He 177
 

These documents suggest that the He 177 A-3/R-2 could be armed with guided bombs:

http://www.deutscheluftwaffe.com/arc...lugstrecke.pdf

https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/attach...7a-jpg.358397/

My main gripe with the game is the formation spacing is too close - every 4th mission or so some planes collide - could the default spacing be put into conf.ini - or just increased even + extra 5m each may be enough!

Also when using 2x 4x time could it be set to drop back to 1x when enemy is 10km of player (or any plane). Could even play Klaxon alarm then too so if out of room you are alerted!


A plane data viewer would be nice even with just with show engine name, guns types nose wing etc (how did they make the old "il2 Compare" programs with flight data?).

To taly001,

May be do you need a Tesla plane, with Ace autopilot skill level switched on full auto?

He He I do enjoy watching the AI fight, but no one has time to fly 200km in real time and leaving it in normal 2x 4x it will do all the fights without player even knowing.

If you were right no need of big nice maps...
You aren't a simer, may be just a little gamer.

Set a key for the time skip function. It is in the Time Compression area of the Controls as are the other time speed up options. This option gives you a black screen with a timer in the lower right corner while it is running but if an enemy appears in your area you will get kicked out of the Time skip option and back into the game.


Wheels

Since 4.13, 4.13.1 the flight formation has been broken. You are good with three or four AI aircraft but with six AI aircraft, two flight squadron, planes five and six want to cover position three and four of first flight. With (fighters) carrying bomb loads, Igenerally lose planes four and five before finishing circling the field after take off.
Same with some escort missions in German and Russian fighter campaigns. Fighter escort lead tries to take up position of number two bomber. That’s good for three or four mid air collisions. Because the routing over every enemy ack ack position isn’t enough to deal with. :-)

Some people prefer to fly one 200 km length mission a night, while others want to fly twenty 10 km length missions a night. Everyone likes different things.

I can get by using time skip but the I don't like watching a black screen ;) I don't know what depth TD has to code access but if the Time Skip auto return at enemy contact could be added to 4x 8x code blocks it would be nice.

I see some similar happenings sometimes with the AI slug heavy bombers, but i've also seen fighters break into each other not the best way to start a mission. It does seem to be some formation configurations are wrong as exactly the same thing usually happens if you replay the mission!

Yes. Replay changes little. Though once having lost four AI in my squadron to this ‘bug’ I hit replay and was rewarded with having then lost only two. :-)

I lose AI to the ‘standing on the wing tip’ to check 6 o’clock. Eventually in formation, plane a and plane b stand on near wings and collide. :-(

La 5FN / La 7 FM and FW-190 AI pilots
 

Hi all this is my first post here on this forum. I have been playing Il-2 since it came out and I really enjoy the fact the game is still alive thanks to the team still working on it and mods that enhanced the game.

I was wondering whether it is possible to correct the FM of the Lavockhin series. When I fly these planes I find them to be to easy to control. They pick up speed quite fast, they can maneuver without stalling. In fact they can do really tight turns especially the La 7. You can shoot down anything with them even jets.

Is their FM really realistic? I feel they need to be nerfed.

The other thing is the AI. They really do not know to how used the the different strengths of their aircraft. For the example they fly the FW-190 like it was a Yak or a Spit which in turn they are slaughtered easily by the enemy. The Ai or the game in general favors turning battles an we know that not all fighter planes are suitable for this.

Maybe something can be done to help the AI acknowledge the different strengths and tactics needed for the aircraft.

La 5FN / La 7 FM and FW0190 AI pilots
 

??

AI situational awareness
 

From "Fighter Combat - TACTICS AND MANEUVERING, By Robert L. Shaw":

"It has been estimated that throughout the history of air combat 80 to 90 percent of downed fighter pilots were unaware of their danger until the moment of the attack."

