NZFF

by **toprob** » Tue Dec 16, 2008 2:04 pm

...and a Happy New Year.

Although I am looking forward to Christmas -- I will get to see most of my kids on Christmas day this year, which hasn't happened for a long time -- I'm a lot more excited about 2009. On a business and personal level, 2008 can be counted a success, but it also falls into the 'could do better' category:) In a lot of respects it's been quite a boring year, although that's not entirely a bad thing -- 2007 was an eventful year, with the end of a ten-year relationship, plus a handful of niggly health problems, so believe me, boring can be good!

This year has been more about consolidation and growth rather than frivolity, so I've dedicated 2009 to breaking out a bit, and having some fun.

The flightsim scene has been a bit the same -- For instance, we've seen a steady decline in the number of FS2004 releases, both freeware and payware, but without any corresponding increase in FSX releases. My own opinion here is that because FS2004 turned into such a mature simulator, development just got more and more difficult, and user's expectations increased. New developers were put off by the sheer commitment necessary to release an acceptable addon, and existing developers were more inclined to turn out one major release a year -- or less -- rather than the fast turnaround we saw three years ago.

We've seen some very nice FS2004 releases, as developers realised that if they didn't finish their labour of love, they'd be left behind, but these are becoming fewer and fewer. FSX hasn't fared any better, because it adds yet another level of complexity to addon development. A beginner, who may have been able to produce a commendable addon in a couple of months back in 2005, is now spending a couple of months working on a single aspect of a multi-aspected project.

Ultimately this gives us better addons in the end, but a lot less of them. And this has the most affect on freeware, where time is the main constraint.

This is balanced a bit by an increasing number of mature development tools, which take away the more pains-taking aspects of some addon development. (This works to the benefit of scenery developers, but aircraft developers just need to do the hard work.) For instance, there are a number of very useful object placement tools for FSX, where you can place default FSX scenery objects a magnitude better than old FS2004 objects, or addon library objects for that matter.

So what do we want to see in 2009?

I'm not as qualified to answer this as you'd expect -- the things I get excited about are not to everyone's tastes, but on the other hand, being able to spend all my time on FS in one way or another means that I can shape our direction a little. Which is why we need some lateral thinking from others who have whatever skills are required to shape the future of FS just a little.

I don't know what these skills are -- the great thing about many and varied folk getting involved in something like this is that unexpected, surprising and magic things can happen. I do, though, have a lot of ideas which I would never have the time to explore.

For instance, when FSX was announced, we were all a bit confused about the concept of Missions. Some folk even saw this as the death of the MSFS franchise -- we'll end up with an arcade game, rather than a real simulation! -- but a lot of FSX users saw the value of this. It opens up the development of flight simulation to a whole new group of people -- story-tellers, artists, and the definitive No. 8 Wire Kiwi, who has certainly made a huge contribution to aviation.

The possibilities flash around me like sunlit specks of dust -- pick a genre: History; Adventure; Biography; Science Fiction; Comedy -- if you have ever wanted to tell a story, then this may be the way to do it! And people will love it. Imagine teaching someone a little about what moves you. Bring your grandfather's flight log to life, show the work of the rescue services, or a simple tale of the New Zealanders who do things their own way, every day, in Godzone.

I get a lot of emails, many asking for help with scenery and other FS projects, and I know that some people wait a very long time for me to actually get around to something, but I can say that the most interesting emails start off with "I have an idea, ... "

If you have an idea for a story you would like to tell, then please get in touch. You don't need to be a techno-geek to develop for FS -- you just need a story, and imagination.

I'll stop now. Think about the stories you could tell, and get in touch with me in the new year.

-Robin

by **spongebob206** » Tue Dec 16, 2008 2:34 pm

Merry Christmas and a Happy new year to you to Rob.

Thank you for your assistance, knowledge and developments that we all enjoyed over the years.

Look forward to your next projects for 2009.

I'll be happy to put my thinking cap on and pass on any idea's

Take care, enjoy the family and happy Flying.

by **ardypilot** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 12:27 am

QUOTE

My own opinion here is that because FS2004 turned into such a mature simulator, development just got more and more difficult, and user's expectations increased.[/quote]
A 'mature simulator' - I think thats a very good way to summerise the FS9 situation at the moment (continuing on from our discussion in the staff forums) with only a handfull of our most regular members using the sim exclusively, and obviously, as a developer dealing also with FSX, you seem to have hit the nail on the head for the reasoning behind this.

Anyhow, M.C.A.A.H.N.Y to you also. I look forward to purchasing and flying with any new addons that you fling our way in 2009!

NZFF

Merry Christmas

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