[Beery]

One last post from me on this issue, because I don't mean to take the thread off track.

To Joea,

My problem is mostly with the AI planes, not the player's. Every time I go out on patrol my AI buddies get their arses handed to them and I'm left with half my squadron missing. I can't train my squadron to be good because they don't last long enough for me to start remembering their names. Although the average WW2 German pilot's lifespan was measured in years I'm looking at a survival rate for my buddies which is measured in days - and mine isn't much better because all gun efficiency and bullet/shell damage data in the game are overmodelled by a factor of at least ten and there is no way for me to adjust it to suit my requirements.

If the bullet and damage models were not overpowered my average lifespan as a pilot should be similar to those of real pilots. It is not. I've yet to survive the entire war even with the tweaks that are available via IL-2 Manager.

Look, we can argue back and forth about whether IL-2 is a good sim or not, but the fact is, my opinion is backed up by research, whereas the IL-2 apologists' arguments are backed up by pure love of the game. One argument is rational, the other is emotional.

A simulation should simulate. IL-2 does not. It is an arcade game masquerading as a combat simulator. Some people may love the game, but that doesn't mean it's a good simulation.