Just a thought but with many of the major world airports having already been created to a high standard by 3rd party developers for 2020 - and with many of these supposedly being prepared to 'port over' to 2024, are we likely to see a shift in the focus of 3rd party developers over the next few years - away from major world airports to focusing more on regional and niche airfields and airports?

From a consumers perspective, being able to use pre-purchased add-ons and scenery from 2020 in 2024 is a great thing - as having to re-buy everything again would have been pretty painful - but I just wonder if that was the right thing from a development perspective and where that is going to leave some 3rd party developers in the years to come.

There's always weather, aircraft etc but many devs currently focus solely on airports - and my worry is that this could become an issue.  Smaller, localised, regional airports are probably not going to be purchased by nearly as many simmers as say an EHAM or an LHR - but what other option will there be, other than to keep hashing out newer versions of the same airports, over and over. 

Niche airports will likely generate fewer sales, which in turn will lead to reduced turnover/profits - so are we also likely to see a reduction in the number of professional 3rd party developers working in this space in the years to come?  You'd obviously hope not - we want the opposite.

I guess you could argue that 2024 has been aimed at a wider audience than previous flight simulators have been and so there is scope for developers to 'cash in' on new people to the sim.

Penny for your thoughts...

Cheers,

Calum

Major airports have so many changes in a year, they are constantly improving...
AMS for example, there are a lot of changes happening right now.
So I guess there will always be a need for updates or new techniques.
But indeed, so many airports are not done yet, so there is still a lot to choose from I guess.

I don't know if any of the big payware devs will move from the larger airports down into the smaller spaces but don't ignore the freeware space when it comes to the those smaller, regional and niche airports. There are some very talented developers out there who are creating, in my opinion, payware quality airports and releasing them for free on Flightsim.to and other sites. @vbazillio comes to mind as one of the more prolific and talented small airport developers out there. Every one of his many releases is an instant download for me and many others. Check out his work at https://flightsim.to/profile/vbazillio . They are true works of art.

 

 

49 minutes ago, CBass said:

I guess you could argue that 2024 has been aimed at a wider audience than previous flight simulators have been and so there is scope for developers to 'cash in' on new people to the sim.

Isn't it aimed at the same audience as 2020?  What larger audience? 

Looks like inibuilds is trying to grab an additional couple of dollars per airport for their "upgrades" based on the email I recv'd from them but I would say there was plenty of room in 2020 for paid developers even when there was a free option on .to  and while some will port some will also offer an upgraded "2024" version.  I am sure there will still be plenty of options.  

Edited December 13, 20241 yr by psolk

4 minutes ago, Malaromane said:

I don't know if any of the big payware devs will move from the larger airports down into the smaller spaces but don't ignore the freeware space when it comes to the those smaller, regional and niche airports. There are some very talented developers out there who are creating, in my opinion, payware quality airports and releasing them for free on Flightsim.to and other sites. @vbazillio comes to mind as one of the more prolific and talented small airport developers out there. Every one of his many releases is an instant download for me and many others. Check out his work at https://flightsim.to/profile/vbazillio . They are true works of art.

 

 

I completely agree.  Personally, I buy the best rendition available of the airports that I fly in to on a regular basis.  But for those I only fly in to from time to time, I'm more than happy with a decent free version off flightsim.to

I guess that's part of the point in that if many people also do the same, you're going to need to really love a niche airport (or have some sort of personal attachment to it) to want to buy it - when there are decent freeware versions out there.  Of course, there will be some who buy the top version of every airport they can - but I dare say for most of us, that's probably not the case.

8 minutes ago, psolk said:

Isn't it aimed at the same audience as 2020?  What larger audience? 

Looks like inibuilds is trying to grab an additional couple of dollars per airport for their "upgrades" based on the email I recv'd from them but I would say there was plenty of room in 2020 for paid developers even when there was a free option on .to  and while some will port some will also offer an upgraded "2024" version.  I am sure there will still be plenty of options.  

I don't think it's a secret that with the addition of things like career mode in 2024, that they are looking to broaden the appeal of the sim and reach out to a wider audience in terms of more casual simmers and gamers - as well as the hardcore simmer nucleus.

I'll be honest, i'm ok with paying nominal upgrade fee's if we are seeing improvements from 2020.  If devs are taking advantage of new techniques etc that are improving the final product, I personally have no issue paying a small upgrade fee for some of my purchases.  Though I realise that this will not be everybody's position on that matter.

It's quite ironic that when MSFS 2020 was launched there were literally hundreds of posts on Avsim saying that no one would need to buy any scenery ever again, because everything was included to such a high standard. It even became part of a campaign to denigrate other sims. Now every day sees new posts comparing add on sceneries, some freeware, but often payware, and it's obvious they are just as widely used in the MS 2020 and 2024 sims as they were previouly in other sims.

42 minutes ago, Biggles2010 said:

It's quite ironic that when MSFS 2020 was launched there were literally hundreds of posts on Avsim saying that no one would need to buy any scenery ever again, because everything was included to such a high standard. It even became part of a campaign to denigrate other sims. Now every day sees new posts comparing add on sceneries, some freeware, but often payware, and it's obvious they are just as widely used in the MS 2020 and 2024 sims as they were previouly in other sims.

I remember it well.  I remember buying treescapes and VFR texture replacements for the whole of Europe for FSX - to try and inject some life in to it.  For me, there's absolutely no question that vanilla out-the-box MSFS 2020 looked exponentially better, in every way, than an FSX that was modded within a inch of its life - so on that basis, I can understand why that would negate the need for the more casual simmer to purchase scenery add-ons for 2020 - but for most of us, as you point out, that's not the case.

Just for clarity though, I don't think anyone is suggesting that here - i certainly wasn't - I was more looking to have a discussion around whether the above might lead to a shift in focus from some 3rd party devs moving forwards.

Edited December 13, 20241 yr by CBass