IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover

[CeeKay]

IL-2 Returns, this time it's the Battle of Britain that takes center stage.

[edit] Game info;  it's also due out at the end of March.

[Greg Wak]

It must be just about done but I can't find system specs anywhere.

[Isgrimnur]

Exciting Single-Player Campaign – The campaign thrusts the player into the middle of the battle. The player will join the British Air Force to fight the German forces and renegade pilots on his own side.

  

[kronovan]

Available for preorder on Steam now for @ $49.99. For those who missed the U-boat sim Silent Hunter 3, you get it free when you preorder. I'm currently playing SH 3 and can't praise it enough. Not a bad little perk for a game that should continue the excellent IL-2 pedigree.

[CeeKay]

It must be just about done but I can't find system specs anywhere.

here you go:

      Minimum:
          o OS: Windows® 7 / Vista SP2 / Windows XP SP3
          o Processor: Pentium® Dual-Core 2.0GHz or Athlon™ X2 3800+
          o Memory: 2GB
          o Graphics: DirectX® 9.0c compliant, 512MB Video Card (See supported List*)
          o DirectX®: DirectX® 9.0c
          o Hard Drive: 10GB
          o Sound: DirectX® 9.0c compatible
          o Peripherals: Mouse, keyboard
          o Multiplay: Broadband connection with 128 kbps upstream or faster

      *SUPPORTED VIDEO CARDS AT TIME OF RELEASE:
      ATI®: 5830/5850/5770/5870/6870/6950/6970
      NVidia®: 250/260/275/285/460/465/470/480

      Recommended:
          o OS: Windows® 7 / Vista SP2 / Windows XP SP3
          o Processor: Intel Core i5 2.66GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 2.6GHz
          o Memory: 4GB
          o Graphics: DirectX® 10 compliant, 1GB Video Card (See supported List*)
          o DirectX®: DirectX® 10
          o Hard Drive: 10GB
          o Sound: DirectX® 9.0c compatible
          o Peripherals: Joystick with throttle and rudder control
          o Multiplay: Broadband connection with 128 kbps upstream or faster

      *SUPPORTED VIDEO CARDS AT TIME OF RELEASE:
      ATI®: 5830/5850/5770/5870/6870/6950/6970
      NVidia®: 250/260/275/285/460/465/470/480

[CeeKay]

new dev diary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sh-SJ3IkBfI&feature=player_embedded

[kratz]

First review: http://www.gamespot.com/pc/sim/il-2-sturmovik-cliffs-of-dover/review.html?tag=summary%3Bread-review

4.0. Sounds seriously broken.  Suck.

[kronovan]

I expected it would need a significant patch when it released. A shame since IL-2 Birds of Prey was very solid for visuals and performance, but that was another dev (Gaijin) studio. It makes me wish they allowed airfield take offs and landings in BoP - it's really the only thing missing.

[kratz]

I was surprised since they were building off of the Il-2 engine - I figured they would just be continuing to enhance things that had been enhanced over the last 10 years anyway.  Really bummed, as I thought this would finally be someone doing justice to the part of the air war I've always been the most interested in.

[kronovan]

I did feel Empire Interactive's Battle of Britain did justice to that theater, but it released over 10 years ago. Although The Battle of Britain is featured in BoP, it's brief and by far the weakest part of that game.

[kratz]

Birds of Prey was really pretty light on the sim...

Empire's BoB game was enormously disappointing... horrible view system, meh performance... they released an updated version of that at some point, didn't they? BoB2 or something?  Someone got the game and updated a bunch of stuff... hrm... I might own that... I should try it w/ TrackIR and my beefy system...

[El-Producto]

After buying DCS A-10, and giving up within 15min. when I came to the realization that I no longer have time/patience to learn deep sims.  I finally fired up my copy of Wings of Prey that I bought on the Steam Sale and I'm having a really good time.. canned missions and all.

[kronovan]

Birds of Prey was really pretty light on the sim...

It depends; did you try playing it on the "Realistic" setting? My god the game was near impossible at that difficulty. IL-2 1946 with all the sliders maxed certainly wasn't nearly as challenging.

Empire's BoB game was enormously disappointing... horrible view system, meh performance... they released an updated version of that at some point, didn't they?

They patched BoB which helpled and then fans made an additional patch a few years after release that really helped. What I like is that they used the excellent dynamic campaign engine from Mig Alley. Another company released BoB 2, but IIRC it was too broken to bother with.

[kronovan]

After buying DCS A-10, and giving up within 15min. when I came to the realization that I no longer have time/patience to learn deep sims.  I finally fired up my copy of Wings of Prey that I bought on the Steam Sale and I'm having a really good time.. canned missions and all.

Yup, that's the best thing about the game - it's just a heckuva lot of fun to play despite the canned missions and absense of takeoffs and landings. I really liked the narrative story despite the voice actors horrible attempt at a Yank. I fell in love with the Italian campaign missions flying my Hurricane and Spitfire. I've revisited it many times since finishing it, just to work through the single missions.

[Daehawk]

I wanted the below game on this subject for years before I had a computer. By the time I got one the game was too old and gone. I still want it though hehe. Always heard it was a good game to boot.
 

[CeeKay]

First review: http://www.gamespot.com/pc/sim/il-2-sturmovik-cliffs-of-dover/review.html?tag=summary%3Bread-review

4.0. Sounds seriously broken.  Suck.

I wonder if they'll ever fix it.

[kronovan]

I'm betting they'll fix it with a sizable patch. It's not the 1st time a flightsim has been released in this state. From the reviews I've read the problems are mostly FPS performance and gui, so it sounds repairable. The gamespot report about the RAF campaign suddenly halting sounds like a bigger issue, but I have to admit that since good'ol Denny Akin left gamespot years ago I really haven't trusted their opinion on flight games.

[The Rocketman]

Is this the long-awaited new game from Maddox, or is it just a quick spin-of from the Il2-series?

[kronovan]

The long awaited game with a completely new game engine.