New Game Launcher, New Set Up

[Crash]

Doesn't it though

[Crash]

274

 

Hello Everyone!

 

Time does not stand still, just as work on the Battle for Normandy project does not stand still. Work is underway on various technologies as well as development of ground equipment, maps, aircraft and ships. As you know, the Battle of Normandy is an event most closely associated with the navy. And in order to reproduce some of these events, new types of ships and watercrafts will be introduced into the project. Along those lines, today we will show you a screenshot of development progress of the landing craft LCI (L) (Landing Craft Infantry, Large). This is a specialized vessel designed to land infantry units directly ashore, for which it is equipped with two gangways, on both sides of the bow.

 

 

And because Battle for Normandy is a project about combat aircraft, you are waiting patiently for news about the progress of aircraft in development. So here we have something new to show you today! It is the cockpit of the Hawker Typhoon Mk.Ib fighter-bomber. These screenshots were taken in the game world. Work on this aircraft is entering the final stage, and we plan to give it to everyone who pre-ordered the project at the very beginning of the summer.

 

 

[DD_Arthur]

Dear Friends,

 

As some of you who frequent our forums already know, Jason has recently announced that we're developing a new tech called DVD and invited you to guess what that actually means. There were different guesses and some of them were near misses. The answer is, DVD means Dynamic Visual Damage. In a nutshell, it places an impact mark where a projectile hit.

 

Among the many neat possibilities this tech brings, the size of the mark corresponds to the caliber of the projectile and/or explosive power of the shell if it was of the HE variety. They also look different depending on the material the projectile hit - whether it was armor, thin metal, or not a metal at all. There are also separate marks for ricochets of high caliber armor-piercing rounds. The look of these marks is thoroughly prepared by our partners at Digital Forms and is based on real-world photos of combat damage on different objects. The marks placed by this tech are not simple 2D textures - thanks to modern graphical techniques they have visual depth. Even the penetrations can look different such as near penetrations when the armor (barely) stopped a projectile. We concentrated on making these marks as realistic looking as possible.

 

All in all, we think this new tech would make the visual part of the damage system much more interesting and appealing both for aircraft and tanks. Tanks will be adapted first and then aircraft. It is a long-term project that will take several months.

 

Please be aware though that this tech is visual, it doesn't affect the physical interaction between the projectiles and aircraft and tank parts or systems. We're working on the improvements in the physical damage system as well, but we'll tell you more about that later. 

 

Speaking of this new DVD tech, we must note that due to ever complex issues of graphics performance and network traffic and stability, there are some limitations to what can be done. This may be apparent in some rare cases, but we have to mention them. In certain 'critical' cases the mark may not appear or a wrong mark type may appear (like a visual penetration when there was a near penetration in fact). There is also a limit to the total amount of marks that can be placed on the object. In multiplayer, you'll see the marks on your aircraft or tank, but you'll only see the marks on other player aircraft or tanks that appeared when they were in your view. To alleviate this limitation, we added a special transmission of the most recent marks to other players even if they were looking the other way.

 

Because of these compromises, the DVD tech doesn't replace the current visual damage system completely. The current system of visual 'damage levels' guarantees that every player in a multiplayer environment will get the visual cues on how badly a certain object is damaged. DVD is designed to enhance the existing visual damage system and we made every effort to make them work harmoniously during its development. Nevertheless, in multiplayer you'll see the marks on your aircraft and the marks on your opponents’ aircraft - which is the most important and critical application of this tech. If you saw the hits of someone else projectiles on another player, you'll also see these marks.

 

The limitations listed above, however, won't undermine the improved visual look of the damage system the new DVD tech will bring. We hope we have found the sweet spot between visual quality with the least impact on graphics performance and multiplayer. To illustrate the new system, we would like to show you these WIP in-game screenshots. 

 

 

[Crash]

Hello everybody,

 

Another week has passed and our work has moved another step forward. The Collector AAA vehicle, 25-mm automatic gun installed on the chassis of the GAZ-MM truck will be finished soon - the physical model of the truck is ready, as are the automatic gun animations and functioning, all animations of the chassis and the crew as well as gun ballistics and damage model are also done. The correction system for the gunsight that turned out to be incredibly complex kinematically is in. The unique audio and more detailed tech of the tires visualization and deformation are icing on the cake. All these elements have something new and are believed to be interesting for the end-user to familiarize with and learn something new. At the moment we're improving the visual look of the new vehicle, the texturing of the gun, and apply the new DVD tech we talked about in our previous Dev Blog to make the result the best.

 

 

Meanwhile, a part of our mapping department works on improving the railyards on the Rheinland map (Bodenplatte project). They aren't the most striking or shiny detail of the numerous cities on this map, but they do improve the overall visual look of the scene and make the landscape more realistic. This time we can show you the screenshots of the railroad structures in the cities of Cologne, Brussels, Bonn, Duisburg, Liege, Mainz, Frankfurt am Mein.

 

 

[Crash]

Jason said

Dear Pilots,

 

Good news on all fronts this week as we continue our march towards completion of Battle of Normandy and ramp up work on Flying Circus II. We hope to have some pics of the first FCII plane, the Nieuport 28 soon for you, but today we’ll stick to WWII.

 

As you already know, We have several aircraft in development and the closest, actually very close, to completion is the Spitfire Mk.XIV which is currently in beta testing. Below are a few pics. This plane is a beast with its Griffon engine and shooting down Doodlebugs with it is going to be a blast. Speaking of Buzz Bombs, our V-1 is going to be treated just like an aircraft. It will have a detailed damage model, so you can damage parts of it like the wings, the pulse-jet engine, the warhead (boom!) or if you’re talented enough tip it over with your wing! More on the V-1 as we develop it this summer.  

 

   

 

Next, we have some early pics of the very cool Me-410 ‘Hornisse’ and the Ar-234 jet bomber. The images speak for themselves. The Hornisse strikes me as the German response to the Mosquito no? Who do you think would win in a dogfight between a 410 and a Mosquito? Did they ever duel during the war I wonder?

