Developer Diary #304 - Pics of Gotha G.V., New Runways and C9/B + 40mm Bofors!
DD 304
Attention Pilots!
Our first Developer Diary of 2022 is here and it includes our first of two heavy bombers that are coming to FC2 – the mighty Gotha C.V. is up and flying! She’s a big bird that terrorized its enemies and foretold the future of heavy bombing in later conflicts. She’s a pusher design that is not so easy to fly, but in the right hands is an effective bomber. Load her up with your friends and multiplayer sorties become a whole new experience! We think you’ll like her and she’s coming soon to Flying Circus – Vol. II. The Handley-Page O/400 is also being worked on along with the Sopwith Triplane.
In Normandy news, we are developing some new and varied runway surfaces for our airfields and tweaking some existing ones. There were quite a few different types of surfaces used in this theater. Everything from asphalt to steel to wood chips mixed together with tar were utilized to build runways and taxiways. These pics are early WIP so may change before final, but we thought they are interesting to show you what’s in the works.
And we are also adding the British C9/B with 40mm Bofors to the BON vehicle collection. She’s looking nice.
We continue to push to finish BON and FC2 and so many things are being worked on at the moment. Several twin-engine planes, two collector tanks, two big maps (Normandy and Western Front) and new GUI features are in development along with some small, but welcome improvements like adjusting Navigation Lights to more realistic visibility. The new Fuel Systems modeling is also finally coming back to beta along with drop tanks for several 109s as a start. We’re also taking a look at some other FM related issues like propeller modeling where some old issues exist. We continue to research how to improve our sky even further, not to mention the continued implementation of Tactical Codes and Dynamic Visual Damage to all our airplanes. Career mode development for Normandy is also under way and Flying Circus Career work will begin just as soon the new map has enough of it ready. And I almost forgot, Alex has built a new Spit XIV Scripted Campaign for the Rhineland map called His Majesty's Griffons. It will be free to all who own both BOBP and BON and will be in the next update. So, 2022 is off to a very busy start and it will be a huge year for the Great Battles series!
Update 4.702 is Released - P-51B-5 and FC1 Campaigns and other improvements!
Update 4.702
Dear Friends,
We're glad to report that the work on 4.702 update is finished and it is released. It doesn't contain as many changes as the previous one, but it does bring the long-awaited P-51B-5 fighter for the Battle of Normandy! It took a very long time, but there were some reasons for this - namely the long list of its modifications. It has three different gunsights(!), two canopies - standard and Malcolm Hood where the moving part of the canopy is a single spherical shaped piece of plexiglass. This aircraft is also the first to have flexible bomb loadouts depending on the country (please note that for this feature to work you should select the aircraft skin of a country you want before generating a quick mission and not after that on the hangar screen). Of course, it also uses the new DVD damage visualization system and dynamic tactical codes.
Note: This P-51B-5 is only available as flyable for Early Access customers of Battle of Normandy. BON will be made available on Steam just as soon as it’s completed. If you are not an Early Access customer of Battle of Normandy, the P-51B-5 is available as an AI controlled opponent or wingman in all modes of gameplay.
Along with P-51B, we have a late Christmas gift for the owners of Flying Circus Vol.I - two new free campaigns Gallant Green featuring the British S.E.5a and Red Knights featuring the German Albatros D.V. There are also 10 new single-player missions showcasing all the birds of Vol.I. They were created by our friend Jaegermeister. A big THANK YOU to him for creating them. Enjoy!
As usual, there are many other improvements and additions aimed at increasing the sim quality you can see in the list below. IL-2 Sturmovik team wishes you a Happy New Year, all the best and for your dreams to be fulfilled!
