**I posted this a day early the event is on SATURDAY** Thanks to the players that have convinced me, this game still has legs and is worthy to revisit occasionally. For that reason we are launching a ONE DAY EVENT for IL-2 1946. We aim to have a 100 person PVP Pacific mission in 1942 Guadalcanal. It will includes multiple fleets and carriers. If you are interested, click this FAQ and read it all and you will be able to join us docs.google.com/presentation/d/1QEAD3Pfy0liNobNOg63AXQgdxalwh6nlP8XJgux5A-o/edit#slide=id.p Space is limited so we will see how we manage with turnout. If we get too many people, I pre-apologize.
Yea sat afternoon sucks :( that's the day us older people go to home Depot, bed bath and beyond, I just don't know if we have enough time . Night time so much better
When it comes to realism in flight sims, emphasis is put on flight dynamics, cockpit modeling, and the internal workings of aircraft. It saddens me that this seems to be at the expense of everything else. Too little attention is paid to the theater of operations, the scale of modern warfare, the density of ground assets, the intelligence and complexity of air defense networks, AI behaviors, logistical concerns, and the overall realism of the environment itself. I think that IL-2 1946 and Falcon BMS are still relevant because, in spite of their age, they do much more to model the full scale of their battlefields than anyone else.
I really can't say much more than what you said. It seems like there is a trade between fidelity and scale and I prefer scale as it makes the environment much more interesting.
Completely agree, very well put. That is why I prefer IL-2 over DCS for WW2. DCS has an amazing plane modelling but they forgot about everything else in the way so you don't feel you are in WW2. IL-2 achieves this with its wide variety of planes, dynamic campaign, alive multiplayer community, etc. but it still has shortcomings like lacking 4 engine bombers or the PTO that for some reason were achievable 20 years ago but not now.
Crazy how this 15 year old game has been a part of my 21 year old life since I can remember. Being 6 years old and seeing "IL2 1946 crash compilation" thinking im watching real footage is a feeling i wont forget lol
Exactly my experience down to the my age, and those compilation videos. I feel like there’s an entire generation worth of plane nuts because of IL2 1946
@@tobyj762 its definitely what got me way into planes. im only 20, and i started with the original IL-2 and pacific fighters. A few years later, i saw an ad for 1946 and i remember begging my parents to buy me the cd lol
Bro why we all had the same thing going on in our childhood with IL2 1946. I use to dream about the day I could actually play it, watching all the compilations on UA-cam. 😂
@@tobyj762 Same story here. I started with Forgotten Battles and have so many childhood memories attached to it. It's the main reason why I'm still in love with old planes and their "raw" nature.
This game is phenomenal. Our modern focus on graphical and clickable fidelity is a bummer, because the depth and breadth of experience in this sim is unparalleled.
You can manage complex flight and engine management in IL-2 1946 through keyboard bindings and HOTAS it’s just not dare I say it: cockpit clickable. In this respect IL-2 1946 is every bit as hardcore as DCS. I’d take IL-2 1946 over DCS any day followed by FALCON BMS. Just something wonderful about these to SIMS.
@@robertsartino7664 I'd argue for great battles too. Having played both DCS ww2 and the IL2 series I'd trade clickable cockpits for a somewhat realistic feeling environment any day. DCS is about the planes sure but IL2 is about the experience. I understand that we dont have heavy bombers in Sturmovik but damn I've had some of the best moments flying a ju 87 or a lagg with wing mounted 50s while communicating with ground guys fighting a tank battle and providing cas for them. Anddd if you want clickable cockpit I havent played it myself but I believe tobruk was getting and overhaul or something to include clickable cockpits.
@@MalenkiyKabanchyk there was a guy who created clickable pits for iL-2 1946 models way back in 2008. i usually dont share link for other videos in comments but as its hard to find here it is lol ua-cam.com/video/zRnmN8nsFTw/v-deo.html
One thing to point out - this game is not 15 years old. It's nearly 20 years old - the 1946 is actually a reissue/compilation of Il-2 Forgotten Battles, which was released in 2003 , with expansions added and put as single installation just for convienience
To nitpick: _over_ 20 years old. The first IL-2 was released in 2001, Forgotten Battles being a direct continuation of it, containing most of its contents along with all the new stuff it added.
Forgotten Battles was the full version of the original IL-2 Sturmovik by Oleg Maddox. I think 1C Maddox made the Aces and Pacific Fighters expansions before IL2 1946.
17 днів тому+1
I played the original il2 in 2001 and il2 1946 in 2006
Combat flight sims really went one step forward, two steps back. We got tons of graphical advancement, a lot of cockpit simulation, occasionally nicer DM, and adequate systems simulation. However, we completely lost scale and performance (less AI on the ground and in the air, fewer players on a server, etc.), turning especially the WW2 experience into a quite limited experience. DCS especially loses in the important ways to old games that manage a better experience (BMS or IL-2:1946).
If we had a low poly sim, it would look worse but how immersive it could be? Also it could hold VR with clickable cockpits. Like VTOL VR. Also it could hold alot more players and AI units on the map.
@@tauront That's why I chose to support Tiny Combat Arena. Right now it feels more like a proof of concept, but I believe that game might spark a change in direction just like you describe. Then again, it's disheartening to see the reaction of (younger) gamers who seem to have this hyperfocus on graphical fidelity and who view gameplay depth and immersive context as 'nice to have'
@@oilslick7010 yeah i saw that game but unfortunately it wont support multiplayer for now. I am really sad cause it looks really promising and thats the only thing I buy games - multiplayer. So maybe in near future.
@@oilslick7010 you were once like that. we were all once like that. You have to get fooled by the bad candy man who just plaints sugar water on stone to learn how scams work... None taught the new gen. They still believe in the power of love and that talking and screaming will help win against people who can just wipe them from the planet. Then they will come home from office one day and realise its all just pretty pictures and no fun and start complaining about the old gen. tho i really wish some new trend comes along... and the normies fuck off. might be at the cost of all these new games. but im good with not so much money but good team devs tca seems to crash and almost burn tho
I have this game, use to play the hell out of it...haven't played it in 10 years, but will reload it again today. Plus I got a new high end video card too.
Same here. Alas, once I grew up (grew old?), the time and energy required to enjoy it the way I used to slowly vanished... 😮💨 But I still have it installed on my retro-gaming PC under Win XP. Just like X-Wing Alliance, it's a masterpiece that has never been fully replaced. And aww, look at all these mods we can find on the internet. 🤩
The fact that IL-2: Great Battles stil does not support 4 engine bombers is just beyond me. One of the few things I can complain about an otherwise great game but not having 4 engine bombers... 1C says is an engine limitation, but it is their graphical engine, they can update it to support them. It is just an economical decision. Why PTO and 4 engine bombers with large formations were achievable before but not now?
I guess they just don't see it as a worthwhile investment of time and money since playing bombers is a very slow and methodical gameplay compared to the fast action of fighters and attackers and reworking the engine for a niche play style within an already niche game can't be smart business wise. Although I really have to question how hard it could be?
Is it just so they can milk us and drip feed paid content or what? I resisted moving from 1946 until very recently, i do want to come back, still have multiple installs with different mod packs on my system but as i fly in vr exclusively i been staying in gb,dcs and msfs...
@@no.7893 Bombers are a huge draw for me. I happen to like flying high and heavy, and even hopping around the seats to save myself if someone picks me up.
We still play this masterpiece!! Making some variation between HSFX, BAT and TOAS... and like someone said. Nowadays you have to take off and kill or be killed. Today you need to stimulate the brain to enter in combat as soon as possible because you need to show it on social media. It is not the spirit of IL-2 1946. So that's why we continue playing this and teaching new players. Big hugs to everybody! From Patagonia, Argentina!