From 4.11 Guide:

"AI planes will no longer detect enemy planes automatically inside certain radius. Position and size of enemy plane is the main factor here. Bigger plane will obviously produce a bigger and more visible "dot" and it will be more visible to AI. AI skill will generally determine how well AI can spot targets. Also every gunner on board will contribute to enemy spotting by covering their own sectors. Generally pilots will keep looking more forwards than backwards. Occasionally fighters execute fishtail maneuver to get better view behind. Planes will be less visible against dark background like land, but more visible against brighter background like sky and clouds. Clouds & land mass blocks AI's ability to see other planes behind them. For example it is possible to evade attacking AI plane by hiding in clouds. AI planes will also try to hide in clouds in certain conditions. AI's own plane will block their line of sight. This is calculated from the plane's collision model. For example basically all planes cannot see directly below them, unless the plane has ventral/bottom gunner that can cover the underside. For example plane like Blenheim has blind spot rear & behind since it has no tail/bottom gunner. Plane like B-17 with bottom/rear gunners cannot be surprised from rear & behind like Blenheim (during daylight). Occasionally fighters will execute roll maneuvers to get a look directly below them. When fighter is pulling positive G's to get a lead shot and target goes invisible under nose, AI will not see the target. Instead of aiming at the actual target, AI is shooting at estimated target which position is extrapolated based on the last real observations. Much like human brain would do."

Well, I would really like these features to be efficiently implemented, since, so far (4.13.4), I still fail to make an "ambush" to any enemy aircraft. Invariably, even if it is alone, when I reach a distance from it of less than a few hundred meters (let's say 400) it snaps into a series of incredible evasive maneuvers, sometimes so unreal that I burst out laughing (like the "false stall", recovered only a few meters from the ground). If I attack a Blenheim from rear and below (as mentioned in the previous guide) the tail gunner not only sees me, but also manages to shoot me! I am puzzled when, in a formation of C-47, I see the last of the row twists and turns "to see what's behind". Even hiding inside the clouds does not seem to work; according to Storebror (who can read the code) it is true that the AI ​​does not see the opponent inside the clouds, but continues to look for him so aggressively that sooner or later he finds it the same!

In the game "Red Baron" (the first, of 1990) you could really hide in a cloud and veering inside a couple of times, the enemy AI could not find you anymore. As for the "ambushes", in the game Falcon 3.0 of 1991, were one of its features: approaching from below at six o'clock with the radar off you could get to knock down the opponent without being seen.

It's a pity that these old game features are not capitalized on new ones and the new developer teams always start from scratch.

Respectfully,
GB

AI night fighting
 

In previous game versions (4.11/4.12) were introduced both "JazzPlayer" and reduction of AI visual identification range at night.

I wonder if any of developers checked if they could work AT NIGHT. Actually, you may easily realize that AI visual identification range at night is so much reduced that, after first contact, AI loses sight of its target and IS UNABLE TO REGAIN for the rest of flight. This way all night fightings end up in a "nothing done".

The problem could be solved easily playing game earlier versions (e.g.: 4.10), but it's a pity to lose the possibility to fight WITH AI firing at enemy bombers from underneath.

I would love to see a Dewoitine D.520 added one day! :)
Not sure how authentic this one is but it does look good:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=829gWdVUjJE

will be .. already maded preimport in game, external model by Macwan and Pit by Kashiide... but still a lot of work it... so won't be include in 4.14 ...

Sita, you guys do amazing work! And you have given me and many others something to look forward, not just for 4.14, but for the next upcoming updates! :D

The D.520 has always been a plane I wanted to see in the stock game. And I can't thank you guys enough for adding it. No matter if it will be in 4.15 or later! :D

Has the He-177 load out list been finalized,and will there be a engine guide?

Drifted at sea, blown out of a Lancaster but still going.
 

I agree that Sita and the other members of Daidalos Team do great work. More than keeping Il2 still going it might be said that they have rebuilt it. Thankyou. Bolshoui Spasiba!

I thought some might be interested in the following news item:


https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-engla...100th-birthday I hope the link works.

The He-177 A3/R2's loadouts are divided in three categories : heavy (Rüstsätze A), medium (Rüstsätze B) and light (Rüstsätze C). For example, SC50s will be divided in loads of 48, 32 and 16 bombs for each category.

