Developer Diary, Part XXVII

[BlackSix]

27

 

Hi everyone.

 

I feel I need to answer at least some of the questions that became topical recently. There are quite a lot of them and I’m going to give answers only to the most important ones, not to each and every one of course.

 

Speaking of the development in general, we’re on a long and hard track that ends with a new build and the beginning of the early access period. The first pair of fighters is practically complete and the next planes in the queue are already being worked on. The IL-2 is now being tested and Pe-2 will follow. Now it’s time to create an all new GUI and implement some game modes. What’s also on the top of the list is a bunch of graphical improvements, FX, AI tweaking and massive AI performance. We’ve got a lot do as you can see. So he we go!

 

 

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[71st_AH_Mastiff]

awesome pics of the IL2 Thanks Lofft, cant wait to get in there and play with the new toys!!

Glad you made it home..

Edited August 9, 2013 by Mastiff

[Kling]

Beautiful photos!

Great update and clear and honest answers from Loft who seems as passionate about this as the rest of us!

With BOS coming out and the next patch for CLOD made by Team Fusion around the corner in a few weeks, this will be a great autumn!!

Edited August 9, 2013 by Kling

[pilotpierre]

All good stuff, thanks for supplying.

[HippyDruid]

Nice screenies!!

 

It all seems to be coming together nicely. I can't wait for Spring (Autumn for you lot!) 

[ram0506]

Interesting informations for us, thank you!

[150GCT_Veltro]

Fantastic! You're pushing the RoF engine really a lot! Go, go guys!!!!

Edited August 9, 2013 by 150GCT_Veltro

[4S_Nero]

Forza ragazzi.

[Alienax]

Great looking screens.. that cockpit is shaping up nicely, I love what i'm seeing with regards to the lighting in this sim.

[I/JG27_Zimmi]

3.  What do you mean by “sessions” of early access? Does it mean that it’s going to be time-limited or opened for short periods?

 

Possibly. This early access is also the very first public test. It’s for you to enjoy it and for us to analyze and examine it. We’ll plan everything with maximum precision to achieve these two goals. For starters, there will definitely be events. Some systems need to be tested, so there’ll be a program for every session: we’ll ask you to try this or taste that feature and to pay a bit of attention to something, etc. New versions will be frequently deployed, new content and gameplay variations will be shown: we’re creating a new Universe with you and it’s quite a complicated thingJ

 

Addressing events and sessions to  certain game features is a good solution to efficiently trace bugs. But I don't like the idea of being limited to distinct game time periods. Correct me if I misunderstood that one...

[Uufflakke]

Thanks for the update.

 

I have to say that transparancy/translucency of glass - in relation to the edges - doesn't look that good (yet).

But it is still WIP of course.

 

By the way, in image #1 do I see a kind of brown/orange coloured autumn trees on the left side? Instead of only snow covered bare winter trees as we have seen in previous updates?

Or does it just look like the colour orange because of the sunset/sunrise?

Edited August 9, 2013 by Uufflakke

[6S.Manu]

So far I'm ok with all your work.

 

Still I really don't like the unlocking system.

 

 

 

 Those who believe that there must be some content as a certain award for their skill are the majority at this moment, but we hope to find a way to satisfy both camps and keep them in peace.

 

Those believers should stick to their offline campaign and receive mods and "new" planes as rewards but limited to the campaign itself. Just as you finish your 10th mission with a total of 5 kills or more, then you'll continue the campaign in a new ride. This is still rewarding IMO.

 

There is no point in forcing onliners to do this.

 

In every case it could be a lesser issue IF the AI is good enough, but onliners will be really fussy about that.

Just I hope that those awards are not unlocked by grinding ("kills 30 enemy planes to receive this mod"). In this case many "mature" pilots would prefer to buy those mods instead of losing time as a student can do.

Edited August 9, 2013 by 6S.Manu

[ATAG_Slipstream]

No il2 style co ops. Seriously disappointing.

[Foobar]

No il2 style co ops. Seriously disappointing.

 

Not yet. Just wait.

[6S.Manu]

No il2 style co ops. Seriously disappointing.

 

The good news is that the MP environment that will be available at launch can support squadron based missions and objectives easily and missions can be flown with your friends in a co-op style without much difficulty with just a little coordination between pilots.

 

 

It's not so bad IMO. In this way also killed pilots and latecomers can rejoin the mission.

[ATAG_Slipstream]

il2 had a (IMO) perfect system for co op based online wars. Thousands of people played them. Easy to join through HL, simple to set up. This is still il2.

 

'it may become possible someday'

Edited August 9, 2013 by JG52Uther

[browndog]

Great pics! Regarding the first pic, from a lighting standpoint it looks awfully cold outside but warm inside that il2 cockpit. I love the lighting.

