100% Noob needs advice.

[Huggy98]

G'day guys. As the title says. I fly mainly helo's in DCS so I like to use combined arms. That's both aircraft and ground units. I really like the look of Il2 and want to get into this type of game (minus the helo's of-course). What and where should I get these games/modules? The web store looks the better option but do they all play on the same servers? Thanks in advance.

[AndyJWest]

Where you buy stuff makes no difference as far as servers go. As for where to buy it, unless you particularly want to use Steam, you are better off buying off the web store, since it doesn't insist on you purchasing Stalingrad as a 'base game' (which it isn't), and because all the money goes to the devs.

 

Don't mix buying stuff from Steam with buying stuff from the store - it limits your options, and causes problems.

[Huggy98]

6 minutes ago, AndyJWest said:

Where you buy stuff makes no difference as far as servers go. As for where to buy it, unless you particularly want to use Steam, you are better off buying off the web store, since it doesn't insist on you purchasing Stalingrad as a 'base game' (which it isn't), and because all the money goes to the devs.

 

Don't mix buying stuff from Steam with buying stuff from the store - it limits your options, and causes problems.

Thanks for your advice m8. Much appreciated. If I buy tank crew. Does it comes with planes? If not which map should I also buy first?

[von_Tom]

1 hour ago, Huggy98 said:

If I buy tank crew. Does it comes with planes?

 

No

 

1 hour ago, Huggy98 said:

If not which map should I also buy first?

 

The one that has planes that you think you'll like.  That or the cheapest one.

 

To put this into context, it depends if you play multiplayer a lot.  Some servers are predominantly Normandy or Bodenplatte, some are Stalingrad and Kuban with a few Moscow and other maps thrown in.  They all use different aircraft.

 

As an alternative you can just buy a collector plane to fly around in - you get all of the content but can only fly in that one aircraft but it lets you figure out if you like it or not.

 

von Tom

[Huggy98]

3 hours ago, von_Tom said:

 

No

 

 

The one that has planes that you think you'll like.  That or the cheapest one.

 

To put this into context, it depends if you play multiplayer a lot.  Some servers are predominantly Normandy or Bodenplatte, some are Stalingrad and Kuban with a few Moscow and other maps thrown in.  They all use different aircraft.

 

As an alternative you can just buy a collector plane to fly around in - you get all of the content but can only fly in that one aircraft but it lets you figure out if you like it or not.

 

von Tom

Thanks m8. I got Stalingrad to start but I'm having troubles mapping the keys to move the turret.

[Dutch2]

Guess your talking about the planes turret, here is some interesting readings Tutorials

Then we have this guy at: YTlink

And the manual, old but but still valid: Manual

Think it will cover all of your (future) questions.

 

Edited April 21 by Dutch2

[GasTeddy]

3 hours ago, Huggy98 said:

Thanks m8. I got Stalingrad to start but I'm having troubles mapping the keys to move the turret.

 

You don't have a stick? I use this combination for tanking. All weapons in stick, drive functions in throttle. Views, zooms etc. are bit in both. Only map and some less used commands in mouse and keyboard. And radioman's mg, it cannot be aimed with stick. 

[AEthelraedUnraed]

13 hours ago, AndyJWest said:

Don't mix buying stuff from Steam with buying stuff from the store - it limits your options, and causes problems.

That's definitely not my experience; in fact the suggestion that it would limit your options is a complete falsehood. I like to use Steam for my games so I've bought BoS from Steam, and most of the other modules from the website. Never have I ever had any problems. I can buy everything from the web store and link it to Steam; I've got the exact same options as everyone.

 

Steam does offer a couple of clear advantages:

- One library for all your games.

- Easy installation, from fast servers.

- Easy and reliable updates that happen in the background, from fast servers.

[Skycat1969]

I'd say 20% of my content is from Steam (including Stalingrad and Flying Circus 1). In the old days there was some content that was only available from the webstore, but I think everything is now available on Steam as well. The only limitation I'm experiencing is that none of my Steam-purchased content is recognized in the webstore launcher. The Steam launcher recognizes all of my webstore content, and most of the time I use Steam anyhow.

[jollyjack]

On 4/21/2025 at 2:42 PM, AEthelraedUnraed said:

Steam does offer a couple of clear advantages:

- One library for all your games.

- Easy installation, from fast servers.

- Easy and reliable updates that happen in the background, from fast servers.

 

An keeps spying on you and mentioning spent bug finding as (happy?) playtime ... personally i still don't like steam

Edited April 25 by jollyjack

[AEthelraedUnraed]

On 4/23/2025 at 8:02 PM, jollyjack said:

An keeps spying on you and mentioning spent bug finding as (happy?) playtime

Please.... nowadays, every company "spies" on you in one way or another. That's no different for 1CGS than it is for Steam or any other company. As you can read in their privacy policy, 1CGS potentially keeps quite a lot of data on you. As does Steam. In a way, it's just a question of whether you prefer your personal information to be stored in the USA (Steam) or Russia (1CGS, as indicated in the Privacy Policy). For someone located in the EU, both options are sensitive choices at the moment.

 

Also, regarding "bug fixing", just have a look at the "Technical Issues and Bug Reports" section of the forum and you'll see that the occurrence of bugs is not particularly related to the Steam version

 

There are some good reasons to buy stuff from the 1CGS store, such as all money going to the Devs. But please don't present your personal opinion about Steam as facts.

[Aapje]

17 hours ago, AEthelraedUnraed said:

Also, regarding "bug fixing", just have a look at the "Technical Issues and Bug Reports" section of the forum and you'll see that the occurrence of bugs is not particularly related to the Steam version

 

His comment seemed to be more about not being able to get a refund after two hours of running the software, even when those two hours have been spend on getting the software to run.

 

That said, the user agreement for GB suggests that you can't get a refund if you run the game at all.