FTX EGSG Stapleford released

[speedbird591]

It's made by Russ White who did the amazing three airports in BC and Alaska that you've seen in my screenshots (Stewart, Ketchikan and Bella Coola) and is of the same amazing level of detail.

http://www.fullterrain.com/product_egsg.html

Ian

[DogTailRed2]

The airport looks superb and my next comment is not a critisism of the software at all, but, do you actually need that level of detail for a GA airport?
Not that is unless you are in the habit of parking you Cessna in the car park that is. Come on, it even has plants in tubs!
Just wondering

[DaveB]

I think Ted this highlights what ORBX do best.. GA airports not big buggers They cost a fair bit of cash and for that.. you get plants in pots and a level of detail you don't see in other scenery

It's very nice but as it's only compatible with FTX England.. I'm safe.. or to put it another way, my plastic is safe

ATB
DaveB

[speedbird591]

ORBX are quite proactive in their airport design and the CEO is quite open on their forum about his motivation. Profit! They are adapting all the time and when they first started they did a few large airports in Oz then in North America they did some high detail airfields with several square kilometres of detailed scenery surrounding them (towns or landscape). They've now found that the extra time involved in covering this sort of area doesn't create extra revenue so they no longer do large airports and only do GA fields. They're also starting to keep the detail within the airport boundary and the immediate vicinity which allows them to finish the airfield quicker and release more of them with very little loss of value to the consumer. It may well be that if Russ's high detail airports like EGSG take too much time without creating extra sales they may ask him to cut down on plants and dustbins and pill boxes and keep the detail in the central area alone.

By the way, when the new global texture replacement is released it is expected that the payware airports will be physically compatible but the edges won't be blended to the degree that they are with payware regions such as England. So they won't be supported or recommended for it.

Ian

[Nigel H-J]

I must say the detail there is phenominal!!! Though I can well imagine that with more airfields/airports being made for Orbx one could literally end up spending a fair packet and at £20 a go just count up all the smaller airfields dotted around the UK and you buy just 20 of them over a period of time the cost is frightening!! For that sort of money you could purchase larger airports covering most of Europe!!

Think I would rather have less detail and an area covered in the way that UK 2000 Scenery has done and sold at a more competitive price.

Nigel

[speedbird591]

Hello Nigel I hope you're well.

I think ORBX has inadvertently created a new divide in flight simming. By finding a way to create such beautifully detailed scenery within the limitations of FSX is a remarkable achievement but they are a commercial company and, despite the CEO and the developers obviously enjoying the hobby, it is a commercial company and the bottom line is that they need to sell as many products as possible in order to feed their babies and keep their wives in designer perfume

ORBX have discovered a vast army of mature simmers who adore their products and their whole culture and have been fine-tuning their products to take advantage of this seemingly bottomless market. They have tapped a segment of the market which appears to have a lot of cash in their budget reserved for their hobby and who are prepared to give it exclusively to ORBX because they love what they are producing. So it's a true commercial success story in that the manufacturer is producing exactly what their customer base wants pitched at a price they can afford and keeps creating new items at a rate that continually expands the sales figures.

The fact remains that FTX England is our fastest and biggest selling product and the overwhelming majority of those purchasers (read 99.9%) are more than happy with it and understand the limitations of how FTX works. We've sold more copies of England in 8 weeks than PNW in 18 months and it shows no slowing down.

250,000 product sales in 60 months tells me we are on the right track.

So ORBX's customer base is a relatively new breed of simmer with plenty of spare cash to buy the latest hardware as well as the ultimate software such as the PMDG 737NGX, REX, ORBX and all the rest. They have the money ready and all ORBX have to do is to regularly create desirable software to receive it. They seem to have got the right formula but it does create the divide that I mentioned at the beginning because those who don't have the money spare are excluded from that part of the hobby. I suppose it's the same with almost any hobby or pastime but is relatively new in simming.

Off the top of my head I'd guess that to keep ahead of that game would cost about £100-120 a month? Say a new PC every couple of years and the cost of regularly buying software and other accessories. Which probably compares favourably to golf, club cycling or whatever. And probably cheaper than many others. But not much consolation if you don't have it

Anyway, I don't think ORBX will be changing track any time soon as they are doing everything their customer base wants!

Ian

[DaveB]

Ian..

Are you sure you're not on the ORBX payroll.. or on commission?



ATB
DaveB

[speedbird591]

Are you sure you're not on the ORBX payroll.. or on commission?

I'd have thought that highlighting the hidden costs, as suggested by Nigel, would put people off buying into the ORBX thing! Fortunately I don't have the spare time to warrant buying too much of their stuff which makes it easier to restrict myself to certain areas. It is a shame though that keeping at the cutting edge of flight sim now involves huge amounts of money whereas it used to involve moderate amounts of money plus skill and know-how. Most parts of the hobby were accessible to anybody but now there is a financial divide which excludes some people from an increasingly large simming option.

Ian

[DaveB]

I think you'd make an ideal executioner Ian. Folk would feel 'good' about being topped

You're right about the costs though.. it's not a poor mans sport these days.. well, getting into the whole ORBX thing certainly isn't. Fortunately, the alternatives are relatively cheap and cheeful and if you can stand not seeing plant pots at your favourite GA airfield.. they're not so bad either

ATB
DaveB

[Noddy]

A quick flight.