Creating 3d Models for Il-2

[MaxPower]

Huh.  How does the shader and texture assignment work?

[Gambit21]

This goes back to what I said on the first page of the thread...which I said for reasons, having a bit of insight on this.

 

Possible but not possible.

[KFX1]

Very good point.  

I suppose one has to ask: 

What has changed since IL-2 1946 which benefitted greatly from Core game fans adding content?

 

I understand DEV need for their business model, however in my opinion the all or nothing approach is ham-stringing the game a bit. 

 

Release access to static models for creation and texturing. 

 

No one is trying to take the game away from the DEV, but add to it.  After all we are your customer base, it is prudent to listen to the customers needs, we love the game and want it to succeed also!

 

Examples of this:  Arma 3, Skyrim, IL-2 1946.

 

 

[MaxPower]

IIRC IL2 1946 was closed to all modding until well after its product life cycle.  I'm sure the mods for it now are tip top, but (also IIRC) initially the mods were pretty low quality and possibly game breaking.  I was really into mods, and was an ArmA modder myself, but the quality of the initial mods for 1946 caused me to nope out of there right off the bat.  I didn't stick around to see if things improved.

[AEthelraedUnraed]

2 hours ago, KFX1 said:

What has changed since IL-2 1946 which benefitted greatly from Core game fans adding content?

One has to keep in mind that in BoX, almost nothing is locked. Hence, almost all assets can be modded, with the exception of heightmaps and aircraft. 

 

I think the main difference between 1946 and BoX as well as the reason there haven't been many BoX mods yet, is probably the amount of detail. In 1946, maps, 3d models and even aircraft had so little detail that almost everyone with even a mediocrity of skills could make one. Right now, if you want something to have even remotely the same quality as the official assets, you're looking at hundreds or even thousands of hours of work, unless you're making something really small.

 

That said, I think there are plenty of "really small" static assets that could provide a bit more flavour to some of the maps and missions. All we need is an up-to-date exporter that doesn't run on the outdated 3DS Max 8 software. IMO the Devs could release their 3d exporter to the public while explicitly stating there will be no support, manuals or updates and there are likely bugs. The people with the knowhow to create quality 3d models would figure out how to use it themselves, while those who can't figure it out would likely not be able to create good enough 3d models anyhow.

[Skycat1969]

The IL-2 Forgotten Battles series (now 1946) wasn't moddable until after Pacific Fighters had been out for a while, and then a mysterious hack tool appeared that allowed players to crack the .sqs archives. The tool might have been secretly official, because by then 1C:Maddox Games was well into developing the sequel IL-2 Cliffs of Dover which was supposed to be a new series. While the eventual gain was hundreds of new aircraft and several new maps, the immediate effect was online cheating using hyper-modified flight models. I think that greatly killed the online scene, at least the with the unregulated dogfight servers.

 

I think the balance we have here is about right for this moment in IL-2 Great Battles's service life. Maybe the door could be cracked open a little more, I don't know.

Edited June 10 by Skycat1969

[sevenless]

24 minutes ago, AEthelraedUnraed said:

Right now, if you want something to have even remotely the same quality as the official assets, you're looking at hundreds or even thousands of hours of work, unless you're making something really small.

 

 

Exactly that. Imagine how many working hours are needed for finishing a collector plane and then calculate how many need to be sold to have at least break even. We can be happy for every plane we get until they pull the plug on GBs.

[Gambit21]

13 hours ago, KFX1 said:

Very good point.  

I suppose one has to ask: 

What has changed since IL-2 1946 which benefitted greatly from Core game fans adding content?

 

 

 

Easy - acceptable standards across the board. Models/mesh, textures, detail, fidelity. This isn’t 2003 anymore.

 

[=MERCS=JenkemJunkie]

How possible is it in the BoX/Korea engine to convert already existing stuff from other games/projects to be usable here? If we're talking free mods, not everything people would want needs to be stuff built from scratch with perfectly placed rivets. You can look at nexusmods.com and see all the crazy stuff people can import or alter when given the freedom.

[[CPT]Crunch]

8 hours ago, =MERCS=JenkemJunkie said:

How possible is it in the BoX/Korea engine to convert already existing stuff from other games/projects to be usable here? If we're talking free mods, not everything people would want needs to be stuff built from scratch with perfectly placed rivets. You can look at nexusmods.com and see all the crazy stuff people can import or alter when given the freedom.

So ripping off third party assets will never result in lawsuits against a money generating business, in what world does that go on uncontested?

[=MERCS=JenkemJunkie]

In the nexusmods.com world you can see models from games modded into other games. If 1C put that stuff in their official paid campaigns it could be a different story, but random users modding other games stuff into their own game happens all the time.

[AndyJWest]

52 minutes ago, =MERCS=JenkemJunkie said:

In the nexusmods.com world you can see models from games modded into other games. If 1C put that stuff in their official paid campaigns it could be a different story, but random users modding other games stuff into their own game happens all the time.

 

So does getting sued for intellectual property theft. Anything the developers did that even remotely looked like encouraging that would be not just risky, but downright stupid, given that they have to protect their own IP. If people want to engage in such antics, they'd be well advised to not even discuss it here. 

[MaxPower]

1 hour ago, =MERCS=JenkemJunkie said:

In the nexusmods.com world you can see models from games modded into other games. If 1C put that stuff in their official paid campaigns it could be a different story, but random users modding other games stuff into their own game happens all the time.

Yeah, I know.  This is the reason I am familiar with the DMCA takedown functionality in the Steam Workshop.  People steal my work and claim its theirs.  They try to put my stuff in other games or even back into the same game ??? like nobody would notice.  It's kind of pathetic.