 

   

 

   

 

.In addition to new planes, we have made some tweaks to some of our oldest, namely our 109 series. When we overhauled the damage system several months ago, we had to make a temporary change to the 109’s tail assembly to avoid a bug that caused certain parts to stay attached to the plane after other damaged tail parts had been blown off. All 109s other than the E-7 was affected. The temporary change we made was to fuse the vertical stabilizer and the horizontal stabs making them one part which basically tripled their strength and the likelihood of them ever coming off was three times less likely, so basically never. To remedy this, we needed the model team re-build these tails and make a new failure point in the vertical stabilizer (like on the E-7) and break up this fused tail into their proper damageable and detachable sections. Remember that before we did any of this, the 109’s tail assembly was the ultimate ‘kill button’, push it and the entire tail would come off, not just part of a stabilizer like other planes. Of course, you can also just blow off the elevators and rudder if you hit them right. 

 

In the images below you can see this new reality in action during combat. I shot off the vert stab and rudder in one image and the horizontal stab and elevator in another. This should solve the so called “109 concrete tail” phenomenon. 109 tails now behave like all other tail sections in the sim.

 

 

 

Work on the Tactical Codes feature continues and although we don’t have them working on all aircraft and vehicles yet, the technology works great and the images below gives and idea of how it will work and look. It’s not totally final yet so final result may vary a little. Work on the Dynamic Visual Damage system also continues and is currently being applied to our tanks. When it’s perfected on the tanks, we will then work to apply it to aircraft.

 

 

 

Finally, in the next update we will include 4K skins for the Mc.202 and Ju 88 A-4 made by our talented partner Martin “ICDP” Catney. To celebrate this, I have made these interesting posters showing these new skins side by side. They make quite a colorful display. We hope to do this kind of graphic for all our aircraft eventually. Speaking of new skins, Martin is now working on 4K skins for the Spitfire Mk.Vb. This means both marks of Spitfires in Great Battles will now have 4K skins soon. The beautiful image below of the Macchi skins reminds me to say that I intend to make an Italian pilot for the 202 later this year. Similar to how we made the female Soviet pilot. The images below are 4K so you can re-size them and use as wallpaper is you are so inclined.

 

 

 

Mc.202 Poster Full

JU-88 Poster Full

 

See you in the skies and on the battlefield!

 

Jason and the Sturmovik Team

[Sid]

Great update, going to be very happy with those planes, the codes....all of it

[Crash]

from an email

Update 4.6 Coming in April

We plan to release version 4.6 later this month assuming testing goes well. In this update, you will find an astonishing load of new content - Spitfire Mk. XIV for Battle of Normandy, Nieuport N.28 for Flying Circus: Vol. II and GAZ-MM 72-K AAA Collector Vehicle. In addition to these great war-winning machines, we’ll have many tweaks, improvements and fixes as usual - the most important ones are Tactical Codes and our new Dynamic Visual Damage already working on tanks, GAZ-MM AAA, P-51D-15 and Nieuport 28 (the rest of our 60+ aircraft will be gradually updated this year - it's a lot of work). Also included will be re-mastered 4K skins by our partner Martin “ICDP” Catney for three previously released aircraft - the Ju 88 A-4 (Battle of Moscow), MC.202 and Spitfire Mk.Vb Collector Planes. The so-called “109 concrete tail” phenomenon will be fixed - we have remodeled Bf 109 tails and now they behave like all other aircraft tail sections in the sim. Finally, for fans of Bodenplatte, we will be including improved railyards for 15 previously built towns and cities on the map. These will make juicy targets!

Work on Battle of Normandy, Flying Circus Vol. II and the Sd.Kfz. 10/5 Flak 38 Collector Vehicle will continue full-blast throughout the entirety of 2021. The maps for both BON and FCII are also being worked on as we speak. 2021 will be chalk full of great new content and features like an improved Advanced Quick Mission Builder. More details to follow soon about that.

[Crash]

A well hidden update!

Work on our next update, which is version 4.6 continues as planned and should be released before the end of this month. This update will be a pretty big one with new content, some new features and lots of small tweaks as usual.

 

We also continue to make new airplanes and other models that will be incorporated into the sim this year and beyond. Work never slows down for us as you know. Today I’d like to share some screens of ongoing work that you’ll enjoy as we finalize the next update.  

 

Here are some images that help demonstrate our DVD system for our tanks and AAA vehicles along with our Tactical Codes technology. DVD definitely adds another interesting layer to our damage modeling.   

 

   

    

 

Work on the Normandy map is going strong and here you can see some towns that are taking shape. The terrain textures are not final and borrowed from the Rhineland map at the moment.

 

    

 

And here’s the terrible vengeance weapon that terrorized Great Britain for many months during the war - the Fieseler Fi 103 or simply the V-1 “Buzz Bomb”. The British sarcastically nicknamed it the “Doodlebug”, but there was nothing cute about them in reality. It was the world’s first jet powered cruise missile, and it was a deadly, dangerous weapon that fell from the sky at seemingly random locations with little or no warning. About 8,000 V-1s were launched against Britain with about 2,400 of them getting through the defenses. Over 6,000 people were killed and many thousands more wounded by them. Over 44,000 Allied sorties were flown to try and intercept them along with the flak batteries that tried desperately to knock them down. Truly a flying terror. You’ll be able to simulate intercepting them before they are able to strike their targets along the southern coast of England when the BON map is ready. They were also used against targets in France and Belgium in smaller numbers as the Allies advanced.  

 

   

 

We also have added more railyards to BOBP cities and here is the current list that has increased to a total of 19. We apologize for not having pictures of them, but COVID has decided to interfere with this operation. Just a reminder that we are not totally out of the woods yet with the pandemic.

 

Antwerp

Liege

Mainz

Frankfurt

Bonn

Cologne

Disburg

Brussels

Charleroi

Dusseldorf

Munster

Koblenz

Eindhoven

Tillburg

Nijmegen

Essen

Enschede

Hengelo

Osnabruck

 

   

 

And before we end this DD, here are three new posters Jason has created featuring all three Spitfire variants found in Great Battles including the new Spitfire Mk. XIV. We hope you enjoy this artwork.   

