Developer Diary

[Jason_Williams 13243]

199

 

Dear Pilots,

 

Summer is winding down and we’re getting back to our normal work schedule. Here are some early pics of our Me-262 model. Looks fast doesn’t it?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can discuss the news in this thread.

[Han 10326]

200

 

Hello everybody,

 

The time flows and significant changes in our main project, Bodenplatte, are on the horizon. Lead engineer Andrey Solomykin has started the huge chunk of his planned work - air compressibility modeling at high speeds which is a must for the late war period when the aircraft speeds approached the sonic barrier.

 

At the same time another engineer, Roman Kovalenko, is modeling a new device type in our project - turbosupercharger. The main difference between a turbosupercharger and other superchargers we already modeled in other aircraft is the fact that it is powered not by the engine shaft, but by the turbine which is rotated by the engine exhaust. Therefore, the manifold pressure created by the turbosupercharger at different engine modes has a much more complex formula and requires a much more complex physical model. The first aircraft in our sim that will have this device is P-47D-28 Thunderbolt.

 

In the next update, we plan to improve numerous aircraft graphical effects and make minor improvements to the netcode. Meanwhile, Pfalz D.IIIa and Sopwith Camel are being developed for Flying Circus Volume I, the work on new WWI pilots animations has also started.

 

For Tank Crew, M4A2 "Sherman" and Pz. IV Ausf.G are in the works. Both of these tanks have interesting peculiarities and we hope to model most of them in the sim. Today we can show you the first WIP screenshots of one of them. In addition, the work on the detailed buildings for Prokhorovka map will be finished soon. We begin the AI development for player controllable tanks and will start the work on implementing additional tank systems and their damage modeling, tank commander functionality and tank radio communications.

 

 

You can discuss the news in this thread

[Han 10326]

201

 

Hello everybody,

 

Today's Dev Blog is dedicated to the development made in our community. -DED- online squadron worked on implementing the online campaign functionality as an addition to our multiplayer mode for some time now. You can already play the working campaign on their server. Having accumulated a ton of experience on this matter, -DED- team decided to share it with other community members - perhaps this would be a good incentive for other multiplayer enthusiasts. So here is their guide:

 

How to make an online campaign

The biggest challenge in fan-made online war-like projects comes from the lack of volunteer and qualified human-hours to create a required software. Thankfully, the possibilities included in IL-2 Sturmovik help remedy this - and we’ll tell you about exactly that. This will be a general overview since we’d like to explain you the general direction of where you should look.

 

To create an online campaign, you’ll need the following tools:

1. Mission editor (available to everyone; chances are you’ll also need rcon and resaver utilities found in the bin folder of the game as well).

2. Mission templates editor (it can be obtained from the developers if you’re serious about hosting an online war server and are willing to sign the NDA).

3. Mission generator (obtainable by NDA, see above).

4. Commander utility (this piece of software should link your missions together, this is what you need to code yourselves because there is no ‘out of the box’ solution).

5. Statistics website (you can use the one made by Vaal or create yours).

 

Leaving commander utility and statistics completely to you and assuming you have experience with the mission editor (this is required) we can tell you about template editor and mission generator - how they work in general and how we use them to run our ‘Random expert’ server.

 

As you can tell from the names of these utilities, template editor (let’s call it t-editor to differentiate it from mission editor we’ll call just editor) and mission generator (just generator from now on) can create the missions automatically, saving you from untold hours of manual work and allowing for good variability of the online missions. It’s important to note that by variability we don’t mean ‘generating a new mission using the results of previous ones’ (this should be handled by you commander utility), but randomness using the variants included in the mission template.

To make it clear, ‘random’ in this guide means a random variant chosen from pre-made variants you have created. You can define the random limits yourself and we’ll show you how.

 

Let’s look at this simple chart:

 

 

Therefore, to create a mission the generator needs to have:

1. Location database that defines the possible placement of the mission objects (it is created in the editor).

2. Groups - these are the ‘bricks’ the mission is made of - created in editor as well (a group can contain a single unit or many ones and their links).

3. Mission template - here you define the rules how the ‘bricks’ can be arranged and link them (it is done in t-editor).

4. Several files (cfg, ini, dat) that define the mission building parameters (described in detail in File structure).

 

We don’t include here ‘on-the-fly’ changes in the database, groups or template that your commander utility will be making (you’ll need them to create an online campaign, be sure of this). However, these components are just plain text files so you our your programmer(s) won’t have trouble working with them.

 

It should be noted that:

l  While creating a database you need to understand what will be placed in the locations you are adding, how these objects should look and how the mission will play (an airfield shouldn’t be placed in the river, a decoration shouldn’t block a road, etc.). It may be worth it to think about the groups placement rules in the template in advance to make it easier for yourself and simplify the template;

l  While creating groups you need to think how they will be linked and how the mission will function as a whole (MCU logic in the mission editor, a desirable scenario);

l  Finally, while creating the rules in the template, you need to keep the mission and locations database in mind so you won’t make a mistake in the random limits (to avoid things like red airfield in blue territory unless you specially want to do something like this).

 

To summarize, everything is interlinked.

 

*****

Now let’s take a closer look at the mission components.

Locations database

Its elements are located in the mission objects library in the editor. This database defines the possible locations on the map for placing groups or objects, their types and orientation (only for static placement, dynamic is provided by the template).

 

In the editor menu called location database you can export the database to a text file that can be converted into a format the generator can open using the special utility (under NDA), import a previously saved database into the map and combine separate databases into one. You can also filter out different object types to make your work and search easier.

 

Location database preparation is a boring work, but if you have planned the gameplay of your campaign in advance well, you won’t have to return to this step in the future.

Groups

Since we assume you are familiar with the editor, let’s concentrate on the differences between groups in regular, manually created missions and groups intended for generator missions. These differences include the use of helper objects and operation peculiarities (while working with decorations).

 

Helpers are special class of editor objects.

 

1. Reference point defines the group placement in a mission, its position is the same as the center of the location assigned to the group while the location, rotation and altitude are specified in the mission template. Reference point is required for any group.

