A2A Accusim Feature: Is It Really Worth It?

[CHBTheDoctor]

In general, my answer is yes, it's worth the money

To be a little more specific:
Francois is most certainly right with his answer as long as the B-377 and B-17 are considered, to a lesser degree also the P-47 and the Spitfire.

But I think even a beginner can use AND have fun with the accusimed Piper.

So, it depends.

 

[Daube]

Francois is right when he says that a lot of simmers are not that much "realism/immersion-hungry" and just want to jump in a plane and take it around. Happens to me too after all, and there are much more non-accusim planes in my hangar than accusim-ones (but all of my A2A planes are accusimed ).

I'm not so pessimistic on the percentage of "die-hards" simmers, though. 2% of the community sounds a bit low, especially when you see the amount of discussions generated on several forums each time a new accusimed planes is released. Typically, the latest "Aircraft Factory" plane released by A2A didn't generate much noise on the forums.

But of course, we should also consider the fact that the various forums show only a part of the simmers...

 

[mmann]

I have the non-Accusim versions of several of their airplanes and enjoy flying them on a regular basis, but I don't miss having the Accusim version in the least.:salute:

Agree with you 100%. Accusim would be a PITA for the type of flying I do, as I am part of the 98%.

Regards, Mike Mann

 

[Tim-HH]

The short answer is: Total Waste of Money...... for 98% of all flightsimmers.

But a great addition for the super hard core 'simulation pilot' who wants his aircraft to behave as close as the real thing

If that would be the truth, companies like PMDG or Level-D wouldn't be so extremely successful with their high-end addons.

And yes, Accusim brings the FSX to a completely new level of enjoyment

Greetings
Tim

 

[fleurdelys]

Haven't read all the other answers..... I was afraid of getting biased.

The short answer is: Total Waste of Money...... for 98% of all flightsimmers.

But a great addition for the super hard core 'simulation pilot' who wants his aircraft to behave as close as the real thing and just can't scrape that last $ 40.000 together to get that second hand - sorry, pre-owned - Cub that he really wants.

I would tend to agree with the above and also TJ (also above) who resumed it quite well , I believe :

"I think you have to ask yourself what type of flying do you do? For me Accusim is most noticeable at the edges of the flightsim envelope. Stalls, aerobatics, flying outside of published limitations, poor power usage...etc. If you do a lot of short point A-B flights well within the flight envelope and recommended engine settings, it wont be quite as noticeable".

For myself, I do short hops and touch and go flying most of the time. I bought the Accusimmed B-17 and the Spitfire which I leave in my hangar until that time when I find the patience to read through the manuals from top to bottom and then try "again" to get the engines to work at least long enough for a short spin around the airport...

I guess those who really enjoy all the real stuff about checking the speed, the oil and what not are probably ex-pilots or would be real life pilots eventually...

All this being said, I think that the concept is right to start with and it all ends up being a question of choice...
If A2A ever get the Bf 109E redone and accusimed the way that the Spitfire was, will I buy it or just take the basic package... ?
The 109E being my all time favorite, I will definitely take the whole package as I'm probably more willing to spend some time understanding all of its intricacies...

Sounds a bit crazy, I know, but it is my hobby time and feel free to invest it where and as I choose...:salute:

Fleurdelys

 

[JAllen]

OK Walter, there you have it. Depends on what kind of sim pilot you are doesn't it? Should your interest in simulation lie in 'as real as it can get' then yes. A2A spends a lot of time and energy to bring you as close as they can to being there. Should your total interest lie in visual models, scenery, and navigation and just jumping in and joy riding, then in no way is Accusim for you.

I have all the Accusim models and fly all of them. But, I also like a lot of joy riding too, in an L39, P38, A10, F8f, V35 . . .

The fun of flight sim is doing what your heart desires. Jim

 

[Kiwikat]

If that would be the truth, companies like PMDG or Level-D wouldn't be so extremely successful with their high-end addons.

That isn't "the whole truth" either though.

PMDG and Level-D make airliner addons. They sell far more than warbirds by default. It's all about the subject material.

Thankfully there are developers that do make the less popular models. SOH would be pretty boring without them. :mixedsmi:

 

[pilottj]

There are those here, including myself who have had real world training have spent lots of $$$$ or were lucky to have the military spend $$$$ to teach us that pushing an airplane beyond it's limits will result in bad consequences. Because aircraft are so expensive for the owner/company/taxpayer , proper aircraft care is somthing that would/should be instinctive for any pilot with a reasonable amount of training.

Accusim leads the way in bringing that reality to flightsim and brings that reality to those who have not had real world experience of learning this first hand. Accusim is a great teacher for those finer points of airmanshiip. Now, does this mean that other FS planes are unrealistic? Of course not. Aerosoft, PMDG, Orbx, Realair, Lotus, Lionheart, Dodosim...etc all make fantastic aircraft too, with many of them simulating 'damage over time' too.

Matter of fact I think Accusim enhances the experience of other FS planes, if you apply the methods you learn from an Accusim bird, and apply them to another airplane, you will inherently be more immersed

How many of you do an engine runup in flightsim? A runup is probably the most important 'test' of an piston airplane other than the preflight. In the realworld, I would never ever takeoff without having first done a proper runup. In flightsim most planes will always have the same result during a runup and thus flightsim pilots will see no reason to do it. Accusim will teach you otherwise

 

[Tim-HH]

PMDG and Level-D make airliner addons. They sell far more than warbirds by default.

Of course, but that's not the point. If only 2% of all flightsimmers would care about correct systems and flightdynamics, I would expect that companies like CLS or CaptainSim - who are focused on eye-candy and simple systems - would sell more copies than PMDG. But that's not the case. And that is why I don't think that Francois statement is true :mixedsmi:

Greetings
Tim

 

[Rockitglider]

Hello,

I disagree with Francos as well, and give a +1 to Accusim. I think that 98% is an opinion rather than an actual statistic, how did you come up with that number BTW I'd be interested to know, sounds way too high to me, and Accusim is much more than it is being described here, it makes each plane dynamic as well as modelling the planes systems, to me that's a big deal. My 2 pennies,

Rockitglider :salute:

 

[mmann]

I think that probably closer to 99% of flight simulation users would have no need for Accusim (if they even knew it existed). The majority of flight simulation owners, that I am personally familiar with, have never bought a single addon and have never been to any of the online sites that cater to simmers. They bought the program, played around with it for awhile, and then got bored and moved on to the next game.

Regards, Mike Mann

 

[Roadburner440]

I used to be one of those people that bought the program and got bored with it. FSX is the first program though that I ever found out about the third party programs. If I would have known about them before I would have been buying add-ons. It is unfortunate that I got into it so late. I will agree though like I said in my original post that Accu-sim is not for everyone, but it is a great tool for people who would like to learn more about flying/and basic aircraft maintenance for daily flight. Which is why everyone must evaluate what they want to get out of the simulator. Even if you fly by the numbers though you still make mistakes. I know I do. Not to mention you can set the overhaul intervals to various pre-selected times for those that do not have the time to take the B-17 through the full 1000 hour cycle. It is nice though to have birds without Accu-sim, and if I wish to take any of the birds up and push them beyond the limits you can turn Accu-sim off from within the simulator and then turn it back on when your done. Plenty of videos on Youtube though, and can always go visit the A2A forums to research and see if it is something you are interested in. I personally think the market for realistic add-ons is a little bigger than 2%. Cause I do flight simulation cause I cannot afford to do it in real life, and my eye sight would preclude me from flying the aircraft I wish to fly anyway.. So for me the realism aspect is pretty important, and I think there are quite a number of people in the same boat as me for various reasons.

 

[falcon409]

I think that probably closer to 99% of flight simulation users would have no need for Accusim (if they even knew it existed). The majority of flight simulation owners, that I am personally familiar with, have never bought a single addon and have never been to any of the online sites that cater to simmers. They bought the program, played around with it for awhile, and then got bored and moved on to the next game.

Regards, Mike Mann

Wow, I've already posted my thoughts on Accusim, so I won't belabor that point, but Mike, There are folks in this Forum from all over the world that on a daily basis show their interest and continuing fascination with what FSX brings to them. It would appear that possibly 99% of the Flight Simulator users "you know" have no need for Accusim, have never bought an addon, have never gone to other sites catering to simmers and bought it. . . .played with it. . . .got bored and moved on. But to make a statement suggesting that 99% of all flight sim users fall into that category. . . . . .nope sorry. . . .you mustn't pay much attention to what goes on here then, lol.

 

[Walter]

I'm the kind of simmer that wants the realism, without the massive price. I love that the engines and such can fail, but I can live without it. My opinion is that 60 bucks for a plane on a computer is quite a steep price. I too have gotten bored with FSX at times because nothing really happens on Free Flight for me. I want the challenge of random issues with the price that anybody could afford. For me, I don't have the money to spend on an accusimed plane. I don't think that I could justify spending that much on a flight sim plane, regardless of the realism.

