What factors keep the missions from getting repetitious?

There will be seven campaigns, incorporated in one common scenario and as the result with incorporated statistic and awards (if is) of your successful flights. You'll able to fly as a wing or a leader (Perhaps we also will include the feature to select the rank if you begin new campaign). You fly different types of IL-2's and can select which one is better for current mission (single missions). You fly Russian fighters LaGG's, MiG's and US land lease P-39's as escorting fighters of AI IL-2 groups. You fly German fighters Me-109's and try to intercept IL-2 groups or fight against Russian fighters. Attack different targets in air, on the ground and water surface. Missions differ from each other by different landscapes and different time of the year - winter, spring, summer and autumn, there are also different goals and weather conditions of the flights.

Tell us about the different campaigns: when and where they are set?

Currently we plan:

• 1941 Smolensk operation area, where Russians get for the first time some real success of defense.
• 1941 Moscow operation area, where Russians have stopped the approach of Germans.
• 1942 Stalingrad operation area, where German strategy collapsed.
• 1943 Kursk operation area, where the greatest of all time tank battle took place.
• 1944 Crimea operation area, there you'll play Black Sea naval operations and fly in mountains
• 1945 Balaton operation area. Operations near the lake of Balaton in Hungary, where Germans and Axis tried to stop the fast movement of Russian troops.
• 1945 Berlin operation area. It is final. Perhaps we'll fly over Reichstag.

Most missions are over Russian territory. But there could be some changes in the final version. We also would like to include the Cuban operation, where in my opinion was the largest WWII air battles and where Germans and Russians had large looses of all types of aircraft and pilots. Perhaps it will be present in one of add-ons with the new scenario - it was great battle where Germans tried to get back their total superiority in air in the beginning of Russian campaign. Really it could be even one more sim, and not a simple add-on. Also we have some ideas with our Finnish friends from LLv34 how to model the battles on the North. But for now it is too early to talk about this.

Is resource management modeled? If ten of my aircraft are shot down in a few missions will I be forced to wait a few days for replacements? And how does resupply occur?

Are you ready to wait a few days and don't switch Off you PC? If many of your aircraft are shot down and you are still alive, at first you'll be not able to get new rank or get new better or more complex plane. You'll fly always as green… if you are still alive.

Click to continue

Does the ground war impact the air war in this sense? For example, if I attack a truck convoy carrying supplies to the enemy will it impact his ability to fight?

Some time - yes, sometime - no. Depends of mission scenario. But there is such feature.

Tell us about physics modeling. Will gear compress on landing? Is secondary damage possible when an object explodes? (for example I hit a fuel truck and it is parked near to a building.)

Visually the plane itself is currently looking like gear is with compress modeling. Physically it is modeled. The aircraft landing looks very realistic. After the landing the plane moves across the roughness with smooth jumping, like in real life. Secondary damage is also present in air and on the ground. If you hit a fuel truck, located near other object and explosion of such object is enough to destroy objects close to explosion site - such object will burn or explode.

Tell us about ballistics modeling. Will bullets drop due to air friction and gravity? Are guns modeled individually for muzzle velocity and calibre?

With realistic user settings the ballistics of bullets, shells, rockets and bombs is modeled with air friction and gravity. But it will be possible to switch such feature Off, if player doesn't like it. All shots including ground guns and cannons are modeled according to their caliber, speed of the shell and ballistics.

How will missions be connected? Tell us a bit about briefings, debriefings etc. Will statistics for each pilot be available?

Basically we would like to present all menus displaying real time render scenes. That means that we don't plan to produce any PRERENDERED intros "like" b&w chronic films. There will be intros based on our engine render, which as we think will look much better. Some scenes will be pre-scripted and recorded, but each scene will be generated in real time. Such concept allows us to keep minimal or high resolution for any screen of the game and don't switch display in different modes, except some special screens of multiplay menu and mission builder. Also such concept allows us to keep the common design of the sim in one style. Before each mission we will display the map with a short briefing, where mission goal will be defined. Then you'll be able to change something (not always - depends of mission) and than to start.

Before each campaign we'll display intro, based on real time rendered scene. How it looks, I hope we'll be able to show for public in AVI's or MPEG's before May 2000. The full statistics after each mission or summary statistics including awards will be present. As additional feature we plan the feature to record any of your flight in a track-file. After recording is possible to edit such file: change any possible views from cockpits or outside view for almost all objects. Such file will be possible to send to any owner of IL-2 box via Internet. Any owner of IL-2 will be able to see such recorded flight of his friend or virtual enemy. That feature we plan for all modes of sim: single, campaign, multiplay, missions, created in mission builder and even for quick mission. The size of such track-file will be small, because it contains coordinates of objects in time - just load the file and engine will show it.


To Page 3 of 3