bad_karma

Hey Fates Funny you should say B707. That's one of the sims that I providing support for right now. :)

Hey people I have been watching these forums for quite a while now and thought, I might as well join in. The topic of simulation and realism is quite interesting (especially the varying opinions that many people tend to have). I may as well my two cents worth into this topic. I currently work as a software engineer for a compnay that specialises in developing both civil and military full flight simulators. Over the years, I have developed quite a few software components for various full flight simulators. One thing that always makes me smile is when people on such forums are demanding various little bits and pieces which they believe will add to the realsim or "simulation experience". Now I am not having a go at such people. I believe that it is good when customers keep demanding more from the producers (yields a better product that provides greater customer satisfaction). All I am saying is that we have to be realistic. Simulation of a physical environment can be quite costly depending on the level of detail that is sought. For example full flight simulators that are used in commercial and military use do not model reality 100%, this is simply impossible. Instead the models produced are made in such a way that they are acceptable to the users (the aircrews) in providing a positive training experience. The second problem is hardware, for any small increase in simulation fidelity, the hardware requirements escalate at an extreme rate. Let's just say you would have no chance in running the software that is on a current commercial/military full flight simulator on a typical sim buff's home PC. This all comes back to the point of why these PC based flight simulators are made. In my opinion they are there to provide the general public an insight into flight and a bit of fun for the seasoned user, nothing else. If you want realism you might want to see if you can get some time on a full flight simulator somewhere or take up real flying because it will be quite a while before it gets there on the PC. Hopefully I won't get blasted for what I have written. Ta Bad Karma