3 years ago I know but~
What is the outcome?
Where is it all going?
Whats the future of a home flight sim?
I’m in favor of one encompassing sim my hopes is in ED-DCS being a sandbox sim.
Thoughts?
First of all, I have them all beat regarding time flightsimming. My first flight simulator was subLogics Flight simulator for the Commodore 64 back in 1984. (Microsoft bought the subLogic flight sim about 2 years later.)
From a 3 years ago perspective it is interesting that their optimism seems well placed. I recall the days of depression, sadness and anger when MS dropped the FS line in 2009.
et what only a few realized right away was that for the first time, we had a “stable” platform…one that wasn’t going to change every 2-3 years. This gave developers like Aerosoft to really dive into FSX and produce outstanding add-ons that they just couldn’t before. Far from the death of PC flightsimming, it breathed new life into the hobby.
When this was filmed 3 years ago, we were just seeing a couple new simms come on the market with greatly enhanced graphics, but woefully small sections of the planet. I think I was in the majority of the “serious simmers” that thought, they would only succeed if 3rd party developers started making planes and scenery for them. We are seeing that start to happen now-a-days with ORBX and Aerosoft.
DCS?
DCS is an outlier in all of this. As its acronym indicates, it is more of a combat simulator. A 3rd party may be inclined to produce a C-130 or IL-76 mod, which have a combat logistics role, but not a 737 since all it could really do is have a normal flight (that you can get in many other flightsims) or get shot down.
Which is why I do not see DCS as a true sandbox sim beyond Quick Mission functions.
On the future of flight sims as a whole, I think what the speaker says at 22:53–that as long as the community demands certain things, some developers will respond–is a key point. Some may balk but others, if they see a business opportunity in meeting such demand, will fill in.
Overall DCS-World fills a demand…and within it there are demands that are being filled (FA-18C functionality) while others seem not to be. i.e. will my “demand” (request) for Kish Island’s aerodrome to be added to the PG map be filled? Who knows. Will I still fly the PG map if it is not? I sure will–it is way cool.
…and so it goes.
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