- Patch 1.0.21.1 - "Old Faithful" - 11 September 2026
A small patch today and an explanation. We shipped last week in haste, and in our haste we neglected to explain the ramifications of the improvements that we’ve built into the game. We introduced a pretty far reaching change to the environment, both the sky and terrain and we were focussed too much on how new and shiny this was and not enough on how the changes would impact those of you with lower spec machines. We understand that many of you are accustomed to running the game with graphics settings set to “Detail” and having a build land where those same settings cause the game to run very poorly is understandably annoying. We are working hard to ensure that as many people as possible can enjoy improvements to this beloved game, but modernising the engine does, unfortunately, need us to re-visit the minimum specs - modern capabilities, including a 60fps 4k terrain system and new GPU ef…
- Update 1.0.21 - "Old Faithful" - 1 September 2026
Today is a good day. Today we ship a build. This one is the culmination of our efforts to transform the terrain rendering in the game from 30 year-old tech to modern. And we’re super happy with the result. Today’s build brings:all new terrain system (including atmospheric haze);all new astronomically correct GPU rendered sky;performance and quality enhancements to the texture damage system;JSON editable historic missions including a new 7th historical mission (Oshersleben);Improved target object rendering; they’re now visible from much further out making for an improved bombardier experience The bulk of the terrain work since our last update has been to drive quality through performance. Performance drives quality because the more tiles we draw the more detail we get and the better the terrain looks - for this first pass we’re topping the quality out at 11 4k textures, each of which nee…
- Dev Blog #9: Environment - 27 May 2026
For the past few months we’ve been hard at work on what we hope will be a major refresh to the environment rendering. We’re nearing the end of our work, but we’ve got a few things that need to be tidied up, bugs to fix and testing to complete before we can ship it. We’re updating the terrain rendering with a whole new architecture, the sky rendering to a modern MIE-based approach and volumetric clouds. All of which are some of the most requested features.In the meantime we wanted to share a bit of the behind the curtains technical detail about the work as well as some screenshots to whet the appetite. Terrain SystemOriginal GameBack in 1998-99 when the OG terrain system was built it was bleeding edge, state of the art stuff. Having the ability to draw a procedurally generated landscape the size of Europe at 30fps on PCs with less RAM in them than I have in my Garmin watch (and probably…
- Update 1.0.20.1 - Thunderbird - 30 January 2026
This is a small patch update addressing some issues with difficulty.A special shout-out goes to Matty (@esmatty), Tom (@Crabby) and Erik (@Stadl0r) for all of their help with this build.FixesDamage: Reduced likelihood of damage to fuel tanks and engines.Crew Initiative: Less congestion in the bomber, more sensible decision-making.Enemy fighters will now always spawn in the air. Brave the deadly skies of occupied Europe!
- Update 1.0.20 - Thunderbird - 19 December 2025
This build contains major improvements to two key flight AIs.A special shout-out goes to Matty (@esmatty), Tom (@Crabby) and Erik (@Stadl0r) for all of their help with this build.FixesTaxi AI: More or less completely re-written. Getting the squadron into the air is much less of a crapshoot.Fighter AI: A blend of old and new. We've brought back a lot of the OG fighter behavior but kept a bunch of its newer capabilities. The result? A much, much, improved fighter experience. We hope you enjoy it!Port-side flak hits no longer guarantee broken undercarriage, making for less stressful landings.Small but mighty; mission planning altitude now defaults to 25,000 instead of 30,000 feet.42-38050 ThunderbirdIt's a simple story of a B-17 first assigned to Vern L. Moncur on 23 January 1944 and retired March 22, 1945. She shepherded 583 airmen through 112 combat missions and brought them all home inj…
- Update 1.0.19 - Sir Baboon McGoon - 11 September 2025
Features- Crew are now promoted - Fighters spawn using old airtower method if specified in RiverAndRoadsDB.lmf (CreateEnemyFightersInTheAir = 0)Fixes- Cabin smoke now much more visible - Fix for mission and bomb markings on plane - now goes to 24 - Fix for crash in escort fighters on particular dates - Fix for navigator and repair stats not incrementingModdersJson file summaries of the mission document and db is now created before and after each mission42-3506 Sir Baboon McGoonReturning from a mission to RAF Bassingbourne, Sir Baboon McGoon ran out of fuel, possibly due to ruptured fuel lines. It made a belly landing in a sugar beet field in Suffolk. Its recovery was featured in the June 1944 issue of Popular Science magazine. As a testament to the legendary toughness of the B-17, once it was jacked up onto its own landing gears, and some mobile repairs done to the engines and propeller…
- Update 1.0.18.1 Hotfix - 25 March 2025
Hotfix for fighters not spawning
- Update 1.0.18 Chow-Hound - 24 March 2025
Features Editable Serial number for Bomber commander and Squadron Commander Aircraft Steam SDK integration Steam Achievements Bug Fixes Fix for crash when saving a game with no name Fix for pause key press not unpausing game Fix for quit dialog not working with pause Fix for crash on load game Fix for navigator pingpong between lost and not lost Fix for crewman remaining after bail out Fix for crash when game over 42-31367 Chow-Hound By early August of 1944 the allies were pushing south of the beach head in Normandy. The allied plan relied on heavy bombers to soften the German lines. These missions were often considered 'Milk-Runs' by the crews, as they were usually unchallenged by German fighters. For the mission of August 8, 1944 the 91st would send three squadrons of B-17s to hit German positions that were confronting the Canadian First Army south of Caen. B17 42-31367 Chow-Hound had…
- 1.0.17.1 Hotfix - 28 January 2025
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 here
- 1.0.17 Ain’t it Gruesome - 24 January 2025
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 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…
- 1.0.16.1 - Hotfix - 7 November 2024
Special thanks to our Discord community for finding and reporting a number of transition crashes, both with full information and full respect. - Bomb Bay to exterior - Gun firing in quick missions - Bombardier instruments to cabin Do you also want to be part of a special community? Join our discord today!
- Update 1.0.16 - Norma-J - 7 November 2024
Features Compartment UI now has additional 'status' icons. These show fire, injury and repairable mechanical issues, and will be white, yellow or flash red depending on severity Strategic map (particularly for squadron mode) now has extra target information with target priority and current damage state, allowing better mission planning Control data overhaul - Part 1:Data. Controls are now stored in plain text files, and are keyed off of device serials, rather than index provided by OS. This is the first part of a set of controller changes to come, and will mean easier binding process for a wider range of peripherals. Note that this first change is geared more towards joysticks and throttles. Game Pad control will be addressed in future updates Fixes Re-Enabling allied fighter control for Campaign and Squadron mission Fix for crash in P-38 Norma-J In October 1943, during a raid on Munste…
- Dev Blog Update: Controls - 17 October 2024
Your controls may need a rebind after the next update. For the last few weeks we’ve been working on updating the way B17:The Mighty Eighth handles controls. This has been a top to bottom change involving configuration and game systems. The original game stored all data in a binary options file. Controller information is stored based on the order that windows presents the controllers to the game, which means that adding or removing controllers can mess up player’s bindings. Default controls were also stored this way, making it tricky to alter the game to add new bindings. We’ve updated the default control bindings to be in a human readable standard JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) format, this will allow us greater flexibility to add new controls and fields. We’ve also updated the user’s individual control bindings to include the unique identifier of each control, meaning your bindings…
- Update 1.0.15 - Jersey Bounce Jr - 18 September 2024
Features More B17 Cockpit Dials & Gauges, including elevator and rudder trims, fire extinguisher controls New indicator to show/enable/disable AI engine management Skill information in rose controller Cockpit lights are activated Fixes Landing AI now uses engine management Bombardier action and instrument view masks have been fixed Jersey Bounce Jr. It was radio operator Forrest Vostler's fourth mission in B-17 42-29664 'Jersey Bounce Jr' on a mission to Bremen. After the B-17 had bombed its target, it was damaged by Antiaircraft fire and forced out of formation, making it a target of opportunity for German fighters. The aircraft was hit by multiple 20mm cannon shells, two of which exploded in the radio compartment, severely damaging Vostler's legs, chest and face, including shrapnel in his eyes. The severely damaged aircraft limped most of the way home, with the crew jettisoning any ex…
