IL-2 Sturmovik

[acctingman]

Just picked this up on Steam.

I won't be getting to this in a while (thanks HoI 4), but I thought I'd ask all you fine gents (those that have played it) if you can recommend some decent mods for it?
It's my understanding that there are some mods that have improved the graphics and have added boat loads of different aircraft? I've also heard that the mods, or some of the more popular ones, take an engineering degree to install.

Thanks

Back to the regular schedule programming (yes...HoI 4)   

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

Which IL-2 did you get? 

1946 or Battle for Stalingrad/Battle for Moscow?

[Toonces]

I got ya covered Actingman...gimme a moment here...

[Toonces]

Heh.  I answered this exact question to you back in January!   :P

http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=16001.msg419257#msg419257

"acttingman,
Modding IL-2 1946 is not necessarily easy.  And, there are a LOT of mods that aren't compatible with one another.  Many pros keep multiple installations of IL-2 1946 on their computer for that reason.

I spent the better part of 3 days recently installing a mod for IL-2 1946 called the Community Update Project, or C.U.P.  The path to this is long, requires many big downloads from mediafire, which makes it a huge pain, and then careful installation to ensure you don't pork something up.

To do it, you'll want to buy IL-2 1946 from GOG.com.  Install it, then install the patch that rolls the game back to version 4.10; the updated 4.13 that GOG installs does not work, but they allow you to install a roll-back patch to 4.10.

From there, go to:  http://www.sas1946.com/main/index.php?topic=44975.0

And the step by step instructions to download and install are here:  http://www.sas1946.com/main/index.php/topic,47647.0.html

You'll need to start right at the top with the 4.12m patch and work your way down from there.  This is just one mod, there are others like HSFX and Dark Blue World and others.

BUT, before you start down this hole, try vanilla IL-2 1946 with the 4.13 patch from GOG.  There is an awful lot of content there out of the box that you will enjoy before you get the urge to mod.

I also like Battle of Britain II: Wings of Victory.  However, it only covers the Battle of Britain, and it's a bit more difficult to get into than 1946.

IL-2 Cliffs of Dover is much, much better looking, but lacks the dynamic campaigns of 1946 and BOBII, and requires modding to even play correctly.

Honestly, I'm not sure why you wouldn't want to start with 1946, considered the classic of the genre.  Spend the $6, play it for a bit, and then if it doesn't scratch your itch you can branch out. "

[Toonces]

The C.U.P. mod is pretty awesome- I've played it some (and in fact was planning on firing it up tonight) and there is a butt-ton of content.

The hardest part, frankly, is downloading all of the required files.  They're hosted on Mediafire which is a real pain in the ass.  And there are a lot of downloads required.  So you can't do this all in one sitting probably.  But once you get everything downloaded, installing it was fairly painless, provided you follow the instructions closely. 

[acctingman]

I asked this before?  :o

Sorry, all....guess I'm a little  these days.

Thanks Toonces

[acctingman]

Never mind....answered my own question.  O0

[Staggerwing]

I'm having more and more of those days myself...  :-\

[Phantom]

I've got IL2 1946 & IL2 Cliffs of Dover. After IL2 1946 I find the latter restricted - only Battle of Britain planes - the "original" has a vast array of planes & conflicts, fighters, bombers, single quick starts & campaigns. IL2 has done me as a WW2 flight sim for ages & I've tried others, and whilst other sims may have slightly better graphics there's nowhere near enough gameplay.
I must admit I had the game before & modded it but in its current iteration its not crucial - there's just so much of it.

[WallysWorld]

An FYI that the 4.13.3 patch has been released for Il-2:  4.13.3 patch release

[DoctorQuest]

I tried modding IL-2 1946 once. Never again. It is just not worth it. The basic content keeps me plenty busy.