Feature: IL-2 1946, Patch 4.11m Part 2

By SimHQ on January 16, 2012 in _air14

New Ground Units

Additional ground units are available for mission designers to create even more authentic missions.

6DoF

Native 6DoF view support, finally! No more bandits hiding behind struts or tail feathers. True 6DoF is only available to NaturalPoint TrackIR controllers. Other controllers will not be able to roll the camera, hardly a serious handicap. Note that view axes are intentionally limited when in the gunsight view.

Leaning to the right and to the left.

The camera position changes when pivoting the view around, reflecting the fact that a real pilot’s view doesn’t pivot around their eyeballs but around their neck, resulting in a small but perceptible change in perspective.

Other Notable Changes

The AI has been vastly revamped, including shooting and maneuvering capabilities, more realistic vision (including not being able to see through clouds), and prone to engine overheating limitations as well (see below).
Engine thermodynamics has been given a much needed overhaul and pilots of 4.10.1 and previous patches will find their aircraft overheat much more easily in 4.11. The good news is that radiators are now actually effective in cooling engine fluids instead of just changing 3D models and generating drag. I expect to see a lot of discussion on this topic in the forums. Yay, science!
New difficulty settings have been added, including adding more flexibility in limiting external views, such as No External Enemy, No External Ships, etc.
The bomb fuze models have been further updated, including addition of a number of different bomb fuzing options to support different attack types. Remember that instant bomb fuzes take several seconds to arm after release – the “instant” label means they detonate (almost) instantly on impact. Use a low-level fuze to drop bombs that arm quickly enough to be dropped from low altitude.
The damage model for bombs has been improved, including damaging ships with near-misses, and bombs and torpedoes doing damage even if the player who delivered them is killed before impact.
Control surfaces, flaps, and pilot head orientations are now transmitted over the multiplayer connection and saved in tracks.
There are numerous additions to the already powerful Full Mission Builder that further expands the tool box available to the mission designer: stationary plane spawning, defined player spawn points, etc.

Near hits can now be fatal to ships.

Team Daidalos has given us so much in 4.11m, it’s difficult to catch all of it in a feature. I heartily encourage you to crack open the guide and read through the detailed description of changes and see all the good work Team Daidalos has put into this patch.

As a fan of the IL-2 series, I am looking forward to seeing how all you clever mission designers out there use the new features to create fun and engaging missions. And I just can’t wait to see what else Team Daidalos has in store for the rest of 2012!

Get the patch for standalone and the dedicated server in the SimHQ Downloads section (registration required). Don’t forget to download and install the hotfix as well to fix a CTD error that shipped with the 4.11m patches.

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