Friday Update, June 08, 2012
 

Good Morning!

We’ve completed most of the outstanding tasks this week, most importantly fixing most serious issues and speeding up the graphics engine. The game is now even faster, and the FPS slow-downs have been reduced even further. We are currently testing the new version and fixing various small issues as they are discovered. A public version of the new patch will not be ready before next Wednesday even if everything goes extremely well.

We’d also like to describe the work performed with the FM this week in more detail:

· Added new Hurricane Mk I and Spitfire Mk I variants with constant speed propellers and fuel tanks filled with 100-octane fuel. Older 87-octane variants also remain available. (Please note that the new planes use existing cockpits, so the boost indicator gauge shows new extrapolated values)

· Corrected (increased) low-altitude airspeeds for RAF fighters.

· Corrected Bf-109 rudder model, making it more effective to allow real-world maneuvers to be performed with just the rudder pedals.

· Corrected fuel model for more realistic gas mileage.

· Increased drag created by the radiator.

· Corrected throttle control model; now the entire range is used.

· Corrected flap sounds for the Bf-109.

· Corrected the pitot heat light on the Bf-109.

· Corrected the overspeed sound for aircraft; the sound will now increase in volume gradually and depend on airspeed.

Finally, as we approach the official announcement of the upcoming project, we continue to showcase the aircraft you will get to fly there. Today we’re showing the model of the Soviet Petlyakov Pe-2 bomber for the first time. This venerable aircraft fought with the Soviet VVS throughout the war, going through numerous improvements and modifications. Despite its many shortcomings it continued to play a more important role than its more refined successor the Tu-2 all up to the final days of the way.

We’d like to note that the screenshots are not taken in-game but rather in the internal model viewer app.

Have a great weekend!

+

Thank you.........

100 octane, corrected Spits and Hurris low alt speed, radiator drag? you guys deserve a week off!

Great update. Pretty much all I personally wished for. Let's hope we get it within two weeks =)

Thanks for the update, cant wait for the next patch!

Does this include optimizing the effects such as smoke, clouds, grass etc?

Cheers!

Thanks for the update,

Have a good weekend yourself,

Septic.

Nice! Thanks for the update - really looking forward to it!

How about visual problems with textures etc? Have you managed to fix them too?

Thanks B6!

Thanks for update. looking forward to patch.

Looking very god !

Thanks
! :)

109 rudder even mroe effective? Are you sure about that ? lol

i mean right now the 109 has the rudder authority of a DR1, i do rolls with rudder only, are you you didnt mean decrease/correct?


regarding the new spits/hurris: cant wait, bring on the next week :grin:

Very very good news ... tks so much

GREEEEAT NEWS!!!

At least THE 100 OCTANE!!!!

A great THANK YOU!!!

You made my day! ;-)

Guys, I don't work with this patch and I can't give you additional info about details. It's all info which I have.

Finally!!! We get to see a bomber in an update. How long did that take? Thank you!

I can't wait to fly it.

There will then Boost to 12lb ???

Thank you.... But... Why does it say Good Morning? Is it for the Americans or did you just have to wait until now to publish it?:):)

BlackSix,

thanks for the update !

great news on the correct implementation of having 100 octane fuel available for the brittish planes :)

excellent news also on the further improvements in fpsec

BlackSix, a question plz: can you please check with Luthier that he has also addressed the lack of correctly being able to select a specific FoV setting that corresponds to our personal monitor size (as we could do in the late versions of the old il2 series). right now we are limited to the 3 settings of "normal", narrow and wide, instead of being able to select between 35 and 90 in 5 degree steps like we should be able to. the result of this is that all ingame objects (including planes, trucks, ships) either look to small or to large compared to their real life sizes we should see from a specific distance. please ask or this to be looked at as a matter of priority (reported in feedback thread before)

Nice update! Performance and FM work sounds good, looking forward to trying the patch out soon.

New models are looking nice too.

Thank you for the update, Black6.

And.. is there any info regarding the Radio Comms & AI modifications for the following patch?

This is the biggest system not working atm in the game (well, excepting the promised dynamic weather, which wasn't added t all), not even after over a year after game's launch..

Yeah..nice update, many thanks BlackSix:grin:

Have a good weekend too...

