Official Historical Campaign "Steel Birds"

[Thad]

On 8/25/2021 at 8:40 PM, ShamrockOneFive said:

Hey folks! I wanted to share my review of Steel Birds with all of you. Another fun campaign that's got some great missions that are short, sharp and plenty of fun. But it is definitely pushing my PC to its limits and I think it might be time to retire my 6-year old system and build something new.

 

 

Enjoy the review!

 

https://stormbirds.blog/2021/08/25/intense-and-action-packed-my-full-review-of-steel-birds-for-il-2/

Six year old system! You are guilty of aged system abuse. ?

[ShamrockOneFive]

3 minutes ago, Thad said:

Six year old system! You are guilty of aged system abuse. ?

 

Yeah, I'm investigating options right now. I suspect I will be sticking with my GTX 1070ti for a while yet seeing as I can build a whole fancy system for less than the cost of a GPU.

[Thad]

2 minutes ago, ShamrockOneFive said:

 

Yeah, I'm investigating options right now. I suspect I will be sticking with my GTX 1070ti for a while yet seeing as I can build a whole fancy system for less than the cost of a GPU.

Yes, GPU cost have gotten out of hand in my opinion. 

[ShamrockOneFive]

5 hours ago, Thad said:

Yes, GPU cost have gotten out of hand in my opinion. 

 

It's wild. I'm looking at a RTX 3070 for $1500 CAD and worse. Some are $2k. I hope nobody is paying those prices.

[sevenless]

11 hours ago, ShamrockOneFive said:

 

It's wild. I'm looking at a RTX 3070 for $1500 CAD and worse. Some are $2k. I hope nobody is paying those prices.

 

In Germany prices are going to fall again, but still ridiculously high.

 

RTX 30 Serie | Grafikkarten | Komponenten | ASUS Onlineshop

 

[BlackSix]

Good news for our Polish users - most likely there will be a full Polish localization of the campaign briefings in the next update. We're working on it now.

[BlackSix]

Thanks to our tester J2_Trupobaw, Polish localization was added to the Steel Birds campaign in the 4.605 update.

Now the campaign is translated into all languages used in the game: English, German, French, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Russian and Polish.

[itsmecamille]

Are there any specific voice over recordings for this campaign? I really love that aspect of the p47 campaign, it really increases the value of the campaigns a lot - I hope it won't be just a one off

[LukeFF]

44 minutes ago, ptisinge said:

Are there any specific voice over recordings for this campaign? I really love that aspect of the p47 campaign, it really increases the value of the campaigns a lot - I hope it won't be just a one off

 

No

[BlackSix]

8 hours ago, ptisinge said:

Are there any specific voice over recordings for this campaign? I really love that aspect of the p47 campaign, it really increases the value of the campaigns a lot - I hope it won't be just a one off

No, this is a completely overwhelming task for me. I think that standard radio communications are enough for my missions and I add subtitles in some difficult moments.

[spreckair]

On 8/25/2021 at 12:34 PM, BlackSix said:

Thus, this Fw 190 campaign shows the first and second battles for the Krymskaya and Operation Neptune, and the next Yak-7b campaign will tell about the battle for the Kievskaya and the end of the spring battle for the Kuban.

The next Yak-7b campaign is the one that I am eagerly awaiting!  I really like the idea of seeing more Soviet fighter campaigns.  Thank you!

Edited November 19, 2021 by spreckair

[BlackSix]

Thanks, I plan to have 7 missions from the new campaign ready by the end of November.

[DN308]

Ready to help you with what you know 

[BlackSix]

13 hours ago, DN308 said:

Ready to help you with what you know 

Thank you, I'll start writing briefings at the very end of the work and they will be ready for translation sometime in the spring, if nothing happens. 

[DN308]

8 minutes ago, BlackSix said:

Thank you, I'll start writing briefings at the very end of the work and they will be ready for translation sometime in the spring, if nothing happens. 

What you mean by « if nothing happens »???? ?

[itsbillyfrazier]

So I only got around to purchasing the campaign this weekend as I haven't been spending much time in il-2 of late. Life getting in the way of fun etc. 

 

Must say, I'm really enjoying it so far although I'm still only three missions in. I haven't had any time dilation issues either on my old PC (i7 6700k)  so the optimisation must have done the trick! 

 

My only issue is that I'm not getting the kills others have posted here...Seems I'm pretty rusty after my break away from the sim, well that's the excuse I'm rolling with! ?

 

Looking forward to your next release already BlackSix, I'll make sure I pick it up on day one.  This campaign is a steal with the 50% off coupon...

 

Many thanks.

[Irishratticus72]

19 minutes ago, itsbillyfrazier said:

So I only got around to purchasing the campaign this weekend as I haven't been spending much time in il-2 of late. Life getting in the way of fun etc. 

 

Must say, I'm really enjoying it so far although I'm still only three missions in. I haven't had any time dilation issues either on my old PC (i7 6700k)  so the optimisation must have done the trick! 

