Developer Diary 341 Discussion

[356thFS_Melonfish]

3 hours ago, LukeFF said:

 

The Pe-2 Series 87 has a dorsal turret that is very similar to the one on the Li-2.

True, this will be the first stand alone bubble, a full rotating turret I think? Basically my hope is technically it leads to us getting variants or perhaps some of those AI planes.

[Trooper117]

So, the Li-2...  you all realise it's still just a transport plane with a turret. You will still shoot it down in droves... (unless of course it has a sniper behind that gun.) 

[=FEW=Hauggy]

Sounds good, I wanted the Li-2 and I'm glad there has been rework on the FC map. Hopefully the textures too were reworked?

So what's happening with the next project? The suspense is killing us.

[AcidBath]

Yay for the formal release of FC2 with its highly augmented content.  Can't even remember when its prelease opened up.  Ever hopeful that FC's dreadful enemy AI will be fixed such that the silly gnat dance they do in my multiplayer missions is gone for good.  Dang I tried every mission editor trick I could think of make it go away.

Edited March 24, 2023 by AcidBath

[CountZero]

1 hour ago, Trooper117 said:

So, the Li-2...  you all realise it's still just a transport plane with a turret. You will still shoot it down in droves... (unless of course it has a sniper behind that gun.) 

it is 12.7mm gun, so like its case with Pe-2 and 410s, ppl will think its gunners are to OP ?

 

[JG4_Moltke1871]

Dorsal turret is the word of this DD…

I demand minimum a later He 111 H with dorsal turret, better a He 177 with dorsal turret ?

 

 

Dorsal turret dogfight will rule ??

Edited March 24, 2023 by JG4_Moltke1871

[Avimimus]

1 hour ago, JG4_Moltke1871 said:

Dogfight with a plane have a turret is cheating 

?

 

Well, I'd probably have to order the gunners to stand down - the UB in the turret is likely much more effective than the forward firing ShKAS  Btw. I believe the original ShKAS turret variants had much large ammunition reserves (I have the information somewhere for the Il-2 1946 mod I made).

 

  

3 minutes ago, CountZero said:

it is 12.7mm gun, so like its case with Pe-2 and 410s, ppl will think its gunners are to OP ?

 

 

Yes, unless they give us the ShKAS variant as an option anyway!

 

I shudder to think of what would happen if they gave us a Tu-2 with its three defensive UBT 12.7mm guns (at least if they didn't also give us a Ju-188 for balance)

 

 

  

1 hour ago, Trooper117 said:

So, the Li-2...  you all realise it's still just a transport plane with a turret. You will still shoot it down in droves... (unless of course it has a sniper behind that gun.) 

 

Then why did they put a fixed forward firing gun on it? Eh? I refuse to acknowledge this thing isn't a fighter aircraft! ?

[Zachattack299]

Will you receive Li-2 for free if you have purchased the C-47? 

[CountZero]

2 hours ago, JG4_Moltke1871 said:

Dorsal turret is the word of this DD…

I demand minimum a later He 111 H with dorsal turret, better a He 177 with dorsal turret ?

 

 

Dorsal turret dogfight will rule ??

[Charon]

Is there any chance of getting an accessible co-pilot position for the Li-2? It doesn't even need to be functional. I do a lot of co-op, and the inability to put anyone there to ride along has been my big disappointments with the C-47, Ju 52, and (especially) Mosquito.

Just a few weeks ago, for example, I did a Ju 52 co-op mission simulating Operation Stösser, a night paradrop in a snowstorm. Three pilots and two navigators, and the navigators were absolutely essential to take workload off the pilot. We wound up putting them in the gunner's position, but I think it would have been more immersive if they could ride up front, and this is a sort of mission we simply can't do with the C-47 or the Mosquito.

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

[Crockett]

This is welcome news! Been waiting for it since Flying Circus was originally released!

[Juri_JS]

Please, please devs also add SAB flare bombs to the Li-2 (and U-2). Li-2 night bomber units used them for target marking/illumination. We really need such flare bombs to recreate historically accurate night bombing missions in the game.

[BMA_FlyingShark]

17 minutes ago, Juri_JS said:

Please, please devs also add SAB flare bombs to the Li-2 (and U-2). Li-2 night bomber units used them for target marking/illumination. We really need such flare bombs to recreate historically accurate night bombing missions in the game.

Yes, together with a working bomb sight for the U-2.

 

Have a nice day.

 

[Raptorattacker]

Li-2 Great Battles?... 

55 minutes ago, FlyingShark said:

Yes, together with a working bomb sight for the U-2.