Great news BS!
Thx

Thanks B6 for the update. Can you please pass on to Luthier that the AI need to be added to your "Fix" list. Great cockpits, FMs and DMs are all nice and appreciated, but if it's all about simulating combat, watching your adversary dart around like a hummingbird takes you right out of the game. I have loaded the fixes that community members have provided but while they help they don't fix. PLEASE FIX.

The forum was just blow :razz:

If and when you can could you ask someone about the effects, such as explosions, smoke, clouds and grass and see what the status is, I know you dont work on the patch, but I believe you stated not too long ago about the progress of such things only being a few days. Just wondering if they were successful in adding these back in and optimizing them.

Thanks...

Btw amazing plane, can´t wait :grin:

I have to second the AI request. Assuming that the engine issues have really been fixed (we have become cautious, haven't we? :-P ) the area Maddox Games could do most advancements is AI, AI - player interaction, radio system and generally what constitutes offline gameplay. Even if the final package remaines confined to the sequel releasing individual features as Beta for widespread testing would be a good idea IMO. Not just to get a broader base for testing but also to demonstrate that things are evolving and - perhaps - to incorporate community suggestions (i.e. ground-based observers reporting enemy aircraft intruding into own territory etc).

Thanks for the update, BlackSix. Sounds good.

Thanks for the update. Love me some bombers.

More fps is always a good thing. I'm looking forward to an official patch release in the coming weeks hopefully.

Guys, I fear we won´t see AI and Radio comms in the close future... (altough i would greatly appreciate if it where fixed)

My guess is that they are developing a whole new communication-system to fit the needs of a MMO-Scenario. This might include spotting thanks and communicate this to ground stations or whatsoever...

Only a guess, but a possible explanation...

B6, We're in business!!!! Have a great weekend yourself! :D

Thanks B6,finally the RAF fighter performance is being sorted,this is great news:grin:

"fuel tanks filled with 100-octane fuel"...will that help.. NO!:-P

Could you elaborate ?

All aircraft or just 109?

Dammit, Friday's are exciting lately!! :D

Thanks for the updates. Our clan is looking forward to this being compeleted.

100 octan! This is going to make the Hurry-lovers very, very pleased!



Looks great! That's another bird I've always liked!

It would if the 109 pilots would just stay still for a moment.;)

Thanks for the update, B6 - great news!

Good one !

Thank you B6! and a special personal thank you for adding the placebo 100 octane, it will put many a restless minds at ease. Looking forward to the retail patch. Have a great weekend and good luck against the Czechs tonight.:)

Only 10 words:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_B3dvFMyDE

Thanks for the update BlackSix !
Great news on the correct addition of 100 octane fuel available for the british planes ,thanks to the team for implementing it,also good news on the further improvements in fpsec.The screen shots of the PE-2 are very nice,looking foreward to flying it:)
One question that I am sure many would like answered,Is there any likelyhood of a Coop GUI being added either in a later update or to the sequel when released ?

Thanks for the update it's fantastic news. Enjoy your weekend to and have some well earned brewski's

Oh god I hope the 100 octane is not a placebo.....why do I get the uncomfortable feeling that 100 octane in the tanks does not mean 100 octane performance....

Dont worry, Ill take care of that for them, they are far too busy :-P

Looks great guys!
Good job!
We getting close to the full release of the patch =) And we even get a better patch than was announced ^^
Good weekend!

Yeah, something to cheer me up after a dreary week at work. Cheers

+1

We'll see. When have they ever let us down before? :grin:

Hmmmmm, what other countries would be in the "morning" timezone?

Seconded.

Sweet, thanks B6!

Any news on AA?

I note that B6 has stated:

"Added new Hurricane Mk I and Spitfire Mk I variants with constant speed propellers and fuel tanks filled with 100-octane fuel. Older 87-octane variants also remain available. (Please note that the new planes use existing cockpits, so the boost indicator gauge shows new extrapolated values)"

Soooooo, by extrapolation - where does the Spit ll stand??

Progress, progress. Thx for the news.

You too and good luck for Russia vs Czechs! :D

The Spit II runs on 100 octane by default, but its emergency limits are lower - 9 lbs vs 12 lbs - and is/was at low altitude. It is a bit better at higher altitudes though.

You should know by now bongo, it's never good or correct enough.:) It's a nice addition though but I hope it doesn't cause 132 new bugs.

Or 132 new threads about how its not right to this person or that person.

I sure hope this patch works better than the last..my fingers are rather firmly crossed!

