IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover (Anuncio Oficial)

[GAE_Castor]

Yo no lo volé más. Estoy esperando que el simulador sea "amigable".
Eso quiere decir:
Estable (razonablemente a un producto de +6 años de desarrollo y 50 dolares de valor), depurado, que ande en red, que lo pueda comprar físicamente (no steam).
Sigo creyendo en este simulador, me parece que es el futuro, pero lo largaron tan pero tan verde que ahora es un signo de pregunta.

[GAE_Charrua]

que lo pueda comprar físicamente (no steam).

Olvidate, gente que lo compro "fisicamente", le dan un CD con un instaldor donde lo tenes que bajar de internet ;D

[GAE_Castor]

Salió BETA Patch v 1.03.15527

BETA NOTE
* RUSSIAN README: Извините, не успеваем перевести!
* ENGLISH README: This readme is only partial;
* SOUND: Still working on the content for the new engine, but many of the features are already present in this build;
* MAPS: No new missions are provided for these in the beta version of the patch.

MAIN
* Drastically reworked graphic algorithms dealing with in-game color;
* Rewrote the sound engine from scratch;
* Added three new multiplayer maps: Steppe (medium), Fields (small), and Scimitar (small);
* Updated multiplayer GUI to allow users to easily select a position in an existing plane.
* Added two new aircraft - Bf. 109 E-4 and Bf. 109 E-4/B. These two are equipped with MG/FF-M cannons and so make use of the famous Minegeschoss.

AIRCRAFT - MAIN
* Reworked routines for gyro bombsights;
* Removed allusion to Engine 4 from He 111 model;
* Improved memory consumption for multi-crew aircraft;
* Airborne status is now checked correctly even if the aircraft in question departed prematurely;
* Landing status should be applied correctly when ditching in water;

VISUALS
* Reworked bombardier cockpits in aircraft so affected (He. 111 and Ju. 8 to accomodate new Lotfe gyro routines;
* Small caliber bullet hits on the ground now show difference in material being hit;
* Modifications in Blenheim's damage visuals;
* Added a range of visual SFX for higher-caliber guns;
* New bombsight visuals in Blenheim bombardier's cabin;
* Returned the famous Il-2 stall sound effect;
* Doubled the distance at which the tracers can be seen.

PHYSICS & A.I.
* Increased Lotfe bombsight gyro operational limit to 15 degrees of aircraft roll / pitch;
* Lotfe type bomb sight now stabilizes aiming platform to horizontal plane;
* Removed sudden jump in view angle when viewing through Lotfe ocular and moving bomb sight elevation for the first time in the flight;
* Increased side slip input limit to +/* 30 degrees for the Lotfe bomb sight;
* Made Kurssteuerung mode 2 for level bombers. This mode will also stabilize the aircraft in level flight;
* Reworked motor startup routines to accomodate new options available in the new sound engine;
* Adjusted ricochet angles on firm surfaces;
* Redesigned bomb sight in Blenheim and made it easier and more realistic to use;
* Blenheim bomb sight plane is now adjustable to reflect changes in plane AoA in level flight. Correction is applied automatically over a period of sustained flight and can compensate up to 3 degree changes in plane attitude;
* Fixed issue where overstress would inflict damage to airframe regardless of the Vulnerability difficulty setting.

NETWORK
* Changes to bombs' detonators setup will now be carried over once applied without the need to rejoin the server;
* Increased Lotfe bombsight gyro operational limit to 15 degrees of roll / pitch. This will give more tolerance to aircraft maneuvers as strict limits put too much obstacle to communication between bombardier and pilot while playing on-line;
* When flying as a bombardier, you should now use "Aircraft - Drop Ordnance (Bombs)" key (instead of "General - Fire Current Weapon" key) to drop bombs. This will remove confusion of on-line bombardier players who could not drop bombs using the key we're accustomed to.

AIRCRAFT - MISC.
* Decreased bombsight altitude indents by ten times. This will give you more control of the altitude input and make bomb sight aiming more precise;
* You can now switch off the boost cut-out control in Spitfires.



Download links - RUSSIAN
The file is 499 MB (524,281,733 bytes)
torrent: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=55442AUK
direct link (megaupload): http://www.megaupload.com/?d=CCGAAQ9T


Download links - ENGLISH
The file is 499 MB (524,287,214 bytes)
torrent: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=JLF4FU6J
direct link (megaupload): http://www.megaupload.com/?d=MA26GNU1
Last edited by luthier; 09-06-2011 at 05:53 PM.

[GAE_Chape]

Bajando

[GAE_Alma]

Bajando

Idem

[GAE_Castor]

Instalado y corriendo. Le voy a dedicar un poquito de tiempo a ver que tal está al momento.

[GAE_Castor]

Patch Beta 2 - v15866 - October 5, 2011
Hi everyone,

The beta continues!

We are generally happy with the updated colors and lighting. The sound is also more mature than in the previous beta.

We are however concerned about stability and performance on various hardware. If you still experience reduced FPS, we want to know your system specs, including graphic driver version and in-game graphic settings.

