What's new in IL-2 that will bring you back for Battle of Normandy?

[istari6]

First, huge respect to the IL-2 GB team for what they've created.  I first dove into the "new" IL-2 in 2019, and I've worked through Battle of Moscow, Stalingrad, Kuban and some of Bodenplatte.  In that time, I've flown the following aircraft, each in a single Ironman Career (or for the last few, an Ironman PWCG):

 

• I-16 Type 24
• Bf 109 F-2
• Bf 109 F-4
• Bf 110 E-2
• MiG-3 ser. 24
• Yak-1 ser. 69
• Yak-7b ser. 36
• Bf 109 G-2 
• Ju 87 D-3
• Fw 190 A-3
• Bf 109 G-4
• La-5 ser. 8
• Il-2 Sturmovik (Model 1942)
• Hs 129 B-2
• Fw 190 A-5/U17
• Yak-1B
• P-51D-15
• P-38J-25
• Spitfire VB
• Me 262 A-1a
• P-40E
• P-39L-1

I've enjoyed coming up the learning curve for Complex Engine Management, then adding dual engines (Bf 110, Il-2, P-38), special tactics (Ju-87), jet power (Me 262), and the different national styles and conventions of the major combatants (Soviet, German, British, American).  

 

it's been a great journey, but when I look ahead to Battle of Normandy, I'm left wondering what's genuinely new and interesting?  Most of the planes are variants on existing designs I've already flown (P-47D Razorback, P-51B/C, Bf 109 G-6, Fw 190 A-6, Ju-88 C-6a, Spitfire Mk XIV).  Normandy as a map I've flown in DCS, and it doesn't seem like it'll be radically different than Bodenplatte (largely flat).  

 

For experienced IL-2 GB players, what about Battle of Normandy is innovative or different as an experience?  What's going to be fresh or new that you're looking forward to?

 

 

 

 

[=621=Samikatz]

Well, outside of for historical interest which is a big motivator for me, I think the map will be very interesting and change how fights go. I'm certain people will be much less likely to loiter with damage when there's a several dozen mile stretch of cold water between them and safety.

[oc2209]

48 minutes ago, istari6 said:

it's been a great journey, but when I look ahead to Battle of Normandy, I'm left wondering what's genuinely new and interesting?  Most of the planes are variants on existing designs I've already flown (P-47D Razorback, P-51B/C, Bf 109 G-6, Fw 190 A-6, Ju-88 C-6a, Spitfire Mk XIV).  Normandy as a map I've flown in DCS, and it doesn't seem like it'll be radically different than Bodenplatte (largely flat).  

 

For experienced IL-2 GB players, what about Battle of Normandy is innovative or different as an experience?  What's going to be fresh or new that you're looking forward to?

 

 

This sounds like a roundabout way of saying you'd rather have a Pacific Battles sim instead of further development of what we have.

 

I think the Me-410 will be interesting. That doesn't mean it'll be especially useful, but it will be novel. Same with the Mosquito. Same with the Arado.

 

The G-6 Late ended up being my favorite 109, after I initially thought 'oh no, not another 109'. I like the P-47 razorback's slightly improved handling to the bubbletop. I like the Spit XIV's power compared to the IX and especially the V.

 

At this point, the differences in handling, performance, and armament of most new planes will be very minimal compared to what's already in the sim. Once you get over that fact, you can appreciate the little differences and really isolate the reasons why you end up preferring certain planes over others. Maybe that's not equally exciting to everyone, but I'm fine with it.

[Luftschiff]

For me the most interesting part, aside from the Arado, Mossie and 410 (love me some twins) are upcoming improvements to the general gameplay - with more complex fuel management, improved cloud tech and (hopefully) better meta and improved tools for cooperation with Air Marshal. 

None of these are specific to Normandy, but nevertheless.

[DD_Friar]

Mossie all the way for me... and building Tank missions

[Cybermat47]

Hunting down V1s is what I’m most interested in. IIRC the map will also include Paris (or at least its outskirts), which I’m definitely looking forward to seeing.

[AEthelraedUnraed]

It makes sense that as a sim gets more and more content, there will be less radically new stuff. Indeed, a large part of the plane set will be similar to what we already have in BoBP. Also, while I agree with your statement that the land part of the Normandy map likely won't be widely different from Bodenplatte, note that Normandy has a large sea that you can fly across. Whether that's enough for you to keep it interesting is a personal question. For me, it definitely is.

 

 

11 minutes ago, Cybermat47 said:

IIRC the map will also include Paris (or at least its outskirts), which I’m definitely looking forward to seeing.

It definitely won't include Paris itself as a flyable portion of the map, but based on the map shown at the announcement it should indeed include some of its outskirts. Same goes for London. Probably gonna be similar to Moscow.

Edited July 28, 2021 by AEthelraedUnraed

[Danziger]

Just about everything. It's just more of the kind of thing I like. 

[BlitzPig_EL]

Shooting down hapless Ju88C6s with the Mosquito will be fun.  Also I have always preferred the early P51 to the D model, so that is something to look forward to.

And it's a new map to explore and find interesting places to build missions on.

[kendo]

3 hours ago, Luftschiff said:

For me the most interesting part, aside from the Arado, Mossie and 410 (love me some twins) are upcoming improvements to the general gameplay - with more complex fuel management, improved cloud tech and (hopefully) better meta and improved tools for cooperation with Air Marshal. 

None of these are specific to Normandy, but nevertheless.

 

Similar feelings to this. Looking forward to the new QMB and fuel management/drop tanks, but the main thing i hope to see is a visual revamp - the new clouds will be  welcome, but I hope they take the opportunity to improve general lighting and the sky visuals at the same time.  

 

Mosquito is probably the single most anticipated plane of the entire series for me. Arado and 410 not too far behind. Plus the early P51 was always a favourite too.

 

Also...also  (there's always an also...) really hope to see improvements to tactical AI (believe they have been working on this after the work on individual AI) maybe with better comms.

 

[ITAF_Rani]

I like normandy map.

Hope to use more the Ju 88 in anti ships missions.

Also recreate the clashes Lufwaffe  vs RAF over the channel in the time frame 1941 is also appealing to me..

[Eisenfaustus]

First of all in my opinion the spit xiv and ju88c6 differ so much from the variants in game, that they count as new a/c for me. 
 

And the map with cross channel operations will be interesting to me in itself. 
 

but what I am most thrilled about is that I‘m pretty sure @PatrickAWlson will expand his great campaign generator so that we‘ll be able to experience the western front from 41 onwards

 

Oh and I always had a weak spot for the 410…

[Pict]

Apart from all the other great stuff already mentioned, I should be  able to bomb myself, which will be a 1st 

[justin_z3r0]

43 minutes ago, Eisenfaustus said:

 

but what I am most thrilled about is that I‘m pretty sure @PatrickAWlson will expand his great campaign generator so that we‘ll be able to experience the western front from 41 onwards

 

I agree - I like the idea of being able to use earlier aircraft on the Normandy map!

Edited July 28, 2021 by justin_z3r0

[grcurmudgeon]

Expanded western career options along with continued improvements to career mode and the AI.

[Jade_Monkey]

Personally:

• The map. The channel map is special for me. I also believe it will be the most detailed of the entire series. They have made significant progress in making less generic and more detailed maps (e.g. Velikie Luki Summer) and the screenshots from the DDs show that they are taking the same approach for Normandy. They also mentioned there will be two variants (pre/post invasion with more advanced landing strips on Normandy).
• The planes: Your description was "glass half empty". There are a bunch of new and really intetesting planes included in Normandy (Typhoon, Mosquito, Arado, Me410 etc.).
• A variety of new targets that are less generic: Coastal guns, V1 launchpads, radar stations, landing ships.
• The ability to use previous planes in this new environment
• Droptanks and fuel mgmt (not specific to Normandy, but will come handy when crossing the channel)

[Diggun]

Typhoon.

XIV.

Mosquito. (I fly Allied. Sue me.)

