes waiting for you in this update. For instance, three new cargo ships were added for the Battle of Normandy. The full list of changes can be found below. Take a look at the last item on the list - the story of how it made it into the update is very interesting. After the release of Normandy, a gentleman who saw our trailer on YouTube recognized his father’s Typhoon by its tactical number (!), and wrote about it in the comments. He offered to provide more information and send photos. Of course, we updated the information (it is in the description of the paint scheme ‘Collins’), and we have found an excellent use for one photo. As you know, in our sim you can place a photo in the cockpit of aircraft and tanks - by default it is a woman corresponding to the era and country, but the player can replace it with an image of their own loved ones or even put some notes there. Now the Typhoon by default will have the real photo of the wife and child of the 245th squadron leader Jack Collins, who has been killed in action over Normandy - exactly the photo that he would have placed himself in the cockpit of his aircraft in 1944. This is a kind of a digital monument, a tribute to the memory of the pilot and his family. We want to extend this practice to other aircraft and tanks in our simulator - if you happen to know relatives of a pilot or tank crew member who fought in one of them, and they still have wartime photographs showing his family, please tell them to contact us at pr@1cgs.net. 5.002 Main Features Player-controllable detailed tank Churchill IV is now available to its customers; All Great Battles aircraft have new rotating propellers visualization tech; All Great Battles aircraft now use user-defined tactical numbers. The tactical number format for each aircraft reasonably corresponds to historical prototypes and varies by country. The font of numbers for each country is different and was chosen as the most commonly used from a historical and technical point of view. Additional paint schemes that are compatible with customizable tactical numbers are added; All Great Battles aircraft have the new tech of navigation and formation lights visualization, their visibility range became more realistic; All Great Battles aircraft use the DVD (dynamic visual damage) technology that was previously applied for tanks - the impact marks from bullets and shells are placed in the impact location (not just in a general area like part of the wing). The size and appearance of the marks is consistent with the type and caliber of the projectile, as well as the material of the skin at the point of impact; Bayfield-class assault transport ship added; Liberty cargo ship added; 12,000 ton cargo ship Design 1013 added; Normandy Map Improvements River borders in some French port cities corrected; Rivers near railway bridges and landmarks corrected; Churches in some areas were replaced with more historically suitable models; Coastal cliffs positions corrected; Many railway bridges were replaced with ones more suitable for specific locations; Mulberry A and Mulberry B port plans corrected; Windmills, water towers and production workshops positions corrected throughout the map; Some leftover trees removed from airfields; Several French port layouts corrected according to the new historical data; Fixed a problem with fortification objects partially hanging in the air; Fixed a problem with houses, barracks and production shops partially hanging in the air; Road network refined on the entire map; Manston airfield texturing adjusted; Miscellaneous Changes A-20 cockpit canopy reflections adjusted when viewed from the outside; Bf 109 spinners won’t visibly “turn 180°” when viewed from a distance; Red underwing smoke generator works correctly on SPAD XIII; Colliding with certain houses won’t cause tanks and other ground vehicles to be pushed in the air; Player controllable detailed tanks won’t stuck on the ruins of some houses; Rotating a ground object view camera won’t cause it to freeze or jump to the coordinate root in certain situations; MLRS won’t sometimes ‘creep forward’ when firing; Fixed an issue with the wingmen progressively falling behind in altitude when flying in a formation when the leader is climbing; The V-1 cruise missile autopilot ability to recover from a push has been reduced, making it easier to knock off course; V-1 engine flame effect looks correct from a distance; IL-2 airframe sturdiness has been corrected (now its tail is more resistant to damage); In Quick Missions where you control an AA gun the skins of target aircraft are set in accordance with the side, season and theater; Career: fixed an issue where the flight leader could taxi back to the last taxiing point on the runway before starting the takeoff; Career: fixed an issue that caused an empty bridgehead cover mission generation when choosing to start in the air; Normandy Career and AQM: a car on the runway and a parked plane near the control tower on the Thorney Island airfield were