I Took the Plunge a Moment Ago...

[Oubaas]

I've spent much of my spare time during the past week reading up on IL2: Battle of Stalingrad and IL2: Battle of Moscow.

 

I now probably know every complaint that anyone has ever lodged against the titles, as well as every good thing ever said about them, and even the thoughts of those who hold ambivalent positions (all three of them!).

 

I've looked at screenshots, read developer's diaries, and really delved into the topic in-depth.  I've read forum post after forum post, all over the Internet.  And I reached a conclusion after all that study.

 

A few minutes ago, I bought IL2: Battle of Stalingrad Deluxe Edition.  I haven't installed it yet, still have to download it tonight.

 

The first of next month, I'll be buying IL2: Battle of Moscow Deluxe Edition.

 

My impression after sifting through the unbelievable amount of commentary and opinion out there is, there are many, many people who can't wait to complain about something, no matter how insignifcant in the larger picture their pet issue may be.

 

I bought the very first IL2 title shortly after it came out, and I already own all the titles through IL2: Cliffs of Dover.  I also own Rise of Flight with a lot of content (picked up the Sikorsky S-22 Ilya Muromets and the Sikorsky S-16 today as well).  I also play DCS.  I bought the MiG-21bis and the Mi-8 MTV2 while I had some spare cash today, too.

 

And yes, I do like Russian planes, so these titles are a good fit for me.  I can speak, read, and write a little Russian, like the Russian authors and movies, and in fact hope to visit Russia someday, Moscow, St. Petersburg, maybe even take the Trans-Siberian Railroad from Moscow to Vladivostok.  And I'd really like to fish for some of those giant Taimen trout they have there.  So I may be somewhat predisposed toward the IL2 titles.

 

But I also spent my entire adult life, until I was disabled in the line of duty and forced to retire due to my injuries, in U. S. Naval Aviation.  So I recognize an airplane or a helicopter when I see one.  It's not just that I have a personal interest in Russia, I have an all-consuming interest in aviation.

 

After spending all that time reading about how terrible everything is about IL2: Battle of Stalingrad and IL2: Battle of Moscow, I did not come across a single comment, not even in the dens of those who consider themselves flight sim rebels and sworn enemies of the titles, that could dissuade me from buying the Deluxe Edition.  And at the beginning of next month, I'll finish up with the new Deluxe Edition.  And if they release more material after that, I'll buy that too.

 

So if you're sitting on the fence on this one due to the constant negative diatribe in some parts of the flight sim community online, go ahead and buy it.  Because when all the evidence is weighed, the complainers have no significant case.  If they did, I wouldn't have just dropped eighty bucks on this title, and be planning to do it again in twenty-five days.  If I was a judge hearing this case, I'd throw the complainers out of my courtroom.

 

And as for the moaning about the price, the people who complain about the price clearly do not understand the gigantic amount of research, coding, graphics development and design work that goes into making a flight simulator of this caliber.  I guess they think that the developers should just be enserfed and belong to the flight sim community, to do their bidding for little or no recompense.  Or perhaps they think, in their "expert" opinions, that they could develop something of this magnitude and have it come out flawess the first time it's run.  Heh.

 

So I am now a member of this community and will stay one, and I'll keep buying the products and be glad to have them.  But after all that I've seen in the past week, I know a few flight simming sites that I won't bother visiting again.  Don't take everything you read on the Internet at face value.  IL2: Battle of Stalingrad and IL2: Battle of Moscow are just the sort of flight sims I'm looking for, and the purchases are well worth the money that I spent.

 

Just a noobs two cents worth.  Maybe I can save someone else a week of being immersed in baseless whining.

 

Oubaas

Edited August 6, 2015 by Oubaas

[Finkeren]

:good:

 

Welcome aboard. We're gonna have tons of fun.

[Vaxxtx]

So bought it, have not played it, but its "totally" worth it, and the complaints are not valid?

 

Yeah....makes total sense.

 

Oh wait...no it does not.

[kissklas]

Hi, and welcome!

 

Think you are making the right choice about getting Battle of Moscow as well. That MiG-3 is going to be great!

Hope you enjoy the game as much as I do.

 

See you in game (preferably not on my six)

Klas

[Guest deleted@50488]

You did a good choice!

[Y-29.Silky]

[Edited],  has yet to say anything good about this game. So I'm glad you listened to the people who've actually invested many hours playing this game (for good reason) and welcome aboard!

Couple points..

- Now that you have premium, you don't have to play the campaign for unlocks. Go the il2sturmovik.com and in your account, you'll be able to activate all unlocks.

- If you're mainly an SP player, I highly recommened Veternans missions. http://www.mission4today.com/index.php?name=Downloads4&file=details&id=15

- If you're mainly an MP player, Wings of Liberty is usually always full at this time of day. Really fun server!

Edited August 7, 2015 by Bearcat

[Oubaas]

To everyone else, thanks for the warm welcome!

 

And vaxxtx, I spent my entire adult life in aviation, usually in a flight suit.  Do you think it's possible that I might know someone else who has a copy installed?  Or do you suppose that I just dropped eighty bucks on it based on reading things on the Internet.

 

Just because I didn't spell everything out letter by letter and only just purchased my own copy doesn't mean I'm completely unfamiliar with it.  Oddly enough, after all those years in real world aviation, I know one or two people who are just as obsessed with aviation as I am.  Some of them even have computers!

 

You don't remember when Reagan was President, do you?

 

Oubaas

Edited August 6, 2015 by Oubaas

[Bando]

Well hello "old boss".

Hope (and expect) you will like it in the virtual skies over the eastern front.

 

Up until this title I did not even know the vast battles and casualties and sheer hugeness of the eastern front.

 

Learning every time.

I hope you feel welcome  

[SCG_Space_Ghost]

-snipping this violation of Rule 7... You know...[Edited]

 

So I'm glad you listened to the people who've actually invested many hours playing this game (for good reason) and welcome aboard!

 

-snip-

 

Like me who agrees point-by-point with many of the issues that Vaxxtx, another paying consumer of this product who has actually used this product, has brought up time and time again... many times with nary a response or resolution in sight..?

 

[Edited]

 

Yeah, welcome to our fine community!  [Edited]

Edited August 8, 2015 by Bearcat

[Freycinet]

And as for the moaning about the price, the people who complain about the price clearly do not understand the gigantic amount of research, coding, graphics development and design work that goes into making a flight simulator of this caliber.  I guess they think that the developers should just be enserfed and belong to the flight sim community, to do their bidding for little or no recompense.  Or perhaps they think, in their "expert" opinions, that they could develop something of this magnitude and have it come out flawess the first time it's run.  Heh.

 

Great first posting, you know more about this sim, I think, than many who have actually been playing it for a good while. You know that features cannot just "be added", but that it's always necessary to think about the trade-off affecting performance. "Let's have more and better smoke trails" I've heard a lot lately. Yeah, but how about the effect on performance? You can't just keep adding eye candy and not consider the hit on performance. The Russian programmers have been masters of squeezing eye-popping graphics into their flight sims since Oleg Maddox released Il-2 "Classic" back in 2001. They're deploying so many fantastic tricks to give us those graphics and flight dynamics, yet it seems to fly over the heads of many so-called simmers in here. You just can't have War Thunder graphics AND hi-fi flight dynamics AND a deep damage model AND a huge map all at once. Some just don't get that, a couple of them have already visited this thread with their usual negativity...

 

Have fun with this sim and welcome to the forum! - Don't let the h***** affect you...    

Edited August 6, 2015 by Freycinet

[IIN8II]

Welcome!

[SCG_Neun]

Plenty to do in here and it's getting better all the time.   In fact, you might have come at just the perfect time...Time enough to practice...as we gear up for the BOM release and some of the third party mod utilities that are starting to come out for both titles....And you love the Russian planes as well...perfect!

[VBF-12_Stick-95]

Oubaas, first of all, thank you for your service.

 

Second of all...  It is the best of sims, it is the worst of sims...  NO WAIT, you figured it out, it IS the best of sims and it keeps getting better.  A few bumps along the way but that is to be expected.  I have a feeling we will see you in mp. 

 

 

[[KWN]T-oddball]

Like me who agrees point-by-point with many of the issues that Vaxxtx, another paying consumer of this product who has actually used this product, has brought up time and time again... many times with nary a response or resolution in sight..?

 

[Edited]

 

Yeah, welcome to our fine community!   (<-- rolling my eyes because we lack the hypocritical facepalm emoticon that I would like to use.)

 

^^^^

 

 

 

I've spent much of my spare time during the past week reading up on IL2: Battle of Stalingrad and IL2: Battle of Moscow.