2. Output, Input - these are like ‘male’ and ‘female’ connectors that allow to connect groups in the mission template using target and object links, events and reports. After processing in generator, this results in the final mission logic. The names of these helpers are important to avoid confusion while working in t-editor. In addition, the names of the object link connectors should begin with OBJECT, but this is more related to t-editor usage.

3. Dynamic - this helper specifies the object properties (an entity or MCU) in a group that can change dynamically from one mission to another by rules defined in the template. Clear names make your life easier, just like connector names. This helper allows making universal groups and make the missions variable with more randomness - for instance, a group of T-34 tanks created in the editor may become a group of KV tanks or even Opel trucks in the resulting mission depending on the template properties (see Mission template).

4. Preset description - groups with this helper will contain your mission briefings: main and secondary task descriptions and anything else you want to include in the briefing. The generator will use these texts to create the mission briefing automatically.

5. There are other helper types, but it’s likely you won’t need them.

Decoration and coordinate groups

Since the engine of the game doesn’t allow to change ‘nationality’ of the decorations dynamically, the groups containing decorations that can change during the course of the campaign need to be prepared in two variants, ‘red’ and ‘blue’.

Moreover, some of these groups should be placed at a certain place on the map (airfields, railway stations, bridges, etc.). Such groups need to be specially named and listed in the generator settings file (see File structure).

Neutral and static (that won’t change) decorations are fed to the generator in one special group, which doesn’t have a reference point unlike other ones but should be listed in the generator settings file and it needs to be converted using a special utility (NDA).

Mission template

The template is the main build instruction for the generator. It defines all the groups in a mission, their placement on the map, their connections to each other and the randomness you can add.

It is created by t-editor which is essentially a graph editor that allows you to set it up in a natural way. You can alter unit type, coalition and properties in a group (and make them random), change MCU properties, set up orientation, distances or ranges for objects and groups.

T-editor is a powerful tool: both the older campaign mode and new career mode in the game were created using it.

File structure

To make everything work as intended you need to be familiar with the file structure of the career/campaign files in the game. The excellent unGTP--IL2 utility made by AnKor that unpacks the game resources will help you.

Take a look at Scg.gtp file first - it contains the files required for mission generation. Having it unpacked, you’ll get the new folder named Scg containing subfolders with numerical names - each one of these corresponds to one of the theatres of war (or one of the maps) in the career mode or quick mission builder. The t-editor configuration file TemplateEditor.ini is located there as well.

Let’s take a look at the subfolder ‘1’ which in our case contains the Stalingrad part of the Random expert server (in the game it contains the files for QMB on winter Lapino map, but we can use it for another purpose since the generator will use unpacked data as the primary source and ignore the files in the pack).

 

 

Let’s list the file in the order of importance (only the required ones, there are more of them but  they have self-explanatory names usually).

 

TemplateEditor.ini - it defines where the t-editor should look for the groups for the current template. It contains links to the theatre of war, to model and object files, to the file containing the list of the coordinate groups (see blocksFolder.ini), to folders and subfolders of the groups themselves.

You can alter only the theatre of war number to work with the different ones (if they have the same internal structure of course).

 

Blocks_quickmission folder contains all the groups the generator needs to build a mission. The name of this folder is kept as it is in the game, but it and its subfolders can be renamed if you want (but don’t forget to change the t-editor .ini file accordingly).

 

I18n folder contains the localized texts for mission names (briefing.cfg) and date, time and weather info (template.cfg) which the generator will add to the mission briefing along with their values from defaultparams.dat file (see below).

 

Templates folder contains the template files which you can order as you want (the name of a template is included in the command prompt when you launch the generator).

 

Actions.cfg file contains the rules that apply to the groups in the template and that are passed to the generator. The names of the variables are stored in defaultparams.dat (see below), you can add your own variables for specific tasks.

 

Let’s take a look at a simple example - say, we need to make sure that a group of ships won’t appear during the winter season without making extra template. We specify the rule ‘delete_ships’ in t-editor and add the following lines to action.cfg:

 

Action

{

       Name = "delete_ships";

       Comment = "Deletes object in phase, if condition is true for object.";

       NoHelper = 1;

       NeedCondition = 0;

       Complex = 1;

       Import = 1;

       Format = "no params and conditions";

             Add

       {

             Action = "delete_object();";

             Condition = "if($wtype<35);";

       }

}

 

Here $wtype is the name of one of the variables in defaultparams.dat which specifies the weather preset, 34 is the last winter time preset in weather.cfg (note that we specify the rule so it will work for any preset which number is less than 35).

 

BlocksFolder.ini file contains the list of all the coordinate groups in the game with the links to the folders of these groups and each group in particular in the following format:

block = "z_!(index_number)","!x(x_coordinate)z(z_coordinate).Group"

 

Attention: all the groups that have strict map coordinates should have such names (example: !x16500z156000.Group). These groups should be stored in separate subfolders since ‘red’ and ‘blue’ variants will have the same names.

 

Countries.cfg file specify the coalitions in the game, you won’t need to change it.

 

Defaultparams.dat is the main configuration file for the generator. All parameters a player selects in the game interface in the Career or QMB mode is included in this file in case of an online campaign. It needs to be created, since there is no such file in ‘1’ subfolder by default. Your commander utility should alter this file to progress the campaign.

 

Here’s an example from our Random expert server (summer Stalingrad):

//it’s required to begin with an empty line    

$author = 72AG-DED- //if you open the resulting mission in the editor, you can see this in the ‘author’ field

$date = 01.05.1942 //mission date

$forests = graphics\LANDSCAPE_Stalin_s\trees\woods.wds //path to various required map files

$guimap = stalingrad-summer-1942 //path to various required map files

$hmap = graphics\LANDSCAPE_Stalin_s\height.hini //path to various required map files

$textures = graphics\LANDSCAPE_Stalin_s\textures.tini //path to various required map files

$mapId = graphics\LANDSCAPE_Stalin_s\height.dat //path to various required map files

$language = rus // default language in the editor

$loc_filename = base.ldf //path to location database

$missiontype = 2 //mission type in the editor, 2 means dogfight

$playercountryid = 101 //default player coalition ID, important for working with templates

$seasonprefix = su //season (su - Summer)

$period = 5 //Custom variable added to specify the mission plane set for a given date, the corresponding rules are set up in the template and in actions.cfg

$sunrise = 05:45 //Sunrise time (important for searchlights)

$sunset = 19:56 //Sunset time (important for searchlights)

$temperature = 12 //Air temperature in the mission, visible in the briefing

$time = 11:06:53 //Mission start time visible in the briefing

$winddirection = 225 //Wind direction visible in the briefing

$windpower = 1 //Wind speed near the ground, visible in the briefing

$wtype = 42 //Weather time preset, the corresponding weather description will be displayed in the briefing (see i18n folder)

$xposition = 230400 //This is the reference coordinate also included in the template, everything in the mission is relative to it. You can place it anywhere if needed.

