by TOMB

I would suggest that, far from being too difficult, the reason for the relative lack of sales success of the sims mentioned was that most of them failed, in one respect or another, to meet the expectations of significant numbers of hardcore fans.

For example, the only one I and my mate have purchased is European Air War, and I bought it at discount after I learned that a second patch is due. Whilst EAW has its glaring flaws (guys, no-one ever got scrambled to intercept a V1 - you patrolled at a decent altitude over the Channel or you could forget it!) it appeared, on balance, to offer a sufficiently realistic and immersive experience overall to be worth our time. The others didn't.

Doug suggests that only one of these made any real money. I'm guessing, but was that Combat Flight Simulator? If so, it's interesting that it was the one that addressed some of the pure flight model aspects that Doug argued that the mass market isn't interested in. I suspect that its success has a lot more to do with the existing "Flight Simulator" community than ease of use for the casual gamer. And who could be more hardcore than a fan of a flight sim without combat? (tongue firmly in cheek.)

Consider these recent developments in the industry.

1) Rowan Software, its reputation at a low ebb after years of using virtually the same 'arcade' flight model, turns to all new 'difficult' models to re-establish its credibility in the market.

2) After "Sabre Ace" bombs, the developers (I forget who) swear they will never again make the mistake of producing a flight sim without a proper flight model.

3) Immediately after the release of SDOE, work has to start on new, realistic flight models to pacify irate customers (separate ones for each a/c for pity's sake!)

4) If you're still not convinced, what about Dynamix itself? What was the first thing Dynamix had to do in support of "Red Baron II"? Yep, produce an all new 'realistic' flight model. And let me tell you, it still ain't realistic enough!

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EM Chart for P38

Dynamix built its reputation on flight models. I never played AOP, but RB and AOE were outstanding given the technology of the time. Moreover, RBGunn, in his other post, is absolutely right - it's all in the details. I remember carelessly whacking open the throttle at low airspeed in the P51 in AOE. The torque rolled me to the left into a spin which took about 8,000 feet to recover from. I remember thinking what a marvellous moment that was!

Of course, different people want a different challenge, but that's where scaleable difficulty comes in. You ignore the fanatics at your commercial peril.

Curtiss P40 from Desert Fighters

I really want to be impressed by "Desert Fighters." I have ALWAYS wanted a sim based on the North African campaign. But it will have to come up to snuff in all respects. It will have to compete for my attention with MiG Alley, Flight Combat: Thunder Over Europe, B-17 II, Silent Hunter II, Panzer Elite, Jagged Alliance II, Delta Force II, Rainbow 6 II etc.

I caution all sim developers out there, The 20% hardcore element IS your market. The other 80% is playing Quake, blasting deer, or designing dresses for Barbie.

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