removed; Normandy Career and AQM: signal fires were removed from the airfield A1 Saint-Pierre-du-Mont taxiways; Normandy Career and AQM: static aircraft were removed from the edge of the runway on the Plumelot airfield; Normandy Career: now your character can be captured when landing or bailing out over enemy territory; Mission Editor: fixed an issue where changing the model of a detailed building in a mission could make it indestructible and generate script errors; Mission Editor: fixed the assignment of an object script for detailed buildings after changing the building model via the Properties > Model dialog; Mission Editor: Properties > Model dialog for Artillery, Buildings, Blocks, Blocks Detail and Firing Point object types now contains only the objects of the corresponding type; Mission Editor: the ability to link the objects in different groups has been restored due to a popular demand; Mission Editor: logical objects were removed from the Normandy map templates (this caused a large number of error messages during mission integrity checks, but did not affect the game functioning in any way); Mission Editor: the “/” symbol in the path to the object skin will be read correctly; Historically correct single-barreled 40-mm Bofors guns and the rangefinder post are added to the LST landing ships; Now the amount of time an AI aircraft can spend in a negative G maneuver is limited; Camouflage colors of the Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.G tank and the Flakpanzer IV Mobelwagen self-propelled anti-aircraft gun were fixed; A disabled detailed tank won’t incorrectly remain a group leader (previously damage to the vehicle could be incorrectly taken into account); AI wingmen execute commands "Attack air targets", "Attack ground targets" and "Attack air and ground targets" better; AI pilots engage brakes on the runway when waiting for the takeoff; Ar 234B2 drag parachutes and the SB 1000/410 bomb look correctly from a distance; Improved display of translucency of camouflage nets at a distance; Fixed graphical bugs in wagon models, due to which some of their parts began to “glow” in the dark in distant views; Fixed a graphical bug in the airfield barracks model (arf_eu_barrackblack) that caused a destroyed building to look like an intact one at a medium middle distance; Fixed display of balloon cables in multiplayer; Fixed an issue with the visual disappearance of the ammo belt and a false message about reloading when correcting a misfire in a bow (forward firing) machine gun on German tanks; The M2 commander's machine gun on the M4A2 tank can overheat and misfire; In multiplayer Dogfight mode a mismatch of tactical codes has been fixed; Fixed a game crash that could occur when a detailed SPG is following Attack Area - Attack Ground order; P-51B-5 some parts of the landing gear won’t "glow"; The size of HE shell DVD hit marks on thin metal and non-metal was increased by 3 times; The M8 Greyhound and Morris C9B combat vehicles have been temporarily removed for revision; Fixed a game crash for a guest commander when the owner of the tank exited the mission and there was an active order to move or attack; Fixed switching to the visor view when the tank is below a certain height above sea level; Last but not the least: the default photo in the Typhoon cockpit has been replaced with a real photo provided by the family of the 245th squadron leader, Jack Collins, who was killed in action over Normandy.
Have fun!!! :)
WINGS OVER THE REICH - BATTLE OF FRANCE NEWS
By Polovski,
October 4, 2022.
Hi all,
We have posted more info and pictures on the website news section, for the recently announced BATTLE OF FRANCE Expansion coming soon to WINGS OVER THE REICH!
Please check it out here !
When Thunder Rolled: End of Summer Update
By MigBuster,
You can contribute to the discussion in this forum https://combatace.com/forums/forum/342-wtr-general-discussion/
Falcon BMS 4.36 U3 released
By MigBuster,
The latest iteration of the Tommo Inc Falcon 4.0 total conversion modification - Benchmark Sims 4.36 U3 - is available for you to enjoy RIGHT NOW!
BMS 4.36 U3 requires a legit installation of a Falcon 4.0 (all older and newer versions are accepted alike, i.e. Microprose, Hasbro, GOG, Steam, Retroism). The check is performed both at setup time and every time you start BMS. If no valid installation is found, BMS will exit with a corresponding error message.
U3 is an incremental update on top of 4.36 base + U1 + U2, so you need to have the BMS 4.36 Full Installer package and Update 1 and Update 2 available on your PC. You can both update your existing 4.36 base + U1 +U2 installation as well as perform a fresh 4.36 base + U1 + U2 + U3 installation from scratch, as you like. See the installation instructions below for details.
This mod may not be used for any commercial purposes. Any such use may constitute a violation of the intellectual property of Tommo Inc and the non-commercial Terms and Conditions under which Benchmark Sims make this mod available to you.