@@apollodiomedes203 the thing is too much planes with differents performances make them very weak. And, of course, you must see the simulator like a big pool of codes. There are a lot of crashes inside the game that we don´t see... HSFX doesn´t have these.
If you still play then you should check out our future events on our discord, we are starting to organize. We did not think there would be such a large turnout, the event was a big success and we are moving forward with more regular events.
@@Enigma89 thank you for your invitation... in fact there are a lot of activity between argentinian and brazilian comunity. There is a campaign with 30 more or less every week
I've played the A2A simulations B-17 bomber for FSX way back, and I've always dreamed of this level of simulation, full fidelity with damage modeling and damage accumulation, doing actual bombing runs and still getting regular faults like an oil leak. This is what makes full-fidelity combat simulators interesting to me, I don't want just a more complex Il2 sturmovik, I want to fly FSX into combat. I want to apply my real world knowledge as a real pilot into a simulator, and then pushing those limits by going into combat. I love your videos, thank you for making them!
Great video, need to play this game again. I played the original Falcon 4.0 from 1998 a lot and it's quite unbelievable how it had a dynamic campaign at such a scale with 1998 computers.
'1946 is such a gem, i still play it for the pacific theatre! Was incredibly ahead of it's time, modern sims still haven't outclassed it. Of note Il-2 cliffs of Dover has the wellington in it's Desert Wings Tobruk expansion, but yep, heavy bombers are so lacking today!
ED's half-assed effort in WWII and in some cases the modern era, are showcased by this 15 year old game. They knew how and what to program to make the electronic battlefield, feel complete. Authentic theaters with their targets are already in place. You dont have to spend hours putting together a mission and hand-placing everything. Glad you all are continuing this game's life.
If you still play then you should check out our future events on our discord, we are starting to organize. We did not think there would be such a large turnout, the event was a big success and we are moving forward with more regular events.
1946 has one massive advantage over the current IL2 game, it has a modding community which has fully flushed out the list of aircraft to make it so you can pilot just about any aircraft from the conflict.
Great points enigma. This helps explain how fatigue sets in for mission makers and server operators who want to reproduce historically sensitive environments in these sims. When so many of the fundamental air power elements are missing.. it gets frustrating, fast.
I feel sorry for the people that see games like IL2 1946 and BMS and stick their nose up at the graphics and no VR because they truly are missing out. Maybe I'm just getting old, but there is literally so much depth and gameplay experience in these games that simply do not exist in any modern sim. DCS WW2 is a complete joke currently and really a joke overall when it comes to anything outside of the cockpits. I do play it for cold war era but that's because I really can't get that anywhere else. IL2 GB still undoubtedly holds the crown for WW2 aviation but the seemingly self-imposed limitations the dev team have set down are starting to come to a head. I can fire up BMS and have a fully modeled F16 in multiple bloc versions and actually feel like I'm taking part in a real air war. Or pick any theatre I want from WW2 in IL2 1946 and fly realistic missions with massive maps, AI, and flight modelling.
I would love to play 1946 but no vr support kills it for me because I don’t have track ir (I have tried it at a friends house and didn’t like it) and I hate using buttons on the stick/throttle to look around. :(
@@lilhead9454 I have an X52, I use the little thumb mouse on the throttle as a free look. Works a lot better than having to bind the padlock views and it's also a faster movement. But I've been playing flight sims since I was little and TrackIR wasn't even a concept yet so I'm just use to it.
17 днів тому
Man we are getting that old I played the original il2 sturmovik in 2001 saying shit state of the art graphics then I played il2 sturmovik 1946 which to this day is the best il2 sturmovik my beautiful southern wife is 43 I'm 37 and our 19 year old son when we played older games on the ps4 would be bitcing about the graphics I'd say son it ain't about the graphics it's about the story line and game play not none of that new school shit they are putting LGBT shit in newer games
il-2 1942 + B.A.T. "The Jet Age" . and using kosova/bulkan map building MASSIVE modern war battle was so much fun. missions can be SOOOO big before it crashes or stops working vs modern games..
I recommend using reshade to improve graphics. And I agree with you, this sim is amazing and you can create your own missions in minutes with hundreds of units and the AI in my opinion is more challenging. This sim needs a reboot and convince more people to play it online.
Yep, the only AI that is better, when set to at least veteran, is the Cliffs of Dover Blitz AI. More than a few times when taking part in one of the team Fusion Events I couldn't tell the AI apart from the enemy players. The only time I could tell it apart was when the AI would overcommit and not know when to call it quits. Among the "modern" sims it is the only one that really scratches that old IL-2 itch.
I was in a squad that used CFS2 which is also a good old combat flight sim. The entire world was modeled with proper latitude and longitude. We were as hard core as it gets, you had to learn Trigonometry and how to flight plan and figure out what a course to the target would be from your carrier, the time it took, and where to find your carrier to land an hour or two later with the carrier fleet zigzagging as it would have in real life. You had to be able to do 10 carrier landings in a row without crashing. Great great fun. When IL2 1946 came out some of us migrated to that, upgraded eventually to 4.10 and the UP3.0 mod with the Zuti multiplayer. The mission building in IL2 is off the charts as is the AI. You can have fighters fly CAP, strafe ground targets, etc... and as you note here the bombers were flyable complete with bombing sites. Though the entire world isn't mapped in 3d the maps in IL2 are huge and varied. I created the Pearl Harbor attack with 80 AI Japanese aircraft coming in on the routes they took that day and attacking the ships they attacked which you can place anywhere in the on the water in the same numbers as on Dec 7th. IL2 1946 with the Zuti multiplayer and either HSFX or UP3.0 is superb.
Excellent video. Il-2 1946 is what got me into flight sims in the first place, this was such a nostalgia trip. It is indeed a shame the modern games don't offer much in the line of big bombers or complex managment.
I have always enjoyed this game very much when I was younger. I always toyed with the mission editor and made my own missions. Had tons of fun playing out my own style of missions which included air raids, air intercept, and ship hunting as well as made my own airbases. This game is cemented in my head as a great game.
I agree with everything you said. I started playing IL-2 1946 with mods and it is amazing. The fact you can play with your friends on the same plane and be the gunner and they can be the pilot is amazing. With mods this game is amazing, you can play cold war jets for free, without research or grinding. Obviously, The graphics of the game or not the best. Personally, I prefer games with quality content over graphics. Even the community that plays IL-2 is less much toxic than war thunder. Il-2 1946 is the Gigachad of all Flight war sims or in other words, it's the TOP-G lol.
I totally binged this back in the day, and in fact, it's basically over 2 decades old already. First release was in 2001, FB came in 2003, AEP in 2004, PF in 2005 and 46 in 2006. The engine has seen a good bit of improvements with FB, but hasn't changed much since that. Oh , BTW, it has one noteworthy feature that I totally miss in DCS (dunno how it is in GB to be honest). Skin transfer. If you have a custom skin on your plane, other players will eventually get it during the mission and are able to see it without downloading and installing them prior.
That skin transfer feature worked for Pilot face textures too! Was really cool discovering the folder where it put them all, and seeing the menagerie of Homer Simpsons & Captain Kirks.
@@gravytrader Totally... I genuinely have Homer in my netcache folder as well (I never cleared them and always made backups), it's a good treasure trove full of memes. I can even remember seeing a pony or two way before it was cool... :D
The dynamic single player campaigns on 1946 are still unparalleled for me, and in part because I like playing bombers. It's relaxing, its generally just a nice sightseeing flight, but I still have objectives and keep me occupied. It's also really fun trying to limp back to base after taking ungodly amounts of damage.