4.702 1. The P-51B-5 fighter is now available for all Early Access customers of Battle of Normandy; 2. The new free campaign "Gallant Green" (S.E.5a) was added for all Flying Circus Vol.I owners; 3. The new free campaign "Red Knights" (Albatros DVa) was added for all Flying Circus Vol.I. owners; 4. 10 single missions showcasing Flying Circus Vol.I aircraft were added; 5. Visual pixelization and shimmering of medium and low-density clouds at medium and far distances was minimized. Note: Radeon users may experience some minor artifacts or visual anomalies due to this change. We are working to fix this, but the solution may take until next update as we need to discuss with AMD. 6. Radio compasses of all German planes except Ju 52 were retouched (Oyster_KAI); 7. Seats and throttle controls of all Messerschmitts were redrawn (Oyster_KAI); 8. P-51D panel lettering improved (Oyster_KAI); 9. Detail of the sight cap on all Spitfires improved (Oyster_KAI); 10. All Fw 190 A8 paint schemes, including the default, were redrawn (Martin =ICDP= Catney) 11. All Bf 109 G6 Late paint-schemes, including the default, were redrawn (Martin =ICDP= Catney); 12. All Bf 109 G14 paint-schemes, including the default, were redrawn (Martin =ICDP= Catney); 13. All Bf 109 K4 paint schemes, including the default, were redrawn (Martin =ICDP= Catney); 14. All Me 262 paint schemes, including the default, were redrawn (Martin =ICDP= Catney); 15. All P-47D-22 paint schemes, including the default, were redrawn (Martin =ICDP= Catney); 16. All P-47D-28 paint -schemes, including the default, were redrawn (Martin =ICDP= Catney); 17. Fixed number of rounds for KV-1 tank when there are two ammo types with one prevailing type; 18. Tracers and navigation lights are not visible through clouds; 19. New effects of fires of aircraft engines and fuel tanks created; 20. Fixed misalignment of machine gun and automatic gun bursts on detailed ground vehicles; 21. Fixed an issue that caused large planes at a distance of more than 10km to be invisible in binoculars; 22. Morning/evening fog is now visible at different haze settings, not only the maximum one; 23. Low visibility z-fighting of the morning fog has been eliminated; 24. Reduced "blockiness" of cloud shadows on the surface; 25. The influence of launch tubes, transport containers and paratroopers on total aircraft mass was restored; 26. The old issue where the propeller was visible through the light halo of the cockpit light bulb is gone thanks to improved technology; 27. Fixed an issue where the formation lights toggle switches on American fighters were not animated when the engine was turned off; 28. Added parameter for VR: render_eye = 0 [-1, 0, 1] to startup.cfg. If set it to -1, only the left eye camera will be shown on the monitor in VR mode, and only the right eye view if set to 1. If set to 0 it shows both eyes. 29. HUD appears faster on mission start; 30. Fixed problem with the direction of MLRS rockets in a multiplayer game; 31. Restored functionality of fixed cameras (LAlt+2) in multiplayer (both Cooperative and Dogfight modes) when starting the server from within the game with spectators allowed (difficulty option Allow Spectators).
See you on the battlefield and in the skies!
Happy New Year everyone!
The Sturmovik Team
ANNUAL WINTER (CHRISTMAS) SALE IS ON! 30% - 85% OFF SELECT ITEMS!
Attention ALL Pilots and Tankers!
If you are dreaming about epic dogfights after you eat your Christmas ham or turkey this year, you’ll be happy to know we have launched our Annual Winter (Christmas) Sale! As usual we are offering HUGE discounts on all your favorite Sturmovik titles and content. And remember you can buy and send Sturmovik titles as Gifts to all your wingmates, friends and family! They always make the BEST Christmas gifts!
The Sturmovik Team wishes a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to ALL our friends and supporters around the world during this Holiday Season. As 2021 comes to a close we reflect on what a challenging year it was and how it pushed the team to its limit in ways never dreamed of. We hope the pandemic and all it’s inconveniences and distractions will finally subside in 2022 so we can make even more amazing content and features for Sturmovik with less difficulty. We hope you and your family stay healthy and safe through the holidays this year and let’s say a hardy CHEERS to an amazing 2022!!
The Annual Autumn Sale runs from 10:00am PST Nov. 4th to 10:00am PST Dec. 1st right here on STEAM.
GAZ-MM 72-K - 40% Off Sd.Kfz. 10/5 Flak 38- 40% Off
BOS – 85% Off BOM – 75% Off BOK – 75% Off BOBP – 75% Off FC1 – 66% Off Tank Crew - 50% Off
Hurricane Mk.II - 50% Off Yak-9 – 66% Off Yak-9T – 66% Off Fw-190 D-9 – 75% Off P-38 J-15 – 75% Off U-2VS -75% Off Ju-52/3M – 75% Off Bf-109 G-6 – 75% Off Yak-1B – 75% Off Spitfire Mk. VB – 75 % Off LA-5FN – 75% Off HS-129 B-2 – 85% Off P-40E-1 – 85% Off Macchi MC.202 – 85% Off Fw-190 A-3 – 85% Off LA-5 Series 8 – 85% Off
Ice Ring – 66% Off Blazing Steppe – 75% Off Fortress on the Volga – 75% Off
Developer Diary #303 - New pics of P-51B, BON Vehicles and USAAF Bomber Crewman!
