Stalingrad Interactive Playground!

[Stoopy]

FInally!

 

Here's the next set of *ABSOLUTELY NON-HISTORIC* missions which are meant to be used as a "playground" for familiarization flights with new aircraft, gunnery / bombing practice, and just generally hosing around.  Per the title, these missions use the Stalingrad map and plane set, and like the previous Kuban Interactive Playground missions, allow for long, leisurely flights around the map where you can absorb all the nuances of a new plane, maybe shoot some touch and goes, but maybe also bomb, shoot or dogfight various targets if you want to, based on the aircraft type and what you want to practice.  There are many different kinds of targets which you can activate by flying through small check zones scattered around the map which act as triggers, and they're marked on the map along with the target spawn areas.  Some areas will allow for multiple spawns so you can keep generating certain aircraft or tanks to practice against.  Other areas (ships, artillery) only spawn once when the trigger zone is activated.  To also help keep things interesting, most trigger areas will spawn a random number or type of target.  There are also some targets that are fixed and always present (Train, Factories). 

 

You can fly solo or have an escort/formation flight of two aircraft depending on which direction you taxi out of the revetment,  just follow the instructions that appear at the start of the mission. 

 

This arrangement also allows you to create some interesting scenarios since some of the targets (tanks, artillery, attack aircraft) will set out to attack your home airfield unless you take them out.  So it's possible to launch an artillery strike against your airfield, then spawn a tank column that will drive toward it to attack, and then spawn some attack aircraft that may set out to bomb or drop paratroopers (from the Ju-52's) on it as well.  Then you can either try to rescue your airfield from the mess you've made, or sit back and watch the drama unfold (the airfield does have good defense capability, but can't hold out forever). 

 

This version improves over the Kuban Playground by providing separate map setups for the Allied and Axis sides, and there are separate missions for each aircraft in the Stalingrad set, spread across the summer, autumn and winter maps to add even more variety:

• IL-2 AM-38 m.194, Winter
• Pe-2 Series 87, Autumn 
• LaGG-3, Autumn
• Yak-1 Series 69, Summer
• La-5, Summer
• BF109 F-4, Summer
• BF109 G-2, Winter
• Ju-87 Stuka, Autumn
• He111 H-6, Autumn
• FW190 A-3, Summer

Other enhancements and additions over the Kuban Playgorund include: 

• Missions now use limited ammo, because:
• Each airfield now has a large maintenance hanger with a Repair/ReArm/ReFuel (RRR) facility for when you need more ammo and repairs (this is a very cool way to get extra landing practice in!)
• A "Perpetual Target Drone" can be activated which will fly a simple racetrack pattern and not shoot back, and will re-spawn every time it's destroyed.
• Better interaction among some of the targets; some aircraft flights now provide air cover for the train and factories (as indicated by arrows on the maps), etc.
• Improved arrangement of the target flights, which now use proper formation commands allowing for more coordinated attacks and behavior
• You can enable "Spotting flares" which will cause any activated target to fire a red flare when spawned, to help with spotting.
• A randomized "Mystery Box" area which will unleash... well, you'll just have to see, won't you?
• The train will interact with a truck convoy to carry out the enemy's diabolical schemes, providing a little more incentive to fly interdiction missions
• Alert messages are now in the middle of the screen, making the missions a bit more VR-friendly
• Much more solid randomized behavior, and general overhaul of the mission logic from the Kuban Playground. 

 
BIG Thanks to everyone who gave all the great feedback from the Kuban playground, which led to a lot of rework for this series.  Huge thanks to @itsbillyfrazier for his help with testing and feedback, to @durruti for his input on language files and creative factory names.  With 10 missions and so many target sets there's a lot going on, I tried my best to test as much as possible but  there's a point where you gotta stick a fork in it and call it done;  therefore if you spot any anomalies please report them and I'll put 'em on the fix list.

 

Lastly, great thanks to @JimTM for his excellent Mission Editor manual which continues to provide wonderful guidance, and everyone who posts their Q & A's in the Mission Editor forum.  It's a great community there and a terrific learning experience just hanging out and reading all the nuances the ME offers. 

 

Latest Version 1.56 as of 12/12/2021

 

Changes from version 1.55:

• Binary mission files converted for compatibility with IL-2 release v4.601 

Download link:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Lp7p8sNKxSJkx_nNwOyTzFlv-XRkCMMt/view?usp=sharing

 

Instructions:

- Unzip and copy the "Stalingrad Interactive Playground" folder, and all contents, to your IL-2 Sturmovik Battle of Stalingrad\data\Missions folder, overwriting any previous versions of this mission. 

