IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad News

1. Gun convergence settings are stored correctly;
   
2. SSW D.IV appears in the game stats correctly;
   
3. Bofors AA guns changed to QF 13pdr 6cwt in the Gotha G.V and Handley-Page O/400 scenarios, as well as in the campaign Against the Tide;
   
4. Ar 234 B-2 and Me 410: target altitude setting range corrected for the BZA-1 bomb sight;
   
5. Ar 234 B-2: a small cosmetic change (button on the flight stick);
   
6. Bf-110E2 and G2: typos on cockpit placards corrected (Oyster_KAI).
   

Dear Friends,

Today we have several pieces of news for you at once. Firstl, patch 5.103 has just been published - its changelog is not very long, but contains some important points:

1. Fixed Animation Operator objects animations in multiplayer for the upcoming in-game event;
   
2. SSW D.IV stall behavior has been corrected (now the aircraft stalls without warning shaking);
   
3. Fixed the virtual camera position on the SSW D.IV wing;
   
4. A new type of task has been added to the Battle of Normandy career - escorting transport aircraft with various cargoes, including ambulance ones;
   
5. Fixed the continuation of the career of a German pilot from Jasta 24 on the Western Front after August 25, 1918;
   
6. When attacking enemy balloons, enemy AI pilots will engage the player and his group as it should be;
   
7. Scenarios for Gota G.V and Handley Page O/100 WWI bombers added;
   
8. Fixed a bug in the operation of the bombsight instruments when the interface is hidden;
   
9. Hidden GUI state will no longer persist across game restarts;
   
10. Fixed a bug in the Bodenplatte Career mode that resulted in an error message in some missions that included the new Bf 109 G-6AS;
    
11. Against the Tide campaign updated;
    
12. Campaigns "Against the Tide" and "Wild Mustangs" are translated into Spanish.
    

Also, remember the plans for 2023 and beginning of 2024 we have shared with you earlier in DD? Here’s a visual illustration.


You probably noticed a mention of a certain in-game event - now we can reveal what it will be.

The event is an air race on fighter aircraft we’re preparing together with VIRPIL Controls company. There will be two aircraft, Bf 109 F4 and Yak-1 series 69, which are included in our base module Battle of Stalingrad standard edition (if you play IL-2 on Steam, you have it already). You can pilot the bird you are more familiar with: the best results will be determined in each category separately.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

The races will be held in two stages - qualification, which will last at least for several days starting on June 1, and the finals, the date of which will be announced later.

To participate, it will be enough to go to one of the race servers and fly the track on the selected aircraft as fast as you can - the number of attempts during the qualification stage is not limited. The completion time in each attempt will be recorded automatically, the best time will be taken into account. Please note that after the end of the event all the participants who have flown the track at least once will receive a small gift on our website.

If you are playing the Steam version of IL-2, then the IL-2 and Steam accounts must be linked so that the server could identify you (your nickname must be visible in the main menu of the game). If you have not linked your accounts yet, you can do it quickly - click on the automatically generated pilot name in the main menu of the Steam version of the game and then either enter your IL-2 login and password or go through registration there.

After the end of the qualification stage there will be final flights to determine the winners among the pilots who showed the best results. All finalists will receive special gifts from 1C Game Studios and from VIRPIL Controls.

Please join our special Discord channel to discuss anything related to the event.

You can train on the qualification track right now on our servers in the Coop mode (server name: WarBRD Race Tournament).

Wait for the announcement of the beginning of the qualifying races!

Dear Friends,

This year we have already released two previously announced Collector Planes. Today we would like to share plans for the future aircraft.

In addition to the already released Supermarine Spitfire Mk.XIVe Bubbletop and Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 A/S, the plan for this year includes:

1. Li-2 - Soviet military transport aircraft. Unlike the original C-47 (Li-2 was based on it under license), it was also used as a bomber and had an optional turret and even forward firing weaponry. The planned release date is Summer 2023.


2. American towable glider (!) WACO CG-4A, which has been widely used during the Normandy landings. The planned release date is Fall 2023.


3. Soviet fighter La-5 series 38 with a teardrop-shaped canopy. Its lighter design had a positive effect on the characteristics of the aircraft compared to earlier models. The planned release date is Fall 2023.


