Developer blog #357: Spitfire IXc news, new mission editor features

[Gambit21]

1 hour ago, 1PL-Husar-1Esk said:

IMHO any mods on map modification is dead end. Maybe for some events but no for public play. Give us  tools to enable in mission file map change, 

 

Yep

Great for squads to have fun with etc, but useless for a campaign creator etc.

[354thFG_Drewm3i-VR]

Just now, Gambit21 said:

 

Yep

Great for squads to have fun with etc, but useless for a campaign creator etc.

Who plays offline without mods? Why would anyone? They make the game so much better/prettier. Especially the texture mods for Rheinland.

[Gambit21]

3 minutes ago, =DW=_Drewm3i-VR said:

Who plays offline without mods?

 

Anyone who want's things to work. Both in DCS and IL2 mods can cause problems with missions. 

Worse in DCS, but the problem does occur in IL2. I've seen it multiple times. Users report a bug in a mission and ends up being due to mods. 

This problem could increase as the engine becomes more sophisticated, but remains to be seen.

 

 

[sevenless]

Pretty neat choice to make the Spitfire IXc an integral part of BoN. It was THE historical RAF fighter of the Normandy44 timeline. Love it! Looking forward to all the yet unannounced little patches/upgrades which still await the GB family. This game has improved greatly since BoS/BoM release times. All of this make the wait for the "next big thing" a pleasureful experience. 

[Blitzen]

Free Spitfire- I'm all in for that!

[BraveSirRobin]

1 hour ago, =DW=_Drewm3i-VR said:

Who plays offline without mods? Why would anyone? They make the game so much better/prettier. Especially the texture mods for Rheinland.

Almost everyone, probably.  I won’t touch mods under any circumstances.  And most people playing this game don’t ever go to the forum and probably don’t even know that mods exist.

[Blooddawn1942]

Very generous. Thanks a lot for the Spitfire.

Much appreciated. 

Keep on the great work. 

[EAF19_Marsh]

5 hours ago, =DW=_Drewm3i-VR said:

Who plays offline without mods? Why would anyone? They make the game so much better/prettier. Especially the texture mods for Rheinland.

Errrr, me. I take it that I am missing something?

 

As I have to remind my profit-oriented stone-cold killer of a wife, you can generate revenue but good-will is much harder.

 

So in recognition of the Spitfire gift, I will buy the IAR.

Edited February 9, 2024 by EAF19_Marsh

[CB77Don246]

Shorter grass would be a welcome for me.

[RedeyeStorm]

Well I can recomend Stonehouses AAA-mod and AI gunnery mod. The AAA-mod gives you a lot of flak which is awesome to behold. The latest beta of the AI gunnerymod makes aces hold there fire until close. No more headshots at 800 meters but if you fail to spot one coming close you are going down in flames. Bomber gunners engage fighters much sooner and are behind their guns before the fighter is in range. The latter is still WIP because of the AI’s tendency to fly up the bombers six all the time and always engage the lead bomber(DEV’s if you find the time to work on that great). They do disengage now when hit a couple times so the attacking fighters are nit dropping like flies.

 

Makes for a different game experience.

[IRRE_Axurit]

Is it also possible to create towns or villages from already existing buildings?

[Sandmarken]

1 hour ago, IRRE_Axurit said:

Is it also possible to create towns or villages from already existing buildings?

This was always possible. The hard part was making the ground texture match. But some of the campaignmakers masterd the editor and made it work. If you try the campaigen called Hürtgen forest or the forum version of wild mustang they both make use of custom towns and texture ? 

[Boomerang]

Thank you developers, really appreciated  

[Zooropa_Fly]

Thanks for the Spit.

And big surprise with the ME addition, nice.

Still no 'undo' command 

[Hanu]

Thanks! Everything that is added to ME is excellent stuff!

