Best version to buy first

[[WFPK]Xerpun]

Since there is a sale right now i want to buy my first IL-2 Sturmovik game but i have no idea which one. Can you reccomend me something and tell why?

EDIT: If the only difference is plane selection then i think i will go with BOBP. Also if i have BOBP can i buy every collector plane or only ones connected to that version?

Edited July 30, 2020 by [WFPK]Xerpun

[O_DesoLunatic]

BoBp for late war western stuff, anything else for east and yes you can buy any collector plane and you will be able to access it in single player or online. BoBp has all the most iconic planes (at least for the western audience) and I prefer how dogfighting goes with late war planes (but that might be partially because we were limited to flying on eastern front for a pretty long time).  All in all you can't go wrong with BoBp while Battle of Stalingrad will get you sorted for most of the scenarios if you would prefer eastern front. 

Edited July 31, 2020 by desolunatic

[Gambit21]

There are SO MANY threads on this subject, seems like we have one a week.

Each module has it's own advantages etc, and a lot depends on your aircraft preference.

 

Kuban has a gorgeous map with mountains.

Do a search and you'll get some good answers.

 

All that said if you're leaning toward BoBP,  I have no reason to turn you away from that choice.

 

 

[[WFPK]Xerpun]

29 minutes ago, desolunatic said:

BoBp for late war western stuff, anything else for east and yes you can buy any collector plane and you will be able to access it in single player or online. BoBp has all the most iconic planes (at least for the western audience) and I prefer how dogfighting goes with late war planes (but that might be partially because we were limited to flying on eastern front for a pretty long time).  All in all you can't go wrong with BoBp while Battle of Stalingrad will get you sorted for most of the scenarios if you would prefer eastern front. 

Okay thanks i think i will go with BoBP 

 

1 minute ago, Gambit21 said:

There are SO MANY threads on this subject, seems like we have one a week.

Each module has it's own advantages etc, and a lot depends on your aircraft preference.

 

Kuban has a gorgeous map with mountains.

Do a search and you'll get some good answers.

 

All that said if you're leaning toward BoBP,  I have no reason to turn you away from that choice.

 

 

Yeah i know before posting mine i was looking for threads like it and found some info but most of it was from before BoBP and that's the one im most intrested in.

[Gambit21]

Just now, [WFPK]Xerpun said:

Okay thanks i think i will go with BoBP 

 

Yeah i know before posting mine i was looking for threads like it and found some info but most of it was from before BoBP and that's the one im most intrested in.

 

OK - well looks like you've made a choice and you'll be very happy I think.

[martinlb]

I've only recently gotten into these sims and I've started with Flying Circus.  With the summer discount codes I'm seriously thinking about getting one of the WW2 based series.  There are certain WW2 planes I like quite a bit but besides choosing based on the available planes are there other things I should know and take into account? 

 

And, wow, after just looking into the two Steam-related (what - modules, campaigns, battles??? ?) it seems for about 1/2 the price you get over 40 planes compared to maybe a dozen with the non-steam choices.  There must be a reason for that.  Can I use anything from the Steam series, like the planes or tank battles in a non-Steam product?

Edited July 31, 2020 by martinlb
Additional question/comment

[Eisenfaustus]

Steam version has the same planes as non steam version for the same price

 

Apart from planesets:

 

Moscow:

+ Good place to start an eastern front career, as a pilot who survibves later can do stalingrad or kuban careers (if you plan to get the others eventually)

- least plane variety in career

 

Stalingrad

+ easy to navigate since most fighting is done around the wolga

+ largest plane variety as you'll also meet moscow and kuban planes in career

+ usually short marching times

+ Based on THE battle of WWII ^^

 

Kuban

+ most beautiful map

 

Rheinland

+ inclusion of battles better known to western audiences (Market Garden/Battle of the Bulge)

- usually long marching times (realistic though...)

- No great plane variety YET (is getting better with normandy progression - especially looking forward to ai dc47)

 

But to be honest - I got most because of the planesets ?

Edited July 31, 2020 by Eisenfaustus

[cardboard_killer]

10 hours ago, martinlb said:

And, wow, after just looking into the two Steam-related (what - modules, campaigns, battles??? ?) it seems for about 1/2 the price you get over 40 planes compared to maybe a dozen with the non-steam choices.  There must be a reason for that. 

 

I'm not sure what you're seeing, but Steam (unless things have changed radically recently) sells IL-2:BoX titles one at a time, just like the devs' store. However, with Steam you have to buy BoS first as it views the other BoX titles as add ons (DLC) to the first title. Unwittingly, I bought BoS from steam, but have since bought from the devs as it puts more money into the developers' pockets.

 

Note that Steam does not have discount codes for the sale the devs are having, so the steam price s/b considerably higher than our friends' price.

Edited July 31, 2020 by cardboard_killer

[CountZero]

10 hours ago, [WFPK]Xerpun said:

Since there is a sale right now i want to buy my first IL-2 Sturmovik game but i have no idea which one. Can you reccomend me something and tell why?

EDIT: If the only difference is plane selection then i think i will go with BOBP. Also if i have BOBP can i buy every collector plane or only ones connected to that version?

I would buy BoS and BoBp if im MP player, you will have airplanes to fly no mather what mission is running on server.

For SP i would go with BoK and BoBp, BoK map is best in game and both campaigns are lenghty and various enought.

Collector airplanes you can buy separatly no mather what DLC you have.

If you aim to play on steam then you have to have BoS first like others said, its considerad as main game there.

[PatrickAWlson]

12 hours ago, [WFPK]Xerpun said:

Since there is a sale right now i want to buy my first IL-2 Sturmovik game but i have no idea which one. Can you reccomend me something and tell why?

EDIT: If the only difference is plane selection then i think i will go with BOBP. Also if i have BOBP can i buy every collector plane or only ones connected to that version?

 

If you are into western stuff then BoBP is the best and, at the moment, only choice.  In about a year or so BoN will be out and that will mesh well with BoBP.  BoN will allow you to fly quite a bit more than early 1944.  If you are a SP career player you could realistically get a western front career from 1942 to end of war.

 

If you want to do some things on the eastern front you have several options:

Chronological order: Moscow, Stalingrad, Kuban

Most versatile aircraft set: Stalingrad, Moscow, Kuban

Best scenery: Kuban by a mile, Moscow and Stalingrad sort of tied

Flying western planes in the east: Kuban, Moscow, none in Stalingrad

[Stoopy]

8 hours ago, martinlb said:

I've only recently gotten into these sims and I've started with Flying Circus. ...

 

That actually makes the most sense from a historical and career perspective. 

 

[cardboard_killer]

35 minutes ago, PatrickAWlson said:

Flying western planes in the east: Kuban, Moscow, none in Stalingrad

 

Pretty sure Stalingrad has a P-40 and A-20 squadron(s).

[O_DesoLunatic]

31 minutes ago, Stoopy said:

 

That actually makes the most sense from a historical and career perspective. 

 

 

Not only that but it makes sense from perspective of learning air combat - when starting out it is easier to wrap your head around dogfights at speeds around 120kmh than props  reaching considerable mach numbers in a dive. ?

Edited July 31, 2020 by desolunatic

[PatrickAWlson]

16 minutes ago, cardboard_killer said:

 

Pretty sure Stalingrad has a P-40 and A-20 squadron(s).

I thought P-40 came with Moscow and I'm sure the A-20 comes with Kuban.  They might be usable on other  maps but I think those are the modules ... or are they collector planes that you can buy independently?  

[cardboard_killer]

Okay, I see. I was thinking you meant no US/Allied planes on the map, but you meant none came with the module. Sorry about that.

51 minutes ago, PatrickAWlson said:

They might be usable on other  maps but

 

 

[DD_Arthur]

4 hours ago, cardboard_killer said:

 (FC is not a BoX module)

 

?

[cardboard_killer]

1 minute ago, Stoopy said:

???

 

Well, there you go, I'm wrong. I'll delete my posts.

[martinlb]

 

20 hours ago, Eisenfaustus said:

Steam version has the same planes as non steam version for the same price

-snip-

 

Here is a direct copy & paste from the IL2 Store.  With the Cliffs of Dover Blitz you get:

48 flyable Aircraft Types and Variants, another 16 non-flyable

With Desert Wings - TOBRUK you get:

Over 40 completely new flyable types and variants are added

That's what you get with the Steam variants

 

The non-Steam campaigns are quite different as far as included aircraft go.

Battle of Normandy will have:

The Premium Edition contains eight standard aircraft and two collector aircraft.

Battle of Bodenplatte  comes with:

The Premium Edition contains eight standard aircraft and two collector aircraft. 

 

I won't go on, I think it's clear that the Steam versions have considerably more aircraft.  I'm really wondering what's behind the differences.

 

20 hours ago, Eisenfaustus said:

Apart from planesets:

 

Moscow:

+ Good place to start an eastern front career, as a pilot who survibves later can do stalingrad or kuban careers (if you plan to get the others eventually)

- least plane variety in career

 

Stalingrad

+ easy to navigate since most fighting is done around the wolga

+ largest plane variety as you'll also meet moscow and kuban planes in career

+ usually short marching times

+ Based on THE battle of WWII ^^

 

Kuban

+ most beautiful map

 

Rheinland

+ inclusion of battles better known to western audiences (Market Garden/Battle of the Bulge)

- usually long marching times (realistic though...)

- No great plane variety YET (is getting better with normandy progression - especially looking forward to ai dc47)

 

But to be honest - I got most because of the planesets ?

 

And wow, thanks for the detailed list of pros and cons!  I very much appreciate that!

[cardboard_killer]

55 minutes ago, martinlb said:

 

 

Here is a direct copy & paste from the IL2 Store.  With the Cliffs of Dover Blitz you get:

48 flyable Aircraft Types and Variants, another 16 non-flyable

With Desert Wings - TOBRUK you get:

Over 40 completely new flyable types and variants are added

That's what you get with the Steam variants

 

The non-Steam campaigns are quite different as far as included aircraft go.