Walter :mixedsmi:

 

[Francois]

Well, I've been in this hobby for more than 35 years now, and doing it for a (partial) living for over 15 years now. I consider myself being interested in reality in the sim.... but also have a chronical lack of time most of the time (that's what happens if you make your hobby your work), so I wouldn't have time for Accusim. Like I don't have time for VA's Clubs, Air Hauler and most of our own projects.
Based on previous experience and knowing users and developers all over this world, I stick to my 98%. Large part of that 98^are serious simmers..... but not so serious that they 'need', or have time for, accusim.

Again, it is a great product, like many others too for a niche market within a niche market. Now, if we'd have an FBO Simulator........ hey, there's a thought !

 

[Roadburner440]

An FBO simulator would be excellent!! One can only hope I guess. I guess that is kind of what the AES sort of is?

 

[Spikehughes]

Accusim worth the extra?

Accusim is a great enhancer to the flying experience. Having stated that, I find the unbundling of accusim and selling it as a separate product is to me, just a marketing ploy.

Have you flown Sibwings Safir or Bird Dog or any Real Air aircraft?

Look, don't get me wrong here, I think the Piper Cub I bought from A2A is fantastic - but at the time of purchase I wondered why it was necessary to purchase the Accusim enhancement as a separate product. It really drives up the price when unbundled and frankly knowing this I went ahead and purchased it anyway just to see. Well it is great and enhances the flying experience, but is it really worth a whole other payware plane? Real world Pricing is the issue here.

Now days I tend to fly the Bird dog a lot- which does a damn fine job and brilliantly simulates the shakes, rattles, stalls and wind sounds, similar to the Piper cub and is included in the price. And before any A2A member says it is not the full simulator "add-on" such as Accusim - well perhaps it isn't, but it does it for me and it is at an affordable price.

Spike

 

[Mathias]

Well, I've been in this hobby for more than 35 years now, and doing it for a (partial) living for over 15 years now. I consider myself being interested in reality in the sim.... but also have a chronical lack of time most of the time (that's what happens if you make your hobby your work), so I wouldn't have time for Accusim. Like I don't have time for VA's Clubs, Air Hauler and most of our own projects.
Based on previous experience and knowing users and developers all over this world, I stick to my 98%. Large part of that 98^are serious simmers..... but not so serious that they 'need', or have time for, accusim.

Again, it is a great product, like many others too for a niche market within a niche market. Now, if we'd have an FBO Simulator........ hey, there's a thought !

I would have to agree with that statement, give or take a few percent.
We released our first FSX project without an off switch for the realism features initially.
Most favorite support question was: "How can I switch it off?", and that came from arm chair pilots and real pilots alike.

 

[pilottj]

I would agree that the vast majority of simmers are somewhere in the middle. There are fringes on each side, those who just play the basic FS game with just a basic joystick, have no knowelege of addons or the FS community. The other fringe is the ultra hard core 'realisim' home cockpit builder...with the money they sink into the hobby they could afford a PPL. Accusim is a very innovative frontier for FSX with many possibilities. However I do not think it is the 'deal breaker'. You all do realize that as a certified pilot, unless you are also an A&P, you are only allowed to do basic maintainence...ie add oil, add air to the tires...etc. You are not allowed to overhaul an engine...this is 'realisim' from the pilot's standpoint. I don't think anyone is not going to buy Mathias's beautiful upcomming Me-108 because they can't replace worn cylinders :mixedsmi:

 

[jetstreamsky]

What I think would be more interesting, is of those who bought the Accusim addon how many don't use it and just fly the basic package.

For my part, I have the B-377 but found it too difficult due to multi crew requirements, but as a simple model it doesn't keep my attention so never gets flown.

I have the P-47, love the accusim features especially the flap failure modes, but find the flying characteristics a little boring, so only gets a rare flight.

I have the Cub, but its just toooo slow, nothing to do with accusim which works fine, I prefer other STOL machines all non accusimmed, more power and more speed (well slightly anyway).

and the Spitfire, WOW what a great model, superb flying characteristics, systems modelling and wonderful sound. Keeping things cool enough and doing aeros, cross country and circuits is very engaging, so much so that the later mark and equally superbly modelled Realair Spitfire, doesn't get out of the hangar anymore.

Those who say accusim is a waste of time, yet have never actually tried it, don't know what they are missing and perhaps would find that simple blatting around the sky without a care isn't as absorbing as they think. On the other hand too much systems management and not enough 'flying' can ruin the experience too.

To sum up, definitely worth getting for the aircraft type you truly enjoy, but for other aircraft types, it may be just too constraining.