Cliffs of Dover Final Patch is Released!!

And

It's a crock of shit...

So, no real surprises that so much is left unfinished, like the AA graphics settings not working, or the abysmal AI routines.  No, the real surprise is that the Devs have added insult to injury by wasting time on an additional non combat crappy plane, and wait for it, lasers.

I kid you not, they really believed that would make the game better?

Anyway, a bit late but here's the patch notes.

"We're very happy to introduce a slew of new improvements and additions to the game exactly a year after the last official update.
We are hoping that this patch finally makes this game worthy of the Il-2 Sturmovik name and that simulation fans will give our game another look and a new chance.
NOTE: This patch is incompatible with previous game versions when playing online.
The current version contains the following changes:


PERFORMANCE

* Performed a huge amount of work improving both average and minimum FPS in the game.
Most recommended-spec machine will see increased average FPS and a significant reduction in the micro-freezes that had previously plagued the game. Their frequency, duration, and overall FPS impact will be greatly reduced or completely removed.
* Completely rewritten rended pipeline, reducing CPU load;
* Rewritten texture manager, reducing stutter when loading new textures;
* Moved landscape geometry generator to its own CPU core, reducing stutters;
* Optimized tree code, reducing stutters when moving across landscape or rotating camera;
* Moved grass generator to its own CPU core, decreasing stutters during low-level flight;
* Moved all building and vehicle damage models to be pre-loaded, rather than dynamically loaded when they are destroyed. This increased mission loading times and memory usage, and reduced stutters when blowing things up;
* Improved multithreading in many other aspects of the code, improving minimal FPS on most multicore machines.


