How I Single-Handedly Lost the Pacific War
The big new game release that I had to direct order because local stores don't bother with PC games anymore was IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946. If the name is a little bit unwieldy, it is only because the game itself is pretty much a poster child for "Hardcore Gaming."

The IL-2 Sturmovik series (of which this latest edition is something of a "platinum pack") has been THE game for people who want to experience every nuance of being in the cockpit of a World War II military aircraft, short of feeling real G-forces or real bullets. Of Russian design, this game models over 300 aircraft with painstaking accuracy, including 229 player-flyable aircraft. With only a handful of exceptions (mainly because certain companies have decided that millions in taxpayer money wasn't enough - they want licensing fees for representation of 60-year-old aircraft), if it was a combat aircraft in World War II, it's in the game, and you can probably fly it.

Or try to.

Now, that's not necessarily 229 totally unique aircraft that you can fly. There's somewhere around 75 unique aircraft, plus tons of variants. Now, a variant might not seem like a big deal. But to WWII aviation enthusiasts (or an IL-2 Sturmovik player), there's a HUGE difference between a 1940-model Bf-109E/4 fighter, and a Bf-109G/14 that entered service four years later. It certainly seems huge when you are in a twisting, turning dogfight with a Spitfire, at least (to be exact... a Spitfire Mk VIII from 1943)...

Did I mention "Hardcore?" Things like engine temperature and fuel-oil mixtures, and whether or not your fuel is gravity-fed or has a fuel pump (so your engine doesn't conk out in a negative-G maneuver) are just as important as how much ammunition is left for your guns. Of course, you can simplify most of the realism settings in a menu down to arcade-game levels. But somehow I don't think the availability of simplified settings is really going to make this game appeal to a less-hardcore crowd.

A Method To The Madness?
As I understand it, the IL-2 series began life as a very detailed study of only one aircraft - the Ilyushin IL-2 Sturmovik. If you haven't heard of it, it's probably because you aren't a Russian military aviation buff. To its credit, it's the most heavily produced military aircraft in all of aviation history - and the second most-produced plane (civilian or military) of all time. Apparently, after the designers spent all this time making one of the most sophisticated combat flight simulators in history, they realized that:

(A) That it would be (relatively) easy to make other aircraft in the game flyable by players with just as much fidelity, and...

(B) They'd BETTER throw in some flyable planes that U.S. players had actually heard of if they wanted it to sell outside of eastern Europe.

The first game was a hit, and they followed up with two sequels (Forgotten Battles, and - catering to the American audience - Pacific Fighters), and two expansions (the Aces Expansion, and an online-distributed "single-plane" study of the PE-2... another plane we American flight sim buffs have often never heard of). Then they wrapped it all up with the new 1946 package, which includes everything heretofore released, plus an additional campaign in Asia (Sturmoviks Over Manchuria), and some aircraft that didn't make it into production before the end of hostilities (for a hypothetical continuation of the war into 1946).

Let's Play War!
And with stable network code that supports up to 64 players in a single dogfight... with virtually any aircraft in World War II (plus tanks, buildings, ships, AAA artillery, trucks, trains, and all those other good targets), I figured I was in for a real treat. You could jump online with 64 of your closest friends and simulate an entire battle! Well, kinda.

I'd dabbled in multiplayer many winters ago with Forgotten Battles, and thought I'd done okay. But I haven't played since, and I've only been playing the series off and on since then. I get hooked on it for a week or two, and then quit. But this weekend, after spending several weeks playing and learning how easy it is to get the P-39 Airacobra into a flat spin (which, apparently, was a problem it had in real life --- go figure!) and practicing with several planes against all kinds of AI (all set to "average" skill level), I thought I'd "kick the tires and light the fires" and see how hardcore World War II reenactment was going online.

There were around 200 players on several different servers, when I logged in to Hyperlobby to check things out. I found a server with a lot of players on it, and decided to see what World War II in the air was like. The battle was taking place somewhere over the Coral Sea. I was ready. I joined the "Red" team. I'd be facing the "Blue" team. You know, color coding is so much easier to keep track of than Axis vs. Allies. I spent some time reading over the rules of fair play. After all, this is simulated World War II, which should be much more fun than the real thing.

