Apart from mountains and hills, all the maps in Il-2 are flat. However, in real life, the Earth is more or less round, so for 4.13 all the maps should be slightly curved as well.

I know what you mean, but it probably can't work with the game engine. The altimeters, and the air pressure, probably work on the height above a flat plane, if you curved the map in the middle the height at ground level would probably be above the service ceiling of most aircraft.

No way!!

A curveed horizon effect at higher altitudes would be enough, and it is allready there.

I really wish to kow how much altitude difference there will be on our maps sizes in between map borders and map center... actually is not that difficult to calculate, but it won't improve the game a bit.

The only advantage I could imagine is getting lost behind the horizon flying low, but that distance is far greater than 10Km, so, I don't see the point.

These are not jetliners, they are short range fighters, and attack aircraft, on reduced scale maps.

Its is the must important think ? Seriously !

Arguably too far beyond the practicality scale to be a worthwhile implementation for the majority of maps in the game, save for the Solomons and similarly ginourmous maps. Even then - unless your're flying up in the "direct-to" business jet flight levels of FL380 and higher - the visual difference would be negligible. Also, the way the game models visibility would have to be rebuilt. Not really worth the trouble.

Also, "more or less round"...? Lol.

The south pole is more or less cold... :-P

It's an imperfect sphere:

It is very close to the ideal sphere.

It could be nice to have a patch where you can play without disc :)

I'm not sure that TD are allowed to mess with copy protection features.

Anyhow, the mod that allows you to play without using a disc is readily available. It's a tiny file that overwrites the stock file and has no other effect on game play. It also appears to be stable even when older versions of the mod are added to newer patch versions.

While these days I play an otherwise stock version of the game, I still use the no CD mod for convenience and to save wear and tear on my original game discs.

Just buy the game at GOG. It's just ten bucks (when it is not in a sale, then is even cheaper), and it's an updated, DRM-free copy you can download anytime, anywhere, and play.

Who is GOG. I would like to recommend non-steam version to a friend.