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Seems Like This Section Of BM Is Very Quiet!


Pielstick

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I know there's quite a few flight simmers here on BM, yet there seems to be very little activity in this corner of BM!

If anyone's interested there's been an awful lot of new stuff going on in the flight sim world in the last few months.....

Lockheed Martin have released Prepar3D V2 which is the continuation of Microsoft's ESP, which you may know better as FSX. It's not strictly speaking an entertainment product but you can buy it and most of the FSX addon developers are starting to make their stuff available for this new sim. The major improvements are they upgraded the graphics engine to DirectX 11 which offloads a lot of the number crunching from the CPU to the GPU, so if you've got a modern PC with a decent graphics card you will likely see an improvement. They've also spruced up the graphics a bit as well.

X-Plane 10 is really starting to make itself known, and is steadily moving from being a cult flight sim to something a lot more mainstream. There's some really good stuff coming out for this sim now, it made the move to 64bit in 2013 so won't suffer any of the memory errors that have plagued FSX (and Prepar3D) users when they start to add too many complex addons into the sim.

In FSX land there's been a bumper year of addons. Orbx finally rounded off their scenery packages that now cover the entire British Isles, including Ireland. They did some nice UK airports as well but they weren't a commerical success so the plans for more have been dropped. They also released their South Alaska package, which is probably their best work yet. On top of that they also released FTX Global Base and FTX Global Vector which are huge upgrades of the entire FSX world scenery, soon to be joined with their FTX Global Landclass in 2014. PMDG released their long awaited Boeing 777-200LR which has got to be the most complete and high fidelity airliner sim ever made for the PC. Majestic bowled everyone over with a superlative Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 that was very detailed, and even had a custom flight model that ran outside of FSX and was injected into the sim via SimConnect. Sibwings did a fantastic Antononv An-2 that is really a work of art. On the British aircraft front Aerosoft recently made a surprise announcement that they have a Lightning in development, which looks to be much more detailed than the JustFlight one. Speaking of Justflight, their Eurofighter Typhoon was awful, but they've made a new in-house development team that is working on a Canberra PR9 due for release very soon and looks absolutely fantastic. After the PR9 they are going to do a VC10!

For WW1 flight simmers Rise of Flight trundled on with new aircraft, the last release of 2013 being the Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter. OBD Software released the latest version of the Flanders Fields series called "Wings Over Flanders Fields" - very, very nice indeed, what they've achieved with the CFS3 engine is remarkable, although the price tag of $60 for the mod and $25 for an additional aircraft skin pack (not including VAT) was quite hard to swallow.

WW2 simmers had the most interesting year, with not one but TWO new sims announced. After the debacle of IL-2 Cliffs of Dover (more on that in a bit) the lead developer left the company and teamed up with Eagle Dynamics to make a new module for DCS called DCS:WW2. They did a Kickstarter campaign for this and raised enough money to get things going. A 2015 release is on the cards and should feature northern France in the 1944 timeframe with a gaggle of relevant aircraft. I have some reservations about how this is going to turn out.... The publisher/developer behind IL-2 Cliffs of Dover has teamed up with 777 Studios (Rise of Flight) and is making the next IL-2 title called IL-2 Battle of Stalingrad. The early alpha version is out for pre-purchasers and features the LaGG-3 and Bf-109F, and lots of snow. Full release is slated for spring 2014, but that's a bit optmistic I think. It will have the most famous aircraft from the Stalingrad campaign, and will follow the same business model as Rise of Flight so more aircraft will be released for purchase as the sim develops.

On the old IL-2 front, Team Daedelus are still pumping out "official" patches which are pushing this classic even further. We've seen the recent release of the HSFX7 mod which is based on the latest TD patch and adds an awful lot of new aircraft and maps to the sim. Dark Blue World is still going strong, but is based on the older TD version, but has now been augmented by "The Full Monty" mod which adds even more stuff into the sim to make what is surely the most comprehensive and complete WW2 sim anyone is ever likely to see.

The horrid mess that was IL-2 Cliffs of Dover has in fact been rescued thanks to the work of a community group called Team Fusion. What they've done with this sim is nothing short of remarkable... they've proved that not only can you polish a turd, you can actually turn a turd into something very good. A nice man by the name of Heinkill has also made a series of single player campaigns to replace the horrible ones that came with the original. If you've got IL-2 Cliffs of Dover do yourself a favour and get the latest Team Fusion patch and Heinkill's Redux Campaigns, you won't regret it.

As far as very fast noisy jet go, it's been a slightly more quiet year. The mystery next official DCS module has now been revealed to be the F/A-18C, but there is no word as to when this will be released. Eagle Dynamics are working on getting a new graphics engine called EDGE implemented in DCS. ED also announced that their plans to make a Su-27SM module have been cancelled because the Russian government have objected on national security grounds. Instead they are now going to an Su-72S. On the third party DCS module front 2013 saw the release of the UH-1H and Mi-8MTV modules, which have to rank as among the most advanced helicopter sims ever to be seen on a PC. The MiG-21Bis module looks like it is getting very, very close to release now. One thing that caught my eye was a group called VEAO who are making a Hawk T1 for DCS, this is supposed to lead onto a Typhoon module to come later. What interested me is this Typhoon module is being made with the assistance of the real aircraft manufacturer and will be available in two versions - one "full fat" version for use by real Typhoon operators, and one consumer version with all the classified bits removed. Sounds quite interesting! Still, it sounds like it's a long way off yet. Someone announced they were going to make a high fidelity F-35 module for DCS, and this really set the cat amongst the pigeons as most flight sim fans don't believe for a second that it will be anywhere near accurate given the real thing isn't in service yet and even when it is most of the interesting bits will be very classified. This has led to some speculation that ED are selling out the DCS series reputation for being a high end high fidelity simulation platform.

Back in September Seven-G announced they were at 95% with their new F/A-18C sim, but nothing's been said since. Hopefully this one will get released and not vanish into thin air like the much maligned Jet Thunder (1982 Falklands sim) appeared to do in 2013.

Some group tried to get crowd funding for a multiplayer based F-35 sim as well, but they didn't raise enough money. They've gone back to the drawing board.

So that's it.... if anyone wants to try and resurrect this section of BM please feel free to chime in, and if anyone wants some links to the stuff I've written about above let me know and I'll be happy to oblige!

Edited by Pielstick
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Where can one obtain Dark Blue World for IL-2, anyhow? I've been playing using UPmod.

Here's the Spitfire I fly with my friends:

91DVM.jpg

You don't think it's too ostentatious, do you?

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Very interesting update. I was an avid flight simmer some years ago, but my PC couldn't keep up so I lost interest.....if and when I get a new, state of the art machine, wouldn't mind getting back in to this

SD

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I used to be a massive flight sim flyer right up to FSX although I prefered FS9, but I just don't have the time now to dedicate to it, that and the fact it all got too commercial with some of the bigger players getting really rather nasty towards the freeware designers. I used to design and upload cockpits to www.flightsim.com , even got my name up in their Who's Who of designers, and released a number of titles including The Vulcan Collection and The TSR-2 Collection for which I'm still getting requests.

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Wow Pielstick, a comprehensive round-up!

Still no word on Fighter Ops it seems :P

When did DCS confirm the Legacy Hornet? Must have missed that announcement. Thrustmaster are probably working on a new HOTAS as we speak :winkgrin:

Tim

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I used to enjoy the occasional sortie using MS CFS3. My issue was that the sim was basic and the only thing that made it good were all the community add-ons. By the time you downloaded and dealt with all of them the computer was groaning under the load. I took it off the computer some time back when I also found that there was a virus in one of the downloads and I couldn't figure out which.

Of those you mention which might be best for combat flight sim. I rarely have time to go online and fly with/against others, so it is mainly me against comp. I had looked at IL-2 in the past and read mixed reviews. I am after something that can be loaded up and more or less played out of the box (for now at least).

