Il2 Battle of Stalingrad on Steam

[JudgeDredd]

That was it - Battle of Moscow. But I'm sure there was a message from Lucifer or whatever his name was saying they had to leave CLoD and move on. I'm absolutely convinced I read an official statement to that effect from the team behind CLoD - and that was one of the main reasons why I was never looking at this (or Battle of Moscow as it was going to be called).


In fact that name change just smacks of the BS with CLoD. For years that game was being called Battle for Britain - it might have been "a place holder" - but it was being named as such in everything I read regarding the game. Then when they actually eventually decided NOT to include the actual Battle of Britain as a proper campaign, the name suddenly changed.

Yeah - I'm still bitter  :)

[Toonces]

Guys,
Unless you are a true die-hard flight sim fan, or have an extraordinary interest in this area of combat (Stalingrad air battle) then I would encourage you to wait a bit.  This isn't Elite where everyone is raving about how awesome it is and you feel like everyday you don't have it you're missing out.

This game appears to be along the same lines as RoF but in a different theater and with different planes.  The same type of mission builder, the same scripted mission campaign (eventually) and I'm not sure I've even seen something referring to a "career mode" beta or not as in RoF.

Furthermore, if you hold out a bit there will be the inevitable Christmas sale where you can pick up the game and DLC at a discount.

If you're into it, you're into it and it makes no difference to me whether you buy it or not.  But just because it's for sale doesn't mean you should suddenly feel obligated to jump in.  This game, in my opinion, is one where a wait and see attitude is completely warranted.  Especially if we're looking at a full release in 6 weeks or less.  I'd sit this one out and let the reviews take a look first.

[SirAndrewD]

I had good results from playing wait and see on ROF, which I refused to buy until the dynamic campaign was added.  I think I'll do the same thing with this one and hope for a sale price if and when they add a real career mode.

[sandman2575]

I have to wonder if they're regretting putting the game up on Steam.  They're getting absolutely ripped apart in the forums despite Jason's feverish attempts to lock or delete any derogatory threads.

Seems a lot of people are mistakenly thinking it's the same dev team that made CLOD and they're understandably gun-shy.  Others are coming in from the War Thunder camp and are horrified at the base price and even more-so when they see the $20/plane cost for the La-5 and the FW-190.  They see this as gouging for DLC that they think should be in the base game and/or pay2win for premium planes.  The dev team have been trying to explain that this game is not a War Thunder MMO title and that there aren't going to be tiered MP battles and stats tracking, but the community's having none of it.

Always have to take the comments in Steam forums with a huge helping of salt (no single grain thereof) -- but I do tend to agree that the $20 pricetag for individual 'bonus' planes like the FW-190 is excessive.  I'd like to try the 190 but no way am I dropping an extra $40 on the already not cheap $55 just to be able to fly the 190 and the La-5.  Seems like a misjudgment on 1C/777's part.

Also, agree 100% with SDR's "This sim needs more SP focus to avoid failure" thread on Steam/BOS discussions.  Hope the devs listen.

[SirAndrewD]

That was it - Battle of Moscow. But I'm sure there was a message from Lucifer or whatever his name was saying they had to leave CLoD and move on. I'm absolutely convinced I read an official statement to that effect from the team behind CLoD - and that was one of the main reasons why I was never looking at this (or Battle of Moscow as it was going to be called).


In fact that name change just smacks of the BS with CLoD. For years that game was being called Battle for Britain - it might have been "a place holder" - but it was being named as such in everything I read regarding the game. Then when they actually eventually decided NOT to include the actual Battle of Britain as a proper campaign, the name suddenly changed.

Yeah - I'm still bitter  :)

Yeah, the CLoD name change was a disconcerting sign.  Nothing says Battle of Britain like the IL2 Sturmovik.  It was just such an iconic part of that campaign.   :P

[MengJiao]

Guys,
Unless you are a true die-hard flight sim fan, or have an extraordinary interest in this area of combat (Stalingrad air battle) then I would encourage you to wait a bit.  This isn't Elite where everyone is raving about how awesome it is and you feel like everyday you don't have it you're missing out.

This game appears to be along the same lines as RoF but in a different theater and with different planes. 

  I flew a bit last night.  It was very much like RoF (which I love) but more intense and atmospheric.  I recommend the game to anyone with some
experience of flight sims who liked RoF.  The Stalingrad angle is interesting, but the game is basically a flight sim of the cold and beautiful sort.

[Gusington]

Are there tank-busting missions?

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

There are if you build them in the quick mission builder.  Takes about 10-15 seconds.  Select mission point, select plane, select loadout, select ground targets, click tanks.  Start.

