In general, the work is proceeding as planned. All three remaining Battle of Kuban planes (Yak-7b, P-39L and A-20B) are in Engineers department now. P-39L and A-20B 3D cockpits are being made and textured, while the 3D model of Yak-7b is finished. In the meantime, the new Career mode is being filled with a lot of content.
We want to begin, how should we call it, 'the month of surprises'. We don't tell you early about everything, and there are reasons for this. But when we do, we hope that you'll be pleasantly surprised. So, here goes the first one...
As promised earlier, this week we'll show you another Allied fighter that participated in the Battle of Kuban - Yak-7b series 36. This aircraft had an unusual story: being a one-seat fighter, it was actually converted from two-seat training plane Yak-7 by removing the rear cockpit. However, this wasn't a field modification of existing planes, Yak-7b was mass produced. The war started badly for the USSR, so it was decided to use the existing Yak-7 assembly lines to produce Yak-7b model with minimal production changes needed. Later, the upgraded Yak-7b became Yak-9, the most produced Soviet fighter of WWII era.
Ыince 2.012 release, more than a half of Battle of Kuban content is available in Early Access already. We have three aircraft left to release (P-39L-1, A-20B, Yak-7B series 36) and two game modes (Career and Coop), but since the 2.012, we're positive they will be ready on time. Career mode is almost finished from a technical point of view and it is being filled with data. The main guy who works on it is Victor =FB=ViKs Sechnoy, he has a vast experience and we're sure you'll like the result. At the moment, Victor is working on mission contents - we'll try to keep all the best things you may have enjoyed in BoS and BoM dynamic campaign and Rise of Flight career while adding new things that will improve the diversity of tactical situations and mission tasks. Jason and his team of enthusiasts have nearly finished the work on the career texts while our old friend Dmitry =choybolsan= Kulikov finished drawing the squadron emblems and banners. We still have a lot to do before the end of the year, but the momentum we gained as a team makes us sure we will be successful.
Today is a real milestone for the project - we just released the 2.012 update, one of the biggest ones ever. We already told you in Dev Blogs what it will bring, but here's the quick overview.
1. New Hs 129 B-2 Collector Plane with many unique features and very varied weaponry.
2. Kuban map available in three seasons (Spring, Summer and Autumn). 120 thousands of square kilometers large (400 x 300 km), the biggest map in the new generation of IL-2 to date. Please note that the work on improving the AI is underway and it is not very proficient in mountain flying, we will work on it this Autumn. The map is huge, so we'll be fixing the issues that may be found in Early Access.
3. Updated FM for all aircraft. The total list of FM changes is very long, you can check it out below.
4. Together with the Kuban map, we're releasing many AI controlled ships: G-5, G-5 project 213 and S-38 torpedo boats, Type A landing barge, Type Щ (Shch) series X and Type IIB submarines, Soviet Type 7 destroyer, 7000 tons cargo ship and 14000 tons armed tanker.
5. Completely new shadow tech that allowed us to increase the shadows resolution in the cockpit, render outside shadows several times further, show the own plane shadow on the ground and make tree shadows more realistic.