Installation instructions (they will be shown as well once you run the U3 installer):
DESTINATION FOLDER: Update 3 must be targeted at the original Falcon BMS 4.36 Setup folder, NOT at your Falcon BMS installation location! After the update installer has been finished, it will run the Falcon BMS Setup program to either apply the update to an existing BMS 4.36 base + U1 + U2 installation (choose ‘Manage product updates’), or perform a fresh 4.36 base + U1 + U2 + U3 installation from scratch.
Please refer to: WIKI Installation page to see how to proceed with BMS update.
Battle of Normandy "RELEASED"
By 76.IAP-Blackbird,
Dear Friends,
Today is a big day. IL-2 Sturmovik team is glad to report that after almost three years of development Battle of Normandy is out of Early Access and is officially released - 5.001 update is out!
«You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you.» Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower.
The official release also means that in addition to Battle of Normandy Premium Edition in our webstore there’s now Standard Edition without two Collector Planes - German jet bomber Arado Ar 234 and British fighter Spitfire Mk.XIV (they can be bought individually). On Steam the new module and its accompanying Collector Planes will appear in the coming weeks - please stay tuned while we work out the details. As usual, Battle of Normandy owners who have linked IL-2 and Steam accounts can access all the new content in the Steam version already.
These years weren’t easy, but they were very interesting. During the development we have created many new technologies and approaches, did a lot of historical research, implemented new solutions. The last aircraft for Battle of Normandy were released in Early Access in August and today we add the last pieces - the map of the Northern France and Southern England, Pilot Career mode, Quick Mission Builder and Advanced Quick Mission Generator support for the new map.
We have told about the Career mode and the new map in our recent Dev Blogs, but must point out again that they set the new record in terms of the work involved. New mission types, new airfield types, new airfields appearing on the map after D-Day - bringing their total amount to 100 airfields with historically accurate layouts! New objects created specially for the module - ships, ground vehicles, buildings, coastal defenses, V-1 buzzbombs and their launch positions, dozens of new aircraft paint schemes, etc.
Battle of Normandy contains 10 player controllable aircraft (8 in the Standard Edition):
- Hawker Typhoon Mk.Ib – British fighter/bomber,
- North American P-51B-5 Mustang – American long range fighter,
- Republic P-47D-22 Thunderbolt – American fighter/bomber,
- Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 Late – late version of the German fighter,
- Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-6 Würger - German fighter,
- De Havilland Mosquito F.B. Mk.VI ser.2 – British twin engine fighter-bomber,
- Messerschmitt Me 410 A-1 Hornisse – German twin engine fighter-bomber,
- Junkers Ju 88 C-6 – German twin engine heavy fighter,
- Supermarine Spitfire Mk.XIV – British fighter (Collector Plane included in the Premium Edition),
- Arado Ar 234 B-2 Blitz – German twin engine jet bomber and recon aircraft (Collector Plane included in the Premium Edition).
Each aircraft includes a slew of historically correct modifications - unlike other games where each modification would be counted as a separate aircraft model, in Great Battles you can freely select and combine them. For instance, Me-410 A-1 mentioned above has modifications that, when selected, make it a whole model lineup:
1. Me-410 A-1/U2,
2. Me-410 A-1/U4,
3. Me-410 B,
4. Me-410 B-2,
5. Me-410 B-2/U1,
6. Me-410 B-2/U2,
7. Me-410 B-2/U4,
8. Me-410 B-2/U4 field mod with four MG 151 guns.
In addition to the all above, update 5.001 contains the results of the big work on the damage model improvements which are of course are applicable to all the modules as usual - as you can see in the long list below, it required many changes in various parts of the sim. The testing and tuning of these changes by beta-testers from the community took a lot of time. We think this is the big step forward for Great Battles series and hope you’ll enjoy it.
There are many other fixes and improvements - for instance, the mission loading time has been reduced dramatically, several times less on some PC configurations! The pilot and tank crew AI got better, etc.:
Main Features
1. All Battle of Normandy owners have access to Northern France and Southern England map in two variations (before and after the D-Day). As usual, in multiplayer mode the map can be accessed by all Great Battles players.
2. All Battle of Normandy owners have access to the mid-1944 Career mode (3 countries, 5 phases, 17 frontline states, 225 historical squadrons, 103 of them joinable by the player, many new mission types).
3. All Battle of Normandy owners have access to QMB and AQMG game modes on the new map for a quick action, also with many new mission types.