$yorientation = 0 //Same as above.

$zposition = 358400 //Same as above.

$xtargetposition = 115200 //Second anchor point coordinate, similar to above.

$ztargetposition = 179200 //Same as above.

$tvd = scg\1\ //Path to the theatre of war folder.

$overlay = scene.Group:none //Path to the file containing the main decoration; ‘none’ means the generator should leave it ‘as is’; in theory, the generator can cut the decorations outside the specified radius, but in our missions we use the entire map and don’t use this option.

 

You can learn about the additional mission generation parameters from mgen.log file having the logging turned on in data\startup.cfg file.

 

Models.cfg and Objects.cfg files contain the lists of models and objects names usable in the current theatre of war. Usually you don’t need to alter them.

 

Base.ldf.ldb file is the location database converted for the generator (it can be named differently); the source location database created by the editor should be placed next to this file (base.ldf and base.ldfbin files).

 

Please note that you can use several databases for one theatre of war, just put them in a different folder and make sure to set up the correct paths where needed.

 

Scene.Group.lgb is the main decoration for this theatre of war converted for the generator from the source file scene.Group. It can be put in a different folder and renamed as well if needed.

 

Weather.cfg contains the list of the weather types. You can edit it ti remove the weather presets you don’t like (for instance, overcast ones).

 

*****

Therefore, having learned how to use the mission editor and the file structure of the offline career and/or QMB modes, you can ask for the t-editor and generator, which will reduce the amount of work you need to do to make an online campaign two times, if not more.

 

Good luck!

 

---

 

You can discuss the news in this thread

[Han 10326]

202

 

Hello everybody,

 

While, as you know, we're working on several projects at once, today we'll tell you about our the current main one - Bodenplatte. The most important new tech we're developing for it is the FM improvement to take into account the air compressibility and its influence on the aircraft stability and handling that is noticeable at high speeds. The late war aircraft are a pinnacle of the piston engine technology and they can approach the sonic barrier, especially in a dive. And of course this new tech is paramount for our first jet - Messerschmitt Me.262 'Schwalbe'. You may have wandered will the new tech work for the existing aircraft released before - it certainly will, we always update all aircraft to take advantage of the new tech so they all have the same modeling fidelity.

 

Meanwhile, our artists are working on several 3D models simultaneously (some are nearly complete and the work on others has just begun): Bf 109 K-4, Me 262 A-1, P-47D-28, Fw 190 D-9, Hawker Tempest Mk.V and P-51D-25.

 

We also decided to improve the recently released Fw 190 A-8. It will be able to carry 1000 kg SC 1000 bombs with reduced ring stabilizers and "M8 Panzerblitz 1" HE rockets and you will be able to remove the nose-mounted 13 mm MG 131 machine guns, resulting in four different modifications of this plane:
Fw 190 A-8 (fighter)
Fw 190 A-8 Sturmjäger (better armoured interceptor)
Fw 190 F-8 (attack plane)
Fw 190 G-8 (fighter-bomber)
So, while it may appear we have only one Fw 190 A-8 in the sim, in fact, you'll have 4 different modifications. This is also true for many other aircraft - in one of the coming Dev Blog releases we'll compile the complete list of aircraft including the possible modifications.

 

Since the words are best followed with visuals, today we can show you the WIP screenshots of Messerschmitt Bf 109 K-4 'Kurfürst', Republic P-47D-28 'Thunderbolt' and Focke-Wulf Fw 190 D-9 'Langnasen-Dora':

 

 

Our map designers also have something to show you today. In Dev Blog #193 we presented the early European map prototype. At the moment, th designers are working on the road network and settlements. The total amount of settlements will be around 300 including so many towns we have never modeled on one map before. To be able to finish this work in time while modeling the general layout of the cities and towns the special settlement block designer tool has been created. This is a small teaser, a Western European town made using this approach (this is not a particular historical town, but a test layout):

 

 

You can discuss the news in this thread

[Han 10326]

203

 

Hello everybody,

 

Today we'll tell you a bit about what awaits us (and you) in the near future.

 

First, we plan to publish the new update soon, at the end of this month or at the beginning of October, that will bring numerous fixes and improvements for the existing stuff - Career fixes, multiplayer stability in tank missions, corrected German bombs for 1944 timeframe and new Fw 190 A-8 modifications we have covered in the previous Dev Blog. In addition, our programmers managed to improve the collision detection between various vehicles and objects without compromising performance and fix bugs, also, trees will stop or divert/slow projectiles. The graphics will get the attention as well - you can see some of the reworked graphical effects on the following screenshots:

 

 

New Bodenplatte aircraft, Bf 109 K-4 and P-47D-28, will be released to Early Access later this Autumn. New Po-2 Collector Plane and two WWI aircraft for Flying Circus Early Access, Pfalz D.IIIa and Sopwith Camel, will follow before the end of the year, provided we don't run into unexpected problems. Meanwhile, we're also working on the new Marschal mode for multiplayer which should make it more interesting and refreshing for all multiplayer oriented users of our projects.