If you ever experience a crash, we want to see your crash dump! There is a
Cppcrash
Folder under your main game install
([Program Files]\Steam\steamapps\common\il-2 sturmovik cliffs of dover)
Which contains a .dmp file for each game crash.
We?re very interested in those. Please forward them to
ishevchenko (at) 1cpublishing.eu
along with your system specs and the description of what you were doing at the time of the crash.
NOTE: we will be looking at all your crash dumps, but I may not necessarily be able to answer general questions or suggestions (while I do read them all)

Here?s the patch readme:

Quote:
MAIN
* Drastically reworked graphic algorithms dealing with in-game color;
* Rewrote the sound engine from scratch;
* Added three new multiplayer maps: Steppe (medium), Fields (small), and Scimitar (small), as well as a few basic online missions for them;
* Updated multiplayer GUI to allow users to easily select a position in an existing plane, and to see the number of planes within each side before selecting it;
* Added two new aircraft - Bf. 109 E-4 and Bf. 109 E-4/B. These two are equipped with MG/FF-M cannons and so make use of the famous Minegeschoss.

AIRCRAFT - MAIN
* Bf. 109 E-4 has been equipped with Komandgerat airscrew automation;
* Reworked routines for gyro bombsights;
* Removed allusion to Engine 4 from He 111 model;
* Improved memory consumption for multi-crew aircraft;
* Airborne status is now checked correctly even if the aircraft in question departed prematurely;
* Landing status should be applied correctly when ditching in water;

VISUALS
* Reworked bombardier cockpits in aircraft so affected (He. 111 and Ju. 8 to accomodate new Lotfe gyro routines;
* Small caliber bullet hits on the ground now show difference in material being hit;
* Modifications in Blenheim's damage visuals;
* Added a range of visual SFX for higher-caliber guns;
* New bombsight visuals in Blenheim bombardier's cabin;
* Returned the famous Il-2 stall sound effect;
* Doubled the distance at which the tracers can be seen;
* You will no longer see engine exhaust fires when viewing in a HUD-only cockpit mode;
* Reversed movement of throttle and mix in D.H. 82;
* Fixed distance input error in gunsight for Spitfire and Hurricane;
* Fixed glitch with Bf. 110's prop hub tactical colour band;
* Added spinner colouring to Ju. 88.

PHYSICS & A.I.
* Increased Lotfe bombsight gyro operational limit to 15 degrees of aircraft roll / pitch;
* Lotfe type bomb sight now stabilizes aiming platform to horizontal plane;
* Removed sudden jump in view angle when viewing through Lotfe ocular and moving bomb sight elevation for the first time in the flight;
* Increased side slip input limit to +/* 30 degrees for the Lotfe bomb sight;
* Made Kurssteuerung mode 2 for level bombers. This mode will also stabilize the aircraft in level flight;
* Reworked motor startup routines to accomodate new options available in the new sound engine;
* Adjusted ricochet angles on firm surfaces;
* Redesigned bomb sight in Blenheim and made it easier and more realistic to use;
* Blenheim bomb sight plane is now adjustable to reflect changes in plane AoA in level flight. Correction is applied automatically over a period of sustained flight and can compensate up to 3 degree changes in plane attitude;
* Fixed issue where overstress would inflict damage to airframe regardless of the Vulnerability difficulty setting;
* Fixed an issue where D.H. 82 could retain traction when the engine part was shot off;
* Adjusted head shake level for overspeed effects;
* Increased critical airspeed for Bf. 110 to 650 kph;
* You will no longer suffer certain control difficulties below critical airspeed;
* Removed velocity threshold for leading slats operation;
* Decreased default harmonizing distance for G.50's guns to 200 meters;
* Reworked the way altimeter reacts to pitot icing;
* Lowered the speed at which airframe is defrosted;
* Fixed stuttering movement of He. 111 P's propellor pitch and indicator;
* A.I. artillery gunners will no longer commit suicide by shooting the concrete wall of the bunker they are stationed in.

NETWORK
* Changes to bombs' detonators setup will now be carried over once applied without the need to rejoin the server;
* Increased Lotfe bombsight gyro operational limit to 15 degrees of roll / pitch. This will give more tolerance to aircraft maneuvers as strict limits put too much obstacle to communication between bombardier and pilot while playing on-line;
* When flying as a bombardier, you should now use "Aircraft - Drop Ordnance (Bombs)" key (instead of "General - Fire Current Weapon" key) to drop bombs. This will remove confusion of on-line bombardier players who could not drop bombs using the key we're accustomed to;
* Added new server settings that determine the message format for new air group creation To use, please add a new section to confUser.ini for the regular, or to confs.ini for a dedicated server: [MsgLevel] ActorCreateAlly=1 ActorCreateEnemy=2 , where ActorCreateAlly are the messages for friendly planes, and ActorCreateEnemy for the opposing side, whatever they may be for each player: 0 - No message; 1 - Full message: army, quantity, type, location; 2 - Army, quantity, and type only 3 - Army and quantity only. NOTE: You only need to do this if you run your own multiplayer server.

