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Flight Simulator popularity analysis

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Flight Simulator popularity analysis

Postby CaptB » Mon Aug 07, 2017 12:07 pm

I made a small Google Trends analysis of Flight Sim popularity: https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=%2Fm%2F014qwh,%2Fm%2F0dwp83,%2Fm%2F0238h5,%2Fm%2F0j9mhpy,%2Fm%2F0kwh4

Interesting points:

1-Interest in flight simulators is decreasing(compared to 2004)
2-FSX is king(still) but decreasing following the decreasing Flight sim interest in general.
3-X-Plane(total?) gaining more than P3D
4-FlightGear dropping(since 2004)
5-Most interest in FlightGear from Europe
6-YouTube searches for FlightGear are flat(since 2008)
Ongoing projects(3D modelling): A320, MD-11, A350, B767
FG767: https://fg767.wordpress.com/
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Re: Flight Simulator popularity analysis

Postby BBmine » Tue Aug 08, 2017 9:16 pm

I wonder why the flight sims are dropping. I actually plan to start making FlightGear videos on my YouTube channel soon. I have 30 subscribers now, so maybe that'll help.
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Re: Flight Simulator popularity analysis

Postby Thorsten » Wed Aug 09, 2017 6:08 am

They're dropping because they don't offer instant gratification whereas we live in the age of instant gratification. The idea that you have to learn something for a few months before you can get any reasonable results - for which you don't even get a reward - is clearly in decline - many people prefer a short crash course, followed by a quick takeoff, blasting a few bad guys from the sky and see themselves rise in an imaginary ranking.

Attention span is often limited to the characters of a twitter message. You can see the phenomenon all over the place.

(Or, while many people pretend they'd actually want to fly a super-realistic simulation for bragging rights, they tend to be frustrated when actually confronted with it and much prefer arcade simulations in which the 'realistic' refers to the rendering).
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Re: Flight Simulator popularity analysis

Postby drR0ckso » Thu Aug 24, 2017 6:19 pm

Thorsten is right. My experience coming into FG was fraught with crashes and only got better after I got a proper set of pedals, throttle, and a joystick. Being able to fly requires learning a lot of individual functions (flaps, gear, mixture, primer & starter), not to mention type-specific start-up sequences (A-10, 707, 747, etc.), flight procedures (SR-71), and/or autopilots (Cessna 337G, 747, A320, etc.). There is a significant investment in time just learning how much aileron or rudder is necessary. If the project wants to go in the direction of instant gratification out of the gate, the first and default aircraft should be a Piper Cub. That is an airplane with fixed gear, no flaps, and a low stall speed.

Flying with FG is not unlike learning to fly with a real aircraft, except you have the benefit of being able to crash a plane in FG and living to tell the tale. Start from zero and go from there.
I speak only for myself.
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Re: Flight Simulator popularity analysis

Postby curt » Thu Aug 24, 2017 7:35 pm

Another data point (with admittedly very narrow scope) is my model airplane club ... we probably have 1/4 the member we used to have not too many years ago. Yet another data point: I recently took a trip to my local hobby shop and was dismayed to see that the old wall of airplane kits for sale has been whittled down to half a shelf of boring things. Even the plastic model section is probably half what it used to be. There may be other contributing factors in all these situations, but there seems to be a trend here. My best guess isn't to blame people's attention span or work ethic for these trends, but I think it's probably more due to many other new things competing for our hobby time. Maybe there's a cultural shift going as well? Is it now cooler to produce a youtube movie with 100,000 views instead of building an airplane that actually flies, or learning to fly yourself? I don't know? The magic and emotional connection can go away if you get the final result for free and don't have to work for it.
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Re: Flight Simulator popularity analysis

Postby StuartC » Thu Aug 24, 2017 9:47 pm

@curt

My modelclub has failed to gain any new members in yars. The younger ones have no interest in anything that requires a learning curve. They basically turn up wanting to fly a jet and when there told they need to learn on a trainer first, you never see them again.
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Re: Flight Simulator popularity analysis

Postby JS17 » Thu Dec 07, 2017 3:13 am

Thorsten wrote in Wed Aug 09, 2017 6:08 am:They're dropping because they don't offer instant gratification whereas we live in the age of instant gratification. The idea that you have to learn something for a few months before you can get any reasonable results - for which you don't even get a reward - is clearly in decline - many people prefer a short crash course, followed by a quick takeoff, blasting a few bad guys from the sky and see themselves rise in an imaginary ranking.

Attention span is often limited to the characters of a twitter message. You can see the phenomenon all over the place.

(Or, while many people pretend they'd actually want to fly a super-realistic simulation for bragging rights, they tend to be frustrated when actually confronted with it and much prefer arcade simulations in which the 'realistic' refers to the rendering).


I couldn't have put it any better myself! Brilliant
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