Please see the most recent updates in the "Where did the .com name go?" thread. Posts number 16 and 17.
But wait, no. What are you doing waisting time on posting when you should be working on Emma Field?:costumes:<?xml:namespace prefix = o /><o></o
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One of the primary delays on the C-17 was down to the panel and gauge man walking off, necessitating a lot of reworking to get new ones, additionally new ( sim/modeling) techniques were being implemented all the time and the model was getting nowhere except constant updating to keep up.<o
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I personally, deep down, don’t think the C-17 will arrive, I'm not happy about that as I've sunk an inordinate amount of time into the project, as have many many others, but its a reality we all might have to live with.<o
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Regarding the Typhoon, my gut reaction is that the panel and gauges might also be effected by the C-17 guy, that’s just a hunch on my behalf, nothing official, but seeing an almost perfect and ready to go screenshots and no release means something somewhere stalled it, and or some significant amount of rework or effort is required to finish it.<o
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Remember also that Alphasim is a much reduced team these days, much work being done in house, meshes or external models your falling over, but gauges and sim integration, materials and modelling is still very very hard to come by, most external meshes I've seen will still hold up well in a good few years, I doubt you'll see much advancement in that area from Alphasim and probably many other developers too, what you will see is advancements in the VC area and new features specifc to FSx, and most of that has to be done in house.<o
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Given also the new tack Alphasim is taking I think they are probably right to shelve it and use that time and effort on projects that will bring returns. I do know of one quite advanced project that has been terminated, it was never aired so no one looses, you cant miss what you didn’t know about
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Sad to say, much as everyone here loves military stuff and even the fringe stuff, we're not buying enough to support the continuation of supply, others do seem to be making an effort to plug the gap but production is slow compared to Alphasims recent 2, 3 or even 4 releases a month.<o
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What does appear to be selling well these days is GA, light A/C, sports or trainers etc, they are quicker to build, easier too from a mesh point of view and probably from an FDE point too, gauges and systems are less complex allowing a developer to make a better product in less time and cheaper and thus....technically more sales. Complex systems are a drain on resources, not only CPU/GPU but actually modelling them, there’s two ways round that, don’t model them and get flamed for poor functionality, or two, just pick models that don’t require that sort of system, a business man will ( should ) always pick the later !.<o
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Captsim is a little obscure to compare with, it is only one military aircraft in their inventory, it is significantly more detailed in systems than current Alphasim offerings of the same genre and they do have a larger clientele base who adore systems modelling, truth is, I suspect the C-130 sold significantly less than their B727 or B757.<o
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One final point and probably quite important, Alphasim 'has' to make money, if they don’t they starve or loose their house / livelihood, almost all other developers I've spoken too use FS funds as an 'additional' income, in which case you can accept lower returns or poor sellers. The only looser there is the modeller who lost his time and being as most do it for the love of modelling or flight sims then in reality its not much of a loss, they'd probably still do it regardless of the returns.<o
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So, I think your going to see more and more models like the Long Ez, T-34 genre, and at a lesser pace, but more detailed, to be fair that is what everyone has been hammering Alphasim to do, ie pick their game up, they appear to be doing just that, but ironically in areas that people don’t want....not here anyway, just proves the old adage, beware what you wish for LOL.<o
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Best<o
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Michael
And speaking of freeware aircraft....
Just imagine where we'd be in FSX if Piglet had chosen to stay with FS2004....
