Had tears in my eyes.

[Shalimar]

Do this...

 

Choose quick mission..

Select the multiple red Vs blue circle on the quick missions map.

Ur flight: 4xspitfires night fighter skin

Buddy flight: 4xspitfires night fighter skin

Make sure to add rear view mirror to ur spit.

 

Enemy 1st flight: 4xfw190s... ace

Enemy 2nd flight: 4xju88...ace

 

Separation 10km

Height: 6km

Alignment: aside (this is important)

Time of day : 12noon so the silliuettes really stand out against the bright blue sky.

 

Leave the HUD labels off.

 

Btw this is in VR so if youre not in vr you won't find this as compelling...

 

When you press unpause to start the mission, you can't  really see the enemy, because of the 10km separation, and since you are ahead of your pack you will see nothing but a big bright empty blue sky, but what really hits you in the feels is when during ur scan you crane your neck to your 4 or 5 clock position and you see 7 dark spits all turning together, in formation towards the still unseen enemy, and then you turn to follow them and youre still behind them as you observe them flying in formation  towards 8 tiny dots now visible in the distance. It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. After a few moments, you notice the 8 dots  splitting into 2 groups of four, and one group getting bigger and bigger as it comes to meet your group of spits. And then eventually they turn into 4 fw190s that just fly head on into ur group of spits, tossing and turning and tumbling, breaking up from their neat formations and turning into a mess of contrail spaghetti.

 

Forget the dogfight, go after the bombers and observe the furball unfold in your rear view mirror. It feels like youre in a movie. I was chopping onions inside my cockpit. The most beautiful part of this is the beginning where you see 7 spit sillouettes turning in formation towards the enemy. This has been one of the most memorable gaming moments I've ever had.

If you have a vr headset you have to try it yourself.

 

Cheers.

[Lensman]

Will do!

Very evocative.

VR is superb isn't it!

[SCG_Fenris_Wolf]

Yes, VR is amazing. Make sure to try other titles such as EVE Valkyrie as well. IL-2 has a long way to march regarding optimization and rendering technologies in VR (check out Lens Matched Shading and Single Stereo Pass), but I am sure in the future there will be hours to do so. I bought everything available to support the devs.

[Shalimar]

the sight of 7 spitfires standing on their starboard wingtip revealing their beautiful underbellies in unison, while pulling away for you. I was not prepared for how beautiful that would look against the bright blue sky. It's like somehow you've been sucked into a giant coffee table book of ww2 aerial photos.

 

And then the flickering dots of the distant enemy show up while you're still checking out the formation of 7 spits from behind. And you can see the AI of your spits trying to decide on a plan of action, as the formation begins getting jittery. And then you see the 4 fw190 dots peeling away from the bomber dots...and get bigger and bigger...and then when they ram into your formation...all hell breaks loose.

 

So much drama. It's like having the sky box seats to an intercept mission.

Edited October 27, 2017 by Shalimar

[MrNoice]

well ..and all in bad Resolution.... thats why I have no VR

[BazzaLB]

well ..and all in bad Resolution.... thats why I have no VR

Do you have to crap on everything?

Edited November 1, 2017 by BazzaLB

[Archie]

Do you have to shit on everything?

Exactly what I was thinking. 

 

Must have felt brilliant Shalimar!

[sinned]

well ..and all in bad Resolution.... thats why I have no VR

Cant afford one? I have a spare HTC.

[Herne]

A couple of nights ago there was a problem where the log in servers went down for a little while, kicking us off multiplayer. I logged back in offline mode and kicked off some flight v flight quick missions as described above but chose random AC for all flights.
 

I had a really good time, what was quite amusing was when my side had HE111's and stukas vs yaks and LA5's. It's actually a lot of fun.

[Shalimar]

well ..and all in bad Resolution.... thats why I have no VR

 

you're missing out... in VR you're so there...that u dont think about pixels and resolution. but to each their own i guess

[schurem]

the other night i was starting the 2nd chapter of the battle of stalingrad. flew the scripted mission. red side. the briefing was well written, conveying despair and tension. the flight itself was incredible. the browns of the autumn stalingrad map. the city burning, great black clouds meeting the low grey cloud ceiling. to the east a break in the clouds allowing a ray of sunshine to change the rivulets and swamps to glittering jewels. the ray itself gave the whole area the air of a hallowed place, a cathedral.

it was like flying through shostakovitch' eighth.

 

i wish the devs would read this, not only is this sim a tech ical masterpiece, it is art.

[Royal_Flight]

Also, to add to the above, Shostakovich is a genius.

[Stratman59]

Mr.Fies....have you actually tried VR, I somehow doubt it? If you have and you're not impressed then fair enough but I would say you're 1 in a hundred. VR is truly stunning (as long as you have the rig to run it, very important). 

[BuzzU]

I might tear up if I could see like the AI. As it is I can't see for beans. Then again i've had a lot of years you get used to not seeing for beans.

[hames123]

Try flying over the Kessel in the Winter, in a snow storm, at night, with your 7 other fighters against 8 enemy. It looks amazing. The snow and the wind and the tracers in the dark.

 

Or, do a few He 111 bombing missions in the campaign. Watching the Soviet fighters coming right at you, and hearing your gunners open up and your escorts dive towards the threat is awesome.

Edited November 8, 2017 by hames123

[Shalimar]

Try flying over the Kessel in the Winter, in a snow storm, at night, with your 7 other fighters against 8 enemy. It looks amazing. The snow and the wind and the tracers in the dark.

 

Or, do a few He 111 bombing missions in the campaign. Watching the Soviet fighters coming right at you, and hearing your gunners open up and your escorts dive towards the threat is awesome.

Where is Kessel? i did a night time high altitude bomber intercept over stalingrad...i was flying the 190A3. the only way to find the bombers was through their vapor trails. otherwise its impossible to find anything. add to that the crazy spaghetti vapor trails of the attacking and defending fighters and its nigh impossible to catch those pesky fuckers. often times i would chase a trail and there'd be nothign at the end of it. it was an exercise in futility.. but then i finally chased them to their field...and the search lights locked on to me and then the ack ack let loose all at once...it was like the cnn footage from the 1st invasion of baghdad. you get a proper surprise when a blinding search light locks on to u as u chase a bomber. had to nurse back a dying engine to the mission end point.

 

I have yet to figure out how to fly the heavies. cant even keep the engine from exploding on an il2 let alone a multi engine heavy. Also might have to do with the fun i'm having on the fighters.