New Players start here ...

[sledgehammer2]

Hello all, I was an IL2 Forgotten Battles and 1946 player back from around 2004-2011, give or take. Walked away from it and now after all these years I'm thinking about getting back into it. Just trying to get a first post in so I can really start using the forums.

[JimTM]

47 minutes ago, sledgehammer2 said:

Hello all, I was an IL2 Forgotten Battles and 1946 player back from around 2004-2011, give or take. Walked away from it and now after all these years I'm thinking about getting back into it. Just trying to get a first post in so I can really start using the forums.

 

Welcome sledgehammer2. Have a look at the resources listed in this post.

[sledgehammer2]

Thank you sir! I will. I've got quite a long road ahead of me before I actually get back in the air. I've got to figure out what kind of computer I will get and then all the peripherals. About all I have accomplished at this point is sorting out how IL2 1946 has evolved and deciding what I want. I'm excited about Great Battles. And I think I'll go Stalingrad/Bodenplatte/Normandy. I wish there was a Pacific option but I've done some digging through the forums and I see that GB hasn't made it back to there. 

[AEthelraedUnraed]

3 hours ago, sledgehammer2 said:

Hello all, I was an IL2 Forgotten Battles and 1946 player back from around 2004-2011, give or take. Walked away from it and now after all these years I'm thinking about getting back into it. Just trying to get a first post in so I can really start using the forums.

That's about the exact same time that I played the original IL2 series before I too walked away from it for a while. I bought IL2 BOS in late 2018, I think, and I've been hooked ever since

 

2 hours ago, sledgehammer2 said:

Thank you sir! I will. I've got quite a long road ahead of me before I actually get back in the air. I've got to figure out what kind of computer I will get and then all the peripherals. About all I have accomplished at this point is sorting out how IL2 1946 has evolved and deciding what I want. I'm excited about Great Battles. And I think I'll go Stalingrad/Bodenplatte/Normandy. I wish there was a Pacific option but I've done some digging through the forums and I see that GB hasn't made it back to there. 

Regarding a computer, if you need any advice, be sure to check the hardware forum. Also, if your financial situation allows it, I can really recommend VR. It's simply fantastic and adds a whole new dimension to the game (quite literally), even on low graphics settings. Motion sickness is not nearly as much of a problem as with many other VR games, and I can and do play for hours on end without getting sick. I'm not suggesting that you immediately go all-in right away, but given that you indicate you need a new computer, I recommend to at least buy a VR-ready system so that you can always switch to VR in the future. Oh, and be aware that this is a horrible time to buy new hardware, given the worldwide chip crisis. Prices are way above what they would normally be, so if you've got some old hardware that still runs the game, you may want to keep using it until prices have returned to normal.

 

As for the modules, do you use Steam? If so, you'll have to buy BoS (Battle of Stalingrad) first on Steam, after that you can buy additional modules on either the website or Steam - website ensures that all money goes to the Devs. If you don't use Steam, you can simply buy whatever module you want from the website. Either way, there are sales every few months or so with discounts of up to 85% for older content. Stalingrad has a good mix of mid-war German and Russian aircraft, BoM (Moscow) has slower but very agile 1941 planes over a wooded map, BoK (Kuban) is an interesting mix of mid-war Soviet, German and US planes over what is often said to be the most beautiful map yet, while BoBP (Bodenplatte) gives you some high-speed late-war action on the Western front. BoN (Normandy) looks promising, but if you decide to buy it, be aware that it is still in Alpha. Meaning that only about half of the aircraft have been released so far; the remaining aircraft and the map might still take a year or so to complete.

[JimTM]

2 hours ago, sledgehammer2 said:

Thank you sir! I will. I've got quite a long road ahead of me before I actually get back in the air. I've got to figure out what kind of computer I will get and then all the peripherals. About all I have accomplished at this point is sorting out how IL2 1946 has evolved and deciding what I want. I'm excited about Great Battles. And I think I'll go Stalingrad/Bodenplatte/Normandy. I wish there was a Pacific option but I've done some digging through the forums and I see that GB hasn't made it back to there. 

 

Be sure to check out the article IL-2: Great Battles – Which one should I buy?, by ShamrockOneFive in his great Stormbirds blog.

 

The developers would like to go to the Pacific but they have said that there is not enough detailed data for the Japanese aircraft to do it the way they want to at the moment.

Edited September 2, 2021 by JimTM

[sledgehammer2]

10 hours ago, AEthelraedUnraed said:

Regarding a computer, if you need any advice, be sure to check the hardware forum. Also, if your financial situation allows it, I can really recommend VR. It's simply fantastic and adds a whole new dimension to the game (quite literally), even on low graphics settings. Motion sickness is not nearly as much of a problem as with many other VR games, and I can and do play for hours on end without getting sick. I'm not suggesting that you immediately go all-in right away, but given that you indicate you need a new computer, I recommend to at least buy a VR-ready system so that you can always switch to VR in the future. Oh, and be aware that this is a horrible time to buy new hardware, given the worldwide chip crisis. Prices are way above what they would normally be, so if you've got some old hardware that still runs the game, you may want to keep using it until prices have returned to normal.

 

I have been looking at some you tube vids of some VR stuff. It looks amazing. My thought was that I would try to get a system that would be capable of handling that, but start off with maybe TrackIR or one of the other options that would be simpler to use and set up. I used TrackIR back not long after it came out. My tech skills are not the greatest lol. 

10 hours ago, AEthelraedUnraed said:

As for the modules, do you use Steam? If so, you'll have to buy BoS (Battle of Stalingrad) first on Steam, after that you can buy additional modules on either the website or Steam - website ensures that all money goes to the Devs. If you don't use Steam, you can simply buy whatever module you want from the website. Either way, there are sales every few months or so with discounts of up to 85% for older content. Stalingrad has a good mix of mid-war German and Russian aircraft, BoM (Moscow) has slower but very agile 1941 planes over a wooded map, BoK (Kuban) is an interesting mix of mid-war Soviet, German and US planes over what is often said to be the most beautiful map yet, while BoBP (Bodenplatte) gives you some high-speed late-war action on the Western front. BoN (Normandy) looks promising, but if you decide to buy it, be aware that it is still in Alpha. Meaning that only about half of the aircraft have been released so far; the remaining aircraft and the map might still take a year or so to complete

 

I wasn't planning on going the Steam route... rather just buying from the IL2 website. My playing back years ago was always just single player and I'll probably keep doing it that way. 

 

As far as chip prices.... good to know but guys, I'm a long way from making a move on that. I've just got to figure out what system to get. The only computer I have right now is my laptop and no way am I going to play IL2 on that. My hope is to get at least 3 monitors. I've been so far out of all this it's pretty ridiculous. By the time I start buying hardware Normandy will be out of Alpha probably. 

10 hours ago, JimTM said:

 

Be sure to check out the article IL-2: Great Battles – Which one should I buy?, by ShamrockOneFive in his great Stormbirds blog.

 

The developers would like to go to the Pacific but they have said that there is not enough detailed data for the Japanese aircraft to do it the way they want to at the moment.

Great article - I read it. Thanks.

1 minute ago, sledgehammer2 said:

The developers would like to go to the Pacific but they have said that there is not enough detailed data for the Japanese aircraft to do it the way they want to at the moment.

So that raises a question... and this will show how long I have been away.... I read that in another post from Jason, and also heard him say that in a video I saw somewhere in this forum. So does that mean Pacific Fighters was all just a big guess? Sorry if that is an ignorant question. 

[cardboard_killer]

1 hour ago, sledgehammer2 said:

So does that mean Pacific Fighters was all just a big guess?

 

I would say that the aim for accuracy in the BoX series is far higher than what was the aim two decades ago. But yes, many of the planes in the original IL-2/PF and especially the added user mods were effectively guesses based on hearsay flying characteristics and not engineering/testing data.

 

Based on that, I would not expect BoX to go to the PTO for at least many years if ever. If a lower level of accuracy and graphics is okay for you, then IL-2:1946 is still available for cheap for you to scratch your PTO itch.

[sledgehammer2]

4 minutes ago, cardboard_killer said:

I would say that the aim for accuracy in the BoX series is far higher than what was the aim two decades ago. But yes, many of the planes in the original IL-2/PF and especially the added user mods were effectively guesses based on hearsay flying characteristics and not engineering/testing data.

 

Based on that, I would not expect BoX to go to the PTO for at least many years if ever. If a lower level of accuracy and graphics is okay for you, then IL-2:1946 is still available for cheap for you to scratch your PTO itch.

Good to know. Thanks. Here is another stupid question.... what is BoX? I'm guessing it's Great Battles.

[BlitzPig_EL]

BoX is just shorthand for all the titles produced in this series.

 

Moscow, Stalingrad, Kuban, Bodenplatte, Normandy, also Tank Crew, and Flying Circus I and II.

[kissTheSky]

@sledgehammer2, if you’re in the US, check woot. From time to time they have decent prebuilt MSI desktops with RTX3080 GPUs (and 3090, but not as frequent as the RTX3080). They’re not the best, but they’re decent machines with a good graphics card and at msrp.  
 

if you can secure a pc with a good graphics card, I recommend get only one monitor and get a VR headset. I didn’t even get a monitor and am using a 7 year old one. The most use it gets is between the time the PC gets turned on and IL-2 starts. Theee monitors will run you as much as a G2 (if not more if you go with high-er end monitors)

[sledgehammer2]

Would the machine you mentioned support a VR headset? When I get to the point of getting a system my wish would be to get one that would support BoX at max settings. I have thought about a VR headset but honestly with my tech skills being on the low end I am apprehensive that it would be too much for me. 

[kissTheSky]

13 minutes ago, sledgehammer2 said:

Would the machine you mentioned support a VR headset? When I get to the point of getting a system my wish would be to get one that would support BoX at max settings. I have thought about a VR headset but honestly with my tech skills being on the low end I am apprehensive that it would be too much for me. 

I started playing in VR with an RTX 2080 Super, so an RTX 3080 would definitely is capable, but not at max settings. With my RTX 2080, I was playing at “Balanced” settings and 2x MXAA, mostly at 90 Hz. that was quite enough for me.
 

In all honesty, you should be able to play in high settings with an RTX 3090, but not sure about ultra settings. Setting up a Windows Mixed Reality (WMR) headset like the G2 is quite straightforward. I’m sure you’ll do fine. 

[BlitzPig_EL]

I run a 2070 Super and with a monitor I can max out the settings.  No comment on VR as I don't use it and won't in the future.

[sledgehammer2]

3 hours ago, kissTheSky said:

I started playing in VR with an RTX 2080 Super, so an RTX 3080 would definitely is capable, but not at max settings. With my RTX 2080, I was playing at “Balanced” settings and 2x MXAA, mostly at 90 Hz. that was quite enough for me.
 

In all honesty, you should be able to play in high settings with an RTX 3090, but not sure about ultra settings. Setting up a Windows Mixed Reality (WMR) headset like the G2 is quite straightforward. I’m sure you’ll do fine. 

OK. Good info. Thanks.

3 hours ago, BlitzPig_EL said:

I run a 2070 Super and with a monitor I can max out the settings.  No comment on VR as I don't use it and won't in the future.

Thanks for the info- - do you use another form of head tracking?

[BlitzPig_EL]

I have been using Track IR since the old days of the original IL2.  I now have TiR 5 with the Track Clip Pro.

 

I would recommend getting as much computer as you can stretch for.  A fast graphics card, lots of memory, and a powerful processor.  Buy once, cry once.  The price will be forgotten quickly, the excellent game play will last for years 

Edited September 3, 2021 by BlitzPig_EL

[sledgehammer2]

13 hours ago, BlitzPig_EL said:

I have been using Track IR since the old days of the original IL2.  I now have TiR 5 with the Track Clip Pro.

 

I would recommend getting as much computer as you can stretch for.  A fast graphics card, lots of memory, and a powerful processor.  Buy once, cry once.  The price will be forgotten quickly, the excellent game play will last for years 

 

My feelings too. I remember when TrackIR first came out and I used it in FB. With the latest TrackIR, can you move your head closer to the monitor and thereby see the instrument panel up close? I don't think on the old TrackIR that was an option but it's been many years ago. 

[Patricks]

25 minutes ago, sledgehammer2 said:

 

My feelings too. I remember when TrackIR first came out and I used it in FB. With the latest TrackIR, can you move your head closer to the monitor and thereby see the instrument panel up close? I don't think on the old TrackIR that was an option but it's been many years ago. 

 

It's the 6DOF that came out (I think) with TIR4, I had TIR3 originally and I don't believe it had the "zoom in\out capability..

[=WBR=Filbee]

I've recently started. Confused doesn't come close; so many controls using double keys  although I am beginning to sift out the unnecessary ones. One area which does still daunt me and that's the pilot views, obviously essential to staying alive! I'm used to the hat button on the JS from another sim I've played for years and that seemed to work fine. IL2 is so very different and I'd like advice since I don't have any other equipment (yet) such as Track IR. Also, what are the 3 columns for in the command assignment, is the default setting to be removed when re-assigning? Is one column dominant over the others? I've yet to find any reference to these questions although I'm still looking. Any advice will be gratefully received.

[kissTheSky]

2 hours ago, Filbee said:

I've recently started. Confused doesn't come close; so many controls using double keys  although I am beginning to sift out the unnecessary ones. One area which does still daunt me and that's the pilot views, obviously essential to staying alive! I'm used to the hat button on the JS from another sim I've played for years and that seemed to work fine. IL2 is so very different and I'd like advice since I don't have any other equipment (yet) such as Track IR. Also, what are the 3 columns for in the command assignment, is the default setting to be removed when re-assigning? Is one column dominant over the others? I've yet to find any reference to these questions although I'm still looking. Any advice will be gratefully received.

Welcome.

 

As far as I know, hat button(s) still work for POV. It’s just the incremental hat pushes that I can’t remember. As far as command “columns” go, no need to delete the keyboard commands. Basically second column is for your primary controller assignments, and third column is if you want ti have duplicates of those commands on other controllers. 

[=WBR=Filbee]

There are 3 columns: Default setting, column 2 sometimes has assigned keys and column 3 is usually blank. Which column will be the primary and which will be ignored?

[LukeFF]

19 minutes ago, Filbee said:

There are 3 columns: Default setting, column 2 sometimes has assigned keys and column 3 is usually blank. Which column will be the primary and which will be ignored?

 

If a column has an entry, it won't be ignored. 

[=WBR=Filbee]

so which column is primary or dominant?

 

[LukeFF]

17 minutes ago, Filbee said:

so which column is primary or dominant?

 

There is no primary column - if there is an entry there, it'll be used. This is so you can do things like map keyboard commands to a controller. Theoretically, you could have the first two columns all blank and have all your inputs in the third column, and everything would work fine. 

[InfernalVortex]

I need some major help.

 

I mostly play in VR. At some point I somehow hit the right magic combination of buttons while fumbling around on my keyboard for something else, and it toggled it to probably maximum zoom. Anyone who plays in VR knows the max zoom is... helpful sometimes but it really messed with your perception of things in the foreground. Enough to give you a headache if you're swiveling around at all. Anyway, any time I crash or get shot down (quite often), it snaps me into this spectate view that is massively overzoomed, headache inducing, and I cant even tell what it's pointed at.

 

I've spent 20 minutes trying various keys and keybinds to figure out which control is matched to the "zoom" function in VR while in spectate mode, and I just cant figure out what the heck it is. Nothing I do seems to make any impact. Even going through the menus in spectate mode is maximum zoom, so even trying to reset it is difficult. Does anyone have any idea how to "fix" it?

[=WBR=Filbee]

Hi Luke, thanks for the reply. The question now remains as to why there are 3 columns, have I missed something somewhere? Is it that I could map a function to 3 different buttons, none dominating and all responding? And does the mapping carry over to all aircraft and if not, does the game remember what's mapped for what?

[LukeFF]

1 hour ago, Filbee said:

Hi Luke, thanks for the reply. The question now remains as to why there are 3 columns, have I missed something somewhere? Is it that I could map a function to 3 different buttons, none dominating and all responding? And does the mapping carry over to all aircraft and if not, does the game remember what's mapped for what?

 

Yes, it's so you can map a function to different to different buttons or controllers (for instance, I map the buttons on my controllers directly inside the game, while at the same time retaining the default keyboard commands).

 

And yes, as of right now, it's one set of key mapping assigned to all planes. 

[sledgehammer2]

On 2/22/2016 at 4:15 PM, Nightshifter said:

Hello, I used to be skinner in the IL2 community up until around 2008-ish with IL2:1946 and I'm slowly trying to figure out the current community and thought I'd say "Hey".

 

~S~

Hi Nightshifter. I was around the same time as you and liker you I'm trying to figure out a way back in. I fell off the radar around 2010ish. 

[sledgehammer2]

On 3/24/2019 at 10:36 AM, JimTM said:

I cant use VR or TrackIR because I have a blood pressure issues . Have good day

Just curious.... what is the connection between TrackIR and blood pressure issues? I was planning on going the TrackIR route after I get a system built to get me back into this.

[JimTM]

11 minutes ago, sledgehammer2 said:

Just curious.... what is the connection between TrackIR and blood pressure issues? I was planning on going the TrackIR route after I get a system built to get me back into this.

 

That's not my comment sledgehammer2; I had quoted the comment before by @Sturm_Krieger.

Edited September 13, 2021 by JimTM

[sledgehammer2]

7 minutes ago, JimTM said:

 

That's not my comment sledgehammer2; I had quoted the comment before by @Sturm_Krieger.

I apologize. My forum skills are pretty rusty. Been away for a long time. It could be a prob for me so that's why I asked. 

[JimTM]

19 minutes ago, sledgehammer2 said:

I apologize. My forum skills are pretty rusty. Been away for a long time. It could be a prob for me so that's why I asked. 

No problem sledge. 

[JG27_Mainz]

I am a new player to IL-2 (although I have played other flight sims before), very excited to get into this game!

[Patricks]

8 hours ago, IV./JG51-P_Mainz said:

I am a new player to IL-2 (although I have played other flight sims before), very excited to get into this game!

 

Welcome... gonna take a WILD guess, you gravitate toward German aircraft? 

[JG27_Mainz]

1 hour ago, =LD=Icer said:

 

Welcome... gonna take a WILD guess, you gravitate toward German aircraft? 

My favorite fighters are the Fw 190 family, but I like Spitfires too!

[Patricks]

On 9/18/2021 at 3:34 PM, IV./JG51-P_Mainz said:

My favorite fighters are the Fw 190 family, but I like Spitfires too!

 

Now you sound like Adolf Galland... 

[DocDocbruno]

"And I think I'll go Stalingrad/Bodenplatte/Normandy."  Kuban is worth getting.

[Duce_de_Zoop]

Not sure if this is the right place to ask but:

 

Does strafing ships do anything? I know the larger Soviet rockets and most bombs work on ships, but I've never been able to tell if I'm doing any damage by strafing it.

[BlitzPig_EL]

You can destroy a ship's anti aircraft guns by strafing them, some of the smaller patrol craft can be sunk by aircraft gunfire. but larger river boats and any ocean going vessel are fairly immune to aircraft gunfire.

[FlyinCoffin]

Does the bf109 g2 has a manual prop pitch switch?

[=FEW=fernando11]

58 minutes ago, FlyinCoffin said:

Does the bf109 g2 has a manual prop pitch switch?

Yes. Im prety sure all bf109 have some sort of manual prop pitch. But to use it you need 3 diferent  key binding. One to switch the mode from default/auto into manual mode. And then two more KEY bindings for manual prop increase, and manual prop decrease pitch.

I say key, because IRL its done by a switch, not a leaver, so in il2 you need to asign it to a key/button/switch but NOT to a leaver/axis.