4. Numerous new aircraft paint schemes added, including different invasion stripes for various time periods of 1944.
5. PzKpfw IV Ausf.H. tank added (AI controlled).
6. Flakpanzer IV «Möbelwagen» SPAA added (AI controlled).
7. Gleaves-class destroyer added (AI controlled).
8. The loading speed of all missions on all Great Battles maps has been improved significantly.
Damage Model Improvements
9. Aircraft DM: RHA equivalent of the aircraft skin has been reduced nearly three times to the previous (wrong) values.
10. Aircraft DM: an issue that made aircraft skin damage too severe for larger bombers and some fighters has been fixed.
11. Aircraft DM: like the previously released change for larger caliber ammo, now all projectiles in the game loose integrity and stability after penetrating a significant armor thickness which affects their remaining ability to penetrate armor.
12. Aircraft DM: the relative speed of the target is correctly accounted for projectile penetrations calculations.
13. Aircraft DM: AP bullets and shells make slightly bigger holes in the airframe and aircraft skin.
14. Aircraft DM: powerful HE rounds explosions cause more damage to the airframe, aircraft skin and components.
15. Aircraft DM: small HE bullets cause less damage to aircraft skin.
16. Aircraft DM: it is now possible to damage radiators and fuel tanks when firing 7.62-7.92 rounds from more than 350 m distance.
17. Aircraft DM: bullets are less likely to ricochet from aircraft skin at low angles.
18. Aircraft DM: Bf 109 radiator collision model has been improved (previously its wrong shape could cause most smaller caliber bullets to ricochet when fired directly from behind).
19. Aircraft DM: the loss of the bullets energy hitting Bf 109 F-4 engine has been corrected.
20. Aircraft DM: an issue that caused bullets hitting Spitfire Mk.XIV MGs and guns to not lose energy has been fixed.
21. Aircraft DM: engine fire probability from bullet hits has been somewhat increased for WWI-era piston engines and jet engines.
22. Aircraft DM: engine fire probability from bullet hits has been reduced for WWII-era piston engines.
23. Aircraft DM: fuel tank fire probability from bullet hits has been reduced.
24. Aircraft DM: fuel tank fire and explosion probability from HE ammo hits has been reduced, now it depends on the HE power more.
25. Aircraft DM: it’s now harder to put out the fires by side-slip movement.
26. Aircraft DM: the several years old ‘crew health cheat’ (they required four point-blank 7.62 bullets in the torso or two in the head to be killed) has been removed. Now their ability to sustain damage is much more close to reality.
27. Crew DM: a random error that could cause a death from mild G-loads has been found and fixed, thus improving survivability rate during emergency landings.
28. Ballistics: ricochet tendency has been reduced somewhat.
29. Right wing MGs on P-51B can be correctly damaged.
30. P-51B and D fighters wings (middle-upper parts) can be correctly damaged.
Me 410 Improvements
31. Me 410A-1: weapon panel placards corrected for WB 151 and MG 131 modifications.
32. Me 410A-1: missing rods from bomb doors to the forward window added.
33. Me 410 A-1: speed and timer gauges in the pilot’s cockpit corrected.
34. Me 410 A-1: altitude and speed gauges in the gunner’s cockpit corrected.
35. Me 410 A-1: bomb holders for 250 kg bombs and for SB 1000/410 look corrected.
36. Me 410 A-1: radiator fenders indicators light up when the cockpit light is turned on.
37. Me 410 A-1: the rear landing gear state affects air drag.
38. Me 410 A-1: technochat message warning about the gun overheating restored for the gunner.
39. Me 410 A-1: now the gunner can use the entire horizontal range of the guns for aiming.
40. Me-410 A-1: radiators can be correctly damaged by AP projectiles, resulting in coolant leaks.
41. Me 410A-1 intercept missions added to AQMG game mode.
Tank Crew Improvements
42. M4A2, KV-1s, Pz.IV.G, Pz.V.D, Pz.VI.H1 hatches close when the turret blocks them.
43. The damage of the gun barrels base on Pz.III, Pz.IV and Pz.VI is calculated correctly when it is hit by fragments.
44. In multiplayer a guest gunner (who connected to someone else tank) won’t constantly hear the turret turning mechanism noise.
45. In multiplayer a tank owner won’t hear the gun or MG reloading sound when another player connected to his tank to the gunner or MG gunner station.
