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Dear Friends, Our team has finished the development of the new update 5.004, and it is released. Sopwith Snipe and many updates. The year 2022 is drawing to a close and we did our best to bring you a new update on Christmas Eve. It bears the number 5.004 and adds the Great War Collector Plane Sopwith Snipe to our series. It is a late war aircraft equipped with the most powerful Bentley BR2 rotary engine, producing up to 234 horsepower. By comparison, the Sopwith Camel fighter's Clerget 9B engine produced 130 hp. At the same time, however, the Snipe is 200 kilograms heavier than its predecessor (more than a quarter). Overall, the new fighter is more stable in flight and has better speed and climb characteristics. Everyone who has purchased an airplane now has the opportunity to master it and use it in combat. In addition to the new vehicle, in update 5.004 we are releasing two AI armored vehicles for the Normandy and Bodenplatte projects - the M8 Greyhound and the SdKfz 234/2 Puma. You'll find new scenario missions for Churchill and StuG III in this update, they were created by community enthusiast super-truite and his friends. More than 80 improvements were made to the "Western Front, Spring 1918" map, which is in the early access phase and is currently being finalized. There are a number of other improvements and fixes to player controllable aircraft, tanks and artificial intelligence. A complete list of changes in the version 5.004 follows: 5.004 1. The Sopwith Snipe, a Royal Air Force collector aircraft from the final phase of the Great War, is now available to its owners; 2. Battle of Normandy AI armored vehicle M8 Greyhound added; 3. Battle of Normandy AI armored vehicle SdKfz 234/2 Puma added; 4. Scenarios for collectible vehicles Churchill and StuG III added (super-truite); 5. Mk.37 rig model for the 5'/38-gun Mk.12 on the Bayfield and Liberty ships updated; 6. Fixed a bug in the aircraft AI leading to incorrect maneuver choices and incorrect aircraft behavior in aerial combat, which was especially noticeable on WWI airplanes; 7. AI pilots correctly climb while maintaining formation; 8. AI pilots controlling high speed capable aircraft are less likely to use risky high-altitude maneuvers at lower altitudes (previously these could led to a collision with the ground); 9. AI pilots should better avoid collisions in some maneuvers, especially in a frontal attack; 10. The tail section damage texture has been fixed on all Bf-109s; 11. The placards were corrected along with other minor improvements on Bf-109 E7, He 111 H6/H16, Ju-87 D3, Spitfire Mk.Vb/IXe/XIV (Oyster_KAI); 12. Incorrect operation of GUI information bar in player controllable tanks has been fixed; 13. C-47A: a number of visual inaccuracies and technical problems with the aircraft model has been fixed, including the shape of upper air intakes on engine nacelles; 14. C-47A: phosphorescent cockpit instrument illumination restored; 15. C-47A: fixed a bug with a broken window when the landing door is opened for bailing out; 16. C-47A: fixed a bug in the bail out animation that caused crew members to visually appear outside the cockpit for a moment; 17. C-47A: added a feature to align engine flaps with the flow; 18. C-47A: a fixed bug with radio compass working on powered off aircraft; 19. Me 262A: fixed reflections in cockpit instruments; 20. Stug III Ausf. G gun now takes more time to reload if the loader is unbuttoned; 21. Crew gestures have been added for the Churchill IV and the Stug III; 22. Stug III Ausf. G - fixed an incorrect position of the machine gun after loader's death, if it was in anti-aircraft position; 23. Stug III Ausf.G. - corrected wrong animation of the side correction input control; 24. Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.G - main gun reloading sound aligned with the visual animation; 25. Mission editor: skins which consist of several textures are correctly displayed in the skin list; 26. It is possible to shoot off the trunk behind the turret on Pz.Kpfw.III Ausf.M, Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.G, Pz.Kpfw.VI Ausf.H and Churchill IV; 27. It is possible to shoot off the commander cupola on the Tiger; 28. Range of smoke grenade launchers corrected for all player controllable vehicles; 29. Improved sorting of visual effect particles; 30. Western Front map, Spring 1918: Treizennes airfield added; 31. Western Front Map, Spring 1918: Clairmarais airfield moved; 32. Western Front Map, Spring 1918: Ferme airfield is renamed Filescamp Farm; 33. Western Front Map, Spring 1918: Droogland Airfield moved to square 0205-8; 34. Western Front Map, Spring 1918: removed second Epehy; 35. Western Front Map, Spring 1918: added bridge to the fortress in square 0408-9; 36. Western Front Map, Spring 1918: Hoog Huys manor added; 37. Map of Western Front, Spring 1918: added Ferme manor; 38. Western Front Map, Spring 1918: Removed flooded railroad track; 39. Western Front Map, Spring 1918: corrected railroad tracks in square 1202; 40. Western Front Map, Spring 1918: Hoog Huys Airfield moved; 41. Western Front Map, Spring 1918: Filescamp Farm airfield moved; 42. Western Front Map, Spring 1918: added homestead near Droogland airfield; 43. Western Front Map, Spring 1918: corrected wrong track crossing in quadrant 0305-8; 44. Western Front Map, Spring 1918: improved appearance of Thionville Steelworks East and Thionville Steelworks; 45. Western Front Map, Spring 1918: the village of Crochte has been renamed Merckeghem; 46. Western Front map, Spring 1918: Hondschoote village renamed Esquelbecq; 47. Western Front map, Spring 1918: Droogland village moved to square 0205-8 and renamed Winnezeele; 48. Western Front map, Spring 1918: Kemmelberg village moved to square 0207-5 and renamed Kemmel; 49. Map of the Western Front, Spring 1918: Aire is renamed Aire-sur-la-Lys; 50. Map of Western Front, Spring 1918: 25 obstructions on road network removed; 51. Map of the Western Front, Spring 1918: 15 wrong dead ends on the road network were removed; 52. Western Front map, Spring 1918: corrected 18 problematic entrances to railroad bridges. And to see the Snipe in action, check out our Youtube channel:

Dear Friends, As 2022 draws to a close, we are completing our work on bringing the AI objects to the Normandy project that we previously promised. The first one is the Fighter Direction Tender. FDT are radar surveillance and control ships. They were actively used during the Normandy Landing in 1944 to coordinate the actions of Allied aviation and provide radar cover for the landing zones. We created three ships, FDT-13, FDT-216, FDT-217, based on the LST class dock landing ships, which bore the same hull numbers before modernization. Their modernization was carried out on the shipyards of the west coast of Scotland, away from the active enemy forces. During the modernization, various radio communication, electronic interception, and radar antenna equipment were installed on the upper decks of the ships, including two powerful Type 15 GCI and Type 11 radars. These ships played a prominent role in the events of D-Day. The second AI object is a German eight-wheeled armored car Sd.Kfz. 234/2 Puma. This “slash-two” modification was the second by numbers among all the Pumas produced during the war: 101 out of 478 vehicles. This modification took part in the events of 1944, which the Battle for Normandy project tells about. It is a variant armed with the 50mm KwK-39 cannon (similar to the one used on later modifications of the Pz.Kpfw. III tanks), located, unlike later modifications with a 75mm cannon, in a fully enclosed and armored rotating turret. The car is notable for quite good frontal armor of the hull and turret (up to 30mm), as well as its unique chassis, which is worth mentioning by itself. The chassis is built based on an independent levered suspension of all 8 wheels and their coupled wheel springing. All the wheels of the Puma are driving and steerable. All this together, as well as a 12-cylinder V-shaped diesel engine Tatra 103 with a 210 horsepower capacity, provided very good cross-country ability, maneuverability, and speed. The third is a lighter American armored car, M8 Greyhound. This three-axle all-wheel drive vehicle, unlike the Puma, had a classic chassis design with 3 leading solid beams and a front steering axle, less body armor (up to 19mm in the front), and lighter armament, the 37mm M6 cannon placed in an open-top turret. An important quality of the vehicle for infantry units was the additional heavy .50 cal Browning machine gun mounted on the rear of the turret. Possessing more modest characteristics and a less revolutionary design, however, the Greyhound was a third lighter than the Puma and obviously easier to manufacture. In the conditions of the Second World War, this was largely a determining factor. Moreover, the Greyhound turned out to be a rather successful armored car that was used in various conflicts for a great many years after the 1945.

Here are some interior shots from the soon to be released StuG. The exterior is still in final prep and not ready for presentation yet. As soon as they are, I will post them as well.