 

New tank models take a lot of time to develop, so Tank Crew customers will get their new toys early next year, but it looks like they'll get a lot of other stuff in a short time frame starting with the map of the Southern part of the Kursk salient (see Dev Blog #195) and continuing with animated tank crew members (ETA: Spring) and their AI capable of controlling the new playable tanks (the work on it has already started). This will make possible to create the missions where the player tank will be a part of the unit fighting against the enemy tanks s which will have the same high level of modeling detail. The main tank systems and damage modeling should be finished before Summer. The work on the additional UI for tank and unit commanders has started too. And of course, there will be new tanks - our Saint-Petersburg based partner, Digital Forms, plans to have 4 of them ready before Spring:

• Lend-lease M4A2 Sherman;
• T-34-76 mod. 1943 made by factory #183 (most probably, we're still researching the exact variant);
• PzKpfw IV Ausf.G made during Spring 1943 with additional armoured sheets (Schürzen);
• PzKpfw III Ausf.M also with additional armoured sheets. Today we can already show you the early WIP screens of it:

 

You can discuss the news in this thread

[Han 10326]

204

 

Hello everybody,

Another week has passed and our Bodenplatte development progressed neatly during this short time. First, we have finished reworking the graphics effects system we told you about last week:

 

1. Fire effects improved for aircraft and ground vehicles, more dynamic and detailed;
2. Fuel leak effects improved (less noticeable, but more realistic);
3. Damaged engine exhaust effects improved (less noticeable, but more realistic);
4. Tracer smoke effects improved (more smooth and realistic);
5. Wingtip trails effects improved (more dynamic, less apparent beginning);
6. Water hit effects improved (more realistic);
7. Aircraft and vehicle hit effects improved (more difference between AP and HE ammo, more realistic, added debris);
8. Bomb detonation effects improved for 250kg +  bombs, additional flash effect;
9. Water steam effects added for twin water radiator aircraft (Bf-109, Ju-87, Spitfire Mk.IXe, Pe-2);
10. Water steam overheating effects added;
11. Wrong mixture exhaust effects added;
12. Wood hit effects added for WWI aircraft;
13. Gunfire smoke effects added;
14. Oil leak effect adjusted;
15. Fuel leak effect on the ground added;
16. Water steam effect on the ground added.

 

Second, we have revisited the gunfire dispersion model and performed additional research on the historical documents covering the fire dispersion depending on the gun mounting. There are no new sources, but we have re-analyzed our approach and one problem became apparent - some sources provide fire dispersion data for single shots while others have data for short bursts. For some aircraft, the sources provide dispersion data for both cases - this allowed us to build a statistical model for single/burst fire dispersion ratio. Having updated the dispersion model, we're now able to tune the fire dispersion separately for single and burst fire. Of course, we've taken into account the fact that even when you fire a burst, the first projectile has the fire dispersion of single shot while the subsequent ones deviate more because they are modeled as shots in a burst. The fire dispersion increases with the gun temperature as before.

 

In the most cases, the fire dispersion has been already modeled using the burst fire data, so the changes in these aircraft will be hardly noticeable when firing in bursts, but the single shot dispersion will be lowered greatly: 2-2.5 times. On the contrary, the Soviet fighters were set up using single fire data before so now their fire dispersion will be increased 2.11-2.86 times depending on the gun and aircraft (this isn't that much at the effective fire distances though, see below). In addition, thanks to this research, the single fire dispersion of the heavy 30 mm and 37 mm guns has been slightly lowered while the burst fire values stayed the same.

 

It should be noted that all these changes (applied to each aircraft independently) gave the overall effect of reducing the difference in the fire accuracy among the different planes (for fuselage mounted and wing mounted guns that are close to the fuselage). Excluding the rare exceptions, the fire dispersion for non-overheated guns is 0.66-0.95 thousandths of distance. At the effective fire distances, this results in the fire pattern of around 1 ft or slightly more.

 

Surely, we have worked on the other parts of the sim as well. One month ago we could show you the 3D model of Me 262 without textures and a couple of weeks ago you saw the cockpit of P-47D that was untextured too, but today we present them to you in the game engine - the artists haven't finished the texturing and materials yet, but they are almost done. What can we say - while P-47D-28 cockpit is a bit overwhelming with all the details, instruments, controls and various information plates, the jet aviation pioneer Me 262 looks strikingly beautiful in the air. Here they are:

 

 

 

 

You can discuss the news in this thread

[Han 10326]

205

 

Hello everybody,

 

Only two days have passed since the release of the big update 3.006, but the work continues according to the plan and today we can show you the new things to come for all three of our projects.

 

First, detailed village buildings for Tank Crew - Clash at Prokhorovka are nearly finished (they will be placed in the area of the map where the most important engagements took place). The work on the tank campaigns scenarios is underway. Today we present you the almost final look of these buildings and later we'll show you the new tech we'll be using to simulate their partial destruction. Nearly all the latest tech available in our project have been used to create them: 

 

 

Another neat stuff we can show you today is for Bodenplatte - the late war U.S. pilot model is ready and our animator started working on it. This new model, just like the two pilot models made for Flying Circus, has been made at the new level of detail allowing for the even more realistic look - its textures and materials are four times more detailed than older models:

 

 

WWI fans will get the new toys this Autumn too - we plan to add Sopwith Camel and Pfalz D.IIIa to Flying Circus Volume I. The work on the updated 3D model for Camel will be finished soon and here are its first pics in the game engine. Since it was one of the iconic aircraft of the first air war, this is important for us:

 

 

You can discuss the news in this thread

[Han 10326]

206

 

Hello everybody,

 

We're another week closer to our target. We've made good progress in Bodenplatte development - Koln (Cologne), Brussels and Charleroi buildings are already placed on the map. The size of the cities and their number required to invent and successfully implement the new development approach. It allows recreating the basic city layout without compromising the schedule and visual quality. Here are some screens:

 

 

It should be noted that Flying Circus map and its cities will be created in the same way, so Lille and Amiens would look like this as well. Meanwhile, our development partners for Flying Circus project were also busy and today we can show you the first in-game screenshots of the fourth WWI aircraft that will be released, German fighter Pfalz D.IIIa. Both Pfalz D.IIIa and Sopwith Camel are already working in the game engine and we're waiting for their 3D models and cockpit texturing to be finished.

