Official Historical Campaign "Overlord"

[Geezer]

1 hour ago, E69_Cananas said:

AFAIK, what the "no wind" setting does is that the wind does not affect to the player plane when marked; not that the wind goes to no wind.

I'm sure you are correct.  The problem is that selecting this option does not negate the effect on the player's aircraft like it should.

I'm thinking this should be taken up in a different thread.  Or perhaps it just isn't that important?

[Jaegermeister]

On 1/23/2024 at 10:37 AM, Mysliwiec said:

I'm sure you are correct.  The problem is that selecting this option does not negate the effect on the player's aircraft like it should.

I'm thinking this should be taken up in a different thread.  Or perhaps it just isn't that important?

I’m not sure that it’s unimportant, but you are correct, it’s not directly related to this Campaign. That’s what the bug reports section is for. You can’t change the weather in a scripted mission or campaign.

[Jaegermeister]

ShamrockOneFive has posted a thorough review of this Campaign on his Stormbirds blog.

https://stormbirds.blog/2024/04/22/il-2-campaign-review-flying-over-the-beaches-on-the-overlord-campaign/

 

Thanks @ShamrockOneFive for taking the time to fly it and write about your experience!

 

[Spidey002]

Just flew mission 5 twice, the "Needle in the Haystack," and I couldn't find the downed Spitfire either time. 

 

I had flown this a while ago when the campaign first came out and found him fine that time. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.

[Jaegermeister]

Goes to show you how difficult search and rescue really was I guess.

 

He is easiest to find if you fly from East to West at 500 meters or lower.  200 is better, then you can see the silhouette. If you look at the screenshot from the mission image, you can get a good bearing on where he is relative to the shoreline. He is not intentionally way off in a corner nor is he right at your search waypoint.

 

 

 

Edited June 1, 2024 by Jaegermeister

[Spidey002]

3 hours ago, Jaegermeister said:

Goes to show you how difficult search and rescue really was I guess.

 

He is easiest to find if you fly from East to West at 500 meters or lower.  200 is better, then you can see the silhouette. If you look at the screenshot from the mission image, you can get a good bearing on where he is relative to the shoreline. He is not intentionally way off in a corner nor is he right at your search waypoint.

 

 

 

 

Found him! And just as I was about to give up. 

 

He really IS like a needle in a haystack. Even after finding him, I would have lost him again if it weren't for the icon marker!

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

Third time I have flown this mission and I finally found him (plane and a tent, boy he sure made himself comfortable) by chance flying at 127 feet, and fired a green flare.  Was surprised at what came next since I never found him the two times that I flew the campaign previously.

 

"If you look at the screenshot from the mission image, you can get a good bearing on where he is relative to the shoreline." 

If you are referring to the image when you select the mission all you see is a MTB bouncing/slicing through waves.  No shoreline in the background against the horizon, only water.

Edited June 2, 2024 by --[---MAILMAN----

[Jaegermeister]

4 hours ago, --[---MAILMAN---- said:

 

"If you look at the screenshot from the mission image, you can get a good bearing on where he is relative to the shoreline." 

If you are referring to the image when you select the mission all you see is a MTB bouncing/slicing through waves.  No shoreline in the background against the horizon, only water.

Oh yeah, you’re right…. I forgot I changed the images to historical photos before it was released. It had an image of the floating Spitfire the whole time I was testing it.

[Hudlam]

Hi, in the second mission of this campaign you are to intercept missiles, but they do not appear. I tried many times to patrol till the message "You missed your chance" appeared. What do I do wrong? 

 

[Deacon352nd]

Where are the mission files located for this series of missions?

[Jaegermeister]

23 hours ago, Hudlam said:

Hi, in the second mission of this campaign you are to intercept missiles, but they do not appear. I tried many times to patrol till the message "You missed your chance" appeared. What do I do wrong? 

 

 

You missed them. If you got the message that you missed your chance, it means they reached their target in the London area.

[Hudlam]

I understand this, but I haven't seen AA flashes no tracers in the sky. Like it is at the beginning of the mission. 

[Jaegermeister]

On 6/4/2024 at 8:39 AM, Deacon352nd said:

Where are the mission files located for this series of missions?

 

Considering that it is a paid campaign, I would imagine they are hidden. I doubt you will be able to extract this one and convert it to a co-op like the others.

