Game Updates

Han · December 5, 2018

Dear friends,

We spent the two weeks since the previous release on intensive work on important aspects of the project. In the not-too-distant future, we'll be adding some huge new features for our Early Access titles, so we've decided to take some time and concentrate on several smaller, but important and long-awaited improvements and create this update.

The main feature of this release is revised airframe damage modeling - an important part of the damage system. Airframe damage system was completely overhauled to take into account additional parameters. The damage modeling as a whole was tuned and improved and bugs fixed - you can read the entire list below.

There is large amount of changes and improvements in aircraft systems, their model and the AI. We added the new British pilot model to the sim and all Bodenplatte and Flying Circus pilots can now take their oxygen masks and goggles on and off. Multiplayer improvements also continue since the last version too. There are new performance optimizations for sea maps. Users who encountered stutters using Microsoft Force Feedback joysticks and TrackIR now have an option to tune FFB effect polling frequency using the additional setting in startup.cfg file.

For mission designers we added a way to control Timer and Counter values dynamically. To do this, there are two new logical objects Modifier: Add Val and Modifier: Set Val. We plan to widely use them to alter various triggers in the future, but at the moment they can be used for:
- modifying a Timer trigger value. A modifier can set, add or substract the time value in a timer by using the 0 index of the controllable value and 1-st field of the value vector. When set to a negative value, the time counter is reset and the timer stops until the next input. For example, this can be used to reset and stop a timer in a mission, delaying some events tied to it.
- modifying a Counter trigger value and threshold (initiall set in a mission). To alter a Counter value, use the 0 index of the controllable value or alter Counter threshold using the 1-st index. For example, a certain mission event like a premature elimination of some targets can lower the threshold of a Counter to make sure the others are eliminated at the moment the player arrives to the waypoint.

Main features:
1. Late war British pilot added to Spitfire Mk.IXe;
2. New control elements added to mission logic (useful for mission designers): "Modifier: Add Val" and "Modifier: Set Val". They can alter the values of other logical elements - Counter and Timer (when used with a Timer object, Set Val can input a negative value to reset and stop a Timer);
3. Force Feedback joystick owners who experience stutters can alter the new value in startup.cfg that governs the maximum frequency of FFB effects polling to try to eliminate them (update_freq parameter in [KEY = force_feedback] section can be set to a value from 0.5 Hz to 10 Hz, example: update_freq = 10.0);
4. Additional renderer optimizations for sea maps (Kuban, Bodenplatte in the future) allowed to boost performance on such maps even more;
5. AA searchlights now can follow Attack Area command which can be used to limit their search area and/or use them as visible beacons (useful for mission designers);
6. Multiplayer: 'allow other players to man stations' option now saved;
7. Multiplayer: various issues like statistics 'freezing', inability to start a mission, kill messages disappearing were fixed for high-load servers;
8. Multiplayer: missing AP hit sound effects and some other sounds restored;
9. A rare crash that could happen in high load situations like joint air-ground engagements with many units has been fixed;
10. keep_binary_log = 0 option in startup.cfg correctly removes binary logs from the game folder on exit;
11. Career: mission area correctly set while escorting transport planes in Stalingrad TOW;
12. Incorrect navigational markers won't be shown in a mission without player aircraft;

Damage model improvements:
13. P-47D-28, Yak-7b and Spitfire Mk.IXe wings made less fragile when damaged;
14. Aileron control rods correctly damaged when Yak-7b, P-39L-1 or P-47 wing is damaged;
15. An overdone HE explosion effect on the primary structure of an aircraft has been reduced.
16. Damage calculations of the airframe take a hit angle into account;
17. Damage from direct hits and explosions on the skin and control rods has been tuned;
18. Minor visual damage correctly appears after a first hit;
19. The visual damage of a cockpit glass correctly appears after a first hit there;
20. Ju-52 instruments can be damaged now;
21. Aircraft primary structure won't erroneously receive double damage in case of hits on the internal components like fuel tanks, engine, radiators, etc.);
22. Airframe sturdiness tuned for all aircraft;
23. Armor of the internal components corrected whenever it was wrong;
24. P-47D-28 wing damage corrected (wing loss is preceded with a wing crack);
25. A weapon won't fire if its ammo supply was lost with a wing part;
26. Fuel tank fire probability corrected for Flying Circus aircraft;
27. Ammo detonation effects differ visually depending on the explosion power;

Aircraft improvements:
28. Bodenplatte pilots put on and remove oxygen mask when needed;
29. Bodenplatte and Flying Circus pilots put off their goggles on parking;
30. Ignition box cover animated on Pe-2 series 35;
31. CB panel cover animation corrected on Fw-190 A3/A5/A8;
32. Gunner folding seat animation corrected on Ju-88;
33. Bendix course detectors animations corrected;
34. Dead pilot model position corrected on Pfalz D.IIIa;
35. Bf 109 G-2 cockpit lamp corrected;
36. P-47D-28 visual wing crack corrected;
37. Visible projectiles at high aircraft speed appear correctly;
38. MK-108 fire sound corrected on Bf 109 K-4;
39. Fuel tank fire effect corrected on Flying Circus planes;
40. Ejected cartridges correctly appear in multiplayer;
41. The maximum number of ejected cartridges corrected based on real time instead of a simulated one;
42. In multiplayer, all visible projectiles appear from gun muzzles instead of aircraft center;
43. Visible gun convergence corrected in multiplayer;

44. The delay between pushing the fire trigger and experiencing the gunfire FFB effect has been reduced.
45. Pfalz D.IIIa performance corrected;
46. Sopwith Camel description corrected;

AI improvements:
47. AI pilots correctly perform Chandelle maneuver;
48. WWI AI pilots won't 'stuck' flying forward;
49. AI pilots evade ground even better;
50. Conditions for attempting vertical maneuvers corrected for all fighters;
51. AI pilots will bail out of aircraft with cracked wings or fuselage instead of trying to fight;
52. WWI AI pilots open fire sooner;
53. WWI AI pilots maneuver more aggressively;

GUI changes:
54. Starting altitude won't reset in QMB;
55. Flare gun indicator won't be shown after restarting a mission in external view;
56. Flight frequency option in Career corrected;
57. The wrong message about timescale won't be shown on mission end;
58. Interface music can be turned on when interface sounds are turned off;
59. Airfields are correctly shown after changing the current chapter in Career;
60. Previously selected modifications correctly shown in QMB.

Please discuss the update in this thread.

Han · December 19, 2018

Update 3.009

Dear friends,

Trying to squeeze in more functionality, new content, improvements and additions for you before the holidays, we've prepared another update 3.009. This time, the main feature of this update is the new content: Collector Plane, famous Soviet light bomber U-2VS which is developed in cooperation with "Ugra-Media" company. At the moment it can be used in QMB and multiplayer modes, but we'll add new Career mission types especially for it (Stalingrad and Kuban ToWs) next month.

There are two new scripted campaigns available. One made by =BlackSix= happens at Stalingrad after 'Blazing Steppe' and continues the story of the German pilot that started in '10 Days of Autumn' campaign, while another made by =Gambit21= is dedicated to A-20 squadron operating in the skies of Kuban.

_Havoc.jpg.a7bf200d278571c0fcdeb6aa9b873239.jpg _Fortress.jpg.553d9bee39c7119d969919a0d1302e7f.jpg

As usual, the update also brings numerous improvements and additions, upping the overall quality of the sim:

1. New Collector Plane U-2VS developed in cooperation with "Ugra-Media" company;
2. New scenario campaign 'Fortress on the Volga' by Alexander =BlackSix= Timoshkov;
3. New scenario campaign 'Havoc over the Kuban' by =Gambit21=;
4. New Career mission "Troop concentration night bombing strike";
5. New Career mission "Enemy airfield night bombing strike";
6. New Career mission "Railway hub night bombing strike";
7. New Career mission "Supply dump night bombing strike";
8. New Career mission "River crossing night bombing strike";
9. Our community enthusiast =BlackHellHound1= remade all outer textures of Bf 109 F-2 (main texture, bump, specular, damage) and made historically accurate skins for it in 4К;
10. Three new skins for Fokker Dr.I;
11. Two new skins for SPAD 13.C1;
12. The delay, when a new player connects to a server, has been minimized for other players;
13. Projectile hits at turret gunners now calculated properly (they weren't counted properly before);
14. 76 mm APHE rounds won't erroneously damage the internal components without penetrating the armor;
15. P-47D-28 skin damage has been corrected (increased);
16. Airfields surface on Velikiye Luki map has been flattened;
17. It is now possible to lean to the gunsight closer than before on all aircraft;
18. Visual propeller damage corrected on Ju-52 (previously damaging the right propeller would visually damage the left one);
19. Inability to start a new Career from an old one (lack of available units) has been fixed;
20. After spending all ammo of one kind in a tank the interface won't erroneously show the full ammo;
21. Escape menu works correctly even if there are no vehicles in the mission;
22. Wrong waypoint labels corrected in scenario campaigns;
23. Mission briefings text rendering corrected in scenario campaigns;
24. The random mirroring issue of a pilot portrait in Career has been fixed;
25. Creating new Career in Stalingrad ToW has been fixed for certain units;
26. An issue of jumping reflections in the water caused by mirrors has been fixed;
27. Vehicle pathfinding issue that could cause slow performance loss has been fixed;
28. Formation movement AI on land and water has been improved - the leader won't slow down if it is possible;
29. Collision detection routine improved (the detailed tanks shouldn't twitch in certain situations anymore);
30. Formation movement has been improved overall;
31. The bug that caused AI pilots to miss ground targets has been fixed;
32. AI checks the altitude in a downward spiral maneuver;
33. Bombs and rockets equipped AIs should correctly engage ground targets in QMB;
34. Modifier object: it is now possible to assign negative values to a counter. Both the current value and trigger threshold can be set for a timer;
35. Timer: when a new trigger signal is received, the timer resets;
36. Modifier and timer: parameter index 0 now controls the current timer value while parameter index 1 controls the timer threshold;
37. Modifier and timer: timer can be reset and stopped by parameter index 0 and value -1;
38. Fw 190 A-8: canopy raindrops added for Sturmjager modification;
39. Fw 190 A-8: windshield cleaner corrected for Sturmjager modification ;
40. Fw 190 A-8: too dark materials corrected at some places;
41. Fw 190 A-8: rocket control box decreased in size;
42. Fw 190 A-8: pilot model holds the control stick;
43. Bf 109 G-14: pilot model holds the control stick.

Please discuss the update in this thread.