 

  

 

Spitfire Mk.VB Poster
Spitfire Mk. IXe Poster

Spitfire Mk.XIV Poster

 

And of course, here are a few pics of the upcoming Spitfire Mk.XIV and Nieuport 28.

 

  

  

 

[Crash]

WOOT

Update 4.602

 

Dear friends,

Today we’re releasing another update, 4.602, that brings to you two new aircraft at once. British Hawker Typhoon Mk.Ib is the first and it is available in Battle of Normandy Early Access now - this powerful, fast and heavily armed machine could handle a variety of combat missions. New tactical numbers and dynamic impact marks technologies already work for it and it has a wide array of modifications - another engine, propeller, gunsight, additional armor and dust filter.

 

The second star of the day is the late Great War German monoplane Fokker D.VIII, which also supports the new tactical numbers and hit marks technologies. Having the same engine as Fokker Dr.I triplane, but a much better aerodynamical profile, resulted in a significant boost in combat characteristics. The only wing of this airplane had an unusual design for its time - it had load-carrying skin made of plywood instead of fabric. Being a late war plane, Fokker D.VIII could be equipped with Oigee collimator gunsight and was armed with two 7.92 mm LMG 08/15 Spandau. It is now available to all owners of Flying Circus Vol.II.

 

Moreover, there are 20 new AI-controlled objects added in this update - they were developed for the Battle of Normandy. They are British in origin mostly, but there are additions for the US and Germany as well. Some of them are new types in our project - radars and reinforced concrete bunkers.

 

 

 

 

 

In addition to all that, 4.602 addresses a lot of things - many graphical and audio effects are improved, there are several fixes for aircraft and ground vehicles AI, a significant improvement in ballistics, etc. The detailed change list follows:

Main features
1. Hawker Typhoon Mk.Ib fighter-bomber is now available to all owners of the Battle for Normandy;
2. Fokker D.VIII monoplane is now available to all owners of the Flying Circus Vol.II;
3. American paratroopers have been added to the project and can be dropped from C-47. The corresponding missions will be added to the Career mode later;
4. New graphical effects for various armor-piercing shell and bullet impacts added;
5. Improved graphical effects of burning ground vehicles and balloons added;

Aircraft changes
6. Fixed “jaggedness” of some shadow edges in cockpits;

7. Fixed canopy glass sun effects;
8. Single AI plane takeoff fixed (in some cases the takeoff run was delayed for too much);
9. Aircraft AI bug fixed which could cause it to ignore points of the airfield taxiway;
10. Fixed visibility of P-51D-15, P-38J-15, Ju-52, He-111H-6, B-25D, Il-2-42 and Il-2-43 at distances over 1 km (they appeared smaller relative to other aircraft);
11. P-51D-15 weapons and chassis can be damaged by collisions;
12. Missing luminescent illumination on the watch bezel in Bf 109 K-4 cockpit added;
13. Pe-2 series 35 propellers won’t visibly disappear at medium distances;
14. Hurricane landing lights won’t visibly disappear at medium distances, creating holes  in their niches;
15. Bristol Fighter's Lewis machine gun casings ejection location has been corrected;

Player controllable vehicles changes
16. Pz.VI commander cupola wall armor thickness has been corrected (it was doubled before);
17. 72-K AAA: an incorrect operation of the automatic gunsight kinematics at intermediate elevation angles has been corrected (with zero corrections the sight axis appeared much higher than the barrel axis);
18. 72-K AAA: technochat messages will correctly appear in multiplayer for other players that joined its crew;

Career mode changes
19. The player can join new squadrons: 587 BAP in Stalingrad and Kuban careers and 46 GNBAP in Kuban career;
20. New targets for "Railway junction air strike" and "Railway junction bombing strike" mission types added in Rhineland career (Bodenplatte): Antwerp, Liege, Mainz, Frankfurt, Bonn, Cologne, Duisburg, Bruxelles, Charleroi, Dusseldorf, Munster, Koblenz, Eindhoven, Tilburg, Nijmegen, Essen, Enschede, Hengelo and Osnabruck railyards;
21. Typhoon Mk.Ib added to Rhineland Career mode: No. 175 Squadron RAF, No. 197 Squadron RAF, No. 247 (China British) Squadron RAF, No. 440 Squadron RCAF, No. 609 (West Riding) Squadron RAF and 16 more AI squadrons;
22. Formerly AI-only 587th BAP in Stalingrad Career can be joined by the player;
23. Formerly AI-only 587th BAP and 46th GNBAP in Kuban Career can be joined by the player;

 

AI-controlled objects changes
24. Simple AI ground vehicles correctly leave trails on unpaved airfields;
25. Simple AI wheeled vehicles correctly collide with static objects;
26. Simple AI tracked vehicles won’t make too sharp turns;
27. Sd.Kfz 251 1C half-track correctly leaves a trail;
28. The antenna of the airfield locator beacon now always stands vertically, regardless of the surface slope;
29. 10.5 cm Flak 38/39 anti-aircraft gun has been added for the Battle of Normandy;
30. QF 3.7-inch AA anti-aircraft gun has been added for the Battle of Normandy;
31. 40 mm Bofors L60 rapid-fire anti-aircraft gun has been added for the Battle of Normandy;
32. 3,7 cm FlaK 43 rapid-fire anti-aircraft gun has been added for the Battle of Normandy;
33. Ordnance QF 17-pounder anti-tank gun has been added for the Battle of Normandy;
34. BL 5.5-inch gun has been added for the Battle of Normandy;
35. Bren Mk.I machine gun in two variations (for firing at ground and air targets) has been added for the Battle of Normandy;
36. AMES Type 7 mobile radar station has been added for the Battle of Normandy;
37. SCR-584 mobile radar station has been added for the Battle of Normandy;
38. FuSE-65 Würzburg-Riese stationary radar station has been added for the Battle of Normandy;
39. British 150 cm anti-aircraft searchlight has been added for the Battle of Normandy;
40. M1-VLA low-altitude balloon has been added for the Battle of Normandy (for now it can’t be bind to a ship);
41. M3A1 half-track has been added for the Battle of Normandy;
42. Sd.Kfz. 222 armored car has been added for the Battle of Normandy;
43. Dodge WC-54 ambulance has been added for the Battle of Normandy;
44. Austin K2 / Y ambulance has been added for the Battle of Normandy;
45. H 634 machine-gun pillbox has been added for the Battle of Normandy;
46. H 630 concrete machine-gun pillbox has been added for the Battle of Normandy;
47. H 272 concrete gun pillbox has been added for the Battle of Normandy;
48. Batterie Todt concrete heavy artillery bunker has been added for the Battle of Normandy;