You are absolutely right. I have flown Il2 since the 90's. Thousands of hours. And there is still a lot to explore in terms of editors, building missions, exploiting scenarios, items etc. ps sorry for my English (I live in Italy)
been playin 1946 since i was a kid, the great community over at sas1946 keeps her alive and well, honestly i prefer it to the modern sims because of like you said all the stuff you can't get in other ones. even without bumping all the realism settings up to the max shes still a fantastic game to mess around with and have fun playing. thanks for making this video and im happy i stumbled upon it. it helps keep the community strong~
This looks sick! I am gonna give IL-2 1946 a try tomorrow. Spring break is starting up so it's the perfect time to get into more sims. I've owned it for a decade but never bothered to mess with it.
Pacific Fighters was my introduction to the IL2 series. So I bought the 1946 bundle on Steam when I bought Battle Of Stalingrad. I remember becoming a septuple ace in one campaign.
If you still play then you should check out our future events on our discord, we are starting to organize. We did not think there would be such a large turnout, the event was a big success and we are moving forward with more regular events.
Sweet video here! It's always great when this old game still gets love to this day. I remember HSFX being my first taste of a fully modded IL-2 1946 installation back in 2013, and after that I never played this sim the same way as before. Nowadays I use the Battlefield Airborne Tactical (BAT) mod and it completely transforms the game across the board in ways that only IL-2's large, supportive, and passionate modding community can deliver. Truly a game changer, and one that sets this deservingly relevant title apart from modern sims coming out the woodwork nowadays.
I have played BAT once and I had a lot of fun but I need to reinstall it again. For the event we are sticking with HSFX because it is easier. If we get enough interest in this we may make more re-occurring events.
The scale of this game just bring the pacific war to another level. It is also amazing to fly a ground attack with naval planes over korea, if anyone wants to try it
I don't remember if I had 1946, but I did have the original IL-2 through Pacific Fighters, and I LOVED that game and its add-ons. I remember doing a bombing mission in a B-25 in the Pacific, and on the way back lost an engine to a Japanese fighter. I made it home, but some crew were injured and of course we had a smoking engine. But it reminded me of a story I heard about a similar experience my great-uncle had had flying planes for the RAF and USAAF in Europe during WW2. I always have fond memories of playing this.
And that's how simple Russian guys made a flight simulator, which no one has been able to surpass so far. I still remember how in Moscow I bought a magazine that had the very first review of the simulation game "Ил-2: Штурмовик".
For me, the best thing about IL-2 1946 FB is that I can play it on a 8 year old £150 very basic i5 laptop with integrated graphics and the settings turned all the way up. For an enthusiast on a budget, this game is just about the best you can get. I use the VP modpack and the flight models and AI are excellent while the variety of airframes available is unsurpassed. I have yet to try multiplayer but it would be good to know that there was an active community out there should I ever want to try it out..
back in the day i had Pacific Fighters, the extention of il2 1946. i had some awesome careers with the A6m2-N waterplane and with the Ki61. awesome how it was done for that time
Questo gioco è uno dei migliori mai esistiti, grazie anche alle mods implementate ha un potenziale da fare invidia ai più moderni simulatori...se solo si applicasse un aggiornamento significativo al motore grafico a parer mio farebbe impallidire i più famosi Il2BoS, DCS FS ecc ecc ecc 😈💪
saw this recommended. this is the game that made me beg for PC joystick back in the days (once its almost a third of national monthly min wage). played it on and on, never used that joystick for anything else or till now, other game. thanks for giving it some love now, it makes me remember good old days
Ashamed to admit that I bought IL2 in a GOG sale years and years ago _and I still haven't played it despite having a HOTAS setup sitting here on my desk_ . Just busy with other things I guess, but this video has made me determined to reinstall and fully explore the game for the first time. Thanks.
This is the first flight sim that I really got into, and I still think it's one of the best when it comes to singleplayer content. Can't remember how many P51's I've crashed just to learn how to take off and land. It also has a large modding scene, the game's size is as big as modern flight sims after installing the mods,lol.
I still remember where I was as a kid when I first read about the original Il-2 Demo (I was sitting on my Dad's living room floor reading my PC Gamer and immediately was angry that I was 8 hours from home and couldn't install the game) but I was pretty much hooked from that point on. I got home, immediately ran into my room and installed the game and from then until now, Il-2's been a staple on my hard drive in one form or another. I've had a blast with all iterations of the game, but it's just hard to touch the vast scope you get in Il-2 1946. I love the Battle of X series, and the graphics are really great, but it's hard to beat all of the great variety you get with Il-2 1946. Want to fly early WWII Russo-Japanese planes? You've got them. Soviets vs the Finns? That's there too. Want to do Italy vs the RAF? You can. You've got pretty much every single theater of WWII at least represented in some way. I've had some weird fascination with the Soviet/Finnish battles ever since Il-2 Forgotten Battles introduced me to the conflict, and it's great that I can still enjoy it today.
A heavy yes, it's the 5 Bucks FS of your Dreams. I've been playing it from time to time since i was a child and never got bored of it. When new DLC's for the recent IL2 are dropping i usually check the plane first in the 1946 just to compare.
If you still play then you should check out our future events on our discord, we are starting to organize. We did not think there would be such a large turnout, the event was a big success and we are moving forward with more regular events.
Still the only game I've played where it constantly feels like you're really, truly grappling with a temperamental machine. Really results in incredible tension and dramatic effect
Oh man, it was so fun playing it online on HyperLobby, to this day it's still a great flight sim. The flight and damage dynamics were absolutely stellar for 2006.
There is a Lancaster mod for DCS, just has not been released yet - if that's popular, I am sure we might see official module status or even other devs turning their heads and making plans of their own for future modules
Thanks for sharing. I really only play multiplayer so DCS mods are sort of off the table for me. If the major DCS WWII servers added it, I would try it out
Playing mostly DCS in VR these days, and remember we were talking about how awesome it would be to play in VR like 20 years back when we were playing original Il-2. Great stuff, nice community, good memories. We used to organize ongoing events/campaigns against other squadrons, with 30v30 players. It's not that modern games are not better in every technical aspect, they are, but times have changed, and it's proof that good graphics and realistic flight/damage models are not everything. It's amazing what imagination can do - it can turn a couple of blurry pixels into vivid, living worlds.
I still have all my origional IL-2 disks, but I don't have a rom anymore. But its so cheap on Steam, I think I'm gonna get it again. You've sold me now.
You should check out our future events on our discord, we are starting to organize. We did not think there would be such a large turnout, the event was a big success and we are moving forward with more regular events.
Another completely forgotten Flight Sim is Strike Fighters 2. The dynamic campaign and the sheer amount of aircraft is still unmatched to this day. There's also tons of mods (that are still being released!) spanning from WWI to Desert Storm.
The 1946 IL-2 was, is and will always be a benchmark in simulation. It has it all, thanks to the team of Oleg Maddox and hundreds of modelers, who have made this simulator a fucking marvel.
I can remember playing Il 1946 for the first time more than a decade ago and tail gunning in a soviet bomber on the campaign mode. We got blown to pieces over a German airfield and the intensity of the whole scenario seared itself into my memory
Oleg Maddox is a genius, This sim is still great in 2022, So much content, Research and a pretty steep learning curve etc, Anyone getting in to WW2 flight sims needs to get this, It's cheap as chips and there are tons of mods for it. I've even got the original IL-2 Sturmovik boxed edition, I will never sell it because i adore the box art!
If you still play then you should check out our future events on our discord, we are starting to organize. We did not think there would be such a large turnout, the event was a big success and we are moving forward with more regular events.
Il-2 still rocks!!! There is something to be said about sims that are just a lot of fun! I remember Fighter Duel on the Amiga. It started out as Corsair vs Zero, but the later versions included a LOT of great fighters and was so much fun to play despite the limiting factors of the time. Same for Jane's WWII and EAW (European Air War). Man, it was so much fun to go up against giant formations of US bombers in EAW. I have yet to see that equaled!! The modern sims are fantastic, but there are some elements from the older sims that are missing.