Dear Friends, Very soon - next week - we'll publish the next update that is planned to bring (provided no critical problems are found during the beta testing) the long-awaited StuG III and C-47A, AND the WIP Western Front Spring 1918 map (!). We have told about the legendary Skytrain in one of our previous Dev Blogs, so today's star is StuG.III Ausf.G. There were many StuG.III self-propelled guns produced during the war, more than 9000 units spanning around 10 modifications. The Ausführung G that is recreated by our very talented partners at Digital Forms was the later one, having the heaviest gun and armor of all of them. The vehicle represented was built on the Pz.Kpfw.III Ausf.M base, so it has nearly the same chassis, engine and transmission. The fighting compartment, however, was completely rebuilt: replacing the turret with the welded armored superstructure granted it enough internal volume to accomodate the bigger 75 mm StuK 40/L48 gun. Its barrel and ballistics are similar to KwK.40 L/48 installed on Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.G and later ones. This gun used the same ammo as 7,5 cm Pak. 40 AT gun. Unlike the tank gun equipped with a telescopic gunsight designed for direct fire, the StuG.III gun had Sfl. ZF 1a artillery periscope marked for thre ammo types - APHE, sub-caliber AP and HE. Late StuG III modifications were equipped by infantry MG34 machinegun with box magazines stored in the fighting compartment. To fire it, the loader had to get out of his hatch, raise the armored shield and set the machinegun up in one of the two positions - for firing at air or ground targets. Schurzen armor plates for protection against AT rifles and shaped charges could be also installed. Six one-shot smoke mortars could be also installed. Sure enoungh, not only we modeled them in the game, but we couldn't resist and upgraded the two previously released Tank Crew tanks with this weapon - Pz.Kpfw.III Ausf.M and Pz.Kpfw.VI Ausf.H1 Tiger. All in all, StuG.III is a light enough to be maneuverable, but also has a good frontal armor protection and a powerful main weapon. As we mentioned above, it will be available to its owners very soon.

Dear Friends, The work continues. At the moment we're working on the schedule of the new project, new techs, compiling design documents for the new aircraft and other objects - and along with all that we're developing the six Collector Planes, some of which will be released before the end of this year and some in the beginning of the next one. One of them is the British fighter Supermarine Spitfire Mk.XIVe "Bubbletop". Unlike the Spitfire Mk.XIV already existing in the sim, this one has a bubble canopy without the dorsal fuselage spine. Many WWII fighters had such modification - the goal was the improved backward field of view. However, the dorsal spine wasn't there for nothing - it provided better aerodynamics via better airflow behind the canopy, reducing total drag of the aircraft. Nearly all pre-war aircraft designs had it because of a bit higher speed, but the actual war, as it usually does in human history, set the priorities differently. In the beginning of the war two Axis design bureaus tried a different canopy and rear fuselage design: there were Focke-Wulf Fw 190 designed by Kurt Tank and Mitsubishi A6M Zero designed by Jiro Horikoshi. They weren't the first fighters with bubble canopies and without a dorsal spine behind, but they were the fighters that were quite numerous and affected the air battles on either side of the Earth. The bubble canopy without the dorsal spine affected the aerodynamics negatively, but it gave the pilots much better view backwards - this was noted not only by them, but by their adversaries as well, since an air engagement was usually initiated by a sudden attack from a blind zone. Soviet engineers created bubble canopy modifications of the existing aircraft in the end of 1942 and in 1943 these models were produced on a massive scale. Their Western colleagues adopted it later and bubble canopy modifications began to emerge in 1944. Bubbletop Spitfire Mk.XIV appeared a year after the initial design, in April 1945. In Great Battles, Spitfire Mk.XIVe "bubbletop" will have two wing variations - with long (fighter) and short (photo recon) wingtips. As we always do, there will be other modifications included. Spitfire Mk.XIVe bubbletop will be released in the beginning of the next Spring, which is a bit symbolic, since, as we mentioned above, the real fighter appeared on the front during Spring 1945.

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!!! :)

