New Game Launcher, New Set Up

[DD_Arthur]

Excellent!

Hey, we're better than the devs at formation flying.   Tempest looks fantastic but that was first video glimpse of the Boddenplatte map, no?

I must say it's the P38 that really gets me excited. 

[Sid]

What a fantastic sim and fighter collection this is turning out to be!!! 

[DD_Fenrir]

On 8/30/2019 at 8:43 PM, DD_Arthur said:

I must say it's the P38 that really gets me excited. 

As it rightly should.

I knew there was a reason I liked you Arthur.

[DD_Arthur]

In VR!

Map is going to be bonkers too....

The area around airfield B 95 seems especially suitable for ground attack;  bridges, ferries, river crossings in general, model shops, pushbikes, etc. 

[DD_Arthur]

@FT; have Deventer and Apeldoorn been swapped?

[FoolTrottel]

Yes, they have indeed!

I've made a remark on it already, where Jason was asking for information on airfields on the map

[DD_Arthur]

https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/168-developer-diary/?do=findComment&comment=818033

[Crash]

Looking good

Hello everybody,

We're in the second half of September and this means that the next update 3.201 isn't far away. This one will be massive and will bring a lot of new content as well. Three player controllable aircraft, AI bomber, new AI ground vehicles and of course, the new map - Rheinland. This map tops the records once again: 130 000 square kilometers of reachable terrain (401 x 324 km), 176 000 square kilometers total size (461 x 384 km), 225 cities and towns - a record number of big cities, 70 airfields - 67 of them have historically correct layout recreated using archive documents. For increased detail and historical accuracy, for the first time, we have used 4 airfield types on the same map - with concrete, metal, and unpaved runways and airstrips without runways.

 

To populate the map with European buildings on such a large scale new 'construction kit' of European city blocks was created - this allowed to represent highly populated cities while keeping the general layout of the city where they belong. There are new models for big factories and many unique buildings and we also actively used the bridges 'construction kit' which has been developed previously.

 

Landscape features, especially in the hilly areas - deep river valleys, hills covered by forests and small reclusive towns create a special atmosphere.

 

 

Let's return to the urbanized areas - we're happy to announce that we were able to create a tech that allows displaying buildings three times farther than before. Rendering at such distances because of the enormous amount of buildings visible at the same time required heavy use of multi-threaded tech to prepare the data. We have made this feature optional for simmers that have a weaker PC. For such a map as Rheinland with many cities and towns, it really improves the perspective and the overall feel. Of course, it is useful for other maps too - for instance, it allows bomber pilots to spot their targets significantly sooner.

 

And as we announced before, for Bodenplatte we created AI ground vehicles with increased model and texture detail, 13 new types in total.

 

 

[DD_Arthur]

It's going to be BIG!!!!!

Hello everybody,

The next update 3.201 will be released really soon. In the previous Dev Diaries, we told what it will bring for Bodenplatte, but it will also contain many improvements for other projects as well. Let's start with Tank Crew.

The first important feature (not only for tanks, but it is especially important for them) is the new occlusion system for object markers. Now ground and aerial object markers will be occluded by other moving objects, cockpit elements, hills, trees buildings, etc. It should really pump up the tension of battle even in the 'markers on' mode.

Second, we have changed the way a turret (or closed sights MGs like bow MG-34) is steered on all tanks, now it moves like on M4A2 before and there is a special overlay indicator showing the set turret direction.

In addition, all the Tank Crew player controllable tanks now have improved engine startup procedures, both visually and audibly. Pz. IV and M4 have autonomous turret traverse mode working with effects and animations. The tanks handling has been improved. Many of them have their interiors and some exterior details updated.

Two historical campaigns set near Prokhorovka designed by Alexander Timoshokov and Victor Sechnoy are finished and their beta testing should start next week along with the commander interface for controlling the crew and an entire platoon. To create correct mission scenarios, a lot of effort has been put into research - just their briefings have enough text to fill up 40 book pages. Ground AI improvements required a lot of time as well. We plan to release these campaigns to all Tank Crew owners in October.

 

 

Now onto Flying Circus. The coming update will include the Arras area map (1918). The cities, towns, and airfields recreate the atmosphere of the era believably. The designers paid special attention to smaller details in the airfield buildings. The towns have trade squares, suburban blocks and more detailed factory areas. There are barbed wire and dugouts on no-mans-land. Together with the latest technologies available in IL-2 engine, the new Arras map will give the aviators of the Great War the next level of immersive flight and dogfights above the Western Front positions.

