Wouldn't it be neat if...

[kennethpardue]

... someone would finally step up and compete with Microsoft on the General Aviation/Commercial simulator front? It's been many years since the now-defunct sims of Fly! and Flight Unlimited reached the point of being too aged to compete.

What if...

- It had a truly realistic flight model, but easily scaled down in realism to suit would-be armchair pilots who just don't have the time to learn to 'really' fly.

- It had all the cornerstone features of the current sim, such as autogen scenery, terrain mesh, photorealistic textures (debatable as to whether or not they acutally currently exist in the sim ;-)), accurate coastways and river ways, etc.

- All aircraft had default passenger views, and there would always be the option of just letting the autopilot become the main pilot, and one could hop back into the passenger seat. This would be particularly incredible if it could also be used in autopilot mode... imagine how cool it would be in conjunction with a program like Ultimate Traffic... set yourself up on flights from favorite place A to favorite place B and watch the scenery go by and other planes taxiing here and there at the airport, all from a passenger point of view.

- Real world weather that downloaded from more points and had better coverage... maybe it could download satellite maps or generate weather radar as well.

- Not have 30,000 feet deep valleys in the middle of Nowhere, USA. ;-)

- Have a more visual weight load setup, like the old Fly! did.

- Have sounds that were more realistic, not having a 747 using a 737's sounds. Somehow that just seems like a criminal thing to do.

- Allow easily sharable, easily editable terrain and airport objects, sort of like a combination of Auran Trainz (every object uploaded goes through their official site and is given an ID) and the editing methods of Fly! II.

- Curvature of the earth at high altitudes. Wouldn't it be neat to take the 'passenger' concept from above and fly on a Concorde?

- Detailed, 3D, easily readable virtual cockpits (if such a thing could ever come about) that were still somehow framerate friendly, with gauges and instruments that could be equally 'scaled down' in realism for those not as familiar with flight, so as not to confuse them. Hopefully that would appeal to the market who would just pick up this $70 game at Walmart with their extra Christmas money and want to fly a little bit.

- A similar function to the MS numbering system, where you could easily give your plane a tail number, to allow customization. Of course, actually making it to where the numbers don't flicker and fade into the fuselage.

- A database of existing VFR points, more complete highway coverage, a host of accurately placed (if only generic looking) towers, buildings, scenic landmarks, power plants, shopping centers, etc.

- Engine exhaust effects.

- High quality sounds that would compliment a surround sound system. (Imagine running up an old historic prop plane with bass turned up and sound screaming--precious).

- Realistic ATC that would allow all of what the current ATC does in Flight Sim, and other options. This could also be scaled back in realism for novices.

- Engine heat and damage modelling. It would be very nice if a 'cross-country' type flight could be created where the aircraft would actually accumulate wear or damage as time goes by. A nice lil' GA aircraft could fly from airport to airport, and always pick up where it left off, quickly and easily. It could be seen in some interface, and you'd have to put it in maintenance.

- Some sort of virtual airline mode where you could rack up some hours, advance in status, and earn a virtual salary... maybe even take a look at the money involved in putting that aircraft in maintenance.

- Railroads with moving trains, and roads with moving automobiles, at low-enough-to-see-me altitudes.

- A DVD distribution to package all of these miraculous and completely unrealistic wishes. ;-)

Yes, if you can't tell I'm an eye candy person who appreciates the experience of virtually flying over realistic terrain. However, I do also appreciate the difficulty and attention to the challenges strictly inside the cockpit. I dunno, this is a dream sim. Maybe by version Flight Simulator 2014.

What do you all think?
Kenneth

[toddrf]

I think X-plane is moving along the trend line toward this goal.

Todd :-wave

[Armitage_Shanks]

Yeah that would be great and I would buy it. BUT, its hard to work your way into a niche when someone has such a huge market. It can be done, but it is against the odds.

[nwabri]

It wouldnt of course be a bad idea, although this has been tried several times, and has failed most of them. The best other one out there IMO was FLY!, and then for other reasons FUIII was great also, but they all met thier untimley demise.

X-Plane seems to be the sole survivor regarding to competition, although they tend to be quite different in many ways, and in my case, I have both, and use both, but don't really compare them.

It will be very tough for anyone to compete with MS on this level, just due to years of being in the market, and the incredibly deep pockets that MS has.

[Captain_Slarty]

and......... '-)

the trouble is that there is a LIMITED market for such.. it is NOT commercially viable.

Some of the guys (Especially the newbies) need to realise that places like flightsim.com and the frequenters are 'oddballs' :-lol... ie.. they are the tip of an iceberg in the sunshine (Seeing the 'light') the rest of the iceberg dont give a stuff or wouldnt know improvements if it bit their #####... :-)

Personally, I wouldnt want to 'walk around' a virtual cabin...

The only 'eye candy' I am interested in is the panel (Function and clarity rather than 'realistic' rivets...., and, the 'world' as seen from an aircraft..

Xplane fails miserably on eye candy... the flight models are dubious through design linkage..

The most, overall, 'fun' sim I have ever played with, apart from United Airline's 737-200 :-).. was FU2...

YEARS ahead of the opposition at the time, simply excellent... Sierra Pro-Pilot had a certain charm and addiction too, but short lived, unfortunately.

The FLY series did more to hold back general aviation sims than any other product in history (IMHO - of course ;-)).. their failure to deliver a usable product for the VAST majority of users, their delays, failed promises, missed deadlines and shoddy workmanship left most of the money guys, backers and distributers in the position of not touching a ga sim with a bargepole.. Sorry to be so blunt.. but thats the way it is.

The only way to get support for the majority of the features that the poster desires or wishes for is via 3rd party support of an open ended sim.. ooops, we have one :-lol....


Joe :-)