February 2008

Dave March of ProFlight has contacted us to to let us know that they’re still looking for people to create voice files for their ProFlight Emulator:

Due to some rejected and withdrawn applications OnCourse Software are still looking for new voice authors to expand the number of voice packs available within their popular ProFlight 2000 Emulator (PFE). Successful applicants will receive a free copy of PFE Deluxe *PLUS* a free download on any FS add-on of their choice from Aerosoft. Those interested should checkout the free downloads post at the PFE support.

Refer to my earlier post for further details.

Does the recent announcement that SimMarket - a long standing reseller of flight simulator add-ons - is moving into other markets (for example, a fishing game), spell the beginning of the end for the flight simulator add-on market?

That might seem like a drastic question, but let’s take a look at the current state of the add-on market. What could be the reasons for the slow down?

The new simmer and FSX

I think one of the main reasons is that we’ve got utter confusion as far as FSX and add-ons go. The average “non-enthusiast” FSX user, who may have been tempted to buy the occasional add-on, will most likely be put off for the simple reason that they don’t even know if it’ll run on their setup. Imagine, if you will, that you’re not a die-hard sim fan and you’ve just purchased and installed your shiny new copy of FSX on your machine. You’ve done a few flights and you’ve got your eye on that nice new aircraft add-on, when you check the system requirements. Maybe it’ll read something like:

“Requires Flight Simulator X with Service Pack 1 installed. We’re working on a compatibility fix so it’ll work with Service Pack 2 in the near future. There will be an additional charge for this update.”

You read that and think, “What the…?”. Do I have Service Pack 1 installed? Service Pack 2? Will it work? You’re not sure, so you probably think “I’ll save my money and wait until all the problems are sorted out.”.

Like it or not, FSX has fragmented the market. I’ve a feeling it’s only die-hard enthusiasts that are still buying add-ons.

I’ve recently had an email from a reader asking if I could create a new section in the forum where people could post about add-ons known to work with FSX with SP1 and Acceleration installed. This is a great idea, but it’s one that shouldn’t be necessary and indicates the level of confusion out there.

FS9

Add-on developers are actually starting to port products originally developed for FSX back to FS9. This HAS to be a signal that they recognise that, for many, FS9 is their primary simulator and will remain so for some time.

This is an unprecedented move in the history of the Microsoft Flight Simulator franchise. As far as I know, add-ons being developed for the “current” version have never been ported backwards to a previous version.

This only adds to the confusion of the new simmer.

Pricing

Coincidentally, the Just Flight Blog only yesterday posted a lengthy article on basically how price cuts are killing the industry. To be honest, I don’t agree with the author.

He writes that “everything has its value”. Whilst this is true, the actual worth in a free market is what people are prepared to pay for it. If customers are prepared to pay £10 for an add-on, but not £30, then I’d say its value was £10 at that point in time. Again, if I’m honest, I’d say the average add-on is over-priced and has been for years. £30 for an aircraft is a lot of money when you can get the base simulator at a similar price.

The problem as I see it, as I’ve mentioned elsewhere, is that, whilst add-on developers are understandably troubled by piracy, they don’t seem to want to lower their prices, which I believe is the single biggest thing they can do to help prevent it. Better to shift 100 units at £10 than 10 units at £20. If it’s priced reasonably, most people who really WANT the add-on will pay for it. I emphasize WANT, as I’m sure a great number of people who download pirated copies only do so because it’s there, not because they really want it.

I can speak from the developers point of view here, as I am a software developer by profession. I know how long it takes to write software. I know that you feel you need to charge enough to make that investment in time worthwhile. But I also know that, if you charge too much, people will go elsewhere. Elsewhere to some people will mean piracy, to others it’ll mean the bargain bin at the local PC store and to others it will mean abandoning the hobby altogether.

So, am I wrong? I hope so! The slow-down in the market is a fact, but is it the beginning of the end, or just a temporary glitch? What I really do believe is that we’re at the beginning of a major shake-up in the industry. I can see prices coming down as add-on developers realise that’s what they need to do to shift more units and survive as a business. And that could actually be a good thing. It’ll be good for simmers, as we’d be getting better value for money. It could also be good for developers in the long-term. Selling more units could lead to a growing dedicated customer base who will come back for more if they see they’re getting value for money.

Are companies like SimMarket doing the right thing? Only time will tell. By moving into non-flight simulator areas, they (and others like them) risk becoming less of an “expert” flight simulator site. By this I mean a site which people will immediately associate them with when thinking about flight simulation products. However, the hard facts speak for themselves and if they’re now selling non-flight simulator products, they must have a pretty good reason. This reason can only be that they’re not selling enough flight sim products to keep the business profitable, or they simply want to grow themselves beyond the flight sim market.

Your thoughts?

For today (29th February, 2008) only, FSGenesis are offering $10 off either FS2004 Bundle or FSX Bundle by entering the coupon code "LEAPDAY" (without the quotes) at the second checkout screen.

If you’ve been after this add-on, now’s the time to get it!

FSAddon has published some screenshots of their Grenoble-Isère Airport for Flight Simulator 9, due to be released in March.

From the forum:

A bunch of pictures I took while testing our latest FS9 title: Grenoble-Isère Airport by Antonio Totingue.

Price: Euro 14,95 (incl. VAT 17.79).

We recommend to install FranceVFR’s excellent FlightAlpesNord Base Pack and FlighAlpesNord Autogen as well !

Grenoble-Isère includes specially adapted texture files to make the two fit seamlessly.

It’s a good week for Condor scenery! On Tuesday we mentioned the Czech Republic Scenery had been released, and now it’s the turn of Alpi 3 photoreal scenery from Post Frontal.

PostFrontal is proud to distribute this revolutionary scenery developed by Bluangel56 for Condor: Alpi 3.

It’s not an upgrade for the famous Alpi 2 scenery but a brand new scenery based on very high resolution aerial photos which will give you the possibility to challenge yourself and on-line pilots on an unbelievable area of 135,000 sq. KMs (560 x 240 KMs), covering the full Alps, from France to Slovenia.

A total of 41 airports are featured in the scenery (click here for airport list). You can request the add of an airport in the area if it’s not included in the scenery, we’ll try to add it in the future free updates.

More than 70% of the scenery (all the central alpine area) has been created with very high resolution aerial pictures.