 

- IMPORTANT: Due to content errors in the previous missions files that are shown in the game menu, it is recommended that you delete the temporary cache files "ctreecache.*" and "mtreecache.*" (actual names will be "ctreechache.eng" for english users, etc) in your IL-2 Sturmovik Battle of Stalingrad\data folder.  These files are rebuilt automatically when you access the Mission menu in the game.

 

Map for the IL-2, Pe-2, LaGG-3, Yak-1 and La-5, based out of Kalach:

 

Map for the BF109 F-4, BF109 G-2, Ju-87 Stuka, He111 H-6 and FW190 A-3 based out of Erzovka:

Edited December 12, 2021 by Stoopy

[durruti]

Woohoo !

 

The Mission Master struck again!

Thank you for this magnificent playground, I tried it out intensively this afternoon and had a lot of fun.
The Re -pair -arm -fuel function in particular makes the playground even more adventurous and more addicting !

 

Well done and thank you a lot for your hard work  !

[PA_Keko_]

Thank you very Much!!! 

[Stoopy]

Thanks for the responses, gentlemen, glad you are (or will be) enjoying it!

 

Before we get too much farther on this thread, I'd like to point out that a lot of the effort was spent on improving stuff "under the hood" so to speak so that it would be much more reliable and transportable to other scenarios.   Meaning, there's much less effort to create the next playground series (I've already started setting up the Bodenplatte Playground maps) which means there's extra time to make new things to include. 

 

So, this is a good time to post any requests regarding what content you might want to see in the next playground series, as I'm always open to a challenge and improving the concept.  I have some ideas myself (race course!) but I'm sure many of you will have better ideas. 

 

?

Edited March 2, 2020 by =[TIA]=Stoopy

[Hartigan]

This is exactly what I've been looking for! Thank you so much! It's like improved qmb . 

[Alfaunostebas11]

Nice idea and excellent realization!
Congratulations !!!

PS. It is a pity that the function of Rearm, Repair and Refuel has big limits and for many planes, once the weapons on board are reloaded (guns and machine guns, not bombs), these no longer work, thus making the function almost useless.

I also experienced this in my "Bloody skies of Kuban" missions, but it's not our fault ...

 

Edited March 16, 2020 by Alfaunostebas11

[CorvusX]

Thank you very much, impressive work and it's a lot of fun to fly this mission(s)! 

 

On 3/16/2020 at 11:54 AM, Alfaunostebas11 said:

once the weapons on board are reloaded (guns and machine guns, not bombs), these no longer work

 

For the pilots weapons please try "Reload all guns" (LAlt + R  on default) after rearming at the Hangar.

The guns and machineguns should be usable again.

"Only" gunners stations will not be rearmed, atm because of RRR limitations. Let's hope that this will be changed with the next update.

[Stoopy]

1 hour ago, CorvusX said:

For the pilots weapons please try "Reload all guns" (LAlt + R  on default) after rearming at the Hangar.

The guns and machineguns should be usable again.

"Only" gunners stations will not be rearmed, atm because of RRR limitations. Let's hope that this will be changed with the next update.

 

^^ CorvusX has it right and thank you.  @Alfaunostebas11, sorry I didn't see your question, since it was added after I read your post.  I would have answered sooner, and I almost put a tip about this in the original post above, since I had it happen to me in the BF109 and had to experiment to find the solution.  A simple "Reload guns" does the trick, which I happen to had already mapped to a joystick button. 

 

Oddly it sin't needed for all planes, I only had to use it with the Bf109 so far and not with the LaGG-3 or other planes in the Allied map.  It makes sense that those efficient Germans wojudln't want their planes taking off with charged guns, but the Russkies like to live dangerously & don't care about such trivial things. 

 

[Alfaunostebas11]

I also have experimented the issue.

Actually the correct sequence, with Bf-109 and similar is:

1) stop the engine

2) begin the rearm (for me is the key "y")

3) deactivate some automatic functions, if activated, default with LShift+N, LCtrl+R and LCtrl+M

4) turn on the engine again

5) relaod All Guns (for me LShift+R)

6) (optional) restore the functions, again with LShit+N, LCtrl+R and LCtrl+M

And so the frontal guns are active.

For the Ju-87, as above except point 3) which is not necessary

Thank you for the tips...

Edited March 22, 2020 by Alfaunostebas11

[Stoopy]

All,

 

To celebrate the 4.006 release which came out today, the Stalingrad Playground series has been updated to include playground missions for the new Yak-9 and Yak-9T, since some gunnery practice is gonna be called for, heh heh.  You can download the new version by going to the link in the original post above, at the very start of this thread.

 

Happy hunting!

