IL-2 Modding
Doug: On modding for the IL-2 series, select outsiders were encouraged to make the models for some aircraft to be put into the simulation by 1C: Maddox (which is also the plan for Storm of War: Battle of Britain). Specific requirements and guidelines were published for those wishing to make them for the IL-2 series. Will the specifications for acceptable integration to the flight simulation engine be published before release or after?
Oleg: That’s not exactly how it’s going to be. Our new product won’t require us to be involved with creation of new in-game objects. On the contrary, it’s designed to exclude us from the process. We’ll release special tools which will allow external developers to bypass us, i.e. convert their models into our internal format, set-up and fine-tune flight models, and so on and so forth. However their work won’t automatically be accepted by all online servers. Online servers will have the option to exclude all such content and only use that created or authorized by us. And on our side we’ll work to review, select, and certify 3rd party content for protected online servers, if of course the external developers want us to do that.
Any server will be able to choose to allow only certified content, or any non-certified content at any time, or even certified Maddox-created content but with modified parameters.
As we release the tools, we’ll also release sample models as examples of how to do things. We might even release sample aircraft and vehicle models before the release of engine tools.
Doug: When we last talked, you indicated you didn’t object to the discussion of modding. What are your thoughts now regarding the work that has been achieved? Have you “eased” your concern about it or are you more intense about your concerns?
Oleg: I look at new IL-2 mods very rarely. Some are exciting. Some even do things that we wanted to do ourselves but were unable due to lack of time. As far as discussions go, I won’t get into that now.
Doug: Are you unhappy that people are offering modding of IL-2 regardless of the quality of the products?
Oleg: It gives me a better understanding of what we should and should not have in theStorm of War series.
Doug: More generally, will there be a guide for modding in the IL-2 series, or will the community more or less have to figure it out which files do what (assuming they already know how to modify code)?
Oleg: We are not planning any IL-2 tutorials or samples. No one in my team is working on the IL-2 series at all right now. If we allow ourselves to get distracted with it, we’ll never complete our current project. The entirety of my team is dedicated to Storm of War. And with the new engine, you’ll be able to change anything you like that doesn’t affect protected online modes. Of course some things will remain locked forever, and we won’t make everything open source in the first place.
Doug: Will the sound files be immediately available for modding?
Oleg: With Storm of War: Battle of Britain, yes. With IL-2, we’ve always had some parts of the sounds open since day one, and the rest has already been unlocked by the community.
Doug: What do you think of the capabilities of the best IL-2 modders?
Oleg: I found some people to help us with Storm of War: Battle of Britain in the IL-2 modding community. Soon, everyone will know their names. 