 

10 hours ago, Hudlam said:

I understand this, but I haven't seen AA flashes no tracers in the sky. Like it is at the beginning of the mission. 

 

Watch for the AAA explosions low and inland from the coast in the areas mentioned in the briefing and indicated on the GUI map.

[LukeFF]

14 hours ago, Jaegermeister said:

Considering that it is a paid campaign, I would imagine they are hidden. I doubt you will be able to extract this one and convert it to a co-op like the others.

 

Yes, payware campaigns are encrypted and cannot be modified by the end user.

[Ulricus]

@Jaegermeister, 

Just completed the last campaign mission. Thank you for this immersive piece of action! What positive things can I say that hasn’t already been mentioned? Maybe this: many missions/campaigns have great storylines supported by sophisticated programming - but they suffer from historical accuracy (aircraft subtypes, skins, markings...), which completely ruins my game immersion. 

 

Your Overlord campaign saved me from this! It's just perfekt in every aspect! I look forward to your next campaign.

 

Edited June 6, 2024 by Ulricus

[Jaegermeister]

3 hours ago, Ulricus said:

@Jaegermeister, 

Just completed the last campaign mission. Thank you for this immersive piece of action! What positive things can I say that hasn’t already been mentioned? Maybe this: many missions/campaigns have great storylines supported by sophisticated programming - but they suffer from historical accuracy (aircraft subtypes, skins, markings...), which completely ruins my game immersion. 

 

Your Overlord campaign saved me from this! It's just perfekt in every aspect! I look forward to your next campaign.

 

 

Thanks! I'm very glad you enjoyed it. I'm very thankful that @Sneaksie allowed me some freedom to add some of those small details to the campaign that complete the picture. The Olive drab D-Day skins were very important to set the scene. I tried to make sure the small details like the correct gunsights, loadouts and weather were as close to the real events as possible in the sim too. Obviously I changed some locations, target areas and flight distances, but the maps are only a certain size and it's very rare that a historical unit actually stayed within any of them for long. 

 

I have been taking a small break from campaign building just recently but I think my inspiration might be returning. I didn't want to turn around and do another Normandy Campaign with the same type of missions right away so I have been doing some research and seeing what else looks interesting.

[Ulricus]

On 6/7/2024 at 2:19 AM, Jaegermeister said:

... I have been taking a small break from campaign building just recently but I think my inspiration might be returning. ...

Just an idea: What about refurbishing some of your older campaigns? Like you did with the Spitfire campaign. My favorite herefore is "Greek Fire" (Spit & MC202).

[Jaegermeister]

On 6/11/2024 at 6:29 PM, Ulricus said:

Just an idea: What about refurbishing some of your older campaigns? Like you did with the Spitfire campaign. My favorite herefore is "Greek Fire" (Spit & MC202).

I already completely rewrote and updated “Greek Fire” less than 6 months ago. For a 5 year old campaign, there isn’t much more I can do with it. I have been through all the others as well multiple times over the last few years, and they have all been brought up to current standards with Tactical ID codes assigned to all aircraft, updated effects and revised mission logic. Overlord has been updated once already and there is nothing I am aware of that needs to be corrected.

 

I started a 1944 Spitfire IXc Normandy Campaign earlier this year. It was interesting and fun, but I got half way through it and decided the mission set was too similar to Overlord so I scrapped it.

 

I have started research on a new project and already read about 5 books on the aircraft and its operational history. I have acquired a digitized copy of the unit’s detailed combat logs with reports of all operations from February through August of 1944 in England and Western Europe. I also ordered a copy of the squadron history which is on its way to me from Australia right now, and once I get that in hand I should be able to outline the mission content. I already used the map template I cannibalised from the Spitfire Campaign and expanded it to make a couple of preliminary missions I have been flying just to get used to the new (to me) plane. I have no time frame in mind, so I will just have to see how it goes from here.

 

Spoiler

                                  AEQUO ANIMO

 

 

Edited June 12, 2024 by Jaegermeister

[Ulricus]

8 hours ago, Jaegermeister said:

I already completely rewrote and updated “Greek Fire” less than 6 months ago. ...

Thanks for the info about the Greek Fire campaign update. It seems that I've completely missed it. Sorry. ☹️

 

And thank you very much for the glimpse into your next project. I'm looking forward! 😁

[Trooper117]

10 hours ago, Jaegermeister said:

I have started research on a new project

 

464 Squadron, Mosquito's...

[LukeFF]

Finally got around to starting this one tonight. One thing I noticed is some of the pilot audio is muted on takeoff on mission #1. Got to the target area, bombed the target, and when the enemy fighters showed up one of my guys collided in midair with them. While I was watching this happen I was apparently bounced and quickly deleted by a 190.  

