Dear Friends,
The year 2022 is drawing to a close and we did our best to bring you a new update on Christmas Eve. It bears the number 5.004 and adds the Great War Collector Plane Sopwith Snipe to our series. It is a late war aircraft equipped with the most powerful Bentley BR2 rotary engine, producing up to 234 horsepower. By comparison, the Sopwith Camel fighter's Clerget 9B engine produced 130 hp. At the same time, however, the Snipe is 200 kilograms heavier than its predecessor (more than a quarter). Overall, the new fighter is more stable in flight and has better speed and climb characteristics. Everyone who has purchased an airplane now has the opportunity to master it and use it in combat.
In addition to the new vehicle, in update 5.004 we are releasing two AI armored vehicles for the Normandy and Bodenplatte projects - the M8 Greyhound and the SdKfz 234/2 Puma. You'll find new scenario missions for Churchill and StuG III in this update, they were created by community enthusiast super-truite and his friends. More than 80 improvements were made to the "Western Front, Spring 1918" map, which is in the early access phase and is currently being finalized. There are a number of other improvements and fixes to player controllable aircraft, tanks and artificial intelligence. A complete list of changes in the version 5.004 follows.
5.004
1. The Sopwith Snipe, a Royal Air Force collector aircraft from the final phase of the Great War, is now available to its owners;
2. Battle of Normandy AI armored vehicle M8 Greyhound added;
3. Battle of Normandy AI armored vehicle SdKfz 234/2 Puma added;
4. Scenarios for collectible vehicles Churchill and StuG III added (super-truite);
5. Mk.37 rig model for the 5'/38-gun Mk.12 on the Bayfield and Liberty ships updated;
6. Fixed a bug in the aircraft AI leading to incorrect maneuver choices and incorrect aircraft behavior in aerial combat, which was especially noticeable on WWI airplanes;
7. AI pilots correctly climb while maintaining formation;
8. AI pilots controlling high speed capable aircraft are less likely to use risky high-altitude maneuvers at lower altitudes (previously these could led to a collision with the ground);
9. AI pilots should better avoid collisions in some maneuvers, especially in a frontal attack;
10. The tail section damage texture has been fixed on all Bf-109s;
11. The placards were corrected along with other minor improvements on Bf-109 E7, He 111 H6/H16, Ju-87 D3, Spitfire Mk.Vb/IXe/XIV (Oyster_KAI);
12. Incorrect operation of GUI information bar in player controllable tanks has been fixed;
13. C-47A: a number of visual inaccuracies and technical problems with the aircraft model has been fixed, including the shape of upper air intakes on engine nacelles;
14. C-47A: phosphorescent cockpit instrument illumination restored;
15. C-47A: fixed a bug with a broken window when the landing door is opened for bailing out;
16. C-47A: fixed a bug in the bail out animation that caused crew members to visually appear outside the cockpit for a moment;
17. C-47A: added a feature to align engine flaps with the flow;
18. C-47A: a fixed bug with radio compass working on powered off aircraft;
19. Me 262A: fixed reflections in cockpit instruments;
20. Stug III Ausf. G gun now takes more time to reload if the loader is unbuttoned;
21. Crew gestures have been added for the Churchill IV and the Stug III;
22. Stug III Ausf. G - fixed an incorrect position of the machine gun after loader's death, if it was in anti-aircraft position;
23. Stug III Ausf.G. - corrected wrong animation of the side correction input control;
24. Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.G - main gun reloading sound aligned with the visual animation;
25. Mission editor: skins which consist of several textures are correctly displayed in the skin list;
26. It is possible to shoot off the trunk behind the turret on Pz.Kpfw.III Ausf.M, Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.G, Pz.Kpfw.VI Ausf.H and Churchill IV;
27. It is possible to shoot off the commander cupola on the Tiger;
28. Range of smoke grenade launchers corrected for all player controllable vehicles;
29. Improved sorting of visual effect particles;
30. Western Front map, Spring 1918: Treizennes airfield added;
31. Western Front Map, Spring 1918: Clairmarais airfield moved;
32. Western Front Map, Spring 1918: Ferme airfield is renamed Filescamp Farm;
33. Western Front Map, Spring 1918: Droogland Airfield moved to square 0205-8;
34. Western Front Map, Spring 1918: removed second Epehy;
35. Western Front Map, Spring 1918: added bridge to the fortress in square 0408-9;
36. Western Front Map, Spring 1918: Hoog Huys manor added;
37. Map of Western Front, Spring 1918: added Ferme manor;
38. Western Front Map, Spring 1918: Removed flooded railroad track;
39. Western Front Map, Spring 1918: corrected railroad tracks in square 1202;
40. Western Front Map, Spring 1918: Hoog Huys Airfield moved;
41. Western Front Map, Spring 1918: Filescamp Farm airfield moved;
42. Western Front Map, Spring 1918: added homestead near Droogland airfield;
43. Western Front Map, Spring 1918: corrected wrong track crossing in quadrant 0305-8;
44. Western Front Map, Spring 1918: improved appearance of Thionville Steelworks East and Thionville Steelworks;
45. Western Front Map, Spring 1918: the village of Crochte has been renamed Merckeghem;
46. Western Front map, Spring 1918: Hondschoote village renamed Esquelbecq;
47. Western Front map, Spring 1918: Droogland village moved to square 0205-8 and renamed Winnezeele;
48. Western Front map, Spring 1918: Kemmelberg village moved to square 0207-5 and renamed Kemmel;
49. Map of the Western Front, Spring 1918: Aire is renamed Aire-sur-la-Lys;
50. Map of Western Front, Spring 1918: 25 obstructions on road network removed;
51. Map of the Western Front, Spring 1918: 15 wrong dead ends on the road network were removed;
52. Western Front map, Spring 1918: corrected 18 problematic entrances to railroad bridges.