[Dietz]

I agree with this review as far as it goes & love the sim,but there are so many features that don't work or features & planes that were promised and weren't delivered that it has stuck in many people's craw.Don't get me wrong I love the sim,but it is going through a very slow gestation period,unlike IL-2 in which everything worked when it was introduced & steadily added things that also worked. In the past year & a half we've had about 4 beta patches ( one last week..) and I think 2 official upgrades.That has helped.People have upgraded their rigs to make smooth play possible ( the official requirement specs were a joke!)There have been several third party campaigns added which help- the game comes with 2 bare bones campaign options ( very slim considering most of use thought we'd be getting the complete BoB mapped out in the sim..) and skinners are at work too-all good! Negative ? The AI aircraft ( Wellington, Defiant ,Dornier Do-17 et al) are not going to be flyable in the foreseeable future .Neither are new planes of 1940 to be modelled( He-59, Whitley,Swordfish etc.)We have heard the BoB developement is at an end & in future the Eastern Front is the new focus with aircraft all of us recognize from the initial aircraft found way back in IL-2 and perhaps a new map or two of Russia ...somewhere. It has been said Ubisoft is very concerned about competion from the arcade mutiplay sims like War Thunder- World of Planes...and is tilting in that direction(?).
It may be my pet peeve but the IC Official website has to my eyes really dropped the ball.Its almost as if it got its feelings hurt with the sh__tload of criticism it got handed our for what amounted to a Beta version of the game that we have all been testing since release.After so much pre-release publicity , they have retreated to give up as little as possible and it is given to us in a very sterile sort of manner or like pulling teeth.Like the first time they obviously promised too much so now they will just keep quiet until the Battle of Moscow ( working title) comes out.( Contrast this with the Rise of Flight site, that really is a friendly sort of place that really seems to value it loyal fans.RoF had a very shakey start too , but from the start the developers listened & responded with constnt fixes & additional pay-for aircraft- it feels like a world of differnce from one place to another - 1C and CloD could really learn a thing about PR & marketing by taking a stroll over to RoF.)The good news ( they tell us) is that all the improvement in game play will translate back to CloD-fingers crossed there will be a lot of them! Maybe then 3rd party modelers will embrace the sim in more numbers than currently do.
I fly CloD every day- its almost hypnotising to fly over the countryside,following roads & rivers where ever they go - the England & France maps are jaw dropping,as are the other features mentioned above and I feel things wil get better technically given time,but I won't gine up on IL-2 DBW it still is a load of fun! :wink: