North America in decline

[barryward12345 0]

Slightly off topic - but I believe still relevant to this posting.Is it my imagination or does this forum seem to be a lot quieter than it has been?? Possibly less interest.?I have been reading the AVSIM forums for several years now - mostly FS9, but now that I have FSx, I only read this one. It seems to me that in the past I could hardly keep up with all the posts and could always get a question answered. Nowadays, there dont seem to be the same number of posters as before and often have problems getting someone to answer a question.Might be just me thoughBarry

[phoenixphire 50]

I have used Nigel Grant's CYVR for FS9 in the past and I found it to be heavy on the framerates. I also use FSaddon's Vancouver+ which also slows things down. The two in concert just slow it down too much. As for Stockholm the scenery it is scheduled to be released by Aerosoft later this sumer. There is also Innsbruck and lisbon and a few others. http://aerosoft2.de/trader/pdf/Release%20list%20engl.pdf

[JSkorna 137]

Summer time in the Northern Hemisphere has a lot to do with this. Pretty normal this time every year.Jimhttp://www.hifisim.com/banners/hifi-community-sigbanner.jpghttp://www.hifisim.com/

[vollmey 0]

My opinion,I consider myself a somewhat avid simmer. I am tired of chasing FS products, meaning I am tired of building new machines, upgrading and so on. It used to be fun, now it's more of a pain in the rear end more than anything. Of course Jim is right, come fall into winter I might think again with being stuck inside all the time, but I am not sure this year. Flight simmming for me is to the point of "What can be better?" And if it is better am I going to spend the money to get the most out of it. I am just not sure anymore.

[phoenixphire 50]

I hear you Dave, after all that it has took to get FSX running smooth and looking good, I am not sure I will update when FS11 comes out. I will be like the die hard FS9 guys sticking with what I got because I have so many addons. I had all the same addons with FS9 but received a lot of discounts for the FSX upgrades, which really helped. With FEX, GEX, UTX, WOAI, FSGenesis, ActiveSky and amazing sceneries and planes like PMDG and Level-D my FSX setup is truly incredible. With the advancements in technology who knows what the next flight sim will look like but who knows how much it will cost to make it run. In addition it may not be backward compatible with sceneries and aircraft and I need the payware quality aircraft, so this may be a big reason that a lot more simmers stay with FS9 or FSX this time.

[ahuimanu 50]

On the 3rd Party development front... the expectations for high-fidelity (across flight simming and 3D games/simuations in general) have driven the development costs up. It takes a heap of: time, skill, and patience to create a top-notch flight-sim add-on. For a crowd like ours (simmers), when the bar is raised, we expect all products to hit that mark. Disappointment, will raise ire - whether it is legitimately founded or not.As has been pointed out in this thread, using the SDK (and beyond) is quite challenging and testing your work is VERY time-consuming and difficult in MSFS. When you encounter incompatibilities and bugs, it is frustrating for developer and consumer alike as the number of variables is as wide as the variety of systems which run MSFS and add-ons.I also think about the weakening dollar and how pricing in euros squeezes the U.S. simmer. So we have functions of purchasing power and perhaps time. Statistics show that Americans work more hours than their European counterparts and Americans are continuing to do so in the face of declining purchasing power.As to hobby culture, I have no doubt that Europe is stronger. There are hobby shops in the U.S. but they are dying off. What software shops that are left in the U.S. but they largely cater to the dreaded console market. Remember 10 to 20 years ago when sim titles were more abundant and military study sims were in their hey-day. Now its all outlandish and cartoonish rubbish for the console - flash and pizzaz with little substance.Lastly, as has been pointed out, scenery coverage in N.A. is already pretty good and many of the default airports are looking good.I don't totally accept some of the anecdotal evidence here indicating that there are more European simmers than North American - but perhaps parity is being achieved were the increase in European participation is changing the balance. Personally, I like to see other areas of the world get some add-on attention. We really need more from Asia but other than perhaps Japan, software piracy is extremely common and paying for add-ons is perhaps not the norm. I know there are good add-on developers in Japan but I don't see their work as commercialized as that of North American and European developers.

