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Il-2 Birds of Prey 360 demo tomorrow

Z

Zenith

Banned
"The IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds Of Prey demo will give players a taste of two of the game's memorable conflict scenarios, The Battle of Britain and The Battle of the Bulge," says the blurb.

"Based around large-scale aerial combat over the ground-based military operations of World War II, variety is at the heart of the action in IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey. Players participate in the most famous confrontations of the era piloting fighters, battle planes or heavy bombers across a range of missions."

It'll be out on 360, PS3, DS and PSP on September 4.
Click to expand...

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=220254

e3-2009-il-2-sturmovik-brids-of-prey-screens-20090602045051401_640w.jpg

e3-2009-il-2-sturmovik-brids-of-prey-screens-20090602045105010_640w.jpg

il-2-sturmovik-birds-of-prey-20090501113857031_640w.jpg

e3-2009-il-2-sturmovik-brids-of-prey-screens-20090602045101276_640w.jpg


http://www.gametrailers.com/game/il-2-sturmovik-birds-of-prey/9548

I hope they get the balance for the vaunted arcade mode right. Turning on infinite fule + ammo and removing stalls and blackouts will NOT make a sim play like an action game.
 
B

Bernbaum

Member
Awesome. Didn't know a demo was in the works or that it would be out so soon.

I'm surprised this isn't getting a PC release, given that it's a sim and all.
 
P

pubba

Member
Where did this game come from?

I loved Blazing Skies 1 and 2 and will go preorder this game tomorrow morning.

Thanks for the heads up :D and that joystick ^ looks awesome
 
G

Gowans

Member
I still think I'm the only one excited for this. Online in il2 on pc was amazing, bout time we get a proper sim on consoles.

Can't wait.
 
S

spwolf

Member
Gowans007 said:
I still think I'm the only one excited for this. Online in il2 on pc was amazing, bout time we get a proper sim on consoles.

Can't wait.
Click to expand...

yep, i would love the demo, hopefully they will have one for PS3...
 
B

Beer Monkey

Member
Eurogamer preview.

As a firm fan of the original realism-rich PC series, I went along expecting to be unimpressed. I feared I'd find my dear old friend, pale, withered, unrecognisable. I really should have had more faith. Yes, detail and depth has definitely been shed in the shift to PS3 and Xbox 360, but enough has survived to ensure Birds of Prey won't be lumped in with the likes of Blazing Angels and Secret Weapons Over Normandy when the history of console flight games comes to be written.

In some areas the youngster actually manages to be more realistic than its parent. The six tracts of European territory that provide the backdrops for the single and multiplayer action are staggeringly handsome - far more convincing than anything you'll find in the PC version. Kent's higgledy-piggledy fields and hedgerows, the Ardennes' snow-softened valleys and pine forests, and Berlin's breathtaking sea of rooftops and spires... PC simmers would kill to gaze down at such vistas.

Apparently, some poor soul at Gaijin has spent the last two years locked in a room turning contemporary satellite imagery and digital elevation data into gorgeous in-game terrain. Every trace of modernity has been painstakingly removed, millions of separate trees and buildings added. The results impress even at the lowest altitudes. Considering the amount of detail, it's astonishing just how far apart the horizons are. None of the arenas are smaller than 60km by 60km. That scourge of lite flight fare, the "You are leaving the mission area! Turn back!" message, shouldn't be a problem in Birds of Prey.
Click to expand...

Other pleasant surprises include the view selection. Virtual cockpits are not only present, they are sculpted and skinned to an improbably high standard. None of your half-hearted HAWX panels here. If you choose to max-out the various realism settings you're going to be seeing a lot of these excellent interiors too. At its most uncompromising, Birds of Prey will prevent you from using any external cameras. It will disable the handy radar display, refuse to tell you which aircraft in view are friends and which are foe (get closer to distinguish them) or step in when your plane starts stalling or spinning. Only the acest aces will survive. Just about the only pulled punches are red-outs and black-outs. Even in 'simulation' mode you can pull as many Gs as you like and your vision will remain mountain-lake-clear.
Click to expand...
 
S

Sew

Member
Shit! Yes! I had no idea this was coming. BF1943 and now this, I've died and gone to dogfighting heaven.
 
G

Gowans

Member
The online community for IL2 was the best and most inclusive I've ever experienced.

I really hope the same pops up on the consoles.
 
B

Beer Monkey

Member
ult555 said:
Will be an arcade flight game T_T
Original IL-2 is the best flight sim ever
Click to expand...

It has arcade and sim settings. Of course the sim isn't going to be as detailed as a PC sim, but it sounds miles more realistic than the typical console flight game. Purists can stick to the PC.
 
L

Llyranor

Member
beermonkey@tehbias said:
It has arcade and sim settings. Of course the sim isn't going to be as detailed as a PC sim, but it sounds miles more realistic than the typical console flight game. Purists can stick to the PC.
Click to expand...
Flight models are exactly the same the PC version in sim mode.

There are 3 different flight modes. Sim, arcade, and in-between (forgot name).
 
V

Vilix

Unconfirmed Member
The graphics look great. It's the gameplay I'm concerned about. We shall see with the demo.
 
Z

Zenith

Banned
Shawsie64 said:
Im dev its not :(
Click to expand...

you're a dev? I really wanted this on PC. People bemoan how few flight sims there are, but do you know what the PC sees even less of? Action flight sims. Every flight sim I feel like I'm fighting the game to eek out some fun.

plus current-gen graphics are worth it.
 
L

Llyranor

Member
Yeah, no PC version.

I'm actually really looking forward to this. I just want to get in the game and get into action, but retaining all the flight sim elements of the PC versions (red/blackouts, stalling, adjusting all the flaps and whatever, realistic damage and flight model, etc), but without having to flight around for 5-10 min before anything actually happens.
 
-Amon-

-Amon-

Member
Been playing lots of il2 on pc in the past, great sim, great historic period, great planes.

Really hope they've done a good work on the console game, i'd really like some couch sim :)
 
B

Beer Monkey

Member
I put some console flight stick info together for those who may be interested.

ACE-EDGE HOTAS (360 and unofficial PC support)
- A clone of Saitek X45 but with some stuff deactivated or dummied up.
- Rudder is rocker underneath the throttle handle.
- On a PC, unusable with the standard Microsoft 360 drivers as the rudder and throttle get assigned a single shared axis. Works well with XBCD 360 drivers (six axes, 10 buttons, and 8-way hat).
- One button on the throttle is just a dummy. There are a couple of 4-way hat switches on the throttle. One of them acts as a button and not a hat, no matter which way you push it, it activates the same "button". The other simply clones the hat on the stick and isn't uniquely addressable. There is a 3-way switch that only affects the voice chat settings and isn't usable for anything else, not even on the PC.
- Trim knobs are probably not functional at all. They twist but they aren't recognized by the XBCD 360 drivers or any 360 game. I haven't disassembled it to be 100% certain they cannot function.

Saitek AV8R PS41 (360 and PC support)
- I have not used it. I do not know the number of axes and buttons but I don't think it exceeds the ACE-EDGE.
- Twist rudder.
- Seems 100% compatible with Ace-Edge when used on 360. Ace Combat and HAWX recognize it.
- Throttle at FRONT of stick base (towards your TV). Awkward position.
- Saitek has real PC drivers, should not have to monkey around with XBCD drivers.

Saitek AV8R PS40U (PS3 and PC support)
- Seems same as PS41 but for PS3

T-Flight HOTAS (PS3 and PC support)
- I have not used it.
- Rudder is rocker AND twist. Twist can be locked down. On PC you can use these as two distinct axes.
- EVERY button/axis can be remapped on the controller itself. This theoretically allows it to be used with any PS3 game. People have reported remapping it to work with Blazing Angels games even though the games don't recognize it.
 
B

Beer Monkey

Member
Per their twitter, PS3 demo news is coming:

http://twitter.com/IL2BirdsOfPrey

Other news there:
No replay mode
Plane DLC is confirmed
"Play on Realistic and you get the full damage model and proper physics without quite the Sim-level instability."
Preorder from GAME get two DLC planes (FYI, Gamestop preorder = T-shirt)
 
A

Afrikan

Member
OMG just watched some youtube clips....WHERE DID THIS GAME COME FROM?...who are the developers?

game looks great.....oh man I'm excited....brings back old Chuck Yeager memories on the o'l DOS.

god I hope we are going to get a demo too on the PSN this thrusday.
 
D

Danne-Danger

Member
beermonkey@tehbias said:
"Play on Realistic and you get the full damage model and proper physics without quite the Sim-level instability."
Click to expand...
Good enough for me.

*Also, I hope you can set altitude, time of day and weather for missions. Dogfights at 00:00 at 10 000 meters with a thunderstorm raging below, yum.
 
B

bj00rn_

Banned
One of the nicest gaming surprises lately. I honestly didn't see this coming. And add to all that I'm a huge flight sim nut..
 
D

Daigoro

Member
wow. the in game demo vid is sick looking.

ive really been in the WWII mood lately too. i hope i like the demo, because this looks awesome.
 
A

Asmodai

Banned
Hell. Yeah.

This will (hopefully) be the first high quality combat flight simulator I've played since the original IL-2.

Which will make it the third good flight sim I've played. The first being Aces of the Pacific for MS-DOS :lol

Wouldn't it be awesome if this game made the flight sim genre popular on consoles, and we could say good riddance to the arcadey, dumbed down bullshit of games like Ace Combat and HAWX forever?

The worst thing about PC games other than Blizzard titles dying out is that the great flight sims are dying out too. Even Microsoft's Flight Sim team were all let go recently. If it wasn't for this game, I would assume the genre was dead. If this game doesn't revive it, I don't know where the genre can go.
 
S

Sew

Member
Hootie said:
Besides SWON for PS2, the last sim-type WWII airplane game I've played (and still do!) is Jane's WWII Fighters which came out 11 years ago. Man I love that game.
Click to expand...
My first WWII flight sim was Lucasarts Battle of Britain: Their Finest Hour. It's still my favourite game of the era, and I've been chasing that high ever since.

I am very happy today. :D
 
A

Asmodai

Banned
SuperÑ said:
I hope it is good. Has anybody tried this Saitek joystick yet?

saitek_aviator_360_g.jpg
Click to expand...

That looks like the Saitek Aviator, they sell it at Futureshop and Best Buy (same company actually, but it's usually called Futureshop in Canada), for 50 bucks CAD.

I'm going to buy it for this game, I'll let you guys know what I think of it. I've owned a few PC flight joysticks in my time, some of them rather elaborate, so I'll see how it stacks up compared to them.
 
S

Shawsie64

Banned
Oh man, im a real sim nut on the PC but im really tempted to get this on PS3 =/ looks pretty breathtaking and those previews noting the sim elements are swaying me to the buy side :D
 
A

Asmodai

Banned
Shawsie64 said:
Oh man, im a real sim nut on the PC but im really tempted to get this on PS3 =/ looks pretty breathtaking and those previews noting the sim elements are swaying me to the buy side :D
Click to expand...

I don't think the aircraft damage has ever been done this extensively, I'm curious to see just how far it goes.

If somebody shoots out the hydraulics to one wing, will you not be able to control it, or have to use manual? That would be so awesome. And if your horizontal stabilizer gets shot up a ton, will it affect performance? I think I heard that it would, not sure where though.

bistromathics said:
is birds of prey console exclusive? or will i be able to use the PC flight stick i just got?
Click to expand...

PS3 and 360 only, I believe.
 
Z

Zenith

Banned
Hootie said:
Here's three gameplay videos:

http://www.gamekult.com/video/9070005/
http://www.gamekult.com/video/9070006/
http://www.gamekult.com/video/9070007/

Lookin' good. Will download. :D

Besides SWON for PS2, the last sim-type WWII airplane game I've played (and still do!) is Jane's WWII Fighters which came out 11 years ago. Man I love that game.
Click to expand...

nice terrain. However they really need to learn from console fliers about HUDs. Sticking the 3 readouts up in the corner in what looks like a debug output. The same aliased little red text from Il2 PC hovering above every enemy plane with name and distance? Have a pie wedge or pipper hovering over your selected target, and small red quarter circles around all other enemy targets.

sqp08g.jpg


Slightly altered markers if a bomber is targeted. Stick distance readout somewhere else. That's all you need.
 
A

Asmodai

Banned
Zenith said:
nice terrain. However they really need to learn from console fliers about HUDs. Sticking the 3 readouts up in the corner in what looks like a debug output. The same aliased little red text hovering above every enemy plane with name and distance? Have a pie wedge or pipper hovering over your selected target, and small red quarter circles around all other enemy targets.

sqp08g.jpg


Slightly altered markers if a bomber is targeted. Stick distance readout somewhere else. That's all you need.
Click to expand...

Play simulation mode and you don't need to worry about the HUD. That's my approach, at least. :D

Of course, I can't stand any console flier ever made, so it might just be my bias there.
 
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