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I've been using Prepar3d v.2.0 since its release and have to say it is a big improvement over FSX for the fact that it is using all the processor cores and the graphic card to a much greater extent than FSX ever will. My computer is mid range by todays standards, i5 2500k cpu, NVidia 660ti gtx graphic cards with 8gb ram on Windows 7 64 bit. I can average 50fps but even when the frame rates drop to the teens, say using a complex aircraft in a busy airport, it is still smooth. Most, but not all, FSX aircraft are compatible as is most of the scenery. I appreciate it is not a cheap program, but quality rarely is, but once you have tried it I doubt you will want to go back.

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Where can one obtain Dark Blue World for IL-2, anyhow? I've been playing using UPmod.

Here's the Spitfire I fly with my friends:

You don't think it's too ostentatious, do you?

Dark Blue World is at:

http://www.sas1946.com/main/index.php/board,189.0.html?PHPSESSID=f9fd16ca9e2dd9dbb0c3ec3f0ce355aa

Also add into it The Full Monty (the new lighter version linked below, not the original):

http://www.sas1946.com/main/index.php/topic,35424.0.html

Start with a clean install of 1946. If you want to make it easy use the SAS F'nBigSuperPack which is a one stop upgrade from the default 4.07m on the IL-2 1946 disk to DBW1.71. Check out the 2nd post here: http://www.sas1946.com/main/index.php/topic,21514.0.html

It will all take a while to do, but isn't too difficult if you follow the instructions. The F'nBigSuperPack is very easy to install, and The Full Monty is installed in parts via JGSME which is pretty painless. Once done you'll have a stupidly big collection of flyable aircraft and lots and lots of new maps... enough stuff to keep you busy for a very long time.

Love the Spitfire skin.... they'll never see you coming :winkgrin:

Very interesting update. I was an avid flight simmer some years ago, but my PC couldn't keep up so I lost interest.....if and when I get a new, state of the art machine, wouldn't mind getting back in to this

SD

Funnily enough mate you don't need a NASA computer nowadays. I've got a 3 year old desktop (which to be fair was a top of the range gaming rig when I got it in 2010), and a 2 1/2 year old gaming laptop which is now very middle of the road. Sure if I get the very latest flight sims installed and bang the graphics up to max I can make my laptop chug, but that's to be expected. Stuff like IL-2 1946 is now years old and should run pretty nicely on even fairly modest computers. A long as you've got a half decent processor and a discrete graphics card (not an integrated one) you should be ok for some of the older stuff.

I used to be a massive flight sim flyer right up to FSX although I prefered FS9, but I just don't have the time now to dedicate to it, that and the fact it all got too commercial with some of the bigger players getting really rather nasty towards the freeware designers. I used to design and upload cockpits to www.flightsim.com , even got my name up in their Who's Who of designers, and released a number of titles including The Vulcan Collection and The TSR-2 Collection for which I'm still getting requests.

You know what mate I agree entirely. FSX has become far too commericalised and it's having a detrimental effect on the hobby. Having said that some of the stuff being released nowadays will absolutely blow you away. There are still some very good developers out there who are genuinely good blokes and I am happy to support financially. Guys like Dave Garwood and Rob Richardson are doing sterling work keeping the freeware British flag flying high, and Just Flight have been releasing some payware classic British stuff which has come in for some criticism due to innacuracy and have attracted the ire of the Rivet Counters of Albion. They seem to have taken the criticism on board and have formed a new development team who are working on a Canberra PR9 and it looks like they've really upped their game. A VC10 is to follow, and they've said they will be doing more classic British stuff.

Wow Pielstick, a comprehensive round-up!

Still no word on Fighter Ops it seems :P

When did DCS confirm the Legacy Hornet? Must have missed that announcement. Thrustmaster are probably working on a new HOTAS as we speak :winkgrin:

Tim

Fighter Ops looks to have gone the way of Jet Thunder unfortunately :(

I can't remember where and when ED announced the F/A-18C but it's definitely been generally accepted that it will be the F/A-18C. Just don't ask when ;)

I used to enjoy the occasional sortie using MS CFS3. My issue was that the sim was basic and the only thing that made it good were all the community add-ons. By the time you downloaded and dealt with all of them the computer was groaning under the load. I took it off the computer some time back when I also found that there was a virus in one of the downloads and I couldn't figure out which.