AIRCRAFT

* Added a Su-26 acrobatics plane.
You can toggle airshow smoke by injecting oil into the exhaust manifold. This is done with the WEP button by default. The default smoke is white. You can select other colors by selecting corresponding loadout options.
The plane also comes with four easter egg weapons that can be loaded onto the center pylon:
- Shotgun – fires explosive pellets with everyone’ sfavorite green tracers;
- Laser – fires a beam that sets an enemy plane alight. Effective distance is 700m;
- Antimatter mortar – fires anti-matter spitwads;
- Railgun – fires a shell that generates electromagnetic pulse that in turn destroys enemy subsystems, especially engines.
* Added Hurricane MkI and Spitfire MkI with constant-speed propellers and 100-octane fuel.
* Conducted a huge amount of work correcting and improving aircraft flight models as well as most engine models. All work was based on historical flight test data or flight manuals.
* Corrected negative G cut-out for carburetor engines. The effect will be noticeable at around +0.1G.
* Corrected the mixture control level on Hurricanes and Spitfires. It is now push forward for Lean, pull back for Rich. With that, moving the throttle lever to idle will return the lever to Rich.
* Corrected (increased) low-altitude speeds for most Brutish fighters (Spitfire MkI with DH and Rotol aircrews, Hurricane MkI with DH and Rotol aircrews).
* Corrected fuel flow calculations for most aircraft.
* Corrected (increased) radiator drag when it is opened.
* Corrected throttle control. The entire range is now useful.
* Corrected overspeed sound. It will now steadily increase in volume depending on airspeed.
* Made corrections to rough running on non warmed Merlin engines. Engines still require to be warmed up and won’t work properly when too cold.
Please note that engines still start with oil and water at colder temperatures. With Hurricanes, please keep throttle back until the temperature is at least 45 degrees C;
* Fixed issue that occasionally caused planes with landing gear raised to still show it in the down position;
* Corrected rough running on Merlin engines above 11,000 ft;
* Corrected control surface angles on the Hurricanes according to historical documents;
* Added drag to canopies opened in-flight on all aircraft;
* Greatly increased the effects of punctured radiators on engine temperature to make the effect more noticeable;
* Corrected boost operations on British engines;
* Fixed the inaudible hit sounds online bug;
* Fixed the issue that occasionally caused never-ending Stuka horns online;
* Corrected issue with the display of vapor trails;
* Corrected default trim tab positions on most axis aircraft;
* Disabled WEP for British fighters using 87-oct fuel;
* Bf.109
- Corrected rudder behavior.
- Corrected auto prop pitch operations. Max RPM target should now be the proper 2400 RPM;
- Corrected radiator drag;
* G.50
- Corrected temperature models for the engine. Also added +100 boost for WEP mode.
- Corrected (increased) horizontal speeds.
- Fixed engine heat balance that had previously prevented listed HP from being available at all altitudes.
- Added +100 boost that can only be used in emergency mode.
- Corrected weights;
* BR-20
- Decreased never-exceed airspeed.
* Spitfire Mk.Ia
- Fixed the top speed above 18,000 ft.
- Added pitot heat controls.
- Corrected (increased) Mk I's airspeeds at altitudes above 6K m.
- Corrected Mk II's speed performance at all altitudes.
- Corrected Mk IA 100-Oct Mixture Lever operation;
* Hurricane
- Corrected (decreased) airspeeds at all altitudes alongside Spit II.
- Corrected Hurricane boost indications. Previously shown +5.5Lbs Boost with full throttle, now properly displays +6.25 from Ground level all the way up to Full Throttle height;
- Corrected Hurricane 1 100-Oct Mixture lever operation. It no longer requires Mixture lever Forward to maintain smooth engine operation with Boost Cut out activated. Mixture Lever should now be properly held Back for Boost Cut Out operation;
- Corrected Hurricane weights. Please note that in-game weights are slightly different from those used in RAF documents, especially what the game calls empty weight. Our fuel is also slightly heavier. The weights in-game have been further finetuned to match desired performance.
- Decreased empty weight on the Hurricane improved turn rate, climb rate, and speed characteristics at all altitudes;
* Blenheim Mk.IV
- Fixed multiple issues with the engine model. The engine no longer overheats at nominal RPM.
- Decreased maximum allowed airspeed.
- Corrected the engine model.
- Corrected altitude performance.
- Decreased never-exceed airspeed.
- Corrected engine modes at all altitudes (RPM, boost, fuel flow, etc).
- Implemented smooth flap control.
- Changed the airscrew to two-speed.
- Corrected empennage values that created too much interference during take-off.
- Affixed springs to bomb bay doors.
* He-111 and Ju-88
- Corrected radio compass animations.
* Bf-109
- Corrected cockpit animations for trimmer and flap chains.
- Corrected flap model
- Corrected the flap sounds
- Corrected the pitot heat light.


VISUALS

* Added racing pylon models for air races.
* Corrected Z_Offset parameter in online missions. Mission objects will now properly offset based on mission designer’s input;
* Corrected radio beacon code online;
* Fixed rare crashes connected to improper Road or LinearObjectManager usage in custom missions.
* Fixed the plane label bug, where the label would hide behind the clouds;
* Corrected brightness for various light sources;
* Fixed the black front line issue;
* Various other minor fixes and improvements.


NETWORK

* Corrected the bug when attempting to connect to a password-protected server after previously entering an incorrect password;
* Corrected the issue that sometimes disabled the country selection controls when connecting to a server;
* Corrected issues with some plane sounds online;
* Exorcised ghost planes;
* Corrected the behavior of “jumping” cars and some other vehicles;
* Fixed the issue where GamePlay.gpAirports() could return incorrect data.
* Added a new feature: user-made map labels that can be used in scripts.


PHYSICS & A.I.

* Fixed some non-working orders, removed others from the list. There are no more orders available to the player that the AI does not follow.
* Added a request for available targets;
* Turned off friendly fire for ground battles (improving FPS);
* Added the ability to query current waypoint for scripts;
* Told AI pilots not to commit ritual suicide when their leader crash-lands;
* Fixed out of turn take offs for AI pilots; "

Why I Love Flight SIms

A Call to Arms Fellow Armchair Pilots

There is nothing that I would have loved more in life than to be sat behind the controls of a jet fighter when I was a kid.