46. In multiplayer turning aircraft or tank turrets controlled by another player emit correct turning sounds.
AI Improvements
47. AI controlled bombers keep formation a bit better during climb.
48. AI pilots will attempt to return to base in the event of an oil or coolant leak.
49. Me 410 pilots will correctly drop bombs in a deep dive.
50. Mosquito, Ju 88 C6 and Me 410 pilots will correctly drop underwing bombs.
51. Twin and 4x guns in AI controlled vehicles won’t judder during aiming.
Other Improvements
52. Dropping an 1650 pounds bomb from Handley Page O/400 bomber won’t display an error.
53. A visual artifact in front of the right engine of Handley Page O/400 bomber has been removed.
54. An issue that caused guns and MGs to ‘float’ above certain breastwork has been fixed.
55. ‘No jamming’ difficulty option works correctly for aircraft turrets.
56. Me 410 is correctly counted in stats.
57. Visual bomb explosion effects has been corrected for cases when a bomb ricochets and goes off above the ground.
58. Proximity and CheckZone triggers in missions won’t erroneously count non-spawned and inactive objects.
59. External camera works correctly after flying beyond the map borders.
60. An issue that could lower the muzzle speed of an overheated MG before causing additional scattering of the fired bullets has been fixed.
61. Both P-47 have their idle engine RPM corrected (it was a bit too high potentially causing moving with brakes applied.
Today is a big day. IL-2 Sturmovik team is glad to report that after almost three years of development Battle of Normandy is out of Early Access and is officially released - 5.001 update is out!
«You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you.» Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower.
The official release also means that in addition to Battle of Normandy Premium Edition in our webstore there’s now Standard Edition without two Collector Planes - German jet bomber Arado Ar 234 and British fighter Spitfire Mk.XIV (they can be bought individually). On Steam the new module and its accompanying Collector Planes will appear in the coming weeks - please stay tuned while we work out the details. As usual, Battle of Normandy owners who have linked IL-2 and Steam accounts can access all the new content in the Steam version already.
These years weren’t easy, but they were very interesting. During the development we have created many new technologies and approaches, did a lot of historical research, implemented new solutions. The last aircraft for Battle of Normandy were released in Early Access in August and today we add the last pieces - the map of the Northern France and Southern England, Pilot Career mode, Quick Mission Builder and Advanced Quick Mission Generator support for the new map.
We have told about the Career mode and the new map in our recent Dev Blogs, but must point out again that they set the new record in terms of the work involved. New mission types, new airfield types, new airfields appearing on the map after D-Day - bringing their total amount to 100 airfields with historically accurate layouts! New objects created specially for the module - ships, ground vehicles, buildings, coastal defenses, V-1 buzzbombs and their launch positions, dozens of new aircraft paint schemes, etc.
Battle of Normandy contains 10 player controllable aircraft (8 in the Standard Edition):
- Hawker Typhoon Mk.Ib – British fighter/bomber,
- North American P-51B-5 Mustang – American long range fighter,
- Republic P-47D-22 Thunderbolt – American fighter/bomber,
- Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 Late – late version of the German fighter,
- Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-6 Würger - German fighter,
- De Havilland Mosquito F.B. Mk.VI ser.2 – British twin engine fighter-bomber,
- Messerschmitt Me 410 A-1 Hornisse – German twin engine fighter-bomber,
- Junkers Ju 88 C-6 – German twin engine heavy fighter,
- Supermarine Spitfire Mk.XIV – British fighter (Collector Plane included in the Premium Edition),
- Arado Ar 234 B-2 Blitz – German twin engine jet bomber and recon aircraft (Collector Plane included in the Premium Edition).
Each aircraft includes a slew of historically correct modifications - unlike other games where each modification would be counted as a separate aircraft model, in Great Battles you can freely select and combine them. For instance, Me-410 A-1 mentioned above has modifications that, when selected, make it a whole model lineup:
1. Me-410 A-1/U2,
2. Me-410 A-1/U4,
3. Me-410 B,
4. Me-410 B-2,
5. Me-410 B-2/U1,
6. Me-410 B-2/U2,
7. Me-410 B-2/U4,
8. Me-410 B-2/U4 field mod with four MG 151 guns.
In addition to the all above, update 5.001 contains the results of the big work on the damage model improvements which are of course are applicable to all the modules as usual - as you can see in the long list below, it required many changes in various parts of the sim. The testing and tuning of these changes by beta-testers from the community took a lot of time. We think this is the big step forward for Great Battles series and hope you’ll enjoy it.