[=MERCS=JenkemJunkie]

43 minutes ago, AndyJWest said:

 

So does getting sued for intellectual property theft. Anything the developers did that even remotely looked like encouraging that would be not just risky, but downright stupid, given that they have to protect their own IP. If people want to engage in such antics, they'd be well advised to not even discuss it here. 

It's not really something that would be encouraged by 1C. It's more like leaving the door open for people to do what their gonna do privately. It's definitely not for everyone though.

16 minutes ago, MaxPower said:

Yeah, I know.  This is the reason I am familiar with the DMCA takedown functionality in the Steam Workshop.  People steal my work and claim its theirs.  They try to put my stuff in other games or even back into the same game ??? like nobody would notice.  It's kind of pathetic.

Yeah that's douchey. Nexus has a system to flag things as open for remixes (with credit given) or not remixable, and would take stuff down in that situation too.

[Rei-sen]

On 6/9/2025 at 11:34 AM, MaxPower said:

I didn't stick around to see if things improved.

And you missed out a lot.

One of the reasons IL-2 1946 is still very popular is it's great modding community.

On 6/9/2025 at 10:21 PM, Gambit21 said:

Easy - acceptable standards across the board. Models/mesh, textures, detail, fidelity. This isn’t 2003 anymore.

 

There are plenty of 1946 mods that surpass original content.

More modern example would be Arma 3. Arma Reforger mods are growing as well.

[Art-J]

9 hours ago, AndyJWest said:

 

So does getting sued for intellectual property theft. Anything the developers did that even remotely looked like encouraging that would be not just risky, but downright stupid, given that they have to protect their own IP. If people want to engage in such antics, they'd be well advised to not even discuss it here. 

I think you're overestimating IP protection leverage. Assetto Corsa is a primary example here. Most of its absolutely massive modding repository out in the open is based on shameless rips from EA, Sony and Microsoft racing games. That's been the case for years, but even that big three can't do anything about it, nor can AC publisher (apart from banning any illegal modding discussion and content on their official communication platforms). As long as money doesn't change hands that is, but people are getting around that as well via "donations".

[Gambit21]

7 hours ago, Rei-sen said:

And you missed out a lot.

One of the reasons IL-2 1946 is still very popular is it's great modding community.

There are plenty of 1946 mods that surpass original content.

More modern example would be Arma 3. Arma Reforger mods are growing as well.

That has nothing at all to do with the point however - we are so far beyond that now,,even something in that game that surpassed the standard.

Edited June 11 by Gambit21

[IckyATLAS]

3 hours ago, Gambit21 said:

we are so far beyond that now

It reminded me that I was so fond of Hellcats over the Pacific and then the more sophisticated ( 😀 ) F18 Hornet from Graphic Simulations on Mac. On a powerful Mac (for the time, with coprocessor) it was very fluid, so flying was very pleasant, and reaction time excellent. The games were immersive. I put hours into them. Then I switched to PC and bought all along all the flight sims as they came. A few months ago I looked back at those two games and you can find some videos on Youtube about them. It was just horrible, everything was horrible, image, sound etc. At that time the brain had no other references in interactive flight sim games to compare except for static images or raytraced images calculated on computers worth millions etc. 

Today the brain has the present reference and what a shock looking back.

[Rei-sen]

5 hours ago, Gambit21 said:

That has nothing at all to do with the point however

If you just choose to ignore the rest of the post.

 

Btw, Assetto Corsa is another good example.

[MaxPower]

21 hours ago, Rei-sen said:

And you missed out a lot.

One of the reasons IL-2 1946 is still very popular is it's great modding community.

I don't exactly know when that content was delivered but I know how long it takes to mod stuff... and waiting for something decent to materialize would have been a waste of time at that point, frankly.  I get your point tho.  Now, 15 years later, and for some time, there's good mods for that ancient game.

[Gambit21]

9 hours ago, Rei-sen said:

If you just choose to ignore the rest of the post.

 

Not really - no disrespect.

I’ve helped with some DCS content so I have at least some peripheral knowledge here.

 

9 hours ago, Rei-sen said:

 

 

Btw, Assetto Corsa is another good example.

Not apples to apples for a few reasons - but sure.

 

Edited June 12 by Gambit21

[KFX1]

Glad to see so many responses.

 

This proved my point in a way.

 

There are a lot more individuals with 3D skills to enhance/add to current content.  Let's take flyable planes off the table and leave that for the DEVs.

 

All static game content, for example, could easily be added and improved, and "downgraded" to IL-2 Box (if that is your view) with Blender or other.

 

My point is that standardized fan content is a MUST for this great game to thrive.  Take a look at IL-2 BAT mod as an example.  Are there planes not fully up to scratch, sure, but it opens up the "world" to a more emmersive and historically driven environment.

 

But let us not focus on planes like I said, and frankly porting models from non-1C games is just stupid.

 

Building content for a game is time consuming.  That is why the DEVs need to open up the small stuff for Fan Content Creators.  It's the new reality for games like this, like it or not.

 

Anything less, and the DEVs are spinning there wheels on a downward spiral to Obsolescence.

[BlitzPig_EL]

I hate to break it to you, but, the current sim is on a downward spiral to obsolescence.  Further development is almost at it's end, and a new, improved sim is on the way.

It has ever been thus in this genre.

 

[MaxPower]

19 hours ago, KFX1 said:

standardized fan content

That's a bit of a weird concept.  "Oh you can work on your own time and give it to me for free, but you have to do it my way."  It's like kiss my joli derrière lol.

[[CPT]Crunch]

Free stuff is generally worth exactly that, nothing.  Someone working on their free time expect to wait forever, since time is never that cheap.