That 'undo' command would be very helpful, like Zooropa said

[nachinus]

2 hours ago, Sandmarken said:

If you try the campaigen called Hürtgen forest or the forum version of wild mustang they both make use of custom towns and texture ? 

Plus they are awesome campaigns. A must play for every single-player.

 

Oh! Forgot to add: Yay for the free spit!! ?

Edited February 9, 2024 by nachinus

[LF_Mark_Krieger]

11 hours ago, =DW=_Drewm3i-VR said:

Who plays offline without mods? Why would anyone? They make the game so much better/prettier. Especially the texture mods for Rheinland.

Although I play in single player using quite a lot of mods (Historically Accurate Skins, Correct medals, texture mods for Rheinland and Moscow, Multicolored tracers, Pilot in cockpit...) I had to learn wich of the mods are stable and compatible with others and investigating quite a bit in the forum and by myself. Most of the players don't do that. But yes, for me the experience is much better, like a whole new game.

[Martin077]

someone can add paris on the WW1 map ?

 

Thank you devs for a free plane ❤️

 

[kestrel79]

Maybe if someone makes something so good in the map editor tools, the Dev Team could bring it into the stock game, no mods required? Kinda like the Odessa stuff? Are they using these same tools to make their map already or something else?

[EAF19_Marsh]

Crikey. I have never used mods. Sounds like I need to get up to speed.

[Lusekofte]

I am normalt vert happy for mods. Coming from an old il 2 modding place. They tend to make the game prettier. Improved. 
But in games under development and evolvement like GB and DCS I am reluctant. Mods are a bitch when they crash a game after a patch. Seen regularly in DCs.  
So I do not use them. Except from a couple in DCs Herc and A 4. 
I would not recommend a too free mod experience into GB until it no longer is supported. 

[AEthelraedUnraed]

21 hours ago, Sneaksie said:

The changes to the forest, water and height maps are stored in the files of the map itself, not the mission files.

Do I understand correctly that height map modifications will be unlocked for all users? (Note for the uninitiated: editing water/forest maps has already been possible for years using the "ROF Tools"; however modifiying the height map results in an error message about the map not being enabled for your account.)

  

21 hours ago, Sneaksie said:

to see them in the game you should enable mods or you'll see the default map files.

There is a workaround that allows one to specify a different map in the mission files, so that it doesn't overwrite the default files and hence doesn't require "Mods On". This allows mission writers to distribute relevant terrain changes along with their missions. But, as you said, doing so will tremendously increase the file size for the download.

 

For anyone interested, it's pretty much described in my Surface Editing Manual (see below). It only describes how to do it for surface.dat files, but the process works the same for the water/forest/height maps.

 

Edited February 9, 2024 by AEthelraedUnraed

[bzc3lk]

3 hours ago, EAF19_Marsh said:

Crikey. I have never used mods. Sounds like I need to get up to speed.

 

I have personally not had any major problems with using mods. You will sometimes get conflicts with mods, but I can generally figure out the offending mod and rectify the conflict. You must also remove any loaded mods before you update the game. I have included a screen shot below to show what the modded ground textures look like in game.

 

 

Spoiler

 

Edited February 9, 2024 by LukeFF
swastikas

[Youtch]

3 hours ago, bzc3lk said:

 

I have personally not had any major problems with using mods. You will sometimes get conflicts with mods, but I can generally figure out the offending mod and rectify the conflict. You must also remove any loaded mods before you update the game. I have included a screen shot below to show what the modded ground textures look like in game.

 

 

Spoiler

 

Which mode it is? Does it have an impact on performance?

[Jade_Monkey]

Cool surprises, both of them!

[bzc3lk]

5 minutes ago, Youtch said:

Which mode it is? Does it have an impact on performance?

 

I have various mods activated in a certain order as to allow some to overwrite others to achieve the results that I'm after.

 

I don't have any performance issues with my computer and it is an antique by today's standard.

 

I have included a screen shot of the mods I currently have loaded and the game runs perfectly.