 

The map, which will enable continual single player campaigns and multiplayer scenarios from August 1940 - Summer 1944.

 

In an integrated environment with actual era appropriate air, land and sea opposition.

 

I'd call that a pretty generous offering, but that's just, like, my opinion, man.

[Asgar]

Normandy will make a great play ground for all the tanks coming in Tank Crew 2 - Battle of the Bulge (one can dream right?

But in all seriousness, 410 is my favorite WW2 plane. So that's enough for me to buy. The 88C is very different from the A, the Arado should be interesting. Normandy in general is a very beautiful area so i'm looking forward to seeing it. 

[Feathered_IV]

I'm looking forward to the added navigation challenges that come with the long over water flights.  That's something we haven't really seen yet in this series.

[ShamrockOneFive]

7 hours ago, istari6 said:

it's been a great journey, but when I look ahead to Battle of Normandy, I'm left wondering what's genuinely new and interesting?  Most of the planes are variants on existing designs I've already flown (P-47D Razorback, P-51B/C, Bf 109 G-6, Fw 190 A-6, Ju-88 C-6a, Spitfire Mk XIV).  Normandy as a map I've flown in DCS, and it doesn't seem like it'll be radically different than Bodenplatte (largely flat). 

 

 

I've seen this come up before and I do not understand it much at all. Some variants are similar in experience (Bf109F-2 to F-4 for example) while others are dramatically different. But go and fly the Spitfire Mark V, IX and XIV and tell me that you haven't had to adjust your flying or fly in a different way. The Spitfire XIV is perhaps the most different of the bunch being faster, heavier, and more of a handful to manage on takeoff, landing, and in combat turns. It's propeller even spins in the opposite direction. It's a joy to experience some of those rather dramatic differences.

 

The Tempest and Typhoon are often confused as being "just the same plane" with a different wing but go and fly the Typhoon and its a very different experience than being in the Tempest. Handling, weapons, etc. I don't even fly the two on the same missions.

 

One more... the Ju88C-6a is not an aircraft that I will fly tactically in the way that I would fly the Ju88A-4. Different aircraft with different roles, different weapon arrangements, and there's likely to be handling differences too. Yeah it's a Ju88 but there are lots of subtle and not so subtle differences.

 

We are talking about degrees of difference but as different as things can be for similar era WWII aircraft.

 

Battle of Normandy, for me at least, refines and adds to the western front collection in all of the ways that I wanted it to. The aircraft alone read out to me like my top 10 wish list for aircraft I wanted to see in the sim. Put that together with a very useful map that can be used for a variety of scenarios up to the 1944 invasion and the continual refinement of the series and there's a lot to like. Normandy is also helping to fund and continue core updates such as the totally revised fuel system management and drop tanks, Marshal mode, Advanced Quick Mission Builder, etc.

Edited July 28, 2021 by ShamrockOneFive

[Missionbug]

For me the map was the main reason to buy, it gives a environment that stretches through the war so for a mission/campaign builder there will be so much variety to choose from including water overflights, hopefully for this and future bailouts we might finally get a dingy.

 

As for the aircraft, all have a little something to offer, for me the Mosquito on its own is worth the money.

 

Take care and be safe.

 

Wishing you all the very best, Pete.

[Ribbon]

Map was the sole reason i bought BoN and looking forward to it!

 

Rest of it is pretty much same copy paste gameplay since Stalingrad release which become boring after few years.

It would be nice if devs step up il2 a bit and add medium bombers and torpedo bombers......following PTO expansion, graphics engine upgrade and better optimization (overcome some game limitations).

Wish them all the best to achieve that ?

[R3animate]

ME410 and... hoping for some anti-ship missions in career to break up some of the monotony. I'm not a huuuge fan of the Bodenplatte map, but Normandy looks promising. 

[istari6]

9 hours ago, =621=Samikatz said:

Well, outside of for historical interest which is a big motivator for me, I think the map will be very interesting and change how fights go. I'm certain people will be much less likely to loiter with damage when there's a several dozen mile stretch of cold water between them and safety.

