Why IL-2 is Special to Me

[Cybermat47]

For me, the IL-2 community is a big part of what makes these games special. It’s great to be able to meet other people who also have my interest in WWII aviation, and then to share missions, campaigns, skins, videos, and even just ideas with each other. Not only that, but the fact that the vast majority of people give away the content they’ve worked on for free really shows how motivational sheer passion can be.

 

Another part of what makes IL-2 special to me is the specific niche it fills, and how well it fills that niche. There aren’t any other games that scratch the itch I have for realistic WWII air combat with a wide array of singleplayer and multiplayer content depicting so many different aircraft and locations. And each entry in the series is special in its own way for me.

 

Even to this day, 1946 has so much variety that I don’t think it’ll ever be completely replaced. There’s singleplayer content that depicts relatively obscure topics like the Winter War, the Fall of Singapore, the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm in the Pacific, and the battles between the USSR and Japan in Manchuria. There isn’t that large of an audience for these aspects of history as far as I know, so it’s really special to have them available in 1946. The game also just has a certain unique charm to it.

No-one remembers IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey, but I’ll always be nostalgic for it. Coming home from school, booting up the Xbox, and hearing that music was a perfect way to relax.

 

I’ll try not to overtly blow on the trumpet I’ve worked on, but Cliffs of Dover bought the Battle of Britain (the definitive air battle for me) to life and introduced me to multiplayer in flight sims. It’s a privilege to help officially improve on the singleplayer and expand it with Desert Wings - Tobruk.

 

It’s also been great to have played Great Battles Series ever since the very first Battle of Stalingrad early access build, when we had nothing but winter Lapino and an unarmed LaGG-3. Watching that seed grow into a massive tree that has even branched out into a tank sim has been amazing. I don’t think that anyone back in those early days could have predicted just how far GBS has come, with combined arms multiplayer and a wealth of official and community-made singleplayer content, and playable vehicles ranging from the GAZ-AA truck to the Me-262 jet fighter. I mean, lot of us already knew it was going to be a great flight sim, but no-one would have guessed it would also be a great tank and truck sim! Needless to say, I’m looking forward to what the future holds, and I’m proud to have contributed to it in a small way by writing a career bio.

 

What makes IL-2 special to you guys? 

[Zooropa_Fly]

I think you're you're trying to get your likes to posts ratio up to 50% Cybermat.

 

[Lusekofte]

I would not mind a improved environment for bomber focused people. In terms of air war I agree completely, in special online coop. 

Not yet seen the community driven war games in same standard as old IL 2 or cod. But I have seen almost there with fnbf. Sad it came to an end. 

[oc2209]

4 hours ago, Zooropa_Fly said:

I think you're you're trying to get your likes to posts ratio up to 50% Cybermat.

 

 

His post is too long for that. The best way to get likes is to keep it short and simple, to increase the probability of having your message resonate with target demographics. For example:

 

I like puppies.

 

*waits for likes to roll in*

 

4 hours ago, Cybermat47 said:

What makes IL-2 special to you guys? 

 

I've been playing IL-2 since the original (or at least Forgotten Battles).

 

I can't really quantify my reasons for liking it; partly from familiarity, partly from the feeling that it's 'greater than the sum of its parts'.

 

I just know that I prefer it to the competition.

Edited June 8, 2021 by oc2209

[Cybermat47]

9 hours ago, oc2209 said:

I like puppies.

Liked.

[Trooper117]

I've had all things IL2 from the beginning (aircraft wise, not tanks and vehicles wise) 

The original will never be surpassed in my view, and coupled with Hyperlobby, it has given me the best WWII air combat experience bar none.

If other versions of IL2 just followed the original format we would be absolutely raving about them as well, but sadly this hasn't happened.

I have all the aviation stuff since the original, but it still doesn't give me that buzz of excitement I got with Oleg's first vision.

[jollyjack]

The devotion of the team makes me a fan. Constantly working on improvements, and comments on reported issues.