As for engine management you can take a look at this page : http://www.deutscheluftwaffe.com/arc...lugstrecke.pdf (only for Rüstsatze C for now. I'll upload the one for Rüstsatze B later). I've done some testing on the beta while using this manual and I can safely say that you can pretty much fly by the book on the He-177.:)

Hello! I can wait for release of your work!!
maybe in a future patch we can see a flyable Hs-123?
Thanks for your effort, TD! :-)

HMM no missile/glide bomb or torpedoes for He-177.
 

Ok seems the load out wont include what was previously out there with fritz x and torpedoes etc. Still quite a load carrier for short range missions.

Hmm. Christmas wishlist. :rolleyes:

Cr.32
Ba. 65
Flyable TBD-1
Flyable Blenheim

Some Italian and British ships and ground objects, such as artillery and AA guns, trucks, etc.

New armament on SBDs ---- 1 x 500 and 2 x 100 bombs
B5N2 ----- 2 x 250 Kg bombs
1 x 800 Kg bomb

And for Daidalos team to get whatever they want/need to keep up the work.

P.11c fix
 

Hi. You could fix P.11c. There are several things in the game that are incorrect:
- the date of construction 1939, it should be 1933
- the underside of the wings should be blue
- lower chessboards on patches should not have white fields, only red colors were painted
- the speedometer indicator disappears when the engine is turned off, after landing
- the gear should not fall off in a diving flight, history doesn't know such cases
- it was possible to refuse a fuel tank in a plane in the event of a fire
- a fuel gauge should be on the left side of the instrument panel
- add a mirror on the windshield
- some planes had an additional mirror on the right side of the cabin
- some of the aircrafts had an on-board radio station; add antenna links
- pilot could see the 2 mg on the hawks from the inside of the cabin
- on the left side of the cabin there was a rocket in the holder; on both sides of the control stick shaft of the cartridge box
- the emblem of the units appears in the wrong place, they should move a bit forward, so as not to cover the serial number of the aircraft.
- 303 Squadron (polish unit in UK) used the 111 emblem from Cracow
- radio signals are missing at the bottom of the panel
- in polish aviation, planes in the border protection corps had other designation like that https://www.thenostalgiashop.co.uk/P...R583)/3783.htm
- there was also another experimental camouflage in sharpheads https://modelwork.pl/topic/10717-pzl...ge-148/?page=4

Rifle weapons are 2 mg in the fuselage or 2 in the fuselage and additionally 2 on the hawks. Both variants carried the same designation P.11c. Airplanes with 4 mg were rising slowly and had less maneuverability.

Current AI
 

The Current AI in 1946 is the only thing i find (as someone who still plays a lot) that has a majorly negative impact on the game. At various difficulty levels the AI is always making ridiculous high deflection campaign-ending shots from 100s of meters away without hardly ever missing. These shots are often performed while they wouldn't even be able to see you over their nose. If they start missing, they'll correct instantly even if they couldn't realistically see you.

The second issue with the AI i have is that often the fighters can be somewhat predictable in both their defensive maneuvering as well as when entering a fight. When entering an air battle, the AI loves to do weird stuff that puts them (often) under their opponents with low energy states. It would be awesome if they would be more conservative in their maneuverings until they actually engaged.

Hmm. How about adding bomb armaments to the P-400? At least a 500 pound bomb option.

+1 for that, if the P-400 did have bomb capability. Does your research indicate this? I know the P-39D introduced the bomb armament for the P-39, and they all had it thereafter. Now although the P-400 was produced generally in parallel with the P-39D it did have a different armament, so I'm not 100% sure it included the bomb carrying ability. Numerous pictures showing them with drop tanks would seem to suggest bomb carrying ability was there also, so you're probably quite right. :)

I would definitely like to see the US manufactured bombs available for the later P-39 load outs, which only have the FAB-250 for some reason. The later versions of the P-39 were definitely used with bombs by the USAAF as late as 1944 in Italy on P-39N and Q of the 350th Fighter Group in Italy. One of these attacks will feature in an upcoming Fw 190 historical mission which I'm currently working on and plan to upload on M4T, so it would be nice to be able to feature the correct US manufacture bombs. I doubt this would be too difficult since the earlier P-39 models already have the US 500 pound bombs available.