I've flown several DCS campaigns based on Normandy or southern England, and agree that flying over the Channel in a campaign adds some tension.  The need to get back home across the water will be new, although similar to flying behind enemy lines as the Germans at Stalingrad.  

 

8 hours ago, oc2209 said:

This sounds like a roundabout way of saying you'd rather have a Pacific Battles sim instead of further development of what we have.

Would I enjoy a Pacific sim?  Sure.  But I think it's more a concern over the "sameness" of the single player gameplay.  Most SP IL-2 missions at this point feel very similar, even in campaigns.  Takeoffs and landings are easy, weather is never a concern, so the only real challenge is the actual moment of combat.  The fact that all systems are handled through the same interface means that most aircraft feel very similar to fly.  With new types of aircraft, there were new challenges (my first twin engine with the Bf 110, the weird manual props of the Hs 129, etc).  

 

 

8 hours ago, oc2209 said:

At this point, the differences in handling, performance, and armament of most new planes will be very minimal compared to what's already in the sim. Once you get over that fact, you can appreciate the little differences and really isolate the reasons why you end up preferring certain planes over others. Maybe that's not equally exciting to everyone, but I'm fine with it.

Agree that this will be particularly important in MP.  Little differences in aircraft can make a big difference in duels.  I'm more a SP guy, so looking for new experiences or challenges in Battle of Normandy.  E.g. I wonder if there will be greater variety in weather conditions?  An option for less pilot assistance in takeoff and landing?  More variety in mission design?  

8 hours ago, Luftschiff said:

For me the most interesting part, aside from the Arado, Mossie and 410 (love me some twins) are upcoming improvements to the general gameplay - with more complex fuel management, improved cloud tech and (hopefully) better meta and improved tools for cooperation with Air Marshal. 

None of these are specific to Normandy, but nevertheless.

Yes, this is what I'm hoping for - the general improvements to gameplay.  I don't know much about Air Marshal - is this like Zeus for ARMA?  

5 hours ago, kendo said:

Similar feelings to this. Looking forward to the new QMB and fuel management/drop tanks, but the main thing i hope to see is a visual revamp - the new clouds will be  welcome, but I hope they take the opportunity to improve general lighting and the sky visuals at the same time.  

Better clouds are always welcome, particularly in VR!  I wonder if they'll also expand the range of weather conditions.  Dangerous levels of fog, squalls of storms that make visual navigation difficult, icing, etc.  The other sim has many things it does worse than IL-2, but one thing it does well is adding challenges across the whole mission - systems management, weather challenges, navigation.  Hoping for more options like this as the IL-2 GB series evolves, while recognizing it's not aiming to be a full system simulator.  

4 hours ago, grcurmudgeon said:

Expanded western career options along with continued improvements to career mode and the AI.

We'll have new Careers in the new map, but do we know if there are any gameplay improvements planned with the Careers?  New types of missions, new mechanics in the Career?  IL-2's AI is already really good, a big strength of this game.  In wonder if we'll get more control over wingmen or more radio communications?  

3 hours ago, Asgar said:

But in all seriousness, 410 is my favorite WW2 plane. So that's enough for me to buy. The 88C is very different from the A, the Arado should be interesting. Normandy in general is a very beautiful area so i'm looking forward to seeing it.

I wonder how the Me 410 will be used here, given there aren't going to be B-17/B-24 heavy bomber streams.  Wasn't the Me 410 mostly used against the bombers?  Or was it more like the Luftwaffe's Mosquito?   Curious what makes it your favorite aircraft.  It's an aircraft I've never flown in a sim, don't know much about it.  

2 hours ago, ShamrockOneFive said:

've seen this come up before and I do not understand it much at all. Some variants are similar in experience (Bf109F-2 to F-4 for example) while others are dramatically different. But go and fly the Spitfire Mark V, IX and XIV and tell me that you haven't had to adjust your flying or fly in a different way. The Spitfire XIV is perhaps the most different of the bunch being faster, heavier, and more of a handful to manage on takeoff, landing, and in combat turns. It's propeller even spins in the opposite direction. It's a joy to experience some of those rather dramatic differences.

I'm not criticizing Battle of Normandy itself.  I agree that the plane set + new map is a generous package of new content.  I've already purchased it in Early Access, and I'm looking forward to trying the Spitfire XIV after previously flying the VB and IX in the sim.  It's just more fighting a feeling of "sameness" in the SP gameplay, with minor performance and handling differences in each aircraft now.  I've certainly gotten my money's worth from IL-2 (and far more), and I've purchased BoN to support the ongoing development.  Hoping that there will be a richer variety of mission types, or more accurately, more variability and randomness in the missions, maybe more options for radio, weather, navigation, etc.  

[Enceladus828]

A proper depiction of D-Day was never done in the vanilla IL-2 1946, nor in any other IL-2 game, so Battle of Normandy is the first IL-2 game to cover D-Day.

 

Battle of Normandy also brings us aircraft that were not in or not flyable in IL-2 1946 such as Me-410, B-26, Typhoon, Ju-88C-6, Spitfire Mk.XIV, and C-47 (an additional collector plane that has to be bought separately from BoN in order to fly it as in BoN it's an AI aircraft).

 

If I was to get only one Battle pack, I'd get Battle of Normandy.

[40plus]

ME-410

 

I'm a simple man with simple needs ?

[PatrickAWlson]

The map and the possibilities it opens up.

1. 1941 - 1944 in the west

2. a faux BoB with 1941 planes if wanted

3. Anti shipping in the Ju88C

4. Mosquito raider missions

5. Cross channel combat

6. Expanding PWCG to allow German pilots to go east and west.

 

And the rest of the planes too, even if they are variants

[Asgar]

19 hours ago, istari6 said:

I wonder how the Me 410 will be used here, given there aren't going to be B-17/B-24 heavy bomber streams.  Wasn't the Me 410 mostly used against the bombers?  Or was it more like the Luftwaffe's Mosquito?   Curious what makes it your favorite aircraft.  It's an aircraft I've never flown in a sim, don't know much about it.  

the 410 was a Zerstörer, capable of carrying 2 500kg bombs in an internal bomb bay at reasonable speed, they flew raids over the English coastal region and mined the channel, flew recon missions and were indeed used in the Reichsdefense.  It can carry such a wide array of armamanets: 37 and 50mm cannon, 20mm gunpod in the bomb bay, 50, 250 and 500kg bombs (and maybe some non standard configuration to carry the 1000kg bomb) 30mm gun pod in the bomb bay, drop tanks (can you imagine the range?) and if that's not enough for you Just look at her! She's beautiful, if everything else fails, i can just fly her and look at the external view playing with my.... ehm... joystick ? 


And while i'm not sure if they were fielded with amor piercing ammo for the 50mm it could carry. The 50mm is basically just a 50mm PAK fitted with a pneumatic loader. which could use the exact same ammo from what i found. So it should be able to use pretty much any ammo type the Panzer 3 does, which could make it fantastic tank hunting plane. As i said no idea if they were ever loaded in that way, but it would be cool to go tank busting in that thing (i assume it was atleast tested, cause that kind of ammo is available in War Thunder, and while i don't like to use that game as an example and they get many things wrong. They usually do atleast basic reasearch and the 410 in that game has been in there forever, way back when they still had something resembling standards ? )
 

  

18 hours ago, Enceladus said:

Battle of Normandy also brings us aircraft that were not in or not flyable in IL-2 1946 such as Me-410,

If i remember correctly: Jason confirmed we're getting a Me 410 A a while back. Which doesn't really mean much, since by having a mod to replace the 7.92mm MGs with 13mm MGs you basically turn it into and Me 410B, since the B never got the planned engine upgrades after all. 
 

Edited July 29, 2021 by Asgar

[Elem]

The eventual addition of seaplanes for ASR and other maritime roles. Walrus, Ar-196, Do-24, PBY to name a few.