Helpers like Rapidus, and many others are really priceless ...

[Missionbug]

For me IL-1946 and the earlier episodes either stock or modded is what any combat flight sim should be trying to emulate, even though dated the variety of aircraft and maps I doubt will ever be surpassed and there is so many ways to use that material in missions and campaigns that leaves us with almost too much to choose from.

 

The experience of the earlier iteration has kept me faithful to the series as it has developed over the years through Cliffs of Dover to the GB series, cannot leave out Rise of Flight as it has also taken the same road with many of us, the developers have in many ways tried to remain faithful to their predecessor, however, I do find them lacking in many respects, all shinny and bright they might be but with far less substance sadly, many of us I think have grown old together with the brand and the same individuals turn up time and again through the years playing each iteration, the people playing are as much a part of the overall experience as the game itself, all come together to make something worth being part of.

 

I have played many other things over time but there is just something about old WWII aircraft that I find particularly appealing and to be honest while they exist in other games/sims the 1C company and its partners always seem to deliver a complete package of aircraft, maps and theater combined in one user friendly format, mainly, although there is room for improvement in all they do most of us respect that the current development teams have had to take on existing products that were far from perfect at their inception and have had by necessity to retain some of those faults but they are getting there. 

 

Take care and be safe.

 

Wishing you all the very best, Pete.

Edited June 9, 2021 by Missionbug

[Cybermat47]

5 hours ago, Trooper117 said:

I have all the aviation stuff since the original, but it still doesn't give me that buzz of excitement I got with Oleg's first vision.

1946 gave me a unique buzz of excitement too, but I think a large part of it was the fact that I was really young when I started playing it (maybe six years old?) and had literally no idea what I was doing. I’ll never forget the excitement of figuring out what career mode actually was 

[Enceladus828]

The IL-2 series is particularly special to me because it was the first game, as well as the first flight sim that I ever played. When I was 3 or 4, I saw my dad playing this game on the computer, and I wondered what it was. It was either Forgotten Battles or Pacific Fighters, it could very well have been the very original IL-2. In a short period he showed me how to fly, and I became a great flyer in no time. This was one of the reasons why I decided to become a pilot when I grew up.

 

At a school Christmas party when I was in kindergarten, we were watching the movie, The Polar Express, and my dad pointed out that a kid had a model P-38. I was probably the only one in my kindergarten class and possibly even the entire school who knew what a P-38 was.

 

Since 2008 when I got IL-2 1946, I still play it as it brings back good memories and it's the everything game as with Patch 4.14.1 or Mods, one can fly almost any plane almost anywhere.

Currently, I also play Cliffs of Dover + DW-T, Rise of Flight, and IL-2 GBs. Fact is that the first time I ever played CloD was in 2013 when I was in my first year of air cadets. One of the senior cadets brought the game in and allowed the first year cadets to fly a Spitfire against a Bf-109. Normally it was 5 minutes max per cadet, but because I managed to damage one of the radiators, I was allowed to continue until I ran out of ammo. 

 

I salute the developers who made these games and the new developers who have continued to support some of these games for all of their hard work and am very excited as to what's next.

 

Cheers.

[Ribbon]

7 hours ago, Trooper117 said:

I've had all things IL2 from the beginning (aircraft wise, not tanks and vehicles wise) 

The original will never be surpassed in my view, and coupled with Hyperlobby, it has given me the best WWII air combat experience bar none.

If other versions of IL2 just followed the original format we would be absolutely raving about them as well, but sadly this hasn't happened.

I have all the aviation stuff since the original, but it still doesn't give me that buzz of excitement I got with Oleg's first vision.

+1

Pretty much same here!

I think GB will never surpass il2:1946 in content due to fidelity and details bar being raised up......BUT ☝️ gap can get quite narrower if they throw in some medium bombers (b25/26 and others) and some torpedo bombers (ju88a17 and others) for current expansions and later if we get some version of PTO.

Gameplay variety would get quite close to il2:1946.....imo!