Great to see RAF speeds being corrected. Hopefully, turn & roll rates are being adjusted also.

Hi

Those planes are the true spirit of IL-2 so thanks a lot.

I can say probably we're all waiting for a real patch-up of the game ...

Keep it up

Thanks B6, looking forward with great anticipation.

"Spitfire Mk I variants with constant speed propellers and fuel tanks filled with 100-octane fuel"

+ angels 20 = good times :-)

great news thanks guys

Now that is the kind of thing I want to read!

Just hope I'm smiling when the goods get delivered :)

And.... 100 Octane fuel? Does that mean the Red team will finally return to keeping that stiff upper lip they are famed for? ;)

I'm afraid everyones upper lip will continue to quiver until substantial progress is made with the sim. Personally I'm hoping the progress will be enough to renew my interest in combat flight sims, I lost interest in siming a few years ago, and follow the developments of the new series very closely, hoping for the best. Although I have had some quality time with my wife instead of cocooning in my man cave cockpit. :)

Very good point!

I don't think the Spit IIa is too far out on speed and climb, it shouldn't be much different to the Ia except a better climber (to FTH) because the engine (a merlin XII) was design for 100 octane fuel and can run on 9lbs continuous, unlike the II and II which had to be modified, where anything over 6.25lbs is in the 'emergency' level. What is planned are major fixes which I hope work out well and the IIa won't be an urgent argument and require emergency changes. In the longer term I would like to see all of the speed, climb, turn, energy etc etc fixed up. It will be interesting to see what the FTH has become for the Ia models though, as well as how long it takes to cause engine damage when pulling the tit and applying the full 12lbs.

Yes the Hurricane does turn badly......

All of these items need to be addressed, for the 109 also.

Hi Osprey,
Looking forward to flying in SOW as No.401 along with your Squadron!

I guess what I was trying to say was . . . . no mention of the Spit II and 100 octane fuel. Just the Spit I and Hurricane I with 100 octane.

Cheers.

Anyone understand what this one means? a special maneouvre that converts RAF 100 octane into diesel? activates force fields? makes the aircraft move sideways to evade enemy fire? or were the 109 rudders just simply awesome? all of the above?

Its called MG paranoia. A condition induced by attending the MG forums too often. Take the Valium and try to believe. :)

Great news B6, thanks!

Likewise Catseye, please add me as a friend in steam :)

The Spit II only ever used 100 octane fuel so there would only be a single version of it. But yes, presently it uses an incorrect boost gauge and doesn't boost to the 12lbs emergency and 9lbs continuous.

Thank you 1C team

Viking

Absolutely. The vicious stall & spin of the 109 needs urgent taming as well. If a 109 on my tail is going to spin out and crash, let it be from 50 feet, not 2,000.

That is just so mean:-P

The only thing is......it very rarely happens! LOL

On the runway with an empty cockpit- it's pilot is out trading a 5th of gin for a tankful of 100 octane! ;)

Thanks for the update and the continued support.

I rarely post specific questions because they tend to get buried in an avalanche of more popular topics that usually concern fighters or the graphics engine for the most part.

However, since we now seem to be at a point where most of these issues are being taken care of, i would like to bring your attention to the real protagonists of the BoB, the aircraft that gave the fighters a reason to go on missions: the bombers.

The issues that exist thus far have been well documented, so i'll just repeat them briefly.

Flight ceilings for He111 and Ju88: The 88 could fly higher (although maybe not too much when fully loaded) and the 111 lower. What we currently have is the opposite.

Bombsight bugs in the luftwaffe bombers: When automation is engaged, the sight tracks the target correctly by treating user input as metric units. However, the release point is calculated wrong because it treats the "bombsight speed" values as imperial units.

So, if you are flying at 300km/h and input that in the bombsight, the sight will track the target correctly but release wrong. If you convert your speed to mph and input that in the sight, it will not track correctly but will release correctly for whatever it is tracking.

IAS/TAS conversions: In many cases and for most, if not all, bombers in the sim, players report that they get more accurate drops when they use their IAS instead of TAS in the sights. Do the sights feature automatic calculating of TAS or is it a bug? I could see a reason for automatic TAS and ground speed conversions, if/when the dynamic weather module gets implemented
we will have no way to calculate ground speed because we don't have drift meters in most bombers.
(The luftwaffe bombers can correct drift by engaging automation and correcting to keep the sight picture steady while looking through the scope, but the others cant.)