 

 

You can discuss the news in this thread

[Han 10326]

207

 

Hello everybody,

 

Today's Dev Blog will be a short one - we have a lot of work to do at the moment. Right now we're finishing five aircraft: Bf 109 K-4 and P-47D-28 for Bodenplatte, Pfalz D.IIIa and Sopwith Camel for Flying Circus and Po-2VS Collectors Plane. Two maps, Prokhorovka map (the map of the Southern part of the Kursk salient, to be correct) for Tank Crew and Western Europe map for Bodenplatte are also shaping up nicely.

 

The engineer department continues their work on near-sonic aerodynamics required for late WWII aircraft. The interface is also being worked on - Marschal interface for multiplayer and tank (platoon) commander for Tank Crew. Speaking of more imminent changes, we plan to improve the in-game statistics and 'who gets the kill' logic in the next update.

Today we can show you the in-game shots of Fw-190 D-9 Collector Plane:

 

 

You can discuss the news in this thread

[Han 10326]

208

 

Hello Everybody,

This week our Executive Producer, Jason Williams, paid a visit to our Moscow studio. Of course, we have many discussions about potential ways of improving the project in the near future and more distant plans. We can't disclose what we're discussing yet, but when we'll be able to tell you we're sure you'll be surprised and amused by the new prospects.

 

 

Meanwhile, we continue our current work and can show you some new WIP screenshots. First, the new late WWII German pilot for Bodenplatte:

 

 

Second, here are the first in-game Pfalz D.IIIa cockpit shots:

 

 

And third, here is a sneak peek from our partners, Digital Forms - these images show the 3D models of the PzKpfw IV Ausf.G and M4A2 "Sherman" powertrains:

 

 

You can discuss the news in this thread

[Jason_Williams 13243]

209

 

Dear Pilots,

 

I am wrapping up another trip to our Moscow studio where we discussed the current successes and future challenges that face our team and IL-2 Great Battles series. As always, we have a strong team and the will to keep powering on pushing the limits of ourselves and our products. Battle of Bodenplatte is coming along nicely along with the PO-2 which we will officially rename the U-2 to be more historically correct. This cool little bi-plane is finally nearing the final stage. Matter of fact, we had a real pilot who has experience flying an actual U-2 test our FM. He really liked it and gave us some small pointers that we will incorporate into the FM. 

 

Additionally, Flying Circus work continues as does Tank Crew work including tank platoon commands and the more complex damageable buildings for the Prokhorovka map.

 

Before I catch my flight back to the U.S. here are some pics of the skins that will ship with the P-47 D-28 “Jug” and the updated faces of our American USAAF pilot and our WWI Entente pilots. Per your feedback we have made them look younger. Quite a rugged, good looking fellow custom fit for the part.

 

See you soon when I’m back in America.

 

Jason

P.S. Some of the textures on the ordinance is not finished yet so don't panic. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can discuss the news in this thread.

[Han 10326]

210

 

Hello everybody,

The last month of Autumn has begun and we're preparing the next update for our three projects. We plan to release it in two weeks (doh!) or so and today we'll tell you about the upcoming additions. Of course, the stars of the show are FOUR new aircraft, two for Bodenplatte and two for Flying Circus.

USAF P-47D-28 Thunderbolt is one of the biggest, powerful and menacing single-engine fighters of WWII. Its radial 18-cylinder engine with turbocharger, intercooler and water injection boost system enables this monster to reach 700 km/h at 7000 m altitude. Eight 12.7 mm M2.50 Browning machine guns with 3400 rounds total give a new meaning to the phrase 'spray and pray'. In addition, for strike missions, this fighter can be equipped with six unguided rockets and up to three 500 and 1000 pound bombs (225 and 455 kg). Being a late war aircraft, it has many interesting design peculiarities you'll be able to experience in the near future.

 

Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Bf 109 K-4 "Kurfürst" is a glaring example of the inconsistency of the late war aircraft production in the Third Reich. This plane combines the newest weapon and engine technologies with maximum possible simplification and cost-cutting of the secondary systems. Its engines are a pinnacle of DB-605 line - standard DB-605 DB with water-methanol injection system and DB-605 DC with higher boost and power - and both of them will be available in our sim. Armed with 30 mm MK-108 gun and 13 mm MG-131 machine guns, it could also carry 250 or 500 kg bombs for strike missions (this is the first Bf 109 modification in our project that can carry a 500 kg bomb). It is interesting to note that this modification could retract its tailwheel to reach higher speeds - up to 715 km/h at 6200 m.

 

Royal Air Force Sopwith Camel was one of the mainstay fighters of World War I. It was a contradictory machine, but in the right hands, it could face any foe. Carrying 168 liters of fuel (a very big reserve for its time), it could go on long patrols. This amount of fuel hampered its performance and made it hard to control and inert in a dogfight while full, but with about a half of fuel spent, the aircraft got a second breath and its horizontal and vertical maneuverability became on par with the best fighters of that time. Its two 7.69 Vickers Mk.I machine guns (late modification with the rate of fire increased to 750 instead of 500 and 745 m/s muzzle speed) were linked belt fed instead of fabric ones, reducing the misfire chance. It could also carry four 20 lb Cooper bombs.

 

The Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte Pfalz D.IIIa was a second line fighter mainly used for escorting bombers and attacking the enemy balloons. It had very simple cockpit instruments because of the cost-cutting. Its one-and-a-half plane airframe (a design previously adopted by the French) was sturdy enough to sustain higher loads during sharp turns and dives. Its armament is standard for a late WWI German aircraft - two 7.92 mm Luftgekühltes Maschinengewehr LMG 08/15 (based on the original design of Hiram Maxim) with 650 RPM rate of fire and muzzle speed of 825 m/s, fabric belt fed. This fighter had an advantage of an excellent field of view, especially in the upper hemisphere.

