My first impression? Buy it.

[Les]

Stayed up late downloading, installing and starting up the game with no problems. Left all graphics options on default (1920x1200, Medium, no AA), except for no epi filter. Left all the realism options on default, didn't configure any controllers and just changed the sound settings to Headphones.

Flew a single Hurricane and Spitfire with keyboard and no TrackIR on the Channel, English countryside and London QMB 'maps'. Lowest frame-rates I saw were roof-height over London, in the low teens according to FRAPS. But yes, the stuttering is just too much, even for sight-seeing imo.

Changed the settings to maximum everything with 8xAA, had a quick look again at the English countryside and the Channel, didn't bother with London. Lowest frame-rates were about 20 at tree-top height over the countryside. Stuttering didn't seem to be worse but it was still too much.

No time for combat or other planes.

And you know what, as un-optimized as it is, even in the fifteen or twenty minutes I just spent just having a quick look around like that, there were at least a couple of moments where I was like **** yeah, this was worth it.

No it's not finished, not by a long shot. But like I said in one of the Steam threads, the crap bits aren't worth ditching the whole thing over.

If you can afford it, buy it. Buy it, support it, make of it what you can now and wait patiently for it to be improved.

And yes, I will even go so far as to say, if you can afford it, buy it even if you can't currently play it. I've done that before myself with a couple of select titles.

That's my opinion, based on my first quick look, and I've got no time anymore for people who refuse to support the developers and the future development of the game, by not buying the game, but who still feel entitled to make demands of it and them. Put up or shut up. Buy in or bugger off.

If you can afford it, support the game now in the most important way that matters, by buying a copy and giving constructive feedback. Take a look at yourself and ask yourself, "If I have a choice in the matter and I just sit back and let everyone else do the hard yards and the sim manages to survive and thrive without my help, then I come back and try to reap the rewards without having put anything in, do I really deserve to be part of that, honestly?"

Sorry if that rubs some people up the wrong way, but that's just how I'm seeing it.

Another thing is, even if the new series doesn't take off like the old one did and it's not taken to a more finished state or is abandoned for some reason, I'm happy to look at the money I've spent on Cliffs of Dover as payment for the enjoyment I got out of the old series. In that light it's not money lost however it works out.

And no ***t, I'm not making this up, the Collector's Edition I ordered online just got delivered as I'm writing. Going to go check that out too. Or maybe just go to sleep. Incidentally, the CE was also bought in part to show my support to the developers and publishers for making the effort to do that sort of thing, it'd be a bit of a shame if they didn't all sell.

As a final note about the graphics. I know it might be a bit obvious, but for those looking to maximize frame-rates, I noticed in the quick flights I did just before that switching the mirrors off gained me in some cases another 10-20 frames per second, even over water.

GTX580
i7 920 @ 3.8GHz
2x150GB Velociraptors in RAID0
12GB RAM

[AWL_Spinner]

Buy in or bugger off.

Amen to that.

I see Amazon have bumped up my delivery date by a couple of weeks but it still looks as though I'm waiting until mid-April here in the frozen North. I suspect by that time it'll be patched up to the eyeballs and humming along nicely!

Cheers, Spinner

[baronWastelan]

Let's see, in my cabinet I have the following discs:

IL-2 (2001)
IL-2 FB (2003)
IL-2 Ace (2004)
IL-2 PF (2004)
IL-2 1946 (2007)

Looks like I'm fully bought in!

[Wurschtie]

Buy a car to keep it in front of your house. Perhaps someday you will be able to drive it. Support the car developer. I have already done that with a bunch of selected cars.

I know the car is not finished. It's got no tires, and it is lacking a roof. But nevermind. You can sit in it, make 'wrooom' sounds with your mouth and totally say that it was worth it afterwards. And don't forget: You can even fill it up with expensive gas. Have your neighbor steal the gas, so you have fun on a daily basis. Or you could make fake tires out of bulls***, make a photo of the car, and paste it into a car forum. Just for the fun of it.

Seriously: I bought the game. Because perhaps someday it will work out. And the developer needs the money. But since when are manufacturers selling incomplete crap for a full price? There's the chicken and egg dilemma again.

[zauii]

Originally Posted by Wurschtie

Buy a car to keep it in front of your house. Perhaps someday you will be able to drive it. Support the car developer. I have already done that with a bunch of selected cars.

I know the car is not finished. It's got no tires, and it is lacking a roof. But nevermind. You can sit in it, make 'wrooom' sounds with your mouth and totally say that it was worth it afterwards. And don't forget: You can even fill it up with expensive gas. Have your neighbor steal the gas, so you have fun on a daily basis. Or you could make fake tires out of bulls***, make a photo of the car, and paste it into a car forum. Just for the fun of it.

Seriously: I bought the game. Because perhaps someday it will work out. And the developer needs the money. But since when are manufacturers selling incomplete crap for a full price? There's the chicken and egg dilemma again.

A physical car vs a computer software, you're surely joking with that comparison?

[BadAim]

Originally Posted by Wurschtie

Buy a car to keep it in front of your house. Perhaps someday you will be able to drive it. Support the car developer. I have already done that with a bunch of selected cars.

I know the car is not finished. It's got no tires, and it is lacking a roof. But nevermind. You can sit in it, make 'wrooom' sounds with your mouth and totally say that it was worth it afterwards. And don't forget: You can even fill it up with expensive gas. Have your neighbor steal the gas, so you have fun on a daily basis. Or you could make fake tires out of bulls***, make a photo of the car, and paste it into a car forum. Just for the fun of it.

Seriously: I bought the game. Because perhaps someday it will work out. And the developer needs the money. But since when are manufacturers selling incomplete crap for a full price? There's the chicken and egg dilemma again.

Since when does a car cost $50?