Ok so whats next?

[ElAurens]

[Luno13]

Other requests:

Apparently, the SBD had a slip indicator which was visible when looking through the sight.

Also, not all tube sights were "telescopic" as they are represented in the game. They are used to project a cross-hairs on a target without parallax problems associated with iron sights. The pilot can keep both eyes open, tracking a maneuvering target with one eye, and using the other to determine his aim point. In game, the use of these sights restricts view, making tracking difficult.

I would suggest that Shift+F1 moves the view much closer to the sight, allowing the player to see both the cross-hairs and objects in his periphery.

Aircraft changes (I don't claim to be an expert, but I've seen other members/sources bring some of these up):

- Zero roll rate: apparently roll rate suffered at higher speeds due to wing-flex caused by the large ailerons and wing structure. It seems in Il-2 that this loss occurs too late.

- Ki-61 has wrong interior color, and should be a khaki/green. It also lacks fire-extinguisher for fuel tanks (maybe engine?).

- Rufe has wrong interior color. Should be blue-coated silver.

- Ki-27 and other Army aircraft had a dark blue-grey interior.

- Exterior color for Japanese aircraft wasn't pale-grey/off-white as in game. Instead it looked Taupe or grey-green, and was surprisingly dark (ex. Ki-27, Ki-21, undersides for most aircraft). It faded and became chalky in sunlight, but was tough and didn't often chip. Dark green, if applied over this, didn't chip (ex. some Zeros). If the green was applied directly on aluminum, it would chip easily (ex. Ki-43, Ki-84, N1K). The natural-metal undersides would have dulled quickly and can appear like light-grey in B/W photos.

Here are a couple models (not my own) illustrating this:

Conventional view:


Revised:





-LaGGs, Yaks, MiGs, Il-2s, etc. should have light grey interior surfaces.

- Il-2s from 1941-1943 should have dark-green and black camouflage(dark-green and brown is not correct). From 1943-45, dark green, dark grey, and Earth brown. It's possible that some late Il-2s had Earth brown replaced with dark blue-grey present on fighters.

an example of early scheme:



Late scheme:



Another late scheme (it's unknown how many were painted like this):



Rare color photos:





- The same dark-green and black applies to LaGGs, Yaks, etc. The green on in-game LaGGs is too bright, and the black looks like dark grey. The later war scheme of two-tone grey over blue was sometimes applied in a "splinter" fashion, but research indicates that "wavy" and "splinter" probably didn't coexist on the same airframe as we have in La-7s, etc (compare fuselage to wings).

Wavy/serpentine:



Splinter:










- The Hurricane series could use upgraded skins. It would be nice if desert examples had sand filters. A Hurri Mk.IV for use in late-war scenarios would be nice, and so would a Mk.II D (anti-tank guns).

[Luno13]

I finally had the chance to play a bit today. First of all, great work DT! As always, I can't wait to see what magic you guys will work for the next patch(es)....

Anyway a couple more requests/ideas:

- Please do away with or revise the 20mm hit induced spins. These only seem to occur with early German 20mm and guns in the Zero, etc. Hits to the wing will cause the plane to flip over suddenly. I always panic because I think I've lost a wing... It takes a lot of force to flip a large aircraft. I doubt a these rounds could do it (and meanwhile even 30+mm have no such effect).

Sorry if this sounds bitter, but it happened several times today, and it has me frazzled

- It's interesting that the Mk101/Mk103 guns sound like "tak-tak-tak" while the Mk108 sounds like "BOOM-BOOM-BOOM". If I'm not mistaken, the Mk101/103 have a cartridge that's twice the size of that of the Mk108. Maybe the sounds should be reversed?

- I've mentioned it a few times, but custom HUD messages would be nice.

- Tracer visibility over long distances. I haven't seen guns fired from miles away, but I imagine the tracers would be faint at best. Night-time is a different story.

- Related to night-time: Blue-flames on exhaust. This doesn't have to be tied to engine settings such as in CloD, but it would enhance night operations (and give some advantage to those with exhaust shrouds). Shrouds would have to be made as options for some existing aircraft (maybe tied to skin file like mirrors and bumps on the Hs-129, etc).

- Mentioned a few times, but it would be nice to see bomb-bay door functions (some planes had spring-loaded doors and the weight of the bomb pushed them out). Jamming or damage could occur if the max-speed for open doors is exceeded.

[Fighterace]

Early P-38s or the Me-410 series would be cool...

[IceFire]

Luno13: Some great information in there. I've been doing some similar research for RAF aircraft which is much easier to do as the hard work has been done and it's just a matter of gathering references when needed. Hopefully to have more accurate markings in the future.

May be a good idea to gather up as much research as possible and maybe, if TD agrees, to work with some skin artist(s) to put together some sort of package that TD could use in future patches.

[Kittle]

I was surprised at the color in the new Lagg skins, the Lagg-3 s66 has that blue tone in the default skin now. I think it looks amazing, and being historically accurate is a must for default skins (IMHO). I would certainly love to see the other Soviet birds done in a similar fashion. That tan, brown, almost sand colored IL2 is a beauty as well. Seems like she would be right at home in the Med. One thing I forget and must remind myself of constantly, is that the old USSR had such a vast diversity of terrain types. Skins that I see and go, "no way any where in Russia would that not stand out!" After some research, I always prove myself wrong, which is good, tis how we learn and all.

[Lagarto]

AI escorts should be somehow tied down to the bombers/reconnaissance aircraft they're supposed to protect. As it is now, they all leave their charges high and dry to engage whatever passes by. It would be great to see them chase off any threat and resume their position. Or perhaps one flight could engage and the other remain with the bombers/reconnaissance aircraft. That's how it worked in real life.
Also, some AI fighters - notoriously I-16s - fire unrealistically long bursts, especially when engaging bombers. They actually hose them with bullets! In real life they would have ruined the rifling of their gun barrels.

[Luno13]

Thanks Icefire.

I'll have to start looking for some real references. The stuff I posted is just secondary. Those guys who made the 3-views and models, etc. have studied real paint-chips and factory directives.

I like to build models, so I do sometimes pay attention to that kind of stuff.

I bring this up because I have absolutely no skill at painting skins. The most work I've done is to cut up other artists' works or alter the colors with curves in GIMP.

As you've already noticed, DT have been upgrading many skins and altered the code to allow for many options that vary based on map, date, etc. Since it's impossible to change the skin of AI for DGEN missions, etc, it would be great if a talented artist could continue the work on the defaults (Remember the sickly green of pre 4.09 Ju-87s et al.? Now the RLM 70/71/65 actually looks right.)

[ElAurens]

The so called "splinter" paint scheme was done a long time ago, I can't remember who the skinner was.

The real thing was designed by the NKAP.

[CzechTexan]

Luno13 mentioned fixing the tube sight and I think he has a good idea. I love flying the older planes that have it but i HATE using that sight. Can something be done to change how it works?