I miss so much Pacific Fighter in multiplayer. Taking off from a carrier, one hour of flight to find nothing and then return hoping not to crash in the sea. But when you were able to spot something it was a show ! Modern gameplay don't allow that anymore. You will have to find your target in minutes ortherwise your server is going to be empty. There is only large bomber in Flying circus now.
Another benefit of '46 is that you don't need an insane monster rig to run it at 60fps on a busy server. Looking at you, DCS. Anyway, great to learn that there's still an active community. I think I might get into it again :D
I've been playing what would become IL-2 1946 since I was 4 years old maybe younger when my dad got FB and PF where I sat on his lap and he taught me how to fly. In just a few years I was booting up mainly PF. As a kid I loved flying the TB-3 and Betty bombers and later the Pe-8, IL-4, B-24D and He-177 on IL-2 1946 (I tried Mods and had fun with the B-17 and Wellington but wasn't a fan overall and it took up too much space that I would rather save for MSFS). Since this video was released more Collector Planes like the IAR 80 and Li-2 have been added to IL-2 Great Battles but the rest are just planes which don't really add anything new: the Bf-109G-6A/S, Teardrop Canopy Spitfire Mk. XIV and La-5F; the WACO Glider technically adds something new but its use for even SP is so limited that it's not worth it. I really wish that instead of those 4 they had made the B-25 flyable. That would give us something new to GBs. It's a real shame that flyable Allied bombers are greatly lacking in IL-2 GBs and the earliest we can *expect* a flyable B-25 is many years down the road. Whereas this year we'll get a flyable B-17E in IL-2 Cliffs of Dover, followed by a flyable Lancaster next year and a flyable B-17F and B-24D in the following installment. All their work is being done in pretty much a shoestring, yet they're meeting combat flight simmer demands with not only flyable heavy bombers but many Battleships and Heavy Cruisers to name a few when Battle of Kuban and Battle of Normandy at most pumped out a destroyer as the largest ship in both installments. IL-2 Cliffs of Dover at the very least deserves to be on par with IL-2 Great Battles right now and it wouldn't surprise me if it overshadowed it.
I started flight sims in il2 1946 when I was 14 and I got my very first hotas for it, it's very sad that not many people truly understand how good 1946 because it still has the most number of flyable aircraft and it has really good ai
This game is like Richard Burns rally in the simracing community. The graphics are very outdated, but it it still one of the most accurate and complete simulation games. I remember playing those games as a kid just to mess around, but I never fully realised their potential ! (Also, the music from the menu still plays in my head whenever I think about IL-2)
Want to do something about this? Do an interview of the guys making the Lancaster mod. If you want a heavy bomber in DCS, there’s your shot. Spread the word and make sure the mod creators know it’s something we’re interested in buying. They’re interested in becoming 3rd party devs for DCS.
Played IL2 almost from the very start and keep getting back to it, mostly for the exact reasons you mention. That said, I didn't really try the newer IL2 games much, they look great. But the scale of IL2 1946 is not matched
Realism and representation of actual theatres aside, flying a bomber would actually be a nice change. I suck at fighting and flying a heavy escorted aircraft, simply dropping bombs (don't know if it was that simple) on a target sounds good.
It's not too difficult, once you can operate the bomb sight. My dad used to be insanely good at it, taking his flight to high altitude (while the escorts fought below) and striking with almost pinpoint precision. He had some good stories, especially from the PvP campaigns they did regularly.
I modded this game to the brim, i have litterally every mod and it was really hard but it is so fun, so many obscure planes you can also mod it to drive tanks and cars and the countless scenarios make this the best military flight sim in my opinion.
If you still play then you should check out our future events on our discord, we are starting to organize. We did not think there would be such a large turnout, the event was a big success and we are moving forward with more regular events.
Sturmovik series has always had extreme longevity. Back in the day you'd buy a boxed version of Sturmovik #1, boot it up, realize your PC is a potato, and then re-boot it up years later on a new PC and the game still looks very cutting edge.
I have always suggested in the IL-2 forums to make the B-25 and the B-26 playable. The Allied forces lack a proper bomber aircraft and these aircraft are good ‘substitutes’ to a lacking heavy bomber. The devs argument for not having B-17’s or the other mentioned flyable is simply because “they require more space to get to a proper bombing altitude”. I call BS and air spawns are always an option as seen in some of the multiplayer servers.
I have got to admit the thumbnail for this video has been coming up for the last couple of days for me and I've been bypassing it , now I'm sorry that I did . Very fascinating I love it !
Hi?. I am looking for Il-2 1946 custom mod that enabled the Sabre fighter jet (USA) to fire Aim-9 Sidewinder. There were special settings to set. Was it Histomod? Was it another? And how to install it?
yes it has a purpose, to be compatible to my old pc so i can enjoy flight sims like everyone else i recommend the mighty 8th if you want more "roleplay" or want to focus more on the bomber side of things great game i still play now
This is an interesting one. Modern flight simulators have much higher fidelity than those of 16 years ago. Modelling the 10 crew stations inside a B-17 is a big task which probably takes the same time as modelling several other smaller aircraft. Then you have to think about adding flight models for 4 engines, the weight of the aircraft acting correctly, the nuances like what to actually do with navigators, flight engineers etc, I'm sure it's difficult. Hopefully 3D scanning technology will make it a bit easier to model these.
I haven't played 1946 in so long! I have it on steam though. Tell me, what extra mods do people fly with apart from the stock steam install of IL2 1946 these days? I would love to reconnect with some flyers in 1946 and relive the old times! Joined your discord
**I posted this a day early the event is on SATURDAY** Thanks to the players that have convinced me, this game still has legs and is worthy to revisit occasionally. For that reason we are launching a ONE DAY EVENT for IL-2 1946. We aim to have a 100 person PVP Pacific mission in 1942 Guadalcanal. It will includes multiple fleets and carriers. If you are interested, click this FAQ and read it all and you will be able to join us docs.google.com/presentation/d/1QEAD3Pfy0liNobNOg63AXQgdxalwh6nlP8XJgux5A-o/edit#slide=id.p Space is limited so we will see how we manage with turnout. If we get too many people, I pre-apologize.
Sadly I am busy this Saturday but I am hoping it goes so well, it become a few times a year event! :D
Yea sat afternoon sucks :( that's the day us older people go to home Depot, bed bath and beyond, I just don't know if we have enough time . Night time so much better
@@fastfed Mid-day allows for the European community to attend without staying up until 4am.
Bugger, I missed it.
@@jumpingjimmy1072 me too :(
When it comes to realism in flight sims, emphasis is put on flight dynamics, cockpit modeling, and the internal workings of aircraft. It saddens me that this seems to be at the expense of everything else. Too little attention is paid to the theater of operations, the scale of modern warfare, the density of ground assets, the intelligence and complexity of air defense networks, AI behaviors, logistical concerns, and the overall realism of the environment itself. I think that IL-2 1946 and Falcon BMS are still relevant because, in spite of their age, they do much more to model the full scale of their battlefields than anyone else.
I really can't say much more than what you said. It seems like there is a trade between fidelity and scale and I prefer scale as it makes the environment much more interesting.
Completely agree, very well put.
That is why I prefer IL-2 over DCS for WW2. DCS has an amazing plane modelling but they forgot about everything else in the way so you don't feel you are in WW2. IL-2 achieves this with its wide variety of planes, dynamic campaign, alive multiplayer community, etc. but it still has shortcomings like lacking 4 engine bombers or the PTO that for some reason were achievable 20 years ago but not now.
I just wish the AI in IL1946 werent all simultaneous gigachads and retards with aim and their ability to have 100% throttle with no consequence
@@Al-Azraq I still don’t get why they don’t have four engine bombers 🫤
@@Al-Azraq sorry what's PTO?