The battle was purely a case of attrition. Each side began with so many planes available for use. Every time a plane was destroyed, the total plane count would drop. Once you hit zero, your side lost, and the opposing team would win. And, I assume, it would start all over again. It seemed both sides had quite a few planes left, so the battle would last a while yet.

Or at least, it WOULD have lasted a while, had I not shown up!

Many aircraft were available to me to use to defend my beloved homeland of Red. There were planes of all kinds of nationalities, from an American B-25 bomber to a British Spitfire, to a Russian FW-190, some Russian aircraft, and... ah-hah! A late-model P-47 (one with the bubble canopy, for improved visibility). I chose it without a second thought. It's my favorite WWII fighter!

Soon I was up and flying! Well, no, that's not exactly right. Here's what really happened.

Losing The War In Eight Easy Steps
Plane #1: I was in the cockpit, and started my engine. I looked around to find out where the runway is. I catch a glimpse of several aircraft up in the sky. I should be safe - the official rule on the board was that you could not destroy a plane on the ground. Unless you were a bomber.

As my plane began moving, I saw the aircraft zoom overhead. Hey, was that a B-25 bomber? For the opposing team?

BOOM! I blow up, plus one other player unfortunate enough to get caught in the rain of explosives.

Plane #2: Okay. This time I'd move faster. I'd not wait around to take in the scenery. I immediately start the engine, throttle up, taxi around... right into the respawning aircraft of another player. BOOM! Both our aircraft have exploded. Okay, I've now hurt my beloved mother country of Red by THREE planes in only two tries.

Plane #3: This time, I turn and taxi to the LEFT instead of the right. Unfortunately, this time the other player respawns to my left. My wing hits his propeller and.... THWAP THWAP KAPOW *REND*. Another two planes wiped out and depleted from Red's score. I really suck.

Plane #4: I've had enough of this. These aircraft could take off on a level field if need be, so I try that. I'm gonna skip the runway entirely. I almost make it, too. Just before I reach a high enough speed to lift off, by wheels hit the edge of the lake. My plane sinks.

Plane #5: I make it to the runway this time. But seeing enemy planes back in the air above me, I'm a little too quick to throttle up. I overcompensate for the resulting torque, and I go off the runway and wreck. I should know better than this!

Plane #6: Coming onto the runway to take off, I accidentally clip some equipment on the side of the runway (why'd they put it so close to the runway anyway?) and the plane is unflyable. I don't know if it counted as a loss or not.

Plane #7: FINALLY! I got my crate up in the air. I'm low and slow, but slowly circling to gain altitude. Another player is doing the same. Out from the northwest come two racing enemy planes from Blue. I don't have much airspeed, but I manage to get a piece of one of the two attacking FW-190s. I don't do much damage to him, but it does force him to abandon his attack against a friendly plane (the same friendly plane I crashed into... twice... it looks like he managed to finally get off the ground, too). But then I'm engaged by the 190's wingman, who manages to take big chunks out of my aircraft. I lose much of my rudder, and one aileron. Still, the P-47 can take a pounding. I try to land my plane on only half my control surfaces. I don't quite make it. I cause a lot of wreckage to appear on the runway.

Plane #8: This time, the air is clear when I take off out of the runway. This time, if I'm gonna crash, I'm gonna crash on the ENEMY base! Off I go, into the wild blue yonder, getting some altitude advantage to mercilessly use to defeat my poor foes, low on altitude, airspeed, and ideas. I see the enemy airfield, and I spot two aircraft heading my way. Both FW-190s, by the looks of them. They are below me but climbing fast --- very fast. Did they put rockets on those things?

I roll my plane and begin a turning dive, turning altitude into airspeed. I barely see the tracers before one of my wings is shot off. I bail out of the spinning aircraft, and enjoy a very long look at the scenery as I parachute down from about 10,000 feet.

At this point, I've single-handedly dropped Red's score by ten points. Now, as an excuse, I think those guys in the FW-190s have been playing the game quite a bit for years. Maybe. And maybe that I REALLY need a lot more practice. Either way, I figure its time to quit the field in shame. I'll be back... and maybe then I'll play for Blue team and help them lose a few points!

Somehow, I don't think it was quite like this in 1944...

Labels: Flight Sims, Mainstream Games

- posted by The Rampant Coyote @ 7:10 AM (Permalink)