Of those you mention which might be best for combat flight sim. I rarely have time to go online and fly with/against others, so it is mainly me against comp. I had looked at IL-2 in the past and read mixed reviews. I am after something that can be loaded up and more or less played out of the box (for now at least).

CFS3 was the ginger haired step child of flight simulation. Hardly anyone liked it. It lives on today with the likes of the ETO, MTO and PTO mods, but is probably most famous for being the base used by Old Brown Dog for their Over Flanders Fields series of WW1 sims:

http://www.overflandersfields.com/

If you want a flight sim to play straight out of the box, no hassle, head over to GOG.com and grab IL-2 1946. They're even good enough to include the latest Team Daedelus patch so you don't have to go searching for it yourself:

http://www.gog.com/game/il_2_sturmovik_1946

9.99 of those strange American Dollars is hardly going to break the bank. Once your happy with it you can add to it massively with all the free mod packs available like the ones I mentioned above. The amount of content available for this sim is just tremendous and will keep you busy for a very, very long time.

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I've been using Prepar3d v.2.0 since its release and have to say it is a big improvement over FSX for the fact that it is using all the processor cores and the graphic card to a much greater extent than FSX ever will. My computer is mid range by todays standards, i5 2500k cpu, NVidia 660ti gtx graphic cards with 8gb ram on Windows 7 64 bit. I can average 50fps but even when the frame rates drop to the teens, say using a complex aircraft in a busy airport, it is still smooth. Most, but not all, FSX aircraft are compatible as is most of the scenery. I appreciate it is not a cheap program, but quality rarely is, but once you have tried it I doubt you will want to go back.

Funnily enough I uninstalled P3D2 and went back to FSX for the time being as I don't think it's ready for prime time yet. The new terrain shadows look awful, and if you disable them to go back to the old style FSX terrain shadows you might have noticed they are reversed (i.e. the side of the terrain facing the sun is dark and the shadow side is bright). I also found enabling all the new shadows for aircraft and autogen absolutely killed my framerates. I did like the new volumetric fog and HDR though, and the autogen popping is now gone, as are the blurries when flying low and fast.

However, most of the stuff that I use in FSX isn't compatible with P3D2 yet, namely the Orbx sceneries and a lot of my favourite aircraft don't work quite right.

A lot of the stuff about P3D2 performing better than FSX is down to people comparing their pimped out FSX loaded down with years worth of scenery and addon aircraft to a virgin P3D2. Kosta did a side by side comparison of FSX and P3D2 and found that the latter actually performs worse when you start putting addon scenery and aircraft into it:

http://kostasfsworld.wordpress.com/

Like I said, I don't think P3D2 is ready for prime time just yet. It needs some more patches and optimisation from Lockheed, and of course the popular addon developers need to catch up and get their stuff fully compatible. I've no doubt by the end of the year it will start to realise its potential.

However, as I said above, X-Plane 10 is really starting to look good now...

http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3889753/From_Biplanes_to_Jets#Post3889753

http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3893232/No_Planes_Just_Scenery#Post3893232

http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3887675/X_Plane_10_Randoms#Post3887675

It's already 64bit so no OOM errors like FSX and P3D users have to deal with.... and it's already been stated by Lockheed that when they finally do move P3D to 64bit pretty much everybody's addons won't work any more unless they are recompiled for 64bit.

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I am another lapsed simmer, I used to enjoy venting my spleen after a stressful days work with a good old shoot em up; but the s/w started getting bigger and more complex. That was fine for the added graphics and aircraft choices etc., but they kept adding in all these 'rank levels' which you had to work your way through just to get a decent flight/mission.

Can you explain a bit more about a 'discrete graphics card'? I have a standard (one year old) with dual-core Intel (i5?) x64 PC, with NVIDIA GeForce GT320 adapter which I have to suffice with (can't afford a bespoke gaming PC) but am interested in any info which I could enhance my system for affordably.

cheers

Mike

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Just Flight are owned and run by some of the most nasty whatsits out there. I wouldn't touch their stuff with a bargepole after the way they acted towards my little group of freeware designers. :angry:

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Pray tell Dave... I'm most curious.

