The history of IL2 continued....

IL-2 was met with universally great reviews and quickly built a very dedicated and strong community. The developers have showed incredible dedication to the project, releasing multiple free add-ons for IL-2 that added new content such as new flyable and AI-controlled aircraft, vehicles, ships and many new features. In March of 2003 a sequel was released, titled IL-2 Sturmovik: Forgotten Battles which expanded the series to even more European battlefields, this time including some of the important aircraft from Russia’s Western Allies. In total, the IL-2 line of sims have sold over 650,000 units in Russia, and over 600,000 additional units in the rest of the world.

As the IL-2 series of flight sims continued to grow over commercial and free add-ons from the original developers, it became one of the most comprehensive and detailed flight simulations ever released. Virtually every major aircraft that served anywhere in Europe was modeled, and the series have grown well outside the original Russian Front setting. As the sim had a very dedicated following it was only natural to continue to expand it. Of course, the Pacific Theater of World War II was the obvious choice for the next setting. It presented the developers with new unique challenges, as well as presenting many opportunities for new and exciting features.

 To many, the most exciting feature of the Pacific Theater is simply all the new aircraft such as the famous Japanese Zero, Betty and Val, American F4U Corsair and SBD Dauntless, and many others. Another major feature of Pacific Fighters that didn’t exist before are aircraft carriers. While playing an occasional role in some European battles, they were of course crucially important in virtually every battle in the war in the Pacific. Finally, a whole range of gameplay maps based on historical battlefields gives the player the opportunity to fly over such famous locations as Pearl Harbor, Midway and Iwo Jima.In essence, Pacific Fighters is not as much a sequel as it is a whole new game based on the highly modified IL-2 Sturmovik engine. Dozens of major new features as well as countless new nuances really take this game to a whole new level, where it looks and feels like a whole new game. To many players this is just what it’ll be – a meticulous modeling of the Pacific Theater of Operations, with highly detailed and historically accurate carrier ops with many features never done by any previous flight sim; dozens of famous flyable aircraft; and over a dozen famous historical locations, all linked with a strong dynamic campaign and many multiplayer modes allowing for up to 128 human players in a match.

 However the feature that really sets Pacific Fighters apart is that owners of our previous products can actually upgrade their flight sims and merge it with Pacific Fighters, thus creating an absolutely unique global flight simulations with over 250 different aircraft, 180 of them flyable, as well as hundreds of ships, tanks, trucks and other vehicles from all areas of the war. The player can easily transfer from destroying German lines in the snows of Stalingrad to supporting advancing Tiger tanks in the battle of Ardennes, to defending the fleet at Pearl Harbor. The merged install allows for countless what-if scenarios, as well as a truly unlimited online experience available for free that encompasses in scope and accuracy many pay-for-play online-only flight simulations. Finally, just like with the previous sims in the line, the developer will continue to develop free content add-ons after the release, with at least seven new aircraft already being developed to be made available immediately after the product release.

Oleg Maddox, the lead designer and the driving force behind the Il-2 series of flight sims, has always been fascinated with aviation. He always dreamt of being an aircraft designer, and at the age of 16 he entered Moscow Aviation Institute – the most prestigious Soviet school for aviation engineers. By the time he graduated with top honors in his class, his passion for WWII aviation grew even stronger. While still in institute he was hired by one of USSR’s top aerospace technology research design bureaus. He was promoted time and again over everybody else in his department until he became one of the youngest department managers in the bureau’s history. However in the late 80s Oleg found himself no longer needed. The Soviet economy, air force and the state itself lay in ruins. Thousands of talented engineers like Oleg were let go; Oleg decided to leave his job himself. Oleg quickly adapted to the new economy and ran several successful technology businesses, including one of the first GPS programming businesses in the world. WWII aviation still remained his number one passion, and he used his business travels inside and outside of Russia to expand his reference collection and to visit many aviation museums where he could finally see the famous planes he knew so well.

 Finally, in the late 1992 Oleg founded Maddox Games, a software development company. Maddox Games gained real fame in 1996 with the release of a futuristic techno shooter called MadSpace. It was a hit in Russia, and in 1997 Maddox followed up with a real sensation called Z.A.R. It was one of the most popular games ever released in Russia; a first person shooter most Russian gamers preferred to Doom, Quake and all other FPS titles available at the time. It had exceptionally smooth online gameplay unmatched by any other title on the market. Oleg Maddox and Maddox Games became household names among Russian gamers. In 1999 Maddox Games became affiliated with 1C Company, a well-known Russian publisher and distributor and a new company 1C:Maddox Games was formed that became an in-house development studio of 1C.Instead of capitalizing on his huge success with these titles and releasing more first-person shooters Oleg had other ideas. He saw computer technology advance very rapidly during that time, and finally reaching the point where real-time simulation of complex aerodynamics became possible. Many in his team wanted to make more shooters, but Oleg insisted. They were going to build a flight sim. The rest is history.

Ilya Shevchenko, just like Oleg, has dreamt of airplanes for as long as he can remember. That however conflicted with his early career as a child prodigy violinist. He seemed to be all set to continue playing violin for the rest of his life; however an accident at the age of 18 left him unable to play. He then followed in his mother’s footsteps and turned to computers.

Starting his first business soon after, Ilya suddenly found that he finally had enough spare time and money to pursue his dreams of flight. He moved right next to a general aviation airfield, and for the next two and a half years of his life he religiously flew every single day, flying cross-country every weekend just to log more hours. However as his business grew he found himself unable to dedicate much time to flying, and would go weeks and then months without flying. Just as his passion for flying looked for an exit early previews for Il-2 began to appear on the Internet. After a few emails between him and Oleg the friendship started, and Ilya quickly became one of the most enthusiastic fans and supporters of the sim at that early stage.With time Ilya’s role in the project grew, and he became a dedicated member of the development team, working on the project in his spare time. With his intimate knowledge of aviation as well as computing he fit right in with the rest of the Il-2 gang. His contributions varied from building 3d models of aircraft and cockpits, to creating the in-game training, to spearheading the beta testing of the products.

 Finally by late 2002 Ilya grew tired of his old boring business, and was ready to move on to more exciting things. His first venture into game development was an add-on for Forgotten Battles that added new aircraft, maps and campaigns focusing on the American and German forces over 1944-45 Europe. During its development the idea for Pacific Fighters was born. Pacific Fighters became a unique venture between Oleg and Ilya, with Ilya managing all the artists and most other aspects of development, while Oleg’s original team put finishing touches on everything, and programmed in all objects as well as adding new features to the game.