303
Dear Pilots!
Happy Holidays to everyone in the IL-2 Sturmovik community! May it be filled with good health, family, friends and lots of time to play your favorite virtual air combat simulation!
Today’s Developer Diary is a showcase of the beautiful P-51B which we are working very hard to finish for you by the end of the month. Just some minor bugs are left along with still finishing the tricky Malcolm Hood.
We also have some shots of some new combat vehicles for you to check out like the M8 Greyhound and Universal “Bren Gun” Carrier Mk. II. And we have a new good looking USAAF bomber crewman model to show you. The fur sure looks look warm!
We’re working as hard as we can to end this challenging 2021 strong so wish us luck as we battle to get things done!
Enjoy!
The Sturmovik Team
Update 4.701 is Released - New Clouds, DFW.C.V. and much more!
Update 4.701
Hello Everyone!
Today is a Big Day for our project and our community - update 4.701 is now available! And with it comes a new game world technology – cloud rendering based on hypertextures. This technology, in comparison with the previous one, carries a number of improvements, such as:
Increased variety of cloud cover;
A new level of scale of cloud formations;
Higher level (macro level) of cloud structures;
Greater realism of structures and forms of cloud formations;
Improved lighting model of clouds, and objects under and in the clouds;
Diverse structure of overcast clouds (including "windows" and cloudless areas);
Localization of precipitation under significant cloud formations and, as a consequence, localization of precipitation on the map;
New visualization of precipitation at a distance;
New rainfall lighting model;
Lack of repeatability of the cloud distribution map on the scale of the game map;
Reduced number of "compromise" solutions such as "object outlines" "mountain intersection aliasing", etc.;
Increased performance of the graphics subsystem.
The mission format was changed, so third-party missions and campaigns need to be re-saved using Mission Editor or Mission Re-saver utility. Old track records can be played by deleting the .msnbin file from their folder. We have taken great care in mimicking the current cloud selection options for mission builders, so all your older missions are technically compatible with the new clouds. However, the clouds will look quite different and you may need to adjust your mission design to get the desired result. The new clouds are much larger on average than the current ones so visuals will be quite a bit different. We apologize if the new clouds inconveniences any mission makers. We hope that the improvements outweigh any problems and we also hope to add some additional cloud patterns in the coming months.
Overall, we hope the new clouds will significantly increase the visual realism of our simulator, as well as bring a new greater simming and gaming experience.
Another great addition in this update is for Flying Circus – Vol. II. Included is the versatile two-seater - the German DFW C.V. It was the most common aircraft of this type on the German side from 1917 until the end of the First World War. This small aircraft is capable of carrying up to 200 kilograms of 12- and 50-kilogram bombs. Additionally, it is armed with a Spandau machine gun and a defensive Parabellum. Various modifications are provided for the installation of a camera, radio, defensive turret with a Parabellum coaxial machine gun or a Becker 20mm automatic cannon. The placement of the Benz Bz.IV engine is a peculiar one, in which the pilot has significant difficulties in looking ahead. However, this motor is quite powerful at 200hp. Quite an accomplishment in 1917.
Note: The DFW.C.V. armed recon plane will be flyable for Steam users as part of Flying Circus - Volume II DLC which will be released on Steam as soon as it's completed in a few more months.