In my experience JF have proven to be one of the more reasonable developers/publishers. Their stuff is mostly middle of the road in terms of complexity and features, yet when something gets released there's always threads about how they got this or that wrong, berating them for not making a totally accurate model with all the bells and whistles... which in my mind at least misses the point that JF's products for the most part are aimed at the more casual flight simmer. The JF guys usually turn up in the thread and offer no quibble refunds to anyone who isn't happy with their purchase.... which to be honest is a lot better than the vast majority of payware vendors who have a no refund policy.

Back last summer I purchased the JF Eurofighter Typhoon when it was released and was sorely disappointed. As I said, I know what to expect from JF but there's no way that Typhoon was worth £25 in 2013. It was very, very poor. I said so in a thread at Avsim and one of the JF guys contacted me to offer a refund. I declined, explaining even if I thought their Tiffie was a pile of doo doo I wanted to support JF as they are the only payware dev doing British subjects. They contacted me again saying they were making a service pack for the Typhoon based on customer feedback and would I like to test it before release. Again I declined as I didn't have the time. The service pack did improve things but it still isn't worth £25 IMHO.

Certainly my customer experience with them hasn't been bad, As I explained above, the whole FS hobby has changed beyond recognition. The stuff getting pumped out now in terms of aircraft, scenery and accessories would quite literally blow you away with its detail and features that we couldn't have dreamed of a few years ago. The downside is it's no longer viable for freeware developers to make this kind of stuff, and the whole hobby has become horribly commercialised. Everybody has a financial interest in it somewhere, be it selling stuff, bringing in website traffic to generate ad revenue, paid reviews, etc etc. And of course wherever there's money at stake there's a lawyer not far behind..... and all of this is in addition to the big alpha male egoes that used to rule the websites and development groups all those years ago (and still do!)

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Can you explain a bit more about a 'discrete graphics card'? I have a standard (one year old) with dual-core Intel (i5?) x64 PC, with NVIDIA GeForce GT320 adapter which I have to suffice with (can't afford a bespoke gaming PC) but am interested in any info which I could enhance my system for affordably.

Most laptops and some desktop PCs have the graphics card - the bit that does all the calculations to create the graphics on your screen - integrated into the motherboard - the base component that all the other bits of your computer plug into.

An integrated graphics card is cheap, has very low power requirements and doesn't get hot. It's good enough for pushing Windows, Office or Internet Explorer around, but will seriously choke on anything that has serious 3D graphics, flight sims for example.

The solution in this case is a dedicated graphics card, which is a totally seperate component which plugs into your motherboard. It has much greater processing power and can pump out much faster and better graphics than an integrated card. However, as you can imagine, these have a higher power requirement (need a bigger power supply in your PC), generate more heat (need a bigger and more efficient cooling for your PC) and of course cost more money. The current top of the line no holds barred dedicated graphics card for gaming (a Geforce Titan) weighs in at about £1,000, requires a nuclear reactor to power it, and could probably heat your entire house.

There are two manufacturers of graphics cards - Nvidia and AMD (formerly ATI). Traditionally the Nvidia cards have been more powerful, but have been more expensive. Some of the newer AMD cards really give the Nvidia cards a run for their money and come in at a lower price. Both companies release families or generations of cards based on the same architecture to cover the range of options a customer might want. For example, the latest generation Nvidia cards are the 700 series - the top of the line is the 780Ti which comes in at around £550-600, going down we have the marginally less powerful 770 which is maybe £400, and the 760, 740, etc etc, each one being less powerful than the last but also cheaper.

Your GT320 is a dedicated card, but a low end one. It should be able to push around some of the older sims like IL-2 1946 but you will probably have to tone down some of the settings. Do you know what model of i5 processor you have? The processor is actually very important when it comes to considering graphics cards, and you should try and match them as best you can.... otherwise it might be like putting a Ferrari engine with a Corsa transmission, if you get my drift. Once I've got an idea of your processor I might be able to suggest a graphics card. You don't need to spend mega bucks, can get a pretty decent graphics card for well under £150.

