Feb 6, 2015

IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad - weptalo

by Zak

Hi Everybody,

February 2nd, 1943 is when the Battle of Stalingrad was over after the surrounded 6th Army capitulated. In the memory of that date we want to share with you at least a part of the plans that our team is currently working at.
Let’s start with what is already complete. On Monday, February 9th we’re going to deploy a small update to the official website. As a result, a new item will appear in the premium account profiles - “Activate unlocks” button.

Owners of Premium accounts will be able activate all modifications without unlocking them in Campaign mode. You have a Premium account if you bought Premium edition, or Standard edition plus both additional planes: La-5 and Fw 190 A-3. Activating modifications cannot be reverted so you must make a considerate and thoughtful decision before you click the button. Note that this button doesn’t activate unlockable plane skins which remain obtainable through the Campaign.

What else is coming to BOS this spring? Of course, I’m talking about full mission editor and dedicated server software which will become available to every player. We’ve overcome some temporary difficulties, and now we’re working actively on the user version of FME. It should be ready this spring, in April or May 2015. And as the development goes, Loft and I will be sharing the most interesting details about it with you.

And now a few words about what is coming to BOS within the next few months. Keep in mind, that I’m about to tell just a part of current plan that the team is working at right now. I’m keeping some good news for the next announcement.

We are going to add 2 new versions of the Stalingrad map - summer and autumn maps, and also new campaign chapters telling the history of earlier phases of the Battle in the 3rd quarter of 2015. The maps will be available to all current and future owners of the game in all possible modes. The level design team now includes the author of the Velikie Luki community project map Zeus--. In less than 18 months after he launched the ROF mission editor for the first time, in August 2013, Zeus- with the help of a small team of enthusiasts managed to professionally recreate a huge location without any specific support from us. Well, the new maps are definitely in good hands now with this guy on board.

The progress in making those maps with definitely be shown in the future blog updates. And the nearest ones are going to be devoted to sharing the further IL2BOS plans with you. So, keep in touch.

Feb 6, 2015

Dev blog #87

IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad - weptalo

by Zak

Jan 16, 2015

Developer Blog #86

IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad - weptalo

by Zak

Hi Everybody

I’m glad to report that the 1C gamedev studio has successfully returned to duty in the year 2015. The celebrations, luckily, brought no casualties. And the first quarter of 2015 looks very promising speaking of updates, even major ones. You’ll find some of them very expectable, but others may be truly surprising - time will tell.

And while we’re working at the upcoming updates for BOS (and realizing the ROF improvement plan announced last month) I’d like to offer you a more educational variant of our dev blog.

Today we’ll examine the technochat. We’ve tried to make those icons fully intuitive and unambiguous. But since every map in the world has a legend, the technochat, likewise, must offer it’s own decryption. You’ll find the following table on this very page every time you need it, or you might just download it and keep within reach on your PC or tablet.

In the future dev blog posts we’ll take a closer look at commands to AI pilots, we’ll discuss some inobvious and definitely curious elements of the DM system, etc.. But since such informational content is created particularly for the players, I suggest you, the virtual pilots, to speak out and tell us in the comments: what gameplay and flight sim elements of BOS you would like to be explained in details? Both beginners and pro players could be interested in how things actually work. I will try to find the answers to most of these questions and shape them in a clearly understandable form.

Have a nice weekend, gents!

Jan 16, 2015

Developer Blog #86

IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad - weptalo

by Zak

Dec 23, 2014

Version 1.008

IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad - weptalo

[/list]