The summer is ending, just like our Battle of Normandy release preparations. Two variations of the Normandy and Southern England map (before and after the invasion) are ready, Career mode is ready, Quick Missions and Advanced Quick Missions are ready - today we're starting the release candidate testing. This time we want to spend more time and resources on the testing and debugging. The beta-testing of the 5.001 update is going for two weeks already and we plan to test the release candidate for two more at least. There's a reason for that - it will include not only the Battle of Normandy, but a number of global improvements as well. The main global change is the long promised revision of the aircraft Damage Model. This time we have attempted to make more fundamental changes and not just "adjust the airframe durability to meet player expectations", but reverse-engineer the system in search of potential issues in many of its parts. During this process we have found a number of calculation passes which could be improved or tuned. These changes are already in the beta and beta-testers have responded that the damage received by aircraft in various combat situations looks significantly more adequate and realistic. We understand that this is a touchy subject, so the final changes will be explained in detail in the release notes of the 5.001 update. Speaking of the finishing of the new map and Career mode, we want to say that for each new project we have set more and more ambitious goals for ourselves, even if it wasn't clear in the beginning how it would work out and what the final answer to these challenges would be. Once again, many parameters have surpassed their previous records in the series. For instance, the length of the coastline is 990 km on the French coast and 1060 km on the English coast. 490 major cities and towns, not counting the minor ones, were recreated while keeping in mind their overall historical boundaries and main layout features. 100 airfields are waiting for your flight - and not one of them is 'default' or cloned, they all have historical layouts reconstructed using documents and air photos. Moreover, a new set of the airfield surface types was created: 1. Grass 2. CON (Concrete) 3. WC (Wood Chippings) - concrete covered by wood chippings and tar 4. TAR (Tarmac) - asphalt 5. ETH (Compressed Earth) 6. PBS (Prefabricated Bituminous Surface) - canvas saturated with tar 7. ST (Sommerfeld Track) - steel wire mesh reinforced with steel bars 8. SMT (Square-Mesh Track) - square mesh 9. PSP (Pierced Steel Planking) - stamped steel plates. As we have mentioned, there are two map variations created - before and after the invasion. Pre-invasion map lacks newly constructed airfields and constructions erected after D-Day on the Normandy shore. Career mode development required detailed information on symbols, tour of duty, bases, armament and assigned tasks for 285 squadrons acting in this project - players can join 102 of them and others are populated by AI pilots. This is another record for the Great Battles series. 9 new mission types were designed for the Normandy Career concentrating on the D-Day events and V-1 intercepts. Pilot's Career in the Battle of Normandy timeframe contains 5 phases and 17 front line states that change along the progression of time. As always, all the scenarios generated in the Career mode are unique even if you fly to the same target again - the generated combat situation will be different, while the weather will correspond to the real weather on that day. All in all, we're hoping that Battle of Normandy will be the most significant release in the IL-2 Great Battles series and all of you who have supported us all these years will enjoy another virtual, but to a great extent historically accurate reconstruction of a major air battle, that was created with love and respect to our common history.

Dear Pilots! Today’s Developer Diary is a continuation of last weeks with more pictures of the upcoming ME 410 release, this time of the very cool looking cockpit along with more images of airfields on the Normandy map. The ME 410 is the last of the player flyable aircraft from the Normandy plane-set to be released and the cockpit proved to be a challenge to create, especially with its unique defensive armament arrangement and complicated gunner controls. However, our modeling and engineering teams have once again created an amazing combat experience for IL-2 pilots. The ME 410 will enter beta testing very soon and testers can put it through its paces. We’re almost there Hornisse fans! A fun fact about the Normandy map is that there are 100 airfields total when you combine the airfields in southern England and Normandy regions. These pics are just a few. Work on the Normandy map, Normandy Career and remaining vehicles and ships continue full throttle as we march to release in the coming weeks. And just a reminder that BON still has it’s Early Access discount, but time is getting short. If you have not already purchased it, now is a great time to pull the trigger. Enjoy! The Sturmovik Team

Dear Pilots, Today’s DD brings us images of the ME 410 A-1 in the engine finally, showing off some of its paint-schemes and beautiful lines. This beautiful bird has been in development for a long time, but the wait has been worth it. The cockpit was an especially challenging piece of work and we’ll have pics of it in the next Developer Diary, but today feast your eyes on its external beauty. Our 410 an A-1 model, but with various modifications that are included it can also become a B-2 variant. We think you will really enjoy the ME 410 A-1 ‘Hornisse’ as it was known. It’s another triumph for the Sturmovik modeling and engineering teams! The ME 410 will enter Beta in about a week’s time. We also have several images of airfields that will be present on the Normandy map. It’s nearing completion and will enter Beta soon as well. It should be noted that the images below are still WIP and some textures may not final. As we have highlighted in previous diaries, different fields have different surfaces. These images definitely demonstrate a variety of different types. Just like our previous maps there will be numerous airfields to launch missions from and of course attack! There is just a huge variety of different airfield types to choose from. Enjoy! The Sturmovik Team

