Dear Friends,
We're glad to report that the work on 4.702 update is finished and it is released. It doesn't contain as many changes as the previous one, but it does bring the long-awaited P-51B-5 fighter for the Battle of Normandy! It took a very long time, but there were some reasons for this - namely the long list of its modifications. It has three different gunsights(!), two canopies - standard and Malcolm Hood where the moving part of the canopy is a single spherical shaped piece of plexiglass. This aircraft is also the first to have flexible bomb loadouts depending on the country (please note that for this feature to work you should select the aircraft skin of a country you want before generating a quick mission and not after that on the hangar screen). Of course, it also uses the new DVD damage visualization system and dynamic tactical codes.
Along with P-51B, we have a late Christmas gift for the owners of Flying Circus Vol.I - two new free campaigns Gallant Green featuring the British S.E.5a and Red Knights featuring the German Albatros D.V. There are also 10 new single-player missions showcasing all the birds of Vol.I. They were created by our friend Jaegermeister. A big THANK YOU to him for creating them. Enjoy!
Jaegermeister has created 28 custom skins that can be used with the Campaigns. You can download them HERE.
As usual, there are many other improvements and additions aimed at increasing the sim quality you can see in the list below. IL-2 Sturmovik team wishes you a Happy New Year, all the best and for your dreams to be fulfilled!
4.702 Changelist
1. The P-51B-5 fighter is now available for all Early Access customers of Battle of Normandy;
2. The new free campaign "Gallant Green" (S.E.5a) was added for all Flying Circus Vol.I owners;
3. The new free campaign "Red Knights" (Albatros DVa) was added for all Flying Circus Vol.I. owners;
4. 10 single missions showcasing Flying Circus Vol.I aircraft were added;
5. Visual pixelization and shimmering of medium and low-density clouds at medium and far distances was minimized. Note: Radeon users may experience some minor artifacts or visual anomalies due to this change. We are working to fix this, but the solution may take until next update as we need to discuss with AMD.
6. Radio compasses of all German planes except Ju 52 were retouched (Oyster_KAI);
7. Seats and throttle controls of all Messerschmitts were redrawn (Oyster_KAI);
8. P-51D panel lettering improved (Oyster_KAI);
9. Detail of the sight cap on all Spitfires improved (Oyster_KAI);
10. All Fw 190 A8 paint schemes, including the default, were redrawn (Martin =ICDP= Catney)
11. All Bf 109 G6 Late paint-schemes, including the default, were redrawn (Martin =ICDP= Catney);
12. All Bf 109 G14 paint-schemes, including the default, were redrawn (Martin =ICDP= Catney);
13. All Bf 109 K4 paint schemes, including the default, were redrawn (Martin =ICDP= Catney);
14. All Me 262 paint schemes, including the default, were redrawn (Martin =ICDP= Catney);
15. All P-47D-22 paint schemes, including the default, were redrawn (Martin =ICDP= Catney);
16. All P-47D-28 paint -schemes, including the default, were redrawn (Martin =ICDP= Catney);
17. Fixed number of rounds for KV-1 tank when there are two ammo types with one prevailing type;
18. Tracers and navigation lights are not visible through clouds;
19. New effects of fires of aircraft engines and fuel tanks created;
20. Fixed misalignment of machine gun and automatic gun bursts on detailed ground vehicles;
21. Fixed an issue that caused large planes at a distance of more than 10km to be invisible in binoculars;
22. Morning/evening fog is now visible at different haze settings, not only the maximum one;
23. Low visibility z-fighting of the morning fog has been eliminated;
24. Reduced "blockiness" of cloud shadows on the surface;
25. The influence of launch tubes, transport containers and paratroopers on total aircraft mass was restored;
26. The old issue where the propeller was visible through the light halo of the cockpit light bulb is gone thanks to improved technology;
27. Fixed an issue where the formation lights toggle switches on American fighters were not animated when the engine was turned off;
28. Added parameter for VR: or_render_eye = 0 [-1, 0, 1] to startup.cfg. If set to -1, only the left eye camera will be shown on the monitor in VR mode, and only the right eye view if set to 1. If set to 0 it shows both eyes.
29. HUD appears faster on mission start;
30. Fixed problem with the direction of MLRS rockets in a multiplayer game;
31. Restored functionality of fixed cameras (LAlt+2) in multiplayer (both Cooperative and Dogfight modes) when starting the server from within the game with spectators allowed (difficulty option Allow Spectators).