Looks like the Blitz has begun!

[Vonrd]

CoD 4.5 released today (looks like there may be a glitch currently though):

 

https://theairtacticalassaultgroup.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27240&p=293266#post293266

 

And here:

 

https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/32879-il-2-sturmovik-cliffs-dover-blitz-now-available/

[Klaiber]

Great news!  Can't wait to try it out.

[Somnus]

Downloading now!

[Baron]

Finally!

 

Here are news from the patch:

 

What's Included?

 

Team Fusion has spent the past several years improving and fixing issues in the original Cliffs of Dover since it's initial release. Their work has greatly improved performance and fixed serious issues. Earlier this year, 1CGS gave the source code to TFS allowing them to further improve the title. Their work is now officially a commercial product and no longer just a mod. Below is some of what is included in BLITZ.

 

Full List of What's Included:

 

Additional New Aircraft Variants:

Flyable:

 

Bf-109 E-1B (Early Fighter-Bomber)

Bf-109 E-4N (DB601N engine and 100 octane fuel)

Bf-109 E-4/E-4B and E-4N versions with added armor for fuel tank and pilot
Bf-110 C-2

Bf-110 C-4_Late

Bf-110 C-4B  (Early Fighter-Bomber)
Bf-110 C-4N  (DB601P engines with 100 octane fuel)
Bf-110 C-4NJG (Night-Fighter)
Bf-110 C-6  (Heavy 30mm Cannon armed version)

Blenheim Mk.IV_Late  (twin gun rear turret and extra bomb-load)
Blenheim Mk.IV F   (Heavy Day-Fighter)
Blenheim Mk.IV F_Late  (Twin-gun rear turret and extra bomb-load)
Blenheim Mk.IV NF (Night-Fighter)
Blenheim Mk.IV NF_Late  (Twin-gun rear turret and extra bomb-load)

Spitfire Mk.I 100 octane

Hurricane DH-520-100 octane
Hurricane Mk.I NF (Night-Fighter)

Hurricane Mk.I FB  (Fighter-Bomber)

Beaufighter Mk.I F

Beaufighter Mk.I NF  (Night-Fighter)

DH-82A-1 (Field Mod armed Tiger Moth)

DH-82A-2 (Czechoslovakian armed Tiger Moth)

DH-82A (Battle of Britain Tiger Moth version with bomb carrying capacity)

 

Non-flyable:

 

Sunderland added bomb capacity
Blenheim Mk.IF (Heavy Day-Fighter)
Blenheim Mk.INF (Night-Fighter)

 

Maps:

 

- New Autumn and Winter Maps

- New Textures, trees, hedges, runways and terrain for all maps

- Perspective from altitude corrected to provide accurate views of rivers and terrain

- Additional historical landmarks
- Additional spline road types & more cow types for Full Mission Builder

- Elimination of original map bugs including:

- "Swimming Pools" in France
- Non- historical golf courses changed to farming.
- Dull water off Querqueville, dry rivers at Le Havre, Bradwell, and Barneville
- Airfield 'holes' at Hawkinge, Melville, Coquelles, Westhampnett, and Lympne flattened
- Added missing hangers to various French Airdromes

 

Code-work:

 

- Game upgraded to 64 bits and DX11
- Tree collisions enabled

- Distant Clouds enabled, 'Popup' effects reduced

- Contrails enabled

- Target dot view through cloud bug eliminated
- Game controllers naming change to address the Windows 10 re-ordering issue
- Rendering optimizations to increase FPS
- Reduced crash generating bugs.

 

Sound:

- Updated existing aircraft engine sounds to historically accurate sound SFX
- Added Hercules engine SFX
- Added DB601N engine SFX
- Updated MG and cannon SFX including new Hispano and Mk-101
- Updated Explosion and hit SFX
- Added new flak sounds
- Added new day/night environmental ambience

 

Ships:

 

- New Corvette, Tanker and Hospital ship types

- More accurate ship damage modeling

 

Aircraft Visibility:

 

-  Close and Distant aircraft visibility improved to provide more realistic combat environment

-  Elimination of the 'Disappearing Aircraft' bug

 

Reflections:

- Added reflections from the sky and clouds to all aircraft surfaces
- Added reflections to canopy glass surfaces.
- Lowered the whitening effect from sun reflections in the propeller.
- Increased reflectiveness for distant glass surfaces to improve spotting

 

Cockpit Graphics:

 

- Countless historically accurate improvements and additions to aircraft cockpit graphics

 

Blackout Effects:

 

Hi-G Blackout effects revised to reflect actual pilot experience

 

Aircraft Skins

 

- New historically accurate skins for all aircraft types

 

Visual Effects:

 

- Updated smoke/explosion particle effects
- Updated weapon particle effects
- Updated engine/vehicle particle effects
- Updated environmental particle effects

 

Flight Modeling and Aerodynamics:

 

- All aircraft types have historically more accurate aerodynamics including:

 

- Aerofoil characteristics corrected to historical

- More accurate aircraft dimensions and control surface operation

- Lift, Drag and Stall behavior improved

- Hi-speed Compressibility effects on maneuver introduced

 

Engine and Overheat modeling:

 

- Engine physics revised to give accurate horsepower generation throughout the altitude range

- Overheat and engine wear provide full range of engine damage from player mis-use