Other changes
49. Enemy aircraft that appear in AAA QMB during winter should have a corresponding winter skin;
50. Missing preview images added for various objects in the mission editor;
51. Ballistics of bullets, shells, bombs and rockets now take into account the decrease of the air density with altitude;
52. Heavy anti-aircraft artillery ballistics were corrected;
53. Heavy artillery ballistics were corrected (at large distances the flight time and the height of the projectile trajectory correspond to the barrel elevation angle quite accurately);
54. In multiplayer, the jittery turning animation of gunners was corrected.

[BluBear]

Took the Tiffie up for a spin today and I have to say, I rather like it. Feels sturdy, turns better than expected and expededly makes a right mess of tanks and trains and shift. Roll rate is terrible, but I did manage to shoot down a 109 on my first sortie. Definitely my favourite early access aircraft from BoN so far. 

[Patricks]

On 6/5/2021 at 12:46 AM, BluBear said:

Took the Tiffie up for a spin today and I have to say, I rather like it. Feels sturdy, turns better than expected and expededly makes a right mess of tanks and trains and shift. Roll rate is terrible, but I did manage to shoot down a 109 on my first sortie. Definitely my favourite early access aircraft from BoN so far. 

It reminds me of a Dora, great B&Z plane and it's cannon will shred whatever they hit. A 109 head on pass will not work out well for them..

[Crash]

More stuff

Hello Everyone!

 

This week we are showing a Dev. Diary a little early because we have some vacation and Covid-related holiday time that interferes with our normal routine. So, before we take a little time off, here are some quick shots of the German Sd.Kfz. 10/5 Flak 38 in the actual game engine. As you can see the textures are not anywhere near ready, but it is starting to become functional including some of the damage model and the gunsights. Once again, our partners at DigitalForms have done a terrific job on the model.

 

In the images below you can see how a machine gun from a Soviet armored car shot up my engine and ended my mission. The sights on this German gun are quite different from the Soviet 72-K and maybe it’s a bit more user friendly? You’ll have to be the judge when you try it, but it sure is fun trying to knock down planes with either gun!

 

  

  

 

Again, the textures are not done and this is just an early Beta example and we wanted to show you that progress is being made. The Sd.Kfz. 10/5 Flak 38 will be ready for action later this summer.

 

In WWII aircraft news – the P-51B/C is scheduled be the next aircraft released as we work on other things like the V-1 ‘Buzz Bomb’. The P-51B/C will be released late summer; the exact date is unknown at this point, but we’ll have updated pics for you just as soon as we can.

 

In WWI aircraft news, Ugra Media is hard at work on several FC2 planes and the map, but the closest to release is the Pfalz D.XII. She will be ready for our next update.

 

  

  

 

Recently,  when I collected the USAAF squadron emblems for BON, created once again by our friend Isaac ‘Solidkreate’ Chavira, I was inspired to make another poster. This time for the P-47D-22 with all the USAAF Ninth Air Force squadrons that will be a part of the Battle of Normandy Career. There are quite a few that flew the Razorback during that period.

 

 

….. and finally, a shot that you have been waiting a long time to see. A Bf-109 with something new under slung its belly. Functional drop tanks are being worked on for several planes, but it will take time to retrofit the aircraft that need them.

 

 

Enjoy!

 

The Sturmovik Team

[Crash]

Dear Friends,

 

A LOT is being worked on at the moment and we’d like to share what is going on, but first, here is a picture of our new American bomber pilot models that are now ready for implantation. Once again, our dear friend Alexey comes through with a beautiful model.

 

 

First, update 4.603 is coming next week, assuming there are no nasty last-minute surprises. The 4.603 update will see the release of the long awaited Sd.Kfz. 10/5 Flak 38 vehicle mounted anti-aircraft gun and three WWI aircraft for Flying Circus: Volume II – the SPAD VII, Pfalz D.XII and the Airco DH.4 two-seater.

 

   

 

In addition to the new aircraft for FC2, Ugra Media is hard at work on the map and making elements for it including buildings, airfields, vehicles and other small details that you may find interesting.

 

   

   

   

 

And don’t forget that the awesome STEEL BIRDS historical campaign is also going to be released with the 4.603 update. You can still pre-order it HERE in the IL-2 Official Webstore! Jabo pilots get ready!

 

 

I also want to touch on a few items that you have heard about or have been waiting for patiently for a while.

 

We have good news and not so good news on the progress of our new more Complex Fuel Systems feature and Drop Tanks. It looks like we will be able to include drop tanks for some of the later model Bf-109s in the sim along with their new fuel system modeling in the next update. The not so good news is that other aircraft will have to follow in future updates as we work to retrofit so many planes. We had hoped to be able to accelerate this process, but we have not been able to fill a couple critical positions on the team in time to make this happen as fast as we want. However, these 109s really needed drop tanks so we added them first. There is a slight chance they won’t make this update if last minute bugs appear, but we are hopeful. Positive thoughts please!  

 

Next, our new Air Marshal feature has been in testing for a couple weeks now and it does function, but there are some bugs and design issues that need to be ironed out before release. Air Marshal includes lots of GUI related items and is also connected to multiplayer so it’s more complex than a simple GUI feature. We’re finally feeling confident that Air Marshal will indeed be released, but exact ETA is still not known. However, it’s inching closer and closer with the help of some motivated testers. When we’re certain the interface is finalized or very close to final, we will show you pictures and talk about its features.