There are many other fixes and improvements - for instance, the mission loading time has been reduced dramatically, several times less on some PC configurations! The pilot and tank crew AI got better, etc.:
Main Features
1. All Battle of Normandy owners have access to Northern France and Southern England map in two variations (before and after the D-Day). As usual, in multiplayer mode the map can be accessed by all Great Battles players.
2. All Battle of Normandy owners have access to the mid-1944 Career mode (3 countries, 5 phases, 17 frontline states, 225 historical squadrons, 103 of them joinable by the player, many new mission types).
3. All Battle of Normandy owners have access to QMB and AQMG game modes on the new map for a quick action, also with many new mission types.
4. Numerous new aircraft paint schemes added, including different invasion stripes for various time periods of 1944.
5. PzKpfw IV Ausf.H. tank added (AI controlled).
6. Flakpanzer IV «Möbelwagen» SPAA added (AI controlled).
7. Gleaves-class destroyer added (AI controlled).
8. The loading speed of all missions on all Great Battles maps has been improved significantly.
Damage Model Improvements
9. Aircraft DM: RHA equivalent of the aircraft skin has been reduced nearly three times to the previous (wrong) values.
10. Aircraft DM: an issue that made aircraft skin damage too severe for larger bombers and some fighters has been fixed.
11. Aircraft DM: like the previously released change for larger caliber ammo, now all projectiles in the game loose integrity and stability after penetrating a significant armor thickness which affects their remaining ability to penetrate armor.
12. Aircraft DM: the relative speed of the target is correctly accounted for projectile penetrations calculations.
13. Aircraft DM: AP bullets and shells make slightly bigger holes in the airframe and aircraft skin.
14. Aircraft DM: powerful HE rounds explosions cause more damage to the airframe, aircraft skin and components.
15. Aircraft DM: small HE bullets cause less damage to aircraft skin.
16. Aircraft DM: it is now possible to damage radiators and fuel tanks when firing 7.62-7.92 rounds from more than 350 m distance.
17. Aircraft DM: bullets are less likely to ricochet from aircraft skin at low angles.
18. Aircraft DM: Bf 109 radiator collision model has been improved (previously its wrong shape could cause most smaller caliber bullets to ricochet when fired directly from behind).
19. Aircraft DM: the loss of the bullets energy hitting Bf 109 F-4 engine has been corrected.
20. Aircraft DM: an issue that caused bullets hitting Spitfire Mk.XIV MGs and guns to not lose energy has been fixed.
21. Aircraft DM: engine fire probability from bullet hits has been somewhat increased for WWI-era piston engines and jet engines.
22. Aircraft DM: engine fire probability from bullet hits has been reduced for WWII-era piston engines.
23. Aircraft DM: fuel tank fire probability from bullet hits has been reduced.
24. Aircraft DM: fuel tank fire and explosion probability from HE ammo hits has been reduced, now it depends on the HE power more.
25. Aircraft DM: it’s now harder to put out the fires by side-slip movement.
26. Aircraft DM: the several years old ‘crew health cheat’ (they required four point-blank 7.62 bullets in the torso or two in the head to be killed) has been removed. Now their ability to sustain damage is much more close to reality.
27. Crew DM: a random error that could cause a death from mild G-loads has been found and fixed, thus improving survivability rate during emergency landings.