AIRCRAFT - MISC.
* Decreased bombsight altitude indents by ten times. This will give you more control of the altitude input and make bomb sight aiming more precise;
* You can now switch off the boost cut-out control in Spitfires;
* Corrected a typo where propellor and oil radiator controls for separate engines had increase and decrease key bindings swapped in controls setup panel;
* Fixed keyboard propellor pitch controls getting jammed into a narrow range;
* Directional controls feedback will no longer disappear from info windows every time you reenter the game.
The download links are here:

Download links - RUSSIAN
The file is 678 MB (710 951 991 bytes)
torrent: http://www.1cfiles.com/IL2_CliffsofD...ru.rar.torrent
direct link (wupload): http://www.wupload.com/file/30786878...D_15866_ru.rar


Download links - ENGLISH
The file is 678 MB (710 944 061 bytes)
torrent: http://www.1cfiles.com/IL2_CliffsofD...66.rar.torrent
direct link (fileserve): http://www.fileserve.com/file/JEf6zME/IL2COD_15866.rar
direct link (wupload): http://www.wupload.com/file/307868784/IL2COD_15866.rar

IMPORTANT NOTE: Please clear your game cache prior to installing the patch.
([Documents]\1C SoftClub\il-2 sturmovik cliffs of dover\cache)
Otherwise the patch may run with various graphical glitches.

[GAE_Castor]

El mejor review que leí hasta el momento.

IL2 Cliffs of Dover August 2011 review: it isn't all bad news, August 13, 2011
By T. J. Slee
VERSION TESTED: 1.02.14821

This review is based on v 1.02.14821, which is latest available patch as of 19 July 2011. It was expected, or hoped, a new patch would be released to coincide with the release of the game in the USA on July 19, but this didn't eventuate. This latest patch included a new aircraft, the Bf109e, a new ship model, some bug fixes (customisable loadouts are now possible) and a GUI update for online play. Wingman radio commands were deactivated (rather than fixed) - a fix is planned for a future update so don't bother using until then.

INSTALL

The review version was a DVD bought via the Ubisoft.eu website. It arrived within a few days of ordering, in a standard DVD case with what looked like a nice, thick, printed manual. As a simmer of the old school, I do love a printed manual...but my joy was short lived. I had been sent a dual language version - English and...Greek! So half of the manual was just hieroglyphics to me. The manual contains the essentials for getting the sim up and running but I suspect there is a large learning curve if you are not already familiar with the IL2 world of sims and the fact that the manual only covers a tenth of the options and information that are available within the sim. For example, fully a third of the manual is devoted to the 'Options' section of the sim, and even that doesn't cover the full range of customisations available to the user. The section on the flyable aircraft is minimalistic by contrast, just 30 pages, so if you are hoping for a full flight manual for each of the aircraft in the game you will be disappointed and a full flight manual is indeed needed by any sim pilot who intends to fly the machines in Cliffs of Dover using 'Complex Engine Management' with nearly every toggle, switch, knob and lever in the cockpits of this sim fully functional.

The actual installation was a breeze. Putting the DVD into the PC resulted in an automated install process which linked to 'Steam' (an internet connection is needed), and downloaded the latest version of the game in about ten minutes on my 10mbit DSL connection. I had no installation issues and within about 15 minutes was at the opening screen of the sim configuring my audio and video options - more on that later.



(The first thing you will want to do is turn off the Cliffs of Dover menu theme music! It sounds like it was recorded by a manic Russian organist on his Nintendo Wii DJ program.)

I also installed on a second machine a short time later. Problems with product key, activation, licenses? None. The Steam account knew who I was, and the second install was simpler than the first.

OPTIONS

As mentioned, there are sixty pages devoted to these in the manual, so we won't go through all of them now. But I will highlight some of the more innovative or unusual.

Under 'Realism' you will find 'Anthropomorphic control'. This is a well intentioned attempt at 'hi-fidelity' simulation which is especially relevant if you are flying with complex engine management enabled (ie you want to flick all the switches yourself) This option limits the amount of things you can do at once, since Battle of Britain (BoB) pilots didn't have HOTAS style control sticks - so moving the throttle and holding the stick will mean you don't have a 'hand' free to move a flap lever. It also means for example each engine will need to be started individually in twin engine machines, rather than with a single key press.



Realistic bombing - this option has caused much consternation as it allows the ability for the player to use different 'fuses' with each bomb type, and achieve delayed fuse effects. If you are not aware it is enabled, and you don't choose the right fuse for your mission, you may find your bombs skipping across the ground without exploding (an effect which was reduced in one of the first patches), penetrating targets like ships without exploding, or exploding prematurely before your aircraft has time to clear the blast zone. It isn't fully described in the manual, but there is much discussion and help to be had online on how to set the right fuse with the right ordnance.



Complex engine management - if you have ever wondered why Cliffs of Dover took six years to complete, this is one of your answers. Despite once claiming that 'clickable cockpits are not interesting except to about 3% of flight sim players' Cliffs of Dover developers chose to implement fully clickable cockpits in all flyable aircraft. These are enabled through the 'Complex Engine Management' (CEM) option and it is not a misnomer. Flying an aircraft in Cliffs of Dover with CEM is fully akin to the same experience in FSX. You will have to follow slavishly the typical engine startup routines of the day, manage raditor and cowling settings, mixture, prop pitch and boost, monitor water and oil temperatures...and if you don't you could find yourself sitting on the edge of the airfield with an engine in ruins before you have even started to taxi!



But even without CEM enabled you can still enjoy the ability to play with other toggles and switches in the cockpit with a click of the mouse. Trim wheels, gear levers, canopy hatches, bomb bay doors etc etc can all be manually switched if you haven't assigned them to a key press, which is a godsend if you enjoy swapping between aircraft types without having to reload a new joystick configuration each time.

