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Lets Help Developers Sell More

FS9 still has a much stronger fanbase than FSX, it seems. Although that will reduce as people move to either X-Plane or FSX, depending on how much they like or dislike Microsoft and their machines get better.... ;)

Don't get me wrong - FS is far from dead, but the glory days of FS9, when I had to trawl through four, five, hundred posts a day and there were multiple new products released daily, are gone. As you have already suggested, we can all do our part by advertising the hobby (I'll happily promote all three civvy sims - I really must install IL2 1946 at some point as well) and it would seriously help if more of us actually turned up to the shows that people put on... Yes they are small, they are a bit lacking compared to the International Motor Show or Flying Leg Ends at Duxford, but the more people turn up, the better they'll get. :)
 
IanP said:
Don't get me wrong - FS is far from dead, but the glory days of FS9, when I had to trawl through four, five, hundred posts a day and there were multiple new products released daily, are gone.
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so true i would download a lot daily
now i download the same amount every couple of months
if im lucky
H
 
Incidentally, I occasionally do some free market research for Mathijs. Whenever I am in one of the larger tech shops here in Germany I talk to the sales people in the software section - especially if there is a "sim shelf". A couple of the majors stock boxware and a lot of it is Aerosoft. The boxed titles do sell fairly well, although I did catch a gent around my age going to buy a plane - I think it was the Beaver - and he thought he was getting a full software game around the Beaver. Funny thing is, after listening to my "lecture" (now now... steady... :icon_lol: :icon_lol: ) the guy walked out with FS9 and the Beaver plus a couple of Aerosoft goodies on top.

So I guess a fair few addons are bought in error.

I wonder just how many folk have seen a "Can't seem to find FSX old bean" message when installing Beaver games.

No. That wasn't a Freudian...
 
Getting your product "boxed" is very hard, and very risky. First and foremost, the developer is responsible for any boxes that dont sell or is returned. I had a CFS3 product get boxed, and thought I was going to make a mint, but once all the returns and non-sold boxes were subtracted from profit, I made next to nothing. After that, I stopped working based off of %. I later made the same error, but again got burned on that. Sometimes you have a hit, sometimes you dont. The market is a roller-coaster, even in the best of days. Its also hard to judge what will be a hit and what wont. Most people figured, that since FSX/Accel already had a default P-51, not to do one. It seems A2A's P-51 sold well. Who knew? Just to show you how unpredictable the market is.
 
Gibbage said:
Most people figured, that since FSX/Accel already had a default P-51, not to do one.
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Are you kidding? There are at least three P-51 released/in progress, four including Acc one. :kilroy: I still can't understand why they're taking the risk of making already made aircraft.
 
Originally Posted by gajit
Dragon Rapide I am so so disappointed with this compared to the quality of the Gladiator and the Pitts.

I have immediately deleted it from FSX.
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didn't want be polemic but if this was the way to help developers...i prefer not having help.....sorry but i couldn't resist to post it. Seems there is a really unstable attitude in a few persons...one day the hell the day after the paradise.
 
spotlope said:
The actual sales figures from MS for FS have always been a closely guarded secret. I'd be surprised if anyone here can offer more than an educated guess. My best guess is that it's in the hundreds of thousands of copies for FS9 & FSX combined.
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Several months ago, it was reported that FSX had sold >1 million copies in the U.S. alone. No figures were provided for world-wide sales.

Given the length of time that FS9 has been available, I'd suspect much higher numbers for total copies sold.
 
icarus said:
didn't want be polemic but if this was the way to help developers...i prefer not having help.....sorry but i couldn't resist to post it. Seems there is a really unstable attitude in a few persons...one day the hell the day after the paradise.
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I have always praised all of your other products I own of yours - the excellent Pitts and Gladiator - but not that one. I also thank you yet again for the refund and as you have refunded I will not say any more.
 
empeck said:
Are you kidding? There are at least three P-51 released/in progress, four including Acc one. :kilroy: I still can't understand why they're taking the risk of making already made aircraft.
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From another, older discussion on that very subject: Popular planes have a lot of market potential and apparently justify multiple renditions by multiple artists.
Competition keeps the market going and developers on their toes. :kilroy:
 
Anyone ever counted how many plastic model kits there are on the market for say a P51D?

Should manufacturers, therefore, not attempt to duplicate? Try telling that to Airfix, Monogram, Trumpeter,Revell etc. etc. etc.

We have research that would indicate that the markets for plastic modeling and FS are remarkably similar. Competition only benefits one ---the consumer.
 
empeck said:
Are you kidding? There are at least three P-51 released/in progress, four including Acc one. :kilroy: I still can't understand why they're taking the risk of making already made aircraft.
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It seems silly, I know, but I never bothered with accelleration because I thought the P-51 looked awful in its Reno garb...I prefer the WWII version.
On the other side, I've bought the A2A P-51 twice already, first solo and then in the WWII fighters pack, and I will buy the new accusim version as well. The accusimmed P-47 is light years ahead of the older WWII fighters version, which I liked a lot already, so I can't wait to see what they have in store for the P-51....
I'm also curious for the warbirdsim B model, if it ever arrives in FSX....

but I would like a Marauder or a BV138 as well...perhaps a FW189?
 
Plastic model kits market is slightly bigger than FS one ;)

No offense Bazzar, I don't want to judge or criticize anyone, I just think there are too many planes never seen in FS, and devs are still making the same aircrafts again, and again. But that just me, as freeware developer I see it in a different way. :)

I hope you will release that Raiden one day... :wiggle:
 
Freeware, you don't have to worry about putting food on the table and paying the mortgage... Payware you do. ;)

The P-51D will sell. A Spitfire will sell. A Lancaster, Liberator, Fort... They'll sell. I doubt many FS types would lay down much money for an Armstrong Whitworth Wellesley or a Bristol Bombay, though!
 
IanP said:
Freeware, you don't have to worry about putting food on the table and paying the mortgage... Payware you do. ;)

The P-51D will sell. A Spitfire will sell. A Lancaster, Liberator, Fort... They'll sell. I doubt many FS types would lay down much money for an Armstrong Whitworth Wellesley or a Bristol Bombay, though!
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actually i believe if a payware company
was feeling risky and wanted to make a Great
off the wall never been done before something
it could work even a defiant if it was top class
would sell, maybe not as much as the major sellers
but no competition or comparisons,
thats a lot of time spent though
or maybe something with a few variants and a good paint kit with lots of different paint schemes available
for the repainters
repaints can sell a lot of the original model
often i see a repaint available that looks great
persuaded me to purchase the model on more than one occasion
H
 
I know that Ian, I make freeware for FS, but I have a full time job in a game dev studio, I understand how market works.
 
Any chance of doing us a Boulton Paul Defiant then, please? :) [JOKE!] <joke!></joke!>
 
empeck said:
I know that Ian, I make freeware for FS, but I have a full time job in a game dev studio, I understand how market works.
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Maybe there's also a slight difference in working in a games dev studio - with a salary and someone else taking the risks ? - and being a self-employed, small time publisher or developer in the FS niche market ?

I for one would LOVE to make some aircraft that 'I' like and haven't been done before, being a WW2 buff myself, but my developers need to make a living.... and often getting proper data on these planes is another hurdle (read: cost).

So that's where the umpteenth 737 and P-51 come from... and will continue to come from....
 
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