Only a few devs are a little bit original with Concorde , SR71 etc…
I just don’t understand why, what do you think of a Canadair CL415 for firefighting, or military transport planes like the A400M, C130, C17 or the Casa C235 or C295 etc…
This kind of planes are a perfect fit for MSFS as they can land pretty much everywhere, they have amazing performances so they are fun to fly, and they are pretty complex.
Imagine firefighting with friends in formation like IRL, or simulate military or humanitarian cargo operations in the desert or jungle by night…
Do you really think there is no market for that?
There is a market for those types of aircraft, it’s just smaller than the GA and airliner market. Also, it can be difficult to get all of the information needed to make a good military transport.
I guess when 3rd party developers plan to realize a new plane, two things are important. First, the demand for it needs to be there. And second they need access to the real plane or at least access to good documentation of it. Otherwise it will be difficult to simulate it accurately.
I honnestly think the demand is there, more than another GA aircraft at least. As for the documentation, these are not top secret aircrafts, DCS has a ton of highly detailed real fighters !
So Fenix is making a A320 for what market? People are flying that thing since release of MSFS, FBW created a more detailed version and more players are getting tired of that plane. If you really want to make a small airbus you could have taken a A318, A319 or A220. How many A320 does the “market” need?
There is explicitly a market for the kind of hyper-realistic A320 sim that Fenix are aiming to make - just as there is a market for a similar 737 in X-Plane despite there being a stock version and the Zibo mod.
There’s certainly discussions to be had about how large that market would be but that doesn’t alter the fact that it exists.
MD-80 series would be great… an old school, non-glass cockpit liner that many of us remember flying with (as a passenger…) and on occasion being invited (or self-invited) to visit the cockpit… before new regulations forced the closed-door policy after 9/11
That suggests then that the market for the Fenix in MSFS is potentially even larger since there is no competing product right now (though the PMDG 737 could beat it to market)
(But ultimately the reason the Fenix is an A320 is because the underlying Systems/Avionics model the module uses is for the A320.)
Personally, I think the Aerosoft Twin Otter is going to be extremely popular when released. Hits the sweet spot between GA, regional airline ops, and bush/float/ski adventure flying. Perfect for MSFS.
While we can all agree that there is definitely a market for hyper-realistic A320. I think the question here is why is there a need for the A320ceo that Fenix is making? Given that we already have an A320neo working, and the FBW team is getting closer and closer to a realistic A320neo.
The question here is why are they pouring time and effort towards a “duplicated” aircraft. Something that is already catered by the more “current” variant of the aircraft. @Chaezaa is only referring to the reduced demand of the A320ceo since a lot of people who wants to fly the A320 is already flying the A320neo from either the default Asobo or the FBW improved aircraft.
On the other side, we have actual and real demand for other airline classes. Something that we’ve been waiting for a year now, like the A330neo, A350-900ULR, A380, all of which are latest variant of in-production aircraft. On the Boeing side, we need study level 787, a proper 777X and 737-Max, all of which are also the latest variant in each class. These are the market demands that is desperately need to be fulfilled.
So Chaezaa and myself is just confused as to why after one year of flying the A32NX mod, the next study level aircraft that will be released is Fenix A320. which is practically a duplication on what we already have.
If Fenix’s capability is on the A320 systems, I would think they could’ve joined the FlyByWire team and contribute their skills and knowledge to improve the A32NX at an even faster pace, making it closer to as real as possible a lot quicker, instead of caniballising the resources to create another aircraft that’s basically the same as what we already have.
Because with the best will in the world the FBW team aren’t aiming for the kind of Hyper-realism that the Fenix team are.
There is a market for people who want to go beyond what the MSFS systems suite is ever likely to be able to offer and instead want implementation of the kind of best-in-breed systems simulation Fenix are incorporating.
The market exists - the enthusiasm for the Fenix sim clearly indicates that - but whether that’s enough to bring financial success I have no idea.
I’m waiting patiently for the Twin Otter and the HondaJet. But I’d also love to see some ekranoplans that can run as island-hopping taxis and ferries. Imagine island hopping in the Maldives in something that uses a lot less fuel than a Twin Otter (still want one though), and is much safer because it operates only a few feet over the water. But it can also “hop” over obstacles like sandbars and errant boat operators.
Because developers lack skill and data to make the aircrafts you mentioned. This is why they are only focusing on either simple GA aircraft or airliners that are already been made so they can improve it.
Fenix uses Prosim A320 so they haven’t coded themselves very much, they mainly did the 3d model.
FBW is being developed with the help of hundreds of contributors, and even with that the FBW A320 is far from perfect and lacks many features.
The truth is there are very few developers skilled enough to create new complex plane from scratch. (PMDG for example) and they need a lot of time.