 

Additionally, we continue to test and work on the new AQM (Advanced Quick Missions) feature and it’s making rapid progress, but initial tests revealed some issues that need to be addressed. The AQM system will eventually be applied to all our maps and we are working to do that as soon as possible. It is likely it will be released for our larger maps first then applied to the others. Projected release is this Fall.

 

In Career mode news we are happy to report that 8 new mission types for fighter-bombers are going to be in the next update. Viks and LukeFF have been working to improve the career in this aspect and all seems to be working well.

 

Also, many of you know we are working on new cloud technology for the sim. This should bring our clouds up to a new level of beauty, variety and realism. We also plan to work with a talented community member on this project and we hope it will bear fruit in the coming months. But before we get into worrying about artistic quality, we need to perfect the technology part of it. And we think, based on early tests, that these clouds will also improve performance, but yield a prettier result. We’ll have pictures for you once we have something worthwhile to show you.

 

And finally, work on several new aircraft continues – V-1, P-51B/C, Me-410, Mosquito, Ar-234, B-26 (AI) are all being worked on feverishly and Ugra is knee-deep in building the cockpit for the C-47 along side preparing more FC2 planes for release.

 

And last but not least - Jason is beginning to plan future projects that you’ll likely learn about late this year or early next year as we work feverishly to finish Battle of Normandy.

 

There are so many aspects of IL-2 we are working on as we finish out this hot summer and we’ll talk about in future Developer Diaries.

 

See you in the skies!

 

The Sturmovik Team

[Crash]

Dear Pilots,

Our Mosquito FB Mk,VI for Battle of Normandy is coming along nicely. Some very early WIP shots of it in the engine. Still much support work to do for it still. Will initially be available to fly with 8 squadrons in Career mode.

 

Q. If it's made from polygons is it still a Wooden Wonder?

 

 

[Crash]

Dear Pilots,

 

Today we want to show you some WIP pics of the P-51B/C with the birdcage style canopy. It really changes the look of the P-51 and it's obvious why they changed to the bubble style canopy with the "D" model and some "B" airframes had their birdcage replaced with the 'Malcolm Hood' canopy which was a semi-bubble modification. We will also model the Malcolm Hood. 

 

Also, if you happen to have any detailed references on the Malcolm Hood's canopy frame, rails or emergency release mechanism please share them with us. We could use some more detailed pictures or drawings of it.  

 

The P-51B/C is unfortunately behind schedule and should have been ready by now, but she is getting ever closer to release and likely to be finished next month.

 

 

   

   

 

Also, here is a pic of our American bomber pilot model ready to face some German flak!

 

 

Enjoy!

 

[Friar]

Disappointed that Tank Crew never gets any mentions in these updates.  

[Crash]

Me too

[Crash]

Anotherupdate

Dear Pilots,

 

Tough, busy week for the team so we simply leave you with images with some Ju-88 C-6 in flight (please ignore the incorrect sheen on some of it's glass) and a render of our USS Gleaves Class Destroyer with full textures applied. The cockpit for the C-6 is under development, but when it's ready it will be a lot of fun to tear up ground and maritime targets! 

 

   

   

 

And our destroyer for Normandy landings support is looking good.

 

 

[Crash]

interesting stuff

Hello Everyone,

 

So, its Q4 2021 and that means the Holiday season is upon us. Yay Holiday discounts! It’s always a busy time as we try to end the calendar year strong and finish delayed projects and features. However, this year, along with last year has not been normal. For over a year and a half we’ve been working under COVID restrictions and protocols. We've dealt with COVID illnesses, family illnesses, vaccine rollouts and parent company protocols in Moscow, that personally don’t affect me in my home office, but have a large impact on the team in Russia. It’s been rough on the team and it’s caused delays in our dev plans unfortunately. But as you can see we soldier on, much like all of you have had to do during this pandemic. It's been a pain.

 

I know you guys want updates on several items that we can’t always get to in the Developer Diaries. We try to reserve the DDs for the larger hits. I’ll give you some straight talk about what’s going on to entertain you while we work on our next update.

 

First, we have an update scheduled for later in October that should include the new AQM and the Breguet 14.B2 bomber aka “The Baguette” for FC2. It’s just easier to call it the Baguette as an American who failed French class in High School.  Then we plan to have an update in mid-November that includes the P-51B/C. The birdcage P-51 has taken far longer than anticipated unfortunately. However, our recent lack of details on the Malcolm Hood seems to have been solved thanks to someone in the community.  

 

We continue to work on the other aircraft for Normandy including what I call the “twins” actually there are four not two of them – AI B-26, Ju-88 C-6, Mossie and Me-410. All are coming along, just significantly more slowly than planned for. The B-26, Ju 88 C-6 and Mossie should be out in Q1 2022 and Me-410 will be released likely early Q2 2022. We’ve recently hired a couple other modelers to help speed up this work, but it takes time before they are proficient. The Mossie and 410 cockpits are some of the most difficult we have ever built. And not all modelers are created equal so times vary. I would like for everything to go like clockwork and every beat deadlines, but it just doesn't work out that way. 

 

The Normandy map continues to be worked on and is making progress. We’ve been able to expand the map team this year a bit so work there has been steady.

 

The Advanced Quick Mission (AQM) feature is coming along nicely and working pretty well. What this feature does is offer a very fast way to generate Scenario-style missions quickly that offer high quality combat. It’s not a campaign and it’s not the QMB. It’s kin of an in-between feature that lays the groundwork for possibly more detailed Scenario generating (building) in the future. It’s one more way to create combat missions without having to learn the complex Mission Editor. The AQM is more of a “generator” than a “builder” so inputs by users to create the scenario is limited, but the result is fun with lots of combat and flexible settings for enemy activity.  The AQM is based on the very old Campaign generator we originally had for BOS that we set aside several years ago (that worked quite well) to make the Career mode. We never tossed the code and have now adopted it for Great Battles. The AQM missions I have flown so far, along with all the other improvements we have made to the sim over time, has given me lots of enjoyment this past couple weeks. We think you’ll like it.

 

So, the QMB along with the AQM, Scenario Missions, Scripted Campaigns, Pilot Career offer A HUGE LIBRARY of single-player content without the need to use the ME. Also, we recommend you check out the Easy Mission Generator (EMG) by SYN_Vander and Pat Wilson’s Campaign Generator (PWCG) to have even more options for creating combat missions. Both are excellent, excellent apps! We will continue to explore ways to improve both the QMB and AQM features in the future as well. Being able to adopt these AQM missions for Co-Op is also high on my wish list.

Speaking of new mission content, Alex has made a new free Spit Mk.14 Scripted Campaign that is designed for the BOBP map called His Majesty's Griffons! So, it’s something new for us in that it is a quality campaign that takes a plane from one product and uses it in another product’s map. You’ll have to own the relevant content to make it work of course, but we wanted to try something different. Also, I am working with our friend and partner Jaegermeister on a set of FC1 Scenario Missions and a couple free FC1 Scripted Campaigns that he has built. I may have mentioned these previously, but they are still coming and it's my fault they are not ready yet. I’m also working with him on a P-51 Scripted Campaign that will likely be payware. And finally, I am working with our partner Haash on new scenario missions for all our Collector Planes. Lots of localization to do for all this, but it’s in the works. Our community has some of the most giving and creative people anywhere in the combat-sim genre. Thanks to all of you!  

 

Going back to FC 2/3 for a moment. As you can see the aircraft for FC2 is moving along nicely. The map on the other hand being made by Ugra Media is tougher going. Making a huge map for our engine takes a lot of work and detail and it’s tough even for our team, let alone our partners who had to re-learn this skill. Please don’t be surprised if the new Western Front map is delayed in its release. We want it to be a very good one.

 

Air Marshal is still having a difficult birth and I hope we can get it across the finish-line soon. But honestly, it’s not been easy and its release is not 100% solid for reasons I can’t really discuss here unfortunately. I will keep trying to get it done and work with the developer and the testers that have been helping me work out the kinks previously. I will keep exploring ways to make MP even more fun and interesting with or without Air Marshal if necessary.

 

We have also recently begun work on an USAAF crewmember/gunner model which will be followed by an Italian and Romanian fighter-pilot models. These are being built by internal 1CGS team member Alexey who has built all our newer character models. I did not have to contact out after all. And yes, I plan to make radio calls in those languages as well. I believe Viks has already asked for help on the forum finding information about Italian pilot gear.

Speaking of Romanian aircraft here is an early WIP pic of the IAR-80/81 cockpit being worked on by our partner Ivan. He is making steady progress, but it will take time to complete it. When I see it’s a bit more along, we’ll offer it for pre-order. Make sure to show Ivan the love when that happens by making a pre-order. If the IAR is successful I would love to keep him working on wanted planes for us.

 

 

The new clouds you saw in DD 294 are still WIP, but nearing the point where I can start to really see how they perform and look under most circumstances. It’s new technology for us and it’s similar to what others in the industry have done recently because they are all based on various white papers and other info that has been shared on the internet over the years. However, each engine is different and every team has different performance goals. The absolute final result of how it looks and performs in our engine is not quite known yet. We just recently were able to mate it to our existing mission structure so existing missions will continue to work with the new clouds. It would have been a disaster if they made all existing missions defunct. Imagine the chaos that would have caused.  

 

And I know some will ask, yes, we still plan a review of our damage modeling after we complete our initial release of the new Fuel Systems and Drop Tanks, which as you have guessed has been slow due to its complexity and trying to model it realistically and having to revisit other issues not in the schedule. We recently changed some parameters of American .50 caliber bullets which appears to have pleased many of you or irritated those that are on the receiving end of them. War is hell what can I say? And when I say we will ‘review’ something that means we will do research and look to see what if anything we got wrong and possibly make changes. The final result is yet unknown. Some changes are likely, but not sure on overall changes.

 

And finally, we have agreed on two new Collector Tanks for Tank Crew and the Great Battles series. Work on them has begun and we hope to have them ready for Spring 2022. As usual, DigitalForms will make them and we are sure they will be amazing models. I will be announcing which tanks they are soon and offering them for pre-order. Both tanks fit within the established Kursk timeframe for the existing map to help define this battle a bit more. The Tank Crew user base continues to grow and I hope these new tanks are a sign of even more content for Tank Crew in the future.

I want to apologize for the delays in releasing some of the marquee aircraft from BON like the P-51B/C and the twins, but this year has just been one non-stop roller coaster for us, but BON is progressing every week.

 

Jason

 

P.S. I forgot to mention the Arado-234 in my post above. Yes, it is in development too and will be ready in Q2 2022. Cockpit is in development, but not ready to be shown yet. The Fi-103 "V-1 Buzz-bomb" is also being worked on of course and will be in Q1 2022. Our good friend Martin "ICDP" Catney did the textures for it which was a big help to us. Now we need to build the engineering, physics and mission logic for it.

[Sid]

Oooo, nice info

I suggest that the two new tanks will be the StuG III and a Churchill Mark III or IV.....reason being they were around at Kursk and most other common tanks are available already https://www.forces.net/news/battle-kursk-clash-tanks . Be great if it is these as they will drop into other scenarios too.

[Crash]

Jason said

ust got my hands on a new build with new clouds for my first serious look on my test machine.

 

O M G !

So far so good.... back to testing.

 

 

Jason

 

P.S. ok here is one from a quick flight flying over the overcast tonight. What's so different is that these new clouds (besides their beauty) is that they can be much bigger, yet did not cripple my test rig. At least my very first tests did not experience this with tons of clouds in the sky. We'll share more pics or videos once the final feature takes more shape. We only have a very few test clouds at the moment with just a new moments of artist thought so who knows that the top end can be.

