homepage Forums Air Combat & Civil Aviation IL-2: Cliffs of Dover Just ordered CoD, then read the reviews! Oyy!

Figured I hadn't bought a flight sim in a while to add to the 25 or so I already have on a shelf, saw Cliffs of Dover had come out, ordered the box from Amazon. THEN I read the reviews, which are ALL bad. Not here to whine, i'm sure you guys have figured out what works best in getting this running well so i'm looking for a "Initial Setup Guide" to save myself grief when it arrives next week.

Things like -
Best Patch to apply?
Graphic settings that seem to work?
Sound settings?
User missions/mods?

Thanks, and yes I did look at the FAQ and other stickies but figure there is more concise, up to date info out there.

Best Patch to apply? - Updated automatically by Steam unless you use a beta patch that is released on occasion. Those you have to install manually.

User missions/mods? - Missions and skins can be found at Airwarfare. http://airwarfare.com/sow/index.php
1C has a dedicated Cliffs of Dover forum. People are starting threads about missions and skins there too. http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/forumdisplay.php?f=189


Wheels

The patch is good, in that it improves the colors and sounds, but if you don't want to fiddle around with files then it might be worth waiting for Steam to update your game. Details here: http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3383768/Beta_Patch_Out_Now.html

This thread has a whole bunch of campaigns and missions in it now:
http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3280172/Missions_campaigns_tweaks_scri.html

Graphic settings - turn off the SSAO and epilespy, and really it's the land details and shadows that eat FPS. Depends on your resolution too, but on your kit it should run nicely.

You have a good rig so you will be able to play it ok unless it's at high detail at very high resolution. But at a decent resolution with stuff like trees toned down it will be playable. Yes there are some odd quirks with it but on the whole it's actually a decent game.

Reviews are already outdated as the game has made a lot of progress. Another patch is imminent and will improve things further still. Plu s development is by no means over, and the game is shaping up to be EPIC. So you would have bought it anyway - eventually

Thanks everyone, I don't put a lot of stock in reviews and figured the guys that are actually playing it are the best to ask. I won't be getting it until Friday and am away until Monday so i'll see what's available then. I have no issues dealing with the beta install, but is that the one I should go to or is the "certified" patch fine for now? I have to deal with Steam even though I bought the boxed version?

Thanks again!

Yes steam is unavoidable for installation. Hopefully the official patch is out by the time you've intalled the game.

As you start with low expectations I'm pretty sure you will be positively surprised as the game is very far from the day one release that was almost unplayable...

But please - do apply the latest beta patch as it really makes the game a LOT better. Much better ground colors and the whole sound engine has been replaced which adds a lot to the immersion. And you don't have to worry about "messing the game up". When the official patch comes on Steam it will automatically overwrite the beta patch (or at least it has worked on all the previous beta patches like that).

I envy you that will get the first impression of the game as it is now and not the release version that makes many of us other too negative as we still remember how bad it was

Why doesn't anyone actually list WHERE these patches are? Steam has not updated for months, people talk about these secret Beta patches but I cannot see any links. Same over on the yellow forum. Loads of comments about how great the patch is but no links! What's the big secret?

Well, we all agreed not to tell you but the info slipped out about four messages up

http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showthread.php?t=25901

Well that's made me look stupid hasn't it

Sorry for the rant I just couldn't find it anywhere ! *goes and stands in a corner*

It took a little looking but I had the patch before I even posted here!

Well the install of patch .15527 went normally into Steam and it certainly works very well! Just had a very nice long fly in a Spit low over London with x4AA and everything on high except for trees which are low and grass off as these are big frame killers. There are still plenty of trees even on low and the grass off is no great loss at all.

It looks great and is very smooth. Definitely a big improvement and it's finally getting somewhere now.

Just a tip for anyone installing this into Steam. Right click the zipped folder and click the unblock box (if applicable) then extract into your steamapps/COD folder and if prompted on duplicate files select over-write. It's easy and works perfectly.

So, here is a review from a guy who is actually playing it...

http://www.freewebs.com/heinkill/cliffsofdoverreview.htm

Best of all worlds! 8)

H