 

Edited May 19, 2020 by =[TIA]=Stoopy

[sevenless]

Stoopy,

 

according to Harry Hunger you have a little spelling error on your map. It is called Borschtsch.

 

 

 

[inexus]

Any chance for support for TC?  

[Stoopy]

7 hours ago, inexus said:

Any chance for support for TC?  

 

At the moment, I don't happen to own Tank Crew so I am unable to build and test missions for it.  However, I do plan to purchase it in the long term and at that point I could make a playground for it.   Right now I'm trying to finish up the Bodenplatte playground and then have a FC and Moscow playground to do.

 

Sounds interesting though!

 

[Mike2945]

Hi Stoopy,

Any chance of an update to 4.501 for this and the Kuban interactive playground?  I've resaved the folders in the ME but neither are loading so it would seem it requires more of a tweak than a simple re-saving?  I've really enjoyed both these missions - great practice with lots of variety!

Mike

[Stoopy]

14 minutes ago, Mike2945 said:

Hi Stoopy,

Any chance of an update to 4.501 for this and the Kuban interactive playground?  I've resaved the folders in the ME but neither are loading so it would seem it requires more of a tweak than a simple re-saving?  I've really enjoyed both these missions - great practice with lots of variety!

Mike

 

Glad you like them and sure thing. Let me see what I can do.

 

@Mike2945: and anyone else:

 

Please see updated download link for v1.51, toward the bottom of the original post at the top of this thread, and happy flying!

 

 

[SabaTheDog]

Thank you for making this!

 

Just FYI - the Yak-1 mission spawns me in a Yak-7B.

[Stoopy]

3 hours ago, SabaTheDog said:

Thank you for making this!

 

Just FYI - the Yak-1 mission spawns me in a Yak-7B.

 

Hmmm.  Thanks for the notice, I will fix and upload.  Also added a mission for the Hurri.

 

[Stoopy]

The Stalingrad Interactive Playground mission set  has been upgraded to v1.52

 

Changes from version 1.51:
1. Added Allied mission for Hurricane Mk.II
2. Corrected Yak-1 Summer mission to span in a Yak-1 s.69, instead of a Yak-7b

 

You can download the new version by going to the link in the original post above, at the very start of this thread.

 

Happy hunting!

[ightenhill]

Is there anything I can change just to change to the weather in the files.. Now my fave mission to play when Im having to travel abroad for work and only have the laptop but I hate those low flickering clouds with a passion but I need low or off to keep an fps in the 60 range

[Stoopy]

15 hours ago, ightenhill said:

Is there anything I can change just to change to the weather in the files.. Now my fave mission to play when Im having to travel abroad for work and only have the laptop but I hate those low flickering clouds with a passion but I need low or off to keep an fps in the 60 range

 

Here y'go... since I have my arm and hand in a cast it's easier to make a YouTube video than it is to type.  Plus it seems to be what all you krazy kids are into these days.  

 

Good luck and have a safe business trip.

 

 

[ightenhill]

excellent  video and ... works a treat... Plus the added benefit that now now i can stop flying whilst on the road and simply tinker with all these settings till the end of time - which seems nearer every week

 

 

[Stoopy]

12 minutes ago, ightenhill said:

excellent  video and ... works a treat... Plus the added benefit that now now i can stop flying whilst on the road and simply tinker with all these settings till the end of time - which seems nearer every week

 

 

 

I feel compelled to warn you that if you're the fatalistic type, the annoying nuances of the Mission Editor may be enough to drive you over the edge completely.  ?

 

But have fun tinkering!

[easterling77]

Hey Stoopy 

 

Thank you for this awsome Playground...lot of fun and practice for me.

 

I've only a minor issue/missunderstanding.

 

Got the last version and in the folder i can see the data for the Hurricane, but in game / mission description it says version v1.000 and I've no the possibilety to take the hurricane.

 

Any gues what i made wrong?

[Stoopy]

2 hours ago, easterling77 said:

Got the last version and in the folder i can see the data for the Hurricane, but in game / mission description it says version v1.000 and I've no the possibilety to take the hurricane.

 

Hi easterling, thanks for the kind words and I'm very happy that you are enjoying the playground.  

 

First off - the version 1.0 that is listed in the mission description is my fault, I never updated that version number when making changes and uploading a new version of the ZIP file that contains all the different playground missions.  That's because it is buried within 8 different "language" files for each mission (English, German, French, Chinese etc.) and there are now 15 different missions in the playground (for 15 different aircraft types) which makes 120 files I have to edit to updated the version number that shows up in the mission description.  I clearly need a better way to manage that.  At any rate,. if you have the Stalingrad playground mission that includes the Hurricane, you have the right version. 

