Online community, HyberLobby etc.
 

Been away for 6 years from il2 and I am wondering if IL2 is still active online.
Installed hyberlobby and there where just around 30 players online.

Is Il2 dead online or are there any other servers where to join?
I personally like fullreal settings.

Well its quieter than it was 6 years ago.

And the latest HSFX news is not good as they stopped modding IL2 1946 mainly due to new file structure in last TD patch release.

Interest is disappearing either through natural disinterest (age related) or lack of interest due to its genre (WW2 flight sim/game) or no further mod support.

Couple of us still fly co-ops in the evening. Usually around 6-9 pm US eastern time. Usually not full real but pretty close. Though I am sure we probably could do full real ever once in a while.

On this link you can usually find some nicely populated servers
---> http://il2.com.ru/en/links.php

Hope it helps ;)

The HFXS and it's (lack of) quality would be otherwise irrelevant to this topic, had it not been the modding community that also had a part in dividing and eventually indirectly diminishing Il-2's online audience. Good thing that there are times when servers are populated enough to play.

Is Steam partly to blame also? I saw IL2 Stalingrad advertised on there for it's release. Looks great but I don't care about using Steam for flight sims. They won't let you mod like we normally did.

Its all ways good to have a choice whether its your preference or not.

No Steam actually helps as Hyperlobby sees a lot of new pilots coming over from there looking for set up advice.

Take a look at this list (partly outdated, probably):
http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showpos...57&postcount=4

And this one was my favourite in 2016 when I had time to play:
http://www.letkaorel.eu/fusion7/viewpage.php?page_id=12
Good maps, well behaving players, nice choice of aircrafts, AI planes.

We don't fly through hyperlobby but if you are looking for a squad to fly with the BLACKBIRDS always welcomes new pilots.

NO membership fees and training always available if required.

If you are interested you can contact me through our website

www.blackbirdssquadron.com/blackbirdssquadron

BB_Rayner

I agree 100%. Hackers(modders) dumping various versions of IL2 onto Hyperlobby divided the community and destroyed the population on servers making them all less attractive. Hacks(mods) were also responsible for keeping new pilots away from IL2 because instead of them having one simple choice with which they could participate in the entire community, they had to choose between multiple versions and specific servers those versions could be used on.

There was no good reason for hacking IL2. The hacks came from individuals who cared more about what THEY wanted than the good of the sim and community at large, and what you see now on Hyperlobby, nothing, is the end result.

It's the opposite of your preferred settings, but the =IRSS= server (ip # 194.44.192.144:21000) usually has a few in the evening, (N America), and a lot in the morning, when the Russians and Ukrainians are getting home from the salt pits? and Vodka farms?

second or sub topic, yeah, mods have fractured the community, HL usually only has a dozen people logged in, and they are dispersed over several servers.

those 12 could have a blast together, but a server with two or three players is pointless, unless you are going after Grn targets, and are full switch so that skill is needed to intercept.
Other wise flying a bomber online is suicide. Kids will external you, and fly 60 miles away from the furball to get a easy kill (and their precious 400 pts) on a 1940's bomber who is just trying to get alt with their 1944 FW or Ki84.

After witnessing a incident I will post another story about, I have no faith in any kills on me online any more. Il-2 is hackable, very as the NTRK I post will show.

Meanwhile, for the last 10 years, our simming community had regular events involving up to 80 players at once, flying HSFW with zero cheat involved (only known french squads allowed) , a much better visual/audio environment than stock, plus excellent mod planes, in an online strategic dynamic PVP campaign called SEOW, all this thanks to charlie, 4shades and lots of individual modders.

Mods have fractured the online community sure, too bad for lone wolves, but what an experience for players involved in online squads ! Cheats were much anterior to mods btw, some squads started cheating/exploiting at the very beginning of open online il2 events. Want no cheats ? Fly with known pilots only.

Nowadays most online squads have moved to Clod/BOS or simply disbanded, but some still enjoy very much flying either HSFX or other IL2 flavors in events, try to join one and you may find fun again :cool:

I'm not sure about the impact of mods on lone wolves. Modded or not, you are under greater risks when you are alone. I have chosen "lone wolf" path in my online exploits at the very beginning of IL2 era (except coops) and accepted all risks involved. Including those related to bomber flights with external views... just treat it as if your enemy has the radar on the battlefield. ;)

KG26_Alpha, doesn't Steam ruin trying to mod IL2 1946 like it does with other sims/games?

I used to fly with the JG-53 guys from the old Bombs-Away.net web site... now closed. Computer problems kept me away from flying with them for a long time.

As for Hyper Lobby, there ended up too many cheats online so that ruined it for us and many others. We ended up flying with one of us hosting for the others we flew with. That worked out great for a long time.

Apart from the track that Music posted, I have not seen anyone cheat - ever. There have been some players that have made themselves hard to hit due to bad connection and warping, to the point that the server usually disconnects them. Recently I almost mouthed off a warping player, but it didn't take long before every player dropped from the server! All players and squads are innocent until proven guilty, and thinly veiled accusations of cheating, without proof of any kind, should be regarded as fairy tales.

When someone gets their ticket punched, the most probable reason is that they made a mistake. Identifying your own mistakes and having an ounce of respect for the guy who got you is preferable to paranoia. I've smacked my head many times after overestimating my energy state or letting an opponent sneak behind me - watching a track of that happening is an eye opener, if anything.

CRT=2 (or higher) in server settings will go a long way in dealing with cheaters.