In addition, this update brings a long-awaited development goal - all planes are converted to 4K skins texturing. This was done in coordination with a few super dedicated community members! The last aircraft to be converted from 2K to 4K texturing in update 4.701 is the Yak-1b series 127. In addition, the Battle of Normandy development plan is moving along, and in this update, all map building objects planned for Normandy are available in the Mission Editor. Also in 4.701, all ground vehicles, which were planned for the Flying Circus – Vol. II were added to the project. Finally, there are many other changes and improvements, a complete list of which you can find below:
Main Features
1. DFW C.V airplane is now available for all customers who pre-ordered Flying Circus Vol. II; 2. The new hypertexturing cloud technology added to the sim; 3. Yak-1b fighter has external 4K texturing done by Martin = ICDP = Catney; 4. Visual shot effect improved for all guns in the game; 5. New fuel tank explosion visual effects created: different for WWI and WWII era aircraft and for ground and in-flight explosions; 6. Wind direction can be chosen in Quick Mission; 7. Morning/evening fog can now be selected with any weather subtype in Quick Mission; 8. Precipitation strength can now be set separately from the cloud type in Quick Mission; 9. Cloud types have informative names in the Quick Mission weather panel; 10. Fw 190 A3, A5 and A6 aircraft paint schemes updated (Martin = ICDP = Catney); 11. P-39L paint schemes updated (Martin = ICDP = Catney);
New objects for Battle of Normandy
12. European farmsteads “town_eu_small”; 13. English city blocks "town_gb_block"; 14. Temporary Mulberry harbor objects "mlbr_bridge", "mlbr_pierhead", "mlbr_phoenix", "mlbr_phoenix"; 15. Radar stations Chain Home Low, Chain Home RX, Chain Home TX, FuMG-401 Freya LZ-A, FuMG 41/42 Mammut; 16. V-1 launch site structures (the missile itself is still in development); 17. A short section ramps for railway and road bridges "br_rw_ramphish_dn" and "br_rd_ramphish_dn"; 18. A reverse arch for the automobile bridges "br_rw_invarch"; 19. Pier object “port_n_walkingpier”; 20. Hangars, barracks and shelters “arf_n_hangarb1”, “arf_n_hangarblister”, “arf_n_hangart2” (open and closed), “arf_n_nissenhut” (in blocks one, two and three barracks), “arf_n_hangarb1”; 21. Objects updated: airfield hangars “arf_hangars_1”, “arf_hangars_2”, “arf_hangars_3”; 22. Objects updated: "arf_caponiers_13_h_1" and "arf_caponiers_14_h_1"; 23. Coastal barriers ("hedgehogs", etc.) "bf_n_barrageat", "bf_n_barragebg", "bf_n_barragelog"; 24. Defenses “bf_n_mgpos”, “bf_n_aaposmid”, “bf_n_aaposheavy”, “bf_n_artpos”, “bf_n_comandpost”, “bf_n_pbunker” (as well as static artillery of the German coastline defense): 25. Unique landmarks: Ardennes Abbey, Caen Castle, Falaise Castle, Evreux Cathedral, Cherbourg Fort, Moncton Fort, Portsmouth Hospital, Stonehenge, Winchester Prison; 26. German long-range artillery concrete positions R669 (155 mm) and R683 (210 mm); 27. British armored car Humber Mk.IV;
New objects for Flying Circus Vol. II
28. Renault FT tank; 29. Schneider CA 1 tank; 30. Mark V (female) tank; 31. The open version of Leyland 3 Ton truck; 32. The open and ambulance versions of Daimler DR4 truck; 33. The open and mobile AA searchlight versions of Benz LKW 1912 truck; 34. The open, ambulance and mobile AA searchlight versions of Jeffery Quad truck; 35. The German AA 37 mm automatic gun Maxim Flak M14;
Aircraft Changes
36. P-51D-15 engine model was fine-tuned and its speeds increased slightly (by about 5-8 miles per hour with a boost of 67 inches) as the result; 37. P-51D-15 handling at high speeds was improved. Controls are a little less stiff within the envelope; 38. P-51D-15 behavior at high Mach numbers was tweaked, Shaking and loss of control at the edge of envelope more severe; More likely to suffer airframe damage if trim used too liberally at high Mach. 39. P-51D-15 autopilot has been improved - the level flight assist more accurately maintains the altitude with different amounts of fuel remaining; 40. The excessive water spattering on the P-51D-15 canopy during the rain has been reduced; 41. Fixed shaking of both SPAD VII.C1 150 hp and 180 hp in the absence of a control signal at high (but lower than buffeting) speeds; 42. The issue of the absence of US pilots in B-25 and A-20 aircraft during Winter has been fixed; 43. The texture of the smoke generators in the hangar was corrected; 44. Fixed the "lagging" of the ammo explosion effect from the aircraft; 45. Reduced the likelihood of cases when a high-speed frontal collision won’t cause aircraft destruction; 46. Ju 87 D-3 brake flaps won’t visually disappear at a distance; 47. The AI pilots try to not hit allies in the line of fire (functionality restored); 48. Fuel tanks and aircraft structure are correctly damaged by AP projectiles fired by simple (non-detailed) AI-controlled objects; 49. Fokker D.VIII: the anemometer is correctly visible from the cockpit;
