The latest update from the 1C Game Studios team is here for the IL-2 Sturmovik Great Battles Series and it includes a long list of updates. Highlights include new propeller visuals, AI enhancements and the release of the Churchill Mark IV Collector Vehicle for Tank Crew. Let’s have a look!

Here comes the Churchill

The Soviet Union was shipped 105 of the Mark IV version of the Churchill tank (along with 45 Mark II and 151 of the Mark III). These tanks saw service in several significant battles including the Battle of Prokhorovka which is the subject matter of the current edition of Tank Crew.

This new release includes custom skins, a new mortar weapon used by Churchill tanks, and a highly detailed interior and exterior as we’ve come to expect from other Tank Crew tanks. It’ll be interesting to try this tank out and see how it performs “in the field.”

AI, tac codes, prop discs and more

Update 5.002 is also filled with other updates that will have a wide ranging impact on the whole series. Propeller visuals have been enhanced utilizing “physical principles” and careful study of how propeller discs look on video recordings. It’s an interesting update and it looks quite impressive in the images that we’ve seen.

AI updates include tweaks such as limited amount of time that an AI airplane can spend in a negative G maneuver. AI wingmates also now execute commands such as “Attack air targets”, “Attack ground targets” and “Attack air and ground targets” better.

Tactical codes are now available for all aircraft. 1CGS introduced this feature quite some time ago and slowly introduced it to just some of the aircraft in the series. Now, every airplane in the series will be sporting these codes. And there’s more because the feature is now being utilized by the quick mission, advanced quick mission, and pilot career modes.

Three new cargo ships have been added to the sim. They are the Bayfield-class assault transport, the Liberty cargo ship, and the 12,000 ton Design 1013.

Dynamic vehicle damage, the system that places correct sized marks on aircraft and tanks where they have been hit, has now also been added across the entire series. Previously, only a few aircraft and all of the tanks were sporting it.

In addition to these bigger updates there are also improvements to nav light visibility, dozens of adjustments to the Normandy map and its various scenarios, and dozens of other improvements. In a rare move, 1CGS has removed the M8 Greyhound and Morris C9B from the game temporarily as apparently these models were released in an unfinished form. They will be back eventually.

Unique Typhoon update

One interesting update that I just love is the inclusion of a custom pilot image for the Typhoon Mark IB. This is the image that is placed inside of the cockpit which tends to feature a photo of a woman. The update now includes a very special photo for the Typhoon. Here’s how 1CGS tell the story:

After the release of Normandy, a gentleman who saw our trailer on YouTube recognized his father’s Typhoon by its tactical number (!), and wrote about it in the comments. He offered to provide more information and send photos. Of course, we updated the information (it is in the description of the paint scheme ‘Collins’), and we have found an excellent use for one photo. As you know, in our sim you can place a photo in the cockpit of aircraft and tanks – by default it is a woman corresponding to the era and country, but the player can replace it with an image of their own loved ones or even put some notes there. Now the Typhoon by default will have the real photo of the wife and child of the 245th squadron leader Jack Collins, who has been killed in action over Normandy – exactly the photo that he would have placed himself in the cockpit of his aircraft in 1944.

Very cool story and a neat way to inject some very personal history into this sim.

Read the full patch notes here!