Team Fusion shows off spectacular VE Day flypast

1–2 minutes

Today marks the 75th Anniversary of VE Day or victory in Europe. A special occasion like this warrants some recognition and I’ve seen plenty of channels marking the event, however, in the flight simulation corner it was Team Fusion Simulations showing off their latest updates to IL-2: Cliffs of Dover and doing a very appropriate Buckingham Palace flypast that really stands out. Let’s have a look!

A special flypast

Team Fusion made full use of the London section of the channel map in IL-2: Cliffs of Dover by staging a traditional flypast route over Trafalgar square, down The Mall, and over Buckingham Palace. On full display were nearly every British/Allied aircraft available in Cliffs of Dover including the unreleased TFS 5.0 content.

Newly on display were the new Kittyhawk, Tomahawk, Martlet, Spitfire Vb, Wellington and more!

Marking a special occasion

Victory in Europe marked the end of major hostilities in Europe and a significant moment in the course of World War II – which was not quite yet over (the war in the Pacific raged on for several more months).

The clouds of war that had obscured the skies over Europe for several years had finally ended and life for many could begin anew. The rebuilding process for all countries would take a long time and the effects of the past conflict would leave an indelible mark.

As we face different and troubling challenges in modern times, it’s worth looking back and remembering that even during the darkest times there is light.

13 responses to “Team Fusion shows off spectacular VE Day flypast”

  1. Novice-Flyer Avatar
    Novice-Flyer

    106 planes in one flyby is quite remarkable.

    Jason did talk awhile ago about needing a new game engine, and maybe this new one could allow for more amounts of planes. E.g. D-Day, Allied bombings 1944-45.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. ShamrockOneFive Avatar
      ShamrockOneFive

      He has said that a few times. A new or updated game engine eventually becomes necessary although trying to keep long term compatibility has been very beneficial as well. Not sure what they will do in the long run.

      Like

      Reply
  2. MADOV_VR Avatar
    MADOV_VR

    This is not a ‘new’ engine but the resurrected CloD as designed by Father Oleg. His masterpiece was delivered prematurely and given a kiss of life by Team Fusion which is about to release its version 5 of the original. Still no VR implementation which is very disappointing for sure and as a result I won’t be flying in it. Shame as I spent years in CloD before IL-2 came good.

    Like

    Reply
    1. ShamrockOneFive Avatar
      ShamrockOneFive

      Hi Madov. Thanks for your comments!

      I don’t think I said anything about a new engine… did i? You’re absolutely right that this is an updated and revised version of the Cliffs of Dover that was originally released by Ubisoft/1C and the last title released by Oleg’s team. The engine was designed in the days before VR so it may be a challenge for the Team Fusion Simulations team to implement. That said, they have mentioned looking into VR in the past.

      Like

      Reply
      1. MADOV Avatar
        MADOV

        Hi Shamrockonefive, no you didn’t but Novice-Flyer did. You inserted your reply to him above mine and then read my post as a comment on your article. As for VR within the CloD engine, I don’t think it will happen at all. TF are working so very slowly in comparison to the much bigger IL-2 team and it clearly isn’t a priority for them.

        Liked by 1 person

    2. Alex Avatar
      Alex

      Seeing this demo makes me wonder, what if 9 years ago 1C had decided to stick with CloD and invest in the engine instead of starting from scratch with a brand new one from NeoQB (which later was bought and absorbed in 1C).

