Admittedly, I’ve avoided career mode thus far because of the many bugs I’ve seen posted about it. I don’t need any additional frustration at this point.
But from what I hear, it appears that career mode is very strict with regard to things like flap speeds, taxi speeds, hold short boxes, parking spots, etc. I understand you get points/money/rep deducted for exceeding certain designated parameters.
In what way does this mirror a real life career in aviation? If someone hires me to take them on a sightseeing tour or to ferry a plane from point A to point B, why do they care about my taxi speed or parking spot as long as they get what they paid for and arrive in one piece? Shouldn’t I get paid as long as I accomplish that goal, regardless of how I do so? And if I damage the plane in the process, then it’s my responsibility to pay for the damages.
Basically, I’m suggesting that career mode be more result oriented rather than a strict test of adherence to certain flight parameters. If you want to have such a mode, make it a part of flight training and not career missions. It seems to me that relaxing the parameters for success would make career more realistic and enjoyable, while at the same time eliminating some of the bugs plaguing it like constantly moving parking spots, incorrect flap deployment speeds, etc.
These three could result in the loss of your pilot’s licence IRL, depending on the situation, severity, and frequency of the ‘safety incident’. There isn’t a way to really model that in career other than a fine, the alternative would be game over.
I suppose there is also no easy way to penalise these other than a fine too, IRL if an airline repeatedly parked at the wrong gate, or a C152 blocked a jetbridge they would get into trouble with the airport. As a small GA aircraft though, if you’re pulling up on the ramp it shouldn’t matter
exceeding flap speed can damage the aircraft, that’s why the manufacturer defines a maximum flap speed. Modern aircraft (new gulfstreams IIRC) will even automatically report back to Gulfstream if a pilot overspeed the flaps and they can even ground the aircraft until inspections can be completed, even if the aircraft is on the other side of the world.
Edit: the issues people were usually complaining about was I would be on the ground not moving and put flaps down for takeoff and get the “Exceeded flap speed” infringement. obviously a bug, it has since been fixed
Taxi speeds are a bit grey area sometimes, the FAA wants us to taxi “at a brisk walking speed”, while safe, that’s not very practical in the real world (ask southwest lol). I believe Boeing even says the 737 can taxi up to 30kts (not sure where i remember seeing that). with the last update I haven’t gotten a taxi speed infringement, i believe they relaxed the tolerances on this already.
The issue with the hold short boxes was early on they were always on the wrong side of the hold short, requiring you to cross the hold short to get into the box to trigger the next phase but would give you a “entered runway/taxiway unannounced” infringement. it was bug that has since been fixed.
parking spots are the only one I agree should be up to me. If I land at a small airport in my 172 I’m just going to pick an open parking spot to tie down. but If I land a 737 I should have an assigned gate to park at
Ratings are to EASY, grinding for credits is to long, ai voices are repetitive, long & boring. Getting to new companies takes to long, we NEED OUR MARKET PLACE purchases and downloads from 2020!
I would go as far as ratings are not only easy, but they give little value to the actual rating you get. For example twin engine rating, where you only need to land with one engine, but there is really no other information you get as of how to operate twin engine airplanes. The same with others, like jet airline rating, which I got but the training is really vague and already set up, and the test is just a go around. I didn’t receive any information on how to handle the FMC, how to input different approaches, how to set up AP for different things, how to calculate trim. Yet I am apparently rated for it. I practiced and looked up all these things, and I needed several flights and information from the internet so I am able to complete a flight with confidence. I mean you can do employee missions till you are comfortable with no expense, but the rating itself doesn’t mean that you can actually fly that rating well.
I’m not saying that we should be allowed to operate in an unsafe manner (although that would be more realistic as I know it happens IRL). I’m just saying that MSFS seems to be overly restrictive in what it will or won’t allow you to do in pursuit of completing the mission successfully.
This has changed a lot since launch. It’s quite easy to fly normally and not have any real issues. You can still operate unsafely, exceed flap speeds, fly at wrong altitudes as long as its not egregious which can still cause you to crash (in-flight breakup etc.). You’ll still get credit as long as you land at the right airport and stop in the right parking spot (sometimes not possible… bugs) but overall it’s gotten much better
That’s good to know. As I said, I don’t currently use it myself. The one time I tried, I was unable to fly because I couldn’t remove the wheel chocks. So I gave up and haven’t revisited it since.
