Oh, OK. Well in that case, I definitely would look in your Documents folder -> 1C SoftClub -> il-2 sturmovik cliffs of dover and in there you can clear your cache folder.

The next step I would take is then to rename your confUser.ini to confUser.old (if you can't see extensions, on any explorer window -> Organize -> Folder and search options -> View -> uncheck Hide extensions for known file types) and when you launch the game it will rebuild a fresh one.

It will take a little longer on the first load up, it's just rebuilding the cache.

I hope something in there solves your issue, those planes aren't going to shoot themselves down!

I have tried just about everything I can think of, plus all of the suggestions. Nothing has solved the problem. I still can't believe I could go from everything working just fine, to not being able to start the engine, just by finishing one mission, and starting another.

Should I re-install, and how do you do that? Will I lose all of my missions, skins, settings, etc?

Thanks,

binky9

Hmm... Well if you did a steam verify, I don't see a re-install solving anything. Not that it would hurt to try, but try just one more thing first.

Backup your entire 1C SoftClub folder inside of your Documents folder, and then just delete the whole folder (or you can just cut that folder and paste it somewhere safe). You won't have any of your custom missions but we're just trying to test for now. On game start up you'll have to redo your graphics settings, but leave controls at default for now; 'I' is start engine default. You'll also have to probably re-enable all the realism settings such as CEM. Then choose a mission you can take off from, I usually choose 'Cross-Country' under 'Quick Missions' and just choose any plane you want.

See if you can get that engine turning over!

Also, to remove games on steam, just right click on the game in your Library view -> Delete Local Content

Al,

Thanks for coming back. I was afraid I was suddenly on my own.

I followed your instructions, without any success, I'm afraid. I saved a copy of the 1C Softclub file to my desktop, and deleted the original. When I started CoD, and checked the control settings, I saw that they had not gone back to the defaults. Joystick, throttle, gear, flaps, etc were the same as before. Since "I" still doesn't do anything, I'm suspicious. It looks like the new 1C softclub file is the same as before.

What do you think?

binky9

Don't worry, I'll help you get through this! But that is really strange. There are only two things that come to mind, is possibly the .ini files in your il-2 game directory have been modified (I'm pretty sure it creates the fresh .ini's from these) or it could possibly be the steam cloud is using old files.

Go into your 1C SoftClub folder and remove the 4 .ini files in there, then if you go to your il-2 game directory; default will most likely be 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\il-2 sturmovik cliffs of dover' and delete the 4 .ini files there.

After that, If you go to your steam library view and right click on il-2 -> properties -> Updates -> Uncheck 'Enable steam cloud' (just for now) then -> Local Files -> Verify Integrity of game cache.

Hopefully that gets your settings back to default, and then we can go from there!

Al,

It looks like I am back to the default control settings. One thing, in the aircraft settings, there is now a toggle all engines option to which "I" is assigned. This is just above the the magneto options and separate from the toggle and select engine options further down the list. Hitting "I" starts the engine. So, progress.

I have been trying to recall the actual events prior to this problem showing up. One thing I remembered was that I had downloaded the latest Nvidia driver. I then chose one of the BoF missions (I think) flying a Hurricane, took off, and hit F2, to see from outside. Instead, I was suddenly looking at an ME-110 from behind and noticed having approx. 80-85 FPS!. This was one of the ME-110's I was supposed to intercept. As soon as I hit F1, I was back in the Hurricane with the normal 40-55 FPS. and F2 wouldn't take me back to the ME-110.

The next mission I flew is when the problem started. I don't remember which mission it was, though.

Maybe none of that is relevant, but that was when things fell apart.

It looks to me as if I can now re-set all of the aircraft options, and maybe be back in business. What do you think?

Thanks again,

binky9

Awesome, I'm glad you finally got those engines turning over!

I remember that you can view enemy aircraft with some of the F# keys, as one day I did the same thing, hitting F4 I think and I was looking at the ME109 I was hunting down :).

So that sounds normal. I'm not sure about not being able to go back to viewing them, I know from doing other missions hitting the same key wouldn't let me view the enemy planes so it may have some situations where it doesn't allow you to see them. The FPS difference may have something with the way the current engine deals with AI driven vehicles and player driven, I don't think there's anything to worry about there.

I think you should be able to re-enable steam cloud, although it's not required of course. You can also put your original mission, missions, PaintSchemes, records and screenshots folders back into your 1C SoftClub folder (If it asks to overwrite the folder hit yes, but if it asks to overwrite over any files, hit no, as those files you have are just as new if not newer. I wouldn't copy over anything else from the original folder).

I'm glad to have been of help, Let me know if you're still having any issues!

Edit: Also, once you get all your custom controls setup the way you would like, I would hit "Save controls" on the bottom right and save that .ini somewhere you'll remember; keeping it in the 1C SoftClub folder is fine as long as you remember not to delete it by accident :). That way if anything ever happens you can always just instantly get your controls back the way you like them. I've actually had my controls reset on me for no reason and since then I always have a spare .ini ready.

I just to publicly thank Al Capwn for helping me solve the problem I was having with engine starting.

This is the kind of support everyone should have, and it shows just how valuable these flight sim forums can be.

binky9

conf
 

Hi Binky9,

Glad to hear you repaired your installation. Just in case anyone else has a similar problem. Could you confirm it was deleting the ini files in the 1C Soft Club directory and the ini files in the Steam directory that did the trick?

Yes, that is what solved my problem.

I left you off the "Thank you's". So, belated it may, but thanks for making some suggested fixes.

Binky9