Why is there not an option for the Cessna 208 to have gauges instead of the glass cockpit?
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Lopoking at that picture, I can understand why they opted for a glass cockpit
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Same could be said for most of the modern default planes. They chose the more modern glass cockpit approach instead of steam gauges. Beyond that, your guess as to why they did it is as good as any of ours.
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None of the caravans or EXs being produced now come with steam gauges.
Given the effort it would take to put a whole suite of conventional radios, instruments and gauges that were fully functional and accurate, our best hope of seeing one is some dedicated 3rd party developer that might have a limited audience.
But thereās always hope.
I think it would have been nice to also have steam gauge variants of other planes like they did with the C172, even if they included it in another pack instead. Iād totally fly a stean gauge 208 with a GNS530/430 combo like the 172. I fly the steam gauge 172 way more than the G1000 one, even though I love the G1000 planes.
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Steam/analogue gauges are actually comparatively easy to produce. Itās mostly modelling and animation, the code is quite simple. Especially compared to whatās involved with the glass avionics.
I actually think Asobo shots themselves in the foot trying to have glass cockpits in everything, as the number of avionics issues people complain about is staggering. Analogue cockpits avoid a lot of this.
Of course, to the Xbox gaming generation that has grown up with screens in every facet of life, thereās probably no appeal at all to having boring old clunky tech in a new game.
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Agreed. Hence why I said that it would be nice if theyād had alternate version of aircraft where it made sense to have steam gauges and a basic GPS like the 530. Personally, I love the G3000. I spend a lot of time in the TMB and Longitude. But when doing shorter flights, I tend to stick to the steam gauge C172 and Mooney. They tend to give me higher frame rates since Iām not losing frames to my screens updating. But thereās also something just very satisfying flying with basic instruments.
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Couldnāt agree more, and that Caravan image at the top looks like a dream for dial tappers.
My only worry is that the devs havenāt yet made basic instrumentation work properly, (heading bug adjuster anyone?). So any new steam gauge versions might be a long time coming if we want them to be fully functional.
As for the whys of all the glass cockpits when most real GA aircraft lack them, surely it is purely to make the devs life easier. You only have to add code in the model for 1 or 2 instrument + a MFD rather than 10 or 15 individual dials, and their knobs + GPS, Transponder, AP etc. Also, you can hide missing functionality in a menu by not including it, where having functions labelled as INOP are just a bit embarrasing.
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I hope (and expect) we will see some good āold fashionedā classics from 3rd party. In fact, Iām counting on it. High tech glass cockpits wonāt hold my attention for the long haul. I want one of these ā¦
(Photo: Alexander Z., Wikimedia)
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Iād choose that over the glass cockpit anyday.
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You need two Honeycomb Bravo units to fly that baby! And request Asobo for 12 throttle axes 
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Nahh. Map all throttles to one control input. Same with prop-pitch.
Itād be OK.
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THIS. I learned to fly in 1975 and there was no GPS. Garmin wasnāt founded until 1989, and airliners used inertial navigation systems and LORAN for positioning.
But VORs, localizers, glide slopes, DME, and NDBs existed. Info from those radio navigation aids is what the āsteamā gauges show you, and what we used for IFR flying. IFR flying could be done with simple autopilots with heading hold, altitude hold, and vertical speed modes ā they didnāt have to be able to track nav aid courses or an ILS. You could manually track courses using heading mode, and use altitude hold and vertical speed mode to intercept and track a glide slope. Those same principles apply to todayās aircraft even with GPS and glass cockpits.
I believe if that if Asobo had gotten those AP basics right, and exposed them in the SDK and SimConnect, then glass cockpits and third party autopilots would be widely available right now.
But they didnāt get those basics right ā and still havenāt done so ā yet. Iām really hopeful the December 22nd update fixes those basics. It would be a GREAT Christmas present for us all.
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Same here, long live the protractor, compass, plastic overlays, and maps! Those were the days.
Still too much glass in that exampleā¦ 
I can see the postsā¦
āItās too hard to navigate with the screen in the middle.ā
āIs there a way to move the view so you can follow the display better?ā
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As much as I like my steam gauges in the sim, if I were to buy a plane IRL and money was no object, thereās a fairly good chance it would be an SR22 with full out glass cockpit. I like nostalgia, but Iām not one for hanging onto the buggy whip when a better vehicle comes along.
I just really enjoy navigating. There is something satisfying about following airways across the country and nailing an NDB approach into an uncontrolled strip at the end. I donāt mean to knock the new tech. Proof is in the pudding. Accident rates, CFIT in particular, has reduced since the implementation of GPS nav systems. I, personally find it more difficult to maintain my IFR focus when I donāt have a traditional scan ongoing.
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Thatās much better! I really wish we could get a good Bendix KLN89B or Garmin 155. Iād even appreciate the worst GPS I ever flew with, the Trimble 2000 Approach. 
I thought it was a Microwave oven for heating up the toastiesā¦