Custom user made plane skins can now be used on unranked server in Multiplayer, in single missions and in Quick mission mode;
IL2BOS Skin viewer added (can be found bin\viewer folder);
GUI color of nations can be switched now (red<->blue);
'Navigation markers' option added that allows to turn on/off your plane's icon and waypoints both on the map and in 3D (it's ON by default on Normal and Expert modes);
Chat message sounds were changed;
Some bugs with object markers on the map related to custom difficulty settings were fixed;
The issue with the message about a new available chapter appearing one mission later was fixed;
The issue with the main menu showing instead of the level map when connected to a server was fixed;
'Return to base' command to AI was fixed;
All chat messages in Single missions, Quick mission and Campaign are now marked with player's name, not the system name;
The 'Bot" word was replaced with 'Enemy plane' in techno chat;
In Messages about changed view settings and messages about saved SNAP views were added to techno chat;
AI fighters now apply a more complicated ground assault pattern on a bomb run;
AI should now be dropping unarmed bombs before landing;
AI will no longer try to attack one more ground target if it's too close to the first one and if that could be risky;
In Campaign the AI planes will now return to base if they lack fuel, ammo, or have been damaged;
In Quick Mission the issue with takeoff of AI planes and autopilot was fixed;
The program module that controlled aerodynamics of FW 190 A-3 beyond stall angles of attack was enabled (had been there before, we just forgot to enable it after testing);
Pilot can no longer poke his head out of the canopy on high speeds;
Fuel indicator now switches to the next tank every 10 seconds both in flight and on the runway. If a tank is empty the indicator won't show that tank;
Proximity of fire in fuel tank or engine now depends on the projectile energy. For instance, the chance to set a fuel tank on fire depends not only on rate of fire but also on bullet's caliber and muzzle velocity. Only AP ammo can cause fire while HE rounds burst when hitting the sheathing and can only tear through the tank, but can't set it ablaze;
The bug with a plane ‘floating’ after landing from a high altitude was fixed;
Radial engines on La-5 and FW 190 were made more sturdy;
A plane counts as destroyed (kill point added; crew bails out; icon disappears; mission trigger activates) if it's fuel tank is on fire now because it's impossible to extinguish the fire anyway;
Shock wave influence on several planes fixed (it used to hit only one plane in the area);
Gun crews can be damaged from bigger distances;
Gunfight sounds added to Stalingrad;
Additional tuning was done to stability and controllability of planes in the yaw axis so wobbling on gliding angle was significantly reduced;
The bug with invisible brake flaps when BK-37 is installed was fixed;
The issue with radio comms when they didn't contain any call sign was fixed;
The rare issue with projectiles, shells and bombs being marked with "Attack this target' icon was fixed;
The bug with trains on the Novosokolniki map in Quick Mission was fixed;
All invisible obstacles (that we’d discovered) on all airfields were removed.

Skin Templates can be downloaded from these links:

Dec 23, 2014

Version 1.008

IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad - weptalo

[/list]

Custom user made plane skins can now be used on unranked server in Multiplayer, in single missions and in Quick mission mode;
IL2BOS Skin viewer added (can be found bin\viewer folder);
GUI color of nations can be switched now (red<->blue);
'Navigation markers' option added that allows to turn on/off your plane's icon and waypoints both on the map and in 3D (it's ON by default on Normal and Expert modes);
Chat message sounds were changed;
Some bugs with object markers on the map related to custom difficulty settings were fixed;
The issue with the message about a new available chapter appearing one mission later was fixed;
The issue with the main menu showing instead of the level map when connected to a server was fixed;
'Return to base' command to AI was fixed;
All chat messages in Single missions, Quick mission and Campaign are now marked with player's name, not the system name;
The 'Bot" word was replaced with 'Enemy plane' in techno chat;
In Messages about changed view settings and messages about saved SNAP views were added to techno chat;
AI fighters now apply a more complicated ground assault pattern on a bomb run;
AI should now be dropping unarmed bombs before landing;
AI will no longer try to attack one more ground target if it's too close to the first one and if that could be risky;
In Campaign the AI planes will now return to base if they lack fuel, ammo, or have been damaged;
In Quick Mission the issue with takeoff of AI planes and autopilot was fixed;
The program module that controlled aerodynamics of FW 190 A-3 beyond stall angles of attack was enabled (had been there before, we just forgot to enable it after testing);
Pilot can no longer poke his head out of the canopy on high speeds;
Fuel indicator now switches to the next tank every 10 seconds both in flight and on the runway. If a tank is empty the indicator won't show that tank;
Proximity of fire in fuel tank or engine now depends on the projectile energy. For instance, the chance to set a fuel tank on fire depends not only on rate of fire but also on bullet's caliber and muzzle velocity. Only AP ammo can cause fire while HE rounds burst when hitting the sheathing and can only tear through the tank, but can't set it ablaze;
The bug with a plane ‘floating’ after landing from a high altitude was fixed;
Radial engines on La-5 and FW 190 were made more sturdy;
A plane counts as destroyed (kill point added; crew bails out; icon disappears; mission trigger activates) if it's fuel tank is on fire now because it's impossible to extinguish the fire anyway;
Shock wave influence on several planes fixed (it used to hit only one plane in the area);
Gun crews can be damaged from bigger distances;
Gunfight sounds added to Stalingrad;
Additional tuning was done to stability and controllability of planes in the yaw axis so wobbling on gliding angle was significantly reduced;
The bug with invisible brake flaps when BK-37 is installed was fixed;
The issue with radio comms when they didn't contain any call sign was fixed;
The rare issue with projectiles, shells and bombs being marked with "Attack this target' icon was fixed;
The bug with trains on the Novosokolniki map in Quick Mission was fixed;
All invisible obstacles (that we’d discovered) on all airfields were removed.

Skin Templates can be downloaded from these links: