How dose development work

[XLR8]

How much can a DEV make building flight simulator aircraft .How many do they sell .And how do they decide on a plane to build . Or anything related to the development of FS aircraft .

[Roadburner440]

I will not comment on the specifics since it is not my company, but being involved for quite awhile with developers there are many many factors that go into all of the above. In all honesty I think the margin of profit for most companies is pretty slim when you factor in the man hours and resources required to build a complete aircraft. Plus in todays economy the margins are even slimer with people having to carefully choose where their money goes. As far as deciding what aircraft to build next there is a lot of input from the community that gets factored in, and trying to not interfere with what other developers have going on. Is why it is unfortunate when things like the A-10 happen and there was 3 in development. There is a lot too that goes into deciding how in depth to go with the systems, and all of that. We decided to push the limits with the 310R, and as that is wrapping up we are trying to lay out the road map to future projects. It is a lot of time and effort though.

[XLR8]

Hey...thanks for the reply . In a typical DEV team how many people are on a project .

[centuryseries]

Probably varies, but what I've witnessed in my time is one modeller for interior and exterior (occasionally a seperate modeller for the interior), a painter, a flight dynamics creator.

Frankly for the amount of hours ploughed into FS aircraft especially FSX aircraft, you'd be better off getting a bar job for the return you as an individual might receive.

It becomes necessary for a lot of us to build what we are enthusiastic about. Afterall who wants to spend time on a plane you don't much like?! Especially when the dev time could be anything from 6 months to well over a year!!

[anthony31]

Hey...thanks for the reply . In a typical DEV team how many people are on a project .

Just look for the credits in the manual to answer that question.

For example: the Aerosoft Twin Otter has
2x Graphics and models
1x Gauges and systems
1x Advanced avionics
Sounds done by a separate company
1x Flight modelling
1x Project Management and documentation
4x doing other miscellaneous stuff

Add that up and there are 10 on the Twin Otter although they each probably contributed varying amounts.

Compare that with RealAir where there are only 2 people: Sean Moloney and Rob Young

[Gibbage]

How much can a DEV make building flight simulator aircraft .How many do they sell .And how do they decide on a plane to build . Or anything related to the development of FS aircraft .

Honestly, there is not a lot of money to be made in FSX. Sales of successfull products measure in the hundreds, though it can take $10,000 or more. If any Dev was ever in it just for the money, they left a LONG LONG time ago. Whats left, are dev's that do this because they like it. Its a hobby for most of us, not a living.

What sucks is when you see a top notch product have 300 sales, yet the torrent has 4000 downloads. Makes you question your hobby.

[XLR8]

Thanks guys . I wasn't tying to be nosy or anything,It was something that I had always wondered about . Thats sad about the torrent stuff (it pisses me off). I have read where torrent files are "infected" with stuff that Ajax can't get rid of .

[Roadburner440]

Really depends on the product. I imagine the team at someplace like PMDG is quite large. The team we put together for the 310R was probably one of the largest teams we have had at Milviz ourselves. Between modelers, texture makers, coders, testers, and QA who knows how many we had total. Gibbage is right though. Anyone in it solely for the money is gone quite a long time ago. I personally just like the community involvement.

[anthony31]

I have read where torrent files are "infected" with stuff that Ajax can't get rid of .

There was a funny post on avsim a week or so ago. Some newbie had installed a PMDG plane and somehow his texture folder had been deleted which had stuffed up his FSX install. Not the texture folders in the aircraft files mind you, the vitally important texture folder in his base FSX directory.

I suspected something fishy so I innocently asked him where he got the plane, and, idiot that he was, he said it was a torrent (before the mods banned him and deleted his post).

Serves him right I say.

[Roadburner440]

I saw some idiot doing that on the PMDG forums about a week ago myself. Although they weren't complaining about anything. Just bragging about how they downloaded stuff on the torrent to "demo" it because PMDG doesn't release demo's... To me I think their work goes without needing a demo, but it is not like people are demoing the software like that anyway. Way I see it to each his own, but they need not cry when their computers crash or something like that happens.

[XLR8]

You would think that some how the Dev could sue for copy rights or do like the aerosoft F16 and have a serial number or something .

[n4gix]

Honestly, there is not a lot of money to be made in FSX.

Amen to that! Even working with a really fantastic mesh model, I've invested 372 "billable hours" into my latest project. At my normal rate of $85/hr. that's nearly $32k worth of my time...

...if I am really, really lucky, I might eventually see 5% of that amount as a return on my time investement.

But, I fell in love with the aircraft and enjoyed the time I spent working on it, and actually developed some new techniques in the process, which I can now apply to my "real" work... :ernae:

[Lionheart]

I have been in the business for many years now and have not seen a really good yield.

Its difficult when you launch a new plane you have been working on brutally for 6 months and only sell perhaps 200 units and yet Torrents have perhaps several thousand downloads.

If you love working 60 hours a week, living in front of a screen, getting your work stolen, then I highly suggest FS payware. It can keep you very busy. :d

[Gibbage]

You would think that some how the Dev could sue for copy rights or do like the aerosoft F16 and have a serial number or something .

There are two sides to the coin. You can make a very secure system. I have seen them work, like FSD's systems, but mostly your inconvencing the users who actually paid for the product. That in turn creates less sales when your copy protection gets in the way of sales. Its a balancing act between higher sales with less copy protection, or lower sales with more but you know pirates wont be enjoying your product for free.

Its been like this for years and years. The biggest differance now is just how popular and easy torrents are to find and use. Piracy was once an elite thing that only a small % knew how to do beyond copying a floppy, but now everyone knows about Torrents and the popular pages that host them. In many ways, its easier to download the torrent then it is to get it legally! Thats the current problem dev's are facing.

Think of it this way. Back in FS95, if you pirated an aircraft, you copied it to 2 or 3 friends at most. Now, if you share a torrent, that same user copies that aircraft to thousands of anonimous users who he does not know. Changes the scale dramatically.

[Mathias]

If you love working 60 hours a week, living in front of a screen, getting your work stolen, then I highly suggest FS payware. It can keep you very busy. :d

60 hours?
That doesn't count.
Anything less than 112 hours a week means you're not adicted enough for this job.:a1089::violent::icon_lol:

[fliger747]

I have worked on a number of aircraft over the years in one form or another. For various reasons the Free/donation ware ones have been the most fun. One of the things I like about the above types of projects, time is generally not an issue and as much time as is required can be spent without guilt. Add a small paycheck and the min wage calculations and timelines start to creep in.

Think of it as art!

Cheers: T

[robcap]

Hi,

I worked with 4 other people on the DC2
Tom (FM), Tim (Paint), Hans-Jörg (XML Guru), Alex (External Mesh).
Then I had invaluable help from numerous people in the hobby, who contributed with tips and knowledge, Jan, Milton, Roland, Gerrit, Wozza, to name a few, ofcourse members of our Beta team, the people I work with on during the Flight Sim Event in the museum, Ferry and Wolter, and the people from the Aviodrome museum, who gave us very usefull info, and a warm welcome.
All in all a priceless experience, having this team from all over the world together, getting to know them, meeting some of them, and getting the project finished, wouldn't want to have missed it.

R.