 

[DragonDaddy]

15 hours ago, Gambit21 said:

 

Anyone who want's things to work. Both in DCS and IL2 mods can cause problems with missions. 

Worse in DCS, but the problem does occur in IL2. I've seen it multiple times. Users report a bug in a mission and ends up being due to mods. 

This problem could increase as the engine becomes more sophisticated, but remains to be seen.

 

 

There are a lot of good mods available that can make this game more interesting. No need to make people fearful of using them. Sure, they can cause problems if you install many at one time and create a conflict. JSGME or other programs like it make mod use much less risky. Most can be pretty easily undone. 

 

This problem could decrease as the engine becomes more sophisticated, but remains to be seen. Who knows? It’s all speculation! I prefer my glass half full. 
 

 

[Gambit21]

38 minutes ago, DragonDaddy said:

There are a lot of good mods available that can make this game more interesting. No need to make people fearful of using them. Sure, they can cause problems if you install many at one time and create a conflict. JSGME or other programs like it make mod use much less risky. Most can be pretty easily undone. 

 

This problem could decrease as the engine becomes more sophisticated, but remains to be seen. Who knows? It’s all speculation! I prefer my glass half full. 

I’m commenting based on direct experience with users - the end.

 

[DragonDaddy]

2 hours ago, Gambit21 said:

I’m commenting based on direct experience with users - the end.

 

I’m commenting based on user experience - me. ?

[Gambit21]

11 minutes ago, DragonDaddy said:

I’m commenting based on user experience - me. ?

Which is neither here nor there.

Come back when you create a few campaigns and have to field bug reports.

Have a nice day.

 

 

[LukeFF]

Watch the tone, please.

[GOA_Karaya_VR]

Thanks alot IL-2 team.

 

Karaya

[jollyjack]

Really look forward to the terrain editing ... a long time wish!

[Indigene]

Thank you kindly for the new Spit! Love IL-2!??

[354thFG_Drewm3i-VR]

6 hours ago, bzc3lk said:

 

I have personally not had any major problems with using mods. You will sometimes get conflicts with mods, but I can generally figure out the offending mod and rectify the conflict. You must also remove any loaded mods before you update the game. I have included a screen shot below to show what the modded ground textures look like in game.

 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Mod Rheinland Map Textures:

 

Edited February 9, 2024 by =DW=_Drewm3i-VR

[MAJ_stug41]

Wow, those rheinland textures look great, the ones presently in game are about as washed out as the eastern steppe.

[SYN_Vander]

2 hours ago, =DW=_Drewm3i-VR said:

Mod Rheinland Map Textures:

 

Are these modified Flying Circus textures? The colours look nice.

 

[354thFG_Drewm3i-VR]

4 minutes ago, SYN_Vander said:

Are these modified Flying Circus textures? The colours look nice.

 

Yes they modify the West Front Map textures, but also the Rheinland ones which are the worst in-game IMO. They are not my creations (I think they're Rheinland Tex Mod made by PicksKing), but are all in the IL-2 Enhanced Modpack over in the mods section, pinned at the top.

 

The WW1 no-mans land area in my mudpack is incredible thanks to the contributions of many modders. It looks like a whole different game to be honest. Way more realistic and alive.

Edited February 9, 2024 by =DW=_Drewm3i-VR

[Zephyrus52246]

Thanks for the freebie.

 

Mods?  I don't even have VR yet.  I need to get me some.  (I know the mods work without  VR). ?

 

Jeff

[CzechTexan]

The map editor is good news and I hope there will be more maps made in the future.  I've always would have liked to have a map of the Voronezh area, east of Kursk, for Operation Blue in 1942.  There were some large tank battles as well as Hungarian air force in action.  I recall my old IL-2 1946 "Voronezh Bellochka" campaign.

Perhaps some good person could make it ?

Edited February 10, 2024 by CzechTexan