 

 

 

 

Returning to Bodenplatte, we're glad to report that we have found the means of increasing visual quality of Tempest Mk.V even more. Since the end of Summer, our artists worked on the texturing and materials and you can see the result on these screenshots.

 

The aircraft released in the previous TOWs also gets attention - Battle of Stalingrad owners will see IL-2 mod. 1942 and Bf 109 G-2 skins updated to 4K quality thanks to Martin =ICDP= Catney and Neeraj =BlackHellHound1= Bindraban. But not only visuals are being upgraded for our previous projects - we're also working on some sound improvements. For instance, DB-601 and BD-605 engine sounds installed on Bf-109s and Bf-110s will become more realistic in 3.201.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Crash]

Yes indeedy

Just moved GBS and DCS onto a new M2 1TB drive

[DD_Arthur]

Hoping for a Monday release as I've got a - cough - non-pupil day on Tuesday so I can play BoS all day celebrate my wife's birthday

[DD_Arthur]

What fantastic timing!!

https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/12826-game-updates/page/2/?tab=comments#comment-824612

[Max Sam]

On 9/13/2019 at 2:52 PM, DD_Arthur said:

https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/168-developer-diary/?do=findComment&comment=818033

Awesome!!!

[FoolTrottel]

On 9/12/2019 at 7:29 PM, DD_Arthur said:

@FT; have Deventer and Apeldoorn been swapped?

Well, they kinda fixed this... By simply deleting my hometown all together.

Road and railroad are there, crossing the river - but no bridges there .... lol

Was it something I said ?  

[DD_Arthur]

Vander has updated his mission generator too!

[FoolTrottel]

Testing that v20 it right now... and ... selecting the P-51D-15 in the Lobby screen just shows the wait symbol... endlessly. Dserver looks fine, as in mission loaded, and shows me connected... will keep trying ...

 

[FoolTrottel]

Same goes for a P38 mission - please wait...

Have you had any luck hosting a coop with new stuff in it Arthur?

[FoolTrottel]

Hm, same issue using traditional maps and a/c.... oh well...

[DD_Arthur]

Yep, same here.  Can create a coop and it will load but when you actually click on a plane in the loading screen the little wagon wheel thingy just keeps going round and round and.........

I wonder if I can create a dogfight mission with it?

[DD_Arthur]

Spent an hour tonight on a Flying Circus dogfight server put up by someone who had created it using Vander's generator and was hosting from his own pc. 

Very good fun indeed.  Returning from my dawn patrol I managed to bounce the host and his wingman. 

Didn't quite end how I'd planned it but we all ended up on the ground........ 

 

On my second sortie I tried the same tactics;  a wide, climbing sweep over the front into Hunland and then a return with the rising sun at my back to try and bushwack the bosche.

In VR this is all magnificent but what I thought was an Albatros DVa turned out to be a Halberstadt CL.2 equipped with a Becker 20mm autocannon with which the a.i. gunner proved to be a bit naughty

 

[DD_Arthur]

After eating a JU88

 

[Crash]

more stuff

233

 

Hello!

 

We continue our movement toward the release of Battle of Bodenplatte, but even near the finish line we still find opportunities to improve the entire project. This time we found a way to implement a significant optimization to part of the graphics engine that is responsible for displaying the clouds. In addition to a significant increase in FPS on existing cloud settings, this allowed us to add an additional setting for the cloud quality called "Extreme". This option is named so because it combines somewhat increased performance with a significant reduction of the “boiling” clouds effect which appears when looking sideways from the direction of movement. We have also significantly increased the clarity of cloud shapes and boundaries. Our clouds always looked nice on the high settings, but with the addition of this new option their visual quality and realism has significantly increased. However, it is better to see an example:

 

 

Work on the Tank Crew project is still in full swing, and new additions can be expected in the coming months. First, at the end of October, the project acquires its main gameplay component- two Scripted Campaigns based on historical events of the Battle of Prokhorovka. Second, our next update will include new command functionality for the tank and tank the platoon commander. Third, before the end of the year, we expect our partners from DigitalForms to complete two new armored vehicles - the Soviet self-propelled artillery SU-122 and the German medium tank Panzerkampfwagen V "Panther". The 3-dimensional model of the Panther exterior is in a high degree of readiness whereas the SU-122 has already been completed and work is underway on texturing the interior and creating its crew animations:

 

 

 

[Crash]

Collector planes annpunced

Dear Pilots!

 

It’s our great pleasure to officially announce that our next Collector Planes for the IL-2 Sturmovik: Great Battles series will be the – Yak-9, Yak-9T and the Hurricane Mk.II.

 

Both of these aircraft, or I should probably say all three of these aircraft, were important designs that were workhorses of their day that made great contributions to the war effort on several fronts.

 

These particular planes were chosen so we can offer an even more diverse and well-rounded plane-set that benefits primarily our Eastern Front products, which we still care deeply about and as of now, the majority of our customers own the most of.

 

The Yak-9 came in many different flavors and it derived from the robust Yak-7b design. The Yak-9 was used over many important Eastern Front battles and was a very versatile and reliable airframe. It was the most produced Soviet fighter of the war. The famous Normandie Niemen pilots also used a variant of the Yak-9 in combat as did many successful front-line Soviet units. The Yak-9 was light and maneuverable at low altitudes and gave her pilots a real chance against the Bf-109 and Fw-190s of it’s day although it was less armed than its German adversaries.

 

However, the Yak-9T came packing the NS37 37mm cannon in the nose which was a heavy hitter. A 37mm round can do some serious damage to not only enemy airplanes, but also vehicles and armor. Due to the bigger length of the 37mm cannon, the cockpit of the -9T had to be moved rearward about 400mm to accommodate it, slightly changing its lovely profile. The Yak-9 was an important aircraft for the Soviet Union and will make an excellent addition to the IL-2 Great Battles Series!

 

The legendary Hurricane, which was built by Hawker, became famous in the west for winning the Battle of Britain and for the many sorties flown in the Mediterranean and North Africa theaters. However, it was also widely flown on the Eastern Front as a Lend-Lease product and saw much combat over the vast landscape of the Soviet Union.

 

Hurricanes were one of the very first Lend Lease types to reach the Soviet Union and they were pressed into service right away as a stop-gap fighter as Soviet industry moved eastward to safer locations. It would eventually be joined or replaced by other Lend Lease designs like the Kittyhawk and Airacobra and newer Soviet designs, but the Hurricane soldiered on in many combat roles across several fronts including Stalingrad and Moscow. They were also heavily used on the Northern sectors to protect important warm water ports.

 

Soviet ground crews also employed several weapon modifications which had a heavier punch than its original Browning machine guns. We hope to model most of these modifications. The Hurricane in Soviet service was a lengthy affair that deserves inclusion in IL-2 Great Battles.

 

Without further delay, here are some very early Work-In-Progress renders of the Yak-9 and Hurricane in production. As is customary, Pre-Orders for these planes will commence in just a couple weeks and they will be ready for duty first half of next year. Remember, that by purchasing Collector Planes you allow us to continue to make important and interesting aircraft that we may not have been able to include in our main titles.

 

   

 

   

 

 

   

 

   

 

The Sturmovik Team

[FoolTrottel]

Cool!

[Crash]

Dear Friends,

October has ended and we'll release the next update very soon - once again it will be a huge and very important milestone for our project. Version 4.001 is the release of Bodenplatte and Flying Circus, but it is also a huge step forward for Tank Crew.

For Bodenplatte, this update will bring the previously missing parts - the promised 4 seasons of its map and Battle of Rheinland Career timeframe. The Career required a huge amount of work - 115 squadrons, 65 of them are joinable by the player, operate from 70 airfields (most of them are correctly recreated using historical layouts) according to historical images and data. It should be noted that we'll continue to improve both the Battle of Rheinland Career and Rheinland maps after the release.

 

Flying Circus has its scenery finished - our partners from Yugra Media have finished the development of the ground vehicles and artillery and the Amiens cathedral. Please note that AI-controlled ground objects both for Flying Circus and Bodenplatte (Allied ones) are made at the next level of detail, previously unseen in the series. With this content added, Flying Circus is now complete as it was planned and announced.

 

Tank Crew players get the three important gameplay elements which the project lacked before - scenario campaigns, player tank and tank platoon commander functionality, and radio messages.

To give orders as a tank commander, turn the autopilot from the driver seat by pressing A key, then switch to the commander station and press ~ (tilde) key to open the orders menu. After that, you can use the cursor to point at a target or place on the ground and choose what to do, i.e. attack it or move to it, and choose who you're giving the order to - your own tank, entire platoon or a selected tank in the platoon. There are also many commands that don't require selecting a point or a target - change formation and spacing, speed, turn at various degrees, move forward or backward, change ammo type, fire from stops, while moving slow or moving at full speed, temporary stop, cease firing and so on).

Two historical scenario campaigns included with the Tank Crew - Clash at Prokhorovka tell about the heavy and strenuous fighting that took place there. The campaigns themselves were designed to not only entertain but also to tell about these events with the highest degree of historical accuracy possible in our sim. 20 scenarios (10 in Soviet and 10 in German campaign) were painstakingly recreated using real combat reports and the latest works of Russian and Western historians who specialize in these events. All the details like location and time, weather, approximate unit strength and composition, movement routes, operative decisions of the commanders of various ranks, artillery and air bombardments made it in.

A good illustration of the attention to detail in modeling the combat are the briefings of the first missions of Breaking point and Last chance campaigns. Here are also some screenshots taken just in these two missions that show the intensiveness of these dramatic events.

And don’t forget that this update also includes the Achtung Spitfire! Scripted Campaign created by The Syndicate. It includes 20 interesting and historically inspired missions in the beautiful Kuban theater of operations. We think you will enjoy it. Thanks to all who have already pre-purchased it. It all adds up and keeps us going!

____________________

Breacking Point - Chapter 1: Difficult start

At dawn on July 5, 1943, the German 4th Panzer Army (PA) launched its main attack on the positions of the 6th Guards Army. Despite stubborn resistance from the troops of 52nd Guards Rifle Division (GRD), by the end of the day, the formations of the German 2nd Paul Hausser Panzer Corps broke through the first defensive line of the 6th GA and reached the perimeter of the 2nd defensive line near Kozmo-Demyanovka with the support of the 8th Air Corps. The 22nd Guards Rifle Corps (GRC) was defending the flanks alongside the 375th Rifle Division and managed to keep the enemy from breaking through the first line.

After determining the direction of the main attack, by the end of July 5, the VF command was forced to push almost all of its operating reserves to the front line, consisting of the 1st Tank Army, one rifle corps and two tank corps, as well as artillery formations. Unable to further influence the situation, General Vatutin requested that the Supreme Command Headquarters strengthen the front line with strategic reserves.

The 1st Tank Army led by Lieutenant General M.E. Katukov secured the Oboyan axis and was supposed to defend the Melovoe - Yakovlevo section, the 2nd Tatsinskiy Guards Tank Corps led by Colonel A.S. Burdeyny was tasked with covering Gostishchevo, and the 5th Stalingradsky Guards Tank Corps led by Major General A.G. Kravchenko had to cover the Prokhorovka axis. On July 6, at 5:00, the 5th Guards Tank Corps, including the 20th, 21st and 22nd Guards Tank Brigades (GTB), the 6th Guards Motorised Rifle Brigade (GMRB) and the 48th Heavy Аssault Tank Regiment reached the Ozerovskiy khutor – Kozinka urochishche – Teterevino line.

Combat operations began at dawn on July 6, on the sections of the 375th Rifle Division and the 22nd GRC, and it was not until 11:00 that the main forces of the German II Panzer Corps launched an offensive. After receiving a report that there had been a breakthrough in the positions of the 51st GRD defending the second army line, General Vatutin issued the order to counterattack with the forces of the 1st TA, 2nd and 5th Guards Tank Corps (GTC) on the flanks of the enemy's tank spearhead. At the same time, Pz.Gr.Div. Das Reich, pursuing the units of the 51st GRD and 5th GTC that had been pushed out of Luchki, attacked in the direction of Ozerovsky khutor and in the direction of Sabachevsky khutor – Kalinin khutor. The frontal counterattack carried out by the forces of the 22th GTB was unsuccessful, and by 16:30, the 21st and 22nd GTB, as well as the 48th Guards Heavy Аssault Tank Regiment were surrounded near Kozinka urochishche.

 

 

'... Waiting was exhausting. After a long night march, our 20th Guards Tank Brigade took up defensive positions in Teterevino, waiting for the enemy to attack in the morning. However, the German soldiers were clearly not in a hurry and only launched their offensive at about midday and somewhat away from our positions. The main forces of the corps had been fighting for a long time and, judging by the abrupt and panicky radio messages, their situation was extremely difficult. We continued to wait while our comrades were fighting and dying somewhere else. The order to advance was only received from the corps commander at about 17:00.

... I arrived at the brigade in late 1942 as junior lieutenant, when it was being restructured in the Tambov tank camps. If it hadn't been for my experienced crew, who had already experienced the smell of powder at Stalingrad, I would have hardly survived the subsequent events. In the gruelling battles for Gorshechnoye and Kastornoye near Voronezh in January 1943, the brigade lost almost all its equipment in just 7 days, and the commanders of both the tank and motorized rifle battalions were killed. In February, our forces were replenished again, but after an unsuccessful battle near Kharkov in late March, the brigade was finally taken out for restructuring. In early summer, I was given command of a platoon, and now I had to lead men, who were just boys yesterday, in their first battle and take full responsibility for them.'

 

 

Date: July 6, 1943
Time: 17:30
Formation: 20th GTB of the 5th GTC

Combat mission: after breaching the defences of the 51st GRD, the enemy strikes in the direction of Kalinin khutor – Belenikhino station. The order was given to advance the 45th and 250th Tank Battalions to the forest north of Sabachevsky khutor leaving one tank company in Teterevino, thereby preventing the enemy from spreading in the direction of Belenikhino.

Call sign of the battalion commander: Badger-1
Call sign of the company commander: Wolf-1
Your call sign: Wolf-8

Additional instructions: you command the third platoon of the 1st Company of the 250th Tank Battalion. Follow the battalion commander in the northwest direction to Sabachevsky khutor, following all orders.

 

____________________

Last Chance - Chapter 1: Big plans

The main strike of the German 4th Panzer Army came at dawn on July 5, 1943; it was aimed at the positions held by the 6th Guards Army. The XLVIII Panzer Corps advanced from the Butovo – Cherkassy area along the road to Yakovlevo, and the II Panzer Corps, made up of the Panzer-Grenadier-Divisions Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler (LAH), Das Reich and Totenkopf advanced along the Tomarovka – Bykovka – Yakovlevo road. At the beginning of the operation, the II Panzer Corps had 390 tanks, 104 assault guns and 98 self-propelled guns as well as combat forces of 39,106 men. The 238th artillery regiment and the 3rd Mortar Division were attached to the II Corps.

Despite heavy resistance from the 52nd Guards Rifle Division (GRD), by the end of the day, units of the II Panzer Corps, supported by aviation of the VIII Air Corps, broke through the enemy's first defensive line and were facing the front of the second defensive line in the Kozmo-Demyanovka area. Operating on the flanks, the XLVIII Panzer Corps and Army Detachment Kempf, were unable to make headway. According to the plan, by the evening of July 5, the 4th Panzer Army should have breached both defensive lines, approached the crossings near the Psel river and continued on to Prokhorovka, so the entire schedule of the Operation Citadel collapsed in its very first hours.

On July 6, the II Panzer Corps was ordered to breach the second defensive line of the 6th Guards Army. On the Yakovlevo – Luchki section, they were to attack in the northeastern direction, destroying the Soviet mobile reserves. By 06:00, only Pz.Gr.Div. Totenkopf had engaged in active combat at the line held by the 375th Rifle Division. It was not until 11:00 that, after half an hour of artillery barrage, the Corps' main forces joined the offensive. After breaking through the lines of the 51st GRD, a combat team from the Das Reich Division rushed to the Luchki – Kalinin khutor direction, while Pz.Gr.Div. LAH captured the southern part of Yakovlevo and continued its offensive on Northern Luchki. By that time, the Soviet command decided to counter-attack with all available reserves—namely, the 1st Tank Army as well as the 2nd and 5th Guards Tank Corps, striking at the flanks of Hausser's Corps.

 

 

'... I stuck my head out of my command hatch and watched as four Messerschmitts leapt northward, followed by nine dive bombers. The Junkers circled and began to take turns nose-diving and dropping their deadly load on targets we couldn't see but that we knew were in the Russian position. Spurts of flame and plumes of smoke swept into the sky, shortly followed by the sound of explosions. The Stukas had finished their work and began to withdraw, when two flights of Focke-Wulfs arrived, attacking the enemy with equal ferocity. Our aviation had been operating flawlessly that day, providing invaluable support to the division. We hardly saw any Russian planes that day.

Suddenly, the radio came alive, and I immediately retired to the turret, pressed my headphones to my head and tried to make the message out from the static. After our grenadiers had taken over Luchki, the 6th and 7th Panzer companies immediately moved on in the direction of Sabachevskiy khutor and were now reporting a clash with numerous Soviet tanks, asking for support. The battalion commander contacted us and ordered that our company, which was temporarily on standby, should prepare for immediate deployment. The short rest was over'.

 

 

Date: July 6, 1943
Time: 16:00
Unit: 2nd Panzer Regiment of the Pz.Gr.Div. Das Reich

Combat mission: the defeated enemy units are retreating northward, constantly trying to counter-attack. The 5th Company is ordered to support the tanks of the 6th and 7th Companies fighting north of Luchki and then strike in the direction of Sabachevskiy khutor.

Call sign of the commander of the 5th Company: Puma-1
Call sign of the commander of the 1st platoon: Jaguar-1
Your call sign: Wolf-1

Additional instructions: you command the second platoon of the 5th Company of the 2nd Panzer Battalion. Follow the tanks of the first platoon northward, following the orders of the Company commander.