[Guest JIMJAM]

Well for starters, my grass does not cut itself.And two, there just is not not anything "for me" to do and I am actually getting bored.I am a active addon buyer but after the initial and breif excitement, you get back into the same old same old.I bought Xpassengers and had FSpassengers but "capt would you like some coffee" and "fasten your setbelts" is gettiing old.I like missions but once you have flown it......What I want is something like FScargo thats random. Maybe a rescue mission generator that simply picks out a point within a certain radious of where you are, you go there and return.Random is key as the scripted stuff just does not do it for me.So basically I have a hanger full of planes and helis collecting dust.FSX for me has turned into a benchmark program and watching the fps display is the main center of interest.

[Mace 1,896]

>I am just surprised at how few North American high>quality airports there are for FSX by now. I have KORD by>FSDreamteam and I know KJFK is coming along with KDFW. Although not of payware quality, and if you're expecting FlyTampa do not expect that--I have in fact updated KDFW...see FSX Scenery here in the File Library...in case you grow tired of the default TerminalD-lacking DFW.I was unaware that any payware vendor was doing KDFW.>are many existing airports for Europe like, EDDF, EGLL, LEMD,>EBBR, LHBP with LFPG, In addition to what others have said, I think Europeans have more time for diversions like FS, than Americans do.I've lived in both Europe and the US and that is my take on it. RhettFS box: E8500 (@ 3.80 ghz), AC Freezer 7 Pro, ASUS P5E3 Premium, BFG 8800GTX 756 (nVidia 169 WHQL), 4gb DDR3 1600 Patriot Cas7 7-7-7-20 (2T), PC Power 750, WD 150gb 10000rpm Raptor, Seagate 500gb, Silverstone TJ09 case, Vista Ultimate 64ASX Client: AMD 3700+ (@ 2.6 ghz), 7800GT

[vollmey 0]

Jeff,Why is the console market a "dreaded" market in your opinion. Now, I am by no means an expert between console's and PC's. But I own a PS3 and a 360 and I am amazed and what they can do.To me ( again to me ) developers have one machine to gear products too and not multiple PC machines with who knows what kind of owner / owners behind it. The only problem might me the add-on market, but both Sony and Microsoft have marketplaces for add-ons already, so that might not be a problem, I don't know.I know it's a bit off topic. But I am curious so sorry mod's I am going off topic.

[ahuimanu 50]

That market has drained some talent and investment away from my preferred platform... the PC. Perhaps I am just oldschool and rooted in the model of the 1980s and 1990s, but I still feel the PC is a superior gaming platform for things like simulations.It is a personal preference and mean no offense to those who enjoy the console. That said, I will be very despondent the day that MSFS comes out on the console. I was miffed when they were demo-ing FSX with the 360 controller.Just personal preference and I am surely out of step with the "market" in any case.

[vollmey 0]

Jeff,I see your point of view as far as PC as the superior gaming machine. The 360 is to me not the console to run a Flight sim, but the PS3 has the ability to do it. In fact just hook up a USB keyboard and mouse and the basically have a PC. Some have even loaded Windows on the PS3. Microsoft trying the flightsim world on a 360 would not surprise me at all. In fact I am shocked it has not happened yet.Back to the original point topic, chasing the PC Hardware world gets old and expensive. And like I said it seems that developers would be more inclined to create add-ons due to the simple fact of one machine they have to work with, not multiple types of PC's with multiple configs.No offense taken either Jeff, I am still there in the PC world. But the console world seems to be coming on strong.

[phoenixphire 50]

FSDreamTeam is definitely doing KDFW. It is currently in development and will be released after KJFK. There is some discussion on the subject in the KJFK backdoor in the forums. I believe preview 8 or 9 in the 2 or third page has some discussion about it.