I’ve been lax over the summer covering some of the updates coming from Team Fusion but today we heard from Bonkin, a Team Fusion Simulations member, on the IL-2 forums with the very latest in what the team has been up to including some new visual effects, new aircraft and talk about their new Torbuk map. Let’s check it all out!
New effects
One of the areas that Team Fusion continues to work on is new effects and today’s update focused on the new flame effects for aircraft. It’s a convincing effect in screenshots and we also get to see it briefly in a video (more on that later).
Visual effects are one thing but the team has also indicated that they are working on new sound effects for Daimler Benz, Hispano Suiza, Pratt & Whiney and Allison engines. New voices are also being recorded for the French and Italian nations as both the D.520 and MC.202 are making their way into the series. Speaking of new aircraft…
New map and aircraft too
The new Tobruk scenario was announced along with the IL-2: Cliffs of Dover and Team Fusion official update that happened over a year ago. With it, the intention of the team to move towards a North Africa scenario and release a new expansion pack for sale.
Aircraft, vehicle and object design, and other features are being oriented towards a 1940-1942 North Africa scenario. Aircraft currently under development include:
- Cr.42
- Bf108 Taifun (intermediate trainer)
- Bf109F-1, F-2 and F-4
- Spitfire IIa and IIb
- Spitfire Va and Vb
- P-40B/C
- P-40E
- MC.202
- D.520
- Gladiator II
- Hurricane IIa, b and c
- Beaufighter IC
- Wellington Ia and Ic (flyable)
- Martlet III
There may be more but these are all currently under development with intention of being added into the game engine soon. This is all in anticipation of Team Fusion’s TF.50 release (featuring the Battle of Tobruk).
Plenty of videos to watch
I’ve missed out on the last few updates but I’d encourage people to check out the status of Team Fusions’ latest efforts to bring IL-2: Cliffs of Dover up to new levels. July’s update focused on the Gladiator II:
Then, in August, the team showed off their work in progress efforts on the Bf109F.
The September update video was particularly good with a summary of their latest efforts showing off the latest work in progress cockpits, visual effects, sound effects, and more. It’s well worth the watch.
What’s next?
The team is working hard on the Tobruk map which we haven’t seen any images of yet. The team is still tweaking textures to make sure that it looks as good as it can before they start to showcase it. I look forward to seeing their latest efforts – certainly Team Fusion proved they could do great work with upgrading the Channel Map so it will be interesting to see the latest.
Read the full status update right here to catch all of the details!
Stormbirds 
Cannot put my finger exactly on why, but the CloD aircraft always look more ‘real’ to me than BoX.
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Blue, I know exactly what you mean! I find especially in still shots the CLoD looks better, almost real. I think it might be the muted colour palette that they went with?
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A few planes like the Hurricane and the Spitfire in CloD looked absolutely great (for 2011) but that Bf 109 in the pictures looks like a toy. Flat textures, no reflections and lack of detail, especially right behind the pilot. Ugh.
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IL-2: Great Battles colour pallet has more and deeper colours. I prefer it but some prefer the slightly washed cinematic look.
One area where Great Battles succeeds though is in model detail. I notice the sharp edges on some Cliffs of Dover aircraft but I hardly ever do on Great Battles.
Not sure if you guys feel the same. It’s an interesting comparison. The two series are a lot closer together than the original IL-2: Sturmovik.
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It could be the Uncanny Valley effect that breaks the immersion for BoX?
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Never heard that term used with aircraft before …But I suppose its possible! 🙂
The next big step for IL-2’s visuals is PBR which would hopefully elevate the visuals up even further. They haven’t announced the feature but 1CGS has a habit of surprising us when we least expect it. May not come within the next several months but you never know.
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The ‘uncanny valley’ effect is a phenomena in which a repulsive reaction is triggered by something built to look like a human. In other words fake humans built in a realistic fashion give you the creeps.
I see what you mean, you are saying that “the level of realism is getting there but it still doesn’t feel real enough and our brains perceive that something is off.” Maybe but that doesn’t make it creepy. It cannot possibly apply here.
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Always had problems planes spotting in BOX. When team leader’s wings start to lose shape and cant even see them at 1 km it feels bad. That moment when you see every other pixel and then you cant see them at all.
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Do you notice this in Cliffs of Dover? I’m curious.
DCS and BOX both receive a fair number of complaints about spotting. I’m not sure if anyone has truly figured how best to represent scale at the pixel level.
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