Han · February 4, 2019

Update 3.010

Dear pilots,

The new content will be made available in a few weeks, but we have decided to release the update 3.010 now to publish many improvements and fixes which are already ready. U-2VS Collector Plane is now available in Career mode and can be equipped with rockets. P-47D-28 now sports 4K textures made by Martin =ICDP= Catney. There are also DM improvements and we hope this update should finish the current cycle of DM improvements for now. Important multiplayer and AI fixes are also in. Last, but not the least, is the optimized GUI which should yield more performance in flight. The full change list follows:

Additions

1. New exterior 4K textures for P-47D-28 (main, bump, specular, official paint schemes) by Martin =ICDP= Catney;
2. U-2VS Collector Plane is now available in Stalingrad and Kuban careers (night bombing missions);
3. U-2VS Collector Plane can be equipped with ROS-82, RBS-82 and ROS-132 unguided rockets;
4. Buildings can be destroyed by an aircraft impact;

DM improvements

5. HE rounds no longer damage armored objects without penetrating the armor in certain cases;
6. AP rounds penetration of a multi-element armor has been fixed (reduced);
7. AP rounds can travel further after penetrating a target through;
8. Now wings are correctly damaged when their root parts are hit on Bf-109F/G/K, Ju-87, IL-2, I-16, La-5, Yak-1, Yak-7, LaGG-3, MiG-3, U-2, MC 202, P-39, P-40;
9. The sturdiness of the tail part of the fuselage has been corrected for all planes;
10. Ramming with the propeller has been reworked;
11. Previously developed tech (instability of the airflow around the damaged parts of the aircraft skinning) has been applied to all aircraft;
12. Ballistics and armor penetration of BR-350B and BR-350BSP rounds (F-34, ZiS-5 and ZiS-3 guns) has been corrected according to the report TsNII-48 2VV-2;
13. Pz-VI-H1: weak spots in the gun mantlet have been corrected;
14. Soldiers walking on airfields can be killed now;
15. Rear right wheel damage has been corrected for all wheeled vehicles;

Multiplayer improvements

16. A large mission running on a server won't prevent some players from joining;
17. Data delivery under heavy loaded servers has been reworked. We hope this will help to fix several problems caused by data loss, such as 'greyed out start button', 'damage application delay', 'AA fire delay', 'invisikle planes', 'invulnerable planes', etc.;
18. The game (and the server) won't freeze for several moments when a very large bomb explodes in a very dense built up area;

AI and FM improvements

19. One more case of AI following its target into the ground has been found and fixed;
20. AI correctly turns on the engine in a ground start situation without taxiing;
21. P-47D-28 stall behavior has been corrected;
22. Detached P-47D-28 flaps appear correctly now;
23. Bombsights in an automatic mode made less jumpy;

GUI improvements

24. Many GUI elements made clearer;
25. Automatic GUI scale option added (useful for 4K screens and VR);
26. Lists rendering has been optimized, improving the overall GUI performance, settings and Career mode responsiveness, etc;
27. In-game GUI has been optimized, yielding up to 20% performance in some cases;
28. Switching the HUD on and off or changing the mini-map scale no longer causes a delay;
29. Multiplayer gunner positions dialog window has been corrected for Ju 88 A-4;
30. Target symbols made clearer on the navigation map

Other improvements

31. Certain buildings shouldn't levitate above the terrain anymore;
32. Some bridges with uneven driveways were fixed;
33. Aircraft cruise speeds were corrected in the Career mode so wingmen won't lag behind the flight leaders;
34. Previously AI-only unit 293rd IAP is now joinable by the player in Stalingrad and Kuban TOWs;
35. "Blazing Steppe" and "Sea Dragons" campaigns are now available in French thanks to Dominique Girouard;
36. "Fortress on the Volga" campaign is now available in German thanks to II/JG11ATLAN, ram0506 and =27=Davesteu.
37. "Havoc over the Kuban" campaign has been updated.

Please discuss the update in this thread.

Han · February 7, 2019

Update 3.010b

Update 3.010 brought many significant GUI changes, so now we're releasing the small update containing quick fixes:

1. Full-screen map position won't be reset after using the bombsight;
2. Text chat layout has been improved;
3. In-game chat shows previous messages when the Enter key is pressed;
4. Full-screen map transparency can be adjusted in the game options;
5. Airfield symbols in multiplayer have been updated;
6. Airfield symbols in multiplayer have additional elements showing the enemy threat level near it;
7. Threat level and amount of active players won't be shown for enemy airfields;
8. Multiplayer statistics screen is only updated when it is opened;
9. Multiplayer statistics screen sorts the players basing on the number of points by default;
10. Multiplayer statistics screen remembers the selected sorting criteria;
11. Secondary targets information on the multiplayer statistics screen has been repositioned ;
12. Servers protected by password and/or servers with a bad connection can be hidden in the servers list;
13. Frontline with the color specified as 255,255,255 will be displayed with correct colors like (0,0,10) since many created missions and campaigns rely on that;
14. Mission target markers have been adjusted for a clearer look while zoomed in;
15. Fuel and convergence sliders were made longer for easier use;
16. Mapping delete function in the game settings has been restored;
17. Ground object markers on the map have been made smaller;
18. Engine sound positioning has been improved;
19. Radio messages are made clearer;
20. Incorrect damage calculation has been fixed (a ricochet from a front lower hull of a tank could kill a driver or a radioman);
21. A random bug that could kill the Tiger tank crew after any hit has been fixed;
22. KV-1s and Т-34-76 aiming sights won't flicker;
23. I-16 aiming sight has been improved like on other aircraft;
24. Example multiplayer missions Cooperative_Complex_Example and Dogfight_Complex_Example show how different symbols or lines on the map can be created;

25. Stutters in firing from plane turrets and tank machineguns were fixed.

Please discuss the update in this thread.

Han · February 14, 2019

Update 3.010c

Dear pilots,

This week we made several important changes to the user interface (especially multiplayer part of it) and damage calculations of the player controlled tanks - they are included in the maintenance update we release today. We continue the work on improving IL-2 Sturmovik and hope that you find the changes useful.

User interface
1. Dogfight: when the server changes a mission, the airfield locations from the previous mission won't stay visible on the map;
2. Dogfight: map position and zoom level are saved between player respawns;
3. Dogfight: a mission target won't overlap an airfield and make it impossible to choose;
4. Dogfight: selecting an airfield without available planes won't make the screen darker;
5. Dogfight: home airfield is highlighted on the map;
6. Dogfight: the info tooltip appears if you hover the mouse pointer over an airfield;
7. Cooperative: you can't select a locked out aircraft in the lobby;
8. Objects kill messages appear in the chat again;
9. Chat window won't appear before the mission start on its own;
10. QMB: certain text elements were made bigger for Spanish text;
11. Map: 'no units' and 'maximum number of players reached' tooltips added;
12. Map: air and ground attack events on an airfield are indicated differently;
13. Map: airfield information has been reworked;
14. Map: frontline color 255,255,255 now changes according to the interface color setting;
15. Map: unit dots are bigger and can be grouped;
16. Aircraft info: text layout has been fixed;
17. Career: active duty timeframe of certain units is shown correctly now;
18. Career: Unit symbols in various lists were made bigger;
19. Singleplayer: Flight Log button appears after a mission instantly;
20. Server list: 'auto-switch to joystick' message that appears when connecting to servers that enforce playing with joystick has been reworked;

Tank Crew
21. The bug that caused the crew of a tank to die when a nearby tree was hit by a shell has been fixed;
22. The velocity spread of the various tank cannon projectiles decreased;
23. The angle spread of the various tank cannons increased;
24. Excessive projectile ricochet probabilities have been toned down;
25. Missing armor parts in the rear of Tiger and KV-1s turrets have been repaired (physical model);
26. Tiger gun mantlet rear part sides armouring have been corrected;
27. Armor values for the coaxial MG and gunner gunsight on a Tiger tank were swapped (this is corrected now);

Other changes
28. Wrong player status (captured) that could trigger when a server starts a new mission with players left in the air over enemy territory has been fixed;
29. A rare problem of armor being ignored when hit into the internal seam between two armor sheets (with the angle between them is less than 180 degrees) has been fixed;
30. A possible incorrect penetration calculation when a projectile after ricochet hit an armor plate of a target moving towards it has been fixed.

Please discuss the update in this thread.

Han · March 5, 2019

Update 3.011

Dear pilots,

Today is an important day. First, we just released two new WWI fighters for all Flying Circus: Volume I customers - Fokker D.VII and Sopwith Dolphin. They are 5th and 6th aircraft released for it, so along with the map of Arras being actively developed, we can say that Flying Circus project is progressing nicely and more than half of it is already completed.

Second, our Tank Crew project finally includes visible crew for two already released tanks. Since we'll be releasing four new tanks and Prokhorovka map really soon, this project is also maturing at a good pace.

Of course, we also prepared a list of many other improvements for you:

1. Fokker D.VII is available to Flying Circus: Volume I customers;
2. Sopwith Dolphin is available to Flying Circus: Volume I customers;
3. KV-1s and Pz-VI-H1 tanks (Tank Crew project) now have visible crews;
4. AI pilots correctly attack landed or taking off enemy planes;
5. Artillery markers on the map were updated;
6. Simple (not player controllable) vehicles now have more detailed armor. This is noticeable while attacking them from above;
7. Projectile ricochet modeling became more complex;
8. Wandering personnel on the ground won't die from collisions that easy;
9. The pathfinding of vehicle columns travelling through settlements has 25% less performance impact;
10. Simple vehicles adjust their speed accordingly to the surface type (road or cross-country);
11. There are new AI vehicle formations available - line left, line right, centered line - and ability to make naval-like all-together turn;
12. The ground AIs keep formation better;
13. Multiplayer: now at least 25% of the affecting player coalition or 25% of all players on the server must vote to ban a player;
14. Multiplayer: visible tank ammo won't visually 'shake';
15. Multiplayer: when other players occupy aircraft turrets, their remaining magazines and individual rounds are displayed correctly;
16. Multiplayer: net traffic for multi-crew aircraft has been optimized;
17. FM: a rare critical bug that could cause an application crash has been found and fixed;
18. FM: aircraft propellers interaction with the ground surface has been made more accurate so their blades won't sink into the ground during a crash;
19. FM: aircraft propellers won't vibrate when an damaged engine is off;
20. FM: Force Feedback effect during ailerons and elevator buffeting (when flying too fast) has been made stronger;

21. FM: Visual shaking inside a cockpit is added when control surfaces are buffeting at high airspeed;

22. The delay between releasing a trigger and the actual stop of firing has been minimized;
23. Several guns are now reloaded one after another, without overlapping;
24. In-cockpit gunfire sounds were improved for Flying Circus aircraft.

Please discuss the update in this thread.

Han · March 18, 2019

Update 3.012

Dear friends,

We just released the new update 3.012. Only two weeks have passed since the previous update so the changelist isn't that long, but this time our customers will get FIVE new pieces of content for all three our current projects at once.

First, this is a new Collector's Plane for Bodenplatte - Fw 190 D-9 "Dora", one of the legendary late war Luftwaffe planes with very good speed and armament. Its main difference compared to previous models is Jumo-213 A1 water cooled engine equipped with MW 50 water-methanol injection system that can be used to increase the power output even more for up to 10 minutes. Another improvement of this plane is the automatic engine governor MBG and an effective engine cooling. This is also the first aircraft in our project to receive EZ 42 gyro gunsight. "Dora" could carry up to 500 kg bombs and R4M Orkan rockets (the new weapon in our project as well) which later served as a base for many post-war unguided rocket designs.

Second, we released the Prokhorovka map for Tank Crew - Clash at Prokhorovka project. This map is an important step in our map technologies because the polygonal net of the landscape is 16 times more detailed than on previous maps. In addition, the detailed zone for ground warfare (20 km to the South and the West of Prokhorovka) contains new high detailed buildings with new damage visualization. It should be noted that this more detailed environment, of course, demands more from the graphics subsystem, but reasonable graphics settings can give you good performance even on middle range video cards. You may ask "Why don't you make all the new maps at this level of detail?", but the answer is that increasing the level of detail reduces the overall size of the map. A good map for the joint tank and air battles (100 x 100 km in case of Prokhorovka) would be not enough for a full-blown, 'air campaign' map that should be 200 x 250 km minimum. Therefore, Prokhorovka map is a fine balance of several things. It allows making interesting tank campaigns, having interesting joint tank and aircraft multiplayer, keeping the performance impact 30% or less at reasonable graphics settings, and having improved visual quality at the ground level required for the ground battles.

Third, Tank Crew - Clash at Prokhorovka customers get two new toys: M4A2 and PzKpfw.III Ausf.M. Both tanks were interesting machines and they are recreated painstakingly and with passion. It should be noted that M4A2 could stand its own even against the heavier German adversaries thanks to its maneuverability, good turret traverse speed and sufficient armor penetration ability of its solid AP round. The medium tank PzKpfw.III Ausf.M also had a good chance against medium Soviet tanks - APCR rounds could penetrate their armor while its frontal protection was relatively good thanks to the spaced 50 and 20 mm armor plates. It also had a low visible profile, good maneuverability and high rate of fire.

Fourth, Flying Circus customers get Fokker D.VIIF. it was one of the best, if not the best, Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte fighter of WWI. The new and powerful for its time BMW IIIa engine gave the plane high speed and maneuverability at high altitudes while the oxygen supply enabled a pilot to fight up there effectively. Its armament is standard for German fighters of that time - two 7.92 mm LMG 08/15 "Spandau" (650 rounds per minute each).

1. Fw 190 D-9 "Dora" fighter is available to Battle of Bodenplatte Premium Edition owners;
2. Prokhorovka map (Southern part of the Kursk salient) is available to Tank Crew - Clash at Prokhorovka owners;
3. M4A2 tank is available to Tank Crew - Clash at Prokhorovka owners;
4. PzKpfw.III Ausf.M tank is available to Tank Crew - Clash at Prokhorovka owners;
5. Fokker D.VIIF fighter is available to Flying Circus - Volume I owners;

6. UDP output API for moving platform simulators was added, details are in attached document;

Il2_MotionOutput.zip
7. Locomotive tenders are destroyable once again;
8. The oxygen system capacity corrected (increased) on Fokker D.VII;
9. The sound of a damaged engine made more pronounced on all aircraft;
10. KV-1s, Pz.VI-H1, M4A2, and Pz.III-M have night gunsight illumination;
11. KV-1s and Pz.VI-H1 turrets bend their antennas when rotating;
12. Rocket exhaust flame corrected - it cuts immediately when the engine of a rocket stops and its smoke trail disappears faster;
13. A game freeze (when a statistics screen was visible on top of the other menus) has been fixed.

PS:

Information for mission designers and server hosters:

'Block' objects durability has been changed.

Smaller objects like static vehicles (static_...) should have Durability = 500

Medium sized objects (static fighters, small control tower, etc.) should have Durability = 1000

Big objects (like static bombers) should have Durability = 1500

Please discuss the update in this thread.

Han · June 10, 2019

Update 3.101

Dear friends,

Today we have finished another huge update and it is already available to you. It includes the new war machines you can control - jet fighter/bomber Me 262 A Schwalbe for Bodenplatte, Т-34-76 made by UVZ factory in early 1943 for Tank Crew - Clash at Prokhorovka and airplanes S.E.5a and Albatros D.Va for Flying Circus - Volume I.

Upping the exterior textures to 4К quality level for Bf 109 F-4 and Fw 190 A-8 are another neat feature, as well as adding visible crews to player controllable Pz.III Ausf.M and M4A2. All VR users get the long-awaited fix of an aircraft propeller that looked distorted with VR reprojection turned on. There are many changes in aircraft and ground AI. The level of detail of player controllable tank systems and their damage model is nearly final. And as usual, there are many improvements in FM and aircraft systems modeling.

IL-2 Sturmovik team wishes you nice summer weather and enjoyable flying in our sim!

Main features
1. Jet fighter-bomber Me 262 A "Schwalbe" is now available for all owners of "Battle of Bodenplatte";
2. Albatros D.Va is now available for all owners of "Flying Circus";
3. S.E.5a is now available for all owners of "Flying Circus";
4. T-34-76 UVZ made in early 1943 is now available for all owners of "Tank Crew - Clash at Prokhorovka" (includes crew);
5. Bf 109 F-4 exterior textures are now available in 4К quality, including damage, thanks to =BlackHellHound1=;
6. Fw 190 A-8 exterior textures are now available in 4К quality, including damage, thanks to =ICDP=;
7. Crew models added to M4A2;
8. Crew models added to Pz.III Ausf.M;
9. In VR, active reprojection won't cause a rotating propeller to flicker;
10. The game launcher (non-Steam version) now offers more options (enabling or disabling VR, 4K textures, GUI autoscale and mods);

AI improvements
11. AI fighters may cancel the attack run when hit by a bomber gunner fire;
12. AI fighters aim better when engaging a straight flying target;
13. AI fighters open fire earlier when engaging a straight flying target;
14. AI fighters maneuver more carefully when covering bombers;
15. AI keeps the formation much better;
16. AI ground attack planes and fighters RTB if they have no ammo for forward-firing armament left;
17. AI bombers open bomb bay doors during the bombing run only if there are bombs inside;
18. AI bombers won't open bomb bay doors during the route by mistake;
19. AI won't attempt to land on tank spawn points in multiplayer in case of an emergency;
20. AI gunners fire only at targets selected as 'Engageable' (Mission Editor parameter);
21. AI guns and tanks aim in a more realistic way, there is a slight fire delay after aiming and before re-engaging;
22. Driveable tanks controlled by AI keep formation better, including cases of losing one or more tanks of a platoon;
23. Ground AI can set and keep User Formation by mission command (current relative position of vehicles in the group);
24. Ground AI has three new formations: line left, line right, centered line (relative to the group leader);
25. Ground AI now correctly selects and uses APHE ammo (it used only AP ammo before);
26. Ground AI won't fire at crewmen escaping from friendly vehicles;

New features for player controllable tanks
27. It's possible to limit the maximal gear by X and Z key;
28. Enter key invokes the damage control overlay;
29. Headlights state, engine damage and overheat, low oil pressure and battery charge, maximal selected gear limit are shown in the quick info interface panel;
30. Lots of instruments and controls are now animated: odometers, service meters, engine revolutions counters, ignition switches, starter buttons, oil temperature indicators, amperemeters, voltmeters, fire detection lamps, radio tuning dials, parking brake handles, turret locks;
31. Transmission damage affects the changing of gears, they become harder or impossible to switch;
32. Oil system damage causes engine damage at a progressing rate;
33. Cooling system damage affects oil and cylinder heads cooling effectiveness;
34. Electrical system damage affects the functionality of lighting, powered turret traverse and engine starter;
35. Engines have a heat model that is affected by damage;
36. Cold engine yields less power until it heats up;
37. An engine with overheated oil or cylinder heads accumulates damage fast;
38. 'Warmed up engine' option is valid for tanks too;
39. Fuel or oil leak could lead to a fire that can kill the crew and cause the ammo detonation;
40. In case of fire, the crew uses fire extinguishers if there are any left. It takes up to 2 seconds using automatic fire extinguishers and up 5 seconds using regular ones;
41. Damaged suspension springs or torsions can become lame;
42. If the coolant is boiling, there is a visible vapor exhaust from radiators;
43. A damaged engine can fill the tank interior with smoke;
44. Firing the gun and MGs can obscure vision in the tank interior;
45. Crew clothes, faces, hands, etc. can become dirty from smoke;
46. The turret traverse speed decreases with the inclination of the tank, it may be impossible to turn the turret at a high inclination angle;
47. The driver instruments functioning was updated;
48. Powered (electric) turret traverse mechanism added to KV-1s and Т-34-76-UVZ-1943 with the manual traverse as the backup one. The powered traverse mechanism won't work if it is damaged, there is no power or the engine is off;
49. Powered (hydraulic) turret traverse mechanism added to M4A2 and PzKpfw. VI Ausf. H-1 with the manual traverse as the backup one. The powered traverse mechanism won't work if it is damaged or the engine is off;
50. Backup (pneumatic) engine starter added to KV-1s and Т-34-76-UVZ-1943 that is used if there is no power;
51. Additional (panoramic) gunsight added to KV-1s and Т-34-76-UVZ-1943;
52. Backup gunsight (iron sights) added to Pz.III Ausf.M;
53. The shaft between the flywheel clutch and the gearbox on M4A2 is correctly animated;
54. Pz.III Ausf.M brake drums are correctly animated;
55. Pz.VI Ausf.H1 engine cooling fans are correctly animated;
56. Tanks won't 'jump' on rubble left from destroyed buildings;
57. A rare issue that could cause a still functioning tank to appear destroyed, but with functioning turret has been fixed;
58. A rare issue that could cause a still functioning track to appear destroyed has been fixed;
59. A small visual issue (grey square near the gun gunsight) has been fixed for Pz.III Ausf.M and Pz.VI Ausf.H1;
60. KV-1s paint color has been corrected;
61. The motion of a damaged right track of Pz.III Ausf.M has been corrected;

New features in aircraft physics, systems and animations
62. Infinitely firing aircraft of other players shouldn't randomly appear in multiplayer anymore;
63. Additional steps were taken that should eliminate a rare problem of another player plane being invisible before opening fire;
64. PTAB sub-munitions effect on ground targets has been corrected;
65. Damage calculations for AP, APHE and HEAT aircraft-launched rockets have been significantly improved;
66. Physical models of all aircraft engines have been revised, many rare bugs were found and fixed;
67. A rare issue that could crash the sim when all fuel was spent (or leaked away) on Ju-88 and He-111 H6/H16 has been fixed;
68. A rare issue in P-47 turbocharger that could crash the sim was found and fixed;
69. The error that caused the Flying Circus aircraft propellers to have more power than RoF ones has been found and fixed. The notable difference was found at lower flight speeds, but additional research showed that this error made during porting of RoF planes to Flying Circus more or less affected all flight characteristics of the Flying Circus aircraft. In this update this error is fixed, so flight characteristics of all Flying Circus planes fully correspond to RoF before update 1.034. You can see the updated flight characteristics of Albatros D.Va and S.E.5a in their in-game descriptions, while updated descriptions for other Flying Circus aircraft will follow in the next update when we redo all the required measurements;
70. All aircraft: when starting or shutting down the engine with all three difficulty options "Cruise control", "Throttle auto limit" and "Engine auto control" turned off you need to move the engine controls during the startup or shutdown procedure yourself;
71. All aircraft: wind noise sound with jettisoned or broken canopy won't disappear at 720 kph and higher speeds;
72. All aircraft: new technochat message informs the player about the engine failure (when it shuts off by itself without player or throttle limiter input);
73. All aircraft: new technochat message informs the player that the engine start command is ignored if the startup requirements are not met;
74. Fw-190 D9 and Me 262 A: there is a tip in chat clarifying that the engine throttle is blocked from moving to cutoff position when the engine is on;
75. Sopwith Camel and Sopwith Dolphin skid steering animations were corrected;
76. Weight values listed for all large gunsights of Flying Circus planes and for the camera on SPAD XIII.C1 have been corrected;
77. Weight values listed for additional Lewis MGs on Sopwith Dolphin have been corrected, speed loss information added;
78. Moving horizontal stabilizers control levers or wheels can be heard;
79. When an engine is turned off, the motion speed of a throttle lever with engine helpers turned on has been increased (it is now the same as its motion speed with engine helpers turned off);
80. In multiplayer, you can hear the engine starter of another player.

Because of the huge amount of changes, the track and mission format was changed. If you're an author of a custom mission or campaign, you need to resave your creation (it can be done quickly using 'Convert missions to binary in folder' in the Mission editor).

PS:

A video tutorial from =SYN_Requiem= : how to manage Me 262 A:

Please discuss the update in this thread.

Han · July 24, 2019

Update 3.102

Dear friends,

We're glad to report that the new update containing three new war machines are out. The first one of them is Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf.G German medium tank for Tank Crew - Clash at Prokhorovka project. It was one of the most commonly used German tanks and had an interesting mix of powerful weaponry and lacking armor, making its use in the sim somewhat peculiar. It also had an interesting feature - autonomous turret traverse mechanism powered by a dedicated petrol motor.

The second one is the WWI RAF fighter bomber Bristol Fighter F.2B for Flying Circus - Volume 1 project. This airplane had good flight characteristics among the two-seaters, various armament and could perform a wide selection of tasks. Two modifications of this aircraft are included - with Falcon II and Falcon III engines.

And the third one is another Flying Circus - Volume 1 aircraft - German WWI ground attack plane Halberstadt CL.II. This multifunctional machine had good defensive turret equipped with one or two Parabellum LMG 14 machine guns fed by large-capacity magazines. Halberstadt could have one or two forward-firing MGs and carry 12 kg and 50 kg bombs, camera for aerial recon and radio for aerial spotting.

In addition to them, the update includes exterior textures in 4K quality for Bf 109 G-14 and Fw 190 A-3. There are also several important improvements in the full list of changes:

1. PzKpfw.IV Ausf.G is available to Tank Crew - Clash at Prokhorovka owners;
2. Halberstadt CL.II (Mercedes D.IIIa (180 h.p.) and Mercedes D.IIIau (200 h.p.) modifications) is available to Flying Circus - volume 1 owners;
3. Bristol Fighter F2.B (Falcon II (255 h.p.) и Falcon III (285 h.p.) modifications) is available to Flying Circus - volume 1 owners;
4. Bf 109 G-14 has 4K exterior texturing made by Martin =ICDP= Catney;
5. Fw 190 A-3 has 4K exterior texturing made by Martin =ICDP= Catney;
6. User interface checkbox that disallows other players to occupy one of the stations of your tank in multiplayer works now;
7. Main tank gunfire sound won't be skipped while shooting at a maximum rate of fire;
8. Tank traverse systems on player controllable tanks can be damaged now;
9. Switching between main and backup gunsights on player controllable tanks happens correctly;
10. Chalk slopes on the Prokhorovka map won't visibly appear and disappear;
11. Forests on the Prokhorovka map won't visibly blink;
12. Looking at an aircraft mirror at certain view angles won't cause a severe performance drop that was noticeable at high visibility distance settings on low- and middle-end video cards;
13. Destroyed ground vehicles on the GUI map are semi-transparent;
14. Engine throttle control helper logic has been updated (previously it could limit the available engine power at high altitudes);
15. S.E.5, Sopwith Camel and Sopwith Dolphin ailerons buffeting amplitudes at higher flight speeds have been corrected.

Please discuss the update in this thread.

Han · September 30, 2019

Update 3.201

Dear Friends,

The IL-2 development team is glad to report that the new huge update 3.201 is released. It brings you not only the 3 new aircraft and 2 new maps for two projects, but also many improvements in all areas of the sim - graphics, physics, audio, controls, armament, and instruments. You can find the in depth information about some of the new features in our recent Dev Diaries. Please note that this update is the last milestone before the release of two projects at once - Bodenplatte and Flying Circus Vol.1 - which should happen in a month or so. Moreover, this update contains many improvements for Tank Crew as well, paving the way for the release of its two scenario campaigns and tank commander interface.

We advise you to browse through the 3.201 changelist below - in addition to big additions it contains smaller changes which were requested for some time:

New aircraft and other objects

1. Tempest Mk.V Series 2 fighter is available to all Bodenplatte owners;
2. P-51D-15 fighter is available to all Bodenplatte owners;
3. Collectors Plane P-38J-25 is available to all Bodenplatte Premium Edition owners;
4. The new map Rheinland Summer 1944 (including the Low Countries) is available to all Bodenplatte owners in QMB mode;
5. The new map Arras Spring 1918 is available to all Flying Circus Vol.1 owners in QMB mode;
6. B-25D bomber added (not player controllable);
7. GMC CCKW truck added;
8. Willys MB off-road vehicle added;
9. M16 Half-track self-propelled AAA gun added;
10. Sd Kfz 7 Flakvierling 38 self-propelled AAA gun added;
11. Flakvierling 38 AAA gun added;
12. М1A1 90 mm AAA gun added;
13. US searchlights and landing lights added;
14. M5 3-inch AT gun added;
15. M1 155mm howitzer added;
16. JagdPz IV L70 tank destroyer added;
17. Infantry and AA .50 MG added;
18. New types of road and railroad bridges added;
19. New Western European town and village blocks added;
20. New industry blocks added;
21. Many new unique buildings for Rheinland and Arras added;

22. Static versions of many airplanes models were added to the game for better scenery in missions;
23. New countries that participated in WWI and WWII added to the mission logic;

24. Bf 109 G-2 has 4K exterior texturing made by Francisco =BlackHellHound1= Bindraban;

25. IL-2 mod.1942 has 4K exterior texturing made by Martin =ICDP= Catney;

Visual improvements

26. Aircraft and ships are visible much farther than before - theoretically, they can be spotted as far as 100 km away if there are fire, contrails or a ship wake;
27. New 'Distant buildings' option added;
28. Object markers can be blocked by landscape and objects, including own aircraft or vehicle;
29. Static objects rendering has been optimized to increase performance;
30. Sun glare from distant aircraft is visible better;
31. Fire can be visible inside the cockpit on single and triple engine planes;
32. It's possible to display a customizable photo in all aircraft cockpits and tank cabins;
33. Collimator sight reticle has been improved for all planes;

Aircraft improvements

34. DB-601 and DB-605 engine sounds improved for all Bf-109 and Bf-110 planes;
35. Realistic pilot's physiology model is now active, which takes into account the duration of the G-load and rate the G-load was applied;
36. After prolonged exposure to high-G load the load factor tolerance of the crew decreases and they require some time of steady flight to rest and recover;
37. Oxygen deficit affects the human tolerance to high G-load more accurately;
38. Visual and audible high-G effects made more realistic;
39. The sound of the player breathing during a significant positive G load improved, that sound is no longer played during a negative G load;
40. G-suits increase the load factor tolerance of the crew;
41. The crew can become motion sick from alternating G loads;
42. High-G loads, powerful impacts and pain shock can render the crew unconscious resulting in a loss of control;
43. New 'Simple physiology' option added to the difficulty settings disables the load factor tolerance decrease, loss of consciousness and motion sickness;
44. Damage inflicted to the crew from powerful impacts and falls have been corrected;
45. The player can't get painful shock anymore if the invulnerability difficulty option is checked;
46. The ability of the crew to bail out is now limited by the G-load (including its direction), airspeed and crew health (wounds);
47. Crew bails out differently depending on the G load direction - down if the load is positive and up if the load is negative;
48. The movements of the visible model of the flight stick and pedals in the cockpit are no longer filtered so there is less delay between the movement of real flight stick and pedals and the virtual ones. However, the flight stick movement speed is still limited at high flight speeds or if the pilot is wounded;
49. It is now possible to assign a trim axis if it was controlled by an axis on a real aircraft (control wheel or lever). The speed of the trim axis is still limited and depends on the aircraft, similar to the adjustable stabilizer. If you use joystick buttons or keyboard for controlling such trimmers, please assign these keys not only to electric trimmers but also to this trim axis;
50. All Pe-2 and Hs-129 have their electric trimmers disabled if the power is turned off. Turning them on and off can be heard and the sound of trim has been replaced with an electric motor sound;
51. The adjustable stabilizer axis is no longer inverted (its direction is changed according to DirectX standard);
52. New commands for retraction and extension of the landing gear added;
53. It's possible to repair in aircraft when it is near an object with the service parameter set to On in the mission file. Repairs start automatically when the engines shutdown procedure is complete;
54. It's possible to refuel in aircraft when it is near an object with the service parameter set to On in the mission file. The refueling process can be started and stopped using the new commands and only possible if the engines are shut down;
55. It's possible to rearm in aircraft when it is near an object with the service parameter set to On in the mission file. The rearming process can be started and stopped using the new command and only possible if the engines are shut down;
56. Spitfire stall behavior with released landing flaps has been corrected;
57. British and American voiceovers added for Bodenplatte pilots;
58. 150 Octane fuel is available for Spitfire IXe that enables +25 lbs. With it enabled, switching supercharger gears becomes manual;
59. La-5FN skins should work on an MP server now, but this change requires reassigning its skins in the missions created earlier;
60. Bodenplatte pilots got Summer uniform;
61. Windmilling effect works on U-2VS;
62. British gyro gunsight G.G.S. Mk.IId (Spitfire Mk.IXe) now accounts for gravitational bullet drop when calculating the deflection;
63. Spitfire Mk.IXe electric fuel pump won't continuously switch on and off at low throttle on the ground;
64. Some instruments and switches sounds corrected on Spitfire Mk.IXe;
65. Me 262 A behavior at beyond-stall angles of attack corrected;
66. The physical behavior of I-16 fragments has been corrected;
67. Smoke clouds after a plane crash in multiplayer disappear correctly;

AI improvements

68. AI better aims at distant steadily flying targets;
69. AI better distribute enemy targets among themselves;
70. If an AI has a speed advantage over a target it is attacking, it tries to keep this advantage;
71. Combat turns, spirals and banking maneuvers in a dogfight are performed more aggressively;
72. AI won't switch maneuvers too frequently, distorting its planned tactics;
73. Criteria for choosing maneuvers in a dogfight were updated;
74. AI keeps the formation better;

Tank improvements

75. Offroad shaking has been made more natural;
76. All the tanks now use the M4A2 aiming method;
77. The engine startup sequence is now animated (master switch, excess pressure valve, manual fuel pump, wobble pump, caution signal);
78. Inner visual effects are not affected by tank movements;
79. Engine exhaust effect improved;
80. Driver gauges, turret instruments, MG elements are now animated in multiplayer;
81. Direction controllability improved;
82. APHE rounds cause more damage to inner components after the armor penetration;
83. The visual effect of the turret traverse motor exhaust added to Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. G and M4A2;
84. KV-1s and Pz.Kpfw.III Ausf. M commanders can fire the signal rockets through a small hatch in the roof when the commander hatch is closed;
85. The engine startup sound on KV-1s and Т-34-76 UVZ (1943) depends on the starter type used (main electric or reserve pneumatic one);
86. KV-1s, Т-34-76 UVZ (1943) and M4A2 have functioning klaxon (LAlt+S);
87. Inner details and texturing improved on KV-1s and Pz.Kpfw.VI Ausf.H1;
88. Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf. M, Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. G and Pz.Kpfw. VI Ausf. H1 bow MGs use the M4A2 aiming method;
89. There is an alternate DT MG gunner aiming mode on KV-1s - through the periscope (in addition to the regular one through the gunsight);
90. KV-1s commander and radioman have an alternate aiming mode - through a visor;
91. M4A2 turret traverse can be powered by the motor-generator;
92. M4A2 first-person view height corrected for a driver and MG gunner in unbuttoned positions;
93. Visible (from the driver seat) rotation of the steering drive shaft has been corrected on Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf. G;
94. Pz.Kpfw.III Ausf. M fuel or oil fire effect has been corrected;
95. A firing port in the panoramic gunsight armor added on KV-1s;
96. Air inlets of the engine compartment added on KV-1s;
97. Slits in the driver visor on KV-1s decreased in the visor open position;

Other improvements

98. The sound subsystem uses newer FMOD API - sound loss after long play sessions should be fixed;
99. Runway floodlights work now;
100. Coalition sorting functionality added to QMB mode;
101. An automatic chat message in the multiplayer reports if there is no UDP traffic coming from one of the players;
102. A workaround added for VR HMDs without hardware IPD adjustment - LShift-NumPad+ and LShift-NumpadEnter directly move the images on the VR screen farther or closer.
103. Radio chatter volume is affected if the player is concussed, lost consciousness or wounded.

P.S.

To add a custom photo to your airplane or tank cockpit you should replace existing default DDS image by another one in:

<game_folder>\data\graphics\planes\<airplane_folder>\textures\custom_photo.dds

or

<game_folder>\data\graphics\vehicles\<_tank_folder>\textures\custom_photo.dds

DDS image should be 1024x1024 in DXT5 ARGB 8bpp with mip-maps

Please discuss the update in this thread.

Han · November 7, 2019

Update 4.001

IL-2: Great Battles Version 4.001 Launched – Battle of Bodenplatte and Flying Circus Officially Released! Tank Crew Campaigns - Released!

Dear Pilots!

Finally, we have reached a very important milestone for our latest IL-2 Sturmovik titles. Today, two projects moving from the Early Access phase to Official Release. The first of these is Battle of Bodenplatte, which acquired the last major content components that were missing - the seasonal textures for the Rhineland map and the Pilot's Career. However, this does not mean that work on this project is completely done, we plan to spend some time before we begin our next project on fine-tuning and polishing a number of its components and adding a couple yet to be completed pieces such as Air Marshal. However, we feel it contains enough content and features that we can begin to sell it in all our channels including Steam as we head into the Holiday Season. In addition, we plan to closely monitor your messages in order to improve the quality of the project as much as we can in the last part of 2019. Bodenplatte turned out to be a truly record-setting job for us, the volume of work done on the development of maps and aircraft of the late period of the war is unprecedented for us. The late period imposes serious additional requirements on the manufactured equipment; however, the result is extremely interesting. The included aircraft make an incredible impression, because this is already the "apogee" of piston powered planes and, at the same time, the "dawn" of jet aircraft. The Rhineland map impresses with its scale, size and richness of cities and the number and historically researched airfields. The career "Battle of the Rhine" takes place over a fairly long period of time that includes four seasons - from September 17th, 1944 to April 1st, 1945. The Career covers a very significant part of the war on the western front - more than half a year. Battle of Bodenplatte was a bold step for us and when coupled with our other two projects, it pushed us to our creative limits. We hope you will enjoy it! Also, a Standard Edition of BOBP will be coming soon with the P-38J and Fw-190 D-9 offered as Collector Planes to give users more buying options. BOBP will also be available on Steam in the coming weeks, there are still a few details we must work out there first.

Flying Circus - Volume 1 is now available in its fully planned state and all the remaining ground-based equipment of the First World War have been added in our new standard of visual quality. Observation balloons with observers who may leap from their post when under attack are also included now. A number of improvements were also made on the map, primarily to the front line. We hope that users who purchase this project will like the step forward in comparison with our previous title Rise of Flight, especially in the visual quality of aircraft and the environment that we, together with our partner Yugra Media, have created for you. Although the flight models generally correspond to the ones from Rise of Flight, many of the improvements that have been made over the past 7 years for Il-2 Sturmovik play a role in Flying Circus as well. Such improvements automatically benefit all projects within the framework of our one common game world and give a new, previously unavailable experience of virtual flight and combat in the First World War. All these new opportunities unfold in their fullest when playing with the use of virtual reality devices. FC includes so many new things - new landscape technology, new lighting and clouds, better sound, new AI and improved ballistics, new graphic effects and new materials for aircraft surfaces, new detailing of textures and models - all this and much more gives the virtual pilots of the First World War something that is not available anywhere else. We hope to make more Flying Circus volumes in the future and we thank those who have jumped into this new product so far!

Note: We have extended the $10 Off Early Access discount for days more, but it will go to full MSRP very soon. Make your purchase before the price goes up!

Tank Crew – Clash at Prokhorovka is still under development, as one more tank and three self-propelled guns are being built by our DigitalForms partners. However, from the point of view of the gameplay, this project has almost reached its planned goals - this is expressed in the release of the Breakpoint and Last Chance scenario campaigns in this version. These campaigns tell the story, in the maximum possible historical manner we can, about the complex and intricate events of one of the greatest tank battles on the Eastern Front - the battle of Prokhorovka.

This battle was not limited only to the events of July 12th, it took place over several tense days, from July 6th to July 16th, 1943. The events and outcomes of this battle are extremely complex and controversial. Although the Soviet troops and armored forces suffered heavy losses, the German command was never able to achieve their planned goals. At the end of the battle, the situation in this sector of the war front almost returned to what it was before it began. However, numbers or the “net book balance” does not always determine the magnitude of the event. The incredible tension, power, complexity and intensity of this military clash, which practically merged into one single and continuous epic multi-day battle, has few equals in world history. And the ambiguity of the outcome of the battle only enhances the intensity of the drama of these events, which do not require any embellishment - simply being retold "as is", without exaggeration is incredibly exciting. It should also be noted that the release of these tank campaigns is accompanied by the completion of the development of some of the most important features of Tank Crew – the radio and command interface. This will allow you to better control your own tank and your tank platoon. We also plan to continue the refinement of our tank project in the coming months as this project too readies for official release.

And finally, the Achtung Spitfire! Scripted Campaign is also now released and ready to be played! Developed by our friends The Syndicate, this historically inspired campaign contains 20 missions featuring a fictional storyline that is inspired by historical events. Your character is a young Russian pilot from Siberia serving on the North Caucasus Front in late May 1943. The campaign features missions inspired by the Soviet 37th and 56th Armies attack on the German 44th Army Corps west of the city of Krymskaya. You’ll fly a bird of a different feather in the lend-lease Spitfire Mk.Vb over the beautiful Kuban region of the Soviet Union. The campaign is great fun and full of action.

This campaign also has a new feature. We have added support for special assigned skins for the player’s plane and other planes I the mission. This is a first for us in a pay-ware campaign such as this. However, to see them, you must download the free skin pack from HERE and place the skins in the Spitfire Mk.Vb Skins folder. We have decided to offer the skin pack as an optional download to lighten our distribution costs and the size of your install if you don’t own this campaign. The skin pack is offered free of charge of course.

We thank you for your patience as we have readied this product for release and many of you have already pre-ordered it and we appreciate your support. Products like these add more diversity to our product line and help fund many new innovations and content for all of you.

And now we proudly present version 4.001 to you, our friends, partners and customers. And like most huge updates, there are likely to be some bugs or other unintended issues missed in testing. We of course, as always, will address them just as fast as we can. We appreciate your support as we have worked hard to build all of these new products. Here’s to you and to more great combat-sim goodness in the future!

The Sturmovik Team

Main features

1. "Battle of the Rhine" career timeframe consisting of five chapters added to Battle of Bodenplatte;
2. Rheinland Autumn 1944 map added to Battle of Bodenplatte;
3. Rheinland Winter 1944-45 map added to Battle of Bodenplatte;
4. Rheinland Spring 1945 map added to Battle of Bodenplatte;
5. Canon de 75 mle 1897 gun added to Flying Circus;
6. 7.7 cm FK 96 n.A. added to Flying Circus;
7. QF 4.5-inch howitzer added to Flying Circus;
8. 15 cm sFH 13 howitzer added to Flying Circus;
9. QF 13 pounder 6 cwt AAA gun added to Flying Circus;
10. 7.7 cm FlaK L/27 AAA gun added to Flying Circus;
11. Hotchkiss Mle 14 regular and AA machineguns added to Flying Circus;
12. Spandau MG 08 regular and AA machineguns added to Flying Circus;
13. Great War searchlights added to Flying Circus;
14. Thornycroft J-type self-propelled AA gun added to Flying Circus;
15. Daimler M1914 armored self-propelled AA gun added to Flying Circus;
16. Benz LKW 1912 truck added to Flying Circus;
17. Leyland 3 Ton RAF truck added to Flying Circus;
18. Crossley T5 command vehicle added to Flying Circus;
19. Mercedes Kettenwagen 22 command vehicle added to Flying Circus;
20. No-mans land visually improved on Arras map;
21. Amiens cathedral added on Arras map;
22. Balloons added on Arras map in quick mission builder (QMB);
23. Observers bail out from balloons on Arras map;
24. Soviet tank campaign Breaking point added to Tank Crew;
25. German tank campaign Last chance added to Tank Crew;
26. Tank radio chatter added to Tank Crew;
27. Tank commander interface added to Tank Crew. Attention: it is engaged from commander seat by ~ key (tilde). For the driver to follow your orders turn autopilot on from the driver seat first (otherwise you will be driving the tank manually as before);
28. Achtung Spitfire! Scripted Campaign is released;
29. Simplified AI-controlled Pz.Kpfw. VI Ausf.H1 added;
30. Simplified AI-controlled M4A2(75) added;
31. Simplified AI-controlled M4A3(75)W added;
32. New Extreme quality cloud setting added that makes the clouds sharper and less 'shifting'.
33. Three new P-51 (by ICDP and Bugsy) and one P-38 skin added (by ICDP);

General improvements

34. The color of aiming helpers for the guns, bombs and rockets has been changed;
35. Ground vehicles navigate large bridges on Rheinland map correctly;
36. Rheinland and Arras maps have cobblestone roads;
37. Missing grass added to yellow fields on Prokhorovka maps;
38. Mission designers can define the default GUI map view more accurately by using Normal type lines;
39. Mission designers can use custom (unofficial) skins in the campaigns;
40. Career bug that caused the planes left in the air to be lost has been fixed;
41. The visual image of rotating propellers in VR has been improved. New parameter "prop_blur_max_rpm_for_vr" can be added to startup.cfg, [KEY = graphics] section - it governs the maximum visible RPM of the propeller in case you don't like the current setting designed to minimize the visual artifacts caused by reprojection VR tech;

Aircraft improvements

42. Unlimited ammo difficulty option no longer creates bombs and rockets under a lost wing;
43. MiG-3 flaps have been corrected - any change of the flaps limiter position retracts them first and then extends to a new position;
44. A wrong shaking warning message has been removed from P-51D-15;
45. The automatic supercharger gear change altitude has been corrected on P-51D-15 when using 150 octane fuel;
46. Radio volume can be adjusted (LAlt+NumPad+ and LAlt+NumPad- by default);
47. Pitch response curve for non-FFB joysticks has been corrected for all Flying Circus planes, making them easier to fly level. SPAD 13 and Dr.1 were adversely affected due to this change and will be fixed I a Hotfix;
48. More aircraft controls are blocked when the pilot is unconscious;
49. After rearming in a service area the guns are ready to fire immediately without pressing reload key;
50. You can't see your own previous plane when starting again in multiplayer;
51. Wrong technochat messages about rudder and elevator surfaces were corrected (like reporting a right part hit instead of a left one);
52. Fw 190 D-9 fuel switch works correctly;
53. Tempest Mk.V s.2 engine startup made faster;
54. AI Bf 109 K-4s correctly start their engines on parking;
55. FlyingTempest Mk.V s.2 without part of a wing became more difficult;
56. Tempest Mk.V s.2 stall speed increased by 6 mph;
57. Me 262 A elevator is less affected by ram air according to newly found data;
58. RPM control helper won't sometimes turn on by itself on Expert difficulty;
59. AI wing leaders flying on jet aircraft won't decrease their speed too much waiting for their wingmen;
60. AI pilots try not to exceed 5G (6G if they have anti-G suits) to prevent the loss of consciousness;
61. When starting a QMB mission close to AI aircraft they'll act more aggressively;
62. A bug that could cause AI P-39 pilots to overrev and damage their engines has been fixed;

Ground vehicle improvements

63. Vertical gun aiming speeds on all player-controlled vehicles were made realistic according to their correct reduction ratios and the handwheel rotation speed which is the same for all vehicles;
64. When player exit a gunner seat the gun or MG is left in the last aiming position;
65. When gunner opens his hatch, the turret is left in its last position;
66. Repairing of Pz.III main gun and turret traverse mechanism happens correctly;
67. Panoramic gunsight on KV-1s and T-34 (UVZ) mod.1943 tanks can be damaged by hitting its armored cupola;
68. The repair process has been corrected to prioritize the leaks;
69. Tiger main gun has been made sturdier against fragments;
70. Simple AI ground vehicles with damaged wheels, engine or killed crew no longer become an unmovable obstacle;
71. A destroyed AI object no longer causes excessive damage to other objects ramming it;
72. Ammo crates near artillery positions are not a difficult obstacle anymore;
73. Simple ground vehicles have realistic gun aiming speeds;
74. GAZ-AA and ZiS-5 trucks have correct mass (previously they had empty vehicle mass);
75. Simple AI tanks and guns have a delay between initial aiming and opening fire and between destroying a target and engaging another;
76. Detailed AI tanks button up when engaging a target;
77. Detailed AI controlled T-34 (UVZ) mod.1943 is correctly counted in statistics;
78. Destroyed Т-70 has correct tracks texture;
79. The forward lights of the G-8 locomotive no longer shift from it when viewed from a far distance;

Scenario campaign improvements

80. Fortress on the Volga: aircraft appear and disappear according to the new visibility distance;
81. Fortress on the Volga: you can encounter U-2VS when flying over the enemy territory;
82. Fortress on the Volga: U-2VS and Hs 129 can be seen on airfields;
83. Fortress on the Volga: the movement of all transport and armored columns has been corrected;
84. Fortress on the Volga: Soviet tank attack in mission 3 has been completely overhauled;
85. Fortress on the Volga: other minor improvements;
86. Blazing Steppe: aircraft appear and disappear according to the new visibility distance;
87. Blazing Steppe: you can encounter U-2VS in the air;
88. Blazing Steppe: U-2VS, P-40 and Hs 129 can be seen on airfields;
89. Blazing Steppe: the movement of all transport and armored columns has been corrected, there are more of them and they are larger;
90. Blazing Steppe: new aircraft groups added;
91. Blazing Steppe: all Soviet 85 mm AA gun batteries were overhauled;
92. Blazing Steppe: all static objects have been updated to correct durability values;
93. Blazing Steppe: the forces and mission logic have been corrected in missions 6 and 8;
94. Blazing Steppe: other minor improvements.

Please discuss the update in this thread.

Han · November 26, 2019

Update 4.002

Dear Friends,

Our team is glad to announce that we finished another update 4.002. In this version, all Tank Crew owners get the SU-122 assault gun. In addition, everyone gets many improvements - some of them our community asked for a long time. After additional work on the aircraft visibility modeling against the clouds is improved. We also added automatic dive-recovery controls to four bombers from Battle of Stalingrad and Battle of Moscow. The login time has been drastically decreased, it will now happen up to ten times faster than before. Tank and aircraft turrets aiming will be more convenient and there are many other minor improvements. Let's go into detail about the automatic dive-recovery controls:

Ju-87
When the dive system is engaged, the plane enters a dive when the air brakes are extended and will recover from the dive either by pressing the bomb drop button or when the air brakes are retracted. The dive system controls are separate: the trimmer tab on the right elevator is controlled by the dive system while the pilot controls the trimmer tab on the left elevator. Therefore the pilot input and dive system input of the trimmers are independent, and when the dive system is in operation, there is no indication of a trimmer position change in the technochat.

Ju-88
When the dive system is engaged, the plane enters a dive when the air brakes are extended or when the dive button (LCtrl + D by default) is pressed. The plane will recover from the dive either by pressing the bomb drop button or by pressing the dive button (LCtrl + D by default). The dive system will return to the neutral position of the elevator trim, while the full range of trimmer travel from the pilot’s input is preserved. Therefore the pilot input and dive system input of the trimmers are independent, and when the dive system is in operation, there is no indication of a trimmer position change in the technochat. Also, the elevator trim is automatically shifted when the stabilizer is moved to the landing position (when flaps are released to the landing position). This also shifts the trim back to the neutral position.

Pe-2 (both series)
When the dive system is engaged, the plane enters a dive when the air brakes are extended (pass through the 45° position) and will recover from the dive when you press the bomb drop button or the dive recovery button to exit the dive (LCtrl + D by default). The dive system controls the elevator trim -for correct operation, the trimmer must be in the range between -4.5 ° to + 4.5 ° before turning on the dive system. If the trimmer is outside this range or if the airplane is trimmed manually while the dive system is in operation or if the air brakes are retracted the dive system will disengage.

Ju-87 and Ju-88
Contact altimeters are installed on these aircraft. The RShift + K and RCtrl + K commands (by default) set the bomb release (contact) altitude. When the dive system is engaged, the buzzer will sound 250 m above the contact altitude. Buzzer turns off when the contact altitude is reached or when the dive system is disengaged. The pressure setting is adjusted by the same command as on the main altimeter (with a short pause after setting the pressure on the main altimeter). The contact altimeter is not connected with the dive system, it is a separate device that just gives an audio signal at a contact height.

Main features
1. SU-122 assault gun made by Ural heavy machinery factory in 1943 is now available for all Tank Crew owners;
2. Guns and MGs aiming using the mouse has been improved;
3. Turret aiming in VR is improved (you don't need to physically turn while aiming);
4. The issue with planes visually disappearing against the clouds at short distances has been minimized;
5. Planes visual pixelization against the clouds at medium distances has been greatly reduced;
6. Winter textures for all Bodenplatte buildings added;
7. Winter textures for all Bodenplatte vehicles added;
8. Speed and reliability of the online login have been greatly improved;
9. GMC CCKW fuel truck added;
10. Thanks to the new tech developed for Tank Crew, B-25D, P-47D and P-51D have correct British or US pilots depending on the country specified in the mission file;
11. Dive and recovery control automatics added to Ju-87 D-3, Ju 88 A-4, Pe-2 s. 87 and Pe-2 s. 35;
12. Ju-87 D-3 and Ju 88 A-4 dive bombers are equipped with contact altimeters;
13. LaGG-3 now sports 4K exterior textures made by Martin =ICDP= Catney;

AI improvements
14. AI pilots can resume engaging a target after losing it;
15. AI pilots won't try to engage a distant target flying at negative G for a prolonged time;
16. AI pilots won't crash into the ground while doing a defense spiral maneuver;
17. AI pilots won't get stuck in a shallow dive during a defense maneuver;
18. AI pilots won't attempt dangerous evasion maneuvers at low altitudes which caused them to crash;
19. AI pilots won't get too excited following a falling target and crash into the ground after it;
20. AI pilots attacking air targets will attack the planes that take off or land;
21. AI pilots won't get stuck in an upside position during a dogfight;
22. AI pilots won't get stuck in a roll during an evasion maneuver which could end in a crash;
23. AI pilots will try to bail out of a burning plane (now it depends on how fast it will decide to bail out and if he has strength left to do so);
24. Self-propelled AAA switch to combat position if they don't have movement orders and have an attack targets in area command (even if there are no targets present);
25. Ship guns aiming corrected;

Aircraft improvements
26. Ju-87 D-3 has animated servo tabs;
27. Ju-87 D-3 has visual indicators for the extended dive brakes;
28. Ju-88 A-4 elevator trim adjusts automatically when the stabilizer is switched to the landing position;
29. Ju-88 A-4 has animated servo tabs;
30. heavier aircraft like He-111, Ju-52/87/88, A-20, IL-2, Pe-2 won't shake as much when their tails are damaged;
31. Pe-2 and He-111: the camera automatically turns in a correct direction when switching to a new MG in turrets with several MGs;
32. Ju-52/3mg4e 2nd pilot animations have been restored;
33. P-38J-25: canopy close sound won't play too early;
34. P-38J-25: the instruments panel can be damaged;
35. P-38J-25: signal lights won't float in the air on a severely damaged aircraft;
36. IL-2 elevator control rods damage has been corrected;
37. All additional armor elements on Bf-110 correctly shield the aircraft;
38. P-51D-15 rear landing gear can be damaged now;
39. MC 202 s8: MG151 ammo reserves can be damaged now;
40. Fw 190 A-8 ammo reserves can be damaged now;
41. Fw 190 A-8 wing pylons look correctly from various distances;
42. Bf 109 G4/G6/G14/K4: the right underwing cannon won't stop working after the loss of ammo in the left wing anymore;
43. Bf 109s except for G14 and K4: jettisoned canopies are correctly repaired;
44. Bristol Fighter will correctly register radiator hits;
45. Pedals animated correctly on Bristol Fighter;
46. Static U-2VS has winter skin;
47. IL-2 mod. 1942 has its exterior color saturation corrected;

Tank Crew improvements
48. Visual detail of plates above the tracks on KV-1s has been improved;
49. Speedometer added to KV-1s (it is on the engine compartment bulkhead);
50. Batteries are visible in the KV-1s interior;
51. Many visual improvements to KV-1s interior (level of detail, textures, etc.);
52. Recoil indicators added to KV-1s and T-34 mod. 1943;
53. Panoramic sight cupola stopper added to KV-1s and T-34 mod. 1943;
54. T-34 mod. 1943 tracks have been visually improved;
55. T-34 mod. 1943 internal collision model (that is used in damage calculations) has been improved;
56. Engine exhaust is visible at the idle engine RPM;

Other changes
57. Caquot balloons won't disappear at medium distances;
58. The inner walls of the damaged detailed buildings on the Prokhorovka map won't disappear at medium distances;
59. It's now possible to turn off the VR rendering mode for the propellers - any negative values specified for the prop_blur_max_rpm_for_vr parameter in startup.cfg file (like prop_blur_max_rpm_for_vr = -1) will result in the normal propellers rendering;
60. Object Fake_Block can be used on the airfields (its collision object has been lowered below the ground);
61. Levitating buildings on Stalingrad map have been fixed;
62. It's now possible to win the 5th mission of the Turning point campaign after a successful retreat;
63. The excessive effect of concussion and possible loss of consciousness after HE hits at a tank or aircraft has been removed if the player or AI weren't wounded by these hits.
64. Ten Days of Autumn campaign: all static objects have been updated to correct durability values, other minor improvements;
65. Fortress on the Volga campaign: minor improvements;
66. A black line won't appear in the middle of some Bodenplatte timeframe newspapers;
67. Added another (fifth) voice of a Soviet tanker;
68. Trees preventing a takeoff from some airfields were cut down on all Rheinland maps.

Please discuss the update in this thread.

Han · December 17, 2019

Update 4.003

Dear friends,

We have decided to release a bugfix update to prepare for the coming winter holidays - it doesn't bring new content, but its fixes are important enough. The most of them are AI improvements - we have spent a lot of time this month to improve dogfighting algorithms and we'll continue to improve AI further. There are also important fixes for the player controlled ground vehicles and our friend =Luke FF= worked on improving the Career mode. The full list of changes is following:

AI improvements
1. AIs finish a ground attack run by pulling up harder, which should improve their survivability rate in hilly terrain;
2. AI bombers drop the bombs better;
3. Advanced AIs won't 'stuck' in an endless circle during dogfight anymore;
4. AIs perform "Low Yo-Yo" and "High Yo-Yo" maneuvers better;
5. Detailed AI tanks engage the nearest targets by default like simple AI tanks do;
6. AI drivers of self-propelled artillery and other ground equipment with a fixed main weapon now face the target to aim if the priority of the mission command being executed is LOW;
7. Ground vehicles won't 'jump' on steep slopes;
8. Ground vehicle AIs won't turn their engines off immediately after stopping;
9. AI ground vehicles have a variable exhaust effect when moving;
10. The steam locomotives won't turn on the lights during the day;
11. AA guns and machine guns mounted on trains follow mission command priority;

Aircraft improvements
12. The game won't crash when repairing a dirty airplane canopy;
13. Fixed excess clicks of triggers in the cockpit for missing weapon groups;

Player controlled tanks improvements
14. There is a turret ventilation sound in Pz.III Ausf.M, Pz.IV Ausf.G, Pz.VI Ausf.H1 and T-34-76UVZ-43;
15. The master switch is turned on not only when the engine is turned on, but also when the headlights, lighting, signal, tower control with electric trigger or fan are turned on;
16. Fixed the "loss" of the camera when switching from a gunsight to the normal view;
17. Detailed tanks gunsight adjustments are displayed in technochat;
18. Opening and closing of various hatches is displayed in technochat;
19. Startup procedures, the operation of turret and gun systems of the Tank Crew tanks are displayed in technochat;
20. Sub-caliber armor-piercing rounds now lose their stability and ability to penetrate further armor barriers after breaking through the first one;
21. On SU-122, the problem with displaying the commander’s sight in VR was fixed (the second eye was not deactivated);
22. On SU-122, when choosing the DG-460A HEAT shells, the slider of the scope scale is now correctly set to the third scale;
23. Added gunsight settings for firing using a gunner’s sight to the description of SU-122;

Career mode improvements
24. Awards in career mode adjusted to better reflect the historical reality for all nations;
25. Awards text descriptions updated;
26. US careers: medals are awarded according to the criteria set forth by the US 9th Air Force in 1944;
27. German careers: new AI pilots in the squadron with previous flight time now have the possibility to have campaign awards from earlier battles (Eastern Front Medal and Kuban Shield);
28. Soviet careers: new AI pilots in the squadron with previous flight time now have the possibility to have the Medal 'For the Defense of Stalingrad' from December 22, 1942;
29. Soviet careers: Order of the Patriotic War 2nd Class, Order of the Patriotic War 1st Class, Red Wound Stripe, and Yellow Wound Stripe no longer erroneously awarded during the Battle of Moscow;
30. British careers: Mentioned in Despatches can now be awarded multiple times;
31. More stock aircraft skins added to all phases of career mode;
32. German fighter and attack pilots will now fly an airfield attack strafing mission on January 1, 1945, in career mode;
33. Aircraft weapon loadouts and modification restrictions updated for all phases of career mode;

Other improvements
34. Loaders in player controllable tanks, Ju-52 Co-Pilot and A-20 Navigator are invulnerable if Invulnerability difficulty option is turned on;
35. All aircraft GUI previews updated to have a similar style;
36. Simple AI vehicle sounds completely overhauled (all large artillery guns, tanks and assault guns, GMC-CCKW, WillysMB, M16-AA, 72K).

Please discuss the update in this thread.

Han · January 21

Update 4.004

Dear friends,

We're glad to report that update 4.004 is released. The main additions of this one are a new tank for Tank Crew - Pz.Kpfw.V Ausf.D "Panther" - and improved look and additional airfields for Rheinland map (Battle of Bodenplatte). There are many other fixes and improvements as well:

Additions

1. Pz.Kpfw. V Ausf.D "Panther" for Tank Crew;
2. Better looking river and canal banks on Rheinland map;
3. 13 new airfields on Rheinland map:

Le Culot East (Y-10)
Kluis (B-91)
Mill (B-89)
Helmond (B-86)
Amsterdam-Schiphol (B-97)
Arnhem-Deelen
Soesterberg
Strassfeld
Strassfeld 2 - Odendorf
Hilversum
Diest (B-64)
Nivelles (B-75)
Bierset–Liege (A-93)

4. 4K quality exterior textures made by Martin =ICDP= Catney added for Yak-1 series 69;
5. The better-looking transition between the river and sea waters;
6. Improved Т-70 tank model and textures;
7. Updated texture cache system, it should reduce stutters in heavy load MP missions significantly;
8. Brightness and size of very distant aircraft LODs made more uniform (it differed too much on some aircraft);

9. Added initial support for SimShaker to be used in conjunction with JetSeats and other audio powered feedback devices.

AI improvements

10. Ground attack aircraft won't hit the ground when engaging a target with rockets and guns in a tight formation;
11. AI-controlled B-25 starts the engines correctly;
12. AI fighters attempt Immelman maneuver only if they have enough speed;
13. AI fighters open fire more aggressively;
14. AI pilots keep formation on large maps much better;
15. AI vehicle column won't drive into a river if the last waypoint was on a destroyed bridge or immediately before it;
16. Assault guns (simple and detailed) correctly face a target when set to LOW command priority in the mission;

Aircraft improvements

17. P-51, P-47 and P-39 have correct trimmer animations;
18. A-20 engines won't trigger wrong overheat messages;
19. Wrong engine overcooled messages on P-47D were corrected;
20. P-51 landing gear covers shouldn't open and close again and again anymore;
21. Cylinder heads overheat warning will be displayed correctly;
22. Flying Circus planes won't display a wrong message about engine failure when it is switched off;
23. The time it takes to switch to combat position and back has been corrected for all gunners;

Detailed tanks improvements

24. When the loader is killed, the time it takes to load the main gun or coaxial MG is increased significantly;
25. The visual effect of propellant gases is reduced when the exhaust fan is off or is not present;
26. The time it takes to vent the turret after the shot depends on the operational exhaust fan;
27. Detailed tanks won't visibly 'crouch' at a high speed;

Other improvements

28. All night bombing Career missions with more than 6 planes in the flight won't start in a map corner anymore;
29. Wrong ground attack German planes in the late Stalingrad Career chapters were corrected;
30. Duplicate ID error message in the dedicated server has been removed (it blocked the server, now it is visible in the console);
31. Correct season in the pre-mission hangar (Winter/Summer);
32. In Mission Editor it's no longer possible to select a wrong part of a multi-part vehicle skin;
33. Daimler M1914 FlaK 77/L27 and Thornycroft J-type 13pdr AA shells appear in the correct place ().

Please discuss the update in this thread.

Han · 2020-04-08T10:58:31Z

Update 4.005

Dear friends,

The IL-2 Sturmovik team is happy to announce that another, very big and important milestone in the evolution of our project has been reached and its result is ready to be downloaded to your PCs. This time the update doesn't bring new content since the development of the new Normandy project is at the very early stage. However, it contains an enormous block of changes paramount for the IL-2 as a combat flight-sim, namely the aircraft damage model and munitions damage calculations. Earlier we have published several Dev Blogs dedicated to these changes, where they are covered in detail and how they affect the gameplay.

Additionally, the external textures of four previously released aircraft are now available in 4K quality thanks to Martin =ICDP= Catney and Francisco =BlackHellHound1= Bindraban. 4 additional ground vehicles were added to the sim - two ambulances and two fuel trucks. And a new language has been added to the game - Simplified Chinese! Well, at least most of the sim is translated, some parts will have to wait. More on that below.

But of course, this is not quite all we have done. The change-list contains a whopping 140 changes - this is the all-time record for our project! There are numerous improvements to the aircraft simulation, aircraft models, player controlled tanks (Tank Crew) and artificial intelligence (AI). The causes of several important issues we weren't able to reproduce previously due to their rarity and randomness and thus fix before were finally found and fixed. The full list contains many other improvements and fixes as well. Take a look:

Main features

1. MiG-3 series 24 exterior textures, including damage, are in 4K quality now thanks to Martin =ICDP= Catney;

2. Pe-2 series 35 exterior textures, including damage, are in 4K quality now thanks to Martin =ICDP= Catney;

3. Pe-2 series 87 exterior textures, including damage, are in 4K quality now thanks to Martin =ICDP= Catney;

4. Bf 109 G-4 exterior textures, including damage, are in 4K quality now thanks to Francisco =BlackHellHound1= Bindraban;

5. Binoculars have been added for tank commanders (press LCtrl + 5);

6. GAZ-55 ambulance vehicle added;

7. BZ-35 fuel truck added;

8. Opel Blitz ambulance vehicle added;

9. Opel Blitz Tankwagen fuel truck added;

10. New language added - Chinese Simplified (简体中文). The career mode is not yet completely translated since the newspaper articles and some squadron histories and award descriptions are in English (they are not necessary for playing though). The Chinese symbols in the pilot name won’t work sadly due to the technical limitations in the mission file format.

Aircraft Damage Model Improvements

11. All aircraft got the new, significantly more advanced version of the airframe damage calculations: each aircraft has its own geometrical sizes of the airframe parts and the material types while the damage calculations take into account the peculiarities of the AP, blast and fragmentation damage;

12. A complete rework of aircraft skin damage calculations has been done and it now takes into account the projectile caliber or its HE capability: now AP ammo and bullets damage the aircraft skin to much lesser extent than HE ammo while ramming an aircraft with a propeller of another instantly causes severe aircraft skin damage;

13. Visual hit effects (sparks, splinters, etc.) and sound effects now depend on the material of a hit part of the aircraft;

14. A one projectile impact won’t erroneously cause multiple (doubling) damage effects on the airframe parts which have several hitboxes;

15. Projectile impacts (and ramming an aircraft with a propeller of another) at the parts which don’t have their own cracks modeled in 3D visual model (for instance, when shooting at a wing root that should cause a crack in the wing on the aircraft where a crack at the wing base is not modeled) are calculated in more detail;

16. Projectile impacts (and ramming an aircraft with a propeller of another) at the parts not connected to the airframe won’t damage the airframe (for example, hitting an engine nacelle of a twin-engine aircraft won’t destroy a wing);

17. The calculations of the energy impulse transfer to an aircraft from a munition it was hit by now take into account the shots that went through it;

18. Exploding shells no longer damage the airframe by their initial kinetic energy of an intact shell, only by the blast and the kinetic energy of its fragments;

19. The following visual effects of the aircraft fragments were corrected (turned on when needed and off when not needed): landing gear dust (in the flight), the lighting from landing and navigation lights, guns firing and engine exhausts, smoke from smoke generators and vortex trails from the wingtips);

20. The found discrepancies between a new and repaired aircraft aerodynamics have been fixed;

21. A rare issue that could cause the airframe cracks to preserve after repairing has been found and fixed;

22. The modeling of the combat damage of the piston engine crank gear became more detailed and takes into account the engine type (for instance, the damage of the crank gear of the air-cooled engines happens more rarely than crank gear of the liquid-cooled engines) and the peculiarities of the armor penetration, blast and fragmentation effects of the munitions. The damage of the crank gear can cause the wedging up and seizing up of the crankshaft while the heavy momentary incurred damage can cause the immediate stop of the crankshaft;

23. It is now possible to damage one or several engine cylinders at once by weapons fire, reducing its power output. Damaged pistons can affect the crank gear and can be accompanied by oil and coolant leaks. The calculations of the incurred damage and leakage values take into account the type of the engine and the peculiarities of the armor penetration, blast and fragmentation effects of the munitions;

24. The calculations of an engine fire probability from torn fuel lines and oil leaks take into account the peculiarities of the armor penetration, blast and fragmentation effects of the munitions;

25. The physical model of the engine now differentiates the two types of oil leaks: from the engine and from the oil system;

26. Only the actual oil leak from the engine now soils up the canopy instead of a general engine damage;

27. An excessive amount of piston engine shaking caused by the crank gear damage has been reduced;

28. The calculations of an oil tank or oil radiator leak probability, its size and leakage value take into account the peculiarities of the armor penetration and fragmentation effects of the munitions in detail;

29. The calculations of a coolant tank or water radiator leak probability, its size and leakage value take into account the peculiarities of the armor penetration and fragmentation effects of the munitions in detail;

30. The calculations of a fuel tank leak probability, its size and leakage value take into account the peculiarities of the armor penetration and fragmentation effects of the munitions in detail. The fuel tanks leak protection will be taken into account later, when the next level fuel system modeling is finished;

31. The visual intensity of a fuel, oil, and coolant leaks now corresponds to the actual severity of a leak closer;

32. When calculating the probabilities of a fuel tank fire and explosion, the different AP, blast and fragments effects are taken into account as well as the amount of the fuel leaking from the tank at the moment. Inert-gas pressurization and other fire countermeasures will be taken into account later when the next level fuel system modeling is finished;

33. Bf 110 G-2, Bf 110 E-2 and Hs-129 B-2 right engines won’t be excessively damaged by explosion fragments;

34. P-38J-25: a stabilizer won’t be destroyed by small fluctuating stress loads;

35. P-38J-25: it is now possible to hit and damage the right engine radiators;

36. P-51D-15: it is now possible to hit its oil tank and its armored visor is correctly included in the armor protection calculations;

37. P-51D-15 canopy will appear correctly soiled up by an oil leak both in internal and external views;

38. P-51D-15 3D-model won’t erroneously show the wing crack;

39. The landing gear doors on all aircraft are destroyed if landing gear wheels are torn off in retracted position;

40. Hs 129 B-2: the destruction of the right landing gear door won’t generate the landing gear door debris on the left;

41. Bf-109 (all series except E7): the loss of the vertical stabilizer and the central part of the horizontal stabilizer is temporarily blocked due to the interdependence of this damage in the 3D model, which makes this point extremely vulnerable to combat damage and causes undesirable results. We will try to move the breaking point above the stabilizer in the future and fix this limitation. Damage to the rudder, elevators and horizontal stabs are still possible and the rudder and elevators can still be detached. And the left and right portions of the horizontal stab can also be lost;
42. Bf-109 (all series): the mixed up locations where the debris of the landing gear bay doors appear have been corrected;

43. MiG-3 series 24: the main landing gear bay doors in the wing can also be torn off by an excessive ram air pressure;

44. Excessive rear hemisphere protection of the Pe-2 gunners from the fragments has been corrected;

45. Ju-52/3m g4e: the oil level gauges display the correct amount of the oil left even if it is completely gone or after the oil system repair;

46. Ju-52/3m g4e: first pilot bailing out won’t cause the death of the second pilot and the gunner;

General Damage Model Improvements (for all objects in the sim)

47. A complete overhaul of the blast and fragmentation damage, as well as armor penetration damage has been finished, including, but not limited to: correction of calculation errors, calculation speed optimizations, protection of the calculation results for finding possible errors in the initial data;

48. Insufficient blast damage in case of a very near explosion or inner explosion has been corrected;

49. The number of fragments hitting an object is correctly calculated basing on the distance to an explosion, including the case of inner explosion;

50. Now there is a possibility of a ‘stray fragment’ impact when the expectation function gives less than one fragment due to the distance to the explosion (outside the kill area), which is important in a case of multiple explosions;

51. The armor penetration ability and damage of projectile increases if the resulting impact velocity exceeds the muzzle velocity of a projectile in the reference test data;

52. The fragmentation damage modeling is made less abstract for all ammunition types: the formation of the fragments, their initial speeds, masses and sizes are calculated and their loss of velocity with the distance traveled is calculated using the modern estimates of their resistance factor and the integration of their movements;

53. The calculations of the penetration ability of the combined HE and frag damage is also less abstract. Instead of using an empirical parameter, the system now uses the speed, mass, and size of a fragment to model a penetration and the massed impact in case of a near explosion is also modeled;

54. Since the calculations of the penetration ability and the energy of fragments were changed, the excessive effectiveness of the bombs against armored targets at large distances has been reduced, but a very close explosion is much more effective than before;

55. The penetration ability of the fragments created by shells containing a small amount of explosives relative to their overall mass was also reduced because of the same reason;

56. The blast damage calculations use a more accurate power law depending on the distance to the blast center. The damage inflicted by a blast and its ability to break through an armor sheet now drops as the distance increases faster than before, but became much more powerful at very short distances;

57. Engines, drivetrains, reduction gearboxes, ammo racks and other large pieces of equipment now have their own hard casings modeled where applicable and they can protect them from some damage;

58. In a rare case of a direct bomb hit at a turret of a flying aircraft, aerostat or a parachute there won’t be a detonation delay that could cause it to explode at a distance to the object;

59. The severity of a wound depends on the impact area: a head hit is more critical than a body one while a body hit is less severe than it was before;

60. The crew members experience less pain shock from wounds and impacts;

Player controllable tanks improvements

61. The death of a radio operator now blocks the external communications;

62. Pz.III-L and T-34 STZ tanks ammo racks now are damageable;

63.The physical collision model of the Pz.III-L turret now correctly rotates together with the visual model of the turret;

64. The physical collision model of the T-34 STZ main gun barrel now correctly corresponds to its visual model;

65. The M4A2 commander’s machine gun can be damaged;

66. In the event of a catastrophic detonation, the turret flying away from Pz.III-L and T-34 STZ tanks will be visually damaged;

67. A knocked out machine gun won’t incorrectly cause the death of its operator;

68. The issue that could result in the destruction of a tank when its main gun and coaxial MG are knocked out has been found and fixed;

69. Several commands of the tank commander (for example, "Attack ground targets on sight") will work even if the mission script doesn’t include any commands for this tank;

70. Several non-working technochat messages about turret systems failure and repair (coaxial machine gun, main and backup turret traverse, vertical aiming mechanism, etc.) have been fixed;

71. Pz.Kpfw.III.Ausf.M, Pz.Kpfw.IV.Ausf.G and M4A2 tracks tension is correctly animated (it was reversed);

72. The tank radio transmitter failure makes the communication with other tanks of the unit impossible;

73. Viewing instruments on KV-1s tanks made more detailed;

74. The issue with KV-1s tracks visibly moving in the opposite direction when accelerating has been minimized;

75. The casing of the various large systems (engine, gearbox, ammunition) can protect them from shell fragments;

76. An additional armor sheet on the front hull of the KV-1s is now modeled;

AI Improvements

77. The AI pilots of the high-speed aircraft now try to use their advantage over significantly slower aircraft using the hit and run tactics;

78. The AI pilots of the high-speed aircraft aim better when firing the guns;

79. A failed bombing run won’t cause an AI-controlled bomber to fly beyond the map borders;

80. An AI pilot estimates the time required to destroy a ground target better;

81. The AI pilots won’t try to move the control surfaces of a crashed aircraft;

82. P-51D AI pilot will always close the canopy before taking off;

83. Gunners won’t do unnecessary motions when bailing out;

84. Additional improvements were made in the ground vehicle obstacle avoidance algorithm;

85. A rare issue that could cause vehicles of a column to move directly North after an emergency stop has been found and fixed;

86. AI-controlled ground based guns and MGs aim better in heavy wind weather conditions;

87. 76mm and 77mm AAA of World War I era aim better;

Visual aircraft models improvements

88. The bomb control panel on all Bf 109 3D-models is now hidden in the outside view if no bombs are installed;

89. The right landing gear wheel of the Bf 109 E-7 is no longer visible from a large distance when the right wing is lost;

90. The Bf-109 G-14 canopy cable looks correct when the canopy is open;

91. The gap between the bomb holder and Fw 190 A3 and Fw 190 A5 fuselages has been removed;

92. The gear wheels of the chain drive of the He-111 bomb bay doors are animated now;

93. The An-4 compass on Pe-2s has a functioning backlight now;

94. The excessive visibility of IL-2 mod. 1943 at large distances caused by a wrong glare setting has been corrected;

95. The rear navigation light of the La-5FN won’t be visible from the cockpit;

96. A damaged LaGG-3 won’t appear to have through holes when zooming out;

97. The Yak-1b rear wheel trace on the ground won’t visually thicken when zooming out;

98. P-51D and Tempest radio station bulbs made brighter when turned on;

99. An incorrect flare visual effect on the P-51D fuselage has been fixed;

100. An incorrect flare visual effect on the Fokker D.VII wingtips has been fixed;

101. Left ailerons of Fokker D.VII and Fokker D.VIIF won’t cause visible z-fighting effect;

102. S.E.5a: a dead or unconscious pilot or gunner won’t clip through a cabin side;

103. The animation of the 2000-pound bomb M66 impeller has been fixed;

Other aircraft changes

104. Another error that could cause the hits on the own aircraft to be not audible in multiplayer has been found and fixed;

105. When in the cockpit, the player will now hear different sounds when different parts (materials) of the aircraft are hit different types of ammunition (before that, sounds differed only by the type of ammunition and only in open cockpits or in an external view);

106. The ram air sounds in the cockpits of all aircraft have been re-adjusted, the sound changes depending on the state of the canopy (open or closed) as well as the position of the pilot's head relatively to the windscreen;

107. The positioning of the engine sounds in the cockpits has been improved as well;

108. Bf 109 G-6 in-cockpit sounds were corrected;

109. The issue with the pilots posing in weird ways should be gone now;

110. Ju-88 top shooter won’t continue to fire when the canopy and the MGs are jettisoned;

111. It is now possible to shoot a signal flare after opening the IL-2 mod.1943 cockpit;

112. The trace of an aircraft after a belly landing won’t disappear when zooming in;

113. Flying Circus planes will correctly show the dust from wheels effect;

114. P-51D wheels leave correct traces and their dust effects were corrected;

115. Opened P-51D landing gear bays cause less drag;

116. Bomb detonator switches are no longer inverted on P-51D;

117. A-20B, La-5 series 8 and La-5FN: it’s now possible to move the throttle control when it is in the idle position and ‘Engine auto control’ helper is enabled in the options;

118. FFB vibrations increased during control surfaces buffeting at terminal flight speeds;

119. Now a crewless aircraft will be removed from the simulation when it stays on the ground for 30 seconds (previously it was removed when its altitude was less than 10 meters and speed less than 10 meters per second);

Ground and naval objects

120. Projectiles of the multi-barreled anti-aircraft guns visually appear aligned with the positions of the individual barrels;

121. Tanks and trucks won’t leave marks on concrete surfaces;

122. Vehicles won’t create so much dust when moving on concrete and paved surfaces;

123. TRG_Spawn mission logic element won’t cause the spawned vehicles to have visual effects of a damaged engine;

124. The issue of random destruction of a train in QMB has been found and fixed;

125. Simple AI-controlled ground vehicles won’t visibly ‘shudder’ when moving on steep slopes, especially on the Prokhorovka map;

126. Sd Kfz 251 Wurfrahmen 40 rockets launch correctly visually;

127. The upper and lower armor of simple AI tanks has been corrected (made more resistant to fragments);

128. The visual model of a static railway tank has been updated (its frame);

129. The static T-34 model texture that appears at a certain distance has been corrected;

130. Railway wagons and locomotives won’t receive critical damage from any first hit;

131. A graphical corruption caused by G-5 gunboat firing its M-8M rockets has been fixed;

132. The issue that could make the naval guns indestructible has been found and fixed;

133. Ships that run aground will stop earlier and won’t display water wake effects;

134. A random issue with the parachute not completely descending to the ground has been fixed;

Other changes

135. VR zoom can be made instantaneous if the default speed gives you nausea - set the value of the vr_zoom_speed parameter to 1 (it is located in the camera section in data\startup.cfg file);

136. Ricochet sounds and graphic effects were added;

137. The physical collision models of the European suburban buildings in some blocks on the Arras map now correspond to their visual models;

138. The trees that prevented takeoff and landing were removed at the end of the strip of the Florennes airfield;

139. Bailed out pilots can be correctly captured by the enemy in the Bodenplatte career;

140. MCU_Waypoint mission logic element won’t receive input from other elements when deactivated.

Please discuss the update in this thread.

Game Updates

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