 

(Sigh)

 

Started the mission again, was in tight with the lead preparing to bomb when he made a sudden turn to the right and...yep another collision. ☹️

 

I don't know if these are AI issues or it was just bad luck on my part, but I figured I'd mention them. Thank goodness I was able to advance to mission #2, because I was not looking forward to crossing the Channel yet again and have to deal with sketchy AI. 

 

Sorry for the vent, I know your work is great. 🫡

[Aapje]

@LukeFF

 

This is why we've been asking for AI improvements

[Patricks]

1 hour ago, Aapje said:

@LukeFF

 

This is why we've been asking for AI improvements

And WWII has the GOOD AI! 😆

[LukeFF]

On 6/4/2024 at 7:40 AM, Jaegermeister said:

You missed them. If you got the message that you missed your chance, it means they reached their target in the London area.

 

Is this a "one and done" sort of scenario? I saw the AA fire and we gave chase, but I couldn't pick it up from the ground clutter, so it got away. We resumed the patrol and circled around for about 15 minutes but nothing else appeared, so we landed.

[Jaegermeister]

On 7/18/2024 at 3:17 AM, LukeFF said:

Finally got around to starting this one tonight. One thing I noticed is some of the pilot audio is muted on takeoff on mission #1.

 

This happens to me in various missions I have made and I have not figured out why. It has something to do with the take off logic, but I have not been able to figure out why it works sometimes and does not work at other times.

 

On 7/18/2024 at 3:17 AM, LukeFF said:

Got to the target area, bombed the target, and when the enemy fighters showed up one of my guys collided in midair with them...

Started the mission again, was in tight with the lead preparing to bomb when he made a sudden turn to the right and...yep another collision. ☹️

 

I don't know if these are AI issues or it was just bad luck on my part, but I figured I'd mention them.

 

It seems to be AI formation issues. I always use "Loose" formations to avoid this issue as much as possible

 

On 7/18/2024 at 3:17 AM, LukeFF said:

Thank goodness I was able to advance to mission #2, because I was not looking forward to crossing the Channel yet again and have to deal with sketchy AI. 

 

That's why I don't require the player to return to base or even actually complete the mission. You can always come back to it and fly it again later

 

On 7/18/2024 at 3:17 AM, LukeFF said:

Sorry for the vent, I know your work is great.

 

Don't apologize, I hope the rest of the Campaign is enjoyable. I would not rate it as "easy". There are some missions that I had to fly various times to survive.

 

 

19 hours ago, LukeFF said:

 

Is this a "one and done" sort of scenario? I saw the AA fire and we gave chase, but I couldn't pick it up from the ground clutter, so it got away. We resumed the patrol and circled around for about 15 minutes but nothing else appeared, so we landed.

No, there are 3 or 4 Divers. There are various scenarios that will activate them

* approaching the Attack Air icons on your GUI map

* turn icons on and approach the icons

* patrolling from one end of the patrol area to the other, roughly down the center

 

I realize that it is very difficult without icons, but I have been able to spot them from 8-10k feet by the AAA near the coast and looking at the attack area icons on the briefing map

 

[LukeFF]

Thanks - I guess it was just my bad luck that I didn't see more come my way. 

 

On to mission 3!

[LukeFF]

Well, after four attempts at mission number 13, I had enough. I dunno what it is with this one, but the AI Mustangs always come out second-best, and before long the player finds himself outnumbered in a wildly bobbing plane because of the turbulence* and because his AI wingmen have either been shot down or are returning to base because they blow through all their ammo far too quickly. My third attempt was the only time I wasn't shot down by the enemy, and that was only because of a glancing collision where the game decided that was a fatal collision. Fourth and final time, we finally got the Return to Base message, and yep, sure enough, a lone 109 decided he'd follow me to the front lines and pick me off. Thankfully I ended the mission right before my pilot was recorded as killed, or else I'd have to do it all over yet again.

 

(Sigh)

*On that note, I think the turbulence needs some toning down. Yes, there should be some, but since the AI isn't affected by it and they are crack shots already, it just handicaps the player even more.

