Vitus
Charter Member
So.... I was just warned and banned from avsim for a day for having the audacity of posting the following story in the hangar chat. I am still bewildered by this experience and still await a response from the moderators over there.
I really like to share my experience and hopefully get some good ideas from the flightsim community.
I hope SOH does not see this as blatant advertisement and allows content like this to be hosted here. Please let me know if I'm in violation of any codes of conduct.
Hello Avsim!
I would like to share some of the joy and some of the agony I experienced over the past few years working on the simulation of ONE add-on for flight simulator. This is partially personal story, shameless product placement and rant. I started working on the Lockheed Vega about three years ago. The decision to work on that particular aircraft was driven by my passion for vintage aviation and the idea that the simulation of an aircraft like the Vega would be simple enough to complete within about a year time. Boy, was I wrong.
While the essential bits of this iconic aircraft - the 3d model and textures - were completed rather quickly, the simulation of the systems is an entirely different matter. The reason being that I couldn't be satisfied producing an aircraft that just looks good and flies well - I knew from the start that it is the systems simulation that transform a good aircraft to an outstanding add-on.
I launched Wing42 about a year ago and with it released the Lockheed Vega as an Early Access product. I received some criticism for that decision, being told that Early-Access is "money-grabbing" or "pay-for-beta". I whole-heartily disagree! While it is true that the sales I make with the Early Access definitely help financing the development, my main motivation to go down that path was to tap into the hearts and minds of the users and through the interaction with the customers shape the product as close to perfection as I am able to. And let me tell you: the feedback I received through this process has been way beyond my imagination. I can confidently say that the Wing42 Vega would've never gotten to this level of realism without the feedback and criticism gained through the Early-Access program.
The overarching goal of this devellopment is to provide the user with an experience, rather than just an aircraft. I am trying to replicate the experience of operating an aircraft in the 1920s as closely as the platform allows. This immersion into the past is what this add-on represents - at least to me, and I hope for my customers too.
To facilitate said immersion, I tried to replicate operating procedures well beyond the actual flying of the aircraft. With version 0.85 I implemented an interactive ground crew together with a dialog interface. The interface is used to instruct your rampie to install the various ground equipment available and he will respond to you and inform you when the instructed tasks are completed. Apart from the programming of this interface, I also commissioned some artwork to give "Heinrich" a face and I spent considerable time recording the different responses. Another example of how the Vega tries to immerse you into the 1920s lies in the design of the various 2d panels that come with the add-on. The goal with the UI/UX is to incorporate design features of that time and give every interface the look and feel of a piece of paper. As an example for that, have a look at what I am working on at the moment. The upcoming version 0.90 of the aircraft will feature the new "Aircraft Desk" which is used to interact with aircraft log and engine log as well as provide some feedback on the wear & tear of the airplane. I am currently working 70-80 hours per week on this and many other new features, in the hope to get it done by the beginning of June.
So far I received overwhelmingly positive feedback from my customers. I can't recall a single one who was unhappy with the product as it is right now. The feedback that I get from users is mostly suggestions of things they like to see in a future update, or a report of some feature that doesn't work just yet. Despite that, sales have been abysmal lately. I am under no illusion that by itself, this project would ever be able to recuperate the immense expenses that I sunk into this project. But my hope is that the technology that I created in the process of developing this aircraft can be transferred into future products as well and in that way transform Wing42 into a viable business. However, I am still a bit disheartened by the lack of interest by the community as a whole, therefore I'd like to end my ramblings with two questions for you:
1. What do you think is the reason for the disregard of the add-on in the wider flight sim community?
2. I welcome any suggestions how to boost the profile of Wing42 and the Lockheed Vega.
Lastly, I want to thank all of the supporters of my work and everyone who already purchased the Lockheed Vega already. I am certain you will be blown away with the release of the next update and I'll do my best to deliver as fast as possible.
Kind Regards,
Otmar
I really like to share my experience and hopefully get some good ideas from the flightsim community.
I hope SOH does not see this as blatant advertisement and allows content like this to be hosted here. Please let me know if I'm in violation of any codes of conduct.
Hello Avsim!
I would like to share some of the joy and some of the agony I experienced over the past few years working on the simulation of ONE add-on for flight simulator. This is partially personal story, shameless product placement and rant. I started working on the Lockheed Vega about three years ago. The decision to work on that particular aircraft was driven by my passion for vintage aviation and the idea that the simulation of an aircraft like the Vega would be simple enough to complete within about a year time. Boy, was I wrong.
While the essential bits of this iconic aircraft - the 3d model and textures - were completed rather quickly, the simulation of the systems is an entirely different matter. The reason being that I couldn't be satisfied producing an aircraft that just looks good and flies well - I knew from the start that it is the systems simulation that transform a good aircraft to an outstanding add-on.
I launched Wing42 about a year ago and with it released the Lockheed Vega as an Early Access product. I received some criticism for that decision, being told that Early-Access is "money-grabbing" or "pay-for-beta". I whole-heartily disagree! While it is true that the sales I make with the Early Access definitely help financing the development, my main motivation to go down that path was to tap into the hearts and minds of the users and through the interaction with the customers shape the product as close to perfection as I am able to. And let me tell you: the feedback I received through this process has been way beyond my imagination. I can confidently say that the Wing42 Vega would've never gotten to this level of realism without the feedback and criticism gained through the Early-Access program.
The overarching goal of this devellopment is to provide the user with an experience, rather than just an aircraft. I am trying to replicate the experience of operating an aircraft in the 1920s as closely as the platform allows. This immersion into the past is what this add-on represents - at least to me, and I hope for my customers too.
To facilitate said immersion, I tried to replicate operating procedures well beyond the actual flying of the aircraft. With version 0.85 I implemented an interactive ground crew together with a dialog interface. The interface is used to instruct your rampie to install the various ground equipment available and he will respond to you and inform you when the instructed tasks are completed. Apart from the programming of this interface, I also commissioned some artwork to give "Heinrich" a face and I spent considerable time recording the different responses. Another example of how the Vega tries to immerse you into the 1920s lies in the design of the various 2d panels that come with the add-on. The goal with the UI/UX is to incorporate design features of that time and give every interface the look and feel of a piece of paper. As an example for that, have a look at what I am working on at the moment. The upcoming version 0.90 of the aircraft will feature the new "Aircraft Desk" which is used to interact with aircraft log and engine log as well as provide some feedback on the wear & tear of the airplane. I am currently working 70-80 hours per week on this and many other new features, in the hope to get it done by the beginning of June.
So far I received overwhelmingly positive feedback from my customers. I can't recall a single one who was unhappy with the product as it is right now. The feedback that I get from users is mostly suggestions of things they like to see in a future update, or a report of some feature that doesn't work just yet. Despite that, sales have been abysmal lately. I am under no illusion that by itself, this project would ever be able to recuperate the immense expenses that I sunk into this project. But my hope is that the technology that I created in the process of developing this aircraft can be transferred into future products as well and in that way transform Wing42 into a viable business. However, I am still a bit disheartened by the lack of interest by the community as a whole, therefore I'd like to end my ramblings with two questions for you:
1. What do you think is the reason for the disregard of the add-on in the wider flight sim community?
2. I welcome any suggestions how to boost the profile of Wing42 and the Lockheed Vega.
Lastly, I want to thank all of the supporters of my work and everyone who already purchased the Lockheed Vega already. I am certain you will be blown away with the release of the next update and I'll do my best to deliver as fast as possible.
Kind Regards,
Otmar
You've created something very impressive here. I imagine you already have, but think about approaching the CalClassic folks. Big audience for you there.
