Update 1.0.17.1 (29th January 2025) - Ain’t it Gruesome

This build contains user modifiable nose art and control changes
Features

Any PNG added to UserAssets/NoseArt/New can be added to your B17 as nose art. Nose art must be 512x512 or smaller.

Controller gamepad can be bound as buttons

Controller Triggers can be bound as buttons Hotfixes

Nose art preprocessing has been updated to allow for separate port and starboard artwork.

Example logo artwork and template artwork added to UserAssets\NoseArt\New folder

Nose art UV area has been adjusted forward (hat tip to MicroProse discord legend Vipre)

Join the discussion https://discord.gg/7ZacVDyP 42-29863 - Ain't it Gruesome

In 1943, Clark Gable, star of 'Gone With The Wind' was one of Hollywood's most famous actors. After the death of his wife in a plane crash in 1942 he enlisted in the Army Air Forces, joining the 8th Air Force. He flew as a gunner and cameraman on several missions. On 12th August 1943, he was gunner in B17 #42-29863 'Ain't it Gruesome' in a raid over Germany. He had wedged himself behind the top turret gunner for a better view. He almost lost his life when a 20mm shell went through the flight deck, removing the heel of his shoe and missing his head by 30 cm. The footage collected by Gable and his crew was used to produce 'Combat America', a documentary on B17's used to promote war bonds. Brave the deadly skies of occupied Europe!

Update 1.0.11 (3rd June 2024) - Susan Ruth

This patch contains major fighter and AI changes
Major Fixes

Fix for aircraft targeting overflow causing bullets not to impact fighters after a while

Chin, Cheek, Ball, Left Waist and Right waist guns now fire and hit targets
Minor Fixes

Damage is more sensibly applied to physics components, damage to control surfaces will now effect control

When an aircraft is hit with bullets, we mark is as damaged by bullets so that when/if it crashes into the ground we'll count it as shot down instead of 'accidental'

Fix for UV crawling on terrain

Binding a joystick axis no longer blocks keys

Fix for time skip failing due to bombardier after bombing target

Windows Icon
Features

Different enemy fighter squadrons now have tuneable skill levels. The skill level of enemy fighters at the moment random on Mission levels, but will steadily ramp up in 'Attack of the Axis'

All B17 Gunners are now hitting with significantly more accuracy

B17 42-31499 'Susan Ruth' was one of 20 B17s from the 306th bombardment group to bomb the Frankfurt rail yards on 8th February 1944. It was damaged by flak over the target, but remained flyable, however the bomber was targeted by two German fighters over France, killing the radio operator and the ball turret gunner, and forcing the rest of the crew to bail out of the mortally wounded aircraft.

Scattered over the countryside, 5 of the surviving crew managed to evade capture for a while with the help of Belgian and French resistance, but 3 were eventually captured and executed by Nazi partisans. Too injured to make the arduous journey over the Pyrenees to Spain and allied Gibraltar, the pilot, Howard J Snyder, joined the 'The Maquis', a local resistance group, and continued to fight the Nazi regime from the ground until liberated by US troops months later.
Update 1.0.9b (21st March 2024) - 'Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby'

This patch updates gameplay and UI with some other minor fixes, tweaks the fighter behavior and new time bar and fixes a very serious CTD mid-mission.
Gameplay

Reworked fighter attack

Fighters now attack in multiple waves of squadrons (2 waves of 4 aircraft instead of 3 waves of 6) per airbase, instead of single squadrons.

