The State of Flight Simming

[Sticky 267]

I know this subject has been discussed a few times, but I'm curious if opinions have changed with FSW being discontinued. 

Is the cost to develop a flight sim becoming to high for our community?  Is our community aging and shrinking?  Are there enough new people interested? Will another home PC flight simulation developer quit in the near future? Basically, is our hobby doomed in the long run?

I'm not trying to sound like chicken little, but I think FSW ending is a significant indicator. 

[charliearon 3,017]

There already is a major discussion going on about this topic in the FSW forum.  I would rather not have to lock this topic.

[Sticky 267]

Oh, well.... I mean it as big picture, not a complaining fest about Dovetail.

Edited April 23, 2018 by Sticky

[n4gix 4,947]

Generally speaking the costs of development for the plethora of extant sim versions has been going up for the past few years, so I for one am not all that sorrowful to see one of the contenders for my attention fall by the wayside. It simply means I can spend more time on the surviving platforms...

[charliearon 3,017]

10 minutes ago, Sticky said:

Oh, well.... I mean it as big picture, not a complaining fest about Dovetail.

That will be perfectly fine, then. As long as this topic doesn't focus solely on FSW going out of business.

[Sticky 267]

Sometimes competition is good and everyone gets better, and sometimes it saturates a market and consumers are spread too thin. 

I wonder if it's sign that it is simply unfeasible for a developer to invest hundreds of thousands for a market that is shrinking.  I see this as just the first to fall. Honesty, I would be surprised if Lockheed P3D can't justify to cost...let alone enhance the ATC. 

Maybe I'm just being dramatic. 

[SpiritFlyer 987]

It has concerned me that Lockheed Martin is such a big fish and P3D such a small skinny worm...

[n4gix 4,947]

10 minutes ago, Sticky said:

Honesty, I would be surprised if Lockheed P3D can't justify to cost...let alone enhance the ATC. 

Maybe I'm just being dramatic. 

In the case of L-M certainly you are. Were we the target for them you might have a valid concern, but quite frankly we "casual simmers" represent at most the cranberry sauce at a lavish Thanksgiving dinner! While it is a nice little addition to the feast, it is not the least bit essential.

On the other hand, the developers who support P3D are most definitely appreciated, as we collectively represent several hundred years of experience at their disposal...

[SpiritFlyer 987]

Interesting,

I hope P3D flight simulation offerings are doing well in it's central market place among the real-world flight instruction and educational aviation industries. Does anyone here know how they are doing outside of our own circles?

Other than the strictly controlled P3D webpage, is there much notice or information elsewhere?

Kind regards,

Spirit Flyer 

Stephen

 

Edited April 23, 2018 by SpiritFlyer

[ckyliu 1,749]

I share @Sticky's concerns, flight simulation's entry barriers are higher than ever, where will the next generation of flight simmers come from?

With FSW's demise, the only current consumer flight simulator is Xplane11. As enthusiast simmers drop out of the hobby I worry they are not being replaced, are we a dying breed?

Edited April 23, 2018 by ckyliu

[mabe54 17]

Nobody will dare to say what is really missing in Flight Simulators today, not even they and do something about it and cash in all that money laughing all the way to their bank. Like an almost Free Will-y fashion? Yeap!

Nothing we can do until then if there is an ever then, again.

Cheers,

 

[shivers9 1,174]

1 hour ago, n4gix said:

Generally speaking the costs of development for the plethora of extant sim versions has been going up for the past few years, so I for one am not all that sorrowful to see one of the contenders for my attention fall by the wayside. It simply means I can spend more time on the surviving platforms...

Sir, as usual, you are correct! The state of our hobby is actually just a little bit stronger today than last Friday. 

[Buffy Foster 133]

Making third-party developers spread their resources over too many different sims drives their costs up, too.  I think for some, even supporting 2 different architectures is a lot to ask.

Really, I think our hobby is doing real good; we have nice 64-bit sims, some really amazing new planes and sceneries, and hardware that can run them smoothly.  \o/

Edited April 23, 2018 by Buffy Foster
adding thoughts

[Sartanius 399]

7 minutes ago, Buffy Foster said:

Really, I think our hobby is doing real good; we have nice 64-bit sims, some really amazing new planes and sceneries, and hardware that can run them smoothly.  \o/

+1  At the end of the day, this sums it all up nicely for those of us deeply embedded in the flight simulation experience.  I see nothing but sunny skies ahead.  Competitors will come and go, and that is healthy.  In the meantime, we have some solid platforms to sink our teeth into, and what's better... they are continuing to be developed.  These are good times for the flight sim community.

[Mir // Flightbeam 541]

I can assure you (based on actual stats and sales figures) on the P3D side of things the community is growing.. and has been at a continuous rate for quite some time now. I don't foresee P3D going down anytime soon, quite the opposite actually. We've seen a large influx of FSX users recently switch over to P3D which is very nice for ease of development. 

So if you hear gloom and doom talk about flight-simming (especially P3D) definitely take it with a grain of salt. 

Edited April 23, 2018 by Mir // Flightbeam