For some time now I have been concerned with the direction that flightsimming is taking. A number of incidents recently have prompted me to commit my thoughts to writing.
A short time back I read an on-line column in which the author was explaining why he had to spend 80% of his available free time on the internet, downloading the latest patches, aircraft & goodies - because if he didn't he would rapidly "lose touch". Is this really the situation that we want to be in, whereby only 20% of our time is actually spent flying? Surely flightsimming should be just that - flying, and not spending hours on the internet.
Hands up all those who regularly visit sites such as FlightSim.Com, just to browse and see if anything interesting has been posted? Then something catches your eye, so you download it, install it and start flying. Unless it is something special, how often are you likely to ever fly that aircraft again?
We have become like young children at Christmas time, flightsimming these days seems to be less about flying than it does about the acquisition of the latest toys.
However that is not my main cause for concern.
I recently had the chance to experience on a friend's machine the delights of Airport 2000 vol 2. Switching the program to "slew" I spent a fascinated 20 minutes wandering through terminal buildings, admiring the check-out desks, the duty free shops, the MacDonalds, the multi-lingual signs directing me to the exits and the taxi ranks, and not forgetting of course the passengers standing around with their luggage. Hugely impressive stuff, but does it add to the flightsim experience? For me the answer is a very resounding "NO". If I want to know what the inside of a terminal building looks like, then I will buy a guide book. I would much rather see all that processor power being put to something useful, like an accurate flight model based on the physics of fluid dynamics for example.
On the same afternoon I had a look at the "Mad Dog" add-on. "You want to go flying - fine, start by turning the battery on and then 20 minutes later after completing all the cockpit start-up routines and checks we just might be able to start our taxi". Once again, a hugely impressive piece of programming, but does it enhance the flight experience? Not for me it doesn't. For me this piece of software should not be classified as a flightsim add-on at all, it is a cockpit systems simulator - and that is a very different thing.
The final incident was when I was stepped off a B737-300 after a two hour flight. I found myself thinking "flight simming today doesn't even come close to simulating what I have just experienced. Why is that?"
And so I started thinking.
For me, flight is an experience that engages all of the senses - it isn't about 32 sided fuselages, spinning turbine blades (how many of us fly standing in front of the engines?), or hugely impressive, processor-sapping instrument panels.
It is about the rumble through the seat as the nose wheel bounces over the centre-line on take off. It is about the feeling in the pit of the stomach as the aircraft pitches into the climb. It is about what your brain and stomach are trying to tell you as the aircraft banks into a turn. It is about fighting to ignore your senses, and trusting your instruments when in cloud.
Moreover it is a visual thing. The human has two eyes, each of which see slightly different pictures. This enables the brain to build a 3D representation of the real world, and to calculate distance, speed, and trajectory. It is what has made humans successful hunters, and it cannot be reproduced on a flat 17 or 19 inch screen.
Furthermore it is about the peripheral clues picked up out of the corner of the eye which help the brain to build the complete and complex visual representation of the real world.
Manufacturers today are very busy turning out gloriously detailed graphical representations of aircraft and airports, which in my opinion do absolutely nothing to enhance the overall flightsim experience.
I would much prefer to see a major change in direction away from "eye candy" and towards developing software that contributes far more to the full flightsim experience.
I know that there is a least one major flightsim out there that is built on a hugely accurate, physically correct flight model, but because it doesn't have developers queuing up to produce ever more processor hungry, graphically intensive add-ons for it, it is unfortunately unlikely to ever leave the realms of the "serious" flightsim enthusiast, and enter the main arena.
Not only do I want to see developers reducing the emphasis on ultimately pointless external graphical detail, but I would like to see them make a complete change of direction, and start developing add-ons which will utilize the huge amount of processor power available today by different means.
I have a dream ...
Forget multiple-screens, I want to see a one-piece, wrap-around screen covering the full area of peripheral vision, with multiple projectors displaying an image of at least equal resolution to the best of todays screens - and preferably in full 3D without the need for glasses.
I want to see separate instrument panels, with realistic operation.
I want a realistic flight model, based on real life physics, and not look-up tables.
And I want it at a price level suitable for home use, not a professional flying school.
All of these things (with the exception of the 3D) are currently available, but from widely different manufacturers, and at prices that put them beyond the pocket of most flightsim enthusiasts. I want to see manufacturers putting effort into developing these things at a price level that will bring them within the reach of the normal enthusiast.
Don't tell me that it won't happen - any product development is driven by consumer demand. Once enough of us start clamouring for the manufacturers and developers to devote their resources to something different, then they will have no alternative but to listen. As far as cost goes, any new technology is initially expensive, but then falls rapidly. For the perfect example of this, look at the way in which PC prices keep falling. Once the volume market is established, prices will naturally fall anyway.
This change is inevitable - once enough enthusiasts realize that no matter how detailed, processor sapping graphics do not compensate for the shortcomings of a flat, rectangular 17 inch screen, then the ground-swell of demand for the change to a more realistic flightsim experience will become unstoppable.
The first manufacturers and developers who realize this and have the courage to change direction will surely reap the rewards - but who will be brave enough to challenge the current environment, set and dominated as it is by Microsoft?
