Can a Cat be more popular than an Alby ??.......

[Javis]

Just wondering.... two big, twin engined, US flying boats from, just about, the same era, for FSX only, one priced just a few bucks more than the other, and one released about 2 weeks later than the other..

Reply posts score for the first 2 days after release :

Catalina : 110
Albatross : 33

What could make for the difference you'd think ?...:rolleyes:

Par Example :

#1. the Catalina is indeed more popular than the Albatross here at SOH ?...
#2. the Cat was released *before* the Alby ?.....
#3. the Cat has a better worked out VC than the Alby ?....
#4. the Cat is a little less 'expensive' than the Alby ?....
#5. two big US flying boats is a crowd ?....
#6. would the figures above be inversed if the release dates were inversed, or would they still be the same ?...

#7. any more suggestions ?.....

Just wondering, just curious..... ( i've got 'em both and love 'em both.... :wiggle: )

Cheers,
Jan

[Mathias]

He, interesting question.
I would say it's #1 and #3.
#X would be build up anticipation by the beta tester's screenies and #Y Aerosoft's reputation in contrast to the frequent Alphasim bashing at this board.
It seems some devs can touch what they want and it'll turn into an at least verbal success at the boards even if it's a mediocre design with historicall and artistical/technical flaws while other pearls are kindly ignored. Note that remark was not at all targeted at either of the birds in question, just it shows the importance of community networking. :kilroy: Some just play that instrument better than other.
Very interesting question, indeed.

[Lewis-A2A]

Hurricane and spitfire....

Hurricane does all the work, spitfire is remembered because it looks better.

Worldwide the cat is simply better known, even within aviation circles.

[Alexraptor]

Yep, i haven't bought it yet but i fully intend to. I even have a model of a Cat hanging in my hallway, so..... :)

[Paul K]

Had there been no Catalina, or even the prospect of one, I would have probably bought the Albatross. Alphasim seems to have done a good job with it, and its exactly my kind of flightsim aircraft.

However, I love the Catalina. There is something so appealing about those observation blisters and I find it a more interesting aircraft generally, to be honest. Aerosoft has done it justice in every way.

So for me it is #5....the classic American amphibian twin - shaped hole in my life has already been filled.

[doublecool]

I aways liked the retractable wing floats...in the air she has a cleaner eye but on the water had all the needed goodies. both are beautiful planes but I was waiting for the Cat much longer:wavey:

[Fireball6]

If you like Flying Boats or Amphbians - you have to eat your bread without the butter this month - both planes are great. The VC of Aerosoft Catalina raises the bar a lot (my opinion ;-) ) but the Alphasim Albatros is also very nice and i have wait a long time for both planes in FSX.

As Lewis say it is like the Hurricane and the Spitfire ......

Thanks to both Companies for bringing out those Beautys :applause:

[Quixoticish]

Hurricane and spitfire....

Hurricane does all the work, spitfire is remembered because it looks better.

Worldwide the cat is simply better known, even within aviation circles.

I'd love to see a decent Hurricane in FSX. I know that the Spitfire is obviously remembered more but I do think the Hurricane is now getting some recognition, hopefully someone will produce one in the future.

The things that I'd love to see are the real underdogs like the Typhoon or Defiant.

Bombers suffer the same fate though, it would be fantastic to see a Halifax or even the Barracuda.

[gajit]

If you like Flying Boats or Amphbians - you have to eat your bread without the butter this month - both planes are great. The VC of Aerosoft Catalina raises the bar a lot (my opinion ;-) ) but the Alphasim Albatros is also very nice and i have wait a long time for both planes in FSX.

As Lewis say it is like the Hurricane and the Spitfire ......

Thanks to both Companies for bringing out those Beautys :applause:


Well put Fireball - i agree with all :ernae:

And would not want to be without either now

[Helldiver]

The explanation is very clear.
464 Albatrosses built
1869 PBY's built.
Albatross was designed in peace time.
PBY served in WWII.

[6297J]

I think the explanation is all in the VC. One is simply great, one isn't.

The Catalina's VC is a major selling point and you can find great shots of it in just about every FS forum out there.