[LuftManu]

11 minutes ago, Asgar said:

the 410 was a Zerstörer, capable of carrying 2 500kg bombs in an internal bomb bay at reasonable speed, they flew raids over the English coastal region and mined the channel, flew recon missions and indeed was used in the Reichsdefense.  It can such a wide arry of armamanets: 37 and 50mm cannon, 20mm gunpod in the bomb bay, 50, 250 and 500kg bombs (and maybe some non standard configuration to carry the 1000kg bomb) 30mm gun pod in the bomb bay, drop tanks (can you imagine the range?) and if that's not enough for you Just look at her! She's beautiful, if everything else fails, i can just fly her and look at the external view playing with my.... ehm... joystick ? 


And while i'm not sure if they were fielded with amor piercing ammo for the 50mm it could carry. The 50mm is basically just a 50mm PAK fitted with a pneumatic loader. which could use the exact same ammo from what i found. So it should be able to use pretty much any ammo type the Panzer 3 does, which could make it fantastic tank hunting plane. As i said no idea if they were ever loaded in that way, but it would be cool to go tank busting in that thing (i assume it was atleast tested, cause that kind of ammo is available in War Thunder, and while i don't like to use that game as an example and they get many things wrong. They usually do atleast basic reasearch and the 410 in that game has been in there forever, way back when they still had something resembling standards ? )
 

  

If i remember correctly: Jason confirmed we're getting a Me 410 A a while back. Which doesn't really mean much, since by having a mod to replace the 7.92mm MGs with 13mm MGs you basically turn it into and Me 410B, since the B never got the planned engine upgrades after all. 
 

Oh mamma, the 410 and Crossing the Channel is a Must Do.

[Asgar]

2 minutes ago, LF_Gallahad said:

Oh mamma, the 410 and Crossing the Channel is a Must Do.

at night

[Duce_de_Zoop]

7 hours ago, Eisenfaustus said:

First of all in my opinion the spit xiv and ju88c6 differ so much from the variants in game, that they count as new a/c for me. 
 

And the map with cross channel operations will be interesting to me in itself. 
 

but what I am most thrilled about is that I‘m pretty sure @PatrickAWlson will expand his great campaign generator so that we‘ll be able to experience the western front from 41 onwards

 

Oh and I always had a weak spot for the 410…

 

Yep. Been holding off on my American fighter pilot campaign until I can start in 1941... or at least 43!

[Swing]

If they are modeled, the Cliffs of Etretat promise some fun by plane......Racing...?  

 

[oc2209]

2 hours ago, istari6 said:

Would I enjoy a Pacific sim?  Sure.  But I think it's more a concern over the "sameness" of the single player gameplay.  Most SP IL-2 missions at this point feel very similar, even in campaigns.  Takeoffs and landings are easy, weather is never a concern, so the only real challenge is the actual moment of combat.  The fact that all systems are handled through the same interface means that most aircraft feel very similar to fly.  With new types of aircraft, there were new challenges (my first twin engine with the Bf 110, the weird manual props of the Hs 129, etc).  

 

Agree that this will be particularly important in MP.  Little differences in aircraft can make a big difference in duels.  I'm more a SP guy, so looking for new experiences or challenges in Battle of Normandy.  E.g. I wonder if there will be greater variety in weather conditions?  An option for less pilot assistance in takeoff and landing?  More variety in mission design? 

 

I get what you're saying about wanting more variety. Obviously that's always desirable. However, even if the devs only add small incremental improvements in that regard, I still wouldn't see that as a disappointment. Ultimately the sim is about as exciting as you choose to make it.

 

For instance, the other day someone in the Wilson Campaign challenge thread mentioned how hard it was to shoot down Stukas in early model Yaks. So I decided to try some quick battles with myself in various Yaks against a Stuka with AI set to Ace (meaning the gunner was stupidly laser-accurate). During one encounter, I shot the Stuka in the belly, which killed the gunner and evidently wounded the pilot, as the aircraft moved very oddly afterwards. It tilted into the ground in a shallow dive, but the landing gear saved it so that it bounced back up in the air at a steep angle. Then it slowly fell into another shallow dive, where the gear didn't save it.

 

Anyway, I just like to do oddball things with the sim, when the mood strikes me. The more planes I can do that with, the better. The 410's rear guns in particular will be fun to test in AI hands.

