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Houston..... we have a problem !! by francois




Words that have somehow been engraved in my mind.... at the time I was following he NASA space program intensely and these were horrible words coming from a speaker in Mission Control, televised over the world. Looking at the dwindling news about add-ons at all the news sites, looking at simMarket's sales figures and at my own company's void of new titles, I thought I'd share some of my thoughts with you regarding the current state and future of Flight Simulator.

I have been reading a few lengthy and sometimes aggressive threads on various forums and since I formulated my own thoughts about the problems with FSX some time ago, I decided to share them on my blog (but knowing not many read there, I'll post them here on simFlight too, what the heck).



Like the Apollo mission at that time the FS add-on industry has a problem too, in a similar fashion. It can be mended perhaps, but the problem is real, serious and dragging down quite a few designers and publishers currently.

Speaking for ourselves I can tell you that 2007 has been a disastrous year business-wise and one we want to forget very quickly. But will 2008 be any better !!??



The problem is that by publishing FSX, at the time and in the form they did, Microsoft has managed to split the market in three.... instead of increasing it as was planned.

1.
We now have a (large??) new user base who have NO CLUE about FS... and hence no clue about adding and installing add-ons.... nor where to look for them, NOR the intention or experience to spend EXTRA money on a 'game' they 'already' bought.

2.
We also have a (much smaller) contingent of previous FS users that have made the switch to FSX. I am talking about the ones that are happy with it and (most likely) have powerful new PC systems to match it..... and not many add-ons installed.

3.
Finally there is the (I think large) group of FS users who remained with FS9 OR went BACK to FS9. Mainly because their systems are just not up to running FSX in ts current form, but also because they invested in their current add-ons and there still are very few powerful add-ons on the market for FSX.



The problems (for add-on developers, and therefore ultimately for MS as well!) are multiple.

* the standard problem with each major new release: the technology and tools have changed and require large investments in time to re-learn
* most started doing this for FSX, and hence invest their time there, meaning there is no time left for 'old' platforms development. We only have 24 hours in a day.
* the technical 'surprises' AND subsequent changes (SP1 and SP2) meant there was no steady platform to build upon for more than a year, thus delaying many add-on projects
* demand for FSX add-ons is not as high as FS9 demand was pre-FSX.... because there are less (potential) add-on users. This is in spite of the efforts MS made by putting our companies in a list on their FSInsider site. And yes, we DO get traffic from that page!
* demand for FS9 titles picked up again when the writing got on the wall..... but unfortunately most of the developers switched gears already towards FSX. Going BACK is not easy, and often even impossible. AND the rationale to do so is even questionable.
* The FS9 add-on market is there, but MUCH smaller than before.... because people don't want to invest in 'old technology' anymore apparently. AND they have most of what they want now, anyway.
* some of our 'tricks' have been picked up by MS and inserted in their base product..... and some other tricks have been 'killed' by MS by changing the technology and making things impossible.
* The recent release of Service Pack 2 has NOT made things any better, either.
* Oh yes, lest I forget, the disaster called 'Vista' (and associated DX10 failed promises).

Basically it means that many add-on producers are between a rock and a hard place and damned if they do, damned if they don't (develop for FSX).



We need a MARKET with paying customers in order to be able to invest our time building add-ons.

And for FS users looking at the freeware market instead is also not an alternative; FS has become so complex that excellent add-ons are more out of reach of casual developers than ever. Good freeware also needs even more of time now than in the past, a lot of persevering and very bright people.... 'we' (AND MS !) will snap them up as soon as we see them !


Bottom line: if MS intended to do a 'shake-out' of add-on developers and publishers, then I think they have succeeded.
If they intended to do what they wrote at the outset of FSX, i.e. get closer to the community of both customers and developers AND bring FS to a much larger audience...... then somewhere during the journey someone turned the rudder and the boat went off course!

On the other hand, if they think that 'expansion packs' (like in the 'regular gaming world') are the way forward, then they have clearly not grasped this very particular market, where it is much more a matter of 'collecting' nice things and BUILD one's own version of the sim than just play it for 6 weeks and then wait 6 months for an expansion. Only to be played another 6 weeks.



Damage control

How to do that? Frankly, I am not sure. We are forced to continue with FSX one way or the other. FS9 is an option, but not very realistic in many ways (see above).

And FS11/12?? My personal opinion is that MS needs to cut the backward compatibility for once (and take the flak for it, of course) and come up with a new engine... with new technological capabilities and opportunities and a REAL reason to move forward.

We cannot really sell FSX to our customers the way it is......