Aircraft or position switching - uniquely, Cliffs of Dover enables the player to jump both from machine to machine on his own side during any dogfight, but also from machine to machine on the enemy side. This ability can be toggled on and off in the options. In machines with more than one crew position, like the Bf110 or bombers, you can switch between crewable positions, and thus play as bombadier, or gunner.

Video options are very scaleable - most players these days can find a range of video options for Cliffs of Dover that will enable the game to run smoothly on their PC as virtually every video effect in the game can be customised, from turning off or minimising the number of objects such as houses, trees, roads, grass and damage decals to reducing the quality of textures, turning off clouds, shadows, and adjusting anti aliasing. You can enable an anti epilepsy filter too if desired, at the cost of a considerable hit to your framerate. This review was conducted on two machines:

A gaming laptop - ASUS G73J, GeForce GTX490 1.5GB, Core i5, 4GB RAM, W7 Home and;

A 2 year old home built gamer PC - ATI 9600GT 1440 x 900 512MB, Intel Core Duo 3GHz, 2GB RAM, Vista Home.

Personally I turn off what I consider to be superfluous eye candy even on the newer laptop (read 'just about all ground related graphics'), to get the smoothest flight experience and because I just find the computer drawn trees, model houses, cars and AA guns to be immersion destroying. That's just me. On the 'Eagle Day' quick mission in the game, which puts a reasonable number of aircraft in the air on both sides, the ASUS laptop can run at around 30 fps in native resolution with settings at medium. Setting 'trees' to high or textures to 'high' drops the FPS and causes micro stuttering on this machine. Overall the impression of detail is very nice, though a little cartoony and far from the near photorealism of something like Rise of Flight.



Perhaps surprisingly, the 2 year old dual core Nvidia GT9600 PC can also run Cliffs of Dover (see Stuka shot below) - so if you have an older machine don't despair! This machine averages 20-30 FPS with all settings at low, except for aircraft related graphics which are set high so that the aircraft still look good. Trees are set to Vlow, roads off, textures low, shadows off.



Which obviously will not be satisfying if you fly sims for the eye candy, but at 2,000 metres in a sweaty furball between fighters and bombers, it won't worry you that you can't see individual trees below. It isn't a trouble free ride though and I only did it for comparison purposes, because the game very quickly soaks up available memory and doesn't release it between missions, meaning that after one or two missions the game starts to slow and stutter, and a clean boot is needed to flush the memory and get max FPS again.

User experience indicates that video card RAM is the FPS bottleneck in Cliffs of Dover. Quite simply, the more, the better.

How does it compare graphically to other sims? That is entirely a matter of taste, but here is a video shot on the same PC comparing the three major Battle of Britain era sims - Wings of Prey, BoBII and Cliffs of Dover. You be the judge!



Aircraft options: it has to be mentioned that this area of customisation in the game is largely non working. The intention is that the pilot, the visual weathering of the aircraft, paintscheme, kill markings, type and loadout and a dozen other variables can all be customised so that if you load a quick mission using eg a Bf109e3, it will use your preferred Bf109e3 settings each time. At the current time, any changes you make don't save between sessions, so don't bother.



Which is a shame because this is the sub-menu which includes an option for simulating engine/structural damage. Set 'physical weathering' (strange term) to 100% and hypothetically you dramatically increase the chances of random system or structural failure in the aircraft.

Loadout: Under aircraft options the player has unprecedented control over the ordnance loadout on their machines, from fuel load, ammunition type for guns, to bomb type and fuse type. The detail is such that the player can even select a specific area of an ammunition belt and for example, load tracers only at the end of a belt to help you identify that you are running out of ammo. With this latest patch some of these options have become available - just remember to 'save' or 'OK' every single screen when you make changes!

SINGLE PLAYER GAME

There are three options for players who enjpoy off-line gaming. A 'Quick Mission' builder, pre-made or user-made 'Single Missions', and two scripted 'Campaigns', one for RAF and one for Luftwaffe.



Training: A lot of love has been lavished on this element of the game, and putting you in the trainee seat of Tiger Moth with an ascerbic instructor telling you what to do works well. There is a general introduction to flight, takeoff and landing training and some more advanced learning opportunities such as stall and spin recovery. I didn't spend too much time on these missions myself, and in various forums players have reported problems with mission design (mission 'failure' and a ticking off from an instructor even though all waypoints and goals were met.) I can't speak to this, though I can report that recovery from a spin in a Tiggie in training does NOT prepare you for recovery from a spin in a Bf109 in the middle of a dogfight!



Quick mission builder (QMB): Full credit to the Cliffs of Dover team for once again getting this right. I say that after the painful experience of seeing a terrible implementation of the concept in Wings of Prey, where it is only possible for the player to set up quick missions for their own (single) aircraft against up to 16 enemies, with no ability to add wingmen on their own side. You can select time of day, weather and altitude. The Cliffs of Dover quick mission generator has a very intuitive interface which enables the player to set up a group of planes on each side, choose the aircraft types, and fly for either side. There are no meaningless restrictions, so if you want to fly RAF Hurricanes against RAF Spitfires, you can.





Again, the missions are occasionally buggy. The quick raid on Hawkinge actually has Ford airbase as its target. And if you only choose one opponent (instead of many) in some missions, they will completely ignore you.

One parameter which is unfortunately missing, and strangely so, is the ability to pick the skill level of the AI enemy. As it is not user selectable, it must be randomly assigned. It was possible to do so in the earlier IL2 sims, and is pretty much the norm in all other sims. It is possible in the full mission builder that ships with Cliffs of Dover, so why not in the QMB?

Single missions: The game ships with a small selection of canned, scripted 'single missions'. Various parameters can be adjusted in a QMB style interface. These missions are more complex, and often involve dynamic or random elements and scripted events. For example the 'Liberation' mission has three phases (a mini campaign in one mission). Each phase impacts on the next through the players results and decision making. The introduction sets out the background and strategy and the necessity for the player to work closely with ground units in order to complete the first objective. As with IL2, it will be the user community that builds out this section of the game in future, if Cliffs of Dover succeeds in generating a following.

[GAE_Castor]

Campaign: There are two 'stock' Battle of Britain campaigns included, one from the RAF viewpoint and one from the Luftwaffe. Both comprise a series of scripted missions with pass/fail mission objectives. Luckily the player can choose to progress to the next mission even if the mission objective is deemed 'not met'. Which is important because both campaigns smell of rushed production, with hidden or incorrect mission parameters, missing targets or objectives, misplaced waypoints and completely unconnected 'end of mission' summaries that bear no relation to the action the player has just experienced.



It is hard to be objective about these campaigns. So I won't. The RAF campaign is a joke. It takes a first person approach attempting to give a little personal immersion to the storyline for the player. It fails in this completely, because an important element of immersion is REALISM. If a British officer is speaking in 1940 and says 'You guys', realism is out the door straight away. Tyhe language, the missions and scenarios in this storyline are quite simply so ridiculous any sense of immersion is completely lost. It is a campaign storyline worthy of a Japanese console game developer, not a historical flight sim.

On top of this, it is quite simply poorly made, and this hits you in the face in the very first mission. The mission briefing tells you a convoy is under attack and your target is Stukas. When the mission starts you are sitting in your cockpit on the runway with Do17s conducting a low level raid. There is no convoy, no Stukas. The post mission briefing however (whether you survive or not - apparently death doesn't disqualify you from attending the post mission briefing, presumably as a ghost?) congratulates you on your efforts against...you guessed it - the non existant Stukas.

Enough said on the RAF campaign.

The Luftwaffe campaign is another matter though. If you play the RAF campaign and find yourself throwing up into your waste basket, do not make the mistake of thinking the Luftwaffe campaign is more of the same. Instead, it is a series of mini-campaigns, based on historical events, and showcasing each of the main Luftwaffe aircraft types. Although this means that the player gets thrown back and forth in time in a quite disconcerting fashion (when you finish your Bf109 mini campaign in September 1940 the next mission finds you back in July 1940 in a Bf110) it provides quite an engaging variety of missions as long as the player takes the glass-half-full approach to the missions to get the best out of them. If you are a glass-half-empty type, then the occasional missing waypoints, incorrect loadouts and other mission design glitches would frustrate the heck out of you. Example, in one of the missions you are ordered to conduct a 'Jabo' style hit and run bombing raid on a British airfield in your Bf109, together with a staffel of Bf110s. Unfortunately, there are no bombs loaded on the 109s and no way to correct this in the loadout screen. So you could either just curse the mission designer and give up, or do what I did, and treat it as an escort mission. A lot of the time small mission design issues can be overcome with a bit of flexibility on the player's part. I have to say that when this campaign came to a close, I wanted more - which is a positive thing.



Online play: In the pre release publicity notes, 1C bragged about 'massive 128 player online aerial battles'. Perhaps that was possible over a LAN in a Moscow office. So far true online play has been a very frustrating experience, and much effort has been put into the next patch to try to improve it. Among the issues keeping players away from the online game are a complex and unintuitive interface (slightly improved in a recent patch), sound glitches (many players experience no sound at all in online games but disabling trees in the graphics settings has - strangely - provided a workaround for some) and poor FPS on the main game map.

The devs actually recommend not playing online games on the main SE England game map due to poor FPS. A Battle of Britain game where you are recommended not to play over England? Hmmm.

The whole beauty of this historical scenario was the anticipated ability to fly large scale coop missions in one of the biggest aerial battles in history over SE England in 1940. It is mystifying that the team that dominated online simming for years with the IL2 series could so spectacularly screw it up with their future flagship. But they did.

Stay tuned. Online play was one of the core strengths of the IL2 series. If this series is to live beyond Cliffs of Dover, 1C will have to fix it.



FLYING AND FIGHTING

Let's face it, this is why most people will be buying this sim. So what can you expect?

Aircraft: the list of flyable aircraft that made it into the game is comprehensive, and more varied than other available study sims like Battle of Britain II. Included are (with a * next to machines not available in, for example, Battle of Britain II):

Bf109e 1 (added in latest patch)/3/3b

Bf110C4/7

Blenheim IV*

BR20M*

G50*

He111H2/P2*

Hurricane DH5-20/Rotol

Ju87 B2

Ju88A1*

Spitfire I / II / IIa

Tiger Moth



Non flyable machines include:

Avro Anson*

Bristol Beaufighter*

Bf108*

CR42*

Defiant

FW200*

Gladiator*

He115*

Sunderland*
Walrus*

Wellington*

There are those who complain about lack of content and gameplay in this sim, and it is true it lacks a truly engaging dynamic campaign or persistent online coop world, with pilot progress, rank progression, medals etc a la Rise of Flight's new campaign mode. But as a historical survey sim, for enthusiasts who like exploring the implementation of dozens of flyable aircraft and variants, Cliffs of Dover has hundreds of hours of potential.

