If you only get black screens where planes/pilots should be, then go to your 1C Softclub/IL2 sturmovik cliffs of dover/conf.ini and add

Render=D3D9_0

under the [window] heading. That should get your game going. Worked on my nvidia 330m.

I also never had the sound issue online, so maybe it's related.

Looks reasonably promising at the moment, thanks for taking the time to post ;)

delete the ubi logo!helped me and some others big time.

the file should be in the GUI folder:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\il-2 sturmovik cliffs of dover\parts\core\GUI

just delete the file or rename it.

if it doesnt bring a performance boost, then at least it will shorten the time to load the game.

Reports say performance improved http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showthread.php?t=23087

Also the MP sound bug workaround is turn off Trees - Confirmed

I've added Ataros's suggestions here:

If the patch does not help with stutters completely check the following:

0. Plan to get rid of your old WinXP and install Win7-64 asap. It has a trial period. Install it as a second OS first to see how much you can benefit.

1. Antivirus.
Exclude both IL-2 folders from antivirus shield/real-time(!) monitoring (both in Steam and Documents folders). Helped me a lot. Test with switched off antivirus program to see if this is the reason. More http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showpos...5&postcount=33

2. Use a free program like Gamebooster to unload all unnesessary processes before you launch Il-2. Close your web browser!

3. Use a free program like Gamebooster to defragment game files after every patch(!) Use some advanced defragmenting software to put game files on outer tracks of your hard drive which are faster.

4. Try switching off hyper-threading in BIOS.

5. Try CPU-Control program to assign Steam and Launcher to 4 cores and the rest of background programs to cores number 2-3-4. Create profile for this setup. (Yes it helps even in Win7)

6. Defragment your pagefile. Move your page-file to ramdrive, ultra-fast thumbdrive, or just a separate hard drive. If you have 8+ GB RAM try switching off page-file completely (Some say that Windows won't let you do so completely and it is better to leave a small one on a RAMdrive). Put your system, game and pagefile into 3 different physical drives.

7. In video drivers put mip-map levels and texture quality to performance or high performance to save vram (especially 1gb card owners). Switch on filtering optimization and other performance options using programs like ATI Tray tools, nHancer, RivaTuner(or Afturburner now?)

8. Try putting most frequently accessed game files to a RAMdrive http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showthread.php?t=20228

9. ATI users force max clocks in drivers. (Some cards just do not speed up when you launch this game unfortunately).
Delete UBI logo video file to avoid this issue.

10. Try forcing vsynk on in drivers (I use ATI Tray Tools to do this) to increase visual smoothness. Switch on triple buffering option when vsynk is on(!).

11. Switch off Wallpaper rotation (desktop themes) in Win7.

12. Make sure you are running 4-core CPU @3+ GHz. 3.8+ is recommended. Buy a good cooler and overclock. Check VRAM usage statistics on the forums. Buy a video card with enough vram to prevent stutters. (1.5 or 2GB vram now before patching).

upd.
13. Switch landscape shadows to low or off. It helps a lot both with fps and stutters. Switch off clouds completely in difficulty(!) settings. Put buildings to very low.
Reduce texture quality from "original" to "quality" - important to avoid stutters.

Game settings to reduce/turn off for highest performance gain: SSAO, shadows, landscape shading, texture quality, landscape details.

14. Use the Performance improvement mod(s) (no SSAO, no mipmaps, lower detail textures)

15.
Quote:
Originally Posted by adonys
to get rid of stutters, set the buildings to unlimited.
16. Try out the newest nvidia drivers - the 270.51 beta driver pack.

upd. 21.05.11
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ataros
btw. Check that you do not have vsync ON in both game and drivers. It should be switched on only in one place. This mistake of mine killed performance for me as soon as they introduced fullscreen.

Triple buffering (google it) should be forced ON with a 3rd party utility (ATI Tray tools or D3Doverride in RivaTuner) if you use vsync or your fps would jump from 15 to 30 fps and back very often.

Also if you do not defragment after each patch the performance can reduce with every patch as files get more and more fragmented.

Try installing .net Framework 4 update 1 from March or April iirc. This game depends on .net performance. If something is wrong with it you can not help it.
upd. 22.05.11
You may use whatever program you like to do this but DO STOP all processes and background programs except absolutely essential. Read this: http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showpos...44&postcount=1

Setup SLI http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showthread.php?t=23087 or Crossfire http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showthread.php?t=23180 if you have them. 100% fps increase with 4 gpu setup reported.

upd. 3.06.11
Check your Power Management settings. Go to Advanced Power management and make sure NO powersaving options are on (e.g. switching off hard drives, usb controllers, downclocking cpu, etc, etc, etc.). Gamebooster applies a Gaming Power Plan that does it automatically if set up correctly.

If you have issues, 1st verify game cache/files integrity in Steam. Reinstall all software from the redist folder within Steam/IL-2 folder. Check appropriate sites for newer versions/updates of these programs.

... I am sure there are some more things to optimize in our systems.