 

For Tank Crew - Battle of Prokhorovka project we plan to release 4 new player controllable tanks and the map of the southern part of the Kursk salient, but it will happen early next year. However, you'll see the new functionality being developed for this project earlier - it should be noted it will benefit not only the tankers but pilots as well. For instance, in the coming update, you'll experience the higher fidelity damage modeling for AI controllable ground objects such as trucks and tanks. Before, there was no difference where you hit a truck, but in the new system, each 'simple' vehicle has many types of simulated parts - wheels or trucks, engine, ammo rack, fuel tanks, driver, turret, main gun. By hitting a simple AI vehicle at these parts you can immobilize it or render it inoperable by damaging a turret or main gun if any. Statistics system will consider it destroyed if its ammo, explosive cargo or fuel tanks detonated or its crew was killed or its engine was destroyed or its suspension has been rendered inoperable (at least two wheels or tracks damaged). All this not only makes the tank missions more interesting but also increases the simulation accuracy of the ground attack missions for pilots. We also develop two scenario campaigns (USSR and Germany) for Tank Crew, each one containing 10 missions set in the second week of July 1943 near Prokhorovka.

 

Another important change in the upcoming update is the adjusted logic used for scoring a kill. Previously, an aircraft was considered destroyed and a kill was awarded for it if it was damaged enough to prevent it from continuing the mission (for example, heavy damage of the controls, no fuel left, engine damage). Now, the 'aircraft lost' and 'kill awarded' events will be separated and their logic will be adjusted. An aircraft will be considered lost if its fuselage or wing at the base is broken, its pilot is killed or ejected. The victory, on the other hand, will be awarded if the scored hits were followed by the mission exit or disconnect in multiplayer, 'aircraft lost' event or the landing far from an allied airfield. Thus we motivate multiplayer players to try to reach a friendly airfield even if their aircraft is heavily damaged - even a hard landing there (as long as you don't break a wing at its base or fuselage) won't count your aircraft as lost and your enemy won't get the kill.

 

We'll have other multiplayer improvements in the coming update as well: we have managed to find a way to synchronize weapon fire events on different multiplayer clients better, minimizing the total time of the delay to the total client-server-client ping and optimize the net delay compensation routines for transmitting aircraft positions and orientations. Server ping calculations will be also corrected - this is required for further improvements in the multiplayer lobby. Of course, we never forget about the singleplayer experience too - in the same update, we'll add 2-3 new mission types for Career mode, including Cargo airdrop and Free hunt.

 

 

You can discuss the news in this thread

[Jason_Williams 13243]

211

 

Dear Pilots,

 

The team continues to make ready our next update (3.007) and they are too busy to showcase anything from the upcoming update in this diary entry. So, today we’d like to show you some of the USAAF and RAF squadron emblems we have commissioned for Battle of Bodenplatte. These have been created by our good friend Isaac ‘Spektre76’ Chavira who is a member of our awesome IL-2 community. He has done a great job of researching and recreating these colorful and fun squadron emblems.

 

USAAF squadrons had a unique approach to designing squadron insignia. The style was usually cartoonish and drew inspiration from animated movies which were extremely popular during the 1940s. RAF squadron insignia were very regal in their design sporting crowns, banners and even jewels. These insignia will be incorporated into the Bodenplatte Pilot Career later in 2019. We hope you enjoy.

 

 

 

You can discuss the news in this thread.

[BlackSix 2552]

212

 

Hello everybody,

Today we'd like to dedicate our Dev Blog to the tank part of our sim. We attempt not only to create the authentic visual models of the tanks and model their movement, armament, and damage realistically. We also want to create an interesting gameplay, based on historical events, as usual, that will not only entertain you for some time but let you experience what a real tank warfare in a meeting engagement situation was like.

The air part of our sim started at the great battle of WWII that changed its course and the course of world history, the Battle of Stalingrad. Following this principle, we start the tank part with one of the key tank battles on the Eastern front that decided the entire 1943 campaign - Prokhorovka.

Beginning the campaign development for "Tank Crew – Clash at Prokhorovka" we faced the fact that a usual, common for flight sims approach just won't work - its unlikely that any single tank crew in July 1943 survived several large-scale engagements in a row (especially a Soviet one) and participated in all key points of the large Prokhorovka battle we'd like to reconstruct in our scenarios.

Therefore we have decided not to link the scenarios with a personal story of one of the tank crewmen, but concentrate on creating a coherent story about July 6 -17 engagements. The mission briefings will include first-person remarks, but there will be several plot lines. This will allow you to experience the battle of Prokhorovka from several locations and command 2-3 different combat vehicles in the course of one campaign.

 

 

"Breaking point" (tentative title)
Soviet campaign

This campaign will be dedicated to the heroic deed of Soviet tankmen of Rotmistrov 5th Guards Tank Army that disrupted the German offensive at the center of the southern part of the Kursk salient at the cost of their lives. The massive, but poorly prepared counterblow on July 12th stopped the German advance and eventually pushed them back to their initial positions. The later missions of the campaign will cover the subsequent, less known stage of the battle of Kursk on July 13th - 15th at the interfluve of Donets river.

Timeframe: July 6th - 15th, 1943.
Controllable tanks: T-34-76 mod. 1943, KV-1s
Duration: 10 missions
Average playing time: 5 hours

 

 

"Last chance" (tentative title)
German campaign

This campaign will tell about the operations of the tank units of Army Group South during Operation Citadel. Having breached two army defense lines, German forces reached Prokhorovka as early as at the evening of July 6th and were close to capturing this key area. However, instead of continuing their advance they were forced to defend against numerous Soviet counterstrikes that culminated in the massive battle on July 12th. The second part of the campaign will be dedicated to German attempts to encircle and destroy Soviet 48th Corps at interfluve of Donets river and the forced retreat of the German 2nd Tank Corps to initial positions when the entire offensive failed.