4. Romanian fighter IAR-80/81 in two basic variants («long» and «short»). Both variants and 7 modifications of the aircraft are described in detail in [url=https://il2sturmovik.com/news/772/dev-blog-334/. The planned release date is the end of 2023.


Please note: since this Collector Plane will be effectively two significantly different aircraft (different fuselages, different flight characteristics, different paint scheme kits, there are differences in their cockpits as well) in one package, its pre-order price will increase on May 17th to the level of larger Collector Planes like C-47. Of course, the pre-orders placed before this date won’t be affected by this change, so if you’re interested in getting these aircraft eventually, please consider doing so before May 17th.

5. The development of three new fighters scheduled for 2024 has begun:

German interceptor Focke-Wulf Ta 152
Soviet legendary biplane Polikarpov I-153 «Chaika»
British fighter Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IXc armed with 7.69 mm machine guns and a different tail.


6. By the end of 2023, it is planned to complete the development of the Flying Circus Vol.III which will include eight aircraft:

F.E.2b.
R.E.8.
Hanriot HD.1.
Nieuport 11.C1.
Nieuport 17.C1.
Nieuport 17.C1 GBR.
Albatros D.II.
Halberstadt D.II


It is also planned to complete the Western Front 1918 map and populate the entire front line with objects. This updated version of the map will be available in different seasons.

7. The story of Flying Circus continues: plans for 2024 include additional improvements to the map and the development of seven new collectible aircraft:

Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter.
Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter B.
Sopwith Pup.
Airco DH.2.
Albatros D.III.
Roland C.IIa.
Fokker E.III.


8. We’re also helping a team of enthusiasts who are working on a new map of one of the theaters of operations on the Eastern Front. A significant progress has been made - we hope that the map will become part of the Great Battles game world soon. The details about the map and the development team will be revealed later.

Since the Battle of Normandy release, 9 World War II aircraft, 15 World War I aircraft and two maps have already been produced or are in development. And that's not all! Your support motivates us to improve and extend the Great Battles series.

A new historical campaign is in the final stage of development - it is dedicated to the operation of Yak-7 fighter armed units. This year we plan to release another campaign and there are ideas for creating three new campaigns already.

In addition, this year we’re updating a number of previously created campaigns to integrate new technologies and content developed recently (you can see the Tank Crew campaigns being updated in the screenshots below).


The 1C Game Studios team wishes you good luck and aerial victories in the virtual sky! Congratulations on the upcoming Victory Day!

Dear Friends,

Today we have released another update 5.102 - two new Collector Planes, both of which arrived late in WWI and WWII respectively, and two new free historical campaigns.

The first one of them is the SSW D.IV biplane. It came too late to the Great War to change Germany’s fortunes, but what machines did make it to front-line squadrons acquitted themselves well. The SS.DIV was the end result of a robust line of aircraft that saw service in the war and it came with a unique feature. The 200-hp SH.IIIa rotary engine had a crankshaft that rotated opposite of the engine and the propeller ’s rotation in an attempt to reduce the torque. The four-bladed propeller gave it a fast rate of climb and a high speed. The SS.DIV was even faster than Germany’s mainstay front-line fighter, the very successful Fokker D.VII. It was also very maneuverable, but reportedly had nasty stall behavior when pushed too far. The SS.DIV was armed with two 2 × 7.92mm machine guns.



In addition to Quick Mission Builder and Multiplayer modes, you can fly it in Career mode during Flying Circus timeframes if you own both this collector plane and either of Flying Circus volumes. In addition, in this case Against the Tide historical campaign (created by Jaegermeister) on the Flying Circus Western Front map will open up for you in the game for free - you'll become one of the Jasta (Jagdstaffel) 22 pilots that received these newest biplanes shortly before the end of the World War I.

The second new arrival is Messerschmitt Bf-109 G-6AS (also available on Steam). It was designed as a high-altitude interceptor and appeared in the Western Europe skies during late Spring 1944. 686 aircraft were built, 226 from scratch and 460 were upgraded from G-6 modification aircraft during repairs. The engine, DB605AS, was a modification of the DB605A. The installation of the bigger supercharger from the DB603 engine has increased the critical altitude and flight characteristics at high altitudes. The engine cowling became bigger, but it had a more aerodynamic form compared to a standard G6 cowling.