28. Ballistics: ricochet tendency has been reduced somewhat.
29. Right wing MGs on P-51B can be correctly damaged.
30. P-51B and D fighters wings (middle-upper parts) can be correctly damaged.
Me 410 Improvements
31. Me 410A-1: weapon panel placards corrected for WB 151 and MG 131 modifications.
32. Me 410A-1: missing rods from bomb doors to the forward window added.
33. Me 410 A-1: speed and timer gauges in the pilot’s cockpit corrected.
34. Me 410 A-1: altitude and speed gauges in the gunner’s cockpit corrected.
35. Me 410 A-1: bomb holders for 250 kg bombs and for SB 1000/410 look corrected.
36. Me 410 A-1: radiator fenders indicators light up when the cockpit light is turned on.
37. Me 410 A-1: the rear landing gear state affects air drag.
38. Me 410 A-1: technochat message warning about the gun overheating restored for the gunner.
39. Me 410 A-1: now the gunner can use the entire horizontal range of the guns for aiming.
40. Me-410 A-1: radiators can be correctly damaged by AP projectiles, resulting in coolant leaks.
41. Me 410A-1 intercept missions added to AQMG game mode.
Tank Crew Improvements
42. M4A2, KV-1s, Pz.IV.G, Pz.V.D, Pz.VI.H1 hatches close when the turret blocks them.
43. The damage of the gun barrels base on Pz.III, Pz.IV and Pz.VI is calculated correctly when it is hit by fragments.
44. In multiplayer a guest gunner (who connected to someone else tank) won’t constantly hear the turret turning mechanism noise.
45. In multiplayer a tank owner won’t hear the gun or MG reloading sound when another player connected to his tank to the gunner or MG gunner station.
46. In multiplayer turning aircraft or tank turrets controlled by another player emit correct turning sounds.
AI Improvements
47. AI controlled bombers keep formation a bit better during climb.
48. AI pilots will attempt to return to base in the event of an oil or coolant leak.
49. Me 410 pilots will correctly drop bombs in a deep dive.
50. Mosquito, Ju 88 C6 and Me 410 pilots will correctly drop underwing bombs.
51. Twin and 4x guns in AI controlled vehicles won’t judder during aiming.
Other Improvements
52. Dropping an 1650 pounds bomb from Handley Page O/400 bomber won’t display an error.
53. A visual artifact in front of the right engine of Handley Page O/400 bomber has been removed.
54. An issue that caused guns and MGs to ‘float’ above certain breastwork has been fixed.
55. ‘No jamming’ difficulty option works correctly for aircraft turrets.
56. Me 410 is correctly counted in stats.
57. Visual bomb explosion effects has been corrected for cases when a bomb ricochets and goes off above the ground.
58. Proximity and CheckZone triggers in missions won’t erroneously count non-spawned and inactive objects.
59. External camera works correctly after flying beyond the map borders.
60. An issue that could lower the muzzle speed of an overheated MG before causing additional scattering of the fired bullets has been fixed.
61. Both P-47 have their idle engine RPM corrected (it was a bit too high potentially causing moving with brakes applied.
Wings Over The Reich - Addon Development News
By Polovski,
Hi all,
Old Brown Dog Software is proud to announce details of the expansion we have been working so hard on for WINGS OVER THE REICH,
and it is: The Battle of France
Take your part in a new, whirlwind, dynamic campaign as the Germans invade France bursting through the Ardennes Forest,
taking the allies completely by surprise.
OBD has designed an utterly unique campaign system for the fast-paced dynamic blitzkrieg war - never seen before at this level
in any combat flight simulator.
In a matter of weeks in the summer of 1940, the Germans push through the Ardennes and following along the Somme valley,
effectively cut the French forces in two, and isolate the remnants of the BEF and French 1st Armies in Dunkirk.
Soon you can take part in this exciting early WW2 period, with the Battle of France add-on for Wings Over the Reich!
Release date and final details to be confirmed.
For more details, images and information please see the WOTR website!
There you can click the Red button below the announcement to read the full newsletter - this has dozens of new images and more info! OR here's a direct link to the newsletter with the extra WOTR details and images! --> HERE <--
(On the WOTR website, press CTRL+F5 to refresh the page if you do not see the latest news).
Take your part in a new, whirlwind, dynamic campaign as the Germans invade France bursting through the Ardennes Forest,
taking the allies completely by surprise.
OBD has designed an utterly unique campaign system for the fast-paced dynamic blitzkrieg war - never seen before at this level
in any combat flight simulator.
In a matter of weeks in the summer of 1940, the Germans push through the Ardennes and following along the Somme valley,
effectively cut the French forces in two, and isolate the remnants of the BEF and French 1st Armies in Dunkirk.
Soon you can take part in this exciting early WW2 period, with the Battle of France add-on for Wings Over the Reich!
Release date and final details to be confirmed.
For more details, images and information please see the WOTR website!
There you can click the Red button below the announcement to read the full newsletter - this has dozens of new images and more info! OR here's a direct link to the newsletter with the extra WOTR details and images! --> HERE <--
(On the WOTR website, press CTRL+F5 to refresh the page if you do not see the latest news).
-
NEW TOPICS
-
-
-
Gallery Highlights