 

I now probably know every complaint that anyone has ever lodged against the titles, as well as every good thing ever said about them, and even the thoughts of those who hold ambivalent positions (all three of them!).

 

I've looked at screenshots, read developer's diaries, and really delved into the topic in-depth.  I've read forum post after forum post, all over the Internet.  And I reached a conclusion after all that study.

 

 

No offense mate but I don't think you did "study" would you mind telling what you think the 3 biggest grievances are that you read about?

 

p.s nice write-up very....professional.  

Edited August 8, 2015 by Bearcat

[II/JG17_HerrMurf]

And the usual suspects (me, of course, included) pop up almost immediately

 

It is fun and getting better all the time. Just maybe not as fast as some would hope but it is a heck of a game so far. It still has some warts and a couple of glaring problems but the fixes are coming along pretty steadilly.

 

Based on your write up and my opposing fascination with Luftwaffe AC I suppose we will meet from across the lines at some point. Welcome aboard, I think you made a good decision.

[pilotpierre]

Welcome oubaas, you will not regret your oulay.

[71st_AH_Hooves]

It looks like you are North American.  Come here to this Teamspeak.  I think we may be the most active all North American group in the game.  We would be glad to wing up and show you the ropes.  WE have two real world Navy pilots, along with some Air Force vets and several private pilots in the group, it sounds like you'd fit right in.  WELCOME! 

 

[Edited]

 

ts3.thewetbandits.org 

Edited August 8, 2015 by Bearcat

[Oubaas]

 

"No offense mate but I don't think you did "study" would you mind telling what you think the 3 biggest grievances are that you read about?"

 

"No offense," but I'm a liar?  Followed by the classic Internet self-appointed authority figure demand that you explain yourself in detail in order to prove that you're not lying.

 

Let's go back to "I don't think you did 'study'" again.  How inflated and inflamed does your ego have to be to think that some complete stranger on the Internet cares what you think about...well, pretty much anything?

 

Oh, I'm going to lose sleep now.  T-oddball doesn't think that I really studied the situation.  And we all know how important he is.  I can't have him thinking that! 

 

T-oddball, I really don't care what you or anyone like you thinks about anything.  That's the shocking truth about how important anything you say on the Internet is.

 

Oh, and one more thing.  I'm not your mate.  All my "mates" wore uniforms.  And the ones who didn't have manners.

 

To everyone in the thread who isn't desperately trying to take their obvious discontentment with life out on strangers, thanks again for the warm welcome.

 

Now, T-oddball, note that I didn't answer you the moment that you slung mud at me and demanded that I explain myself.  There's proof positive that I'm a pathological liar.  Now you can feel all superior and self-righteous.  Don't say I never gave you anything.  Feel better now?

Edited August 7, 2015 by Oubaas

[Bearcat]

 Welcome aboard...

[LLv24_Zami]

Welcome! You've made a good choise.

[Taxman]

Same here, welcome  Yes there are a "few" that no matter what is included in this sim will complain that it is not enough or not good enough.   BTW same thing for DCS, COD, etc. you know them well if you check some of the other boards.

[Jason_Williams]

Welcome Oubaas! Hope you have fun.

 

Everyone please keep it civil please.

 

Jason

[=EXPEND=Dendro]

"Oubaas".... ZA roots perhaps? If not afrikaans, where do you get your name?

 

Oh, welcome to BoS/BoM!

[Neil]

Hey, welcome abroad Oubaas! I think and I hope that you will have fun ! 

[[KWN]T-oddball]

 

"No offense mate but I don't think you did "study" would you mind telling what you think the 3 biggest grievances are that you read about?"

 

"No offense," but I'm a liar?  Followed by the classic Internet self-appointed authority figure demand that you explain yourself in detail in order to prove that you're not lying.

 

Let's go back to "I don't think you did 'study'" again.  How inflated and inflamed does your ego have to be to think that some complete stranger on the Internet cares what you think about...well, pretty much anything?

 

Oh, I'm going to lose sleep now.  T-oddball doesn't think that I really studied the situation.  And we all know how important he is.  I can't have him thinking that! 

 

T-oddball, I really don't care what you or anyone like you thinks about anything.  That's the shocking truth about how important anything you say on the Internet is.

 

Oh, and one more thing.  I'm not your mate.  All my "mates" wore uniforms.  And the ones who didn't have manners.