 

Also, I hadn't lost SA in a dogfight in a long time, but with these new deeper clouds you can seriously not know which way is up and if you are in a dive and not know it, it may be too late to pull out when you come out the bottom. Get to know your artificial horizon! 

 

All is WIP so don't try to make assumptions about any of it yet. I look for niggles with new tech even more than you guys believe me.

 

Sorry for the tease, but you know I get excited over new stuff! 

 

[Crash]

DD 295

 

Dear Pilots,

 

This week we are working hard on the 4.605 update which will see two major releases. First, a French WWI bomber - the Breguet 14.B2 will be released for Flying Circus: Vol. II. The second will be the initial release of the Advanced Quick Mission Generator (AQMG) that adds a lot more mission content to the series.

 

Breguet 14.B2

 

The Breguet 14.B2 was operated by the French, Belgian and American air forces during WWI and it is quite a powerful machine and successful bombing platform. It was well liked in Rise of Flight and we are proud to bring it to the Flying Circus series. This time around, we have taken the time to improve a couple details of this wonderful aircraft including the addition or Fuel Mixture and Elevator Trim. Both of these details were not included in the ROF version of this plane. Whenever possible, we try to add missing details to our re-born ROF aircraft.

 

   

   

   

 

Advanced Quick Mission Generator

 

The Advanced Quick Mission (AQMG) offers a very fast way to generate Scenario-style missions quickly that offer high quality combat. It’s not a campaign and it’s not the QMB. It’s kind of an in-between feature that lays the groundwork for possibly more detailed Scenario generating (building) in the future. It’s one more way to create combat missions without having to learn the complex Mission Editor. The AQM is more of a “generator” than a “builder “meaning most of the hard work is done by the system and the user does not have to make many inputs to get up and running. The goal is to create a mission that is fun with lots of combat with flexible settings for enemy activity. The AQMG is based on the very old Campaign generator we originally had for BOS that we set aside several years ago (it worked quite well though) to make the Pilot Career mode. We never tossed the code and have now adopted it for Great Battles.

 

The AQMG is located inside the GUI beside the QMB and you can easily transition between the two features. The AQMG lets you choose several parameters that affect the mission, such as the map, airfield, mission type, starting position, your aircraft, loadout, weather, the time of day and the strength of enemy opposition. A mission is then generated from a historically based mission template that is populated with your objective and other friendly and enemy units that you may or may not encounter on your mission.  It just takes seconds to set up a mission and get flying in a well-crafted historically appropriate mission that includes takeoff, ingress, targets, egress and landing. This is a bit more than your typically Quick Mission that is mainly geared for fast action and target practice. The AQMG can create thousands of different scenarios so no two missions will be exactly the same. This means thousands of hours air combat are at your disposal.

 

Here are a few examples from the Moscow, Stalingrad, Kuban and Rhineland maps. The AQMG is available on all of our main theater maps at time of release. We hope to expand it to other maps in the future.

 

   

   

   

   

   

 

 

The AQMG is one more tool in our mission creation toolbelt, alongside the QMB, Scenario Missions, Scripted Campaigns and Pilot Career offering a huge library of single-player content without the need to use the complex Mission Editor.

 

In addition to all of these options, we recommend you also check out the Easy Mission Generator (EMG) by SYN_Vander and Pat Wilson’s Campaign Generator (PWCG) to have even more options for creating combat missions. Both are excellent, excellent apps! We will continue to explore ways to improve both the QMB and AQMG features in the future as well. Being able to adopt these AQMG missions for Co-Op is also high on our wish list.

 

Old Clouds vs. New Clouds Video

 

Work on our new cloud technology continues at a rapid pace. So much so that we can now show you a comparison of how the old clouds and new clouds compare when rendered in the engine. This video demonstrates just how powerful the new cloud tech is and its potential. We can now offer A LOT more cloud cover and not smash the framerate that you are accustomed to. Early testing points to a net gain in framerate even with exponentially more cloud particles and shapes in the scene. The video is a direct comparison of the same track and was originally captured in 4K and reduced to 2k thanks to Jason’s outdated movie editing software. The mission that was flown in the video was an 8 vs. 8 QMB mission on the Rhineland Map with all ground objects like vehicles, flak, trains and ships enabled. The cloud cover in the New Clouds portion is considered “heavy”. The Old Clouds portion is considered just your average ‘cloudy’ preset.

 

 

Many of you will ask about how it performs in VR. To give you some idea here is what fellow team-member Jury aka Zeus told me today after testing it with his VR unit. This is a direct quote… and no he was not sucking up to the boss!

 

Jury, 11:58 AM

@Jason It's absolutely Awesome in VR 

 

On my settings (I did not change it from the release version), I did not notice a decrease in FPS at all in VR

Hardware: I5-9600K overclocked by 4,8Hgz + RTX3070 + WMR "Samsung Odyssey+" in 60Hz refresh screen setting

In all Isay`s clouds test-missions - stable 60FPS in VR in all altitude

In QM battle 8x8 - stable 60FPS in VR in all altitude

IMHO its huge step onforward

like in a fairy tale in VR  imagine you fly in a living volumetric sky ... Or even in a huge labyrinth of clouds

 

We believe this is very good news for VR pilots and all IL-2 fans for that matter. There are still some bugs to work out and there is (as usual ) some issue with Radeon cards we have to solve first. However, we are quickly moving to put these in Beta soon and then work on making many interesting and realistic cloud designs!  

 

Enjoy!

 

Jason

P.S. Yes the music in the video is annoying I know. 

P.S.S. I mixed up my monitor listing in the video. I know there is no such thing as an ASUS Predator. I meant ASUS 43PGUQ. I also have an Acer Predator monitor.

[Jabo]

While I could have done without the music (the volume was up quite high in my headset) these new clouds do look really good. Whether my geriatric GPU will manage them is another matter entirely.

[Crash]

Moar stuffz

Dear Friends,

 

Autumn has arrived in Moscow and Las Vegas and even thought the air temperature is dropping, our work pace is heating up fast. Work on our new cloud tech continues and is making rapid progress. We will make many different “cloud patterns” over time as we mentioned previously, but right now we are trying to create some quality cloud designs that we can put into Beta testing and fulfill the minimum designs needed to get you up and flying with them sooner rather than later. Please enjoy these screenshots and prepare to get lost in them!

