Game version 5.001 discussion: Battle of Normandy - RELEASED!

[von_Tom]

 

Awesome.  Really looking forward to using it.

 

Now for the wish list.... ?

 

Winter version of the map

FW190A-4

Spitfires Mks I and IIa

Hurricane MkI

Bf109E-3 and 4

 

You get the idea...

 

?

 

von Tom

Edited September 8, 2022 by von_Tom

[LF_Mark_Krieger]

40 minutes ago, LukeFF said:

 

Yes, it's a ton. As I recall:

• P-38
• P-39
• P-40
• P-47
• P-51
• Hurricane
• Spitfire V
• Spitfire IX
• Tempest
• Fw 190 A-3/5/6/8
• Fw 190 D-9
• Bf 109 G-6/G-14/K-4
• Ju 52
• Ju 87
• Ju 88 A-4
• Me 262

Oh! So many new skins. I'm delighted! 

[=FEW=Hauggy]

This update sounds genuinely amazing!

[Avimimus]

4 minutes ago, GSHWK_Houndstone_Hawk said:

Great update ... BUT ... 1st impressions are exactly as I feared. There isn't one single hedgerow on the map that I've thus far seen. I'm a native englishman who lives in a country where hedgerows & fields are the most dominant feature of the landscape by far. Neatly placed trees do not make up a hedgerow in the slightest and therefore, it's basically a default generic IL-2 map like Velkie or Prokhorovka but with white cliffs.

 

Within a month of announcement I was thinking 'if they don't make special hedge and bocage tech we'll never hear the end of it'

 

Interested about the colours. I often find England too green to me (but I'm a Canadian... so... my judgment might be off). Darker water does sound right though. I do hope they revisit colours someday - the blue snow that was 'fixed' a few month back is actually very accurate to clear evenings (where the blue sky is reflected in the ice crystals)... of course on overcast days or warmer days the current colours are right. But the blue colours made Moscow and Stalingrad have that 'Canadian deep winter' feel. I miss them. It feels almost cosy now

[tattywelshie]

Amazing work guys, loving the map, plus all the other updates, seriously impressive work, now go and have a well deserved beer or 10!

9 minutes ago, GSHWK_Houndstone_Hawk said:

 

And the sea colour ... no no no. Seldom blue except on postcards & a trip to 'photoshop'.

 

To be fair, the English Channel is quite blue during the summer months, I’m Welsh so don’t live near Dover, but from flying over it, during the summer, it’s generally blue, sure, in the winter it’s not. Even a quick google of it shows it in its blue glory so I think we can forgive them that. 

[simfan2015]

Thank you so much! 

Congrats. 

Really feels and looks like a new sim! 

[SCG_Tzigy]

tank you

[Drum]

1 hour ago, LukeFF said:

Guys, be sure to check out all the new skins that were added - many new generics were added not just for the Normandy planes but older ones as well, going all the way back to the Fw 190 A-3 and Ju 87. ?

They look great, LukeFF!  Un-numbered versions for the future code system in late, early, western front, desert, brown, grey etc., love them.  Nice job to the guy(s) who did them, very talented, thanks!  ?

 

Edited September 7, 2022 by Drum

[2nd_TAF/602Sqn_Puff]

I was really excited for this update...but that faded very quickly when I found that 602 Squadron ''City of Glasgow'' are not selectable in the career mode...they were the first spitfire squadron to land in France on D-Day and contributed a lot to the lead up as well...are there plans to include the squadron at some time in the future...because if not, I'm afraid I'll just pass up the offline mode altogether and dabble occasionally 

[GSHWK_Houndstone_Hawk]

1 hour ago, Avimimus said:

Within a month of announcement I was thinking 'if they don't make special hedge and bocage tech we'll never hear the end of it'

It has to be done I'm afraid. UK Hedgerows, farmland & French Bocage are just as important a representation as say 'lakes' would be to a Finnish map or sand in Tobruck. Taking off from a UK or French airfield feels like any other map in the game & that feeling doesn't go away with altitude.

There will be people that just don't care, or blissfully  ignorant to it. Unfortunate for me, I love realism & immersion & feel like it's a chance yet again, gone begging ... gone the same way as DCS & the likes. this could've been the one that got it right .. I mean how hard can it be to replicate a hedge? There would be no frame rate issues because the map wouldn't need a fraction of the amount of 'standard russian-type generic' trees that litter the map.

Ah well. Not everyone can be pleased I guess.

Edited September 7, 2022 by GSHWK_Houndstone_Hawk

[RyanR]

Sure is neat to attack the continent from England!

 

-Ryan

[Avimimus]

1 minute ago, GSHWK_Houndstone_Hawk said:

It has to be done I'm afraid. UK Hedgerows, farmland & French Bocage are just as important a representation as say 'lakes' would be to a Finnish map or sand in Tobruck. Taking off from a UK or French airfield feels like any other map in the game & that feeling doesn't go away with altitude.

There will be people that just don't care, or blissfully  ignorant to it. Unfortunate for me, I love realism & immersion & feel like it's a chance yet again, gone begging ... gone the same way as DCS & the likes. this could've been the one that got it right .. I mean how hard can it be to replicate a hedge? There would be no frame rate issues because the map wouldn't need a fraction of the amount of 'standard russian-type generic' trees that litter the map.

Ah well. Not everyone can be pleased I guess.

 

I didn't say it wouldn't be a good idea (or even perhaps needed at some level)... I'm just saying that I've been preparing myself for two years to avoid letting the hubub get me down! ? I'll enjoy what we have. Maybe they'll feel a need to add hedges at some point (after all Cliffs of Dover will have them sometime this fall probably). If they don't, well, I will pretend they are there...

 

Btw. I have heard that hedges were often rarely trimmed or had breaks in them during the war and the immediate postwar period - so they shouldn't look like perfectly groomed decorative hedges - even if they should look like hedges.

[RNAS10_Oliver]

Where's the best place to report squadrons being based at the wrong airfield in the career. I've found 26 Squadron, 63 Squadron and Observation Squadron 7 are based at RAF Thorney Island on the Normandy career.

[Avimimus]

11 minutes ago, 2nd_TAF/602Sqn_Puff said:

I was really excited for this update...but that faded very quickly when I found that 602 Squadron ''City of Glasgow'' are not selectable in the career mode...they were the first spitfire squadron to land in France on D-Day and contributed a lot to the lead up as well...are there plans to include the squadron at some time in the future...because if not, I'm afraid I'll just pass up the offline mode altogether and dabble occasionally 

 

Any particular reason aside from what you've listed? Because they have 225 squadrons in BoN and it'd be a shame to pass up single player altogether for want of a 226th.

 

Now, if I were Glaswegian or something... I might see it... still though...

[I./JG52_Woutwocampe]

Is this real life?!

 

AWESOME

[BMA_FlyingShark]

Congrats with the release of this huge project guys.

 

Thank to all involved for your hard work.

 

Have a nice day.

 

[Avimimus]

1 minute ago, I./JG52_Woutwocampe said:

Is this real life?!

 

AWESOME

 

Is this just fantasy?

[F19_Haddock]

Le Mont Saint Michel is missing. How could you... ?

 

Awesome update otherwise! Congrats!

[longjap]

FARMHOUSES! I got FARMHOUSES!

[343KKT_Kintaro]

Awesome screenshots! Must be a fantastic game. Congratulations to the entire team of developers who made this module possible.

[LukeFF]

28 minutes ago, RNAS10_Oliver said:

Where's the best place to report squadrons being based at the wrong airfield in the career. I've found 26 Squadron, 63 Squadron and Observation Squadron 7 are based at RAF Thorney Island on the Normandy career.

 

They are that those airfields, because the real airfields aren't modeled on the map. The map development team is quite aware of the airfields that are missing (Stony Cross is another one not modeled), but researching and modeling the 100 airfields that are on the map* took a lot of time. Perhaps there will be a few more added in the future, as was done with Rhineland.

 

To answer the question another way, there's no need to report squadrons being based at the wrong airfield, because I help the team maintain spreadsheets showing where all these units were at. ?

 

Spoiler

Abbeville Drucat

Andover

Apuldram

Ashford

Azeville

Bazenville

Beaulieu

Beaumont le Roger

Beauvais Tille

Beny sur Mer

Berck sur Mer

Beuzeville

Bisterne

Blackbushe

Bognor

Boulogne Alprech

Brenzett

Brucheville

Calais Coquelles

Calais Marck

Camilly

Cardonville

Carentan

Carpiquet

Chailey

Chaumont en Vexin

Chilbolton

Chippelle

Christchurch

Coolham

Cormeilles en Vexin

Coulombs

Crecy en Ponthieu

Cretteville

Cricqueville

Cristot

Deanland

Detling

Deux Jumeaux

Dieppe Saint Aubin

Dreux

Dunkerque Mardyck

Dunsfold

Ellon

Evreux Fauville

Ford

Friston

Funtington

Guyancourt

Hawkinge

Headcorn

High Halden

Holmsley South

Horne

Hurn

Ibsley

Kingsnorth

La_Vieille

Lantheuil

Lasham

Lashenden

Le Havre Octeville

Les Mesnuls

Lignerolles

Lingevres

Longues

Lonrai

Lymington

Lympne

Manston

Martragny

Maupertus

Meautis

Needs Oar Point

Newchurch

Nogent le Roi

Oysonville

Picauville

Plumetot

Poix Nord

Pontorson

Saint Andre de lEure

Saint Croix sur Mer

Saint Lambert

Saint Omer Wizernes

Saint Pierre du Mont

Selsey

Semalle

Sours

Staplehurst

Tangmere

Thorney Island

Thruxton

Tour en Bessin

Triqueville

Villacoublay Velizy

West Malling

Westhampnett

Winkton

Woodchurch

 

Edited September 7, 2022 by LukeFF

[CosmicXSolitude]

Just flew my first mission in offline career and my oh my what a treat. Decided to fly the spitfire VB out of Hawkinge flew an escort attackers mission to Fontenay area next to Le Havre and I got to say the AI seem much more competent my AI wingmen actually made me work for kills and they hit their shots dead on instead of missing 3-4 bursts before hitting their targets. Overall 10/10 with the expansion and was well worth the two year wait. 

[Avimimus]

9 minutes ago, LukeFF said:

 

They are that those airfields, because the real airfields aren't modeled on the map. The map development team is quite aware of the airfields that are missing (Stony Cross is another one not modeled), but researching modeling the 100 airfields that are on the map* took a lot of time. Perhaps there will be a few more added in the future, as was done with Rhineland.

 

 

Honestly, I hope they someday update the map format to allow 3rd parties to contribute adjustments and fixes.

 

I noticed that entire stations (and sections of track) were missing from the Isle of Wight.

 

It'd be nice to be able to contribute towards fixing these things.

 

The map is beautiful, and a monumental achievement - don't get me wrong. I mean that sincerely. However, it is a bit striking to see the comparison between maps from the era and the map we have.

Edited September 7, 2022 by Avimimus

[AndyJWest]

It is a little known fact that the ancient Britons worshipped biscuits. Here we see a monument to the gods, constructed of giant bourbons, sadly no longer showing the original colours, which have long since faded. It took many centuries, but eventually the gods heard their plea, thanked them for their efforts and provided the Britons with something to drink with their biscuits.

[Psyrion]

Congrats on the release! 

[401GATOR]

IL2 is the definitive WW2 experience! Thanks to the team, this is becoming a juggernaut!