Flight models and experience of flight: Having never flown the real thing, I can only compare with the experience of flying the same machines in other hi fidelity sims, like FSX, or Battle of Britain II. I personally believe the gold standard in Spitfire simulation is the A2A simulations Acu-sim Spitfire I/II for FSX which PC Pilot has dubbed, "... the best WWII aircraft ever produced for MS Flight Simulator." Having spent about 20 hours in that machine in FSX I can't disagree, but I have to say the Cliffs of Dover Spitfire is very close. I'm not a clickable cockpit fanatic, and don't have the patience to go through full startup procedures, but I like fiddling with trim, mixture and prop pitch in flight and both the A2A and Cliffs of Dover machines deliver full realism. In flight in the Cliffs of Dover Spitfire you feel like you are behind the reins of a thoroughbred quarterhorse, able to pirouette on a wingtip, while in the Emil you feel like you on a cannon armed warhorse.

The player is certainly required to play to the strengths and weaknesses of each machine type - using the bunt, dive and climbing agility of the 109 or the Hurricane and Spitfire's turning ability. The Bf110 has considerable straight line speed when spooled up and an awesome concentration of firepower, but should never let itself get into a knife fight. I have not yet sortied in the Italian fighters.

The bombers are all mediums, not heavies, and thus can manage a degree of turn and bank to evade enemy fighters, but unlike in Wings of Prey, you won't see them trying to dogfight. Flying the He111 is more difficult than it seems though - purely because the beautifully modelled cockpit with its screwy off center canopy is disorienting. As pilot, you have no natural internal cockpit lines to orient yourself to. Engine management in a damaged bomber is a huge challenge, as it should be.

Level bombing in the He111 using the bombsight, either in easy or full mode, is a role that would require hours to master. Just as in real life, it involves computing the difference between indicated and ground air speed, adjusting for altitude, velocity and inputting all of these into the bomb sight mechanism. Personally, and I know this will horrify full realism fans, I find dead reckoning (external view downward from tail over the nose of the bomber) is easier and just as accurate

The Stuka unfortunately is overmodelled in several departments. It can turn with, and in fact, out-turn, an AI flown Spitfire. Clearly, it shouldn't. I can also hold my own in a 1-1 dogfight between the Stuka and Spitfire in a quick mission, with climb and acceleration that really doesn't belong to a crate like a Ju87. In one campaign mission, I destroyed 2 Spitfires and damaged a third in my Stuka. If the real Stuka has been such an Uber fighter, the BOB might have turned out differently!

Sounds: Again this one is hard to be objective about, but the sound samples used in Cliffs of Dover can only be described as fair. To my untrained ear, many sound synthesized, which seems unnecessary in a world where a developer can purchase a commercial license for an authentic sound package for a specific Merlin or Daimler engine type for less than 200USD. Gun samples in particular sound synthetic. The devs have openly admitted many of the sounds in the sim are `placeholders' which is a shame, but at least the import is that they will be updated in a future patch. Users are not waiting, and are already releasing their own sound mods.

Damage modeling: There is no prop sim on the market able to match Cliffs of Dover for damage modeling. Each bullet strike on a machine is faithfully represented, and with hundreds of damage points per aircraft, from structural points to engine parts, the impact on control surfaces and systems feels wonderfully authentic. .303s pepper a wing when they strike, while 20mm MG FF rounds tear gaping holes. If your rudder or ailerons get perforated, you can expect flight control to feel mushy. Engine cowlings can get blown off by collateral blast or cannon fire. A hit to the gear mechanism can cause gear to deploy mid dogfight. A hit to the flaps can cause them to jam. A Bf110 can lose its right rear tailplane, and still be flyable, but struggle to climb or dive and maintain lateral stability. Windscreens and canopies star or shatter when and where struck. Engines leak oil or glycol depending on where they are hit, tanks leak fuel. I have had fires which have consumed my machine in seconds, and others which flared and died without causing catastrophic damage.



There have been occasional complaints on forums about bombers being difficult to damage, more so than in IL2 or other sims. Having flown many He111 missions, I can attest this is not the case. But the sophisticated damage model means that unlike in IL2, where bombers frequently lost wings and plummeted to the earth after a couple of salvos, the precise modelling of damage in CoD means only hits to vital structural or engine parts makes a difference. Bombers are more likely to be badly damaged than blown out of the sky, meaning they can limp away and can, and do, end up ditching in the Channel twenty minutes later with one or more dead engines due to mechanical failure or fuel loss. Players may however feel the bomber 'escaped' because they do not follow it all the way home, and thus conclude the bombers are not being damaged appropriately. The reality is quite opposite. Just fly a few bomber missions and you will soon see!

