On any other day, IL-2 patch 4.002 would be the first news that I write about but today has been different with the announcement that IL-2: Battle of Normandy will be the next title in the IL-2 series. While that is the show here, there are some nice updates in patch 4.002 we should look at.

New SU-122 assault gun

Using a T-34 chassis and able to lob 122mm shells, the SU-122 is the newest armored vehicle to be added to Tank Crew. It should provide an interesting experience for drivers with a vehicle that is designed more to be available for indirect and long range fire against enemy targets and fortifications.

4K textures for the LaGG-3

The LaGG-3 Series 29 was the first aircraft to be added to the IL-2: Battle of Stalignrad series and now it has 4K textures. Back when I pre-ordered IL-2: Battle of Stalingrad, the LaGG-3 was the only aircraft in the game and it had no weapons. So early was development at that point. We’ve come a long way and so it’s nice to see the first aircraft in-game to get a visual upgrade thanks to Martin =ICDP= Catney.

Auto dive pull-out systems

A new feature in this patch is a dive pull-out system for dive bombers. This applies to the Ju87, Ju88 and both Pe-2’s. The Ju88 and Ju87 both have contact altimeters which will sound a buzzer at the set altitude giving you 250 meters warning to pull out of the dive.

Cloud rendering improvements!

A long standing issue is the matter of aircraft being rendered against a cloudy sky. Though the problem of severe pixelation and aliasing hasn’t been completely solved, it is now substantially better.

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As you can see in these screenshots, the aircraft remain visible and are not suffering as much pixelation as before. It’s a great step forward and one I really welcome!

See the full details on all of these features and more in the IL-2 4.002 patch notes.