[Gusington]

Out of the three (IL2, La 5 and FW190) which one was most suited for ground attack? I know they are all pretty much legendary planes but I don't know which one was best for tank-busting and other ground attack missions.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

The IL-2.  Blowing up stuff on the ground was kind of its raison d'etre.  The La-5 and The FW-190A-3 were chiefly fighters/interceptors. 

Having said that, I find getting any sort of accuracy with the rockets on the IL-2 much more difficult in this sim than any other I've played.  I rarely get a hit on a moving target unless I'm way too close and then I usually end up lawn-darting into the ground a few metres from my kill.

I find the Ju-87 D-3 Stuka equipped with 3.7 cm BK cannons with AP rounds to be the best tank killer in the sim, at least for me.  I'm much better with guns than with rockets or bombs.

[Staggerwing]

Yeah the Shturmovik was basically the A-10 of WW2. It was a veritable beast.

[Grim.Reaper]

Now that the game is out on steam and also available as direct download from the developer, will the final release still have both options or will the main release be consolidated on to just Steam?  Or will it be like ROF where you can continue to buy either version, but can't share planes and such via each version?

[MengJiao]

Now that the game is out on steam and also available as direct download from the developer, will the final release still have both options or will the main release be consolidated on to just Steam?  Or will it be like ROF where you can continue to buy either version, but can't share planes and such via each version?

  They claim on the BOS forums that the there is only one game package and that Steam is just another way of buying that one package (or buying into some set of packages).  I've been buying everything on Steam lately just to keep things simple (if not optimal).

[trek]

After playing IL-2 BOS all weekend here are my impressions of the game so far. For those of you that are on the fence as far as a purchase decision I hope this will aid you in the decision making process.

As a long time player of ROF and IL-2 COD and many others I'll first list my system, specs and my graphics settings in-game:

Falcon-NW FragBox 2
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 3.17GHZ
8GB RAM
Nvidia GTX570 1.5GB
WIN7 64-bit OS

The game runs OK on Balanced setting, but I've noticed in dogfights it fares better on the Low setting.  I'm using  22" monitor at 1680 x1050.  No VSync and AA set at four. Currently I've set the FPS limiter at 30.

The game even on the Low graphics setting runs great and visually even at this setting the game looks gorgeous. Not to sound like a graphics whore (which I am) to me its' worth it just to fly around looking at the winter landscape. Obviously I'm going to need to upgrade to a quad cpu, get more ram and at least 2GB GPU card in the near future to really enjoy this game. At present on the graphics setting page there is a checkbox for multi-gpu support but its' not active yet. On the IL-2 BOS forums I have read complaints about the game optimization even with quad-core, etc., so overall in this respect this will be an ongoing project for the devs at 777 Studios.

Just like ROF it gives the best sense of flight of any sim I own. Someone asked in a previous post about their ability to successfully fly the various planes in the game if their flightsim skills are at the novice level.  I consider myself at best an average flight simmer, so the answer would be a qualified yes. Again, like ROF you have all the same flight difficulty settings to help like: no wind, rudder assist, engine auto control, etc.

The caveat on the previous paragraph is even with all the assists on I'm still having a hard time with some of the various planes flight models.  Making turns without going into a dive is something I'm trying to overcome. I've finally succeeded in the ground attack role and have become more proficient on my repeated runs at the targets. As it historically should be the Sturmovik  with it's rockets and the Stuka with it's gunpods are the best against armor. However, of the three German planes I spend the most time with I personally find the FW-190 a more stable gun platform than both the BF-109 and the Stuka. So, go figure.

My dogfighting skills are another matter as I've yet to down an enemy fighter plane. I'm finding this particular talent very hard in IL-2 BOS. This is surprising since I'm pretty good in ROF, IL-2 COD and BOBII WOV, etc.  I use a Logitech Extreme 3D Pro as I've found this stick more than adequate for the price point and easy to set up .

On the question of should you buy the game now. I'm going to deviate from what I would've said in the past which would be a "no."  I personally think even in its' present state that the game is worth getting now. The learning curve is such that you will keep coming back for more just to get proficient. If you're familiar with ROF you will quickly ease right into this game. The WWII setting also personally for me creates a much more intense atmosphere than ROF.  I'm content at present just to fly the quick missions either dogfighting or doing ground attack runs against trucks convoys and armor.

I think this game has great potential if modders like Heinkill whose done so much for IL-2 COD and BOBIIWOV on his own and with the Team Fusion guys get onboard with this one.

[Nefaro]

No career mode on this will make it a no buy for me. 

I'm sorta tired of all these flight sims with beautiful graphics and fantastic engines, but no attempt at an immersive dynamic campaign.

Same.

I suppose WOFF and Falcon 4 offspring will be my fallbacks.