IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946

bob48 · February 23, 2014, 07:40:29 AM

Just noticed this on Steam for under £4. I take it its a stand-alone and not an add-on?

Anyone play this, and if so, is it any good?

Nefaro · February 23, 2014, 08:01:41 AM

Quote from: bob48 on February 23, 2014, 07:40:29 AM
Just noticed this on Steam for under £4. I take it its a stand-alone and not an add-on?

Anyone play this, and if so, is it any good?

It's the old IL-2 compilation. Been showing it's age for awhile but many seemed to enjoy it in the past.

Last time I started it up, I was getting a few odd textures with a newer video card. Not sure if that's common these days. I believe there is a big mod for it but that can take some time downloading since it's in multiple parts IIRC.

The original IL-2 came out around 2004(?) and it's later expansions are all rolled into this one.

Staggerwing · February 23, 2014, 08:08:52 AM

It's available on GOG as well, with no DRM. Currently $9.99 US.

http://www.gog.com/game/il_2_sturmovik_1946

Jack Nastyface · February 23, 2014, 01:12:49 PM

I still play IL-2 on a fairly regular basis...I suppose it is my go-to flight sim, primarly because I don't have a computer that can play 1c's more recent offering Battle of Britain.
If you buy it, make sure you upgrade it with the latest patches from Daidalos. Key game features, notably AI, underwent dramatic change duing one of the 3.x releases (can't remember which one). In the "old" game, it used to be that I could do a quick mission and fly solo against three "average" pilots and get three kills about 75% of the time. Since the patch, I've never been able to replicate that, and my 1 vs 3 victory ratio is probably down to 10%.
Most of the IL-2 haters will point to the lack of dynamic campaigns. I'm not really bothered by that, but if that is what you are looking for, then yes, you are going to have to look somewhere else. Having said all that, IMHO you can't go wrong for $10...and although there are some key planes that are missing from the default list (can't fly the Devastator or the Avenger or the Swordfish, for example) there are literally hundreds of others. The 1946 add-on also provides a bit of a "secret weapons" flavour, if that's your thing. I know of no other sim that allows you to fly early war "Flying Tigers" missions and F-80 vs ME-262 jet fighter duels. Sadly, no heavy bomber stuff to fly.

Edit: it is worth noting that although Il-2 does not have as rigorous a flight engine as other dedicated platforms (XPlane, MS-FS), you can turn up the realism on this game so that is fairly challenging. A knowledge of magnetos, fuel-air mixtures, individual engine management, etc are there for the having, and absolutely positively knowing rudder, aileron and elevator trim can spell the difference between life and death.

Yours in gaming,

Jack Nastyface

bob48 · February 23, 2014, 02:14:09 PM

Interesting.

Thanks for the info Jack.

Father Ted · February 23, 2014, 02:34:06 PM

I'll just add that I play this three times a week with my squad mates. Despite not being pretty by modern standards, it runs easily an works well in MP. The main advantage it has over newer sims is the sheer range of planes and theatres. If you're prepared to D/L the mods, then you get access to all sorts of things - including heavy bombers (Lanc, B17). There are probably hundreds of user-made missions and campaigns plus a reasonable level of MP if that's your thing.

Anyway, enough typing - time to fly!

bob48 · February 23, 2014, 02:41:31 PM

Thanks Ted. Actually, the reason I'm not jumping right in is because I have such a lot of other stuff either on the go or to do. I fear this would suck more time away than I really want at the moment.

I guess we're all in the same boat in that respect.

Father Ted · February 23, 2014, 05:07:51 PM

Yeah, time is an issue. I'm in the same boat with the likes of Command Ops - I have it and want to get into it, but I need to put in enough hours to get to that level of familiarity which allows me to fight the battles rather than the game. Il2 is my main game - that's where most of game-time goes, so other things never get started.

As I alluded to, I fly with a bunch of mates which makes learning a lot easier, and it's also become a real social thing for me.

In short, I'd highly recommend you get it (though not the Steam version as that limits which mods you can have - too complicated to go into here) and then join Chuffy's Flying Circus, but I can fully understand why you wouldn't want to.

bob48 · February 23, 2014, 05:14:11 PM

Aye, its a bugger that. And having just brought into the LnL system, I think, on reflection, I'll resist the temptation for now.

mikeck · February 23, 2014, 08:13:22 PM

How can anyone be a "IL-Sturmovic" hater? It's a classic? It's 12 years old for god sakes

Nefaro · February 23, 2014, 10:05:59 PM

Quote from: mikeck on February 23, 2014, 08:13:22 PM
How can anyone be a "IL-Sturmovic" hater? It's a classic? It's 12 years old for god sakes

I also thought it had some kind of randomized campaigns?

mikeck · February 23, 2014, 10:32:24 PM

Can't remember, I haven't played it in 6 years but I remember some type of a series of missions you would fly. It wasn't dynamic though. Still, when you list top war flight sims of all time, it has to be up there. Just can't imagine why anyone would hate on it

DoctorQuest · February 23, 2014, 11:36:49 PM

If nothing else it is a great virtual aviation museum. The selection of planes is very, very good and as has been said the FM's are not bad. You can at least get a good feel for the different aircraft.

I have and like the GOG version myself.

Silent Disapproval Robot · February 24, 2014, 01:21:19 AM

Quote from: Nefaro on February 23, 2014, 10:05:59 PM
Quote from: mikeck on February 23, 2014, 08:13:22 PM
How can anyone be a "IL-Sturmovic" hater? It's a classic? It's 12 years old for god sakes

I also thought it had some kind of randomized campaigns?

It does but they're pretty wonky. You might get three "relocate to a new base" missions in a row where all you do is take off from Point A, fly to Point B and then land and the mission ends. There are also issues with bomber and fighter escort missions where sometimes the link up event trigger wouldn't fire and the mission would end in a failure regardless of the actual outcome.

Having said that, I put thousands of hours into IL-2. Online is definitely better than single-player but as others have said already, the game offers a huge collection of planes to fly around. Only War-Thunder comes close in terms of flyable aircraft.

MengJiao · February 24, 2014, 01:25:21 PM

Quote from: DoctorQuest on February 23, 2014, 11:36:49 PM
If nothing else it is a great virtual aviation museum. The selection of planes is very, very good and as has been said the FM's are not bad. You can at least get a good feel for the different aircraft.

I have and like the GOG version myself.

It's pretty fantastic. I got pretty far into it a few months ago and had mid-30s aircraft battling over China. Unfortunately, CLOD has really spoiled me in terms of flight sim graphics and in the end I'm back to flying CLOD, DCS (Graphically gaudy if not entirely convincing) and RoF (Graphically not quite as wonderful as CLOD, but still far more convincing than say DCS or IL-2) and waiting for BoS.

But Il-2 is a great game. Just don't let yourself do do much comparison to current sim graphics.