Timeframe:  July 6th - 17th, 1943.
Controllable tanks:  PzKpfw III Ausf.M, PzKpfw IV Ausf.G, PzKpfw VI Ausf.H1 "Tiger"
Duration: 10 missions
Average playing time: 5 hours 

To make our feature about Tank Crew – Clash at Prokhorovka more visual, we can show you several WIP screenshots of the new tanks made by our partners - Digital Forms. They are planned to be released in Early Access early next year:

- T-34-76 mod. 1943 produced by Nizhny Tagyl tank factory #183 in name of Communist International ("Uralvagonzavod") and 

- Panzerkampfwagen IV (Sd.Kfz.161) Asufuehrung G produced by Nibelungenwerke of St. Valentin

 

To accompany them, here are WIP screenshots of Prokhorovka map being developed by our mapping team. The new landscape scaling tech has been developed specially for this map - by reducing the total size of the map from 400x400 km to 100x100km we were able to make its heightmap 16 times more detailed. The detailed area of the Prokhorovka map is still in development, but other parts of this map are more polished. We'd like to note that it is suitable not only for tank engagements, but also for aerial ones and, of course, for joint multiplayer battles that unfold both on the ground and in the air simultaneously. To illustrate this, today we can show you the views of Belgorod that is also there:

 

 

Aaand we are delighted to present you the finished tankmen models. We still need to animate an each crew member in each player controllable tank in the sim, but now you can already see how they will look:

 

 

You can discuss the news in this thread

[Han 10326]

213

 

Hello everybody,

 

So, this is the end of 2018. It was a very interesting year for us, it brought many new, but long-awaited changes and improvements to the project. Almost 500 points were listed in the update changelists in total and there were more minor, unlisted ones which are impossible to count. All this combined upped the quality of the sim to a new level. And right now we continue the development of our three Early Access projects: Battle of Bodenplatte, Tank Crew - Clash at Prokhorovka and Flying Circus Volume 1.

 

For the main project, Bodenplatte, we're working on several new aircraft at once. Having completed the implementation of the air compressibility and significant improvements to the damage model (they are already in the public version of the sim), our Lead Engineer is creating the physical model of the jet engine for Me 262. Of course, this work opens up the possibility to widen our aircraft pool in the future.

 

Our partner Ugra Media makes the new WWI aircraft for Flying Circus - Fokker D.VII, Fokker D.VIIF and Sopwith Dolphin. They'll start the work on the Arras area map (1918) soon.

 

The new tanks for Tank Crew that are being made by our partner Digital Forms are more than half complete already: M4A2, T-34 mod. 1943, PzKpfw IV Ausf.G and PzKpfw III Ausf.M. Meanwhile, we're making the map of the southern part of the Kursk salient ourselves. Soon we'll be able to tell you more about the tank commander and tank platoon commander functionality which will be the backbone of Tank Crew gameplay. 3D models of Soviet and German crewmembers are ready and will be added to the sim as soon as their animations are complete. The scenarios for two, German and Soviet, tank campaigns are ready, so soon we'll start to make the missions themselves. The detailed buildings tech that includes higher detailed 3D models and the physics of their destruction is nearly finished and we had a bit of time to make this short video for you:

 

 

To complete this Dev Diary, we'd like to show you some screenshots. First, here is the finished Fw 190 D-9 cockpit. Also, the community enthusiast Martin =ICDP= Catney upped default and official P-47 skins to 4K quality:

 

 

 

Our team wishes you Happy New Year and Merry Christmas. We wish you happiness and fulfillment of all your dreams in 2019!

 

You can discuss the news in this thread

[Han 10326]

214

 

Hello everybody,

 

The year has just begun, but we're already preparing the new update for you. Version 3.010 will be focused on improving the functionality of several modules of the sim and some of the changes are long-awaited and important. In the meantime, the work on all the Early Access projects progresses according to the schedule and many new things will be ready shortly after 3.010 release, in Q1 2019.

 

Our map designers are finishing the map of the Southern Kursk salient that includes Prokhorovka. As we announced before, it will utilize the higher detailed landscape wireframe and higher detailed buildings damage. When it is finished, the work on the scenario campaigns for "Clash at Prokhorovka" will begin. The campaigns will recreate the large scale historical events of July 1943 to the South-West of Prokhorovka. Today we can show you several screenshots of this map:

 

 

We plan to show you the new tanks soon - M4A2 Sherman, Pz.Kpfw.III Ausf.M (to be released at the end of the Winter) and T-34 mod. 1943 and PzKpfw IV Ausf.G (to be released at the beginning of Spring). We also started the implementation of the major feature - animated tank crewmen. This is a very laborious and time-consuming task since each tank has 4-5 crewmen and each one of them has his own unique pose and animations (many can also lean out of their hatches). This forced us to find new technical approaches for character animation that open new prospects not only for the Tank Crew but also other projects:

 

 

For "Flying Circus" project we're making the map of 100 km front line near Arras (Spring 1918). It will be made using the same techniques we're using for the creation of the large Bodenplatte project map, so it should also be a step forward visually. Here are first in-game screenshots of Sopwith Dolphin and Fokker D.VII which will be ready soon:

 

 

For our main project, Bodenplatte, we're preparing the next wave of the new aircraft. FMs for P-51D, Fw 190 D-9 and Me 262 A-1/2 are already in the works, while artists create 3D models of Hawker Tempest Mk.V, P-38J-25, P-51D-15, Me 262 A-1/2 and B-25 Mitchell-II (non-playable). Here are some screenshots of Me 262 A-1/2 (its paint schemes and cockpit are nearly ready):

 

 

You can discuss the news in this thread

[Han 10326]

215

 

Hello friends,

 

This week was a hard one - we had to let you play during the weekend without problems, so we released another update that continued the work started in 3.010. The majority of the changes are in the GUI and are required for the new Marschal multiplayer mode that is coming this Spring and will concentrate on the interaction with the map. Other important improvements were made for tank weapons and damage calcualtions. We hope that now the basic damage model is adequate and we'll start working on more particular tasks in the tank systems and combat damage department next week.

 

This week we finished the map of the Southern part of the Kursk salient while two next tanks, M4A2 and PzKpfw III Ausf.M, will follow soon. The new tanks and the map will be released into Tank Crew Early Access after beta testing. Today we can show you the first in-game screenshots of them taken near Prokhorovka:

 

 

 

You can discuss the news in this thread

[Han 10326]

216

 

Hello everybody,

 

Before we return to telling about the Battle of Bodenplatte and Flying Circus in our DDs, today we'd like to tell you more about Tank Crew. The most important thing is that we prepare the next big update that will include two new tanks, M4A2 "Sherman" and Panzerkampfwagen III Ausführung M, that were used in Kursk area and the map of the southern part of the Kursk salient made for joint ground and air warfare. But of course, we work not only on the new content.

