Post by Dutch Owen on Oct 23, 2009 11:46:07 GMT -5
I've been a flight simulation fan since FS 2.0 on the original IBM PC in 1985. As a private pilot without the financial resources to rent expensive airplanes very often, I enjoyed being able to experience at least a small part of the thrill of flight on my PC at home for nearly nothing. But the primitive graphics and low realism soon lost appeal.
Year after year I kept checking back as each version came out, and each time after the initial excitement disappointment returned. Until 2004, when I tried “A Century of Flight” after skipping over FS2000 and 2002. Then I was hooked...the environment had gotten realistic enough to give me a sense of immersion. Like so many, I quickly spent far more cash on add-ons than on the original product. But just flying around the skies (even realistic-looking skies) got old after a while, and I wanted more. Years before I'd made the career choice to be a professional computer programmer and just fly for fun when I could afford it. But I still secretly longed for the fantasy life of a professional pilot.
I tried the other products out there, and enjoyed them immensely, but still after a while something was missing. What I wanted was more authenticity, more of a feel for what it was really like. I understood the vital role of the airline dispatch office and how pilots must interact with it, but nothing like that was available. I loved being able to fly cargo as well as passengers in a realistic way, but the cargo options were all separate products that, while good, didn't quite live up to what I wanted. I knew professional pilots working for scheduled airlines don't choose where to fly each flight; they are assigned to existing scheduled flights or charters.
Two things bothered me the most: in a career simulation, I didn't want to have to put in time in airplanes I wasn't interested in to be able to “earn” a ticket to fly larger ones. And I wasn't interested in running the airline, I just wanted to fly for it. In my mind, neither of these models for a career simulator was authentic: in the real world no airline president is also a working pilot – if so, spending time flying an airplane on revenue flights ought to get him fired for neglect of his primary job. (Running an airline is a very difficult challenge anyway, money doesn't just roll in for you to buy more airplanes with. It's far more easy to fail than to succeed.) And in the real world, pilots can fly any airplane they are certified for once they pass the required check rides and other red tape. An experienced 737 captain moving from airline A to airline B doesn't have to start flying four-seaters until he works his way up to 737 status again!
What I realized I wanted was less game, more reality.
Being a programmer, I set about writing my own career simulator to meet my goals and priorities. It started as me flying for a fantasy cargo airline I called “Acme Cargo Service”, a somewhat seedy outfit more interested in the bottom line; flying on low margins and pressing their pilots to meet tight schedules with the minimum fuel that could be considered safe, in older airplanes that might not have the best maintenance. I wanted the challenge.
I played with this little program for about a year (an early version can be seen “hidden” in my DC-3C airplane, Shift-F7 will bring up a very buggy version of the FCOM.) I wanted more challenge so I added special conditions on the cargo flights. I wanted interesting cargo, so I added the manifest generator. I wanted to fly passengers so I added virtual “jump-seats” to my airplanes. The original idea for the Flight Communicator gauge (the FCOM) was that Acme was so cheap they invented this unique low-cost digital way to communicate with dispatch rather than the traditional ACARS and SELCAL and voice communications (simulating all that authentically would not only be a much larger programming project but would in the end no more realistic: there would still have to be a control panel or menu for sending commands to the program somewhere.)
As the program grew, I realized I could make it more general: make the airline configurable so it wasn't just “Acme” but you could fly for any airline. I realized too that I wasn't the only flight simulation enthusiast who might enjoy this program. For another year I went about the process of turning my “Acme Cargo” program into a full-fledged system with configurable airlines, airplanes, schedules, a first officer, cabin crew, flight ambiance, and much more. I wanted to make a complete, realistic, flexible and fun career simulation available to the whole flight simulator community.
The name “FSCaptain” came later in the process, because in this simulation that's exactly your role: a professional aircraft commander; a captain. I'm a programmer not a marketing person, but I realized that if I were to spend this much time and effort building this product, and make the serious commitment to maintain and enhance it for the community for years to come, I could not give it away. I wish I could, but the economic realities of this world don't make that possible; I'm not an independently wealthy individual by a long shot.
I realize acutely that taking money for FSCaptain is a contract to provide a quality product and good customer service. But beyond that, it's an obligation to be fair.
Fairness means that the free version of FSCaptain isn't just a demo, it is the full version with all capabilities, but just limited to accepting missions from three interesting airports. I chose these three because they offer a variety of options in an interesting area to fly. It's perfectly possible to enjoy the free version and have a full career flying only from these airports (there is no limit to the length of the flights or their destinations.) There will never be a difference between the free version and the purchased one other than the use of the registration code to unlock missions from any airport in the world.
Fairness means that when you purchase a registration code to remove this restriction, you can be assured that your code will unlock any future versions of FSCaptain no matter how many enhancements have been added. You can always visit the website for the latest updates. I will not play the game of stopping work on this version to later introduce an “FSCaptain II” for an “upgrade fee”. I am one of you; I am a flight simulation fan too, you can be assured I'll treat you fairly.
I hope you enjoy FSCaptain. I also hope you'll not just use the program for enjoyment but also join the community of FSCaptain users and participate on the forums. Although some have told me they are pleased at how “mature” the program seems just in beta testing, this product is still just beginning. With input from the Flight Simulator community I pledge to enhance this add-on as time goes on, to correct any bugs promptly, and to make the updates freely and easily downloadable from the website. Together, we can make this system grow into an ever better and more comprehensive, realistic, and fun add-on that we can all enjoy for many years down the road, until we retire our virtual Captain's careers having reached the highest level.
