Hello!

 

Today we're assembling Ju 88 A-4 cockpit consisting of 4 crew stations. Required animations are being made right now. We plan to have working quick mission mode for Moscow map by the end of this month and start campaign beta-testing in early March.

 

There is a plenty of work going on Battle of Moscow, but we aren't forgetting about optimizing the sim as the whole. Some old multiplayer bugs are very hard to reproduce on purpose, for example, a bug with bombs or turrets appearing in a wrong place takes up to 100-150 re-spawns to reproduce it. So we need to choose another approach to find its cause - add special logging to the public version of the game and analyse the submitted results. Next week we plan to release 1.107b hotfix that will include many changes and this additional logging to find the cause of this elusive bug.

 

 

Global:

1. We'll add crash dump files saving. There will be a special forum thread for submitting such a file if you encounter a game crash, helping us to find and fix it;

2. Workaround for 'invisible planes' bug added (it doesn't fix the cause of their appearance since it is still unknown but eliminates its consequence);

3. Logging for 'invisible planes' bug added (we'll create a special forum thread about it to collect logs submitted by players);

4. Performance in the first Soviet scenario mission (first, summer, chapter of Stalingrad campaign) improved;

5. Crash that could happen while playing back large recorded tracks has been fixed. Unfortunately, tracks recorded in previous versions of the game won't work, so please consider video capturing your favorite ones if you'd like to keep them;

6. Compatibility with third party overlay software improved (for example, Steam and Teamspeak overlays);

 

Features:

7. It will be possible to tell which side controls an airfield before choosing your own allegiance in multiplayer;

8. Multiplayer mission author will be able to specify a range of allowed unlocks, not just individual ones;

9. IL-2 sight can be moved back and forth using Lalt-F command;

10. Light reflection and relief detail improved on thin metal parts of IL-2 model 1941, IL-2 model 1942, I-16 type 24, MiG-3 series 24, Pe-2 series 35, Pe-2 series 87, LaGG-3 series 29, La-5 series 8, P-40E-1, Ju 87 D-3, Bf 110 E-2 and MC.202 series VIII;

11. MC.202 cockpit canopy textures improved;

 

Physics changes:

12. Fineness ratios of all planes were re-checked with their flaps extended. Fineness ratio was decreased for LaGG-3 series 29, La-5 series 8, Yak-1 series 69, IL-2 (both) and P-40E-1. Other planes fineness ratios were found to be correct;

13. Twin turret machine guns are now reloaded one after another (not simultaneously);

14. Bf 109 F-2 radiator functioning in manual mode was corrected: it opens fully, but slower. There are contradicting sources available - text one and hydraulic schematic. Text one says "die kuhlerklappen durh den luftdruck geoffnet" which means that radiator was opened by approach flow. However early Bf 109 F-2 hydraulic schematic shows that radiator was manually opened by fixing the valve in 'open' position. After discussion we decided to follow the schematic;

15. MiG-3 cooling system has been corrected: now it requires opening its radiator to degrees similar to other Soviet aircraft, but at higher altitudes (since its power output maxes out at higher altitudes);

16. MiG-3 elevator trimmer won't work if the right side of the elevator is lost (where trim tab is located);

 

Other changes and fixes:

17. Selected modifications won't reset after re-entering the modifications screen;

18. Spotters correctly spot enemy aircraft closer than specified distance (with the exception of ground vehicles that can't be detected closer than 3 km);

19. Track playback progress bar corrected;
20. Wingmen correctly drop bombs after leader (player) while carrying out 'do like me' order;
21. AI gunners will fire at any planes, not only fighters;
22. Various graphical bugs caused by crossroads fixed (missing triangles, missing crossroads or road parts, etc.);
23. Airfields and taxi ways pavement corrected for autumn Lapino map;
24. Roads will look correctly in overcast light conditions;
25. La-5 canopy texture mapping fixed as requested by skin authors (it is no longer symmetric);
26. Mission editor won't crash after repeated loading of missions containing many objects.

 

A bit more info about Battle of Moscow. Today we can show you preliminary (there are no trees in the city yet) screenshots of Moscow as you'll be able to see it in the game from the border of flyable area.

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see, while the city is effectively a scenery set, its level of detail and accuracy is unprecedented among WWII sims. The city layout of 1941 recreated in the game is historically accurate (different from the modern one), there are major landmarks, all bridges and so on.