Update 4.706 Dear Pilots! Battle of Normandy is getting closer and closer to that special moment - its release! Testing of the map and game modes will begin soon. New mission types are being created for the Normandy Career. Work is nearing completion on the last aircraft on the project list – the Me 410. All this is happening right now and the work is in full swing. However, at the same time, we try to release those elements of the project that are already ready without delay. So, today, we are producing two aircraft created as part of BON. The first one is the Arado AR 234 B-2. This jet powered single-seat twin-engine reconnaissance bomber is designed to be controlled by the player and has a number of new interesting systems we developed for it. It has a dive-bombing sight, reusable boosters, a drag chute, an automatic aircraft control system ("built-in" autopilot) and many other smaller features that should give you many hours of fun learning about the features of this aircraft. The second plane is the B-26B-55 Marauder AI twin-engine bomber. Although the B-26 is implemented as an AI piloted plane, the quality of this bird is just as good as all the other flyable ones. We made unique crew animations for it and created a new airborne gunner model (which will later be applied to the B-25, A-20 and C-47). We also, implemented a number of design features of this aircraft. In general, accompanying him, or attacking him, should be quite interesting for you. In addition to the two aircraft, some of the last AI objects planned for the Battle of Normandy are included in this update: a Bedford QL truck and tanker variant and several landing craft - LCA, LCM and LCT. Work on missions where these ships will play their main role has already begun. In addition, several other changes were made to improve the project, the list of which can be found below: 1. The German twin-engine single-seat jet reconnaissance bomber Arado AR 234 B-2 is now available for control by all players who pre-ordered the Battle of Normandy project; 2. AI controlled bomber B-26B-55 Marauder, created as part of the Battle of Normandy project, has been added to the project; 3. The Bedford QLD AI truck and its version of the Bedford QLC tanker, created as part of the Battle of Normandy project, have been added to the project; 4. Landing craft LCA, LCT, LCM, created as part of the Battle of Normandy project, have been added to the project; 5. Improved impact of small arms recoil on aircraft; 6. Improved physics of aircraft collision with static objects; 7. Restored the work of AI priorities set by the Force Complete command; 8. Improved animation of rocket launcher ammo in aircraft cockpits; 9. Mosquito FB Mk.VI series.2 - an artifact has been removed from the windshield next to the wiper; 10. Mosquito FB Mk.VI series.2 - the appearance of the pad on the standard red dot sight has been fixed: the pad from the Mk.III sight displayed on top of it has been removed; 11. Pilot career Battle of the Rhine, for the new aircraft Ar-234B-2, two squadrons available to the player - II./KG 76 and III./KG 76, and one AI squadron Sonderkommando Sperling / 1.(F)/ 123; 12. Pilot career Battle of the Rhine, AI aircraft B-26B-55 added, as well as the following AI squadrons that the player can meet in the career: 453rd BS, 454th BS, 455th BS, 456th BS, 556th BS, 557th BS, 558th BS, 559th BS, 584th BS, 585th BS, 586th BS, 587th BS, 596th BS, 597th BS, 598th BS, 599th BS (BS = Bomber Squadron); 13. Fixed a problem with shooting missiles by AI planes when taking off from the runway; 14. When flying in formation at night, aircraft will use formation lights (RESIN lights on Mosquito FB Mk.VI series.2, formation lights on A-20 and B-26); 15. Achtung Spitfire! Scripted Campaign has been updated to fix an issue with images. Have fun :)

The AR 234 is pretty dang cool. Added some AI B-26 which is also in this update. Enjoy

Dear Pilots, Today’s DD takes a look at our cliff models for the Normandy Map. Making realistic looking cliff faces in a flight-simulator is always tough. Whenever you make a map with the English Channel this becomes necessary. Many other development teams have had to craft them over the years and we are no exception. We had our first crack at them when we made our Channel Map for Rise of Flight about 10 years ago. We’ve gotten better at making them and below you can see some work-in-progress images of how they currently look in IL-2 Great Battles. Work on the Normandy map continues and it is really starting to take shape. The map will be released later this summer. However, the next update is already in Beta and it will include the Arado AR-234 jet bomber. What an interesting and challenging aircraft to model. She’s pretty complex. And the AI B-26 will also be I the next update. Enjoy! The Sturmovik Team

Dear Pilots! In today’s DD we have three new things to show you. First, we have some screenshots of our Normandy Map which is coming together nicely. It’s looking very scenic! Second, we have developed the technology to launch a V-1 “Buzz Bomb” from fixed installations. They will make great targets for mission designers. And finally, we have been working on the technology necessary to portray amphibious landings which is necessary for Normandy. Normandy Landscape Below are screens from the new map. As you can see there are some rather large cities and towns as well as a variety of different airfield types. The landscape is also very beautiful. Together it will make a very interesting and fun map to fly over. V-1 Installations The dreaded V-1 is operational in our project for the first time. V-1 sites were prized targets by Allied pilots and needed to be silenced. The V-1s raining down on the UK in the summer of 1944 were a real problem and caused so much destruction and casualties. Attacking these sites will make for some excellent missions. Amphibious Landings And finally, we can’t have an invasion without landing craft bringing troops and vehicles to the beaches. In the images below we see some testing on one of our non-Normandy maps. We have found a clever way to make infantry objects that appear pretty convincing. These soldiers can advance and shoot at the enemy and of course they can perish. Just don’t ask these little pixel soldiers to make you a sandwich or tea, they aren’t that smart. Enjoy! The Sturmovik Team