Fighters are now a little more aggressive and will pull out of attacks later.
UI Features

Time can now be controlled from a new UI at the bottom of the screen

Bombardier search/rate toggle now has an icon/button at the bottom of the bombardier action screen

Compartments and stations are disabled when viewing fighters
Major fixes

Fix for crash to desktop related to fighters in historical missions

Fix for crash to desktop when swapping to a fighter and selecting a B17 compartment

Fix for crash to desktop when too many airbases are attacking the squadron
Minor fixes

Scroll Bar now ties to mouse wheel for menus

Training mission typos

Fix for inability to quit pilot training mission

Time bar no longer off the edge of the screen

Select time to reset to normal speed

No longer able to change speed while paused

Icon bar help no longer shows if icons are invisible

B-17 serial 42-32076 was accepted into service in January 1944 arriving in Great Britain on the 2nd of March. It was flown from RAF Bassingbourn by the 401st bombardment squadron of the 91st bombardment group. Dubbed 'Shoo Shoo Baby' by its crew after a popular song by the Andrews Sisters, it flew 24 successful missions, before mechanical problems deep in enemy territory forced the crew to land the Aircraft in neutral Sweden where it was interned. A deal was struck between the US and Sweden to gift several B17's to Sweden for civilian purposes including the (renamed) 'Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby', in return for repatriation of air crew.

Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby is one of a handful of surviving B17's today.
Update 1.0.8 (11th March 2024) - Stormy Weather

This patch fixes a Crash and Start Mission Issue.
Serious

Fixed instant return to debriefing room when starting missions

Fixed crash to desktop on Opportunity for the Axis mission start

Removed 4 pass limit on fighter attacks
Update 1.0.7 (11th March 2024) - Winged Victory

This patch fixes several AI issues and includes some Quick Mission and Front End enhancements.
Bomber Formation AI

Catastrophic collisions should be significantly reduced when formations are turning

Bombers will leave formation if they cannot maintain cruise speed

Note: Flak damage severely impacts the aircraft control surfaces, which impacts the bomber's ability to maintain formation positioning currently. We're aware of this and are continuing to work on improvements to this.
Fighter Attack AI

Fighter->B17 collisions should be significantly reduced

Fighter AI will avoid bomber formation airspace

Fighters will abort and head home after 4 passes (instead of 15 minutes), absent damage, fuel low, out of ammo

When breaking off an attack, fighters will maintain break off posture until clear of the target

When intercepting the target, fighters will abort if they get too close if that have failed to begin Attacking

Gunners will only announce fighters if the fighter is directly attacking
Attack of the Axis

More squadrons, more fighters

Attack wave squadrons are staggered
Front End

Controls can be reset with right click (on the control window on the right)

Text windows in the front end will page up/down with mouse wheel

Please keep the feedback coming and follow the game on social and on the major gaming platforms for the latest updates.
Update 1.0.6 (21st February 2024) - Duffy's Tavern

This fix patches several 'quality of life' issues

Fix for nose geometry

Navigator Map recenters on plane on entry

Radio operator can use book without going to manual

Compartment and station icon bars are accessible externally

Drift adjustment no longer needs the user to depress 'N' in bomb sight

Gun geometry update

Please keep the feedback coming and follow the game on social and on the major gaming platforms for the latest updates.
Update 1.0.5 (16th February 2024) - Hellzapoppin

This is a hot fix for a crash bug when accessing a station with a missing crewman
Serious Issue Fixes

Fix for crash when accessing a station with a missing crew member Minor Issue Fixes

Fix for maps not able to be dragged at high zooms

Fix for Aircraft status wrap after accessing bombardier screens
Update 1.0.4 (14th February 2024)

This week we have focused on issues with AI and physics timing, as well as some quality of life improvements to the bombing
Timing and Stability

Landscape tile generation has been temporarily dropped back to original game rate as it was causing frame spikes, causing integration issues for Physics and AI. The process of tile generation will be reworked to not impact on frame time

Time acceleration has been capped to 8x as higher rates were also causing integration issues

Event Scheduler has had extra guards added

Possible heap corruption fix

Fix for occasional crash when accessing fighter formations via the icon bar
Bombing

Bomb sight terrain window has been adjusted

Bomb sight screens now has drift visible as part of the Aircraft info
Misc

Graphics updated for the radio operators table

Please keep the feedback coming and follow the game on social and on the major gaming platforms for the latest updates.