One little programme I really recommend is a free one called Speccy - it's a very small app that will analyse your PC and give you a comprehensive list of exactly what components you have in your PC:

http://www.piriform.com/speccy

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No bother Mike.

If anyone is wanting to get into flight sims, or perhaps jump back in after a break I can only suggest they try out IL-2 1946. Any reasonably modern PC with a discrete graphics card should be able to run it. Straight off the disk it's got plenty of content, and if you download the latest Team Daedelus patch you'll get even more improvements and content. If you decide you really like it you can jump headlong into the likes of Dark Blue World and The Full Monty, all of which are free to download. Then you can hit http://www.mission4today.com/ and find loads and loads of user created missions and campaigns free for download. Some of them are really very good and well researched.

If you're lucky your local branch of Game might still have a copy of IL-2 1946 left in stock.

Otherwise Amazon have got it for the princely sum of £3.99 http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1/278-0487660-4820812?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=il-2%201946&sprefix=il-2+19%2Caps&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Ail-2%201946

If you've got a fast net connection and are impatient GOG.com have it for $9.99 http://www.gog.com/game/il_2_sturmovik_1946

And if you want a decent joystick with a throttle and twist grip for the rudder you can do a lot worse than this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Saitek-MCB4330200B2-04-1-Cyborg/dp/B001EYU1VO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389796194&sr=8-1&keywords=saitek+cyborg

And if you're all still sitting on the fence here's some nice screenshots someone did of IL-2 1946 running with Dark Blue World. Looks like fun doesn't it? This should wet your whistles....

https://plus.google.com/photos/104752423170376752927/albums/5759992744981017809

Edited by Pielstick
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Thanks for the excellent rundown, Pielstick!!!

You raised my interest in IL-2, but when I went to find out what Dark Blue World is, I was confronted, in the Newbie Guide, with sentences such as this:

"Since UP3 is made to not be 100% mod friendly, because it has superior MDS and CRT2 additions, UP and SAS have come up with DBW, to address this, ...."

HUH?

So.... I'll try deciphering that AS (Alphabet Soup) before I GU (Give Up).

Gene K

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Thanks for the excellent rundown, Pielstick!!!

You raised my interest in IL-2, but when I went to find out what Dark Blue World is, I was confronted, in the Newbie Guide, with sentences such as this:

"Since UP3 is made to not be 100% mod friendly, because it has superior MDS and CRT2 additions, UP and SAS have come up with DBW, to address this, ...."

HUH?

So.... I'll try deciphering that AS (Alphabet Soup) before I GU (Give Up).

Gene K

Don't worry Gene it's nothing too serious.

Dark Blue World (DBW) is built upon an earlier mod called Ultra Pack 3 (UP3). UP3 was primarily meant for guys who fly online with others via something called the Moving Dogfight Server (MDS). It was make "to not be 100% mod friendly" because one of the main things you have to be sure of when flying online is that everybody has exactly 100% the same installation, otherwise problems can happen.

DBW (made by a group called SAS), and the additional Fully Monty mods were designed for people who don't fly online with multiplayer, and instead fly offline and want to enjoy all the additional stuff that is out there for IL-2 1946 without having to install each and every aircraft, map, and other mod individually over the top of Ultra Pack which is not only very time consuming, but also pretty complicated.

Confusing I know.....

However, if you just download the SAS F'nBigSuperPack from the 2nd post at http://www.sas1946.com/main/index.php/topic,21514.0.html it's a one stop install that will take you all the way from IL-2 1946 as it comes straight off the DVD all the way to the latest version of DBW in one step. No additional faffing around required!

Edited by Pielstick
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Not sure if Youtube videos can be embedded, but let's have a try....

Edit - looks like it doesn't! Shame really because there's some great vids on Youtube that really show off IL-2 1946 and some of the stuff I've talked about above.

Edited by Pielstick
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