 

I just did a quick test and can load and fly the Hurricane mission - so please forgive the obvious question, but do you own the Hurricane (did you purchase it separately via pre-order, etc.) , and have you confirmed you can fly it around in the Quick Masson Builder?  It's not included with the Battle of Stalingrad plane set, but like the Yak 9 and Yak 9T it's a collector plane that can be used in other maps as long as you purchased it.   So I made a mission for it in the Stalingrad playground so those of us who own it can get some familiarity flights with it.

 

Edited January 2, 2021 by Stoopy

[easterling77]

Hey Stoopy

 

No Problem, with the exception of the U2 and the Ju 52, I got all content....my wallet hates IL2?

 

Ok 120 files...what a horror.

 

I guess I'll reload the Playground tomorrow (now its 03:22am) and will see what happens.

 

I'll post the result

 

 

Edited January 3, 2021 by easterling77

[easterling77]

So I've run some tests and the "problems" are persisiting. I also tested your Kuban interactive Playground and there they also occure.

But as I seeme to be the only one -  it's no big deal for me - there are plenty planes I can use in your awsome playgrounds - great appreciate it.

 

So what I noticed so far:

 

- only collector Planes are missing (but they are all correct placed in the right directory as you said in your Readme)

- some collector planes can be used (Yak 9T and La 5 on Stalingrad Playground) but others like MC 202 or Yak 9 S1 are still missing.

- I tried to rename the ger. language version in the folder of the missing planes because my game is localized in germany (this helped me in other forum contend in the past) but they still don't pop up in the missions tab in the game

 

As so far I guess it's a problem with the synchronicity of the collector planes but like I said before - This is only for giving you the information.

I'm absolutely happy with what I got from your fantastic work and its a joy for just random fighting

 

Thank you and always good hunting.

 

DP

Edited January 3, 2021 by easterling77

[Stoopy]

Hi DP,

 

Thanks for the information, I see the problem now. The aircraft description in the first line for the German (and some other) language files is incorrect for some of the collector aircraft.  I must have overlooked that in my haste when adding them.  I'll fix it and provide a new upload link.

 

1 hour ago, easterling77 said:

Thank you and always good hunting.

 

 

In this case, hunting for mistakes!

 

[easterling77]

Hi 

Thats good to hear.

 

Thank you

[Stoopy]

2 hours ago, easterling77 said:

Hi 

Thats good to hear.

 

Thank you

 

DP, if you have time to check your PM from me and let me know how it works, I'll post the link to the updated mission set in the top post of this thread for everyone else.

Thanks for reaching out.

 

Stoop

Edited January 3, 2021 by Stoopy

[Stoopy]

Download ZIP has been updated to version 1.53, per the new download link and content descriptions in the top post of this thread.

 

For anyone updating, please see instructions regarding deletion of the temporary ctreecache and mtreecache files in your IL2 data folder to ensure new mission descriptions show up properly after updating the mission files.

 

Hats off to @easterling77 for calling attention to this! ?

 

[easterling77]

We all have to say thanks to you?

[easterling77]

 

Yup it was quite a long run? but hell of fun

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 4, 2021 by easterling77

[Stoopy]

20 hours ago, easterling77 said:

 

Yup it was quite a long run? but hell of fun

 

WOW!!!!  Great job!!!  That's fantastic.... that's got to be at least a dozen landings and re-armings!

 

And just like, that, we have another update, version 1.54:

 

Fixed the Mystery Box and Spitfire Mk.V/Mk.IX spawn points for the Axis missions. 

 

Details and download link are in the first post at the top of this thread.

 

 

 

Edited January 5, 2021 by Stoopy

[Mycu]

Discovered those playgrounds two days ago and must say that I'm having a blast.
Possibility to spawn my own targets with refuel/rearm in one run is really great.
Also having a little threat coming from enemies moving towards your home airfield is refreshing

Thank you @Stoopy for your fantastic work.

[Beanie]

Thank you Stoopy  for this - its helping me in getting better at ground attack missions.   Regards

 

 

[jollyjack]

Yep, thanks ...

[Stoopy]

Thank you very much @Mycu, @Beanie and @jollyjack, glad you are having a good time!

 

Without jinxing myself I now think it's safe to say, more to come very soon!!!!

 

???

[Stoopy]

Just a note to those following this thread, the Bodenplatte Playground is finally a reality!

 

[Atlantia39]

Hello...any plans to make this compatible with Version 4.601?

[itsbillyfrazier]

10 minutes ago, Atlantia39 said:

Hello...any plans to make this compatible with Version 4.601?

 

Yep, I'm pretty certain Stoopy will be updating all the PG's as soon as he can.