The fact that I have had to search high and low to find any screenshots of the Albatros VC says everything :engel016:

[Tweek]

The Catalina is a more well known aircraft, plus it was made by Aerosoft. I've not bought a single thing from Aerosoft that I haven't thought was fantastic, and they clearly have a great reputation throughout the Flight Sim community, whereas opinions on AlphaSim are very much divided.

[michael davies]

Sticking my head above the parapet, Aerosoft has consitency, AS doesn't, thats no fault of either set up, just the way they source there raw meshes.

If AS produced at the same rate as Aerosoft then there quality would raise, that can be seen in the Albatross and Islander, both long term modeling projects not built to an impossible deadline.

Both companies also have/had different business stratergies, though AS seems to be moving more towards the Aerosoft philosophy, less aircraft/more detail.

Its a slightly unfair comparison, on a company level and a subject matter level I'm afraid.

Best

Michael

[HenryW]

The catalina came first, but a paintkit for the Albatross would loosen my creditcard from my pocket....:kilroy:

[sim-paticissimo]

Cat lacks in reflectivity effect outside and has not VC shadows, Alby has not a great VC and just enough flight dynamics... :icon29:

[ColoKent]

1. I'm feeling decadent-- when I get home in early June, I'm gonna BUY BOTH!

2. No paintkit for the HU-16? Is AS planning on releasing one?

Kent

[Henry]

as a lover of Floaters
personally id take the Cat
nothing to do with either company or models
I just prefer it
actually i have neither
but the cat will come first
H

[glennc]

One thing I like about the Cat is the balky engines. They feel like 60 year old, not real well maintained engines should feel. I still don't know if I'll buy the Albatross. If the Cat wasn't out, there would be no decision. As it is, there are so many good products being released. I'm more interested in the Dragon Rapide right now just for the variety.

Glenn

[JensOle]

I have the cat, but I will also buy the Albatross for sure. The later replaced the first in Norwegian AF service and I will very much like have both in my FS collection.

[fsafranek]

1. I'm feeling decadent-- when I get home in early June, I'm gonna BUY BOTH!

2. No paintkit for the HU-16? Is AS planning on releasing one?

Kent
1) Good man. I don't have the Cat but it looks great. I do have the Albatross and am enjoying it.
2) I've been told there will be one. It just wasn't ready.

:ernae:

[Helldiver]

Sim-Patissimo
The later, all blue ones, had a shine like your automobile has.
I know. I was there.
How can the Albatross compete with the PBY? There were better than four times the number of PBYs built.

[sim-paticissimo]

Compete? Who says that they have to compete? They are different. Thanks for the HU about the blue ones.:icon29:

[Javis]

Interesting replies, gents, thanks ! :ernae:

So i guess we can say that, commonly, the Cat has indeed always been favourite over the Alby just as an aircraft, but that it also has do with the developer of a certain FS aircraft model.

I just found the difference between the number of posts about the Catalina release and the Albatross release quite striking. It's now 271 for the Cat versus 42 for the Alby. 12767 views against 2016 momentarely...

Doesn't happen every time that two commercial aircraft models in the same league have been released almost at the same time... I thought reason enough to 'investigate' a little...:rolleyes:

cheers,
jan

[TimL]

I bought them both and I'm totally satisfied with them. The Cat is a fun short range hauler but flying the Alby on long legs is sweet too. Different flavors of ice cream I say!

[warchild]

My opinion somewhat agrees with the others opinions above, but i would add that Alphasims stalling on the release, and then taking over a day to respond to purchases with the resulting number of posts here about it, probably turned a lot of people off about risking a chance on the alby. It almost did me, and i'm still not so sure..

i mean, we ALL know what to expect from alphasim quality. Aerosoft it isnt. So thats a given. Outside of that, it's a popularity contest between the two planes, and not the greatest marketing in the world.

[Nick C]

I'd say marketing has a lot to do with it, as has time. The Cat has been in production for a long time, so the Aerosfot Cat beta forum thread has had a long time in the public domain amassing 121,000 views. But there lies another point, Aerosoft customers go to their forums for regular updates, Alphasim doesn't have a forum anymore.