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
      1. MADOV Avatar
        MADOV

        Interesting thought that Alex. Could be that the tremendous backlash against Oleg and his team and more so Ubisoft who were the original publisher of CloD, it was orginally going to be called Storm of War : Battle of Britain for some reason, had totally mudied the waters around the whole project and it was simply left to rot by them. Oleg quickly walked away as he had been stabbed in the back as he saw it and so the genius behind it was gone. As for Ilya Schevchenko, well the less said about htim the better. I think it was 2017 when IC took control from Ubisoft of the whole mess, some called it software, though Team Fusion had already rescued the sim/game on behalf of the user/enthusiast. IC just didn’t want to continue with the descredited engine from Maddox Games.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Novice-Flyer Avatar
        Novice-Flyer

        Interesting comment. My guess is that the devs believed that they would get more return on investment for BoS and RoF if they stuck with the RoF engine. If they decided to go with the CloD engine, they would probably have to end Rise of Flight.
        Overall, the game engine for BoS/IL-2 GBs is based on a WW1 engine, and therefore, things like bombsights, radio comms/commands, parachutes, and droppable fuel tanks just weren’t there.

        The engine for Cliffs of Dover was based on the engine for IL-2 1946, and thus, many things were added/improved from it. I mean, the DM in Clod except for crashes seems quite realistic as there are things that are not in BoX like, a detailed list of systems or things are damaged, fluttering when flaps are damaged by a pneumatic failure, etc.

        I only wish that the devs would have been able to implement bombsights, radio comms/commands and some other things into BoS as in IL-2 1946 and CloD they seem better than in GBs.

        Cheers

        Liked by 1 person

      3. MADOV Avatar
        MADOV

        I do remember how good the damage model for CloD is, puts both the other two main sims to shame currently. Loved to see the detail inside the Spitfire wings after a 20mm shell had put a hole in it. And of course the cockpits were a sheer marvel, superb dynamic lighting included. Oleg was many years ahead of his time, his developer didn’t appreciate just what they had in him.

        Like

      4. Alex Avatar
        Alex

        I’m not aware of the internal limitations of the CloD engine (vs. RoF in 2011) and whether the decision was mostly based on it’s technical merits.

        But still, seeing this detailed map of London (with objects count surpassing everything we have in IL2 Great Battles a decade later) and how smooth it runs with dozens of aircraft in view, I get the sad feeling that 1C took the wrong turn at that point in time and the potential for a far greater sim than what we have seen so far, was lost…

        Liked by 1 person

      5. ShamrockOneFive Avatar
        ShamrockOneFive

        I’m not sure about object counts for the two sims and if its technical or artistic limitations. For example, Moscow is not flyable on Great Battles because of artistic reasons (i.e. the need to build Moscow). Other cities on the Bodenplatte map are object dense and I have smooth performance flying over them.

        Also remember that this is an older engine with somewhat lower overall graphical fidelity (though the objects are ahead of their time). When Cliffs of Dover came out it was a buggy mess and it stayed there for a very long time until Team Fusion came along to try and resurrect it. Flying over London was not possible without major stuttering in the years after release although it looks pretty good these days!

        Liked by 1 person

  3. Mischiew Rithe Avatar
    Mischiew Rithe

    Very well made, sounds is pretty good too! I remember that in the original IL-2, we could hear the plane cracking slightly under G, I suppose they kept those effects (I don’t know if they’re legit, but it adds to the sensation).

    Such a special victory fly-by occurred on 12 May 1945, though it was mainly organized to impress Zhukov, marshal of the Soviet Union in visit at Hamburg. More than 1000 planes of all sorts paraded in the sky, B-25, Spitfire, Tempest, Typhoon, Mosquito, … Which was very difficult to manage, and even led to a dreadful collision between several Tempest.

    This is described by Pierre Clostermann in his biography, “Le Grand Cirque” (“The Big Show” for the English translation, interestingly). I have only read the original French copy, it renders the WWII pilot’s experience very well, especially the first impressions and the conclusion and after-thoughts, or after-life if you will. In the middle, it’s sometimes more sketchy for some missions, but a great book and a genuine classic!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. ShamrockOneFive Avatar
      ShamrockOneFive

      The version of The Big Show that I own has that chapter included. I believe there was an initial translation that was shorter and then a revised copy came with those chapters added. Great book! I know Closterman’s accounts have sometimes been called ’embellished’ but still a good read.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

Leave a reply to MADOV_VR Cancel reply

Trending