 

My only issue is that I'm not getting the kills others have posted here...Seems I'm pretty rusty after my break away from the sim, well that's the excuse I'm rolling with! ?

 

Looking forward to your next release already BlackSix, I'll make sure I pick it up on day one.  This campaign is a steal with the 50% off coupon...

 

Many thanks.

Just went from an i7 6700k to an R7 5800x, and from an rtx2060 to a 3070. F@#€ me!

[itsbillyfrazier]

37 minutes ago, Irishratticus72 said:

Just went from an i7 6700k to an R7 5800x, and from an rtx2060 to a 3070. F@#€ me!

Nice one! I really need to upgrade soon. Not only is it outdated, but I got to wiggle the CPU cooler just the right way to get the PC to switch on?

[Irishratticus72]

34 minutes ago, itsbillyfrazier said:

Nice one! I really need to upgrade soon. Not only is it outdated, but I got to wiggle the CPU cooler just the right way to get the PC to switch on?

That's, that's disconcerting. 

[sevenless]

On 11/20/2021 at 10:40 AM, BlackSix said:

Thank you, I'll start writing briefings at the very end of the work and they will be ready for translation sometime in the spring, if nothing happens. 

 

Do you think you can convince the guys in charge to sneak in this baby as a collector for your campaign? Would be much appreciated. Anyways looking forward to your upcoming 7B campaign. I think we need more soviet stuff getting marketed. MiG-3 or Yak-9 anyone?

 

[Gr3y]

5 hours ago, sevenless said:

 

Do you think you can convince the guys in charge to sneak in this baby as a collector for your campaign? Would be much appreciated. Anyways looking forward to your upcoming 7B campaign. I think we need more soviet stuff getting marketed. MiG-3 or Yak-9 anyone?

 

 

Sorry for offtop, but I get the feeling we'll get Normandie Niemen campaign, so these won't suit ?

[BlackSix]

On 11/20/2021 at 12:48 PM, DN308 said:

What you mean by « if nothing happens »???? ?

Anything at all, I'm already afraid to plan for such a long time.

 

13 hours ago, itsbillyfrazier said:

So I only got around to purchasing the campaign this weekend as I haven't been spending much time in il-2 of late. Life getting in the way of fun etc. 

 

Must say, I'm really enjoying it so far although I'm still only three missions in. I haven't had any time dilation issues either on my old PC (i7 6700k)  so the optimisation must have done the trick! 

 

My only issue is that I'm not getting the kills others have posted here...Seems I'm pretty rusty after my break away from the sim, well that's the excuse I'm rolling with! ?

 

Looking forward to your next release already BlackSix, I'll make sure I pick it up on day one.  This campaign is a steal with the 50% off coupon...

 

Many thanks.

Thanks! Yes, now you're playing the optimized version and everything should be fine, I hope

 

5 hours ago, sevenless said:

Do you think you can convince the guys in charge to sneak in this baby as a collector for your campaign? Would be much appreciated. Anyways looking forward to your upcoming 7B campaign. I think we need more soviet stuff getting marketed. MiG-3 or Yak-9 anyone?

Yak-7s of these series did not take part in the Battle of Kuban, this is already the time of the Battle of Kursk.

In the campaign you will fly with the Yak-1Bs and Yak-9s.

 

5 minutes ago, Gr3y said:

Sorry for offtop, but I get the feeling we'll get Normandie Niemen campaign, so these won't suit ?

We've no any maps for the Normandie Niemen campaign...

[Gr3y]

@BlackSix

 

Saw DN308 helping you with something related to campaign and he's French, plus Yak 7B, which was used by Normandie Niemen, that's where I got my guess Didn't take the map into account at all xD Anyway I'm sure it will be great! Cheers.

[BlackSix]

14 minutes ago, Gr3y said:

@BlackSix

Saw DN308 helping you with something related to campaign and he's French, plus Yak 7B, which was used by Normandie Niemen, that's where I got my guess Didn't take the map into account at all xD Anyway I'm sure it will be great! Cheers.

No, he helps me with translating the briefings into French, for which I'm very grateful.
The official Normandie Niemen campaign is unfortunately impossible in the current conditions...

[thelathela088]

I'm on the second mission, playing on VR. At moments the frames were dropping quite a bit (around the target area) but it was still playable. We'll see how the other missions play with my PC, but it does make you feel that you are part of a much bigger war. It looks stunning.

 

teatv.ltd
hellodear.in
 

Edited July 31, 2022 by thelathela088

[BlackSix]

All other missions should be easier, the second one turned out to be the most overloaded with objects on the battlefield

[JG4_Moltke1871]

Mission 5:

(Deployment of aircraft from Kerch to Anapa)

Commanded altitude 700 Meters.

Don’t fly 800 or you will collide with the crossing Ju 88‘s…. ?

Much traffic in the air, really  nice impressions ?

It’s not dramatic but I really enjoy this moments ??