 

And by fun, I mean an exercise in brutal masochism.

[LukeFF]

3 hours ago, istari6 said:

New types of missions, new mechanics in the Career?

 

Based on the mission types listed in the mission editor, yes, new mission types are coming.

[Gambit21]

I expect the map will get the attention it deserves this time...have less generic/cut and pasted/repeating textures, better margins, some attention paid to rail yards, and more specific/real life details that help flesh the region out and give it more character.

 

I'd expect this map to set a new standard, above Kuban even which is by far the best so far thanks to the mountains. I'm guessing you guys will be pretty happy...early work looks promising from the screenies.  Lots of airfields to attack or fly from...or get confused by. Should be good times...low ingress flights in the Mossie under a low cloud deck...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[danielprates]

12 hours ago, Jade_Monkey said:

A variety of new targets that are less generic: Coastal guns, V1 launchpads, radar stations, landing ships.

 

And also navigating to and from them, on an entirely different geographic station. This will be really novel.

 

 

[oc2209]

9 hours ago, istari6 said:

I wonder if they'll also expand the range of weather conditions.  Dangerous levels of fog, squalls of storms that make visual navigation difficult, icing, etc.  The other sim has many things it does worse than IL-2, but one thing it does well is adding challenges across the whole mission - systems management, weather challenges, navigation.  Hoping for more options like this as the IL-2 GB series evolves, while recognizing it's not aiming to be a full system simulator.  

 

Truthfully, I never bother to fly in poor weather conditions. Because you bring it up, though, I decided to max all the worst weather settings possible. This was the result:

 

Spoiler

 

 

In another duel with the same settings, I lowered the cloud base to 500m (the lowest possible). That was much more confusing to fly through than the above clip, which had the clouds set at 3k meters. I would've included a clip of the lower clouds, but the dogfight took nearly 10 minutes to complete because I kept losing the AI in the clouds. High wind, by itself, doesn't really cause many problems in flight, other than reducing the tightness/stability of your turns. I also landed in it, but the particular field I chose wasn't cross-wind (going by the windsock), so that also wasn't very difficult.

 

I'm not sure how Normandy weather could be much worse than a simulated Russian blizzard. Maybe stronger winds; but at that point, you'd probably just be grounded.

[ShamrockOneFive]

10 hours ago, istari6 said:

I'm not criticizing Battle of Normandy itself.  I agree that the plane set + new map is a generous package of new content.  I've already purchased it in Early Access, and I'm looking forward to trying the Spitfire XIV after previously flying the VB and IX in the sim.  It's just more fighting a feeling of "sameness" in the SP gameplay, with minor performance and handling differences in each aircraft now.  I've certainly gotten my money's worth from IL-2 (and far more), and I've purchased BoN to support the ongoing development.  Hoping that there will be a richer variety of mission types, or more accurately, more variability and randomness in the missions, maybe more options for radio, weather, navigation, etc.  

 

We may have to agree to disagree on what minor handling variations are because the Spitfire XIV and Typhoon fly very differently than the other aircraft we have. Admittedly there's little difference between the Fw190A-6 and the A-5 or the Bf109G-6 Late and the G-6/G-14 although both are actually in interesting places performance wise that make them interesting. But it is subtle sure.

 

I can definitely get behind the idea that we want to see some new types of missions in Career mode. That'd be great. I don't think that has anything to do specific to aircraft but rather more ways to use them. Yeah that makes sense. I'd like to see anti-ship missions for a variety of scenarios. Even Battle of Stalingrad used to have an anti-ship mission against ships on the Volga so that'd be nice to have back. Other Normandy specific scenarios will surely be a thing as well... Crossbow missions, V-1 intercepts, etc.

[Beebop]

7 hours ago, Gambit21 said:

...low ingress flights in the Mossie under a low cloud deck...

Oh yeah!  THAT will be fun.

I looked at the preview map for Normandy and discovered that Amiens seems to be just off the map.  Shame.  I was really looking forward to an Amiens prison break mission.