Some news from Scott / A2A Simulations

[ZachariasX]

Just wanted to pass on some info that I came across just now on their forum pages. While they have been largely silent about further consumer products (they haven't made any new ones for over a year now), they are still stuck bringing Accusim to MSFS.

 

If all fails, they might produce aircraft without Accusim. Nevertheless, they are also considering other platforms like DCS. Scott goes on about MSFS being more different to P3D than P3D is to FSX in regard to importing aircraft models.

 

But the true bombshell is this:

We are closer than anyone thinks to our own platform. And we're not just thinking GA, but air combat. Anyone want this? I know I do.

 

Phew.

 

 

[Hoots]

If they could get their Accusim models into MSFS I'd buy them in a heartbeat. Intriguing news about their own platform.

[Eisenfaustus]

Ok - now I’m getting my hopes up for something in the footsteps of bob2wov… 

One can dream ^^

[Feathered_IV]

Luke thought A2A were a South Korean boy band..

Edited September 27, 2021 by Feathered_IV

[Hoots]

I was looking forward to Deadstick Sims bush pilot offering but it seems to have died a death.

[[DBS]Browning]

The market is more crowded now than it has been for many years previously, but good luck to them.

[danielprates]

4 hours ago, ZachariasX said:

 

 

But the true bombshell is this:

We are closer than anyone thinks to our own platform. And we're not just thinking GA, but air combat. Anyone want this? I know I do.

 

Phew.

 

 

 

You guys know what this means, right? It is the closest we'll ever get to having a study-level, gun-firing, bomb-dropping B17. Not to mention all the other great ww2 aircraft they already have.

[ZachariasX]

23 minutes ago, danielprates said:

You guys know what this means, right? It is the closest we'll ever get to having a study-level, gun-firing, bomb-dropping B17. Not to mention all the other great ww2 aircraft they already have.

Yes, that might be so. Then again, I am not sure.

 

Building a simulator featuring an actual "simulated world" as opposed to a limited map is a daunting task but I do not think any new simulator not based on a world geodetic system has a place in the market in any form other than a fast fragging shooter. Even "GA-only" sims take years to mature and function as intended.

 

Microsoft has shown that they can pull this off simply because they have for practical purposes infinite budget and a backend that scales arbitrarily. Downside is, they care relatively little for "flight" in the "sim" which turns out to be somewhat modest. With the competing flight sims, it is the "sim" that is largely modest.

 

DCS is not willing to give us a world that looks like the one we inhabit, for practical reasons. So far they don't even have to, as there is no such competition in the gamers market. If Scott would create a sim that actually would simulate a world like ours, then this would be terrible news for Wags. He would have to do it too once we'd have the alternative.

 

But it is not only about a world renderer, it is foremost about making an SDK that allows content creation as freely as possible and as easy as possible. P3D has such an SDK, it has tons of functionality to the degree of allowing bespoke solutions that run outside of the sim and do not depend on anything provided by the world renderer. This is also where P3D differs from XP, despite all the mimimimi you hear on the topic. Fact is, nobody is designing real military training modules for real money on XP. It doesn't matter what you could do. It's about what you can do. I have to say, the DCS editor is a mighty fine piece of software, same as their SDK seems to provide what is needed.

 

It is quiet clear that Scott has a set of aircraft that could make a new sim a compelling offering as a start. Functionality is there, as they use Accusim to produce bespoke solutions for military clients. Could he make an editor to match DCS? Could he make an SDK for third party devs to use Accusim? If so, I see mainly competition for DCS, XP and to some extent P3D. But LM probably has several specialized clients in the professional market to be safe.

 

The shooting fest we have in BoX I see in a different category.

 

 

 

[dburne]

Wow yes very interesting, although with IL-2, DCS, and MSFS I have my hands quite full - not to even mention the other VR games I play from time to time.

[Gambit21]

I can’t imagine them getting a full-fledged combat sim with sufficient aircraft and assets up and running any time soon.

[danielprates]

22 hours ago, ZachariasX said:

Yes, that might be so. Then again, I am not sure.

 

When I say "this is the closest we'll get", maybe the correct words would be "the less far". They lack, for instance, literally "the world" in which to fly their planes. Still, an older engine would do I guess. In any case anything they come up with would end up looking outdated from day one, like a brand-new 10 years old game. The differential would have to be the "study level" quality and, as discussed ad nauseam in this forum, there is probably no market for this.

[ZachariasX]

Some clarification from Scott:

 

Just so not to be misunderstood, when I speak of our own platform I'm speaking of something on a very small scale that we would be doing largely just to satisfying ourselves. We already have this platform to develop Accu-Sim on in house use but we speak about how we could make something from it for others to enjoy. In no way are we under any illusions it would be a Prepar3D or MSFS replacement.

Scott

 

Now that makes sense. I guess he wasn't prepared for how much traction a small idea could get.

 

[Gambit21]

That makes more sense.

To me the actual 'bomb shell' was that they're considering DCS.