There are over 100 changes listed by the developers of IL-2 on patch version 3.007 and while some are small there are also some big new additions to the series – starting with four new aircraft! Let’s break down this patch and get to some of the key details!
Four aircraft from two world wars
The Sopwith Camel and Pfalz D.III are the two new additions to the series and to Flying Circus Vol 1 bringing their basic 3D models over from Rise of Flight plus some enhancements all around. For fans of World War II aircraft and IL-2: Battle of Bodenplatte we have the P-47D-28, a long awaited re-entry to the IL-2 series, and the Bf109K-4. All four of these aircraft represent some interesting additions to the line-up and over the coming days and weeks I’ll be getting into the details of just what each of these aircraft really are all about.
In the meantime, enjoy a few screenshots that I’ve captured during my earliest play through with the new content.
New Career mode mission types
We’ve been waiting a while to see some new Career mode mission types and three new ones have finally arrived. The first two are specific to the Ju 52/3m with Cargo Paradrop and “Special squad” Paradrop mission types being added to the available pool for the Junkers tri-motor. The previous single mission type was limiting for the aircraft and this helps open things up considerably.
I’m also really excited by the new mission type called “Free Hunt” which is available for fighter aircraft. The concept of a free hunt is one that was initially employed by Axis forces and particularly by the Luftwaffe and was later adopted by the Allies. This aggressive scouting mission was aimed at tackling targets of opportunity and I’m curious to see how the developers have built this mission type in.
There will be more to write about these later as well!
New damage model for vehicles
For a while now I’ve been excited by the idea that building a tank sim inside of a flight sim will eventually give back to the flight sim part of the product. It was going to happen eventually and, well, it has!
A new more sophisticated damage model for AI controlled vehicles on the ground has been implemented in 3.007 and it enables you to be able to damage their engines, wheels, tracks, crew and/or ammo rack. This feature also affects ground attacking aircraft and allows for a more subtle approach to damage to these vehicles. It also vaults IL-2 well ahead of the competition offering the best damage model for vehicles in any flight combat sim that I’m aware of.
Multiplayer, AI and performance improvements
1CGS was not just busy building aircraft but also adding in performance improvements across multiple different areas. These improvements include VR performance which has apparently been improved and several players are reporting that their overall performance is now improved from what it was before.
Multiple tweaks have been made to the multiplayer code fixing everything from disappearing sounds to better predictive algorithms for smoother aircraft flight. The traffic generated by a multiplayer session is also apparently improved which should help with server performance. Multiplayer and server issues have long plagued the series (although IL-2 is far from alone in this regard) and any movement forward is appreciated by this sim pilot. I’m looking forward to checking that out too.
Finally, the AI has also been tweaked and it seems like a lot of effort has been put into preventing the AI from crashing into the ground. It’s something that they have been doing less of recently but there were still issues and this seems like a great change.
Compressability enters the flight model
As WWII aircraft improved in performance they began to approach the sound barrier, particularly in high speed dives, and many of these aircraft experienced near-Mach effects that dramatically affected their flying performance.
Some types like the P-38 were chronically affected with performance and control issues (sometimes proving fatal) at high speeds. Compressability effects began to take hold at speeds around 500mph and up and they made some control surfaces useless, caused huge amounts of drag, and other negative control issues.
This and other near Mach effects are crucial for getting an aircraft like the Me262 right, however, its far from the only one affected as the aforementioned P-38 is also a key candidate. Truly, any aircraft diving at high speeds will be affected and so this change has far reaching consequences across the aircraft line-up.
And more!
These are just the highlights but there are more fixes covered in the 100+ list of changes. Check out the patch notes for Patch 3.007 to see the whole list.
Stormbirds 
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