Han posted this morning with a new IL-2: Battle of Kuban developer diary with a focus on what the Kuban map team has been working on.
The big part of the update is really about the technology behind the scenes. The map team is using terrain features like height mapping, slope angle, and some random variables to create the mountain tops in a realistic and convincing way. The results, are stunning!
I’ve previously espoused the joy of free flying and just having fun putting an aircraft through the simulated air. A free flight through these mountains will be an absolute joy…. not to mention normal combat ops!
We also saw some of the objects that will be making up the Kuban scenery and a few landmarks.
There are even more on the Developer Diary update so head on over there to have a look!
Stormbirds 
The new maps absolutely crush the comparable areas in DCSW; I love the cohesiveness, the inter-plane consistency, of the IL-2 series so much more.
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I have to say that the DCS Nevada map is truly impressive technically and fairly good artistically – but DCS does have a lack of focus in terms of historical content so what we do have with IL-2 is both the map AND a large set of aircraft that fit it in a very focused way.
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Having driven through the terrain represented by the Nevada map many, many times, I can only say that perhaps it was chosen for its barren nature as a means to remove graphical complexity, with an eye on better frame rates.
Unfortunately, whoever created it is unfamiliar with American road systems and ignores the presence and variety of natural flora. There are just too many errors in road markings and structures. The lack of lots of significant details leaves it looking smooth and barren, which it is not, in reality.
I’ll forgo this map altogether until the price is reduced significantly.
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It’s odd to me that IL-2 has so much land/terrain detail for what is essentially an aircraft simulation. Take a look at the terrain upon which “Steel Beasts” plays; they are comically simplistic compared to the larger world maps from the later versions of IL-2 (i.e.BoS and BoM). Even the tanks in IL-2 are very believable, and they are only an aside for now (I think we will see this aspect receive some serious development soon).
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I have to say that playing in tank mode is very convincing. Not quite as good as War Thunder’s tank maps but impressively good considering the land area simulated.
You might be right!
On the other hand… a tactical combat oriented flight sim does do well to model ground details at a fairly high level.
Either way, its impressive! (And visually stunning)
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I have to agree with Pixel Dust. I think if we are comparing just the maps, the IL-2 maps beat the DCS maps hands down. However, I think it must be said that DCS’s focus is more on the planes and helicopters then the world they inhabit. That’s not saying that DCS hasn’t made an effort to improve this area with the new the Nevada map, and presumably we are going to see further improvements to the Caucasus map to bring it to the same level.
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