This looked interesting at first, but......

[Navy Chief]

I like the concept of competing in carrier ops, BUT I balk at paying for such things.

The first three missions are free, and then you have to pay $1.50 per hour to continue.

http://www.topgunsim.com/tgssite/HowItWorks.aspx

That's when it ceased to be interesting.

When I attended the 2007 AVSIM Convention in Seattle, there was a similar type competition on a full motion simulator. It was pretty cool. One of it's creators was preparing to release freeware called FS
Score that would've been along the same lines as this website. It is so similar, in fact, that I wonder if it isn't the same folks. If not, I would be surprised. Their website is still there, but not active: http://flightsimscore.com/beta/

The following is from AVSIM today, where I found the link:
Topgun Challenge

Posted: Sunday, December 14, 2008 - 17:17
Captain Dale 'Snort' Snodgrass (US Navy Retired) has a new challenge for flight sim enthusiasts, a chance to put their virtual piloting skills to the test and a chance of winning some fabulous prizes. The Topgun challenge introduces the flight simmer to the world of the US Navy pilot in the Boeing F18/A Hornet using a series of free missions completely authentic right down to the LSO calls on final, LSO briefings, and LSO grades. Every time you fly a mission you get graded and those grades rank you against your peers at the national and international level. You'll also enjoy special tournament play where winners will receive prizes such as the limited production Swiss made Debaufre Wings of Gold Pilot watch, High Performance PCs for Flight Sim from Jetline Systems, as well as other great prizes culminating in the grand prize, a supersonic ride in a military class F-5 with "Snort" as your pilot. For details on this and to register visit Top Gun Simulations

NC

 

[DennyA]

$1.50 an hour?

Compared to $40 to $60 for some add-on planes, it's not bad at all. I love getting a top-notch new payware plane, but it's rare that I'm going to fly one for 30-hours-plus, which is what it would take to get the price down to $1.50 an hour.

I know lots of folks on the net balk at paying for anything, but honestly, if I paid $15 for 10 hours of entertaining competition and the quality of the product is high, that's a pretty good value. I've paid $40-60 for games that only provided 10 hours of entertainment.

I'm at least going to check out the free intro missions. Thanks for the heads-up!

 

[CodyValkyrie]

Well, I wonder how many would actually pay $1.50 an hour for a scoring system and a few extra goodies. You essentially are paying to compete, to win prizes. There might indeed be a lot of people interested, but frankly, I am not.

I will say however the price is VERY low. Even if you practiced for 30 hours, the price would be minimal as compared to say seeing a movie or something.

Navy, I saw that system to which you refer at FANCON as well. It does indeed sound familiar.

 

[Navy Chief]

I just emailed Raynald Bedard, the guy who was behind the carrier competition freeware app, advertised at AVSIM 2007 in Seattle. Hopefully he'll reply to me. There is a striking similarity between his freeware (called SOAR), and the competition advertised on the Top Gun Simulations website. If Ray Bedard is not involved with that website, he might consider looking into copyright infringement!!

NC

 

[GypsyBaron]

Well, I wonder how many would actually pay $1.50 an hour for a scoring system and a few extra goodies.
-SNIP-

As a point of reference....back in the '92-94 time frame, I used
to pay $6/hour to fly "Air Warrior" online.
There were many a month I had a $600-$700 bill on the
GEnie network.
Latter on AW went to the CRIS network and the price dropped
to a mere $3/hour. Subsequent reductions brought it to
the $1.50/hour level.
Finally AW went to a monthly subscription price of $14.95
'all you can eat'....
Those early days one had to be VERY dedicated to the simulation
to pay those prices. As a result a very close knit community
developed that still exists today even though AW ceased
to exist after Electronic Arts bought it and ran it into the ground

Paul

 

[CodyValkyrie]

Air Warrior wasn't a scoring system though Gypsy. It was an online persistent gaming world akin to the MMORPGs currently out there. It came with a set of updates, tons of planes, etc. It was a standalone game. From what I have gathered, this uses FSX and adds in a few extras but otherwise simply scores your landings and compares them to others in the community.

Air Warrior was a good game BTW... I played it a bit myself. Just can't remember my old screen names. Loved getting into those furballs.

 

[Dain Arns]

As a point of reference....back in the '92-94 time frame, I used
to pay $6/hour to fly "Air Warrior" online.
There were many a month I had a $600-$700 bill on the
GEnie network.
Latter on AW went to the CRIS network and the price dropped
to a mere $3/hour. Subsequent reductions brought it to
the $1.50/hour level.
Finally AW went to a monthly subscription price of $14.95
'all you can eat'....
Those early days one had to be VERY dedicated to the simulation
to pay those prices. As a result a very close knit community
developed that still exists today even though AW ceased
to exist after Electronic Arts bought it and ran it into the ground

Paul

I was playing Multiplayer Battletech. I about had a heart attack that first bill. Kept playing though. :costumes:

AW was fun too. I remember the celebration when MPBT went to $2 an hour. I laugh when I hear people bitch about $10 - $15 a month for online games now. Very cheap entertainment these days.