And a Sturmovik snack before a arrive ?

 

Nice work BlackSix !!!

 

Is there a chance get a German Bomber campaign in the future?

 

[BlackSix]

Hi, thanks!

 

About bomber campaign I guess there is no any chance, sorry. I prefer to create short and intensive fighter or ground attack missions, I never fly bombers and don't know anything about specific bomber gameplay. It is not my area.

[Nadelbaum]

Great campaign, finally started this on the weekend and now on Mission 9. Keep these goodies coming!

[BlackSix]

I'm trying to add tactical numbers to black and white pictures. Over the past year, the cloudiness, lighting and many other parameters have changed a lot in the game, and it's difficult to achieve full compliance. In terms of time, this is often comparable to creating an picture again, and therefore I can't promise that I can do this for the rest of the already released campaigns but in this one all pictures will be changed (where the numbers can be seen).

But in missions, I plan to add numbers for all paid campaigns.

 

[BlackSix]

Major update and the release of the campaign on Steam

 

Hello everyone!

 

The release of version 5.003 brought major changes to the Steel Birds campaign:

- all aircraft were assigned tactical numbers or codes in accordance with the time period and specific unit (thanks to @LukeFF for help and advice on this);

- many fixes and improvements have been made, and 6 black and white mission pictures have been updated.

 

The second good news is the release of the campaign on Steam. Please note that in order to run it on Steam, you need to have IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad as a base project and IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Kuban.

 

Also, you can always purchase this campaign in our store on the site.

Good luck in the sky!

 

[LukeFF]

Great job, Alex! ??

[nachinus]

Historically accurate tactical codes! You really now how to tease me! I just had to buy it.

[AndreiSerghiuta]

I also just finished this campaign last night, and I really enjoyed it as well. I really loved the weather setup for one of the last missions, where the sun would create shafts of light breaking through the clouds, illuminating patches on the ground. It looked magical in VR.

I also struggled with CPU bottlenecks in VR, even on a new Ryzen 7900X. I ended up having to reduce the settings by a fair bit for some of the missions, for them to be playable in VR. I can't imagine what this must've been like initially, before you optimized them last year.

Like someone else above, I also noticed the wingmen sometimes getting lost somehow behind me about 1/4 of the way after takeoff, and it wasn't due to crashing into the first hills near the airport. I don't know what was causing that.

I had a pretty difficult time against the enemy fighters if I tried to go off-script in some missions, or in the last mission. The FW 190 was clearly not a fighter. I'm very impressed with the kill-rates for Light Aircraft that some people have posted here. Mine were a lot more modest, but I did enjoy flying the FW-190 in the ground-attack role.

I much prefer the Scripted Campaigns to the Career mode, which ended up for me with a lot of repetitive and uneventful flights.

[BlackSix]

12 hours ago, AndreiSerghiuta said:

I also just finished this campaign last night, and I really enjoyed it as well. I really loved the weather setup for one of the last missions, where the sun would create shafts of light breaking through the clouds, illuminating patches on the ground. It looked magical in VR.

Thanks for the feedback! I specifically spent a lot of time adjusting the weather when new clouds appeared in the project.

[AndreiSerghiuta]

6 hours ago, BlackSix said:

Thanks for the feedback! I specifically spent a lot of time adjusting the weather when new clouds appeared in the project.

Out of MSFS, DCS, and IL-2, I find IL-2's clouds the most convincing and beautiful in VR. I also especially love the water effects on the windshield while flying through the clouds.

Edited December 16, 2022 by AndreiSerghiuta

[nachinus]

Finished and loved this campaign. I'm slowly getting better at ground pounding. ?

 

Lots of things going on in all missions and plenty of a/c in the air, what meant that time accel was almost nothing and I pretty much flew always in real time. It was ok because there were no really long distances and wasn't boring at all on account of all the flights coming and going, and all the combat and shelling down below.

 

It was great to see ALL flights friend and foe with correct tactical codes.

 

Great job!

[spreckair]

I just finished Steel Birds and it was total enjoyment.  I have been avoiding the FW-190; I much preferred the BF-109.  However, this campaign changed my perspective and I really enjoyed flying the 190.  The 109 still has the edge in my mind, but the 190 is now thoroughly enjoyable.  A big thank you to BlackSix.  I look forward to the next BlackSix campaign.

[BlackSix]

15 hours ago, spreckair said:

I just finished Steel Birds and it was total enjoyment.  I have been avoiding the FW-190; I much preferred the BF-109.  However, this campaign changed my perspective and I really enjoyed flying the 190.  The 109 still has the edge in my mind, but the 190 is now thoroughly enjoyable.  A big thank you to BlackSix.  I look forward to the next BlackSix campaign.

Thank you! In the next campaign, you'll have a couple of chances to meet Fw 190 (White "K" or White "E") and try to shoot down yourself))

[spreckair]

@BlackSix  Awesome and thank you!  It is already the next thing on my to-do list.