86 replies to this topic

[lucasfernandes]

I have been playing AE and Airlinesim for about two weeks now. Airlinesim has a lot of micromanagement and I realized that turns me off in some parts. Specially the fact that the time passes so slowly. In AE I really like having micromanagement in the right amount. Timetabling would be a nice addition but only if this have some effect in the game (in airlinesim it doesn't affect in nothing, pointless). I really like the forums and the community, great discussions and suggestions made in a peacefully way. The developers are always in touch with the community. I like the ability to issue bonus to workers, the financial sheet is pretty cool too, but I would like to see more graphs linked to those numbers. I really like the history graphs too. The ability to pre order planes and negotiate the leases are really nice and help a lot.

My suggestions are:
- cargo and charter;
- maintenance and cargo facilities;
- a better slot system (be able to buy other airline's slots, negotiate slots prices with the airports, negotiate landing fees and etc);
- be able to sell and lease airplanes directly to other airlines, and also be able to store the airplane;
- more detailed maintenance information, like the different kinds of maintenance and costs for each checks;
- a better system for cabin configuration (seat pitch, seat type, how many seat abreast) and, if possible, that it was more visual. This is kind of crucial since many of the cabin configurations made available are often unrealistic and be able to configure it more linked to how much of available space we have, would be a lot better for everybody;
- other buildings like the Headquarters for the company, cargo distribution centers in the cities, local branch offices and etc. All of those building could be sold, leased or even used together under a agreement. All this building would contribute for the company's reputation. Also the price of construction and maintenance would depend on its size. Depending on the size, the company could allocate a certain amount to operate that building. Additionally, create lounges in the airports would be nice.
- frequent traveller Programs, To be set much more like IFS is, with different types and such;
- subsidiaries that would be new airlines, hotel networks in the airports, catering companies, maintenance companies and etc. All of them would help the airline to get more revenue by selling its services and also to cut costs with in flight service, maintenance, flight crew and cabin crew placement and etc. All of those buildings and subsidiaries could be sold separately, or leased to other companies.
- addition of ATC restrictions due to how many flights are being operated in the airport or in the region, so it won't depend only on the slots available ate the airport.

Well, I think those are my suggestions and also what I like in this game. The addition of buildings and Subsidiaries do not increase incredibly the micromanagement as the Timetabling feature would. I think the timetables have to be put in the new version only if it make a real difference, and even making much difference this would add a incredible workload for the Player (). Keep up with the good work, I love this game.

[Hake.]

Well, I like some of what yu have said, some of what you said has already been broughts up and approved, but I don't really like the catering + hotel subsidiaries. Very few airlines have them anyway.

[lucasfernandes]

Well, I like some of what yu have said, some of what you said has already been broughts up and approved, but I don't really like the catering + hotel subsidiaries. Very few airlines have them anyway.

Yes, I'm aware of that. Just suggestions anyways. Only the bigger airlines have hotels and catering subsidiaries. Normally they have some owned kitchens near the main hubs and tend to lease the others. For the hotels is common to have hotels also near the main hub. 

[Hake.]

Yes, I'm aware of that. Just suggestions anyways. Only the bigger airlines have hotels and catering subsidiaries. Normally they have some owned kitchens near the main hubs and tend to lease the others. For the hotels is common to have hotels also near the main hub. 

Honestly, I've only heard of 1 airline with hotels, which I read about yesterday. Things like this aren't common in Europe to my knowledge. This is an airline website I don't want to run a few Citysaver Motels in villages in Western Russia .

[lucasfernandes]

Honestly, I've only heard of 1 airline with hotels, which I read about yesterday. Things like this aren't common in Europe to my knowledge. This is an airline website I don't want to run a few Citysaver Motels in villages in Western Russia .

Of course they are not that common. Delta, for example, has only a 512-room hotel. Pan American had a network, if I remember correctly. I don't know much of the other airline's situation.

[PC Will]

I would say the UI would be up there at the top of the list. Not particularly the design, but the graphical features, like maps and charts and stuff.

 

Really?

 

I don't mean to be rude but i've seen far better imo... 

[Northern]

I think one of the best things about AE is the laid-back sense the community has, as overall it is a nice playing environment where one can manage airlines which are easy to run and not too high maintenance, offering lots of variation and allowing people free rule over how they develop their carrier.

 

Things I really do like about AE are:

• The routing page- I just like the graphics on this page and its ease of access and speed of opening the route.
• Fleet growth - New deliveries come in quite frequently, meaning every time you are online there is another way you can expand your airline and you don't wait around too long.

[gvgch]

I like ......... the EVIL pleasure you get from making other airlines go bankrupt

[TNT88]

The most realistic airlines simulator i've ever come across

and it's free

and i like the ranking system

also the forums

 

not so much on some of the douche on this web though 

[ManiaMuse]

I like that it is free.

 

Different worlds with different settings which reset relatively frequently. About the right number of players per world so there is competition on the major routes but enough space for everyone elsewhere.

 

There is enough detail but not too much micromanagement. You can be sort of realistic if you want to, but you can equally spam 737s with scam IFS and charge your employees $7/hr if you're in that mood

 

It's a fairly relaxed community, not too demanding considering that it is free.

 

Cheating/exploiting multiple accounts has mostly been eliminated.

 

Works on a phone ok.

[Med.]