Since you asked.
https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/da...tus-air-force/

What would really give us the answer, is if anyone could dig up a pilots handbook/manual for the P-400/P-39.

Notice where it says they used bombs for ground attack after failing to compete as fighters. For now, I can use the P-39 and P-400 interchangeably, but... Its a wishlist so I wished. lol

[QUOTE=Marabekm;718330]Since you asked.
https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/da...tus-air-force/]

Good job! That's a detailed account of the P-400s using 500 pound bombs at Guadalcanal. In fact I've added it to my bookmarks!

However, the author's lack of source quotation is annoying.

I did some digging through my own research papers and found a chapter which was basically devoted to P-400 operations at Guadalcanal from "Pacific Sweep" by William N. Hess, published in 1974. It backs up your article in stating that the Airacobras at Guadalcanal were initially 14 P-400s, not P-39s, so I assume the two P-39Fs mentioned in your link were gone by then (or not sent to Guadalcanal). And in the context of September 1942 it speaks of P-400 bombing missions and says "When replacement aircraft came up they were still P-400s. There was nothing else to send". So that's pretty firm support for the P-400 using bombs. Hess refers to the P-400 using 500 pound and 100 pound bombs.


In summary I'm convinced that all of the current Airacobra types in the game should be capable of carrying a single bomb of any of the standard US sizes up to 500 pound (or even 600 pound according to some reputable sources). Same goes for the drop tank option instead of a bomb.

Just having the existing US 500 pound bomb and 75 gal drop tank options available across all the Airacobra types would be enough to satisfy most situations I think!

Happy New Year!
 

As we begin the new year I’ll be thankful for any improvements that Daidalos brings our way once again!

But for what it's worth, here's the top of my wish list this year (some old, some new) ...

Aircraft: Heinkel He 115, Yokosuka D4Y please (non-flyable for both is fine by me)

Object: USS Ranger (CV-4)

Map: A true-scale correct geography Central Italy map (centred around Grosseto would be wonderful, including a good amount of the Tyrrhenian Sea).

Air Force: China (an official complete Nationalist Chinese Air Force setup including default aircraft markings and default pilot skins etc would be great)

Gameplay: Daidalos have been awesome in giving some love to the AI behaviour in previous patches, and this is greatly appreciated, but I'd still love to see more improvements in the obvious things like forced-landing behaviour and return-to-base when damaged behaviour if possible (as often discussed in the forums). One more specific request from me is common sense jettison actions by AI fighters engaging in dogfights. As human pilots we already have the ability in some aircraft to jettison rocket stores intended for bomber or ground attacks before engaging in dogfights with enemy fighters. However, our AI friends and foes don’t seem to have been trained in this most basic of actions to improve aircraft performance (for example R6 rocket fit on FW-190). And we don’t have a radio command to tell them to do it either. Instead they attempt to engage in full on fighter vs fighter combat while weighed and dragged down by these stores. It would be great if the AI pilots either jettisoned such stores before engaging enemy fighters, or alternatively fired them all off in the first pass and then jettisoned the launcher (for experienced pilots at least).

The flares available in game cant be dropped sequentially by AI, if you task a flare equipped plane to orbit and drop flares it will drop all at once. Would like to see a flare offset that allows a patrol pattern and at each waypoint it drops a flare etc.

Also would like to see some type of illuminated reticle for the bomb sights, for now its squint and hope your aligned correctly.

AI has a bad habit of breaking off from intended mission to chase enemy planes, HS 129 dumped bombs and went sturmovik hunting, stukas as well went after a su-2. My favorite was in a rabaul mission, the TBD Devestators went all out to engage a jake float plane.

Need some B-25 and A-20 strafer gunships with appropriate ground attack behavior. Currently they will drop all their bombs way to low and blow themselves up unless you use parafrags. B-25C and D models with nose guns and flyable cockpits?