During the next session you will experience the same mission with the IL-2, but from other points of view like piloting a LaGG in covering missions and the Bf-109 in interception scenarios. So Sturmoviks will be going on missions under AI control, and you will have a chance to try it out in new tactical roles.
This week's main update is actually important for the whole project. We are releasing the game launcher - a special application that keeps your client up-to-date. It also does the following:
- You can easily find the most frequently used links: website, forum, FAQ and get in touch with the customer service;
- Setup settings before launching the game, for example, choose screen resolution;
- Read most recent updates from the team or visit project's social network pages.
Read full news and discuss them on our forum.
As we promised you’ll get IL-2 and all its modifications including the rear gunner in the nearest early access session. Note that it’s not complete yet, for instance, a lot of gauges are disabled and the armored protection may be not 100% correct, but in general IL-2 is ready for early access.
AA crews were sent for extra training which means that: a) they are better shooters and more dangerous to careless pilots; b) they will die if you shoot them or bomb them. Another addition that shows our warm care for the AA crew guys is that the Germans now have searching lights to hunt down LaGGs in the night sky around the Stalingrad region. In this version they can be found near the Lapino airfield which we believe you already love.
Read full news and discuss them on the official forum.
Also we present you this record of the latest stream with developers.
Another week has passed keeping us busy in multiple segments of development. We're currently working on new visual effects: huge smoke domes covering the destroyed Stalingrad; bomb explosions with one particularly outstanding one - the enormous SC1800 which was the heaviest German bomb and tracers with a few shape and color corrections etc. By the way, thank you for your warm feedback about improved graphics of city ruins - we'll keep searching for the most natural looking and beautiful creative solutions trying to make the map as spectacular as possible.
One more graphical addition that unlike the previously mentioned ones is going to be featured in the early access is increased draw distance for all aerial contacts. This new feature will not depend on the field of view (from max to min). As for the gameplay updates, we're adding anti-aircraft artillery so keep focused and take care of yourselves. This is the very first implementation of AAA, it's far from final so please don't rush to criticize, but constructive suggestions are very welcome.
For more details about the next week of early access, please, visit the forum.
First of all, about the upcoming early access session: it's an extremely rare occasion when you won't see anything specific, but you will feel it in a new way for sure. The reason is that our in-game physics has reached a brand new level in regards of aircraft systems modeling. From now on our internal combustion engine model takes into consideration the state of atmosphere. For example: its winter outdoors, the air is cold which allows an engine to perform with more power. Here in Stalingrad it is -15C, so the engines have their power increased some.
The up-coming early access session is also going to feature new visual effects and graphical improvements on the Stalingrad map, and spotters in the combat missions as well.
As a dessert - here a couple of screenshots with a freshly added graphical effect of the vapour trail. After necessary fixes and tests it will become active and will be featured in the early access.
NOTE: our poll "What media do you prefer?" is still active. Please, check it out and take part.
We have some good news today, as always. Full HD dev version of Oculus Rift tuning was completed last week. Thanks to our programming team, the game is absolutely compatible with this new technology.
Also closed testing of multiplayer mode started earlier this week, and forum members with Tester avatars can confirm that. Several expected and not so obvious errors have been discovered which we’re going to fix before the game is ready for early access. So you’ll get to play multiplayer in a few weeks (1 month maximum). Outside of MP, the team has been totally busy with new up-coming features, but this early access session isn’t going to present you any new content. So, let’s keep on training for MP a little while longer.
By the way, please note this Preset Optimization thread. We kindly ask you to share with us the performance stats of your PCs running the game on different settings presets. This info will help us to tune the presets more precisely and optimize our software for numerous specific PC configurations.
Please, read full news, see fresh Pe-2 screenshots and learn about future Ju 87 modifications on the forum.