I went to the right school, got the right qualifications and was set for a career in the R.A.F until I met with an unfortunate accident before I could sign up.

My career was over before it started. Surely I thought, there must be another way to satisfy my dream of flying?

There was, and I found it in Flight Simulators.

So, what are Flight Simulators?

Simply put, they are a genre of video game that recreates the sensation of flying, and of recreating the flight model and systems of the plane you wish to fly. Sure, they can be complicated and intimidating to start with, and very few can claim to be "pick up and play" titles, but no arcade style flight game can come close to what these big hitters can do.

You Had Me at Simulator

Flight Simulators can be broadly split into two groups, Combat Flight Simulators and Civil Aviation Flight Simulators.

In these upcoming articles, I aim to provide you, the reader, with a run-down of what I consider to be the best Flight Simulators you can get your hands on right now in both categories. These are personal opinions, and I have bought and currently fly all of the sims I will go into here, I would also like to add that I am in no way affiliated with any of the companies I talk about, other than as a paying customer who enjoys their products!

It's Official, Development STOPPED on Microsoft Flight!!

So, it's time for Flight to fly off into the sunset.  I for one, am gutted.  First off, it was a bold idea that has not been given the time to mature into the great game it could have been, but I guess the writing has been on the wall for a while.  By completely ignoring the flight sim crowd's reaction and feedback to the game, they shot themselves in their collective arrogant foot.

Secondly, I have bought every bit of DLC.  So what the hell do I do now?  How long will the servers stay on for this huge investment, seeing as you need to be online to play?

So, heres the official statement.

Microsoft Studios is always evaluating its portfolio of products to determine what is best for gamers, families and the company, and this decision was the result of the natural ebb and flow of our portfolio management. Many factors were considered in the difficult decision to stop development on "Microsoft Flight" and "Project Columbia," but we feel it will help us better align with our long-term goals and development plans. For "Microsoft Flight," we will continue to support the community that has embraced the title and the game will still be available to download for free at http://www.microsoft.com/games/flight/.

Source http://kotaku.com/5929141/microsoft-shuts-down-vancouver+based-studio

So, one final note on the passing of this dead in the water flight simulator, FUCK YOU MICROSOFT, you wouldn't know a good idea if it bit you on the arse, and next time listen to your fucking community instead of blocking all comments from the website, retards...

Quick update on Micrsoft Flight Alaska

Geez, I know Microsoft of all people should support "in house" software, but for Christ's sake ditch the damn Windows Marketplace.  Apart from trying to charge me 3 times for the same item then not letting me download it, the software just sucks and makes it damn hard to do anything.  And why the hell allow people to get Flight on STEAM, and then make them use Marketplace and Live anyway...

Anyway, finally installed and checked out, and guess what, its not bad.

However, there area a couple of turds in the punch bowl.  First off, the new plane is without cockpit...  Whilst you might get a shiny new cub, with Arctic Tundra tires, there is little joy for me flying it in an arcade style 3rd person view.  Perhaps a bigger problem is that there is still NO OTHER TRAFFIC, so the whole of Alaska feels even more empty than usual, and is quite depressing.  Even at the airports, there is just no life whatsoever.

3rd major problem, there just still isn't enough to actually do.  It's all very nice flying around, but the frame rates have taken a bit of a battering as well, leaving me wondering if any FSX style missions are going to arrive any time soon before I loose the will to live.

It is just such a shame as it has great potential, but still feels like a step backwards...

Looks like the Alaska update is nearly ready, but alarming news, the plane pictured above will come with the expansion, but once again, the retards are releasing it WITHOUT a cockpit...

Anyway, here's the official line

Prepare for takeoff! While exploring over 600,000 square miles of new scenery, 565 airports and 137 seaplane bases in the Land of the Midnight Sun, you’ll encounter new Gold Rushes, Challenge Courses and Landing Challenges. You’ll also receive a basic version of the Carbon Cub. Get ready to tackle the Alaskan wilderness, coming soon on Games for Windows—LIVE and Steam.