DTG: What would you like to see in a new Flight Simulator?

[Wobbie 938]

Ok, here goes, please bear with me whilst I get to what we really need/want/would like in a sim.

 

I mentioned 'Die Hard' purely as an indicator that some of us really need a quality, complex simulator, such as one of my guys at work that use PMDG 777 with a built up cockpit. That is why, in my opinion, there is a market for 3 different complexities of simulators. Basic, Intermediate & Complex.There is no Holy Grail out there. As far as hearing that there are only graphic goodies in P3D, a simple check on the updated features at the Prepar3d site will reveal all.

 

It is, or has been obvious that our hobby has been stagnating, with not much change within the released core engines for about 8-9 years. Lockheed Martin saw a gap & got the license for ESP, renamed it & has done about 10-12 mods/upgrades to it & is now licensed as an official training tool, with appropiate hardware, by firms such as RedBird & Frasca. Dovetail also saw an oppotunitiy & is now developing FSX:SE & a new sim based on MS's flight technology. That is where we are at, at the moment., apart from Microsoft coming up with.... "Flight Arcade".. http://www.flightarcade.com/learn/

 

I have been waving the FS9 banner in the past. An explanation... I'm part of a virtual aviation group that mentor about 60 kids, 'The Young Falcons', as part of a 2 year project. Lessons/lectures are given & practicals are flown in FS9. So, why FS9?

It is the only platform, so far, that is stable on the various qualities of PC's we have & the only platform that supports our scenery here in South Africa. Also, at the Air Force Base where we have our club house, Ysterplaat (FAYP), we have built 2x simulators, an Avro Shackleton & an AeroMacci MB326 (known here as an Impala). These aircraft flew from this base.  None of these are available in any other sim platform.

 

So, back to the topic of this forum.As I said before, we need a decent entry level platform to get more people interested in flight simming. Steam has a huge untapped market out there.It would be interesting to know how many new "virgin" users have tried FSX:SE & actually stayed with it. Possibly the majority are those moving from FSX to FSX:SE?

 

As I said, from what another has posted elsewhere about stagnating. Yup, we need new blood. New users & new developers, & a new 'lead-in' type of sim would be great as an intro to flight.

 

FSX:SE has become quite mature, with more & more DLC releases, & that is great, BUT, we want more! Let's face it, that sim engine is getting long in the tooth now.

Will Dovetail have the answer for us by releasing a sim for the well established simmers, or will they offer something to tap their existing user base?

 

Time will tell. It will be great having a decent modern sim engine, BUT, without the add-ons & the support of the developers out there, we got nothing much.

 

So, we got the existing simmers here saying what they would like in a new sim, great, however, that market CAN be hugely expanded.

Bottom line, I surpose, we need 2 new sims. One to attract & expand our hobby, & a second one to keep us 'oldies' happy.

 

Mmmm, could be interesting as well to see what Microsoft comes up with!

[Glynn 405]

Wobbie are you absolutely sure that a Shackleton or MB326 exist only for FS9 ?

[Wobbie 938]

Glynn, I do have Britsim's Shackleton (with SAAF textures)  & Dino's MB326. However, because of our older PC's that we have for the kids, together with the FS9 freeware scenery that we have for South Africa & especially Cape Town, we cannot use FSX or higher. WE actually do not need anything more than FS9, as the kids do the lessons within the sim. We dont need any more bells & whistles. The sim is used as a learning tool.

 

Our 2x sims also have FS9 for the same reasons. It just works, No OOM's to worry about.

[codechris 9]

Nice post, and I agree that bringing new people in, and so increase the market, and so money, is only a good thing. I just hope, like a lot of people round here, it has the realism capability a lot of us round here crave

[Wobbie 938]

There is realism & there is immersion. As I said, we are using FS9 in our sims, & we have set the sims up that we do not use a mouse or keyboard at all. An on/off switch on the panels helps, as does a discreet switch panel.

 

It is great having realism, but we went for the immersion factor mainly, coupled with realism. (real original yokes, pedals etc, but using a screen for guages, scenery & sim controls).

We see the immersion factor so many times when real pilots fly the sims &, when coming in to land, 'bump' themselves in the seat to anticipate landings. We even had a real Shackleton pilot tap the screen guage just like he used to do in the old days. He was so immersed that he did not realise he was tapping a flat panel, instead of an actual guage.

 

Yup, an old sim engine, but, as long as we 'bump' in our seats, perfect for our use. Imagination & immersion rules!

[gizmosellsbunnys 106]

People still use fs9 because of add on cant get for fsx and can run fs9 on average computer without needing to upgrade everything. Even if dovetail product came out in 2017 I doubt will see hardcore people move away from fsx or P3d right away.

[Mossyfly47 18]

Great post bring more people in if you have the money you could really do this

[demiboyx 2]

More detailed worlds, flat ground textures should be banned, every building should have detail, it adds more realism so there is something to avoid when taking off and landing instead of flat houses and buildings.

 

GTA V for example does this very well when flying

[HiFlyer 9,343]

Well, the thread shows a sign of life!

[gizmosellsbunnys 106]

More detailed worlds, flat ground textures should be banned, every building should have detail, it adds more realism so there is something to avoid when taking off and landing instead of flat houses and buildings.

 

GTA V for example does this very well when flying

disagree, as photoscenery is what keeps me using FSX as you can use skyvector sectionals and fly accurately. Dovetail needs to be careful and GTA V approach is not practical at all it's built like a game.

[Lowflyer 97]

60 FPS

 

...at least

[Hirdy2013 104]

Why are we comparing Flight Simulation to GTA V?

 

Only a small portion of a small city is being rendered at any one time....of course it looks amazing.

 

A lot of the base level requirements for a Flight Simulator were covered on the first page of the topic.  Go for it DTG, a lot of potential here.

[Gianluca Garella 0]

Please leave open doors to developers, beautiful add-ons like aircrafts, sceneries, airports, made from the well known brands changed the way you approach the sim.

The degree of realism brought from PMDG, Aerosoft, Ifly, FSDT only to mention a few is to keep in consideration.

The time needed to develop such complex aircrafts like PMDG does require years in development. 

Unless we want a new sim in 15 years, I think dovetail should work close with them to reach the common goal in a reasonable time.

Peripherals interface is the key. I built an home cockpit and wasn't easy. More and more hardcore simmers are getting into the business so please keep an eye on it.

Gianluca

[Wobbie 938]

We need something not too complicated to get more into our hobby.

It is fine wanting a more advanced sim, BUT, as the sim is getting older, so are we.

We need a sim that will encourage guys (& gals) to join us, without being scared off by too complicated planes. The future developers of our hobby are out there. Maybe some have thought that the current sims, on Steam, is just too complicated & controversial, as seen/flamed/debated on so many forums.

 

We need a 'simplified' sim to get guys into the hobby.

We need an 'advanced' sim to cater for the guys that want to learn more.

We need a 'top grade'sim for the guys that want super realism.

 

We want to stop looking for the holy grail. There is no universal answer out there.

[HiFlyer 9,343]

 

 

We want to stop looking for the holy grail. There is no universal answer out there.

 

I think FSX is as close as we ever got. The company made sure there were plenty of tutorials and structured content, and the planes themselves were relatively simple/easy to fly. There was a world of places to visit, a variety of planes, and the graphics were fairly cutting edge for the time. I think those base attributes are why it rules the roost still, so many years later, because it was (originally) friendly to all.

 

Now the users have become a community of enthusiasts, driven to ever increasing complexity, and the original friendliness, of the sim has been largely buried. If you don't learn the mysteries of the blessed CFG. Gods, you almost might as well just give up right away.

 

The hobby has drifted upwards and ossified a bit, and I can only hope DTG moves the playing pieces back closer to the original start, while bringing things up to date.