A final message from Luthier

[katdogfizzow]

Thanks Ilya for all your hard work. I can imagine how difficult it is to put out such a complex simulation and then have to deal with all the constant negative feedback.

I've enjoyed the heck out of your work. i can't thank you enough: I've flown over a 1000 hours in the skies of the Pacific that you help create. IL2 series is the one of best computer sims/games of all time. A great inspiration for anyone interested in history. I look forward to flying in CloD for some time to come.

One of the greatest things about IL2 was letting the community run with the great work you started by releasing the code. Please continue this tradition and release the code to Clod so the modders can continue the great work that you've started.


Cheers

[janpitor]

I was also flying il2 since beta. I didn´t have a pc that could run it those days, so I flew at my schoolmate's pc only with mouse and keyboard. I enjoyed the whole series and I think it is a pity it came to this solution just in the time the engine started to be more and more polished and hardware friendly.

When I look back to the hundreds of hours in the series, I might try out the 1946 just for the nostalgy. It is a great sim and only COD outperformed it. Unfortunately the sequels will have a hard time.

Thank you and the whole team, with Oleg in the first place, for the best sim ever, and for us, who started the real simming on il2, even the best sim forever.

[mazex]

Dear Ilya!

Like many others here I also remember the day I fired up that IL2 Demo and took off in my 109 with a big grin on my face. I realized right after the take off that this was the best flight simulator I had ever tried after playing most sims that where released since the Spectrum days...

And unlike you I just reaped the fruits of what you and the team later did over the years to produce an amazing series with a staggering number of wonderful flyable aircraft and locations... Thanks a LOT for bringing that joy to the rest of us!

The CloD project really hurts as there is so much potential in this game and just as the gem was starting to shine through more and more the project got axed. The comparison to Falcon 4 is very easy to do... You tried to give us the ultimate simulator with blood, sweat and probably tears but the project finally got so complex it killed your business. So sad.

I hope that CloD one day will be remembered the same way as F4 - a monumental simulator at least 10 years ahead of it's time. It's just sad that you could not get the confidence from 1C to continue the project. As much as I like RoF and hope that they succeed it's simply just one of the best sims out there. It does not have that F4 buggy "wow" feeling around it like CloD...

As a fellow manager in the IT business that have gone through a lot of insane projects myself I also realize all the sleepless nights and mornings waking up with emails in the phone about new problems that everyone thought where solved the late evening before... And investors and other managers chasing you every week with demands for progress reports and budget cuts etc.

Good luck in the future - and I sincerely hope that you will continue in the gaming industry doing what we love most. Flight simulators!

/mazex (beeing a nerd I realized my post count is 1337 - a good number to stop at and sign out with you )

[juanjo]

I suggest..someone make a video...of all of us..red and blues...flying in Steam...as much as possible...in formation...as a tribute and thankfull to the effort of Luthier and company. They faught hard to die with proud, and they left behind the best sim ever. Just set a date and I will be there...If you want to join...pass it...and just click +1