Dear Friends, In today’s DD we see images of the AR-234 in some new skins and geometry of the IAR-80/81 cockpit. We also see the implementation of WWII style barrage balloons which can be used to protect ships and ground targets. These balloons can be towed by ships, winched up and down and if the wire is hit hard enough and severed the balloon will fly away. If the Luftwaffe ever does reach the invasion fleet watch out for these new obstacles! Our AR 234 B-2 jet bomber is nearing its final stages of development and we have some cool skins to show you today. What a great looking aircraft. The IAR-80/81 Collector Plane is also making progress. The cockpit geometry is about done and ready for texturing. Looks like a very busy cockpit! Enjoy! The Sturmovik Team

Dear Pilots! Today’s DD is all about the mighty Mosquito FB Mk.VI, which is nearing completion for Battle of Normandy! We are finishing her systems and flight model and preparing her for release. As you can see from the images, she is a really good-looking aircraft and there are tons of armament options. She packs one hell of an offensive punch with awesome flight performance. We think she will be an incredibly popular ride in Great Battles. Below you see the almost completed cockpit along with several armament options and skins that will be included. Unfortunately, some systems were not functioning yet, so I was unable to launch any weapons or engage in combat, but she will be entering Beta very soon where the testers will put her through her paces. Stay tuned for more as we get the “Wooden Wonder” ready for release! Enjoy! The Sturmovik Team

Dear Great War Pilots! We have some awesome news to share with you in today’s DD. The images below are the first to show the Sopwith Snipe and Siemens-Schuckert D.IV Collector Planes we have in development. They are being built by our friends at Ugra Media with our supervision and they are coming along quickly. The Snipe’s external is looking good and the cockpit is well under way, but not ready for a public reveal yet. The SS.D.IV is in a less developed state, but it’s coming along nicely. Both of these are challenging little birds to build, as great reference material is sparse, but when complete they will represent the pinnacle of WWI fighter design at the time of the Armistice. These are also the first truly new aircraft for Flying Circus that were not made for Rise of Flight in the past and we think you will really enjoy them! Both of these will be made available for Pre-Order soon, now that they have made significant process in their development. More about these two interesting warbirds as development progresses. Sopwith Snipe Siemens-Schuckert D.IV Enjoy!

Dear Pilots and Tankers, Today’s DD is a collection of images of new content in development by our partners such as Ugra Media, DigitalForms and others. First, we have a few very much WIP images from the C-47 cockpit being built by Ugra Media. As you can she its coming along nicely and it will add a new dimension to Allied air operations! Next, we have some amazing cutaway shots of the Churchill Mk.IV tank being built by our partners at DigitalForms. The engineering and work they do for Tank Crew models is simply the best in the business. Looking great! They are also working on the Stug III which as you can see is not as complete as the Churchill, but the modeling is just as detailed. Here are a few shots of some sub-assemblies. Finally, we have the Sd. Kfz. 234 which is built by a collection of professional modelers we call Luchin Team. This armored vehicle will be on the Normandy battleground later this summer. Please cheer on our partners as they work to bring some very interesting new toys to your favorite combat simulator – IL-2 Sturmovik! Enjoy! The Sturmovik Team

Dear Friends, Today’s DD features two great, new additions that we think you will be excited about! First, we have in-game pics of the awesome and often overlooked workhorse of the USAAF – the B-26! The B-26 was considered a fast medium bomber and it saw action on all fronts in WWII for the USAAF. It was somewhat tricky to fly and had a not so good reputation in the eyes of early aircrews. Accidents were known to happen quite often. But once in theater the B-26 rose to the occasion and usually bombed tactical targets from lower altitudes than the heavy bombers like the B-17 and B-24. Targets like bridges, airfields, command posts, beaches and railyards are all prime targets for the B-26. The B-26 in Great Battles is the Block 55 model which were numerous in the European theater during the Normandy timeframe and this model also came in both olive drab and natural metal finishes which will add variety to our skins. Our B-26 is an AI controlled plane, like our B-25. However, with the inclusion of the B-26 we can have much more interesting missions and gameplay with some proper Allied level-bombers playing their role. Plus, it is just a beautifully streamlined aircraft that really makes for some great photos! Also, we cannot wait to see what skin artists will do with her. On a personal note, my grandfather served in B-26s during WWII in England and France with the 9th Air Force and seeing the B-26 take flight in Great Battles makes it extra special for me. It's this kind of personal connection to history that makes this job and hobby worth the effort. I addition to the B-26 we have finally begun work on improvements to our controller assignment system. In Rise of Flight, we had a great system for assigning key maps, joystick curves to custom input profiles which could be assigned to individual planes or set as default. The system worked well and was popular. We are now taking the time to add a similar system to Sturmovik and we think you’re going to be very happy with it. I hesitate to show you such early, early draft images, but they demonstrate where we are headed. Also, we are adding the ability to virtually adjust the pitch like we had in ROF, which for WWI crates makes them much more comfortable to fly and increases the fun factor. Enjoy! Jason and The Sturmovik Team