[Patricks]

9 hours ago, LukeFF said:

Well, after four attempts at mission number 13, I had enough. I dunno what it is with this one, but the AI Mustangs always come out second-best, and before long the player finds himself outnumbered in a wildly bobbing plane because of the turbulence* and because his AI wingmen have either been shot down or are returning to base because they blow through all their ammo far too quickly. My third attempt was the only time I wasn't shot down by the enemy, and that was only because of a glancing collision where the game decided that was a fatal collision. Fourth and final time, we finally got the Return to Base message, and yep, sure enough, a lone 109 decided he'd follow me to the front lines and pick me off. Thankfully I ended the mission right before my pilot was recorded as killed, or else I'd have to do it all over yet again.

 

(Sigh)

*On that note, I think the turbulence needs some toning down. Yes, there should be some, but since the AI isn't affected by it and they are crack shots already, it just handicaps the player even more.

 

That's why I prefer Campaigns that record all missions as successful if you get to a certain point in the mission (like take off success). If you want to give it another go you can, if not you move on to the next mission..

[LukeFF]

2 hours ago, Patricks said:

That's why I prefer Campaigns that record all missions as successful if you get to a certain point in the mission (like take off success). If you want to give it another go you can, if not you move on to the next mission..

 

To be fair, that is the way Overlord is set up. I should have been clearer when I posted that above. 

[Jaegermeister]

On 8/30/2024 at 6:22 PM, LukeFF said:

Well, after four attempts at mission number 13, I had enough. I dunno what it is with this one, but the AI Mustangs always come out second-best, and before long the player finds himself outnumbered in a wildly bobbing plane because of the turbulence* and because his AI wingmen have either been shot down or are returning to base because they blow through all their ammo far too quickly. My third attempt was the only time I wasn't shot down by the enemy, and that was only because of a glancing collision where the game decided that was a fatal collision. Fourth and final time, we finally got the Return to Base message, and yep, sure enough, a lone 109 decided he'd follow me to the front lines and pick me off. Thankfully I ended the mission right before my pilot was recorded as killed, or else I'd have to do it all over yet again.

 

(Sigh)

*On that note, I think the turbulence needs some toning down. Yes, there should be some, but since the AI isn't affected by it and they are crack shots already, it just handicaps the player even more.

 

I have seen another comment about the turbulence before. I can turn it down.

 

I'll also play through the mission again and see if AI changes have made it more difficult. I always play through the missions and if I can't survive them without any tricks, I make it easier until I can. I'm also not even that great a dogfighter so if I can survive, most people should be able to. We have a campaign update coming around soon to fix the skin loadout issue in Wild Mustangs so I should be able to get this included with those corrections.

 

Thanks for the feedback. 

[LukeFF]

1 hour ago, Jaegermeister said:

 

I have seen another comment about the turbulence before. I can turn it down.

 

I'll also play through the mission again and see if AI changes have made it more difficult. I always play through the missions and if I can't survive them without any tricks, I make it easier until I can. I'm also not even that great a dogfighter so if I can survive, most people should be able to. We have a campaign update coming around soon to fix the skin loadout issue in Wild Mustangs so I should be able to get this included with those corrections.

 

Thanks for the feedback. 

 

Cheers, thanks. 🫡

 

It's been a great campaign overall. It's just this one where I kinda ran into a buzzsaw.
 

Also, one other thing I noticed on mission 13: you have some G-6 early planes flying around with the default skin, which has a yellow fuselage band that was meant for rapid ID on the Eastern Front. There is a default Western Front skin that is more appropriate, and in fact it's the one I use for Normandy career 109s (it has no yellow fuselage band but retains the yellow engine access cover).

[Jaegermeister]

19 minutes ago, LukeFF said:

 

Cheers, thanks. 🫡

 

It's been a great campaign overall. It's just this one where I kinda ran into a buzzsaw.
 

Also, one other thing I noticed on mission 13: you have some G-6 early planes flying around with the default skin, which has a yellow fuselage band that was meant for rapid ID on the Eastern Front. There is a default Western Front skin that is more appropriate, and in fact it's the one I use for Normandy career 109s (it has no yellow fuselage band but retains the yellow engine access cover).

Thanks, glad you are mostly enjoying it. I just reflew that mission and I have to admit I completely forgot how it went.

