Greetings all.
There has been a lot of speculation about what the new super pack from SAS~Monty27 will be, so to quench your thirst for news, here is a peak into things to come.
BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front):
* First of all, the name of the new multi-pack is CUP, or Community Universal Patch. It is the ultimate multi-mod pack for IL-2 1946 version 4.12m over the SAS 5.3 ModAct enabler.
Background:
Whereas TFM was The Full Monty because of its exhaustive inclusion of a myriad of existing mods, it caused a lot of consternation to users because of the very long installation process. Then came the promise of CFM, the Compressed Full Monty, a TFM which made use of SFS file compression for more reliable installation, and included an even larger amount of content. But on the "eve" of CFM release, Monty, the meticulous project manager and designer decided to put a stop to it. There was much more that could be accomplished with the new vision that was shared by his principal mod designers : "Let's wait, and let us design a much bigger, and near to all-inclusive pack that will include all major eras of flight covered by IL-2's extensive modded world."
By this time, not only did the team included the likes of Hangar19's RDDR and eMeL as well as SAS' VPMedia, to name just a few, it also recruited the awesome talents of mega-talented-programmer P.A.L, also known as (AKA) Benitomuso, who has brought such products as Total Modder, Visual MOD, the updated Mission PRO, etc. Benitomuso was himself working on his super pack concept, Pre-Dark Blue World 2 (PDBW2). Why not join forces? That is what happened.
Under the leadership of Monty, the new vision was set. Not only was CUP going to include the original CFM World War 2 (WW2) and modern flight aircraft content, it was going to include the World War 1 (WW1) content which was only available as a part of Dark Blue World 1916 (DBW1916). To overcome IL-2 engine limitations, and to make for a better overall product, CUP would be a multi-load environment using SAS IL-2 loader. It would have 3 loading configurations on top of a common infrastructure... The idea was crazy enough to work! And it does.
Here is an idea of what CUP contains:
CUP was created with the idea of segmentation into major modules:
#1) Map Extension Module - this expands the Stock configuration of maps from the current selection in 4.12 to a much more extensive selection including several modded maps. This is available to all subsequent modules.
#2) Dawn of Flight (DOF) 1906-1926 - This is the early flight module, with an emphasis on WW1, accessible through the SAS IL-2 Selector. It includes WW1 ground objects and a healthy selection of WW1 aircraft, including fighters/scouts, reconnaissance, bombers and dirigibles/Zeppelins.
#3) World at War (WAW) 1936-1946 - The IL-2 we all know and love... the WW2-ish era. Think of anything from Spanish Civil War to Alternate 1946 scenarios.
#4) The Jet Age (JTW) 1946 to now - The modern era... Korea, Vietnam, Cold War, and everything else new that modders can throw at us.
Each module is accessed from the IL-2 Selector, so they are separate, but they all benefit from a common core of mods, maps, and of course the IL-2 engine.
There are some surprises and content, but remember, the core of CUP per Monty, is the FMB, and carefully created missions. QMB will be there with some extended content to support Mission Pro, but not all maps will work on every module, so please be patient. We will eventually come with a good solution for QMB.
There will be updates, and your installations can have custom mods, but just keep in mind there will be different mod folders: #DOF, #WAW, or #JTW depending on what module you will be using.
Of course the greatest question is when... We are working as hard as possible to have a good release so please be patient, and good things will happen.
Any questions about CUP and its content, please send them to me. Do not distract the core development team (especially the Hangar-19 and SAS team members), because they have a huge task to complete. If I do not have an answer for you it is because I don't know, or because the answer is not ready for release yet.
Be on the lookout for a preview with several screenshots to quench your thirst for good news...
Best Regards,
UberDemon/danzigzag
www.uberdemon.net (home of classic UQMG for IL-2)
Author
Topic: Preview/Announcement: CUP - Beyond TFM and CFM (28 Feb 2015) (Read 14188 times)