- Update 1.0.14 "My Prayer" - 6 September 2024
Update 1.0.14 - My Prayer This patch contains an updated virtual cockpit with most dials and gauges implemented. Lights and switches will be added soon afterwards. It also contains optimisations for main memory and video memory, and fixes for controls. Features B17 Cockpit Dials & Gauges B17 Cockpit Camera Controls Updated Action View: HAT and Padlock controls Instrument View: F4-F8 keys to go directly to OG views. Arrow keys to cycle through views including new views. Window View: Mouse look and Instrument Snap control (defaults to Ctrl-P) to enable cockpit interaction mode. Useful for some hard to reach places from other views like the Prop Pitch levers. Fixes Memory optimisations, to prevent framerate issues for some users Main menu will no longer wrongly map to HOTAS throttle controllers Fix for crash to desktop when a crewman is unable to get a next viable position My Prayer 42-571…
- Update 1.0.13 - "Tondelayo" - 22 August 2024
Update 1.0.13 - Tondelayo This patch contains major underlying changes to the damage system to alleviate frame rate issues when taking damage. A new olive skin has been added and the patch also contains a number of other fixes. Features - Olive skin - There's been some deep changes to the way that damage changes skin textures, rewriting the system to work on hardware. This should alleviate frame drops when there is a lot of damage happening to multiple B17s - Rationalisation of fighter attack waves Fixes - There's a fix for sliding targets while looking through the Norden Bombsight - There's been a fix for joysticks with throttle and rotational control to allow these to be bound Tondelayo B17 42-29896, 'Tondelayo', was named after a Hedy Lamarr movie. It was hit by multiple 20mm shells during a raid over Kassel, including several incendiary shells to the fuel tanks, but failed to ignite…
- DEV BLOG #8 - Update 1.0.12 - Memphis Belle - 25 July 2024
Update 1.0.12 - Memphis Belle B-17 F 41-24485 'Memphis Belle' was named after pilot Robert K. Morgan's sweetheart, Margaret Polk, who lived in Memphis Tennessee. It was one of the first B17's to complete 25 combat missions, after which it was returned to the United States to help sell war bonds. It inspired two films, a 1944 documentary, and a 1990 feature film. It was restored in 2005 and is on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio Watch The New Update Showcase Video New Features New B-17 We’ve modelled a brand new B-17, with the top level of detail coming in at just over 50,000 polygons. To achieve this, we had to make numerous behind-the-scenes improvements including reconstructing the original model and rig from the compiled version, and then upgrading the import/export tools and pipeline by an order of magnitude. The enhanced B-17 model conta…
- Update 1.0.12 "Memphis Belle" - 25 July 2024
Update 1.0.12 - Memphis Belle This patch contains new high definition B17s Features - New B-17, with the top level of detail coming in at just over 50,000 polygons. - Cheyenne Tail Turret - Upgraded Texture Damage - Physical Damage Model - Historical Liveries - Serial Numbers - Dynamic Crew in external view - Rendering Improvements - Optimized Graphics Settings B-17 F 41-24485 'Memphis Belle' was named after pilot Robert K. Morgan's sweetheart, Margaret Polk, who lived in Memphis Tennessee. It was one of the first B17's to complete 25 combat missions, after which it was returned to the United States to help sell war bonds. It inspired two films, a 1944 documentary, and a 1990 feature film. It was restored in 2005 and is on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio Ensure you follow the game for updates on the roadmap and patch notes. Microprose
- B-17 THE MIGHTY 8TH REDUX - DEV BLOG #7 - 21 June 2024
Greetings Folks, We’ve been working hard for the last few months to deliver the fully updated HD ‘4k’ version of our latest B-17 aircraft model. It’s been quite the journey, with a lot of twists and turns along the way. The new model tops out at 50k polygons, compared to the original’s 2.5k, which ironically is now the polygon count for the lowest level of detail. We even use the original model for the OG crew member in the HD B-17, so you can see each crew member in detail and inside the aircraft. We felt today was a great opportunity to share more specific details about the work accomplished already, and how that translates into the features you’ll see in our next game update. Tech Improvements -Scene Groups Increased from 64 to 128 Allows for improved damage meshes -Updated “Skin” Damage System (Bullets, Smoke, Oil, Decals) The original game used many textures that were much smaller…
- Update 1.0.11 - Susan Ruth - 21 May 2024
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 wit…