Charles "Dutch" Owen
Year after year I kept checking back as each version came out, and each time after the initial excitement disappointment returned. Until 2004, when I tried “A Century of Flight” after skipping over FS2000 and 2002. Then I was hooked...the environment had gotten realistic enough to give me a sense of immersion. Like so many, I quickly spent far more cash on add-ons than on the original product. But just flying around the skies (even realistic-looking skies) got old after a while, and I wanted more. Years before I'd made the career choice to be a professional computer programmer and just fly for fun when I could afford it. But I still secretly longed for the fantasy life of a professional pilot.
I tried the other products out there, and enjoyed them immensely, but still after a while something was missing. What I wanted was more authenticity, more of a feel for what it was really like. I understood the vital role of the airline dispatch office and how pilots must interact with it, but nothing like that was available. I loved being able to fly cargo as well as passengers in a realistic way, but the cargo options were all separate products that, while good, didn't quite live up to what I wanted. I knew professional pilots working for scheduled airlines don't choose where to fly each flight; they are assigned to existing scheduled flights or charters.
Two things bothered me the most: in a career simulation, I didn't want to have to put in time in airplanes I wasn't interested in to be able to “earn” a ticket to fly larger ones. And I wasn't interested in running the airline, I just wanted to fly for it. In my mind, neither of these models for a career simulator was authentic: in the real world no airline president is also a working pilot – if so, spending time flying an airplane on revenue flights ought to get him fired for neglect of his primary job. (Running an airline is a very difficult challenge anyway, money doesn't just roll in for you to buy more airplanes with. It's far more easy to fail than to succeed.) And in the real world, pilots can fly any airplane they are certified for once they pass the required check rides and other red tape. An experienced 737 captain moving from airline A to airline B doesn't have to start flying four-seaters until he works his way up to 737 status again!
What I realized I wanted was less game, more reality.
Being a programmer, I set about writing my own career simulator to meet my goals and priorities. It started as me flying for a fantasy cargo airline I called “Acme Cargo Service”, a somewhat seedy outfit more interested in the bottom line; flying on low margins and pressing their pilots to meet tight schedules with the minimum fuel that could be considered safe, in older airplanes that might not have the best maintenance. I wanted the challenge.
I played with this little program for about a year (an early version can be seen “hidden” in my DC-3C airplane, Shift-F7 will bring up a very buggy version of the FCOM.) I wanted more challenge so I added special conditions on the cargo flights. I wanted interesting cargo, so I added the manifest generator. I wanted to fly passengers so I added virtual “jump-seats” to my airplanes. The original idea for the Flight Communicator gauge (the FCOM) was that Acme was so cheap they invented this unique low-cost digital way to communicate with dispatch rather than the traditional ACARS and SELCAL and voice communications (simulating all that authentically would not only be a much larger programming project but would in the end no more realistic: there would still have to be a control panel or menu for sending commands to the program somewhere.)
As the program grew, I realized I could make it more general: make the airline configurable so it wasn't just “Acme” but you could fly for any airline. I realized too that I wasn't the only flight simulation enthusiast who might enjoy this program. For another year I went about the process of turning my “Acme Cargo” program into a full-fledged system with configurable airlines, airplanes, schedules, a first officer, cabin crew, flight ambiance, and much more. I wanted to make a complete, realistic, flexible and fun career simulation available to the whole flight simulator community.
The name “FSCaptain” came later in the process, because in this simulation that's exactly your role: a professional aircraft commander; a captain. I'm a programmer not a marketing person, but I realized that if I were to spend this much time and effort building this product, and make the serious commitment to maintain and enhance it for the community for years to come, I could not give it away. I wish I could, but the economic realities of this world don't make that possible; I'm not an independently wealthy individual by a long shot.
I realize acutely that taking money for FSCaptain is a contract to provide a quality product and good customer service. But beyond that, it's an obligation to be fair.
Fairness means that the free version of FSCaptain isn't just a demo, it is the full version with all capabilities, but just limited to accepting missions from three interesting airports. I chose these three because they offer a variety of options in an interesting area to fly. It's perfectly possible to enjoy the free version and have a full career flying only from these airports (there is no limit to the length of the flights or their destinations.) There will never be a difference between the free version and the purchased one other than the use of the registration code to unlock missions from any airport in the world.
Fairness means that when you purchase a registration code to remove this restriction, you can be assured that your code will unlock any future versions of FSCaptain no matter how many enhancements have been added. You can always visit the website for the latest updates. I will not play the game of stopping work on this version to later introduce an “FSCaptain II” for an “upgrade fee”. I am one of you; I am a flight simulation fan too, you can be assured I'll treat you fairly.
I hope you enjoy FSCaptain. I also hope you'll not just use the program for enjoyment but also join the community of FSCaptain users and participate on the forums. Although some have told me they are pleased at how “mature” the program seems just in beta testing, this product is still just beginning. With input from the Flight Simulator community I pledge to enhance this add-on as time goes on, to correct any bugs promptly, and to make the updates freely and easily downloadable from the website. Together, we can make this system grow into an ever better and more comprehensive, realistic, and fun add-on that we can all enjoy for many years down the road, until we retire our virtual Captain's careers having reached the highest level.
Charles "Dutch" Owen
I Flew a Beech King 350 Last night.