 

The main areas of the Tank Crew development at this moment are:

 

1. Improving the damage and armor-projectile interaction model both for the player controlled tanks we're making for Tank Crew and the other objects. Several consequent updates for the sim we released this month contained most part of this work, but this was only a part and we continue. Ricochet modeling will be improved and 'simple', non-player controllable, vehicles will get even more detailed armor (which will be noticeable especially when you attack them from the air). We're beginning the work on the detailed systems of the player controllable tanks (fuel, electric, transmission, cooling, etc.) which will allow for more variable and realistic damage of Tank Crew vehicles. We also plan to make them repairable in the field.

 

2. Developing and expanding the tank and tank platoon commander functionality. The basic commander functionality is done - a commander can give all the orders we planned for this stage of development in relation to the current position, target, firing, maneuvering and some additional commands that make the playing experience more diverse. A commander will be able to give orders to other players in his tank in multiplayer and to AI crewmen alike. It looks like the commander role will be the most interesting one.

 

3. Developing AI for crew members. Again, the basic functionality is done and now detailed tanks controlled by AI can follow the orders that can be specified in a mission like the simple AI vehicles always did. This means that detailed tanks can be fully used in a mission scenario. Now we begin the work on implementing the functionality that will make possible for a player to give orders to crewmen of his tank and other tanks in his platoon. We hope to have this functionality mostly done by the end of Spring and release it into Tank Crew Early Access.

 

4. Developing the scenario campaigns which should carry out the main idea of the project - let you experience not the fictional gladiator-like balanced tank duels, but the tank warfare of July 1943 with its balance of power and technical characteristics of the armored vehicles involved. Moreover, we'll try to show the historical events since the scenarios will be based on the tour of duty of the units that participated in these events. Later we'll tell you more about these scenarios.

 

All this - detailed, true to history tank models including interiors with crews, the historical map with variable detail level, buildings with detailed damage modeling, realistic movement kinematics, improved tank damage modeling, detailed weaponry, all important crew roles, especially the commander one, acting as a part of a tank platoon, history-based and educational scenario campaigns telling about the major event of WWII, ability to control one tank with several people in multiplayer - all this combined should give you the new experience and impression you can't get anywhere else.

 

To make this DD less dry, our studio and our partners Digital Forms prepared several WIP screenshots for you that show what will be released in the next big update:

The map of the southern part of the Kursk salient you'll see in the game. The zone containing detailed buildings developed for tank warfare and scenario campaigns in the historical events of Clash of Prokhorovka project is marked inside (106x106 km, the detailed zone is 19х23 km):

 

 

KV-1S crew:

 

 

PzKpfw III Ausf.M impact shot demonstrating the improved damage modeling with certain parts detaching:

 

 

M4A2 "Sherman" interior renders:

 

 

PzKpfw III Ausf.M interior renders:

 

 

You can discuss the news in this thread

[AnPetrovich 640]

217

 

Salute, comrade pilots!

For some time, we have not covered the work being done in our aviation workshop, giving the news platform to armored vehicle enthusiasts. But today it is time to return to the planes. And I will tell you what our engineering team is working on now.

At this time our software engineers are simultaneously developing three legendary airplanes: the P-51D Mustang, the Fw-190 D-9 Dora and the Me-262 Schwalbe, which is the first jet airplane in the "IL-2: Great Battles" series. Undoubtedly, all these airplanes stand out from the rest of the plane-set in terms of their excellent speed characteristics. And as usual making a virtual copy of a new airplane to our stable brings new challenges and tasks we must perform.

For example, the Me-262 is the first aircraft in our project with a swept wing. It would seem that the difference is not very big, but this circumstance required us to refine the aerodynamics calculation technology. The result of this work will be more accurate characteristics of the stability and controllability of the airplane in lateral movement, which sweep has a significant impact. Daniel has already mentioned about a turbojet engine in the previous diaries, and now work on the Jumo-004B model is in full swing. A dynamic model of the turbo-compressor was assembled, and now work is underway on the engine's thrust, heat and fuel-flow characteristics. Virtually each of the above airplanes required us to make improvements in the models of units and on-board equipment. For example, this is a powerful developed wing mechanization, including slats across the whole wingspan of the Schwalbe, a new gunsight that the Dora and the Schwalbe will receive - they will be the first German airplanes in our project with a gyro gunsight. There is also an automated control of radiators and superchargers on the Mustang. I should note that the P-51D and Me-262 have a sensitive center of gravity when heavily loaded with fuel and ordinance. For example, the Mustang had such a small reserve of longitudinal stability with full fuel tanks that the pilot flight manual instructed pilots to avoid aerobatics with full fuel tanks because of the risk of stall and spin. This quirk of the P-51D will be present in our simulator.

In addition, two new biplanes for the Flying Circus project have entered the “factory testing” stage. These are the legendary Fokker D7 and Sopwith Dolphin, whose 3D models were revamped by our partner Ugra-Media. This stage involves a large number of in-game tests that we perform before giving the airplanes to beta testers. And for such tests, we use special developer tools that allow us to quickly check various animations, visualization of damage models, operation of instruments and visual effects, such as smoke, fires, dust from under the wheels and others. Today I would like to show you a short video with one of these tests. In this video you can see an in-game test (conducted at a special test base on a distant secret island) where the animation of the landing gear damage was checked. I recorded this video in the fall while working on the implementation of the Sopwith Camel to our project. Often, working on "serious games" we forget that our work is also fun. In this video I just wanted to have some fun with my colleagues, to cheer them up after a period of hard work. So today, my colleagues and I decided that maybe it is a good idea to share this video to you. If it evokes a smile on your face - well, then I recorded it not in vain. If you like it, it may possible that we will show you some more in-game tests that our very serious engineers do:

 

And finally, since we have touched on our Flying Circus project, we would like to show you a series of screenshots from the Arras map which our partners at Ugra-Media are actively working on. In these screenshots you can see the step forward in visualization of the map compared to our previous Great War simulation. Plus, here are the first in-game screenshots of the re-furbished Sopwith Dolphin and Fokker D.VII cockpits which are coming soon:

 

 

 

Fly for fun!

 

You can discuss the news in this thread