Developer Diary #321 - ME 410 A-1 and Normandy Airfield Pics!
321
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
ANNUAL SUMMER SALE IS ON! SAVE 50% - 85% OFF SELECT ITEMS! FILL UP YOUR HANGAR!
Attention ALL Pilots and Tankers!
The ANNUAL SUMMER SALE has launched!! There is nothing more beautiful than the virtual skies in the summertime!
The SUMMER KICK-OFF SALE runs from 10:00am PST June 23rd to 10:00am PST July 7th right here on STEAM.
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BOS – 85% Off BOM – 75% Off BOK – 75% Off BOBP – 75% Off FC1 – 66% Off Tank Crew - 66% Off
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Ice Ring – 66% Off Blazing Steppe – 75% Off Fortress on the Volga – 75% Off
Developer Diary #320 - Images of Normandy Map Cliffs
DD 320
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
Update 4.705 is Released! - Mosquito FB Mk.VI Added to Battle of Normandy!
Update 4.705
Dear Friends,
We just released the 4.705 update that contains one of the most awaited aircraft of the Battle of Normandy lineup - the British twin engine fighter/bomber De Havilland Mosquito F.B. Mk.VI series.2. This plane is very interesting - its speedy, and powerful while carrying an entire arsenal of guns, bombs and rockets.She's capable of retaining its speed even with a bomb load thanks to the internal bomb bay making her more streamlined. Moreover, there is a modification called "Tse-Tse" with a 57mm(!) Molins automatic gun that had nearly the same capabilities as the 6 pdr gun installed on Churchill tanks. This big gun was intended for attacking submarines, but in skilled hands it might kill a tank. This aircraft looks remarkable both inside and out and we did our best to show it in our 3D model. Of course, the flight model is as accurate as possible too, representing its handling peculiarities.
NOTE: The Mosquito will become flyable to Steam users as soon as Battle of Normandy is released on Steam later this Summer. For now anyone who has any other Great Battles title will see the Mosquito as an AI opponent or wing-mate
In addition to the new aircraft there are many other changes in 4.705 update:
Main Features
British twin engine fighter/bomber De Havilland Mosquito F.B. Mk.VI series.2 is available to all Battle of Normandy owners; Balloons now have tethers which you can collide with and ruin a pilot;s day. They can also be towed by ships and vehicles;
Quad and Daimler DR.4 balloon winches added for Flying Circus (for mission designers: a balloon will tether to a truck or ship with a winch that is closer than 50 m on mission start);
Fire effect of collapsed buildings now shows on ground level (it could show in the air before);
Building collapse effect has been improved and better corresponds to it size;
Ships and Vehicles
Ship turrets no longer can damage their own ship;
Firing arcs of the ship turrets located near the superstructure were corrected (widened);
AI SPG gunners will correctly fire at the new indirect coordinates (previously they fired additional round at the previous coordinates);
Mission command Formation - Backwards correctly functions for wheeled vehicles;
Dust effect in non-rainy weather works correctly for detailed vehicles;
The driver of a detailed SPAA won't be erroneously shown as dead in the GUI when other crew members are killed;
Instrument Panel difficulty setting functions correctly for detailed tanks: on Expert or Custom difficulty with the panel switched off only the ammo and damage overlay (invoked by Enter key) will be shown;
Aircraft
AI pilots will cease firing at ground targets faster when pulling up;
AI pilots will correctly acknowledge the emergency bomb jettison (previously they could erroneously begin the attack run even having no bombs anymore);
Rear-upper Handley-Page O/400 turret gunner will engage the targets correctly;
An issue has been fixed in the Gotha G.V and Handley-Page O/400 pilot AI that could result in the plane crash or endless circling when doing a climbing spiral;
A Spitfire Mk.XIV issue that could cause additional wing guns to be shown has been fixed;
Tempest and Typhoon gun sights were corrected (vertical position of the horizontal line projected on the windshield);
Control mapping dialog text has been updated for the main throttle and separate throttle axes for three engines;
Stability Improvements
The sim won't crash when trying to repair a burning aircraft;
The sim won't randomly crash on mission start or end or adjusting responsiveness curves of Microsoft Force Feedback 2 joystick;
Hopefully, the old issue of TrackIR causing stutters when used together with Microsoft Force Feedback 2 joystick should be gone;
Aircraft crew members are correctly rendered after mission restart (previously they could render visibly outside of the aircraft if they were killed in the previous mission run).
We hope you enjoy!
The Sturmovik Team
SUMMER KICK-OFF SALE IS LIVE! SAVE 50% - 85% OFF SELECT GREAT BATTLES TITLES!
Attention ALL Pilots and Tankers!
The SUMMER KICK-OFF SALE has launched!! Time to go for a Summer joyride in a piston powered monster!
The SUMMER KICK-OFF SALE runs from 10:00am PST May 27th to 10:00am PST June 10th right here on STEAM.
GAZ-MM 72-K - 50% Off Sd.Kfz. 10/5 Flak 38- 50% Off
BOS – 85% Off BOM – 75% Off BOK – 75% Off BOBP – 75% Off FC1 – 66% Off Tank Crew - 66% Off
Hurricane Mk.II - 66% 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 #319 - Normandy Map Pics, V-1 Launch Site and Beach Landing!
319
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
Developer Diary #318 - Pics of AR-234, IAR-80/81 cockpit and Barrage Balloons!
DD 318
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
Developer Diary #316 - WIP Pics of Sopwith Snipe and Siemens-Schuckert
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!
Developer Diary #315 - WIP Pics of C-47 cockpit, Churchill Mk.IV, Stug III
315
Dear Pilots,
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
Version 4.704 Released - Sopwith Triplane Added and Other Improvements!
Update 4.704
The Sturmovik Team and Ugra-Media have completed the Sopwith Triplane which is the final aircraft planned for Flying Circus Vol.II. The new Western Front map is still in development.
The "Tripe" as it was famously called, has three beautiful wings! Each wing has its own ailerons making it quite maneuverable in battle with enough armament to allow its pilots to be confident in a dogfight with any adversary of the era. We think you will enjoy her!
In addition to the new aircraft there are many changes and additions in this update that will improve your gameplay experience:
4.704 1. Sopwith Triplane is available as flyable to all owners of Flying Circus Vol.II; 2. Distant buildings visualization system has been improved; single medium sized buildings that are viable targets are displayed from farther away; 3. Shadows rendering in the hangar is more detailed; 4. Tank gun firing visual effects are further improved; 5. Fire effects are improved for various vehicle types; 6. Additional optimization of the landscape rendering system reduced the potential stutters while moving on the map; 7. Loading times of larger maps were improved a bit; 8. Sensitivity settings for the pitch axis, the vertical guidance axis of the tank turret and other similar axes, the direction of the axis position indicator and its caption have been improved; 9. Adjusting the axes control settings was made clearer thanks to better dead zone visualization; 10. Second and third engine axes response settings have corrected labels; 11. GUI instrument panel turns off after bailing out; 12. A rare GUI issue that sometimes could lead to generating a Quick Mission Builder scenario without a player flight if the player flight count has been set to random has been fixed; 13. Balloons now have markers like aircraft do; 14. Bombs dropped from a bomb bay backwards (tails first) won't visibly jerk along their axis; 15. Simple ground vehicles and ships will correctly engage the targets assigned by MCU_CMD_AttackTarget command with High priority; 16. Square visual artifacts on the water surface that were visible from high altitude at certain sun position won't appear on Rhineland map anymore; 17. AI pilots will switch off their navigation lights when engaged by the enemy during the landing; 18. All German gauges have been redrawn to be as historically accurate as possible. Different gauges are assigned to each model variant (Oyster_KAI); 19. Colors of all German interior equipment/placard have been checked and repainted to their correct color or design (Oyster_KAI); 20. New different throttle quadrant markings & pitch control switch for Bf-109 F/G/K. 21. New drop tank placard & oil cooler placard for Bf-109 E-7 (Oyster_KAI); 22. New headrest for Bf-109G6 (Oyster_KAI); 23. New details for He-111s (Oyster_KAI); 24. New rudder pedal belt texture for all German planes (Oyster_KAI); 25. In the Me-262 exterior view, the 2 pixelated circular holes behind the seats have been redrawn (Oyster_KAI); 26. Added circuit breaker markings on the instrument panel for Bf-109s, Fw-190s, and the Me-262 (Oyster_KAI); 27. Added screws for the Fw-190A's left & right canopy frame (Oyster_KAI); 28. Bf-110s, M.C202, and P-51D external views now have visible instrument reflections (Oyster_KAI); 29. P-51D placards won't glow at night (Oyster_KAI); 30. Scrollbar in the aircraft selection menu in Dogfight won't overlap with the aircraft images 31. A minor issue in the tactical number selection menu has been fixed; 32. Mission Editor won't crash during loading of the Prokhorovka map; 33. Aircraft lists in the Mission Editor are sorted correctly (alphabetically).
