Dev Blog #6
Dear Friends,

Today we are going to talk about new character features in our new project "Korea: IL-2 Series." In many ways, this story is a precursor to our next Dev Brief video, but as usual, in the Dev Blog, the story is more compact, while in the Dev Brief, we reveal topics from different sides and discuss subtle details. Flight simulation is a genre where the aircraft is the main character and the people are usually in the background. However, it is impossible to forget about the people, because the presence of their detailed models in the game allows the player to better relate to what is happening. After all, the player is not an aircraft, but a person who controls it.

The term "character" is commonly used in the gaming industry to refer to virtual models of people who play different roles in the game. The main character in the simulator is, of course, the pilot, because it is his role that the player plays. And in our new product, we have added several interactive features for the pilot.
First of all, we have added an optional ability to display the pilot’s body in 1st person view in the cockpit. This feature is especially important for players using VR. The difficulty with this "feature" is the need to create a unique set of pilot animations for each aircraft in the game. However, we decided it was worth it, even though a significant portion of the players did not like this feature. To solve this dilemma, a special option will be added to the game to disable the display of the pilot’s body in 1st person view.

Secondly, as part of the development of our engine in the direction of battlefield simulation, we have added a promising ability for the pilot to get out of his plane and get back in. The way the pilot exits the cockpit is fundamentally different in flight, in negative G, during ejection, on the ground, and during an emergency landing. All of these scenarios are replicated in our simulator.

Third, we are adding the ability to walk, run, and swim if the pilot has landed in a body of water after bailing out or making an emergency landing. In the future, this will make it possible to move from one aircraft to another, or from a vehicle to an aircraft.
In addition to new capabilities for pilots, we have also been working on ground personnel. Cities, villages, factories, and airfields will no longer be empty, there will be people walking around them, acting appropriately. Gun crews will be animated and each crew member or vehicle passenger can be killed separately. To disable vehicles, one of the key crew members — driver or gunner — can now be killed. Functional infantry squads, mortar and machine gun crews, trucks carrying soldiers, and ship crews will be added. We will tell you more about the development of ground crews in our next Dev Blog issues, so stay tuned!