It didn't actually have a 'working bomb sight' though. It would however be good to be able to crane over and see the one it did have!!

[No105_Swoose]

Looking forward to the bubble top Spitfire Mark XIV.  Hope the update will include a fix for AI Spitfire Mark IXs randomly having engine failures and crashing.

[Mysticpuma]

As a percentage, is there any chance of a flyable B-25 or B-26?

[Avimimus]

19 hours ago, Melonfish said:

True, this will be the first stand alone bubble, a full rotating turret I think? Basically my hope is technically it leads to us getting variants or perhaps some of those AI planes.

 

I think the turret design and operation is sufficiently different. Note: WWI aircraft have ring-mounted turrets which fully rotate as well.

 

I think your statement might make sense if you were hoping for a DB-3/Il-4, but less so if you are hoping for a powered turret of American manufacture.

[Noisemaker]

19 hours ago, Trooper117 said:

So, the Li-2...  you all realise it's still just a transport plane with a turret. You will still shoot it down in droves... (unless of course it has a sniper behind that gun.) 

I bet you'd say the same thing about the Millennium Falcon...

[BMA_FlyingShark]

6 hours ago, Raptorattacker said:

Li-2 Great Battles?... 

It didn't actually have a 'working bomb sight' though. It would however be good to be able to crane over and see the one it did have!!

Well yes, that's what I meant.

 

Have a nice day.

 

[Guest deleted@83466]

I skipped purchasing both the JU-52 and C-47, so I can’t say the news of an LI-2 is something that gets me excited.  I prefer combat aircraft in my combat flight sims. 

[Cybermat47]

14 minutes ago, SeaSerpent said:

I skipped purchasing both the JU-52 and C-47, so I can’t say the news of an LI-2 is something that gets me excited.  I prefer combat aircraft in my combat flight sims. 

 

The Li-2 can carry bombs, too, so it's not just a dedicated transport aircraft.

 

It also has a forward-facing machinegun, so it can be a fighter if you're determined enough

[senseispcc]

Good news, all at once for those how could wait, thanks and good work. 

[Juri_JS]

59 minutes ago, SeaSerpent said:

I skipped purchasing both the JU-52 and C-47, so I can’t say the news of an LI-2 is something that gets me excited.  I prefer combat aircraft in my combat flight sims. 

The Li-2 should make both bomber and transport fans happy. Many here might not know it, but the Li-2 was also one of the most important night bombers flown by Soviet long-range aviation units. Bomb load and defensive armament were similar to the Il-4. It was used in the bomber role both in the Stalingrad and the Kuban area.

[Trooper117]

1 hour ago, Noisemaker said:

I bet you'd say the same thing about the Millennium Falcon...

 

Yeah?... well the Falcon made the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs... the Li-2 is just a piece of junk!

[Avimimus]

The other nice thing about the Li-2 is that it provides a target the Ju-88C-6 can regularly catch. The Il-4, a British night bomber (e.g. Wellington) or the Beaufighter could fill this role - but in their absence, the Li-2 will give a night bomber opponent for those who want to experience the C-6 in that role. It makes me regret that the C-6a was never equipped with Schräge Musik actually.

 

 

19 minutes ago, Juri_JS said:

The Li-2 should make both bomber and transport fans happy. Many here might not know it, but the Li-2 was also one of the most important night bombers flown by Soviet long-range aviation units. Bomb load and defensive armament were similar to the Il-4. It was used in the bomber role both in the Stalingrad and the Kuban area.

 

Plus all the excitement that can happen in transport units (and we'll have the U-2VS as well - albeit without cargo loads... something that'd make a good collector aircraft maybe?). I also hope they  include female pilots for the Li-2.

 

Anyway, anyone doubting how terrifyingly exciting flying transport aircraft in war-time can be should read this interview:

Interview with Olga Mikhaylovna Lisikova – Lend-Lease

Edited March 25, 2023 by Avimimus

[ROCKET_KNUT]

On 3/25/2023 at 10:23 AM, Juri_JS said:

The Li-2 should make both bomber and transport fans happy.

 

Not in my case it doesn´t. It is by no means a substitute for a proper bomber, an A-20 on one engine will probably fly rings around it.

As for the transport role I might give it a go. Since my priorities lay in the west (Normandy and Baseplate) it could be a hard sell though.

[Falcon41]

 

Great news; however, I do hope the developers improve the flight characteristics of several aircraft, i.e., the P-40, the Me-109 and various others that demonstrated strange characteristics, such as lowering flaps and not forming up and flying strange patterns other than those set in the ME.  These issues were discussed and reported in the Technical Problems section of the Forum but no solutions were provided.