Quality of build? I'd say the Cat has the edge, but I'd also imagine it's had a lot more money invested in it. Enjoyment? Each individual will have to make their own choice, I certainly will when I have the funds spare to purchase the Albatross, which also looks excellent.

[Panther_99FS]

Interesting question...

My own 2 cents is that it's due in part to the affinity that our community has towards anything that's WW-II related - hence the Catalina's superior numbers...:)

[Odie]

Interesting question...

My own 2 cents is that it's due in part to the affinity that our community has towards anything that's WW-II related - hence the Catalina's superior numbers...:)


Ditto what Mr. P said....I've got the Cat and peeking into my hangar reveals a strong WW2 influence in the resident aircraft. My dad served
in the PTO in WW2 so my early first-hand knowledge of WW2 came
from an eyewitness and has remained as such.

Not to rule out the Alby as a future purchase as I like to have a representative hangar collection of all types so that I can fly anything
from any period at any time !

[Javis]

More interesting points ! :applause:

@ Pam: you mean Aerosoft is *not* known for its quality ? I rather thought it was.... ( meaning *good* quality that is.... I voted their amazing Hughes H1 model as top commercial FSX aircraft for 2008 at Avsim.....bummer we'll probabely never get to see the outcome... :blind: ) Also 'Alphasim quality' has changed quite significantly over the past year(s)...

@ Nick: good point about the Cat having a long WIP thread while the Albatross came like lightning out of a blue sky... I, for one, was very happily surprised though ! Always wondered if a 'WIP scheme' would generate more interest in a project than a 'Surprise!Surprise!' scheme would...

@ P. : good point about WWII coming into play in this game too ! Must say i didn't think of that really... Even didn't think about the Albatross being developed *after* WWII.... ( thanks for that, Helldiver ;))

Okay, time to come out of the closet : i always liked the Albatross better than the Catalina..... :d

Purely as an aviation hobby'ist. Heck, i've never even *seen* a real Alby ! Just very fond memories of making the Monogram Albatross plastic model as a youngster.. ( made the Catalina model too, mind you ! :d)

cheers,
Jan

[hobofat]

I read the original posting for this thread and thought it was asking for trouble :173go1: But some quite good responses! I have yet to purchase the Albatross, I'm on a spending freeze, but I like what I see in the screenshots so far. I do have the Cat and one reason I bought it was because I've been following the Aerosoft forums on this for quite some time, watching it progress. I watch for all of Aerosoft's products because I've yet to be disappointed with them. Some of the older ones are getting dated compared to newer, flashier products, but the fact of the matter is I still fly my Aerosoft Beaver and Twotter more than any other plane I own. I've also had great success with Alphasim. I own all of their civvy models, and have been very pleased. I've never needed to use their support, so I can't comment on how well Alphasim supports their models, but Aerosoft support is top notch.

One thing I do like about Aerosoft is that they tend to do models I'm interested in, and they up the ante with every major release. The engine management on the Cat really takes the cake, and to make it even better, it's part of the package unlike another developer who separates the two ::cough cough A2A:: Having said that, A2A also takes the cake in my opinion :ernae:
I do hope that Alphasim is able to regain some sort of stability...

[foreigndevil]

More interesting points ! :applause:
Okay, time to come out of the closet : i always liked the Albatross better than the Catalina..... :d

There is something about the Albatross, don't know what, that attracts me more than the Cat. But the Aerosoft Cat is definitely the most supreme FS aircraft I've ever seen. Really gorgeous, especially the VC. So, I had no choice and bought both. I'll spend most of my FS time flying these two for quite a while, I'm sure.:jump:

[IanP]

It's the depth of the detail in the Cat that caused me to get that, while I'm not that worried about the Albatross at the moment. Having to coax an engine into life, blowing it up when you get it wrong, appeals to me and I've not yet met an Alphasim model with that level of sophistication.

That said, the Albatross is on the same list as all the rest of the stuff I would really like to get, but can't afford right now. I'm keeping an eye on the contact points thread as well.

[Old Tiger]

I aways liked the retractable wing floats...in the air she has a cleaner eye but on the water had all the needed goodies. both are beautiful planes but I was waiting for the Cat much longer:wavey:
:wavey:What is the keyboard comand to lower and raise those wing floats. I see the lever in vc but:redface: :isadizzy:can't seem to get it work.