 

  

  

 

Work on the forthcoming P-51B continues and I really wanted to show you a shot of the cockpit with textures, but they aren’t quite ready for public viewing yet. But rest assured that the P-51B work is going hot and heavy. I am “encouraging” Mike as much as possible to get her done.

So, we can’t show you the P-51B cockpit at the moment, but how about some shots of the Mosquito instead! As you can see, it’s taking shape and looking nice! Like our other British birds this one also has a busy cockpit that when finished will be nothing but Royal Air Force awesomeness!  

 

  

  

 

Testing on the new AQMG is progressing well and it should be released in our next update as mentioned last week. The Breguet 14 is also entering its final stages of tweaking before release as well. Work on the next update overall is going quite well so we expect a smooth release of 4.605 this month as planned.

 

There has also been some good news with some research endeavors Jason has working on. If all goes well It may bring a new warbird to our skies. One that many of you have asked for. Stay tuned for more on that.

 

And as mentioned by Jason in his recent Briefing Room post we have two Collector Tanks being worked on by our friends at DigitalForms and we will announce those very soon.

 

Enjoy!

[Crash]

New QMB looks good

Update 4.605

 

Dear Friends,

We just released the 4.605 update. The changelist is not as long as usual, but one of the additions is very important for all who prefer single player - Advanced Quick Mission Generator. This mode is designed for cases when you want something more advanced than a simple Quick Mission and less advanced than a full Career and gives the player instant access to customizable combat missions on Moscow, Stalingrad, Kuban and Rhineland maps. Base airfield, aircraft, time, weather, mission target, etc. can be customized, yielding a quick way to create and play a unique scenario you want (none of them will be the same thanks to variability). We're positive you'll like it.

 

In addition, we added another airplane to Flying Circus Vol.II Early Access program - two-seater bomber Breguet XIV.B2. It was recreated with additional detail compared to its predecessor in Rise of Flight - for instance, now it has manual fuel mixture control and a primitive flight stick load compensator. Its flight characteristics were checked and corrected. The gunner seat became more detailed.

 

There are many other additions as well: light tracers were made more visible by increasing their brightness keeping all their enhancements made in the previous update, various graphical effects were improved, certain AI routines important for scenario missions were improved as well. The full 4.605 changelist follows:

 

1. Breguet XIV.B2 single-engine bomber is now available to all owners of Flying Circus Vol.II;
2. Advanced Quick Mission Generator added to the Quick Mission menu on Moscow, Stalingrad, Kuban and Rhineland maps with the following possible mission types:
    a) Intercept bombers;
    b) Intercept ground attack planes;
    c) Intercept transport planes;
    d) Escort bombers;
    e) Escort ground attack planes;
    f) Column attack;
    g) Artillery position attack;
    h) Train attack;
    i) Airfield attack;
    j) Anti-shipping attack;
    k) Ground troops support;
    l) Ships support;
    m) Ships cover;
    n) Cargo delivery;
    o) Cargo paradrop;
    p) Special mission squad paradrop;
    q) Artillery position bombing strike;
    r) Railway station bombing strike;
    s) Airfield bombing strike;
    t) Supply dump bombing strike;
    u) Bridge bombing strike;
3. Thanks to our tester J2_Trupobaw, Polish localization was added to the Steel Birds campaign;
4. Projectile tracers brightness increased slightly;
5. Ricochets happen at reduced hit angles;
6. Additional improvements were made to the effects of aircraft explosions when hitting the ground;
7. New aircraft ammunition explosion effects added for aircraft of various sizes;
8. Pfalz XII and DH4 can have bullet holes on the expansion tank and upper fuel tank, respectively.
9. Oil splatter on windshield effect added to Nieuport 28, SPAD 7, Airco DH.IV and Fokker D.VIII;
10. SPAD VII 180hp - fixed a bug that caused the automatic helper to forcibly open the water cooler at high altitudes;
11. Airco DH.IV bomb coordinates corrected (the bombs were overlapping with holders);
12. Airco DH.IV wings are damaged by enemy fire correctly;
13. Fokker D.VII and Fokker D.VIIF airframe resistance to enemy fire corrected to reflect its construction;
14. Firing player-controlled anti-aircraft guns creates correct lighting effects;
15. Pz.III Ausf.M, Pz.IV Ausf.G and Pz.V Ausf.D with mounted side shields have improved interactions of the side shields with obstacles;
16. Animation of windshield wipers was significantly improved on player controllable trucks;
17. Fixed accidental death of some tank crew members when leaving a vehicle;
18. The point at which a plane appears in the parking lot of Mont St. Eloi Airfield (Arras, 0605-6) has been moved further away from the buildings to accommodate larger planes such as the new Breguet XIV.B2;
19. Fixed an issue where anti-aircraft searchlights were not targeting the player's aircraft in a Quick Mission;
20. A-20 and B-25 bombers: if the country is set to US the mission, the commander (and the assistant on B-25) now has a unique, historically more correct model. This new model includes combat-worn body armor and helmet;
21. Improved detailing of Fw 190 A3/A5/A6/A8 cockpits by Oyster_KAI;
22. Fixed an issue where AI fighters were endlessly chasing a fleeing target;
23. Fixed application crash of clients connected to the multiplayer server created from the game at the moment of the server exit to the main menu;
24. Added cloud subtype selection in Quick Mission (previously it was selected randomly);
25. Fixed an issue where only the leader of a group of landing AI planes defended against enemy planes;
26. Changed the probability of randomly selected allied and enemy squadrons in the Career mode which should increase the variability of different types of aircraft in a mission.
27. Buildings and other objects outside the mission area in Pilot Career mode are correctly removed to shorten mission loading time;
28. An error in the location database in the Battle of Moscow Pilot Career that caused 132nd BAP careers to stop working after February 27th, 1942 has been fixed.

 

Please discuss the update in this thread.