Ground Vehicle Changes
50. KV-1s and T-34 mod. 43: the interior visual model of the gun in the mantle area has been improved; 51. KV-1s machine gun ammunition corrected (coaxial MG 25 magazines, rear MG 9 magazines, bow MG 15 magazines); 52. The overestimated combat survivability of guns, guidance mechanisms, electrical systems and radio stations has been reduced on all tanks, both detailed and simple. Tank guns can be disabled by an AP round hit of a similar caliber or multiple hits of .50 and larger caliber AP bullets; 53. MG firing sound correctly stops when a detailed tank is destroyed; 54. AI-controlled tank and aircraft turret MGs sounds corrected; 55. Some AI-controlled tanks and AFVs will fire their coaxial MGs (Humber, SdKfz-222); 56. A game and dedicated server crash bug that could happen randomly in multiplayer missions with A LOT of ground vehicles has been found and fixed;
Career and Quick Mission Changes
57. In Сareer mode the UK and US crews have the correct crew visual models and paint schemes depending on their country; 58. Random encounters with high-altitude interceptors (including Me 262) added to AQMG; 59. In AQMG, the behavior of AI bombers in Intercept Bombers type missions has been changed (they may panic, drop the bombs and run away when the flight leader is shot down); 60. UK and US callsigns of ground observation posts have been corrected in AQMG; 61. Correct paint schemes are assigned to aircraft covering the airfield in Attack Airfield type missions in AQMG; 62. The cruise speed of P-47D-22 and P-47D-28 in Career mode missions is adjusted to the historical 250 mph; 63. Two previously AI-only squadrons in the Career mode on the Rhineland map can be joined by the player: No. 322 (Dutch) Squadron RAF and No. 329 (Free French) Squadron RAF. 64. The redeployment mission from Migalovo to Dugino on 22.10.1941 for the German II./LG 2 squadron (Bf 109 E-7) has been restored;
Mission Editor Changes
65. Location of the toolbars are saved correctly, system toolbars and sections are removed; 66. It is now possible to set a block of buildings state to ‘destroyed’ by not entering all the individual IDs of the blocks, but only one ID = -1 with a damage level of 1. This should greatly save time for adding a destroyed block of buildings, reduce the size of missions created, mission loading time, and slightly increase performance. 67. Setting the value of block damage with ID = -1 between 0.1 and 0.9 will result in random destruction of the corresponding percentage of buildings in the block (the fewer buildings are in the block the more random it becomes). The random destruction of specific buildings is tied to the coordinates of the block on the map.
See you in the sky and among the (new) clouds!
The Sturmovik Team!
Developer Diary #302 - P-51B Cockpit and External Pics!
302
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
Developer Diary #301 - DFWC.V Shots and New 4K Skins for Yak-1B Incoming!
301
Hello Friends!
We have a short DD for you today that features the DFW C.V for Flying Circus Vol. II and new 4K skins for our old friend the Yak-1b which were crafted once again by our partner Martin “ICDP” Catney. The Yak-1b completes our initial goal of bringing all aircraft and tank skins and templates up to the 4K standard. It took several years, but what an accomplishment!! Thanks again to Martin, Francisco (BlackHellhound1) and Marcus (Raptorattacker) for helping make this all possible!
DFWCV
Yak-1b 4K Skins
The DFW C.V and the Yak-1b 4K skins will be in the upcoming 4.701 update later in December. Which we pray to all mighty Jesus, Allah, Buddha, Yahweh, Zeus, Lucifer, Cthulhu, Thanos, General Zod or whatever powerful deity controls its fate, please give us the strength to finish the P-51B so we can include it in update 4.701!
Enjoy!
The Sturmovik Team
ANNUAL AUTUMN SALE IS ON! 30% - 85% OFF SELECT ITEMS!
Attention ALL Pilots and Tankers!
It's time for the annual Autumn Sale! There are no supply chain issues with IL-2 Sturmovik: Great Battles! All is ready for immediate purchase and play!!
The Annual Autumn Sale runs from 10:00am PST Nov. 4th to 10:00am PST Dec. 1st right here on STEAM.
GAZ-MM 72-K - 30% Off Sd.Kfz. 10/5 Flak 38- 30% Off
BOS – 85% Off BOM – 75% Off BOK – 75% Off BOBP – 66% Off FC1 – 66% Off Tank Crew - 50% Off
Hurricane Mk.II - 50% Off Yak-9 – 66% Off Yak-9T – 66% Off Fw-190 D-9 – 66% Off P-38 J-15 – 66% Off U-2VS -75% Off Ju-52/3M – 75% Off Bf-109 G-6 – 75% Off Yak-1B – 75% Off Spitfire Mk. VB – 75 % Off LA-5FN – 75% Off HS-129 B-2 – 85% Off P-40E-1 – 85% Off Macchi MC.202 – 85% Off Fw-190 A-3 – 85% Off LA-5 Series 8 – 85% Off
Ice Ring – 66% Off Blazing Steppe – 75% Off Fortress on the Volga – 75% Off
Developer Diary #300 - WIP Pics of C-47 Cockpit and IAR-80/81 Collector Planes!
