I've been away from simming for a while and trying to get back into it. I've been flying FSX and FS2004 lately but I'm getting the itch to shoot things again. I've got a shelf full of sims that I've hardly played, some of them never even installed. My main interest is WWII but I like all eras, and I want to try getting some mileage out of what I've already purchased (assuming they'll still run on my computer).

I'm strictly interested in single player, I don't play online at all and don't anticipate that will change. I'm primarily interested in flying American planes and campaigns. P-51's, P-47's, P-38's, Hellcats, Corsairs etc., all theaters, and maybe some bombers where/if available.

A few (several?) years back I bought IL2-1946 and started dabbling with it, but never really got up to speed. I Just didn't put the time in. I think 4.08 was the latest patch. I had some impressions about the game from internet chatter that may or may not have been accurate: it was heavily skewed towards multi-player, offline was frustrating, most of the maps were locked out of single player, Russian planes were God-like, enemy AI had superhuman skills and their planes maneuvered like UFOs - while friendly AI were useless, American planes were under-performing/undermodeled, etc. Whether all that was true I'm not sure, it's just the impression I had at the time. I like and want realism, but not to the point that it's so hard I'm ready to hang myself with the cord to my flightstick.

Now, it seems like modded IL-2 is widely embraced but trying to sort it all out is a little bewildering. There's UP, CUP, SAS (is this a mod, or just a site, or both?),FM (Full Monty?), DBW, HSFX, and I can't recall what else I've come across as I'm typing this - in addition to the "official" Team Daidalos patches, which I think are up to 4.13? It sounds like the TD patches have addressed flight model improvements and the AI behavior is more realistic (not as insanely lethal and can't see through clouds), among a ton of other things. Does that sound right? It still appears though that the focus is overwhelmingly on Russian and Luftwaffe planes/missions/campigns/maps, or is that wrong? As far as mods go - for my single-player offline interests it seems like the "DBW" (Dark Blue World) mod would be most appropriate? I'm still a little unclear as to what it actually does. Would I need missions/campaigns specifically designed for DBW, or does it add and improve things with anything compatible with the "normal" patch level(s)? Would I need another mod(s) in conjunction with it, or are the other mods primarily for multi-player? Is there a good amount of quality USAAF and USN content out there, or is it still mostly Russian and German?

Would I be better off just patching to the latest TD release and going "stock" for a while?

I'm not asking for anyone to do my homeowork for me, but pointing me in the right direction for my interests would be very helpful. I've been trying to read up on things but there are so many acronyms for updates, mods, utilities, etc. it's making my head spin.

My computer is an Alienware M17xR2 laptop, 2.66-3Ghz dual core, 4GB ram, 1GB ATI 4870m graphics (it's actually a 2 card system but I never use crossfire, it stutters and usually isn't needed for flight sims), 1920 x 1200 screen. I'd like to build a new desktop with an i7 4790k, SSDs, and a GeForce 970 but not sure how soon I'll be able to do it, so the laptop is the best I've got for now.

Thanks for reading if you made it all the way through, and for any guidance offered.

MetalMania, it is really difficult for returning or new players to wade through all the mod packs, I try to keep up with offline content and there are so many options it can be tough to choose.

4.13 is the newest and most limited option but there is a mod activator available for it that adds ability to add mods.
The consensus among modders seems to be that 4.13 breaks too many mods, so content for it is slow to materialize.

The newest and best mod packs for offline play are for adding to 4.12.2 and there are two.
These supercede DBW which is limited to version 4.10 and, according to the guys who put them together, make DBW obsolete.

The newest of the 2 is CUP and it is the easiest to get up and running.
It is modular and in your case, based on your preference for WWII, would only need the 12 part map module and the 12 part World at War module.

The other is The New TFM for 4.12, older, contains a lot of things you do not really need for WWII but still very good.

Whatever mod you choose, if your last look was version 4.08, be prepared for major improvements.

The last time I count are around ~9 different "flavor" of MOD. And every claim have the "right" Bf 109 FM.

What use depend on what you want/expect.

For start update the game to TD 4.13 and try, if don't like start again with other MOD's - is need previous versions 4.12... 4.9 - make copy of the game updated to this versions to try other "flavor's".

Never heard that one before!

I'm redoing my America's Ace of Aces for CUP. Finally I have a Dutch New Guinea map that works for me as well a the P-38F. You can get the older version here and it works on DBW, CUP etc. I recommend CUP myself. It gathers everything in one package.

America's Ace of Aces




I actually started a contest with this campaign. No one won.

Here is a promo video

I've had HSFX7 running on my laptop for months now and I'm LOVING it!!!! To be honest, I'm a little worried that if I start to tinker with it, I'll goof something up and won't be able to get her back!

The modding community for this game FAR exceeds anything I have ever seen before. It's quite remarkable really.

Whichever route you take, good luck!!!

Thanks for the info. Looks like I'll try patching up to 4.12 and give CUP a look.

Once you patch it to 4.1 2, then copy the whole folder. Make sure the game works first. You can use copy, paste to copy the whole folder. Use this copied folder for your upgrade to CUP.