IL-2 Sturmovik Series

What works

Everything - even my CH stick and pedals work perfectly too. All patches install flawlessly and I have added mod packages too which also work just fine. In game, it's at least as good as Windows.

What does not

I was able to run the game in 'perfect' mode until I changed drivers from ATI 9.9 to 9.12 earlier.

Workarounds

What was not tested

On-line

Hardware tested

Graphics:

• GPU:
• Driver:

Additional Comments

INSTALLATION

Install using your IL-2 DVD first. (wait for install even if 100%)
Some times people may have to copy the DVD to harddrive to bypass EXE executing permissions.

When asked to install DirectX press Cancel.
Install DirectX 9 via Winetricks instead (not required).

Patch to 4.08 -> next 4.09 -> next 4.10 -> next 4.10.1 --> next 4.11 and enjoy the flight.

Swapping Between Versions

To be able to join servers running earlier versions make sure to backup the 4.09 files.SFS and il2fb.exe files.

Create a new folder named "Versions".

In your "Versions" create new folders for each version.  Name the folders by version.

Later when you want to change versions:

1. Select the version.

2. Copy the two files.

3. Paste in the main IL2 folder and replace.

Hyperlobby is a program that connects players with a friendly user interface.

You can be a player and join servers or host a game yourself.

Joining a game is simple. Follow the instructions on the Hyperlobby WINEHQ page.

In order to host from Hyperlobby you must first prepare your network.

Port forwarding info:

IL2 = UDP 21000
Hyperlobby = TCP 1698 

Open conf.ini file. "~/.wine/drive_c/Program Files/Ubisoft/IL-2 Sturmovik 1946"

Scroll down and edit the following.

Change the width and height to match your screen settings.

[window]
width=1680
height=1050
ColourBits=32
DepthBits=24
StencilBits=8
ChangeScreenRes=0
FullScreen=1
DrawIfNotFocused=1
EnableResize=1
EnableClose=1
SaveAspect=0
Use3Renders=0

Warning: Do not reopen the IL2 Setup or go into the "Video Modes" option in game after tweak or all will be reset.

Run setup.

Select the Video tab and select Maximum Settings for OpenGL.

Run game.

Select Hardware Setup --> Video Options --> Picture Quality set all to MAX (excellent).

Run WINE configuration.

Select Graphics tab and disable the Vertex Shader Support.

Disable "Allow Pixel Shader".

Open conf.ini file. "~/.wine/drive_c/Program Files/Ubisoft/IL-2 Sturmovik 1946"

Scroll down and edit the following.

[game]

3dgunners=0

[Render_OpenGL]
TexQual=3
TexMipFilter=3
TexCompress=0
TexFlags.UseDither=0
TexFlags.UseAlpha=0
TexFlags.UseIndex=0
TexFlags.PolygonStipple=1
TexFlags.UseClampedSprites=1
TexFlags.DrawLandByTriangles=1
TexFlags.UseVertexArrays=1
TexFlags.DisableAPIExtensions=1
TexFlags.ARBMultitextureExt=1
TexFlags.TexEnvCombineExt=1
TexFlags.SecondaryColorExt=1
TexFlags.VertexArrayExt=1
TexFlags.ClipHintExt=1
TexFlags.UsePaletteExt=1
TexFlags.TexAnisotropicExt=1
TexFlags.TexCompressARBExt=0
TexFlags.TexEnvCombine4NV=1
TexFlags.TexEnvCombineDot3=1
TexFlags.DepthClampNV=1
TexFlags.SeparateSpecular=1
TexFlags.TextureShaderNV=0
HardwareShaders=0
Shadows=1
Specular=2
SpecularLight=2
DiffuseLight=1
DynamicalLights=1
MeshDetail=1
VisibilityDistance=3
Sky=1
Forest=0
LandShading=1
LandDetails=1
LandGeom=1
TexLarge=1
TexLandQual=1
TexLandLarge=1
TypeClouds=0
Water=1
Effects=0
ForceShaders1x=1
VideoSetupId=17
PolygonOffsetFactor=-0.15
PolygonOffsetUnits=-3.0

Save and test game.

Warning: Do not reopen the IL2 Setup or go into the graphics options in game after tweak or all will be reset.

If anyone has a suggestion about changes to be made to these settings post here or contact Grams79.

If your computer is powerful enough to run il2 on max. details, you can try to enable some extra effects:

1. Set graphics quality to maximum settings ingame
2. In your games directory (e.g.: "~/.wine/drive_c/Program Files/Ubisoft/IL-2 Sturmovik 1946") you can find a file named "conf.ini". Here you can change some details. This also is described in the manual:
3. Go to "[Render_OpenGL]" and change "Forest = 2" to "Forest = 3" to enable 3D-trees and higher tree resolution
4. Go to "[Render_OpenGL]" and change "Water = x" to one of these values: 0 (normal water), 1 (some reflections, shadows), 2 (reflections, shadows, water-dependent wave types), 3 (ultra-quality using shader 3.0)

If your airports flicker, change the following values too:

1. "PolygonOffsetFactor=-0.15"
2. "PolygonOffsetUnits=-3.0"
   

Extended Max Graphics Tweak by Grams79:

Run setup.