[unlikely_spider]

8 minutes ago, AndyJWest said:

It is a little known fact that the ancient Britons worshipped biscuits. Here we see a monument to the gods, constructed of giant bourbons, sadly no longer showing the original colours, which have long since faded. It took many centuries, but eventually the gods heard their plea, thanked them for their efforts and provided the Britons with something to drink with their biscuits.

It's almost like there was some sort of misunderstanding with whether or not the architect had annotated "feet" or "inches" on the plans that he drew.

[DD_Arthur]

48 minutes ago, Avimimus said:

Btw. I have heard that hedges were often rarely trimmed or had breaks in them during the war and the immediate postwar period - so they shouldn't look like perfectly groomed decorative hedges - even if they should look like hedges.

? ?

[Enceladus828]

47 minutes ago, AndyJWest said:

Here we see a monument to the gods, constructed of giant bourbons, sadly no longer showing the original colours, which have long since faded.

This structure, Stonehenge, was built over 12,000 years ago, for purposes yet to be understood, by a technologically advanced society more advanced than today which also built the Pyramids of Giza, The Great Sphinx, Teotihaucan, megalithic sites in Peru, Tiahaunaco, etc. that was destroyed in the Great Flood described in the Bible.

[IckyATLAS]

Just saw it, I was going to sleep, and it popped out.

Fantastic, excellent much earlier than expected, but unfortunately, I MUST go to sleep. I will check it out tomorrow morning.

Sweet dreams.

Tomorrow is a big day. 

[BOO]

In Rhineland Ive always had stutters when first appoaching towns and cities at low level. Once the first fly over is complete its smooth. This has continued on BoN sadly which is offputting. The hedgerows mentioned above also feel a little off whilst some towns and cites look a little sparse and clean. So whilst  I cant really share some of the boundless enthusiasm shown by others, I can appreciate the efforts of the Devs and congratulate them on the release. 

[Noisemaker]

Thanks Devs for releasing the update in the middle of my six day week of 14hr+ days.  I'm looking forward to downloading the update and bug fixes next week. 

 

[IRRE_Alleluia]

1 hour ago, F19_Haddock said:

Le Mont Saint Michel is missing. How could you... ?

 

Awesome update otherwise! Congrats!

The map's name is normandy, not Brittany.  That's why. ??

 

And after this sentence : let's watch the world burns ?

[AEthelraedUnraed]

1 hour ago, Avimimus said:

Honestly, I hope they someday update the map format to allow 3rd parties to contribute adjustments and fixes.

 

I noticed that entire stations (and sections of track) were missing from the Isle of Wight.

 

It'd be nice to be able to contribute towards fixing these things.

Actually, the map format allows for all of that.  If you want to contribute, check out the following:

[BladeMeister]

Set her to update, went out and inflated my low pressure on 4 truck tires, came in and she says play. I immediately restarted my Rig, and now it is time to jump in. ?

Congrats 1C! Let's hope this is a successful launch for Battle of Normandy.

 

S!Blade<><

[oc2209]

So many changes and improvements, but for me, the big 3 are:

 

Crew deaths on 'gentle' belly landings were fixed:

 

 

I finally got the all-important cockpit photo in the Arado (and the missing 262's returned):

 

 

Not a major change to big cannons, but it's still fun to shoot things with other explodey things:

 

 

Just some preliminary observations. Looking forward to doing some real careers now.

 

Great work, and thanks to everyone on the team!

[Mysticpuma]

It's a great looking map and great update. 

Would like to add to the request for hedges to be given consideration when the team have had a well earned rest ?

[Dallas88B]

An excellent update. Not only the release of Battle of Normandy but the extensive work on the Damage model, AI improvements and other advances - a credit to the entire team. Thank you.

[ST_Catchov]

I had a dream last night. It was all about hedges and biscuits. I don't know what it means. Such are dreams.

[Canvas25]

Congratulations to the whole team! You have knocked the ball out of the park once again.