DD 300
Dear Friends,
Welcome to a rare Monday edition that is our 300th Developer Diary which happens to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the release of the original IL-2 Sturmovik for the PC! Two decades on and IL-2 products are still going strong! Simply amazing!
We know you would like this to be a super special diary today, but for us, it’s just another busy week at work trying to finish our projects. Please don’t think that we are not proud of this milestone, because we are, but there is just so much to do and we need to stay on task! However, we hope that there will be 300 more DDs and 20 more years of Sturmovik products to come!
We also realize that we could not have gotten this far without the financial support of our customers and those dedicated people in our community that help us make Sturmovik week after week. We salute anyone and everyone who has contributed to the Great Battles series over the years either as an unpaid volunteer or professional partner. From painting skins to developing apps, making missions to beta testing, 3D modeling to historical to research, localization of text to voice acting and on and on, this 300th Developer Diary is dedicated to you guys! THANK YOU!
No DD is complete without some news and images about current projects and today’s is no exception. Both of these projects have been undertaken by third-party partners – the C-47 cockpit is being built by Ugra Media and the IAR-80/81 is being built by our partner Ivan. Both of these models have been shown before and they have progressed since we last showed them, even if their appearance is not drastically different from before. There is lots of work being done to keep the poly budgets under control and make the model not only beautiful, but also efficient. This is always a big challenge for anyone who makes models for us.
The cold November is here already and we continue working on our projects. An important milestone for the Battle of Normandy is getting near - its map will be ready to a degree that will allow us to begin the development of Pilot's Career for this theater (meaning that settlements, airfields, roads, rivers and forests will be there). It will be too early to share the screenshots of the map itself at this point since the work on its visual part - texturing and finalizing landscape features, coast and additional detail - happens at the last stage of development according to our workflow. Nevertheless, this stage is not very far away either, since the map overall progresses according to the plan. Speaking of the map, we can say that creation of map objects is finished, including the new city blocks characteristic for Britain, coastal defenses, radar stations, farmsteads for rural areas and, of course, unique landmarks. For creating believable airfields, certain additional airfield objects were created which are characteristic of this theater of war.
The work on various naval and ground units for BoN continues - there are several ship types that participated in the landing, including landing craft and radar-equipped ones, and several vehicles like this British armored car Humber Mk.IV, which is ready for deployment.
The German heavy fighter Ju 88 C-6 and the legendary US fighter P-51B-5 are getting close to release. Progress on the P-51B has been frustratingly slow with several technical delays due to research and software issues. Anyway, it's Flight Model 99% done and only Malcolm Hood visual is on the finish line of production. Please be patient the early Pony will get here we promise! Arado 234, Mosquito FB MK.VI and Me 410 are at earlier stages of development, but they are progressing according to the general plan. In the meantime, the work on the new fuel system is nearly finished and it will make its debut on Bf 109 fighters. As soon as it is ready we'll apply it to all the aircraft of the sim. This new tech will make the fuel system modeling more realistic, damageable in more detail and pilot interfacing with it will be recreated with more fine details. With this new technology up and running, we plan to switch to the development of the launch, guidance and warhead functioning of the V-1 vengeance weapon - its FM and 3D model, including the launch site, are already ready.
There is good progress in Flying Circus Vol. II project is well. The German two-seater recon/strike airplane DFW C.V is the closest one for the release - at the moment its 3D model is nearly finished while its FM is in the works - and we plan to have it in the next update already. Sopwith Triplane should be also released before the end of the year as well as the British heavy bomber Handley Page O/400. Early next year we'll have to finish German bomber Gotha G.V, Western Front map, and two Collector Planes, late WWI fighters.
In addition, there is a lot of WWI-era ground vehicles incoming - for instance, in the next update, we plan to release Jeffery Quad, Benz LKW 1912 and Daimler DR4 in several modifications and tanks - Mark V female, Reno FT and Schneider CA 1. WWI aviators will find their life slightly more complicated due to the addition of the German 37mm automatic AA gun Maxim Flak M14.
All the things listed above are just a fraction of what we and our partners are working on at the moment, so please stay tuned - we'll be able to tell you more about the other development streams in our next Dev Diaries.