Select the Video tab and select Maximum Settings for OpenGL.

Run game.

Select Hardware Setup --> Video Options --> Picture Quality set all to MAX (excellent).

Then follow the instructions above to force highest settings manually in the configuration file.

Run WINE configuration.

Select Graphics tab and select Hardware for the Vertex Shader Support.

Select [✓] to Allow Pixel Shader.

(performance tweak found above)

<gunstat = gunnery accuracy statistic, machine guns, guns, rockets and bombs
<live = number of lives which you spent through the mission, number of KIA of yourself
<targets = main targets on map by map square coordinates
<time = timeout till mission end
<recon air = square with most air activity
<recon grd = square with most ground activity
<logon = password login (if needed);
<planes = planeset limit (if limits is on server)
<vote = vote for map change
<warn = show penalty points
<teams = shows numbers of players in teams

If you try to join a server and you receive the "timeout 1" notice.

The server has a setting active called "check run time" which is used to stop cheaters.

It scans the files of the client to make sure nothing is modified.

In this case while using WINE the CRT thinks that Windows has been modified.

The result is a kick from the server.

The solution is simple.

1. Rename the original msvcrt.dll to msvcrt_old.dll .

2. Add the new msvcrt.dll from a Windows 2003 or WinXP server to your system32 folder.

3. In WINE Configuration go to Libraries tab and add msvcrt making it (native).

File can be downloaded here. Password is "wine".

mirror 1, mirror 2, mirror 3, mirror 4 , mirror 5, mirror 6, mirror 7

This trick may not work when wine prefix has 64bit arch (tested with wine-1.3.18)

So WINEARCH=win32 may be needed when creating new wine prefix using wine compiled with 64bit support:

env WINEARCH=win32 WINEPREFIX=/home/..../IL-2-wine winecfg

If you don't get audio output in il2, first check others apps, esp. wine-apps.

Change settings in Wine Config --> Audio tab --> DirectSound --> Full / Emulation

 Emulation seems to work well for most who may have issues.

Also check ingame settings.

You may need to edit your "conf.ini" file (found in your gamedir).

Replace with (basic example):

[sound]
SoundUse=1
Speakers=2
SoundFlags.reversestereo=1
SoundFlags.hardware=1
SoundFlags.forceEAX1=0
RadioFlags.Enabled=0
RadioFlags.PTTMode=0
RadioFlags.PlayClicks=0
MasterVolume=7
MusicVolume=7
ObjectVolume=7
VoiceVolume=7
MusState.takeoff=0
MusState.inflight=0
MusState.crash=0
MusFlags.play=0
SoundEngine=1
SoundMode=0
SamplingRate=2
NumChannels=0
ActLevel=0
MicLevel=0

Try not to use other audio applications when running il2!

As an alternative you can remove pulseaudio in some cases.

To add own music to il2, you'll have to convert and copy them:

The manual says: "You can add music files at your own discretion via Samples/Music/Directory. The music should be in Windows WAVE-file, MPEG 1.3 format. The files for playback are chosen atrandom."

Use any audio-converter to do so, e.g. "ffmpeg": "ffmpeg -acodec mp3 -i somefile.mp3 outfile.wav"

Now copy the wav-file into your gamedir: (e.g.: "~/.wine/drive_c/Program Files/Ubisoft/IL-2 Sturmovik 1946/samples/Music/")

1. Folder "Crash": (any filename) played on crash
2. Folder "InFlight": (any filename) played inflight
3. Folder "Takeoff": (any filename) played on takeoff / after landing
4. Folder "Intro": ("intro.wav") played as intro
5. Folder "Menu": (".wav") played in menus (depends on nation selected)
   

If you only hear first some "clickers" or only the first seconds, you didn't convert to "mpeg x layer 3"

http://ultrapack.il2war.com

Utrapack is HSFX plus a few add-ons. HSFX was designed for online campaigns using the the Scorched Earth (SEOW) system. Thus, not every mod available was deemed necessary or, indeed, good enough for SEOW purposes. So the required ones were added and the .sfs files re-compressed for for faster loading times and ease of use. HSFX superseded the old AAA UI packs. Ultrapack takes HSFX and adds some of the missing mods that they deem relevant. However, they are not in compressed form, unlike HSFX. HSFX, and therefore Ultrapack, are both designed so that extra mods can be added easily if so wished.

While installing I came across this error.
Error: -1639 Invalid command line

My solution was to upgrade Wine via the Synaptic Package Manager.
ppa:ubuntu-wine/ppa

Then using my console I typed in "wineboot" to restart Windows.

The installation worked fine after without any more issues.