Dear Friends, Today’s Developer Diary showcases our upcoming and awesome Mosquito FB Mk.VI. Isn’t she a beauty? Our “Wooden Wonder” as it was called, is in the later stages of development and we have already completed some of her skins that will be included. Work on her flight model has begun and work on finishing her cockpit continues. We are doing all we can to get her into your hangars just as soon as possible. We know she is a hotly anticipated plane and the wait is difficult, but please have patience, we think she will be worth it! As you know, we frequently re-visit some of our older technology and try to improve it. A recent example is our sky, clouds and lighting, which we still hope to improve further in time. Recently, we finally had some time to re-visit our technology that affects the appearance of our Propeller Disk. Our current prop disk has some issues that we wanted to rectify including how it seems to disappear at certain angles. We also wanted to make its appearance more realistic and dynamic. We think we achieved this and here are a couple screens to help demonstrate. It’s hard to get the whole effect in still images or even a video, but we wanted to make you aware of this development. We think you’ll enjoy it once it’s in-game. Enjoy! The Sturmovik Team

Hello Everyone, A quick update on all that we are working on at the moment. We are preparing version 4.703 for release for middle of next week. Assuming, of course, no last-minute show stoppers arise. Update 4.703 will include three large planes – the JU 88 C-6, Gotha G.V. and Handley Page O/400. This brings some heavier metal to BON and some err… heavier lumber to FC2 I guess you could say. The Gotha, as it was in ROF is a handful to fly. See if you can master it! The Sopwith Tripe is also entering its later stage of development and will be in our next update. 4.703 also includes 40+ smaller tweaks and improvements including items such as: - New sky technology and improvements to lighting. Should see a reduction in overall blue tint. - Improvements to the appearance and lighting of snowy landscapes. - The position of heavenly bodies now depends not only on time and date, but also on geographic coordinates (including when moving around the map). - Quick Mission GUI now includes the ability to set any time of day with clues as to Sunrise, Daylight, Sunset and Night-time scenes. - AI with mixed cannon and machine gun armaments shoot more accurately. - Fix to the landing lights that are visible from far away issue. - Added the Ju-88 C-6 to Stalingrad Career mode with III./KG76 and for the Battle of Kuban 7.(Eis)/KG 51 and 9./KG 55. - Squadron II./JG 3 for Pilot Career Battle of Stalingrad moved from AI to player controllable - Squadron II./KG 76 for pilot career Battle of Moscow and Battle of Stalingrad moved from AI to player controllable. After much research and bug chasing, our engineers discovered clear issues with our modeling of some aspects of the Bf-109 airframe, which in some situations made their performance quite unrealistic. So, we have made some changes to most Bf-109 variants relating to the over-modeling of propeller performance and aerodynamics. Version 4.703 will include the following changes. - On all Bf-109 aircraft (except for the E-7) the aerodynamic characteristics of the propeller have been changed to eliminate the unrealistic behavior of the aircraft in the wake of the propeller and the possibility of "hovering on the propeller". The airframe aerodynamics of these aircraft has also been corrected so that the maximum speed, rate of climb, turn time, and acceleration time better corresponded to the reference values. - On all Bf-109 aircraft (except for the E-7) the effectiveness of the ailerons at high speeds has been changed (increased) (the "clamping" of the ailerons has been reduced at speeds over 400 km/h) The goal was to be more accurate overall, so in some cases speeds may be bit lower at sea level, but higher at rated altitudes and climb-rate may be a bit slower. But in some cases, turns may be quicker, but acceleration a little slower. As usual, we have used a mix of German and Soviet sources to try to get a more accurate picture. Also, Fuel System work has progressed to a late stage and has been in Beta testing, but the Beta testers continue to find issues that need addressing, so work continues. Its very frustrating, but we continue to work on it. And before we sign off for the week, here are a few pics of the Churchill Mk.IV tank being tested and tweaked in our virtual proving grounds. We hope you will like version 4.703. The Sturmovik Team

Hello Everyone, Today’s DD brings us some very cool renders of the Me 410 A-1 cockpit. It’s a very unique cockpit and has been a challenge to build, but it’s looking great now and heading into the final stretch. We continue to work on our next update which we hope will be next week. It will be a good one with the new sky and new airplanes like the Ju 88 C-6, Gotha G.V. and we think possibly the Handley Page O/400. Me 410 A-1 Cockpit in Development And our colleague =DED= Rapidus just handed me a link to a short video of our new sky and Ju 88 C-6 in action that he filmed while testing the Beta. You may want to check out. Has some funky beats. 🙂 *Any artifacts are caused by YouTube compression. Enjoy. The Sturmovik Team

Dear Friends, Once again, we are reminded that real-life is much more important than a video game or flight simulation. We pray for the safety and well-being of all our friends, family and associates no matter where they are during this difficult time. We are an international team and an apolitical organization and we wish to remain so. We ask that you help us keep our forum and other properties civil as world events unfold. We are operating as usual; development continues and we expect to continue to do so. For today’s DD we have new, never before seen pics of the Arado AR 234 cockpit under development. We also have some shots of the Bedford truck and fuel tanker. And finally, we have an image of our USAAF bomber pilots with different helmets. Please enjoy. The Sturmovik Team

Hello Everyone! Today’s Developer Diary has just one task. To show you the mighty Ju 88 C-6 in the engine and decimating targets with her awesome firepower. Don’t get caught in her gunsight because she can unleash a hellish barrage or bullets, cannon fire or bombs! A couple of these heavy hitters can wreck a convoy or an airfield in no time. These images also include our New Sky which is nearing readiness for release soon. You’ll notice it looks not only more beautiful, but more realistic with no banding in low light conditions. The new sky when coupled with the new clouds and some new adjustments to the lighting, combines to make a beautiful scene! We’ve also added the ability to set the time to the exact hour and minute you want in the Quick Missions GUI so it will be much easier to fly during your favorite time of day. Enjoy! The Sturmovik Team

Hello Everyone! Today we bring you some news from the Great War! We are nearing completion of the final trio of Flying Circus- Vol. II aircraft. The Gotha G.V., Handley-Page O/400 and Sopwith Triplane are coming along nicely. The Gotha G.V. will be released in our next update, which we hope will be by the end of this month. The HP O/400 and Tripe will be in a March update. The Western Front map for FC2/3 is also being worked on by Ugra Media, but it is not ready to be shown yet and will likely take more time to complete that we originally planned unfortunately. A clear estimate on its arrival is not possible at the moment, but will update you as soon as we get a better handle on it. Map making is a slow process in general. In some WWII news we have created new USAAF bomber crewmembers for our B-26 to man the gun stations. The work by Alexey is top notch as usual. We have also made more progress on our new sky technology and are currently working to put it into Beta soon. Next week we plan to update our Astro-dome (stars and planets) to be more accurate depending on the latitude of the map. This is a small, but interesting improvement to make our physical world a little more accurate. Work on our remaining Battle of Normandy aircraft continues. As I have mentioned previously, moderate delays have befallen these birds during the pandemic, but work continues and we hope to start showing you more of them in upcoming DDs. However, the Ju-88 C-6 should be ready for Beta testing soon and be included in our next update (provided testing goes well). We are finalizing our skins for it and getting ready to roll her out. We hope to have updated pics for you next week of the beastly Ju-88 C-6. It appears the world is finally ready to move on from the pandemic and we hope this means life will get back to normal. Of course, humanity will find a way to struggle to even get back to normal, such is our nature it seems. However, the long-term disruption to daily life, families, education, travel, medicine, governments and business norms that this pandemic has caused will be felt for years to come. In the face of all this disruption, we want to say THANK YOU to all who have supported us during the last couple years as we have struggled to maintain a steady flow of content and improvements for the Great Battles series. We can never thank you enough and we will continue to work hard for you. Enjoy! The Sturmovik Team

Hello P-51 Lovers! We know you’ve been waiting patiently to see more of the P-51B, so today we show you what it looks like both inside and out! This new ‘Pony’ should be ready by the end of this month. It’s the Holiday Season and a time for giving, so there will likely be two updates in December! One with the new clouds and the DFWC.V and the other with the P-51B and maybe, just maybe new fuel systems and drop tanks for several Bf-109 variants. Of course, plans are subject to change pending testing. And as mentioned previously the Malcolm Hood has taken extra work to get it right, so that component is not ready to be shown yet. Without further delay… Enjoy! The Sturmovik Team