Friday Update, January 27, 2012

[Chivas]

There is no competition because no major company is willing to develop complex sims that are far to expensive to make, in a genre far to small to make any serious money. Microsoft, Rowan, etc etc have left the building, The A2A Simulations have left the work to the mod team, have dropped development of sims and have concentrated on making aircraft for FSX. Gaijin is making combatsim light. Studio 777's ROF is barely making enough profit to stay solvent. Its highly doubtful that a major company will come along unless they have a ready built game engine that can easily be converted to a complex WW2 aircombat sim. The only people stupid enough to make these sims are enthusiasts and they are hard to find with the knowledge and cash need to develop one, like Oleg Maddox.

Oleg Maddox didn't run away with the code, he just couldn't get the job done in the time required, and knowing his perfectionism, there is no way he wanted the sim released this unfinished. He either stepped back and gave Luthier the helm or he was forced back, by the investors.

These sims are so complex the setbacks grow exponentially.

[Il2Pongo]

I think the issue is as presented by Luthier.
Just tried for to much. And instead of the absolute shame and loss to all of us of them walking away from it, they have come up with a mechanism to keep the thing going forward and give us the chance of having a growing game to play for years to come.

I look forward to supporting it.

[Sutts]

Originally Posted by Il2Pongo

I think the issue is as presented by Luthier.
Just tried for to much. And instead of the absolute shame and loss to all of us of them walking away from it, they have come up with a mechanism to keep the thing going forward and give us the chance of having a growing game to play for years to come.

I look forward to supporting it.

+1

[Robert]

Originally Posted by Chivas

Studio 777's ROF is barely making enough profit to stay solvent. Its highly doubtful that a major company will come along unless they have a ready built game engine that can easily be converted to a complex WW2 aircombat sim.
Oleg Maddox didn't run away with the code, he just couldn't get the job done in the time required, and knowing his perfectionism, there is no way he wanted the sim released this unfinished. He either stepped back and gave Luthier the helm or he was forced back, by the investors.

These sims are so complex the setbacks grow exponentially.

How can they not be solvent if "RoF is celebrating its inclusion in the Top 100 PC Games of All Time by PC Gamer magazine." (From Jason's Youtube account that I subscribe)

If the case is they are barely solvent and RoF is in the top 100 PC games of ALL time, then what does that say about the market for flight sims? Something to think about?

I've been saying this for a few years prior to the release of CoD. We are in a renaissance in the FS community. I'm beginning to wonder with the high cost and low profit incurred while developing a flight sim, will we be experiencing an extinction of our hobby?

[bongodriver]

Originally Posted by Robert

How can they not be solvent if "RoF is celebrating its inclusion in the Top 100 PC Games of All Time by PC Gamer magazine." (From Jason's Youtube account that I subscribe)

If the case is they are barely solvent and RoF is in the top 100 PC games of ALL time, then what does that say about the market for flight sims? Something to think about?

I've been saying this for a few years prior to the release of CoD. We are in a renaissance in the FS community. I'm beginning to wonder with the high cost and low profit incurred while developing a flight sim, will we be experiencing an extinction of our hobby?

almost certainly....but if we give it a chance we can have at least 1 good one for the next 10 years

[addman]

Originally Posted by Robert

How can they not be solvent if "RoF is celebrating its inclusion in the Top 100 PC Games of All Time by PC Gamer magazine." (From Jason's Youtube account that I subscribe)

If the case is they are barely solvent and RoF is in the top 100 PC games of ALL time, then what does that say about the market for flight sims? Something to think about?

I've been saying this for a few years prior to the release of CoD. We are in a renaissance in the FS community. I'm beginning to wonder with the high cost and low profit incurred while developing a flight sim, will we be experiencing an extinction of our hobby?

Well to be fair, being included in a Top 100 list doesn't mean it's a commercial success. Look at Bioshock, number 34 on that list, it was a critical darling but didn't sell very well on the PC. The middle market of gaming is almost dead, a market which flightsims belongs to. Triple A titles and indie games are the only ones profitable and a lot is owed to development costs. Imagine if MG made an Angry Birds clone, minimal R&D and maximum profit, times has changed and the economic monster doesn't care about our itsy bitsy little flightsim hobby. If it's not profitable, it will die, playforfree seems to be the way to go in order to attract new audiences, you give people a little taste and if they like it they may have the rest of the dish.

P.S All IMO and a bit off-topic...saaweee!

[bongodriver]

Originally Posted by addman

Well to be fair, being included in a Top 100 list doesn't mean it's a commercial success. Look at Bioshock, number 34 on that list, it was a critical darling but didn't sell very well on the PC. The middle market of gaming is almost dead, a market which flightsims belongs to. Triple A titles and indie games are the only ones profitable and a lot is owed to development costs. Imagine if MG made an Angry Birds clone, minimal R&D and maximum profit, times has changed and the economic monster doesn't care about our itsy bitsy little flightsim hobby. If it's not profitable, it will die, playforfree seems to be the way to go in order to attract new audiences, you give people a little taste and if they like it they may have the rest of the dish.

P.S All IMO and a bit off-topic...saaweee!

Yes OT.....but at least it's been relatively civilised