AI behavior: In short, single player simmers, or `off-liners' as they are otherwise known, will be disappointed with the current release. Looking at the current gold standard for AI in a prop combat sim, Battle of Britain II, there is simply no comparison. Where BOBII creates the impression the player is flying against an almost human (and not superhuman) opponent, Cliffs of Dover makes the player feel he is playing against a monkey. Where BOBII has dynamic AI which constantly checks whether it is offensive or defensive and adopts a range of hundreds of maneuver choices based on this, the Cliffs of Dover AI seems to have a very limited range of available maneuvers to choose from, and seems not very competent at choosing them! An AI which has engaged you in a turning fight may suddenly break and fly straight and level. There is some sense that 109s are using their superior straight line speed, and the RAF types their turning ability, but the standard evasive maneuver in a dogfight appears to be an (unrealistically) rapid half roll left and right and left again, followed by a zoom climb, irrespective of the machine.

One of the big disappointments with the AI is how quickly a dogfight is over. AI seems to burn through its ammo in very short time and machines which have run out of ammunition simply turn for home, and when in `go home' mode they no longer take evasive action. I have not seen a fighter vs fighter furball in single player mode in Cliffs of Dover last longer than about 5 minutes before the AI were all heading home.

Another most infuriating bug is that whether in quick missions, campaign missions or self designed missions the AI often does not engage the player, either to attack, or defend itself. They may take a passing shot, but you will rarely, if ever, find yourself in a bare knuckle sweat inducing 'personal' combat with one or more foes.And getting onto the six of your AI opponent is, in any case, all too easy.

Developer Oleg Maddox promised that each AI pilot would have their own individual skill level, as they do in BOBII, allowing a staffel or squadron to be made up of a mixture of aces, veterans and novices. Nominally this is the case, with different skill levels selectable in the full mission builder (though not in quick missions). But irrespective of this, In Cliffs of Dover all AI pilots seem to be brain dead novices.

You have to fly very badly indeed to be shot down often in Cliffs of Dover.

GRAPHICS



I have kept this deliberately to last because there is no doubt there is huge graphic potential in Cliffs of Dover, and the better your PC, the more likely you are to realize that potential. Screenshots clearly demonstrate the beauty of the in cockpit visuals and lighting, which are unparalleled. External aircraft detail is on par with Rise of Flight, a generation ahead of IL2 or Wings of Prey and two generations ahead of BOBII.



Ground object detail is a lesser success. Grass does wave in the breeze. Vehicles are nicely modeled, with moving wheels and chassis parts. Tank turrets rotate and fire. Trees are more realistically implemented even than in the newer IL2 mod maps, but trees and landscape textures are less well implemented than in Wings of Prey, especially for the FPS hit they cause. The lack of civilians in the landscape, or civilian vehicles, is a glaring omission. Although static, not animated, the civilians (farmers in the fields, cars, tractors, London buses etc) modeled in Battle of Britain II, in their historically accurate clothing or form add a sense of depth and immersion to the landscape which is totally absent in Cliffs of Dover.

The landscape colours in Cliffs of Dover, as in Wings of Prey, are a matter of taste, and compared to the gold standard in terrain modeling, which is still FSX or Rise of Flight, Cliffs of Dover does not come up to current day standards. Colour is very much a matter of taste, but few who have flown over modern day Kent in July/August (which I have) would say the designers have got this righ. Cliffs of Dover colour palette is garish and unsubtle, while the landscape lacks the familiar hedgerows and copses of SE England. In this respect I have to say Wings of Prey or BOBII gets it right, where Cliffs of Dover has missed the mark.





Weather and clouds are similarly poorly implemented so far, though this is also on the list for a future patch. While both are beautifully modeled in Wings of Prey or Rise of Flight, clouds still resemble IL2 style cotton balls in Cliffs of Dover. Sunsets are beautiful and night is frightening, but inclement weather and storms are not available options in the quick mission builder, only clear, light or medium clouds. `Far clouds' have been fixed in the latest patch, but true weather modeling is far behind even a 2006 sim like Battle of Britain II, which models clouds beautifully and also recreates the actual weather over each part of the English countryside, at the right time on the right day.



CONCLUSION

Buy Cliffs of Dover.

Like a good wine, it can be played now, but it will be better with age. Patience will be rewarded.

[GAE_Charrua]

Esto es lo que dice de la actualización automática que esta haciendo automaticament  en Steam.

IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover Update Released
Product Update    - Valve 08:48
The latest patch adds an entirely new sound engine , new multiplayer maps, and new aircraft. It contains the following changes:

MAIN
*   Drastically reworked graphic algorithms dealing with in-game color;
*   Rewrote the sound engine from scratch;
*   Added three new multiplayer maps: Steppe (medium), Fields (small), and Scimitar (small), as well as a few basic online missions for them;
*   Updated multiplayer GUI to allow users to easily select a position in an existing plane, and to see the number of planes within each side before selecting it;
*   Added two new aircraft - Bf. 109 E-4 and Bf. 109 E-4/B. These two are equipped with MG/FF-M cannons and so make use of the famous Minegeschoss;
*   Spitfire model Mk. Ia has been reequipped with a constant-speed airscrew.
*   Some changes to the internal structure of Bf. 110s and Spitfire Mk. Ia may cause records created with previous versions of the game to play back with with animations that differ from what was recorded.