Ju88 gyrocompass: It has been inoperative since the release of the sim. This makes it impossible to use the autopilot in the Ju88, which means it's impossible to level bomb with any degree of accuracy and the 88 is only used as a dive bomber or low-altitude skip-bomber.

Turret controls: If it would be possible, it would be great to implement a command that allows the player to exchange control of the turret with the AI, like it was in the previous IL2 series.

Br20: I haven't flown it much, but i think that the mouse controls for the top turret are reversed. If anyone else knows of any other bugs with it, please report them too.

110 fuel/engines: Now that the developer team is providing us with all the suitable variants of RAF fighters in terms of engines and octane rating, could the same be done for the the 110? I wouldn't consider the need for 109 high octane versions too great because not too many of them were present in the BoB. However, about half the 110 fleet or more was using uprated engines with higher octane fuel. This made it one of the faster fighters in the theater, if not outright faster (acceleration is another matter though :-P ).

Since players tend to fly with more flexible tactical doctrines than the LW did (we don't have Goering threatening us and most of us have read some history books), it would create a lot of interesting scenarios to have the fast 110s employed as either low altitude fighter-bombers or high altitude air superiority fighters, free of the constraints of escorting bombers.

I think that correcting the above points would not only make the sim more realistic but also more enjoyable, enabling it to move to a higher level of tactical/strategic planning. Especially if some SDK/documentation is released for scripting ;)

Don't take my suggestions as complaints. They are just things that i feel need to be added to the sim, along with everything else you are working on. Now that most of the dedicated fighter pilots will be happy and the graphics performance will be improved, two of the most demanded for features will be finished, leaving the team with some free time to work on something else.

So, let's fix the bombers and get some documentation on scripting dynamic campaigns, because it will make the sim highly (re)playable and much more enjoyable, both offline and online. Cheers and keep up the good work :grin:

Does this mean the full time flap hiss actuation noise will finally be history on the bf109? Excellent! That was driving me crazy . Also hopefully the rudder won't continuously be bouncing back and forth in 3rd person view .

Thanks for the update BlackSix, good hear that good things are moving forward.

Do not want to be a spoil but, I get nervous when I see counter-clockwise rotation of the PE-2 propellers.
Picture of the real thing below....;)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi.../Pe-2-2004.jpg



@Blakdog_kt: +1 thanks for putting a nice summary of the bomber issues


~S~

Oh my word! Thanks BlackSix, fantastic news re the 100 octane spits and hurries! Glad to see FM still being worked on.

Will WEP in 109 have a noticeable effect on speed? Up to now it was really limited. Or am I doing something wrong?

indeed, a Bf110C-4/N would be nice to have. Lets hope that the two existing 110s will get their MG-FF/M at least....

you guys are awesome thank you for 100 OCT.......!!!!!!!

Thank you B6, great news, i hope the patch will be ready something in the next weekend rigth? if its true, i think i will play all Weekend, thanks for your work and all the team, and remember the Good things, have good Consecuences :)

Thanks Blacksix :)

WOOT

They did it! They actually did it!

As in good work to all those who posted the proof of 100 octane fuel being used during BoB!

With that said I want to thank all those who contributed to that end..

41Sqn_Banks
Al Schlageter
Artist
Ataros
Glider
IvanK
lane
NZtyphoon
Osprey
RCAF FB Orville
Robo
Seadog
Skoshi Tiger
camber
gavinb
pstyle
winny

And last but not least 1C for being able to see through the oppositions baseless smoke screen! S!

Thanks BlackSix:grin:

ah, 100 octane, finally!

otherwise: what blackdog said, plus: The Blenheim IV NEEDS a level stabilizer, even if not historically correct, plus some sight device to look straight forward, for longer-range target identification (perhaps the periscope thingy to the right of the bombsight in the blen's bombardier seat actually did exactly this in RL?)

P.S.: I told you I would be appeased by having Radio commands! :D I can live with some flaws, but that was essential! (could use some more work, though)

Why to add something that wasn't real, this suppose to be a simulator, not an arcade game with even features for all

Zapatista, check out my latest five vids, you can set the exact FOV you want...

to get the smooth zooming in/zooming out, you have to go into:

Control options,
Camera,
And set "Hold to adjust view" to whichever button you prefer (keyboard or joystick)

- If you then hold down that button and move your mouse forward or backward it will change the field of view in a gradual way.

