A final message from Luthier

[kopperdrake]

Just wanted to tip my hat to you and thank you for the flight sim we do have. It was seeing screen shots and youtube videos of Cliffs of Dover that pulled me in to the flight sim fold - I was blown away.

Thanks to your game, and the community surrounding it, I am hooked, and look forward to anything coming close to the experience you have helped give me with CloD.

Cheers and good luck,

Bunny

[katdogfizzow]

Thanks Ilya for all your hard work. I can imagine how difficult it is to put out such a complex simulation and then have to deal with all the constant negative feedback.

I've enjoyed the heck out of your work. i can't thank you enough: I've flown over a 1000 hours in the skies of the Pacific that you help create. IL2 series is the one of best computer sims/games of all time. A great inspiration for anyone interested in history. I look forward to flying in CloD for some time to come.

One of the greatest things about IL2 was letting the community run with the great work you started by releasing the code. Please continue this tradition and release the code to Clod so the modders can continue the great work that you've started.


Cheers

[janpitor]

I was also flying il2 since beta. I didn´t have a pc that could run it those days, so I flew at my schoolmate's pc only with mouse and keyboard. I enjoyed the whole series and I think it is a pity it came to this solution just in the time the engine started to be more and more polished and hardware friendly.

When I look back to the hundreds of hours in the series, I might try out the 1946 just for the nostalgy. It is a great sim and only COD outperformed it. Unfortunately the sequels will have a hard time.

Thank you and the whole team, with Oleg in the first place, for the best sim ever, and for us, who started the real simming on il2, even the best sim forever.

[mazex]

Dear Ilya!

Like many others here I also remember the day I fired up that IL2 Demo and took off in my 109 with a big grin on my face. I realized right after the take off that this was the best flight simulator I had ever tried after playing most sims that where released since the Spectrum days...

And unlike you I just reaped the fruits of what you and the team later did over the years to produce an amazing series with a staggering number of wonderful flyable aircraft and locations... Thanks a LOT for bringing that joy to the rest of us!

The CloD project really hurts as there is so much potential in this game and just as the gem was starting to shine through more and more the project got axed. The comparison to Falcon 4 is very easy to do... You tried to give us the ultimate simulator with blood, sweat and probably tears but the project finally got so complex it killed your business. So sad.

I hope that CloD one day will be remembered the same way as F4 - a monumental simulator at least 10 years ahead of it's time. It's just sad that you could not get the confidence from 1C to continue the project. As much as I like RoF and hope that they succeed it's simply just one of the best sims out there. It does not have that F4 buggy "wow" feeling around it like CloD...

As a fellow manager in the IT business that have gone through a lot of insane projects myself I also realize all the sleepless nights and mornings waking up with emails in the phone about new problems that everyone thought where solved the late evening before... And investors and other managers chasing you every week with demands for progress reports and budget cuts etc.

Good luck in the future - and I sincerely hope that you will continue in the gaming industry doing what we love most. Flight simulators!

/mazex (beeing a nerd I realized my post count is 1337 - a good number to stop at and sign out with you )

[jamesdietz]

You did good- real good!

[chn6]

Salute to all people to dream and desperate, OLEG and ILYA, you are our hero forever!
This moment, was unable to control my tears ..

向所有为了梦想而不顾一切的人们致� � , OLEG和ILYA, 你们是我们永远的英雄!
这一刻, 我的泪水无法克制..

Freycinet said

Good riddance to you small small people, I pity those around you.

But not as much as they pity you, perhaps?

(a farewell thread, and you still have to take over-exposed kiddy snapshots from atop your moral tripod eh?)

[easytarget3]

Thank you Luthier and your team, for your great vision, your high expectation which show us so much new and incredible stuff which can be put in simulator.You were like a scientists who experiment with new things and not to limit yourself with business and money. Unfortunately for sims which is tiny market we are living in world ruled by money and thats what make our dreams often limited. Good luck with your future project and please stay passionate and bolder and dont compromise from your dreams too much, because even things get screwed you show the future and goals which can be achieved. Well its sound cheesy but i hope you get my point. I go and fly COD to thank you for your afford.

ps:will you be involved in BOS?

[Avimimus]

A little late - But I remember you answering my questions back in 2000! As a forum member!
I remember Il2 Centre and your trip to Moscow! I remember your reaction to the horrible events of 9/11. Many of us went through all of it to (albeit at a distance)!

We remember.

Thank you for all of your contributions over the years. I hope your experiences have not soured your love of sims in any way and that you'll continue to enjoy the remnants.

Thank you,

[BH_woodstock]

~S~ Luthier

thank you for all the years and the fruits of your labor.please keep us posted on your next project.you have many friends and people who know your work. i salute you sir and dont forget about us.we will not forget you.