Falcon41

[Art-J]

2 hours ago, Mysticpuma said:

As a percentage, is there any chance of a flyable B-25 or B-26?

As hinted in that devs podcast a few months ago - zero percent, unless a third party picks up the challenge,  so you'd have to ask Ugra Media guys about that. However, given how long it took them to build a cockpit for C-47, and now with this Li-2 project in the works, It would be a long endeavour anyway.

[dannytherat]

21 minutes ago, Art-J said:

As hinted in that devs podcast a few months ago - zero percent,

That's a shame to hear, particularly when a year or so ago Jason Williams reported on checking out a B-25 inside and out as a preliminary to producing a flyable one.

 

One of my great-uncles was a navigator on Mitchells with 98sqn RAF during 1943, so I'd love to see it flyable in-game.

 

As M. Jagger once said, "You can't always get what you want" ?

[BlitzPig_EL]

4 hours ago, Mysticpuma said:

As a percentage, is there any chance of a flyable B-25 or B-26?

 

I'm afraid we will have to wait for the new sim, whatever it may be, to get a serious American or British medium bomber.  Though I fear it will be another US light attack bomber.

[Enceladus828]

4 hours ago, Cybermat47 said:

It also has a forward-facing machinegun, so it can be a fighter if you're determined enough

Now that you mention it, in the Ice Ring Campaign I was able to use the IL-2 as an interceptor and take down many Ju-52s due to slow speed and only 1 gunner — in some cases none.

[BBAS_Tiki_Joe]

Are we going to see any update to the FC AI with the next update? If not, any plans on working on AI in the future? My experience with playing FC in PWCG career mod, even with the AI set to have every pilot an ace in the settings, it's ridiculously easy. In 10 missions I've shot down 73 planes and have not even gotten a scratch on my plane. Then I go over to MP and Constantly get shot down by other players? haha. When compared to the WW2 AI, FC seems to be a little lackluster in that department. FC AI kinda just float around mindlessly and never seems to be able to stay on your six or shoot if you somehow cross in front of their nose.

[Juri_JS]

15 hours ago, Cybermat47 said:

It also has a forward-facing machinegun, so it can be a fighter if you're determined enough

Fun fact: According to Soviet sources this did happen at least once, when a Li-2 engaged a single Ju-88 to disrupt a bombing attack on a train.

[FliegerAD]

On 3/24/2023 at 10:25 PM, JG4_Moltke1871 said:

I demand minimum a later He 111 H with dorsal turret, better a He 177 with dorsal turret ?

 

I had totally forgotten there were turreted 111s... looks immediately more modern. ?

Now I want that, too.

[Avimimus]

18 hours ago, ROCKET_KNUT said:

 

Not in my case it doesn´t. It is by no means a substitute for a proper bomber, an A-20 on one engine will probably fly rings around it.

As for the transport role I might give it a go. Since my priorities lay in the west (Normandy and Baseplate) it could be a hard sell though.

 

To be a bit pedantic - I'm 90% sure that the Li-2 would have a smaller turn radius under those conditions. The C-47 is already a pretty remarkable turner... and with symmetric rather than asymmetric thrust.

[--[---MAILMAN----]

I am just curious on the status of the Collector Planes that were pre-ordered and paid for several months ago such as the IAR 80/81.

 

Any estimated release date?

[BMA_FlyingShark]

3 minutes ago, --[---MAILMAN---- said:

Any estimated release date?

They said the Spitfire will come with the update next week.

The IAR 80/81 will be released by the end of the year, if all goes well.

The reason why the latter is released so late is because it's an effort of some community members with day jobs who work on it in their free time.

That always takes more time than when the core team creates content, which is logical.

 

Have a nice day.

 

Before I forget, in the last DD they also said that the Simens Shuckert is into beta too, so I suppose that one will be ready by the update after the one next week.

 

Have a nice day.

 

[BlitzPig_EL]

Will the release of the fully finished WW1 West Front map break missions currently built on the early release version of the map?

[RNAS10_Mitchell]

1 hour ago, BlitzPig_EL said:

Will the release of the fully finished WW1 West Front map break missions currently built on the early release version of the map?

Seems like good quess.

[Avimimus]

11 hours ago, FlyingShark said:

Before I forget, in the last DD they also said that the Simens Shuckert is into beta too, so I suppose that one will be ready by the update after the one next week.

 

Have a nice day.

 

 

Oh good! I had somehow missed that!