Another new historical campaign is added to the game for free - Wild Mustangs. It is available to all owners of the Battle of Bodenplatte and continues the story of 370th FG which started in the Lighting Strikes campaign by the same author (Jaegermeister).

As usual, there are other improvements and fixes as well:

[h3]5.102[/h3]

1. New Collector Plane, the Great War biplane SSW D.IV has been released;
   
2. New Collector Plane, high altitude interceptor Bf 109 G-6AS has been released;
   
3. New free historical mini-campaign Against the Tide is available to players who own SSW D.IV Collector Plane and either of the Flying Circus volumes, thus having access to WWI Western Front map;
   
4. New free historical campaign Wild Mustangs set in the end of WWII is added to the game (it requires Battle of Bodenplatte);
   
5. Free historical campaign Wind of Fury has been updated (all aircraft have tactical numbers assigned, US vehicles are replaced by British ones in the British held territory, all missions were updated and re-tested);
   
6. Free historical campaign Sea Dragons (all aircraft have tactical numbers assigned, new aircraft types added, all missions were updated and re-tested);
   
7. New Ruler map tool added;
   
8. Dynamic visual damage decals appear on player controllable tanks correctly;
   
9. Bf 109 family FM corrected - the bug that reduced their listed climb rates a bit has been fixed;
   
10. Flying Circus Career: AI flight leader correctly takes off on certain airfields;
    
11. AI pilots priorities updated: now they will try to retain their bombs and rockets and will jettison them in combat only if they have an enemy on their six that is opening fire;
    
12. Spitfire Mk.XIVe with teardrop canopy: F24 photo control panel switches are now animated;
    
13. Spitfire Mk.XIVe with teardrop canopy: wing gun covers textures are aligned better;
    
14. Spitfire Mk.XIVe with teardrop canopy: it is now possible to set higher propeller RPM manually;
    
15. Bf 109 G-6 Late, Bf 109 G-14: BR-21 control panel typos fixed;
    
16. OnKilled event in mission logic won't trigger several times from MCU Command: Damage for AI controlled vehicles;
    
17. LCA is correctly visible in multiplayer (previously its gunner could appear hanging in the air).
    

Dear Friends,
Patch 5.101b is live:

1. Visual damage hit decals are visible again;
   
2. AI pilots correctly spot (or don't) spot enemies in bad lighting conditions like dawn or dusk;
   
3. AI pilots better engage enemies which have altitude advantage;
   
4. AI pilots better evade collisions;
   
5. FC Career: Schlasta 21 career in 1918 starts correctly;
   
6. FC Career: AI pilots correctly take off from Epiez airfield;
   
7. FC Career: new aircraft models appear in missions not earlier they are available historically;
   
8. FC Career: AI pilots in two-seater light bombers prioiritize carrying out the bombing strike instead of engaging enemy airplanes, they will engage only when directly attacked;
   
9. FC Career: aces list in the newspaper only shows the aces of the player country;
   
10. FC Career: some award requirements were corrected;
    
11. Career: player flight correctly performs the assigned task in patrol missions when starting on the airfield;
    
12. Career: artillery spotting mission coordinates displayed on the screen corrected for other languages (Russian, Deutsch, etc.);
    
13. Spitfire Mk.XIVe: several small parts in the cockpit have been improved and Oyster_KAI enhanced the cockpit textures; 
    
14. Spitfire Mk.XIVe: armored seat support is correctly visible from first person view;
    
15. Spitfire Mk.XIVe: formation lights are correctly visible from a distance;
    
16. Spitfire Mk.XIV and Mk.XIVe: fuel consumption rate corrected (reduced);
    
17. Both Bf 110s, Spitfires Mk.V and Mk.IX: typos in cockpit corrected by Oyster_KAI;
    
18. Pe-2 s. 87: pre-1942 missions with this aircraft start correctly;
    
19. Me 410: combat mode time limit corrected.