I would dare to say we are few collector planes (bombers) and one expansion (PTO) from it.

[PatrickAWlson]

On 6/8/2021 at 11:21 AM, Zooropa_Fly said:

I think you're you're trying to get your likes to posts ratio up to 50% Cybermat.

 

 

It's working  

 

I am fairly late to IL2 being more of a WWI guy.  While people were playing IL2 I was playing a heavily modified RB.  I remember being blown away the first time I got into an Albatros in RoF, watching the pistons click in front of me.

 

I appreciate how the developers are handling the product.  One step at a time.  Constant improvement.  They listen but they do not panic.  For some that may be frustrating as they want what they want and they want it yesterday.  For the long term health of the product what the IL2 team is doing is essential.  If you panic code then your code quickly becomes garbage and has to be tossed and rewritten.  If you keep a sane pace and do the work well the software can be add to and improved indefinitely.

[oc2209]

14 hours ago, Cybermat47 said:

Liked.

 

And to think my parents said my Mass Comm degree would never pay off.

 

On a more serious note, there's one thing I'd like to add about what makes IL-2 special. I think it's good that it gives some attention to Russian designs when few other sims have done/will do this.

 

While everyone isn't equally effusive on the virtues of Russian planes, I'm pretty sure the Yak-3 will be universally likeable. An all-metal La-7 will be nothing to sneeze at, either.

[[-=BP=-]Slegawsky_VR]

On 6/8/2021 at 4:54 PM, Cybermat47 said:

For me, the IL-2 community is a big part of what makes these games special. It’s great to be able to meet other people who also have my interest in WWI

 

What makes IL-2 special to you guys? 

Oh  man, you have Max Igan and you are surviving the matrix atm being the worse in Canada New Zealand and Australia.

Honor to your fallen , at Dieppe and all commonwealth units in raf.

[BladeMeister]

I like IL2 because it makes me think of liking puppies. No really, since I bought the original IL2 and every iteration thereafter, it always made me think of liking Puppies! ?

I like IL2 and I like Puppies!

 

S!Blade<><

Edited June 9, 2021 by BladeMeister

[=1stROF=stevie]

As a kid i got soaked up in wwii simulator for years. As teen and early 20 this continued. Warbird, il2, aceshigh, wwiionline you name it.

 

That feeling however  ever really returned. In 2015 I got the premium edition, but actually never flew it.

 

Tried rof, warthunder and it didn't return. 

 January this year, I got reintroduced to bos. Immediately got all boxes: this is it. Great graphics, sound, vr, fm, planes, scenery etc.  

 

The feeling got back right away. Got the squad into IL2 aswell (we've sticked together the past 20 years).  And started working on a multiplayer mission just like the old days: capture fields (clashofeagles.net)

 

This is now done and in open beta. I have so much fun.

 

for me IL2 brought back the prop sensation which I missed for over a decade.

 

 

[RyanR]

I got into IL-2 just a little bit before the 1946 version hit. I'd been flying online sims for years, and early F-16 and WWII sims in the 1980's. I still remember my first mission in IL-2, taking off in a 109 in the rain, staying on instruments through the clouds and trying to keep formation, then breaking out and seeing the sun screaming into the cockpit. I was hooked. Around the time Cliffs of Dover hit, I got away from simming for 10-12 years. I did not like the UX of Cliffs of Dover.

 

Fast forward to this past December. I decided to get back into it. Downloaded Great Battles, and was immediately re-hooked. First thing I noticed is that the developers clearly traded the wide scope of 1946 for much better fidelity in the flight models, weapons models, and history. Maybe I'm just older, but the planes don't feel like caricatures of the real thing. A lot of the more "underdog" planes in the early VVS stable feel like they finally have their strengths. After flying though all the campaigns, I really started to appreciate the evolution of aerial combat, and the history of the campaigns on another level. For example, when I did a Luftwaffe career in BoS, near the end I was feeling like "How could the German command have been this stupid??". The odds had flipped completely around.

