A$1,000 for a flyable defiant

[JG52Krupi]

Originally Posted by Ailantd

This has no sense until the sdk will be released to the public. With only third party 3d models you have nothing right now in the sim.
Anyway I´m a professional 3d modeler, and I think to model an aircraft at COD standard detail level cost way more than 1000$ It is a full two moths work, the least, maybe more, and that if you already have all the necessary blueprints and right and complete reference material.

Agreed, some ppl have yet to realise just how much work has gone into the cockpits.

[Ataros]

I am surprised that paid addons for MSFS or DCS P-51 or A-10 do not have same cockpit quality. They have to make one aircraft only and still can not afford or do not care to go into that much detail.

[louisv]

You mean $10,000...

I would stick another £50 in if someone could solve my CTD problem.

[addman]

Originally Posted by Tree_UK

I would stick another £50 in if someone could solve my CTD problem.

Buy the sequel/expansion .

[Sammi79]

I would be more than willing to donate regularly (or pay for a pre-order if taken on by the official developer) for development of a flyable Lancaster, or possibly a B17. Or any other 4 engined heavy bomber for that matter.

I think a Lancaster would be perfect for this simulation as historically, big formations were not the principle, staggered solitary night time missions were the norm - surely this would benefit from the next gen engine etc. by not requiring large numbers of aircraft to be modeled at once. Of course, the map would need expanding somewhat...

B17s would be good when we have next decades computing power to enable those large tight formation daylight raids.

I will keep dreaming

[swiss]

Crowdfunding!

It already works in the music business, well - somewhat.

[Ataros]

How was it organised with Pe-8 model? Are players happy with the result?

[bw_wolverine]

Originally Posted by Ataros

I am surprised that paid addons for MSFS or DCS P-51 or A-10 do not have same cockpit quality. They have to make one aircraft only and still can not afford or do not care to go into that much detail.

The A2A paid add on for MS FSX has brilliant cockpits. Heck, the morse code unit in the Spitifre is clickable. Plus, they have the different cockpit revisions for the Mk I and II. Hell, you need to manage your oxygen if you don't want to pass out at various altitiudes.

It's the best cockpit I've ever seen in a game. I would say it's as much a step above the CloD ones as the CloD ones are a step above the 1946 ones.

[Les]

Thanks Zorin, that could be it. I remember it added up to several thousand dollars US.

Speaking more generally, as others have said, the money side of it isn't the biggest hurdle.

After researching and gathering all the required real-life data for the model to be based on, you'd have to find someone, or a group of people, who are skilled enough to make the 3D models and surface textures (to the standard we've come to expect), and who aren't too busy getting paid to use those skills on 'real' jobs.

Then they or someone else would have to research and work out some kind of flight model for the plane, even if you've just added cockpits to a previously non-player-flyable plane, as the AI uses a more simplified flight model if I understand it correctly.

And after all that, you'd either have to submit it to Luthier/Ilya in order to actually get it in the game, or wait for the SDK and include it as an unofficial add-on plane.

None of that's impossible, but it's a lot of work, requiring a lot of organization, communication and co-operation. If it were just a money matter, we'd probably already have seen a lot more content being added to the game that way.

It actually has parallels in some ways to the restoration of real-life aircraft. It takes a lot of time and money and dedication.

The idea of contracting third parties to make extra content for the sim also ties in with the subject of paid-for add-ons and DLC in general. Because of the economy of scale (or whatever that term is) it's actually easier for the official game developers to make additional content and then spread the cost of that over the larger market that's willing to pay for it when it's included with traditional add-ons or expansion packs. We all pay less when the content is bought by everyone. But we pay more for it (or the developers lose money) when people are free to not buy it at all and do without it, as the cost is then spread over a smaller market. Anyway, don't want to get into that subject.

I think what it adds up to is, like anything, if you want a custom made product, you'd better be prepared to spend more for it than the off-the-shelf stuff, and be willing to wait longer for it, and maybe even put in more than money . Which is sort of what we're all doing anyway to a lesser extent, with combat flight sims already being a niche, not mass-produced cookie-cutter-ed, product.

Hmmm, rambled on a bit there...