This week we’ve got a new IL-2 Sturmovik: Great Battles developer diary update and it’s packed with some new screenshots of the Ar234’s cockpit as well as some brilliant new images of IL-2’s new upgraded clouds and some nice new Ju52 4K skins which are now already in the sim.
Arado cockpit
First up, the Arado Ar 234’s cockpit gets a first look. This untextured version appears to be nearly complete from a 3D modeling perspective. Keen eyes have spotted the Lotfe 7K bombsight which was apparently quite advanced for the time. Notable pieces that are missing are the periscope and Stuvi dive-bomb sight and at this point we’re not sure if those will be included.
The Stuvi would be one that I’d like to see as it was optionally fitted to some other Luftwaffe aircraft that we have including the Ju88 and Ju87. One can dream!
Meanwhile the rest of the details in the cockpit look impressive and the Arado jet bomber has one of the more unique cockpits in a WWII era aircraft with impressive vision and visibility in most directions – except back.
New clouds make progress
I love the work that’s being done with the new IL-2 cloud system. More localized weather, more varied cloudscapes, and impressive ray marching technology that give them a very realistic appearance. It’s the same technology we’ve seen from DCS and MSFS and it’s transformative for flight sims that have used it.
The update from 1CGS says that the clouds are progressing well and are not quite ready for beta testing but are getting closer. And of course as that progresses into the beta testing stage that then means that we’re on a track towards release.
Tante Ju gets 4K skins
Martin =ICDP= Catney has lent his impressive skin creation talents to another IL-2 aircraft – the Ju52/3m. Now featuring 4K quality skins, this update is already in the sim thanks to a hotfix for update 4.605 that came out yesterday correcting some minor bugs and adding these 4K skins to the mix.
Nice!
Stormbirds 
The new Ar234 cockpit looks exciting. As do those new clouds.
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