 

-Ryan

[Rjel]

On 6/9/2021 at 4:56 PM, BladeMeister said:

I like IL2 because it makes me think of liking puppies. No really, since I bought the original IL2 and every iteration thereafter, it always made me think of liking Puppies! ?

I like IL2 and I like Puppies!

 

S!Blade<><

That might be the strangest analogy for flight simming I've ever read. Very Raaaidian.

[J2_Bidu]

On 6/9/2021 at 9:56 PM, BladeMeister said:

I like IL2 because it makes me think of liking puppies. No really, since I bought the original IL2 and every iteration thereafter, it always made me think of liking Puppies! ?

I like IL2 and I like Puppies!

 

S!Blade<><

 

Yeah, Mr. Sopwith built great planes

[Livai]

because IL-2 is a member of a cytokine family

[BladeMeister]

2 hours ago, J2_Bidu said:

 

Yeah, Mr. Sopwith built great planes

Finally!!!!!!! Someone gets it!

 

S!Blade<><

[cardboard_killer]

I got into computers for the chicks; I got into flight sims for the hot chicks!

[Beebop]

When I got my first computer I played a lot of stuff.  Freespace, Half Life, Morrowind, Dirt Track Racing, Powerslide, but really took a liking to Jane's WWII Fighters.  Then I discovered European Air War.  I stayed there for a long time dabbling in M$ Combat Flight Simulator 2 but when the original IL-2 demo came out it wasn't more than a week and I pretty much dumped everything and just played that.  I love that series and even accepted a position as Administrator over at Mission 4 Today which I still hold.  '1946' is without a doubt the broadest WWII flight simulator ever and I doubt we will ever see the like of it again.  Even with it's Paleozoic game engine it remains an excellent game.

But I am here now and plan to remain because this game is (IMO) even better, if more limited, has a (basically) good FM and DM and, it  looks  gorgeous! 

I won't give up 1946 for the foreseeable future, (still fly it at times with friends), but this is my new "home".

 

 "This is it, until I'm dead or I find something better."  (Jean Rasczak to Rico, Starship Troopers, apologies to Robert Heinlein)

[Nil]

The first simulator was Combat Flight Simulator. 

Immediately I was hooked by bombers but we could not fly them!

 

Then Combat Flight Simulator 2 but same problem

 

Then Combat flight simulator 3! ah at least flyable bomber, but not ergonomic controls for gunners.

 

Then IL2 ! yes the most ergonomic controls for gunner.

Was in a squadron for years shooting figthers with my pea shooter MG15. Got some reputation among french simmer with that

My best mission is when I sunk an aircraft carrier with my He111. The other team got mad.

 

Then Cliff over Dover but I never understood how to play gunners, the controls felt clumsy

 

Then IL2 Great battles. Yes! but the gunners controls were not ergonomic enough. Now it is better but I still feel the turrets are too slow and the bombers get not enough love.

So I focused on transport, and that is where IL2 is special to me because it is the first combat sim to offer logistic gameplay despites no rewards.

With combined arms it feels even more special.

I wish It would be a All in one product that include BOB.

[Skycat1969]

VR makes the Great Battles series special for me.

 

Jane's WWII Fighters was my first flight simulator. It introduced me to not only the genre, but also to online communities, mission making, modding, skinning and a general love of aviation history. I loved flying ground attack missions in the Thunderbolt. JWW2F escapism got me through some tough personal times, too. I've played a lot of WWII air combat games since trying to find the same sense of joy and immersion I first discovered with JWW2F. I had great hopes for Combat Flight Simulator 3 but ultimately I was disappointed by it and I went 'all in' with the IL-2 Forgotten Battles series instead. I played IL-2 FB/AEP/PF (later 1946) every night for years. Sometime around 2010 my interest in air combat waned though and I diverted to civil aviation sims. Even IL-2 Cliffs of Dover couldn't excite me much.