I like that it's free and it's easier to navigate around the user interface than other similar games. I like a little more options that give more ability to play around, like timetabling, more IFE/IFS options, cargo, etc., but not too much micromanagement that it becomes a headache. If the future AE will have these features, I hope the game will run a little slower to truly enjoy the realism it will bring.

[QK Flight Industries]

First and foremost, AE is completely free to play.

 

Other considerations include active developers, the community (including alliances, branding, and chatroom), and relative ease of gameplay (intuitive).

 

I will say that the community can be a double edged sword, where it becomes as much as a detractor as it is a benefit for AE.

[Alfrenzo]

I will say that the community can be a double edged sword, where it becomes as much as a detractor as it is a benefit for AE.

 

Indeed. I honestly think we need stricter mods like in NationStates. The community is hard to love and really easy to hate with all the amount of shitposting and other nonsense. Things need to be fixed like people like tnt having humongously ridiculous signatures.

 

If people can't treat others like people without descending into condescension and utter contempt and vulgarities, people shouldn't post.

 

Without a proper behaving community it is hard to appreciate the hardcoded aspects of this game.

 

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That being said, I believe what should remain in place is the ease of playing - the ability to earn money pretty fast and with a fast (15-30 min) game worlds. However, more varied gameplay is needed. Fuel stops is one, then we have things like spamliners that should not be getting an advantage and instead should take a huge hit to its ability to ferry passengers, and not be amassing tons of cash because prices are 3 dollars lower. Things like legroom should be considered within IFE/IFS considerations, and things that affect passenger wellbeing should take a much bigger share in determining reputation over silly things like number of trips in a day. Premium economy should be introduced as said to ad nauseum. If anything, a slot system should be used at airports, and there needs realistic implementation of congestion at airports.

 

I think this has been said but I would appreciate if AE could allow us the ability to set seats based on calculated seat arrangement and seat pitch too.

 

All these should pave the way for more realistic game settings yet making the difficulty constant since it is hard to gain ground over people due to packing passengers in cattle and making busloads of money in one setting. AE is after all a sim, not a spam-routes-to-everywhere kind of game.

[TNT88]

It's have great open Forums, apart from some player who try to be Moral Police on this website, the worst part of the forums are when we can see the sinisters of some AE players, those anger that come from nowhere and the feel of attacking other people they barely know on Internet, remind me of those immature feelings i felt when i was 17. Apart from that, the Forums become a quite community for some of us, there are other website who designed for aviation lovers like us, but most of them are really straight forward, not many options to interact with each other, like airliners.net, they are big community, but it's more like one-way interactions.

[SWMcCaig]

AE has one of the best looking UI's of any game out there, and that goes for the forums too. Obviously being able to play for free is a HUGE plus. I also like the detail involved in the game. I realize it will never be possible to be completely realistic in every aspect of a game, but this one comes closer to having that realistic "feel" with all of the options that are available.

[LazyNoNos]

Its simple and easy unlike the others.

[Paladyne]

I played a few years back and ended up coming back because although there are others out there I found none of them as fun, I like micromanaging and such to a point but running a spreadsheet 8 hours a day sounds a little too much like a job then a game.  I am one of the people that looks at various things in a bit more detail and I track things like which planes have the fastest rate of return and such, but overall the timetabling is just a hassle and unnessary.  each plane can fly "x" hours a week and the computer takes care of the timetabling.  I tend to fly 1 plane out of 1 airport until it runs up to the hour limit I set for myself.  Great game, easy enough to play casually or spend some time on.

 

I have to add something else here the sorting options are also good but something to I have ran into is like in plane assignment it would be nice to be able to focus only onn planes you have assigned to that terminal, like when you are assigning routes and you want to make sure you use your hours left to best effect, something like an ability to ignore unassigned planes and see only those currently assigned to that terminal. 

 

I am not explaining this well *forgive my ADD please*  I recently got into a competition with another airline he started bouncing my hub routes, I was operating out of mostly mid to low end terminals like boise and great falls nebraska for a general range.  anyway I closed my routes and relocated my entire airline to his hq after several in game months of him showwing up on all of my best routes.  ATM I have a couple hundred puddle jumpers and reassigning all of them is a pain, because to assign the plane I am working on I have to constantly scroll down though a hundred aircraft of the same type.  The ability to switch something so the plane I am currently working on is at the top would be nice.  this could be done by allowing us to flip the order of the planes in the list so the one with fewest hours is at top, or to assign a plane to a hub and then it always whows at the top of the list when it is available.

[Hake.]

I must say, I do like the idea of basing planes (which can be a pain for me) and pinning aircraft.

[Alfrenzo]

It's have great open Forums, apart from some player who try to be Moral Police on this website, the worst part of the forums are when we can see the sinisters of some AE players, those anger that come from nowhere and the feel of attacking other people they barely know on Internet, remind me of those immature feelings i felt when i was 17. Apart from that, the Forums become a quite community for some of us, there are other website who designed for aviation lovers like us, but most of them are really straight forward, not many options to interact with each other, like airliners.net, they are big community, but it's more like one-way interactions.

 

Ah, sniping.

 

Probably the very example why mods should be strict.

 

It's wonderous how some people find the forums in AE actually pleasant. Maybe because they spam on every single thread?

[TNT88]

Ah, sniping.

 

Probably the very example why mods should be strict.

 

It's wonderous how some people find the forums in AE actually pleasant. Maybe because they spam on every single thread?

Guess not everybody is soo sinister then? enjoy the forums