AIRCRAFT
*   Bf. 109 E-4 has been equipped with Komandgerat airscrew automation;
*   Reworked routines for gyro bombsights;
*   Removed allusion to Engine 4 from He 111 model;
*   Improved memory consumption for multi-crew aircraft;
*   Airborne status is now checked correctly even if the aircraft in question departed prematurely;
*   Landing status should be applied correctly when ditching in water;

VISUALS
*   Reworked bombardier cockpits in aircraft so affected (He. 111 and Ju. 8 to accomodate new Lotfe gyro routines;
*   Small caliber bullet hits on the ground now show difference in material being hit;
*   Modifications in Blenheim's damage visuals;
*   Added a range of visual SFX for higher-caliber guns;
*   New bombsight visuals in Blenheim bombardier's cabin;
*   Returned the famous Il-2 stall sound effect;
*   Doubled the distance at which the tracers can be seen;
*   You will no longer see engine exhaust fires when viewing in a HUD-only cockpit mode;
*   Reversed movement of throttle and mix in D.H. 82;
*   Fixed distance input error in gunsight for Spitfire and Hurricane;
*   Fixed glitch with Bf. 110's prop hub tactical colour band;
*   Added spinner colouring to Ju. 88.

PHYSICS & A.I.
*   Increased Lotfe bombsight gyro operational limit to 15 degrees of aircraft roll / pitch;
*   Lotfe type bomb sight now stabilizes aiming platform to horizontal plane;
*   Removed sudden jump in view angle when viewing through Lotfe ocular and moving bomb sight elevation for the first time in the flight;
*   Increased side slip input limit to +/*   30 degrees for the Lotfe bomb sight;
*   Made Kurssteuerung mode 2 for level bombers. This mode will also stabilize the aircraft in level flight;
*   Reworked motor startup routines to accomodate new options available in the new sound engine;
*   Adjusted ricochet angles on firm surfaces;
*   Redesigned bomb sight in Blenheim and made it easier and more realistic to use;
*   Blenheim bomb sight plane is now adjustable to reflect changes in plane AoA in level flight. Correction is applied automatically over a period of sustained flight and can compensate up to 3 degree changes in plane attitude;
*   Fixed issue where overstress would inflict damage to airframe regardless of the Vulnerability difficulty setting;
*   Fixed an issue where D.H. 82 could retain traction when the engine part was shot off;
*   Adjusted head shake level for overspeed effects;
*   Increased critical airspeed for Bf. 110 to 650 kph;
*   You will no longer suffer certain control difficulties below critical airspeed;
*   Removed velocity threshold for leading slats operation;
*   Decreased default harmonizing distance for G.50's guns to 200 meters;
*   Reworked the way altimeter reacts to pitot icing;
*   Lowered the speed at which airframe is defrosted;
*   Fixed stuttering movement of He. 111 P's propellor pitch and indicator;
*   A.I. artillery gunners will no longer commit suicide by shooting the concrete wall of the bunker they are stationed in;
*   Bf. 110 fuel reserve warning light recalibrated to turn on at 100 liters remaining for all 4 tanks.
*   Reworked the Bf. 110 fuel system. Please refer to the manual for operational instructions.

NETWORK
*   Changes to bombs' detonators setup will now be carried over once applied without the need to rejoin the server;
*   Increased Lotfe bombsight gyro operational limit to 15 degrees of roll / pitch. This will give more tolerance to aircraft maneuvers as strict limits put too much obstacle to communication between bombardier and pilot while playing on-line;
*   When flying as a bombardier, you should now use "Aircraft - Drop Ordnance (Bombs)" key (instead of "General - Fire Current Weapon" key) to drop bombs.
*   Added new server settings that determine the message format for new air group creation.

MISC.
*   Decreased bombsight altitude indents by ten times. This will give you more control of the altitude input and make bomb sight aiming more precise;
*   You can now switch off the boost cut-out control in Spitfires;
*   Corrected a typo where propellor and oil radiator controls for separate engines had increase and decrease key bindings swapped in controls setup panel;
*   Fixed keyboard propellor pitch controls getting jammed into a narrow range;
*   Directional controls feedback will no longer disappear from info windows every time you reenter the game.

[GAE_Charrua]

Para pasarlo al castellano.
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=32FITK5C
Gracias ECV_Mustang

[GAE_Castor]

Ya empezaron a aparecer Experten.....

http://www.youtube.com/v/4AcJ7oOOcxQ

[GAE_Chape]

Me estoy volviendo loco para configurar las vistas.

Que hay que tocar para que sea como en el IL-2

Cual seria el Shift+F1 (para centrar el HUD) y cual es el toogleFOV (que te deja hacer los 3 zoom)

[GAE_Castor]

Me compré el original en USA, me lo traen en 20 días.
Mientras posteo un update.

Development Status - November 14, 2011
Hi everyone,

Quick status update.

We are aware of the issues many of you are having. We are monitoring the forums, and we are checking the crash dumps you are sending, for which we are especially grateful.

The crashes are caused by an old graphics bug that?s been in the game all year. Since we are in the process of seriously overhauling graphics, we cannot release a quick fix. The bug simply doesn?t exist in the current version of the graphics at all. It got thrown out with a lot of other bad code, but the overall feature isn?t ready for the world quite yet.

We?re also improving the sound quite a bit, doing exciting things with aircraft, and generally progressing along the same fronts I?ve listed in my older updates.

These are all major features so they take time. We only have a tentative ETA at this point, but considering this forum?s special relationship with the word ?tentative? I?m not going to say what it is. It?s not this Friday or the next ? take that as you will. We?ll keep you updated as we get closer.

[GAE_Castor]

Me compré el original en USA, me lo traen en 20 días.
Mientras posteo un update.

A las prueba me remito.