 

I decided to buy Battle of Bodenplatte just as it was exiting EA simply because it offered my favorite aircraft and because it represented locations my grandfathers fought at. I didn't find the careers very engaging TBH but the gameplay felt familiar so I enjoyed the Great Battles series for what it was. And then I got an Oculus Rift S headset and the novelty of being INSIDE the sim surrounded by authentic cockpits completely renewed my joy for playing WWII air combat sims. Even the careers are fun -- I just needed to experience them from a different perspective. I also enjoy the Flying Circus and Tank Crew content because of VR.

[Beebop]

4 hours ago, Skycat1969 said:

I just needed to experience them from a different perspective.

Often that's all it takes.

(btw, I remember you from the "46 Era" IIRC.  good to see you around these parts).

[Irishratticus72]

4 hours ago, Skycat1969 said:

VR makes the Great Battles series special for me.

 

Jane's WWII Fighters was my first flight simulator. It introduced me to not only the genre, but also to online communities, mission making, modding, skinning and a general love of aviation history. I loved flying ground attack missions in the Thunderbolt. JWW2F escapism got me through some tough personal times, too. I've played a lot of WWII air combat games since trying to find the same sense of joy and immersion I first discovered with JWW2F. I had great hopes for Combat Flight Simulator 3 but ultimately I was disappointed by it and I went 'all in' with the IL-2 Forgotten Battles series instead. I played IL-2 FB/AEP/PF (later 1946) every night for years. Sometime around 2010 my interest in air combat waned though and I diverted to civil aviation sims. Even IL-2 Cliffs of Dover couldn't excite me much.

 

I decided to buy Battle of Bodenplatte just as it was exiting EA simply because it offered my favorite aircraft and because it represented locations my grandfathers fought at. I didn't find the careers very engaging TBH but the gameplay felt familiar so I enjoyed the Great Battles series for what it was. And then I got an Oculus Rift S headset and the novelty of being INSIDE the sim surrounded by authentic cockpits completely renewed my joy for playing WWII air combat sims. Even the careers are fun -- I just needed to experience them from a different perspective. I also enjoy the Flying Circus and Tank Crew content because of VR.

Still a great bloody game. 

[Dragon1-1]

Yeah, VR is something else. I recently introduced my friend to it (mostly intending to show off my new Reverb G2), and she fired up Il-2.  Well, we started out with Yak-1, but as she had no experience with flying or even using a HOTAS, all she could do was ground loops (yeah, in the Yak...). Finally, I put her in the P-38 on the runway, and she did manage to take off. Flew around, got back to the airfield, crashed on landing, loved every second of it.  I promised to give her a proper flight school (in X-plane, since that one has clickable cockpits) next time she comes over. 

 

Il-2 is great, but I wish it had clickable cockpits. That would make some things a lot easier to deal with, otherwise you're stuck remembering a lot of stuff, especially when flying with a HOTAS someone else set up. Keyboard is, save for a few specific keys, unusable in VR. 

[PatrickAWlson]

21 minutes ago, Dragon1-1 said:

 ... Finally, I put her in the P-38 on the runway, and she did manage to take off. Flew around, got back to the airfield, crashed on landing, loved every second of it.  I promised to give her a proper flight school (in X-plane, since that one has clickable cockpits) next time she comes over. 

 

 

No experience in flight sims and she got a plane off the ground in the first sitting? That's not bad at all.

[oc2209]

9 hours ago, Irishratticus72 said:

Still a great bloody game. 

 

I played Jane's back in the day, and liked it; but using a Spanish 109 for the cover is physically painful for me to look upon.

 

I was always hypersensitive about historical accuracy, but playing IL-2 made me even worse.

[Thad]

On 6/9/2021 at 10:52 AM, Cybermat47 said:

1946 gave me a unique buzz of excitement too, but I think a large part of it was the fact that I was really young when I started playing it (maybe six years old?) and had literally no idea what I was doing. I’ll never forget the excitement of figuring out what career mode actually was 

 

I'm seventy and still have no idea what I'm doing. Except, I am cognizant of how much I don't know. ?

