“Oh that looks amazing” are the words that I actually spoke out loud when I saw the latest developer screenshots showing off an urban area on the new IL-2: Battle of Bodenplatte map. Work is progressing nicely for Bodenplatte and meanwhile we’ve also been treated to some beautiful screenshots of the Pfalz D.IIIa coming to Flying Circus Vol 1. It’s all part of the IL-2: Great Battles Series and it looks good!

Koln, Brussels, and Charleroi

1CGS needed a new development approach to speed the production of vast urban areas of which there are dozens on the new IL-2: Battle of Bodenplatte map. Their efforts appear to have paid off as three major urban centres including Koln (modern day Cologne) have already been implemented into the Bodenplatte map.

Although I don’t know exactly what their tech has let them do, it appears to be an auto generation system that lets them build out large urban areas and then provide some hands on detailing to finish things off. Doing this kind of urban area by hand would take a long time and 1CGS wants to press forward on not only the Bodenplatte project but also on Tank Crew and Flying Circus.

The visuals show for themselves just how good things are looking right now.

It Pfalz to this

It seem almost unfair to the Pfalz D.IIIa that it would be overshadowed by the incredible screenshots of Bodenplatte’s new urban centres. The Pfalz D.IIIa together with the Sopwith Camel are due to arrive sometime this autumn with a future patch and together they help build out Flying Circus’ aircraft set. A relatively well liked fighter that was overshadowed by other types, the Pfalz was used from 1917 through to the end of the war.

For a time in Rise of Flight the Pfalz was known as the “Pfalzcopter” apparently being able to stand on its tail and perform maneuvers that it probably shouldn’t have been able to do. This was later corrected and our experiences with the Dr. I and SPAD XIII indicate that there may be some further refinement to the flight model, however small, to make sure that these aircraft are flying realistically.

I’m looking forward to it!

Development presses ahead

As we come into the last couple of months of 2018 we have plenty of exciting new content coming to the IL-2 series including the P-47D-28, Bf109K-4, Pfalz D.IIIa and Sopwith Camel. Don’t forget that the Po-2 is also expected to arrive this fall. Though the Bodenplatte map is not expected until next year, the series continues to impress with the pace and breadth of content being developed and in 2019 we’ll have many more new aircraft to celebrate including some highly sought after types like the P-51D Mustang, the P-38 Lightning, the Me262 and the Tempest Mark V.

For now, head over to the IL-2 developer diaries to see what the team is up to!