 

To everyone in the thread who isn't desperately trying to take their obvious discontentment with life out on strangers, thanks again for the warm welcome.

 

Now, T-oddball, note that I didn't answer you the moment that you slung mud at me and demanded that I explain myself.  There's proof positive that I'm a pathological liar.  Now you can feel all superior and self-righteous.  Don't say I never gave you anything.  Feel better now?

 

Thank you for proving me correct and please enjoy the game, it has some good qualities even though it is missing some core elements and a tireless group of good hearted  nut jobs trying to keep the on-line scene alive.

 

 

[Edited]

   

[von_Greiff]

A warm welcome from germany!

 

yours

v.Greiff

Edited August 7, 2015 by von_Greiff

[Oubaas]

"Oubaas".... ZA roots perhaps? If not afrikaans, where do you get your name?

 

Oh, welcome to BoS/BoM!

 

Very perceptive!  Yes, after they made me retire from the military, I went to Africa and lived there for many years.  It's a long story.  Anyway, I picked up the "Oubaas" tag over there.

 

Well, I'm up and running now!  It took me a little time to sort out my controls and graphics settings.  I'm running at 2560 x 1440 on Ultra, with objects in the distance at 4X, and everything else at maximum.  Needless to say, it's breathtaking.  And it runs smooth as silk like that on my machine.  I'm using a 60-inch HDTV and a 27-inch monitor on the side.  The HDTV has game mode and I can tweak things through the TV as well as through my graphics card, from cinematic motion smoothness to noise reduction and many other options.  So between tweaking my graphics card, in-game settings, and the HDTV's internal settings, it looks amazing.  And with a 60-inch display sitting right in front of me, I feel like I'm in the cockpit.  Text on gauges is crisp and clear with the settings I've dialed in and all is very well indeed!

 

I've spent the morning just cruising around in the Yak-1 and the Lagg-3 for awhile, then I got out the IL2 and spent some time hunting trucks and trains.

 

Having some meaningful time with the sim now, it confirms my impressions from the brief look I had at my friend's house.  My next sim purchase will definitely be IL2: Battle of Moscow.  I couldn't be happier with this title, it's a great flight sim!

 

Oubaas

[SharpeXB]

Welcome aboard!

[AbortedMan]

 

"No offense mate but I don't think you did "study" would you mind telling what you think the 3 biggest grievances are that you read about?"

 

"No offense," but I'm a liar?  Followed by the classic Internet self-appointed authority figure demand that you explain yourself in detail in order to prove that you're not lying.

 

Let's go back to "I don't think you did 'study'" again.  How inflated and inflamed does your ego have to be to think that some complete stranger on the Internet cares what you think about...well, pretty much anything?

 

Oh, I'm going to lose sleep now.  T-oddball doesn't think that I really studied the situation.  And we all know how important he is.  I can't have him thinking that! 

 

T-oddball, I really don't care what you or anyone like you thinks about anything.  That's the shocking truth about how important anything you say on the Internet is.

 

Oh, and one more thing.  I'm not your mate.  All my "mates" wore uniforms.  And the ones who didn't have manners.

 

To everyone in the thread who isn't desperately trying to take their obvious discontentment with life out on strangers, thanks again for the warm welcome.

 

Now, T-oddball, note that I didn't answer you the moment that you slung mud at me and demanded that I explain myself.  There's proof positive that I'm a pathological liar.  Now you can feel all superior and self-righteous.  Don't say I never gave you anything.  Feel better now?

 

Bravo! You're going to do just fine here on BoS forums.

[Bearcat]

This thread has been cleaned up.. reopening.

 

Guys... let's not let this get personal. At the end of the day.. this is a PC video game.

[=EXPEND=Dendro]

Nice Oubaas! Sounds like an awesome setup you have. Have fun and hopefully see you in the skies soon!

[Guest deleted@50488]

A couple of days ago I installed IL2 BoS on my fresh new win 10 Pro OS.

 

I was trying to resist the install, and almost promised myself to concentrate only in the civil / airliner stuff, but... I couldn't resist....

 

After installing I rushed trying two things - the effects of having now a GTX960 4GB graphics board, and trying to find some serious flaw in the flight dynamics / physics model to make me uninstall it again... I couldn't, and now I am hooked again!

 

My wife will process 1C / 777 :-/