4.11: 'Changes To darkness of night'

[Aviar]

In the 4.11 Guide, under 'Other small Changes & Improvements', it lists 'Changes to darkness of night'.

I was wondering if the IL-2 community is aware that with 4.11, we have lost approximately 2 hours of daylight in a 24 hour day? As a mission builder, I work with the FMB a lot and have noticed a dramatic change.

I am finding that I have to re-edit my 4.10 early morning and early evening missions. These are sunrise and sunset missions that (in 4.10) still had plenty of daylight left for ground attack and dogfighting.

In 4.11, these same missions now basically start in the dark or near-dark and must have their starting times changed in order to make them playable.

Just as a small example, I have attached 4 screenshots. From left to right, the first 2 shots are from 4.10 (6am and 6pm, respectively). Generally, these used to be the earliest/latest I would start a mission, as there was still enough daylight to see what you were doing.

The next 2 shots are from 4.11 (6am and 6pm, respectively). As you can see, it is near-dark in both shots...much darker than the 4.10 screens.

All of the shots were from the exact same mission on the Solomon's 1944 map. The only difference is the game version I tested them on.

I put a lot of effort into the starting time of my missions, as the lighting can have a dramatic effect on several aspects of gameplay.

Personally, I love the 4.11 patch, but this one particular change has made a dramatic effect (unfortunately, a negative one) on many of my missions (I have a lot).

I suspect that as 4.11 gets more playtime from the community, this issue will become more apparent to a larger number of players.

I was just wondering why this change to the darkness was made and was there any thought given to the problems it may inflict on legacy missions and campaigns?

Aviar