Battle of Normandy will have:

The Premium Edition contains eight standard aircraft and two collector aircraft.

Battle of Bodenplatte  comes with:

The Premium Edition contains eight standard aircraft and two collector aircraft. 

 

I won't go on, I think it's clear that the Steam versions have considerably more aircraft.  I'm really wondering what's behind the differences.

 

 

And wow, thanks for the detailed list of pros and cons!  I very much appreciate that!

 

IL-2 Cliffs of Dover Blitz (CoD or CLoD) is a different game than the IL-2 Battle of Stalingrad (BoX). CoD uses a different game engine, and the new Desert module is an extension of it. It does have more a/c, but they are all of the same battle, the Battle of Britain. With BoX all a/c of each module are playable against a/c of the other BoX modules; none are compatable with CoD, Game play is different because the engine is different.

 

Here is the wikipedia page about CoD: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IL-2_Sturmovik:_Cliffs_of_Dover

Here is the wikipedia page about BoX: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IL-2_Sturmovik:_Great_Battles

 

[ShamrockOneFive]

19 hours ago, martinlb said:

 

 

Here is a direct copy & paste from the IL2 Store.  With the Cliffs of Dover Blitz you get:

48 flyable Aircraft Types and Variants, another 16 non-flyable

With Desert Wings - TOBRUK you get:

Over 40 completely new flyable types and variants are added

That's what you get with the Steam variants

 

The non-Steam campaigns are quite different as far as included aircraft go.

Battle of Normandy will have:

The Premium Edition contains eight standard aircraft and two collector aircraft.

Battle of Bodenplatte  comes with:

The Premium Edition contains eight standard aircraft and two collector aircraft. 

 

I won't go on, I think it's clear that the Steam versions have considerably more aircraft.  I'm really wondering what's behind the differences.

 

Two different games and titles. IL-2: Great Battles Series has 8+2 aircraft for all releases. IL-2: Cliffs of Dover Series is also on the il2sturmovik.com website store.

 

[Zooropa_Fly]

On 7/31/2020 at 12:29 AM, [WFPK]Xerpun said:

Since there is a sale right now i want to buy my first IL-2 Sturmovik game but i have no idea which one. Can you reccomend me something and tell why?

EDIT: If the only difference is plane selection then i think i will go with BOBP. Also if i have BOBP can i buy every collector plane or only ones connected to that version?

 

Progress doesn't always move forward in time.

You need to start with BoB in an ME262, then progress back one module at a time to the earliest planes in BoS.

Once you're king of the skies on the MP stats in a LaGG3, then, and only then, might you be ready to get a Sopwith Camel off the ground.

Flying Circus Baby.

 

S!

[martinlb]

Thanks for the explanations about the different games and planes.  I get it now.  ?

[AEthelraedUnraed]

On 7/31/2020 at 11:56 AM, cardboard_killer said:

Note that Steam does not have discount codes for the sale the devs are having, so the steam price s/b considerably higher than our friends' price.

It's probably region/currency specific, but where I'm located (Netherlands) the Steam games and modules are actually consistently a bit cheaper (usually €0.50 - €1) than the same aircraft/maps on the IL2 store. Combined with the fact that the IL2 store requires either a credit card (which I don't have) or PayPal (which I don't like) while Steam has the extremely easy and user-friendly Dutch payment system iDEAL as a possible payment method, it's the reason that I've bought almost all my content from Steam.

[Dutch2]

10 minutes ago, AEthelraedUnraed said:

It's probably region/currency specific, but where I'm located (Netherlands) the Steam games and modules are actually consistently a bit cheaper (usually €0.50 - €1) than the same aircraft/maps on the IL2 store. Combined with the fact that the IL2 store requires either a credit card (which I don't have) or PayPal (which I don't like) while Steam has the extremely easy and user-friendly Dutch payment system iDEAL as a possible payment method, it's the reason that I've bought almost all my content from Steam.

 

Yeah, but if buying from STEAM you always find all those performance eating STEAM activities on your system, when starting up your STEAM game. Running an decent system then this is no problem, but having difficulties in maintaining FPS then you would avoid another not needed process running in the background. 

 

Edited August 3, 2020 by Dutch2

[=RS=Stix_09]

I can say I have all of them , and I like them all.

If you get on steam, as said you have to get BOS first. For me steam is generally cheaper as the payment gateway they use on web site takes about a 12% cut on top and the US$ exchange rate they give you is also terrible. That prob varies based on country you are in.

 

However steam does not have early release content, and gets less options to purchase than web site, but it does eventually get the content. Also paying on web site give devs the full $, (steam takes a 30% cut)
You can have both if you link your steam account to the web account.

Personally I think BOS is a good place to start (and its where the first Theatre they made was).

Moscow is underrated in my opinion it has some very fun planes.

 

Also depends if you want to play online, like anything it will ultimately come down to what planes and maps you prefer. There is NO best choice to get for everyone.
So the OP question is the wrong one to ask.  It should ask: What is the best one for me based on these things I want/like.

 

Edited August 4, 2020 by =RS=Stix_09
typo