Crazy how this 15 year old game has been a part of my 21 year old life since I can remember. Being 6 years old and seeing "IL2 1946 crash compilation" thinking im watching real footage is a feeling i wont forget lol
Exactly my experience down to the my age, and those compilation videos. I feel like there’s an entire generation worth of plane nuts because of IL2 1946
I'm 22 and I remember playing this stuff all the time on my dad's computer, I remember how excited I was when they first announced 1946
@@tobyj762 its definitely what got me way into planes. im only 20, and i started with the original IL-2 and pacific fighters. A few years later, i saw an ad for 1946 and i remember begging my parents to buy me the cd lol
Bro why we all had the same thing going on in our childhood with IL2 1946. I use to dream about the day I could actually play it, watching all the compilations on UA-cam. 😂
@@tobyj762 Same story here. I started with Forgotten Battles and have so many childhood memories attached to it. It's the main reason why I'm still in love with old planes and their "raw" nature.
This game is phenomenal. Our modern focus on graphical and clickable fidelity is a bummer, because the depth and breadth of experience in this sim is unparalleled.
You can manage complex flight and engine management in IL-2 1946 through keyboard bindings and HOTAS it’s just not dare I say it: cockpit clickable. In this respect IL-2 1946 is every bit as hardcore as DCS. I’d take IL-2 1946 over DCS any day followed by FALCON BMS. Just something wonderful about these to SIMS.
@@robertsartino7664 I'd argue for great battles too. Having played both DCS ww2 and the IL2 series I'd trade clickable cockpits for a somewhat realistic feeling environment any day. DCS is about the planes sure but IL2 is about the experience. I understand that we dont have heavy bombers in Sturmovik but damn I've had some of the best moments flying a ju 87 or a lagg with wing mounted 50s while communicating with ground guys fighting a tank battle and providing cas for them. Anddd if you want clickable cockpit I havent played it myself but I believe tobruk was getting and overhaul or something to include clickable cockpits.
@@MalenkiyKabanchyk there was a guy who created clickable pits for iL-2 1946 models way back in 2008. i usually dont share link for other videos in comments but as its hard to find here it is lol ua-cam.com/video/zRnmN8nsFTw/v-deo.html
@@MalenkiyKabanchyk Same
One thing to point out - this game is not 15 years old. It's nearly 20 years old - the 1946 is actually a reissue/compilation of Il-2 Forgotten Battles, which was released in 2003 , with expansions added and put as single installation just for convienience
To nitpick: _over_ 20 years old. The first IL-2 was released in 2001, Forgotten Battles being a direct continuation of it, containing most of its contents along with all the new stuff it added.
Still great flight sims to this day
Forgotten Battles was the full version of the original IL-2 Sturmovik by Oleg Maddox. I think 1C Maddox made the Aces and Pacific Fighters expansions before IL2 1946.
I played the original il2 in 2001 and il2 1946 in 2006
Man, I love the Pacific Theater. I really wish we could have it adapted on the Great Battle series.
they tried but couldnt find enough data on the japanese aircraft performance and interior etc
Combat flight sims really went one step forward, two steps back.
We got tons of graphical advancement, a lot of cockpit simulation, occasionally nicer DM, and adequate systems simulation.
However, we completely lost scale and performance (less AI on the ground and in the air, fewer players on a server, etc.), turning especially the WW2 experience into a quite limited experience.
DCS especially loses in the important ways to old games that manage a better experience (BMS or IL-2:1946).
Yep, well said.
If we had a low poly sim, it would look worse but how immersive it could be? Also it could hold VR with clickable cockpits. Like VTOL VR. Also it could hold alot more players and AI units on the map.
@@tauront That's why I chose to support Tiny Combat Arena. Right now it feels more like a proof of concept, but I believe that game might spark a change in direction just like you describe. Then again, it's disheartening to see the reaction of (younger) gamers who seem to have this hyperfocus on graphical fidelity and who view gameplay depth and immersive context as 'nice to have'
@@oilslick7010 yeah i saw that game but unfortunately it wont support multiplayer for now. I am really sad cause it looks really promising and thats the only thing I buy games - multiplayer. So maybe in near future.
@@oilslick7010 you were once like that. we were all once like that. You have to get fooled by the bad candy man who just plaints sugar water on stone to learn how scams work... None taught the new gen. They still believe in the power of love and that talking and screaming will help win against people who can just wipe them from the planet.
Then they will come home from office one day and realise its all just pretty pictures and no fun and start complaining about the old gen.
tho i really wish some new trend comes along... and the normies fuck off. might be at the cost of all these new games. but im good with not so much money but good team devs
tca seems to crash and almost burn tho
I have this game, use to play the hell out of it...haven't played it in 10 years, but will reload it again today. Plus I got a new high end video card too.
remember playing Il-2 alot in my teenage years. incredible how well it has hold up
Same here. Alas, once I grew up (grew old?), the time and energy required to enjoy it the way I used to slowly vanished... 😮💨
But I still have it installed on my retro-gaming PC under Win XP. Just like X-Wing Alliance, it's a masterpiece that has never been fully replaced. And aww, look at all these mods we can find on the internet. 🤩
The fact that IL-2: Great Battles stil does not support 4 engine bombers is just beyond me. One of the few things I can complain about an otherwise great game but not having 4 engine bombers... 1C says is an engine limitation, but it is their graphical engine, they can update it to support them. It is just an economical decision.
Why PTO and 4 engine bombers with large formations were achievable before but not now?
You re right. GB rests quietly in my SSD.
I guess they just don't see it as a worthwhile investment of time and money since playing bombers is a very slow and methodical gameplay compared to the fast action of fighters and attackers and reworking the engine for a niche play style within an already niche game can't be smart business wise. Although I really have to question how hard it could be?
Is it just so they can milk us and drip feed paid content or what? I resisted moving from 1946 until very recently, i do want to come back, still have multiple installs with different mod packs on my system but as i fly in vr exclusively i been staying in gb,dcs and msfs...
@@no.7893 Bombers are a huge draw for me. I happen to like flying high and heavy, and even hopping around the seats to save myself if someone picks me up.
We still play this masterpiece!! Making some variation between HSFX, BAT and TOAS... and like someone said. Nowadays you have to take off and kill or be killed. Today you need to stimulate the brain to enter in combat as soon as possible because you need to show it on social media. It is not the spirit of IL-2 1946. So that's why we continue playing this and teaching new players. Big hugs to everybody! From Patagonia, Argentina!
How does HSFX compare to the BAT mod? I’ve only ever played BAT and I absolutely love how many planes from different eras it offers.
@@apollodiomedes203 the thing is too much planes with differents performances make them very weak. And, of course, you must see the simulator like a big pool of codes. There are a lot of crashes inside the game that we don´t see... HSFX doesn´t have these.
If you still play then you should check out our future events on our discord, we are starting to organize. We did not think there would be such a large turnout, the event was a big success and we are moving forward with more regular events.
@@Enigma89 thank you for your invitation... in fact there are a lot of activity between argentinian and brazilian comunity. There is a campaign with 30 more or less every week
@@grupoaereo9 you guys got someway I can join that?
I've played the A2A simulations B-17 bomber for FSX way back, and I've always dreamed of this level of simulation, full fidelity with damage modeling and damage accumulation, doing actual bombing runs and still getting regular faults like an oil leak.
This is what makes full-fidelity combat simulators interesting to me, I don't want just a more complex Il2 sturmovik, I want to fly FSX into combat. I want to apply my real world knowledge as a real pilot into a simulator, and then pushing those limits by going into combat.
I love your videos, thank you for making them!
Great video, need to play this game again. I played the original Falcon 4.0 from 1998 a lot and it's quite unbelievable how it had a dynamic campaign at such a scale with 1998 computers.
We have another event this saturday, cehck our discord
'1946 is such a gem, i still play it for the pacific theatre! Was incredibly ahead of it's time, modern sims still haven't outclassed it. Of note Il-2 cliffs of Dover has the wellington in it's Desert Wings Tobruk expansion, but yep, heavy bombers are so lacking today!
Been playing Il-2 since the original came out. It's one of my favorite legacy combat sims.
ED's half-assed effort in WWII and in some cases the modern era, are showcased by this 15 year old game. They knew how and what to program to make the electronic battlefield, feel complete. Authentic theaters with their targets are already in place. You dont have to spend hours putting together a mission and hand-placing everything. Glad you all are continuing this game's life.
If you still play then you should check out our future events on our discord, we are starting to organize. We did not think there would be such a large turnout, the event was a big success and we are moving forward with more regular events.
1946 has one massive advantage over the current IL2 game, it has a modding community which has fully flushed out the list of aircraft to make it so you can pilot just about any aircraft from the conflict.
Yeah, and beyond
I really hope this brought the game back. It was a childhood favorite and I miss that I could never enjoy it as an adult.
You should hop on our discord if you would like to play with other people, it's been very fun to revisit.
Great points enigma. This helps explain how fatigue sets in for mission makers and server operators who want to reproduce historically sensitive environments in these sims. When so many of the fundamental air power elements are missing.. it gets frustrating, fast.
I feel sorry for the people that see games like IL2 1946 and BMS and stick their nose up at the graphics and no VR because they truly are missing out. Maybe I'm just getting old, but there is literally so much depth and gameplay experience in these games that simply do not exist in any modern sim. DCS WW2 is a complete joke currently and really a joke overall when it comes to anything outside of the cockpits. I do play it for cold war era but that's because I really can't get that anywhere else. IL2 GB still undoubtedly holds the crown for WW2 aviation but the seemingly self-imposed limitations the dev team have set down are starting to come to a head. I can fire up BMS and have a fully modeled F16 in multiple bloc versions and actually feel like I'm taking part in a real air war. Or pick any theatre I want from WW2 in IL2 1946 and fly realistic missions with massive maps, AI, and flight modelling.
Well said
I would love to play 1946 but no vr support kills it for me because I don’t have track ir (I have tried it at a friends house and didn’t like it) and I hate using buttons on the stick/throttle to look around. :(
@@lilhead9454 I have an X52, I use the little thumb mouse on the throttle as a free look. Works a lot better than having to bind the padlock views and it's also a faster movement. But I've been playing flight sims since I was little and TrackIR wasn't even a concept yet so I'm just use to it.
Man we are getting that old I played the original il2 sturmovik in 2001 saying shit state of the art graphics then I played il2 sturmovik 1946 which to this day is the best il2 sturmovik my beautiful southern wife is 43 I'm 37 and our 19 year old son when we played older games on the ps4 would be bitcing about the graphics I'd say son it ain't about the graphics it's about the story line and game play not none of that new school shit they are putting LGBT shit in newer games
2:21 its been a while since I played 1946 but what I remember exactly about it is how good the AI was at dogfighting
Me too. AI was really competent, indeed. Maybe a bit too much...
I just used your guide to update IL-2 1946 and it's great!
I had this game before I even had internet
il-2 1942 + B.A.T. "The Jet Age"
. and using kosova/bulkan map building MASSIVE modern war battle was so much fun. missions can be SOOOO big before it crashes or stops working vs modern games..
That parallel with the GM & Toyota market share was smart, I'll use that again someday I'm sure ^^
👨🎓
I recommend using reshade to improve graphics. And I agree with you, this sim is amazing and you can create your own missions in minutes with hundreds of units and the AI in my opinion is more challenging. This sim needs a reboot and convince more people to play it online.
Yep, the only AI that is better, when set to at least veteran, is the Cliffs of Dover Blitz AI.
More than a few times when taking part in one of the team Fusion Events I couldn't tell the AI apart from the enemy players.
The only time I could tell it apart was when the AI would overcommit and not know when to call it quits.
Among the "modern" sims it is the only one that really scratches that old IL-2 itch.
I am a bit worried to use reshade to ruin potential recordings as i heard it is very monitor specific
I was in a squad that used CFS2 which is also a good old combat flight sim. The entire world was modeled with proper latitude and longitude. We were as hard core as it gets, you had to learn Trigonometry and how to flight plan and figure out what a course to the target would be from your carrier, the time it took, and where to find your carrier to land an hour or two later with the carrier fleet zigzagging as it would have in real life. You had to be able to do 10 carrier landings in a row without crashing. Great great fun.
When IL2 1946 came out some of us migrated to that, upgraded eventually to 4.10 and the UP3.0 mod with the Zuti multiplayer. The mission building in IL2 is off the charts as is the AI. You can have fighters fly CAP, strafe ground targets, etc... and as you note here the bombers were flyable complete with bombing sites. Though the entire world isn't mapped in 3d the maps in IL2 are huge and varied. I created the Pearl Harbor attack with 80 AI Japanese aircraft coming in on the routes they took that day and attacking the ships they attacked which you can place anywhere in the on the water in the same numbers as on Dec 7th. IL2 1946 with the Zuti multiplayer and either HSFX or UP3.0 is superb.
After 5 years, I'm finally going to reinstall this game. You've managed to convince me to do so with this video. Thanks
Let me know how it goes on our discord or if you to find people to play with
Excellent video. Il-2 1946 is what got me into flight sims in the first place, this was such a nostalgia trip. It is indeed a shame the modern games don't offer much in the line of big bombers or complex managment.
I have always enjoyed this game very much when I was younger. I always toyed with the mission editor and made my own missions. Had tons of fun playing out my own style of missions which included air raids, air intercept, and ship hunting as well as made my own airbases. This game is cemented in my head as a great game.
Yep, I was an admin on a server, made maybe 50 missions for it. Great days.
I agree with everything you said. I started playing IL-2 1946 with mods and it is amazing. The fact you can play with your friends on the same plane and be the gunner and they can be the pilot is amazing. With mods this game is amazing, you can play cold war jets for free, without research or grinding. Obviously, The graphics of the game or not the best. Personally, I prefer games with quality content over graphics. Even the community that plays IL-2 is less much toxic than war thunder. Il-2 1946 is the Gigachad of all Flight war sims or in other words, it's the TOP-G lol.
Check out our discord many feel as you do
I totally binged this back in the day, and in fact, it's basically over 2 decades old already. First release was in 2001, FB came in 2003, AEP in 2004, PF in 2005 and 46 in 2006. The engine has seen a good bit of improvements with FB, but hasn't changed much since that.
Oh , BTW, it has one noteworthy feature that I totally miss in DCS (dunno how it is in GB to be honest). Skin transfer. If you have a custom skin on your plane, other players will eventually get it during the mission and are able to see it without downloading and installing them prior.
That skin transfer feature worked for Pilot face textures too!
Was really cool discovering the folder where it put them all, and seeing the menagerie of Homer Simpsons & Captain Kirks.
@@gravytrader Totally... I genuinely have Homer in my netcache folder as well (I never cleared them and always made backups), it's a good treasure trove full of memes. I can even remember seeing a pony or two way before it was cool... :D
The dynamic single player campaigns on 1946 are still unparalleled for me, and in part because I like playing bombers. It's relaxing, its generally just a nice sightseeing flight, but I still have objectives and keep me occupied. It's also really fun trying to limp back to base after taking ungodly amounts of damage.
You are absolutely right. I have flown Il2 since the 90's. Thousands of hours. And there is still a lot to explore in terms of editors, building missions, exploiting scenarios, items etc. ps sorry for my English (I live in Italy)
been playin 1946 since i was a kid, the great community over at sas1946 keeps her alive and well, honestly i prefer it to the modern sims because of like you said all the stuff you can't get in other ones. even without bumping all the realism settings up to the max shes still a fantastic game to mess around with and have fun playing. thanks for making this video and im happy i stumbled upon it. it helps keep the community strong~
This looks sick! I am gonna give IL-2 1946 a try tomorrow. Spring break is starting up so it's the perfect time to get into more sims. I've owned it for a decade but never bothered to mess with it.
Pacific Fighters was my introduction to the IL2 series. So I bought the 1946 bundle on Steam when I bought Battle Of Stalingrad. I remember becoming a septuple ace in one campaign.
1946 with BAT and VP Modpack remains an absolute banger
Hi there, currently running BAT, are you saying it's possible to combine BAT and VP Mod? If so, any links to detail how?
If you still play then you should check out our future events on our discord, we are starting to organize. We did not think there would be such a large turnout, the event was a big success and we are moving forward with more regular events.
Sweet video here! It's always great when this old game still gets love to this day.
I remember HSFX being my first taste of a fully modded IL-2 1946 installation back in 2013, and after that I never played this sim the same way as before. Nowadays I use the Battlefield Airborne Tactical (BAT) mod and it completely transforms the game across the board in ways that only IL-2's large, supportive, and passionate modding community can deliver.
Truly a game changer, and one that sets this deservingly relevant title apart from modern sims coming out the woodwork nowadays.
I have played BAT once and I had a lot of fun but I need to reinstall it again. For the event we are sticking with HSFX because it is easier. If we get enough interest in this we may make more re-occurring events.
The scale of this game just bring the pacific war to another level. It is also amazing to fly a ground attack with naval planes over korea, if anyone wants to try it
I don't remember if I had 1946, but I did have the original IL-2 through Pacific Fighters, and I LOVED that game and its add-ons. I remember doing a bombing mission in a B-25 in the Pacific, and on the way back lost an engine to a Japanese fighter. I made it home, but some crew were injured and of course we had a smoking engine. But it reminded me of a story I heard about a similar experience my great-uncle had had flying planes for the RAF and USAAF in Europe during WW2. I always have fond memories of playing this.
And that's how simple Russian guys made a flight simulator, which no one has been able to surpass so far. I still remember how in Moscow I bought a magazine that had the very first review of the simulation game "Ил-2: Штурмовик".
For me, the best thing about IL-2 1946 FB is that I can play it on a 8 year old £150 very basic i5 laptop with integrated graphics and the settings turned all the way up.
For an enthusiast on a budget, this game is just about the best you can get. I use the VP modpack and the flight models and AI are excellent while the variety of airframes available is unsurpassed.
I have yet to try multiplayer but it would be good to know that there was an active community out there should I ever want to try it out..
Il2 1946 was the best, is the best, and will be the best
back in the day i had Pacific Fighters, the extention of il2 1946. i had some awesome careers with the A6m2-N waterplane and with the Ki61. awesome how it was done for that time
The float A6M was the Rufe. A lot of fun to fly.
Questo gioco è uno dei migliori mai esistiti, grazie anche alle mods implementate ha un potenziale da fare invidia ai più moderni simulatori...se solo si applicasse un aggiornamento significativo al motore grafico a parer mio farebbe impallidire i più famosi Il2BoS, DCS FS ecc ecc ecc 😈💪
saw this recommended.
this is the game that made me beg for PC joystick back in the days (once its almost a third of national monthly min wage). played it on and on, never used that joystick for anything else or till now, other game.
thanks for giving it some love now, it makes me remember good old days
What an awesome video. Always look forward to seeing you in my feed.
I appreciate that!
Ashamed to admit that I bought IL2 in a GOG sale years and years ago _and I still haven't played it despite having a HOTAS setup sitting here on my desk_ .
Just busy with other things I guess, but this video has made me determined to reinstall and fully explore the game for the first time. Thanks.
Awesome stuff guys. I love IL-2 1946.
This is the first flight sim that I really got into, and I still think it's one of the best when it comes to singleplayer content. Can't remember how many P51's I've crashed just to learn how to take off and land. It also has a large modding scene, the game's size is as big as modern flight sims after installing the mods,lol.
Thnx Enigma, thnx all - what a gas!
Looking forward to the next event 8~)
cheers!
Any time!
I still remember where I was as a kid when I first read about the original Il-2 Demo (I was sitting on my Dad's living room floor reading my PC Gamer and immediately was angry that I was 8 hours from home and couldn't install the game) but I was pretty much hooked from that point on.
I got home, immediately ran into my room and installed the game and from then until now, Il-2's been a staple on my hard drive in one form or another.
I've had a blast with all iterations of the game, but it's just hard to touch the vast scope you get in Il-2 1946. I love the Battle of X series, and the graphics are really great, but it's hard to beat all of the great variety you get with Il-2 1946. Want to fly early WWII Russo-Japanese planes? You've got them. Soviets vs the Finns? That's there too. Want to do Italy vs the RAF? You can. You've got pretty much every single theater of WWII at least represented in some way.
I've had some weird fascination with the Soviet/Finnish battles ever since Il-2 Forgotten Battles introduced me to the conflict, and it's great that I can still enjoy it today.
A heavy yes, it's the 5 Bucks FS of your Dreams. I've been playing it from time to time since i was a child and never got bored of it. When new DLC's for the recent IL2 are dropping i usually check the plane first in the 1946 just to compare.
If you still play then you should check out our future events on our discord, we are starting to organize. We did not think there would be such a large turnout, the event was a big success and we are moving forward with more regular events.
Still the only game I've played where it constantly feels like you're really, truly grappling with a temperamental machine. Really results in incredible tension and dramatic effect
Oh man, it was so fun playing it online on HyperLobby, to this day it's still a great flight sim. The flight and damage dynamics were absolutely stellar for 2006.
There is a Lancaster mod for DCS, just has not been released yet - if that's popular, I am sure we might see official module status or even other devs turning their heads and making plans of their own for future modules
Thanks for sharing. I really only play multiplayer so DCS mods are sort of off the table for me. If the major DCS WWII servers added it, I would try it out
il 2 strumovik is an amazing game,trully one of the most realistic simulators ever
Playing mostly DCS in VR these days, and remember we were talking about how awesome it would be to play in VR like 20 years back when we were playing original Il-2. Great stuff, nice community, good memories. We used to organize ongoing events/campaigns against other squadrons, with 30v30 players. It's not that modern games are not better in every technical aspect, they are, but times have changed, and it's proof that good graphics and realistic flight/damage models are not everything. It's amazing what imagination can do - it can turn a couple of blurry pixels into vivid, living worlds.
"It's amazing what imagination can do - it can turn a couple of blurry pixels into vivid, living worlds." well said!
Been flying in IL-2 46 for a year now, still one of the best sims i ever played
Miss this game dearly, played it
for years but it doesn't
load on steam anymore
Ask for help on our discord we will help you
I still have all my origional IL-2 disks, but I don't have a rom anymore. But its so cheap on Steam, I think I'm gonna get it again. You've sold me now.
You should check out our future events on our discord, we are starting to organize. We did not think there would be such a large turnout, the event was a big success and we are moving forward with more regular events.
very fun video to watch. thank you for showing me this old gem.
You bet
Another completely forgotten Flight Sim is Strike Fighters 2. The dynamic campaign and the sheer amount of aircraft is still unmatched to this day.
There's also tons of mods (that are still being released!) spanning from WWI to Desert Storm.
I've had il2 1946 since I was 15 years old, it remains the only il2 game I focus on
The 1946 IL-2 was, is and will always be a benchmark in simulation. It has it all, thanks to the team of Oleg Maddox and hundreds of modelers, who have made this simulator a fucking marvel.
I can remember playing Il 1946 for the first time more than a decade ago and tail gunning in a soviet bomber on the campaign mode. We got blown to pieces over a German airfield and the intensity of the whole scenario seared itself into my memory
Oleg Maddox is a genius, This sim is still great in 2022, So much content, Research and a pretty steep learning curve etc, Anyone getting in to WW2 flight sims needs to get this, It's cheap as chips and there are tons of mods for it. I've even got the original IL-2 Sturmovik boxed edition, I will never sell it because i adore the box art!
If you still play then you should check out our future events on our discord, we are starting to organize. We did not think there would be such a large turnout, the event was a big success and we are moving forward with more regular events.
Il-2 still rocks!!!
There is something to be said about sims that are just a lot of fun!
I remember Fighter Duel on the Amiga. It started out as Corsair vs Zero, but the later versions included a LOT of great fighters and was so much fun to play despite the limiting factors of the time.
Same for Jane's WWII and EAW (European Air War). Man, it was so much fun to go up against giant formations of US bombers in EAW. I have yet to see that equaled!!
The modern sims are fantastic, but there are some elements from the older sims that are missing.
I miss so much Pacific Fighter in multiplayer. Taking off from a carrier, one hour of flight to find nothing and then return hoping not to crash in the sea. But when you were able to spot something it was a show ! Modern gameplay don't allow that anymore. You will have to find your target in minutes ortherwise your server is going to be empty. There is only large bomber in Flying circus now.
Was is Zekes vs Wildcats server?
Another benefit of '46 is that you don't need an insane monster rig to run it at 60fps on a busy server. Looking at you, DCS.
Anyway, great to learn that there's still an active community. I think I might get into it again :D
I've been playing what would become IL-2 1946 since I was 4 years old maybe younger when my dad got FB and PF where I sat on his lap and he taught me how to fly. In just a few years I was booting up mainly PF. As a kid I loved flying the TB-3 and Betty bombers and later the Pe-8, IL-4, B-24D and He-177 on IL-2 1946 (I tried Mods and had fun with the B-17 and Wellington but wasn't a fan overall and it took up too much space that I would rather save for MSFS). Since this video was released more Collector Planes like the IAR 80 and Li-2 have been added to IL-2 Great Battles but the rest are just planes which don't really add anything new: the Bf-109G-6A/S, Teardrop Canopy Spitfire Mk. XIV and La-5F; the WACO Glider technically adds something new but its use for even SP is so limited that it's not worth it. I really wish that instead of those 4 they had made the B-25 flyable. That would give us something new to GBs.
It's a real shame that flyable Allied bombers are greatly lacking in IL-2 GBs and the earliest we can *expect* a flyable B-25 is many years down the road. Whereas this year we'll get a flyable B-17E in IL-2 Cliffs of Dover, followed by a flyable Lancaster next year and a flyable B-17F and B-24D in the following installment. All their work is being done in pretty much a shoestring, yet they're meeting combat flight simmer demands with not only flyable heavy bombers but many Battleships and Heavy Cruisers to name a few when Battle of Kuban and Battle of Normandy at most pumped out a destroyer as the largest ship in both installments.
IL-2 Cliffs of Dover at the very least deserves to be on par with IL-2 Great Battles right now and it wouldn't surprise me if it overshadowed it.
You can control almost every aspect of the cockpit instrumentation and engine controls by assigning to a HOTAS or keyboard bindings.
I started flight sims in il2 1946 when I was 14 and I got my very first hotas for it, it's very sad that not many people truly understand how good 1946 because it still has the most number of flyable aircraft and it has really good ai
I love how even in quick mission mode the ai AAA will fire at your aircraft. makes for a more realistic experience
Dude this looks amazing. I've owned IL2 for years but I always thought of it as a weird Russian plane sim
This game is like Richard Burns rally in the simracing community. The graphics are very outdated, but it it still one of the most accurate and complete simulation games. I remember playing those games as a kid just to mess around, but I never fully realised their potential ! (Also, the music from the menu still plays in my head whenever I think about IL-2)
The only game that had proper 128 players online working.
Want to do something about this? Do an interview of the guys making the Lancaster mod. If you want a heavy bomber in DCS, there’s your shot. Spread the word and make sure the mod creators know it’s something we’re interested in buying. They’re interested in becoming 3rd party devs for DCS.
Played IL2 almost from the very start and keep getting back to it, mostly for the exact reasons you mention. That said, I didn't really try the newer IL2 games much, they look great. But the scale of IL2 1946 is not matched
Realism and representation of actual theatres aside, flying a bomber would actually be a nice change. I suck at fighting and flying a heavy escorted aircraft, simply dropping bombs (don't know if it was that simple) on a target sounds good.
It's not too difficult, once you can operate the bomb sight. My dad used to be insanely good at it, taking his flight to high altitude (while the escorts fought below) and striking with almost pinpoint precision.
He had some good stories, especially from the PvP campaigns they did regularly.
This is why games like this and Steel beasts will always have a place in my sim lineup!
I haven't tried steel beasts yet but i have heard it is very good
I modded this game to the brim, i have litterally every mod and it was really hard but it is so fun, so many obscure planes you can also mod it to drive tanks and cars and the countless scenarios make this the best military flight sim in my opinion.
If you still play then you should check out our future events on our discord, we are starting to organize. We did not think there would be such a large turnout, the event was a big success and we are moving forward with more regular events.
I spent a lot of time playing this sim when it first came out in the early 2000s. I was 18 at the time. Fun times. I need to fire it up again!
Sturmovik series has always had extreme longevity. Back in the day you'd buy a boxed version of Sturmovik #1, boot it up, realize your PC is a potato, and then re-boot it up years later on a new PC and the game still looks very cutting edge.
100%
Still the best combat sim ever... contentwise it's unmatched
100%
I played this game so much 13 years back...
I have always suggested in the IL-2 forums to make the B-25 and the B-26 playable. The Allied forces lack a proper bomber aircraft and these aircraft are good ‘substitutes’ to a lacking heavy bomber. The devs argument for not having B-17’s or the other mentioned flyable is simply because “they require more space to get to a proper bombing altitude”. I call BS and air spawns are always an option as seen in some of the multiplayer servers.
Kinda surprising that a game released the year i was born is still so good
Il2 1946 is so much fun in VR when you get it working
I have got to admit the thumbnail for this video has been coming up for the last couple of days for me and I've been bypassing it , now I'm sorry that I did .
Very fascinating I love it !
Hi?. I am looking for Il-2 1946 custom mod that enabled the Sabre fighter jet (USA) to fire Aim-9 Sidewinder. There were special settings to set. Was it Histomod? Was it another? And how to install it?
Nice cloud details I think we can import those bits to fsx and such from cfs series too
yes it has a purpose, to be compatible to my old pc so i can enjoy flight sims like everyone else
i recommend the mighty 8th if you want more "roleplay" or want to focus more on the bomber side of things
great game i still play now
This is an interesting one. Modern flight simulators have much higher fidelity than those of 16 years ago. Modelling the 10 crew stations inside a B-17 is a big task which probably takes the same time as modelling several other smaller aircraft. Then you have to think about adding flight models for 4 engines, the weight of the aircraft acting correctly, the nuances like what to actually do with navigators, flight engineers etc, I'm sure it's difficult.
Hopefully 3D scanning technology will make it a bit easier to model these.
I haven't played 1946 in so long! I have it on steam though. Tell me, what extra mods do people fly with apart from the stock steam install of IL2 1946 these days? I would love to reconnect with some flyers in 1946 and relive the old times! Joined your discord
Check out the faq in the description it will answer all of your questions
If only i could get this game to not close the second i open it
why does everything apart from the planes look better than the other games in the IL-2 series
omg I accidently try to move my mouse to look around lol
I started playing this 2 years ago and my jaws dropped. I dont even have joystick, I play with mouse and keyboard