[6S.Manu]

il2 had a (IMO) perfect system for co op based online wars. Thousands of people played them. Easy to join through HL, simple to set up. This is still il2.

 

I can tell you by experience (SEOW) that some big issues of that method were latecomers, software crashes, early disconnections and problems with unrecognized peripherals.

 

It was not easy to coordinate 80 pilots from different part of the world and people could wait 30 minutes for the start when for some stupid reasons they could not rejoin: most of the time if the server was restared the same issues would happens to other pilots.

 

So a Dogfight mission WITH DEFINED RULES is way better. Always IMO.

[Mac_Messer]

No il2 style co ops. Seriously disappointing.

Yeah, flying DF servers has never been my thing. Maybe they could spin the usual DF server BS into something more complicated and dynamic. I wonder what are the possibilities that the 3rd party could do this instead. We don`t need all the bells and whistles at first, just the basic stuff and then we could wait for more.

[leitmotiv]

It's not so bad IMO. In this way also killed pilots and latecomers can rejoin the mission.

 

But the charm of coops was also, aside good player/player team work (not just player/AI) and in some serious campaigns detailed preparation for each mission,  you had to take care of your life , because when you got kiled you were out, so you had more serious aprouch then in DF MP.

And late comers would be late for 1 or 2 mission in coop based campaigns and miss the start, but they would for sure come on time on 3rd and till end, most of the time you would not lost more then 5-15 min on start even with 60+ players in SEOWs

 

But hope this delay in introducing coop is because they will make it better

[OBT-Psycho]

yep, I believe it is not autumn but just the light making this orangish colour.

 

I too am disappointed by the fact there will be no coop mission at this point, but I am sure the community will figure his way out, just like we did for Clod. 

 

 

Regarding the events planned during beta, I do hope we will be able to play offline between those events. I am sure we will, but one never knows... 

 

 

 

BTW, nice pics. I love the Il-2 cocpkit. Edges of the glasses look a bit weired to me, but you can see you are behind armored glasses! can't wait to get the beta!

[Mac_Messer]

I can tell you by experience (SEOW) that some big issues of that method were latecomers, software crashes, early disconnections and problems with unrecognized peripherals.

 

It was not easy to coordinate 80 pilots from different part of the world and people could wait 30 minutes for the start when for some stupid reasons they could not rejoin: most of the time if the server was restared the same issues would happens to other pilots.

 

So a Dogfight mission WITH DEFINED RULES is way better. Always IMO.

Whatever man, IL2 style online coops are still popular and since VEF came out, different literations of the same idea got created for at least 5 years. There were problems and there are some flaws to the old system, but it still works.

[LuftManu]

Looks good, its a shame the Il2 old Coop style not be included in the launch, I hope that after the release, if everything goes weel we will get something similiar, Lovely Il2!, Blacksix we can get some video footage from the Il2 in-Game? in a later comment? like in old Friday Updates?

Edited August 9, 2013 by .-RDS-.Manu_vc

[LLv34_Wmaker]

Welp, easy to see where this is headed...

 

9. Are you using the Russian documents to model German aircraft?
 
We use every document we can find. The Soviet docs that have been discussed recently have just been released from top secret archives, which make them a uniquely important source of data and we’re happy to have them. These papers definitely add to the overall picture.

[leitmotiv]

Welp, easy to see where this is headed...

 

9. Are you using the Russian documents to model German aircraft?

 

We use every document we can find. The Soviet docs that have been discussed recently have just been released from top secret archives, which make them a uniquely important source of data and we’re happy to have them. These papers definitely add to the overall picture.

 

For full picture see this post from =FB=VikS today:

http://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/829-requiem-1c-press-event/?p=18593

[I./JG1_Baron]

Thanks for information. 

[=BKHZ=Furbs]

Nice update, though unsure on a few things...

 

The early access ...do we have a date yet?

Will the early access have a QMB?

What planes will be available to fly in and fight against?

 

Pretty disappointed about no co-ops at release, it was a very important part of why IL2 had such success and lasted so long, i only hope the other MP modes make up for this and you can introduce a co-op mode as soon as possible.

 

That IL2 cockpit looks great by the way!

[Roast]

The IL-2 looks absolutely mouthwatering, can't wait to see it in a small film soon, as part of the friday news

[I/JG27_Zimmi]

For full picture see this post from =FB=VikS today:

http://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/829-requiem-1c-press-event/?p=18593

 

Thanks for that link. I'm very confident that the developers do their best to be most objective in FM / DM generation without favoring either the one or the other side.