[Dragon1-1]

10 hours ago, PatrickAWlson said:

 

No experience in flight sims and she got a plane off the ground in the first sitting? That's not bad at all.

Yeah, it was pretty amazing, especially since she barely had any idea about flying before jumping into the pilot's seat.  Of course, it does help that P-38 doesn't have the typical warbird gotchas such as prop torque, prop strikes and ground loops. Still, when one has been flying for as long we, it's easy to forget how extremely non-obvious this is to an average person.  

Edited June 17, 2021 by Dragon1-1

[ST_Catchov]

3 hours ago, Dragon1-1 said:

Yeah, it was pretty amazing, especially since she barely had any idea about flying before jumping into the pilot's seat. 

 

Nice move man. I gotta get me one of them buttkickers.

[Lusekofte]

It  is special to me, because it can be fired up  in a second, fly for 5 minutes and close it. And you felt you done something.

The simplicity of it has huge advantages, but also not so much. But what is there is we'll made

[=SFG=capt_nasties]

I agree with so much here. IL2 is a sim where it needs to be and user friendly where it needs to be (start up procedure)  I have trained several members from my sim racing group to fly on IL2 and being able to get people in the air and on their way to a target quickly is really great.  Once we get them to a target and in a dog fight they are hooked.  

I think that IL2 could really benefit from more Co Op servers where people who are new or less experienced could fly together online and complete objectives and dog fight AI.    

 

That said, the developers clearly put loads of effort and passion into IL2. IL2 is the only title that I pre order content for because I trust 1C and want to support this effort.  

 

 

 

[354thFG_Drewm3i-VR]

My first sim was CFS 1, which my grandfather introduced me to as a little boy in the late 90s. I then played CFS 2, but when he died in 2006 I did not really play any more sims until 2011, when I got into Birds of Steel on the ps3, which led me to Wings of Prey on pc. Then I stumbled acrossI L-2 1946 and Warthunder. I played both of those games for years, in particularly the modded versions of IL-2 1946. Once I got a serious gaming laptop in 2014, I bought CLoD and played it for a while (and still do). Then I took a few year hiatus, until 2017 when I upgraded my laptop and bought BoS and joined a squad and played heavily for a few months before burning out after a few months. Fast forward to 2020, and I upgraded my laptop again and bought my first vr headset. I am now thoroughly hooked and play almost every day. I bought my first hotas (not joystick) and set of rudder pedals to go with my new laptop and vr headset and because of all the kit--in addition to the game now having far more high fidelity planes and maps--I play the game all the time. I truly think the game is a masterpiece and look forward to its continued development and refinement.

[ITAF_Rani]

On 6/21/2021 at 6:48 PM, =SFG=capt_nasties said:

That said, the developers clearly put loads of effort and passion into IL2. IL2 is the only title that I pre order content for because I trust 1C and want to support this effort. 

The same for a many of us...

Stunning SIM !!

[Lusekofte]

On 6/9/2021 at 11:33 AM, Trooper117 said:

but it still doesn't give me that buzz of excitement I got with Oleg's first vision.

In coop with 6 mates, this sim is perfect. With the help of Patric Wilson or Syn mission generator. Absolutely increddible.

With all else, well I am kind of not catching it

[spreckair]

I began combat flight sims in the last century with the Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator and European Air War franchises and played them until my operating system upgrades made them obsolete.  I then realized that flying on a flat screen with borders just no longer appealed to me and I decided that I would come back someday if VR ever became a reality.  Well, it was a long wait, and I have returned.  While I used to be an expert combat pilot in the early games, I am realizing that I am a greenhorn newbie now, and it is a painful but wonderful experience.  I think my spare time is now all reserved for as long as I can see.  I just hope that IL-2 keep moving forward and that someday there is a carrier to land onto (yikes!).

[Spinnetti]

The original Il2 and all its mod updates is still more satisfying to play than the new stuff, even though the new stuff looks amazing.