I’ll try again once some more fixes get pushed out
You say that you don’t play career mode. Therefore, you are obviously judging based on what you read and it is understandable that you come to this conclusion. I would probably be too. In practice, I personally think it’s logical, sensible and consistent to punish transgressions like the ones you mentioned in some way. And it is a fair and appropriate solution in the SIM. So if you exceed the taxi speed, you get a message and indeed, at the end of the day it costs you a few credits.
I had a flight where I exceeded the max speed a little, maybe for 10 seconds. That cost a small fee of about 20 cr. I also exceeded the taxi speed, that happens very quickly with helicopters, I wouldn’t have noticed that there was a deduction in the final result if it hadn’t been explicitly stated there. So it is the case that you have to “mess up” considerably to be really severely penalized.
Failure to comply with the mission parameters is a completely different matter, as it means that the mission cannot be successfully completed.
All in all, I can understand your criticism, but it’s not really relevant in practice - as far as I’m concerned.
I always take the “exams” as soon as I have enough credits. I never played the training missions before because I didn’t want to invest the time. Since I realized, as you describe it, that it’s usually any simple traffic pattern or a comparable short, tight flight, I thought to myself, rush through it quickly and you’ve got it.
What’s it like in the preparatory training courses, judging by their titles, one might assume that the aspects ignored in the exam flights are taught there? Do you know more about this?
That might be a good reason to go through them.
I am not sure what you mean, but I went through every single training before exams. They are useful but they teach you very little of what you actually need to know. The jet airline rating has only two training courses, none of these actually makes you input anything to FMC, calculate takeoff weight, trim correctly etc.
I love the whole career system as it is. Completely new to flightsimming and I love the strictness of the rules, as long as they are fairly folowed by the AI judge. Feels like Gran Turismo license tests. I won’t say the "just do your job and get paid approach won’t be fun enough either, but pilotting and strictness feel like they go hand in hand
Ok, then it is clearly too shallow. Because what’s the point of all this training nonsense if you don’t learn anything - not even what you actually need. I thought it was like being taught all that in the training sessions the whole time.
Too bad.
I have a little hope that this might be upgraded over time.
I wouldn’t think it will be upgraded either, but maybe. For me it seems like the lower ratings, like the PPL and IFR has more training modules and they are helpful, while later on, they are having little training and many information is missing. On the other hand the information is out there (in forms of videos, manuals), so its not so much of a problem. The problem is that for a new simmer it doesn’t actually tell that they need more knowledge than what the training can offer. It would be nice if at least they could offer a manual for each aircraft in game that you could reference, like many 3rd party aircraft does.
I really enjoy how strict and thus realistic the game is. Others already pointed out that not everything is taught, but doing the research and learning about it also intrigues me. I think free flight is perfect for relaxing, but ultimately its a “simulator” and I want to simulate the environment as best as I can
I have been taking it slowly with my second run on Career mode (the accumulating insurance bug wiped out my bankroll so I restarted).
I am mainly flying light cargo missions because that is what I enjoy. The things that bothers me is not the errors that I get for things that I can avoid (flaps speed warnings, taxi speed warnings) but for things that are unavoidable.
Just yesterday I had a flight whose hold short was on the runway and it was one of those that require to taxi to the end of the runway and turn around. Of course I got penalized for entering the runway early when there was absolutely no way to avoid it.
Another one that bugs me a little. Small airports when I land and pass the single taxiway. I need to do a 180 and the 172 has a really bad turning radius so as I try and do a 180 and go back to the taxiway I get dinged if a tire is even a few pixels off the runway.
Just another thought; real world companies will have Standard Operating Procedures which can outline things like taxi speed limits, minimum runway lengths etc. having a strict structure can be very realistic depending on the company and aircraft you fly
For the turn radius, have you tried pressing brake when turning? That should tighten the corner a bit and if you do it multiple times it might be enough to get the 172 turn around also on narrower runways (but sometimes I also fail with this)
