The latest patch for the IL-2: Great Battles Series brings with it a ton of new features with some big highlights including the Spitfire XIV and Nieuport N.28 as well as the new dynamic visual damage system which should change up the way you see damaged vehicles in the sim. There’s over a hundred new features and changes listed in the change log so lets look over the key points.
Finally, the Spitfire XIV
I first became aware of the late model Spitfire XIV when I got into Aces Over Europe by Dynamix in the early 1990’s. The five bladed, bubble canopy variant that they chose to represent was very different from the standard Mark IX that I was more familiar with and thus my great interest in these late war fighters began.
I missed out on the classic European Air War by Microprose so the last time I personally flew the Spitfire XIV in a sim was back with Aces Over Europe. It is also available in War Thunder but I hadn’t managed to grind my way along the tech tree far enough to get it yet when I stopped flying that title. So… at long last we have a Spitfire XIV in a top tier WWII combat flight simulation and this is going to be great!
Enter the N.28!
Nieuport’s N.28 came a little too late for the French Air Force which had committed to the SPAD XIII but the fledgling United States Army Air Service was desperate for competitive aircraft for its pursuit squadrons and so the N.28 became a key type in that service’s history.
The arrival of the N.28 into the sim marks the first aircraft of the Flying Circus Vol 2 title to arrive so this is a momentous occasion. I remember when we got the SPAD XIII for the first time a couple of years ago and I think this is nearly as important a milestone. The key difference of course is that we have a complete Vol 1 set that this aircraft will slide into seamlessly and as Vol 2 evolves we’ll see the air war of WWI grow in both available types and in type diversity. I’m excited!
The GAZ-MM 72-K AA vehicle
We have the series’ first mobile, player controllable, anti-aircraft vehicle in the form of the GAZ-MM. With a 72-K 25mm anti-aircraft gun on the back of the truck, the GAZ is going to make quite the splash on combined arms multiplayer servers. Soon it will also be joined by a German counterpart which I’m sure we’ll see more of soon!
Dynamic vehicle damage
The other big feature arriving is ‘dynamic vehicle damage’ or DVD as the devs have been calling it. This technology places different types of visual damage details right on the spot where the damage was done. Put a 75mm tank round into the side of a Panzer? It’ll show where the damage was done. Pepper the wing of a Bf109? You’ll see all of the impact points.
The technology has the potential to drag the whole system down so the devs have ensured that there’s a hybrid approach with visual damage showing only when you were in range to see it. If you see a damaged aircraft later… it will use the older system. A fair tradeoff for performance.
Other highlights
This patch is also introducing things like the new tactical codes on all of the tanks as well as the P-51D and N.28. Other aircraft will get the tactical codes treatment as time goes on. Bodenplatte map has new railyards added all over the map, there are new graphical effects for munitions and bomb blasts and the Bf109 series has had their tail damage model reworked completely.
For all of the details, check the detailed patch notes. I’m off to fly a Spitfire XIV for the first time in decades!
Stormbirds 
My work day can’t end soon enough! Can’t wait!
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So, once the DH.4 is ready, will we have the entire US Expositionary Force foot to go?
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Pretty much!
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But…but…I have work to do! 😢
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You and me both!
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Since it is complete, the MK XIV should be available as a collectors plane now, not months from now.
I have money, they have a plane, why aren’t we doing business? I don’t get it.
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Perhaps its incentive to buy Normandy. I’m not sure on the business model or the efficacy of it because I can’t see the numbers but I can say that they have never made the Premium aircraft Collectors Planes available prior to full release.
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Yeah, I guess I just don’t see the logic. On one hand Jason posts that he wants us to buy planes, even as gifts for others, to support IL2. Now he has a new plane, specifically designated as a collector plane no less… and I can’t buy it.
But I’m just a worker bee. High finance eludes me. Oh well.
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I see what you mean but I also get that they would much prefer to sell the full Normandy pack right now and then pick up Collector Plane sales later. There’s a cost benefit analysis here (again neither of us are working with the numbers) but one of the cost/benefits is that if you buy Normandy now for $10 shy of full price you get the content much sooner. Or you can buy it later at a discount or individually as is the case with the Collector Planes.
They have to have some sort of incentive and early access is, in this case, a compelling one. Unlike with other early access models from other devs… 1CGS is giving us largely completed aircraft each time one releases which is nice.
Anecdotally, I saw two people login to Combat Box last night, ask if the Spitfire XIV was any good (they were told yes) and then left the server and came back about 10 minutes later having purchased Normandy and happily flying along in their XIV’s. I’m betting sales on early access Normandy are very high right now.
I know you’d like to wait until there’s more content before buying in and that’s a fair and legitimate position too. In this case you cannot have your cake and eat it too.
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Very nice update! Hope someday can have the same DVD for Steel Beasts Pro PE.
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Wow, that Spit is every bit as brutal as I hoped. Been a while since I slipped into full G-LOC in Il2…
I’m in the same boat, Shamrock, I’ve been waiting for this since AoE, and it seems like it’s been worth the wait!
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Have a project to get out today but looking forward to flying it this evening. That we have the C and are wings is really cool. The clipped-wing E to me simply looks like a killer.
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Hope you had a great opportunity to fly it.
I flew it for a couple of hours last night and will have some stories and impressions to share soon!
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Are there any plans for Jason’s interview?
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Working on it.
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I really wish they would overhaul the quick mission builder in the game. Only 8 v 8? We need greater numbers…at least 16 vs 16 like 1946. Did Jason mention whether they were gonna revamp the quick mission builder?
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He mentioned it in the Q&A he did on the forum earlier this month –
“We are re-vamping the QMB to include what we call the Advanced Quick Mission (in development now) which is our previous campaign tech added to the QMB. This will add a lot more options for actual missions in the QMB. All the current stuff will also remain.”
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Thank you!
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