[crossfade]

With regard to all the different concerns people are posting one thing i think that should be kept in mind is that BOS is a work in progress and what is an early release is for testing and reporting any bugs etc the dev's need to be given time to implement new content when they see fit once the basics are taken care of.

In other words think of yourself as a test pilot until the full release next year

Edited August 9, 2013 by crossfade

[6S.Manu]

But the charm of coops was also, aside good player/player team work (not just player/AI) and in some serious campaigns detailed preparation for each mission,  you had to take care of your life , because when you got kiled you were out, so you had more serious aprouch then in DF MP.

And late comers would be late for 1 or 2 mission in coop based campaigns and miss the start, but they would for sure come on time on 3rd and till end, most of the time you would not lost more then 5-15 min on start even with 60+ players in SEOWs

 

But hope this delay in introducing coop is because they will make it better

 

That's the reason I wrote "defined rules"; you can force killed pilots to join only at the right moment (or not rejoin at all).

 

Ehi, I'm not saying that IL2 coop system was bad: as others said, it has flaws that for some people were insuperable. A teammate had of mine to leave an online campaign since the start of the mission was planned at 21:00 but because of the traffic he could arrive at 21:05-21:15...

 

So I hope they'll develop a similar but better system.

 

Anyway I don't understand this part:

Basically, we chose it for the following reasons: “this plane could be there, it was capable to fight in these circumstances and combat situation, thus the FW-190 is by all means a machine of that period”. This also goes for the early La-5. And we decided to make both planes because in some ways they depict the technical progress of the BOS era and they should be interesting to so many players. BUT since we refuse to misrepresent the history, we made them only available in the Premium pre-order edition.

 

Note that both planes will be available for multiplayer at launch.  

Those planes will be sold after the release...  So there will be misrepresention of history anyway.

Edited August 9, 2013 by 6S.Manu

[BlackSix]

Blacksix we can get some video footage from the Il2 in-Game? in a later comment? like in old Friday Updates?

 

Yes, if Loft make and publish them. Now we wait wallpapers on Monday.

 

The early access ...do we have a date yet?

Will the early access have a QMB?

What planes will be available to fly in and fight against?

 

These plans and details are already being worked at. All details will be released later by mid-autumn.

[Zorin]

1. Question is, how can people unlock mods for the FW 190? Or will that plane be available in the campaign, or will that plane not get any modifications at all, or will you be able to unlock mods for the FW190 by flying the Bf.109 (or other German planes)?

 

All mods for premium aircraft are obtained the exactly same way as it’s designed for all other planes – they are earned in Historical campaign. Since this aircraft did not take part in the Battle of Stalingrad, it won’t be available in any regiment – only you (and possibly your AI squad mates) will be able to fly FW in campaign.

 

 

I am confused. Will premium players be able to fly the Fw190 in the historical campaign or what do you mean by that last sentence?

Edited August 9, 2013 by Zorin

[BlackSix]

I am confused. Will premium players be able to fly the Fw190 in the historical campaign or what do you mean by that last sentence?

 

Yes, premium players will be able to fly the Fw190 but they never see another Fw-190s in the historical campaign.

[I/JG27_Rollo]

These plans and details are already being worked at. All details will be released later by mid-autumn.

So does this mean we can not expect to get early access in the first half of autumn?

[BlackSix]

So does this mean we can not expect to get early access in the first half of autumn?

 

Mid-Autumn is the approximate time at the moment.

[SYN_Jedders]

Can almost taste it

[=BKHZ=Furbs]

Is mid autumn mid September?

[SYN_Ricky]

But the charm of coops was also, aside good player/player team work (not just player/AI) and in some serious campaigns detailed preparation for each mission,  you had to take care of your life , because when you got kiled you were out, so you had more serious aprouch then in DF MP.

And late comers would be late for 1 or 2 mission in coop based campaigns and miss the start, but they would for sure come on time on 3rd and till end, most of the time you would not lost more then 5-15 min on start even with 60+ players in SEOWs

 

But hope this delay in introducing coop is because they will make it better

 

I've played this kind of coop in ROF (and in CloD too), even if using a DF server, just like in IL-2 with my squad and others, with the difference that in case of a technical problem at astart you could rejoign without having to restart for everyone.

 

In ROF you can set a timer that will lock the available airfields after some time, allowing late comers or people having tech problem toi join, and preventing people who have died later to take off again.

 

Those coops had detailed briefing for both sides, with people flying in formation to achieve their given goals, exactly like what you describe.

 

In Il-2 I never participated in the big online campaigns, so maybe I'm missing out what would make them impossible to do with a system like ROF or CloD...

Edited August 9, 2013 by SYN_Ricky

[I/JG27_Rollo]

I'm guessing more like October.