 

Mission spoiler below…

 

Spoiler

I noticed the high flight that was supposed to be in the lead was way behind, so at waypoint 3, I did a 360 degree turn and let them catch up. When the ground controller called an intercept for the player flight, the EAC were below us to my left. My wingmen dove on them and I followed, like a good leader should… 🙄

 

The enemy leader peeled off from the herd, and my wingmen went after the 3 enemy wingmen, so I dove on the leader and got some good hits. I heard the high flight give an attack enemy call about that time. They stayed high in a furball for the rest of the mission. My flight killed all 4 enemy. I got the leader and 1 more. I had 1 wingman get killed, 1 run out of ammo, and 1 follow me to take out the last EAC after I ran out of ammo. I’m not sure where the 4th EAC went.

 

The ground controller called knock it off when I went bingo ammo so we returned to base and the EAC upstairs bugged out.

 

I had turned the turbulence down so maybe that helped. Also I have found that sometimes if you can’t finish a mission, it plays out different after you close the program, take a break and come back later.

 

I will reduce the turbulence to 1 or 0 through the entire campaign since some people seem to dislike it. I personally find it amusing, but it doesn’t hurt my feelings to get rid of it. I will also adjust the timing so the lead flight stays in the lead during that mission which should keep the other enemy flight from diving on you and making it impossible.
 

Thanks for the tip on the skins, I will change that too.

 

 

[LukeFF]

Yeah, I was wondering where the top cover was at too. 😄 

[Patricks]

9 hours ago, Jaegermeister said:

 

I will reduce the turbulence to 1 or 0 through the entire campaign since some people seem to dislike it. I personally find it amusing, but it doesn’t hurt my feelings to get rid of it. I will also adjust the timing so the lead flight stays in the lead during that mission which should keep the other enemy flight from diving on you and making it impossible.
 

Thanks for the tip on the skins, I will change that too.

 

 

 

How do these changes take effect for the end user, updated at the next GB update?

[LukeFF]

3 hours ago, Patricks said:

How do these changes take effect for the end user, updated at the next GB update?

 

Yes, that how it works, since it's an official campaign.

[Spidey002]

On 6/12/2024 at 5:41 PM, Jaegermeister said:

I started a 1944 Spitfire IXc Normandy Campaign

How are there NO Spitfire Mk IX campaigns? 

[Trooper117]

26 minutes ago, Spidey002 said:

How are there NO Spitfire Mk IX campaigns? 

 

Yes, I'd like to see some of those... at the moment there is only ''Achtung Spitfire'' with the Mk V.

[Jaegermeister]

7 hours ago, Spidey002 said:

How are there NO Spitfire Mk IX campaigns? 

I guess it’s just too much of a no-brainer, LOL

It was released as a free plane for those that already had Battle of Normandy right about the time Overlord was released. Although there was some excitement for it at the time, I think most people missed the significance of the C model during the Normandy invasion. In my case, as I mentioned before, you will find the mission set to be very similar to what was being flown by the USAAF Mustangs, just a little bit further East. Johnnie Johnson had a very active run for about 2 months, leading 144 wing and there is a lot of material to work with there. The C model was optimized for low level work and was used in a tactical role over Normandy while the E model escorted bombers most of the time. That and the lack of drop tanks explains no IXe campaigns.
 

I am not inclined to repeat the Normandy tactical fighter story-line right now and Alex is obviously occupied with the new title. The mission building community seems more interested in the IAR80 at the moment but I would imagine someone will put something out for the IXc model before too long. I might revive Johnnie’s “Wingman” somewhere down the road if I get bored before we have Sabres and MiGs to learn on.

[LukeFF]

Just finished mission #14. Nice job, well done. 👍

 

I did notice that like in mission #13 the early G-6s have the default skin instead of the Western Front one. Also, it looks like all the G-6 Lates are equipped with the heavily framed canopy and not the Erla mod. While there were some late G-6s with the heavily framed canopy, the vast majority by the summer of 1944 in France would have had the Erla one instead - due to attrition and the fact that canopy had been introduced in late 1943. MW50 you could probably also go roughly 50% of all planes equipped with it, if it's not already selected as a mod. MW50 was IIRC introduced to Bf 109s around May 1944 and so was introduced gradually to frontline aircraft.  

[AEthelraedUnraed]

Thought I'd give myself a custom skin to celebrate that I am now a flight leader (artwork by Stable Diffusion 3😞

 

I've christened her "Helga" 'cause I'm gonna find myself a nice German bird to conquer.