 

Weapons Modeling:

 

- All weapons types checked for accuracy and historical effectiveness

- AI gunner bugs eliminated

 

Damage Modeling:

 

- Comprehensive damage revision of all aircraft types to reflect their construction and to provide more realistic combat results

- Maximum Aircraft G loading introduced

 

AI Aircraft Behavior:

 

- All AI aircraft types Flight/Damage and  Engine modeling upgraded to Flyable standards

- AI Landing and Takeoff bugs eliminated

 

Player controlled Vehicles and AAA Artillery:

 

- Many Vehicles and Artillery now can be player controlled

 

Game loading Screens:

 

- New Hi definition game loading screens

[IRFC Hawkeye]

Sounds like the culmination of a huge effort. If only that much attention would be payed to RoF's replacement!

[Lipfert]

Kameraden,

 

I'm looking forward to this build, it's probably best to do a complete review of controls and setting since we are looking at a new DX11 version with many updates. At this point, I tend to create custom maps between the aircraft to deal with the subtle differences.

 

Visibility is still a key for me and I know JG4_Karaya has shaders working, will be reviewing what he has done.

 

S!

[Kliegmann]

Well Vonrd and I flew it around some last night.  There are some noticeable improvements, mainly with the eye candy.  The 109 seems to fly a lot better at altitude (5-6k).  You really have to watch your engine temps, more so than before!!!!  The audio, I think anyways, is much improved.

 

  Now the problems....in MP, when you spawn out of an aircraft, the aircraft remains on the field (even hitting escape, then the flag to leave the aircraft) right where you left it.  So if you collapse the gear on landing, your busted plane remains in the middle of the runway.  Another bug they couldn't, wouldn't, haven't fixed yet is the bouncing and flipping around if you crash land.  The 109 autoprop is still not fixed.  You still have to play games with it to get it working correctly.  There is something wrong with the  ground handling of the 109 on T/O and Landing.  Taxi is kinda ok, but my tail-wheel lock didn't seem to work (not really sure the E-4B/N even has a tail-wheel lock, or my key binding could be wrong - "Tail Skid Lock"???)  On T/O the aircraft will porpoise bounce kinda like the gear is just solid sticks w/o shocks of any sort.  On 15 T/Os 14 of them did this porpoise bounce and it felt like I was going to jam the gear up through the wings.  Landing bounce is the same thing.  During this bouncing, the aircraft is barely controllable, in regards to the landing bounce, even adding power after the initial bounce did nothing for controllability.  In regards to British aircraft, I attempted the Beaufighter, while Vonrd tried the Beaufighter, Spit and Hurricane and couldn't even get them airborne.  I couldn't even taxi the Beaufighter, even using differential power. (This could simply be a "Gotta watch a video thing").

 

I did say that I would give the game a fair shake when it released.  Do I think the game is better than what we had?  Yes.  I dont think I have purchased a game on initial release that hasn't needed a patch or 50.  So I would say its a very good start.  I would like to get together with several members of the squadron so we can fly around, compare notes.  Some of what I am experiencing could simply be joystick sensitivities, or even I may be forgetting a checklist item when I'm configuring the airplane for T/O and/or landing.

[Britchot]

I don’t think the tailwheel lock ever worked in CloD’s 109s, not sure about historical accuracy. However, I never needed the tailwheel lock in CloD, unlike BoX.

[IRFC Hawkeye]

The planes in RoF bounce WAY too much, also.  I don't know if this is just an aspect of flight sims that's impossible to recreate accurately.  A few of the planes are far worse than others.  The Dr.1 and N17 act like you're going over a ski jump even with the slightest touch to the ground on landing.  You have to literally force the plane down with the elevator with movements timed just right to counteract the bounce you KNOW is coming, until you are actually holding the thing on the ground, and can then slow down.  This is at a speed below which a wing will dip every time....can't fly any slower.  Then comes the ridiculous, (almost) unstoppable ground loop.

 

Look devs, I know that a lot of planes were crashed.  I get it.  But if they really acted the way they're modeled, every pilot would have crashed his plane, EVERY time, considering the number of hours and skill level they had back then.  I gave up trying 3-point landings a long time ago....you two-point, then drop the tail slowly, and do your best to predict the ground loop in planes that always do it, and apply a burst of power at the exact right time to counteract that.  Too soon and the tail won't go down and the plane bounces back into the air.  Too late, and the engine doesn't spool up fast enough to stop the ground loop.

 

Don't say they didn't have suspensions.  Yeah, they were rudimentary; but they did have SOME give, and you are landing on GRASS, not cement.  I've seen the real planes land, and they don't bounce like that.  As it says above, in the sim it's like you're landing on rigid sticks with solid wheels.

 

I guess this is a common problem in flight sims that I hope they devote more attention to in the future.

[Klink]

I have also skulked out of the darkness and downloaded the new CloD.  just getting all my controls setup again lol

[Klaiber]

Hey Klink, great to hear from you!  How have things been?

[Klink]

Very Good Her Klaiber, getting back into the flight suit,  flying DCS,  IL2 series and reloaded the new CloD.  picked up an occulus rift and just relearning how to fly lol

[Klaiber]

That's great to hear!  We're online most nights of the week, if you're interested in joining us.

 

I'll PM you our TS information.