We have our first images of the Arras map for Flying Circus along with some new images of the Sopwith Dolphin and Fokker D.VII cockpits plus some more talk about Bodenplatte aircraft including the Mustang.

Arras buildings and map

The first images of the Arras map are actually focused on one of the urban centres in the map (someone may be able to identify the landmarks) with a large cathedral, square, what looks like a more temporary barracks for troops…and some cows. Will there be a future DCS versus IL-2 head-to-head article on cow modeling? 😉

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Of course, this urban centre is not the only one being worked on for Arras and for Bodenplatte so look for more of these kinds of scenes in future updates for both projects.

Dolphin and D.VII cockpits

We’re seeing the Sopwith Dolphin and Fokker D.VII cockpits getting the Flying Circus upgraded treatment as well. I don’t have too much to remark on here except that they are at the usual impressive standards and look great!

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Hilarious test video

Petrovich, the lead flight model engineer for the project, is responsible for the complex flight models of not just the IL-2 project but also at one time, DCS World and spent some time talking about the more serious aspects of the sim. He also showed us what I think is a funny test video showing off the break animations for the Sopwith Camel.

Today I would like to show you a short video with one of these tests. In this video you can see an in-game test (conducted at a special test base on a distant secret island) where the animation of the landing gear damage was checked. I recorded this video in the fall while working on the implementation of the Sopwith Camel to our project. Often, working on “serious games” we forget that our work is also fun.

AnPetrovich on the IL-2 developer diary update

I laughed! It’s good to see the lighter side of the project while serious testing is going on.

P-51D is in progress

Today’s news was perhaps not too surprising that the team is now working on the P-51D’s flight model. We’ve heard a little about that before but AnPetrovich was quick to bring up that they are working on modeling the aircraft’s stability issues at full fuel load.

This has been a challenge for flight sim flight models in the past so it’ll be interesting to see how Petrovich and team’s efforts will come to fruition. Ideally, that back tank will empty first and we’ll have a good representation of how the P-51D cleans up and becomes better behaved as the rear tank empties.

They also talk about the Me262’s wing sweep which required some extra work and calculations for that aircraft, and from what I gather, an improvement in modeling for all aircraft in the series too.

Read the whole developer diary right now for more information and more screenshots!