It is an ok option to have, but it would be much better if CoD allowed you to set a "zoom in"-button and a "zoom out"-button, as in - for example - RoF.

Hope this helps.

Hello Blacksix,

In future the devs will improve the CEM to include realistic engine limitations? Acctualy in the 109 i can fly all the time with 1.3 ata when it should be only for 5 minutes. Fly all time at 1.2 when it should be 30 minutes etc. I can use the 1.45 ata at will. I say the 109 cause i am used with it but the engine limits shouold be valida to RAF fighters as well. Acctualy i do not see pilots worried to preserve their engines. Normally i like to fly the ac like they would be flied. I set 1.1 ata (only half throtllt) and 2280 rpm for cruise. 1.2 ata and 2400 for continuous climb, but if i want can maintain the power at 100% all time.

Blackdog, good summery of bomber issues. A couple that I have for the Br. 20 (A lovely aircraft that isn't really appreciated by most): if you switch positions while starting your engines online, sometimes a mysterious autopilot will take over, looking down the bombsite will occasionally freeze the game, and the altitude adjustment for the Br. 20 only shows increasing in incriments of 100 despite it being otherwise. Another small feature that I would like to request is more fuzes for the Italian bombs so we can also to low level ship bombing as well.


Thanks for the awesome update BlackSix, hopefully all goes well and can't wait for the sequel to be more formally announced.

Good news about the FM changes and 100 octane! Thanks for listening.

Nice pics of the Pe-2 as well.

Freycinet, can you link the video that shows how to set FOV? Cheers.

boost for thr RAF . Great news at last:grin:

For the Blenheim and every other bomber that doesn't have an autopilot, i was thinking of a "command the pilot" mode that would simulate the real procedure. I would also extend this to all existing bombers to simulate the fact that any pilot could be guided through the bomb run by the bombardier.

The way i see it working:

1) Switch to bombardier's seat.

2) Activate "command" mode (new keybinding)

3) The AI keeps the plane level. Up till now it's like a level stabilizer.

4) From this point on the similarities with level stab end. The player uses the same keybindings that are used to command left/right turns from the luftwaffe autopilots, but these have a different effect in "command" mode.

5) Every time the player taps these keys, the AI that is flying the plane is starting a gentle turn to the left/right.

6) Unlike the autopilot function (where the AP turns until the gyro heading matches the requested one), in command mode the turn continues until the bombardier explicitly tells the pilot to level off. This can be done by tapping the keys in the opposite direction: if you told the AI to steer left, pressing the key to steer right will level the plane off, and so on.

7) There would be a slight delay in matching commands to aircraft actions to simulate the time needed for the pilot to react (just like it happens with the AP to simulate their gyro-driven nature)


Such a function would not only solve the current problem, but also efficiently simulate the real thing and whatever gains and disadvantages exist in talking the pilot through the bomb run.

+
no need to use autopilots even in aircraft that have them
aircraft with no autopilots can level bomb with some precision even if only one human player is crewing them

-
less precise than autopilots due to the need to issue "level off" commands



If you guys like this idea, by all means add it as a suggested feature to the bugtracker.



Thank you both for replying with extra information (duh, i totally forgot about the MG-FF/M on the 110s! it's already in the sim because E-4s have it, so it would be no biggie to add it:-P)

I think that maybe we should open a thread only for bomber/twin-engined aircraft issues to generate some buzz. Many of these are small details that seem to be simple mismatch errors when typing the code (to the tune of replacing "left" with "right" or "true" with "false"), especially the control reversal bugs and instruments or equipment that are already present in the sim and work in one plane but not in another.

If they are quick and simple fixes like that, getting the attention of the dev team with a separate thread might help us get faster results, maybe even squeeze a couple of fixes into the upcoming test patch.

I encourage everyone with experience in bombers to post in such a thread in the main forum section (so that we also don't have to derail this one :P), create one and get going. I will manage and/or collate information during the weekend, i can sticky it for a couple of days to get some attention and once it's up and running, i can move it to an appropriate sub-forum. But in any case, what we need is pilots to report in with their findings about:

the sim's bombers in general (doesn't have to be multi-engined, the stuka qualifies too)

twin-engined aircraft

So, we are essentially looking at all bombers plus the dual-role 110.