(not so) Old game: IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946

[JRD]

I have to say that I'm really impressed to what I just saw here

http://pc.ign.com/articles/775/775516p1.html

Also by what it reads on STEAM and I paste below

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About the Game

Oleg Maddox's world famous Il-2 Sturmovik™ series of flight simulators continues to expand. The latest offering, Il-2 1946, adds 36 new planes, four new gigantic maps, over a hundred new ground objects, and nearly 200 new campaign missions. This new opus also includes all of the previous Il-2 series content. What was years ago began as a one-aircraft study sim is now an astonishing anthology, with a whopping 229 flyable aircraft and over 300 aircraft total!

New Aircraft: 32 new flyable fighters and bombers, and four new AI aircraft!
New Maps: Large new historical maps of the Kiev region; a map of Manchuria focusing on a border region between USSR, China and Japanese-occupied Korea; a large bonus Burma map; and an online Khalkin Gol / Nomonhan map.
New Campaigns: Nine new campaigns with nearly 200 missions add incredible realism and attention to detail. There are detailed careers for fighter and bomber pilots, for the German, Soviet, and Japanese air forces, offering such varied objectives as flying jet bombers over occupied Europe, to intercepting American B-29 Super fortresses over Iwo Jima and Japanese home islands!
Alternate History: Three of the nine campaigns are a departure into alternate history, focusing on hypothetical battles between the Soviet Union and Germany in the year 1946, while WWII still rages on.
Nearly 1,000 new Paint schemes: The new planes, as well as many of the other ones in the series, come with a host of historical paint schemes, showing many of the individual aircraft or squadrons that served in WWII.
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Ok a 2006/2007 game won`t be that top notch graphics, but if you are flying a few thousand meters above the ground you don't need a high detailed landscape... models seem to be quite good and light/sky effects too... the title is supposed to have lots of airborne dogfights with its huge campaigns!

Besides it costs US$ 9,99 at STEAM (sorry Art...  ::) )

Anyone familiar with the title? I'm tempted ;)

[RedRaven]

Played it a little, really impressed with it and flight sims are not really my thing. It is said to be one of the best flight sims out. I know a couple of people who are big fans.

First version of the game is from back in 2001, thats the one I've played. since the 1946 version you mention the most recent is Wings of Prey - or - Birds of Prey (http://www.airwargame.com/eng/start/ ) that was only released july 2009 :) .

Its one of those games I always look at but never buy (usually because I can not Land or Take off to save my life ::) ).  But if your after a good, realistic flight sim beyond the modern Jet fighters in Arma 2 then the IL-Sturmovik range of games are the best ones to go for. There are good multiplayer and online options too as far as can remember.

Got a good selection of classic WWII aircraft too :-X .

[JRD]

I was checking some reviews of Birds of Pray/Wings of Pray (one seems to be a console version ported to PC) when I finally got to IL2... apparently that BoP/WoP are not that good and doesn't live up to the IL2 series.

Anyway, the IL2 series is old enough to run on a regular laptop as mine with graphics maxed out, which can be a great fun!

I like flight sims, only I don't find any good to play with but Flight Simulator X, which is great, but has no combat  :(

[Art Blade]

Anyone familiar with the title? I'm tempted ;)

see HoE topic:

found something about that game I heard of, IL-2 Sturmovik, a UBI game from 2001. I think the graphics look astonishingly good, as good as HoE lol

Article on WiKi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IL-2_Sturmovik_%28video_game%29

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[JRD]

Thanks Art... I'm even more tempted now.  ;D ;D

[JRD]

Not so tempted now...   :(

Got home from w@&k and checked some youtube vids of Sturmovik... not so good actually, which is pretty much what to expect from a 2007 game.

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However....  ;D ;D

I also checked some gameplay vids of Wings of Prey  8)
Now those look good!!!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3G_dYKQUaE&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXp2YqVxa9s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qKkVnSTZvw

Has 3rd person view and also a cockpit view. Campaign seems to be fair in lenght, single missions available and a quick mission editor that might add lots of fun to it.
It appears to have an arcade game mode with a point positioned in front of the airplane to help you compensate bullet trajectory and a simulation mode as well  ;)
You guys played HoE and know much better than me what flaws can be tolerated... how about that??

[Art Blade]

that looks like what I had HoE expected to be  :-X

[JRD]

... and, of course, its pricy... US$49,99 at STEAM...  :'(

Downloading the demo right now  ::)

[Art Blade]

I am afraid I can't get it as a retail box? Only downloads?  :D

[JRD]

hmmmm... been checking the net for retail versions but nothing so far  :(

Even the official site puts it as buy and download...

Will have to check it a little deeper. amazon didn't show nothing as well

Geez, Art........  :(

[Art Blade]

One of vids you posted showed at the end of it a message that it could be downloaded from a few sources. Hence my assumption.

:D :D :D


Still, thanks for your help  :-X

[JRD]

Good and bad news so far
Bad news are: I only found downloadable versions of the game, no retail version whatsoever.
Good news are: didn't find the words download only anywhere either. The beta version was released just a couple of weeks before the official release, so maybe in the near future!

[Art Blade]

Thanks a lot, JRD :)

Maybe this is one example of how the online-only culture is beginning to win over retail versions, packing and shipping. And ownership.

Note to self: don't get started again...

[fragger]

Note to self: don't get started again...

Hehehe ;D

I've heard conflicting things about IL-2, don't know which way to go... I really like a good combat flight sim (pref. WW2 themed) but they seem few and far between these days. A really good one, that is - the last one I enjoyed was Jane's WW2 Fighters, even though the ground textures were very basic. Flight model was great, though.

Does anyone remember Red Baron (circa 1990)? WW1 fighter game. Very basic ground and sky graphics, but the aircraft were quite well detailed and the flight modelling was terrific! It featured quite exciting, seat-of-the-pants-type twisting, turning dogfights, and you could get realistically close to the other planes before you'd collide with them. I tried a similar game about a year ago called Battles of the Red Baron, but it stunk (no rudder, crummy flight model, not even any views except straight ahead).

[Art Blade]

I remember Red Baron from back then, although for some reasons I never played it (maybe due to WW1). What I played back in the day was Aces over the Pacific and Aces over Europe (not Heroes, but Aces). I loved those WWII dogfights the most, and landing on a carrier... whoa :)