IL-2 Sturmovik: Desert Wings - Tobruk

IL-2 Sturmovik: Desert Wings - Tobruk is the first expansion to the IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover Blitz Edition, a renewed 2011 game. The gameplay consists of simulated clashes with planes from the Second World War, this time in North Africa. Our goal is to gain or maintain control of the strategically important city of Tobruk, and while we're playing, we can play as a pilot of the Regia Aeronautica, Luftwaffe and Royal Air Force.

Mechanics

The rules of the game have not changed significantly in relation to the basic version of the game, they were only adapted to the new environment. During the campaign, modelled on historical events, we can control more than 40 aircrafts taking part in the battles for Tobruk, belonging to one of the three air forces: Regia Aeronautica, Luftwaffe or Royal Air Force. In addition to new flying machines, numerous land and sea vehicles have been added, making our missions more difficult and varied. The tasks that are assigned to us during the campaign are divided into several categories: we must, among other things, support the Allied land forces, cover their convoys carrying necessary equipment to the front or attack enemy transports. AI-controlled planes have also been given a new Artificial Intelligence system, which makes them more realistic in combat than in the basic game.

The available map of North Africa is about 385x385 km in size and shows precisely the city of Tobruk and its surroundings. There are 75 airports, numerous historical buildings, fortifications, an extensive network of roads for ground vehicles, and other locations to diversify the struggle. Apart from the land, a lot of attention was also paid to the fine-tuning of battles involving ships. M ore than 15 cruisers, destroyers, submarines, etc. have been introduced to the game (and can be used on the La Manche map in the basic version of the game).

Game modes

In IL-2 Sturmovik: Desert Wings - Tobruk we can play both single (campaign) and multiplayer mode, allowing up to 100 players to play together. During the game they are also accompanied by dozens of AI-controlled aircraft to make the fights as exciting as possible. In addition, the devs have made available an extensive editor to create their own missions and campaigns and then publish them to others through the network.

Technical aspects

The add-on introduces some graphical improvements to the basic version of the game. Models of airplanes have been made more detailed, new molecular effects have been introduced (e.g. rising dust during take-off, nicer explosions, more realistic smoke). In addition, the range of vision has been increased, the anti-aliasing effect, the appearance of the terrain and the tessellation effect has been improved.