[Fireball6]

Hello Old Tiger - try to use the mouse-scroll - move the lever down then back to the middle lower the wing floats, move the lever up and back to the middle lift them up.

[gajit]

or left click or right click it to make them move.

[Helldiver]

Thanks to Nick C, if you look beween the two Yokes you will see a orange guarded switch. It will take some monkeying around using the right / left mouse buttons but when you got it down all the way, the pontoons will deploy. You gotta do it agan and raise the switch to make them to retract. After a while you get the best right / left combination.

As far as the Albatross / PBY s is concerned. The Albatross was fat, chunky and noisy and landed with a big splash. You knew it had landed.
The Cat landed gently, like a graceful lady and at a relative low speed. The engines were very quiet. - A true seaplane.

[Old Tiger]

:ernae:Thanks guys. Got em moving :jump: AOK now.

[warchild]

More interesting points ! :applause:

@ Pam: you mean Aerosoft is *not* known for its quality ? I rather thought it was....
Jan
NO NO NO.. You misunderstand. I meant quite the opposite in actuality. Aerosoft, Real Air, Flight Replicas, and Iris, are all top of the line, and AlphaSims quality has never been up to quite that same level of quality, due in part to what appears to be the fact that they arent aiming at quite the same market.

[6297J]

NO NO NO.. You misunderstand. I meant quite the opposite in actuality. Aerosoft, Real Air, Flight Replicas, and Iris, are all top of the line, and AlphaSims quality has never been up to quite that same level of quality, due in part to what appears to be the fact that they arent aiming at quite the same market.

Iris???
I'd say Iris are much, much closer to Alphasim than Aerosoft and RealAir etc but that's a whole new thread :kilroy:

[gajit]

I think Iris and Alphasim are simular in that they are not consistantly good - or bad - each product they produce seem to have different quality control levels (polite way to put it -LOL)

[warchild]

Iris???
I'd say Iris are much, much closer to Alphasim than Aerosoft and RealAir etc but that's a whole new thread :kilroy:

Well, we could set up a comparison matrix to show wjhy i believe that iris is as good as the others, but, I'm obviously extremely biased towards my own work, and i'm not going to denigrate other very fine companies just in order to set up something that for all intents and purposes could easily end up a pissing match over something that is so subjective and personal it's not funny.. I WILL say that my opinion is based upon the strength of my Flight Models in comparison with others. ut that doesnt make theirs bad, it just means i do my homework too..

[6297J]

Well, we could set up a comparison matrix to show wjhy i believe that iris is as good as the others, but, I'm obviously extremely biased towards my own work, and i'm not going to denigrate other very fine companies just in order to set up something that for all intents and purposes could easily end up a pissing match over something that is so subjective and personal it's not funny.. I WILL say that my opinion is based upon the strength of my Flight Models in comparison with others. ut that doesnt make theirs bad, it just means i do my homework too..

Ah, I didn't realise, sorry. Say no more ;)


(PS Just in case anyone else was as confused as I was, I did some research and - a comparison matrix serves to determine the basic characteristics of an object. Using the aggregation method, a comparison matrix outlines the most typical features of an item without drawing a conclusion directly, but by simplifying the process of analysis. Used as tools for educational purposes, comparison matrices are effective visual aids, featuring a simple and exact structure. With the help of this high-end invention, students can make in-depth comparisons, confronting multiple objects and their aspects all at once. Consequently, the use of this visual teaching method contributes to the development of analytical skills among students.
While making a comparison matrix, the teacher should consider the following points. Firstly, it’s important to make sure that all compared items are known to the students; otherwise it will be difficult to outline the items' characteristics. If students haven't worked with comparison matrices before, the structure of the matrix should be as unsophisticated as possible. Remember, you can always add more characteristics for multifaceted comparison. If students' knowledge of the topic isn't deep yet, place only several objects to compare, but include various aspects. Such an approach allows students to gain extended information, even it is about a few items. Once students have gotten well acquainted with the items and attained basic knowledge about them, you can introduce another comparison matrix with more items. Also, if you assign the completion of a comparison matrix as a home task, ensure that it can be easily printed). :173go1: