8 replies to this topic

[AirFitch]

Ok all,

I've been pondering over these questions for quite some time now and I can't seem to figure them out.......

#1, How exactly does one enter into the Brokering Business without haveing any routes.....I'm assuming after selling your 2 Beeches that you're putting yourself into Debt with your first big Aircraft purchase??......

#2....Going into Debt, i.e. I just have the Downpayment on a 737.......Should I do this? I did do this twice Last round of Sim2.....the first time it worked like a Charm and I made up my debt in less then a day and a half Real time...the second time, not so lucky....Ended up selling the bird as there were no routes to put it on to make a profit........


and Finally, #3.....This one might be a touchy one...but who is this Mystery Spy who miller claims is stealing his ideas??.........I only know of one other Airline Sim and thast the efZed guys down in Australia.........Is there another FREE Airline Sim out there???........if so who are they?.......

If you'd liek to just send me a PM to answer that last one, thats fine..I Realize it might be a touchy subject....

[travelhouse]

Ok all,

I've been pondering over these questions for quite some time now and I can't seem to figure them out.......

#1, How exactly does one enter into the Brokering Business without haveing any routes.....I'm assuming after selling your 2 Beeches that you're putting yourself into Debt with your first big Aircraft purchase??......

#2....Going into Debt, i.e. I just have the Downpayment on a 737.......Should I do this? I did do this twice Last round of Sim2.....the first time it worked like a Charm and I made up my debt in less then a day and a half Real time...the second time, not so lucky....Ended up selling the bird as there were no routes to put it on to make a profit........


and Finally, #3.....This one might be a touchy one...but who is this Mystery Spy who miller claims is stealing his ideas??.........I only know of one other Airline Sim and thast the efZed guys down in Australia.........Is there another FREE Airline Sim out there???........if so who are they?.......

If you'd liek to just send me a PM to answer that last one, thats fine..I Realize it might be a touchy subject....

My Comments:

(1) Yes you sell and buy like any real time broker, keep an eye on the going aircraft and make sure you buy what sells.
:airplane

(2) 737 in Sim 1 I dont think so. Not even invented at this stage:puzzled:

(3) Ask Miller

[FlyWorld Air]

#1: You usually play the gam for a bit and build p some cash, then you sell the aircraft above value, thus making more profit to spend on more planes to sell

#2: It's up to you, if you have a good slice of luck and skill and time it well you could win, but if the timing is wrong then you will lose out on it. It's like gambling in a way.

#3: There are many sims out there, and yes annoying and unfriendly as it is people do steal other peoples ideas.

[StephenM]

and Finally, #3.....This one might be a touchy one...but who is this Mystery Spy who miller claims is stealing his ideas??.........I only know of one other Airline Sim and thast the efZed guys down in Australia.........Is there another FREE Airline Sim out there???........if so who are they?.......

Back in 2005 there were 3 games that had the same style and about 2-3 in development the time, of which 1 survived. (AE). There are about 5 games including AE out there along the same theme excluding the Aussie one.

[miller22 (inactive)]

Ok all,

I've been pondering over these questions for quite some time now and I can't seem to figure them out.......

#1, How exactly does one enter into the Brokering Business without haveing any routes.....I'm assuming after selling your 2 Beeches that you're putting yourself into Debt with your first big Aircraft purchase??......

You can purchase the aircraft at market value, and then sell them on the used aircraft market above that value. You can also search for and purchase cheap aircraft on the market, then resell them at a higher value.

and Finally, #3.....This one might be a touchy one...but who is this Mystery Spy who miller claims is stealing his ideas??.........I only know of one other Airline Sim and thast the efZed guys down in Australia.........Is there another FREE Airline Sim out there???........if so who are they?.......

If you'd liek to just send me a PM to answer that last one, thats fine..I Realize it might be a touchy subject....

There is no spy. Nothing was stolen, and nothing is being stolen. If we're here to simulate one of the most cut-throat industries in the world, it only seams fitting that this match it. Airilne Empires was created because it was entirely different from what efZed or the German sim offered at the time (I honestly forgot the German sim's name). AE is a business simulation, and likewise we focused on the business aspects of running an airline, rather than all the different kinds of airplanes or airports you can find. The big innovation was a load factor that changed based on other airline's actions. Price wars were either not possible, or at most, paltry in the other sims.

Since AE began, there have been several others start up, including AirwaySim and Airline Mogul. Inevitible in the business market, especially with the neglect AE saw as I switched careers. My major frustration, however, is that AE is no longer distinguishable, not because we chased the competition, but because the competition chased us. The goal of AE is to reidentify ourselves as a distinguishable product, and it is as dependent upon what we introduce as it is keeping the competition from introducing the same things. This can't be done with technological savvy. I'm in airline management, not IT. It can't be done by throwing money at advertising, or larger servers, or expensive developers. AE struggles to meet the server costs as it is, and we're not interested in requiring payment to play. All that's left is our user base, and my limited knowledge about how airilnes work.

So the only way AE is going to distinguish itself is through ideas. I'm afraid ideas are inevitibly vulnerable since as soon as you deploy it, anyone else can as well. That's exactly what's happened. So we just have to keep ahead in our ideas. There are already multiple ideas on the table that have been discussed in these forums for years, including leasing in the aircraft market, codesharing, maintenance, cargo, multiple classes of product (first, economy, business), service levels, stock market, etc. But these ideas aren't going to be thrown together just so you can see it in the game. They have to work. This is a business simulation after all, not an airline game.

The efforts of AE developement are all now geared towards differentiation. Just as always, we'll continue to focus on our ideas and striving for realism, even if it may sacrifice playability at times. Airline Empires will be distinguishable, by more than just the color of our background.

There are no spies, only competition. And if the Airline Mogul has caught up to us, there's nobody to blame but myself. I don't blame their work in the least. There's no law broken, or even a moral code. It's obvious StephenM isn't trying to steal anything, to sabatoge the game, or anything else that's outside the mindset of cooperation. He's an active member of the forums who's made quite a few suggestions of how to improve the game. I'm glad he's here.

So, we won't be censoring the names of the other sims on our forums. Besides, if we're going to differentiate ourselves, we have to have something to differentiate ourselves from, right?

But this doesn't mean I'm going to just let things happen. If we've developed a system, I want everyone to know who developed it. Hence my comments on the maps. Nor am I going to halt developement on a feature simply because another sim has implemented something similar. Sounds contradictory, but it's not about what the competition has. It's a focus on what AE has, and in distinguishing ourselves.

Anyway, that's kind of a look into the future of AE and the industry. Development presses on, and we'll continue to develop until I finally run out of money.

[FlyWorld Air]

Here here, I'll be happy to help in any way I can (Be it gathering data, bringing fresh faces into the game/ forums or just making suggestions). I'm afraid I'm not much cop at coding though =(.

[StephenM]

There are no spies, only competition. And if the Airline Mogul has caught up to us, there's nobody to blame but myself. I don't blame their work in the least. There's no law broken, or even a moral code. It's obvious StephenM isn't trying to steal anything, to sabatoge the game, or anything else that's outside the mindset of cooperation. He's an active member of the forums who's made quite a few suggestions of how to improve the game. I'm glad he's here.

I am quite happy to see that opinion, as it is not my intention to copy AE. I still quite enjoy playing the game, and hope to continue to do so. And I do plan to moving my own project in a different direction on a number of areas so there should in time, be greater differentiation between the two.

[Timsher]

#2....Going into Debt, i.e. I just have the Downpayment on a 737.......Should I do this? I did do this twice Last round of Sim2.....the first time it worked like a Charm and I made up my debt in less then a day and a half Real time...the second time, not so lucky....Ended up selling the bird as there were no routes to put it on to make a profit........

Strength loves certainty, weakness loves risk.

Find a sure thing route to put it on before you buy, get the gates needed before going into debt, and you'll have a guaranteed money-maker instead of a huge risk

Since AE began, there have been several others start up, including AirwaySim and Airline Mogul. Inevitible in the business market, especially with the neglect AE saw as I switched careers. My major frustration, however, is that AE is no longer distinguishable, not because we chased the competition, but because the competition chased us.

I've tried the other sims but I only have time for one of these games and I keep finding myself back here, the freedom here is just so attractive as if I want to start a rubber-chicken type campaign and darken the map with my cheap planes I can, if I want to emulate my favorite airline right down to the engine type I can, or if I want to just make as much money as possible I can do that too. You have stated previously that AE has lost it's edge, but in my mind it's only lost it's monopoly and I believe it's still the best out there and you should think so too.

[travelhouse]

There is no spy. Nothing was stolen, and nothing is being stolen. If we're here to simulate one of the most cut-throat industries in the world, it only seams fitting that this match it. Airilne Empires was created because it was entirely different from what efZed or the German sim offered at the time (I honestly forgot the German sim's name). AE is a business simulation, and likewise we focused on the business aspects of running an airline, rather than all the different kinds of airplanes or airports you can find. The big innovation was a load factor that changed based on other airline's actions. Price wars were either not possible, or at most, paltry in the other sims.

Since AE began, there have been several others start up, including AirwaySim and Airline Mogul. Inevitible in the business market, especially with the neglect AE saw as I switched careers. My major frustration, however, is that AE is no longer distinguishable, not because we chased the competition, but because the competition chased us. The goal of AE is to reidentify ourselves as a distinguishable product, and it is as dependent upon what we introduce as it is keeping the competition from introducing the same things. This can't be done with technological savvy. I'm in airline management, not IT. It can't be done by throwing money at advertising, or larger servers, or expensive developers. AE struggles to meet the server costs as it is, and we're not interested in requiring payment to play. All that's left is our user base, and my limited knowledge about how airilnes work.

So the only way AE is going to distinguish itself is through ideas. I'm afraid ideas are inevitibly vulnerable since as soon as you deploy it, anyone else can as well. That's exactly what's happened. So we just have to keep ahead in our ideas. There are already multiple ideas on the table that have been discussed in these forums for years, including leasing in the aircraft market, codesharing, maintenance, cargo, multiple classes of product (first, economy, business), service levels, stock market, etc. But these ideas aren't going to be thrown together just so you can see it in the game. They have to work. This is a business simulation after all, not an airline game.

The efforts of AE developement are all now geared towards differentiation. Just as always, we'll continue to focus on our ideas and striving for realism, even if it may sacrifice playability at times. Airline Empires will be distinguishable, by more than just the color of our background.

There are no spies, only competition. And if the Airline Mogul has caught up to us, there's nobody to blame but myself. I don't blame their work in the least. There's no law broken, or even a moral code. It's obvious StephenM isn't trying to steal anything, to sabatoge the game, or anything else that's outside the mindset of cooperation. He's an active member of the forums who's made quite a few suggestions of how to improve the game. I'm glad he's here.

So, we won't be censoring the names of the other sims on our forums. Besides, if we're going to differentiate ourselves, we have to have something to differentiate ourselves from, right?

But this doesn't mean I'm going to just let things happen. If we've developed a system, I want everyone to know who developed it. Hence my comments on the maps. Nor am I going to halt developement on a feature simply because another sim has implemented something similar. Sounds contradictory, but it's not about what the competition has. It's a focus on what AE has, and in distinguishing ourselves.

Anyway, that's kind of a look into the future of AE and the industry. Development presses on, and we'll continue to develop until I finally run out of money.

Very interesting read Courtney, you shed a different light on this whole issue, the comments are an insight towards future developements, business sim in airline industry is what I 1st thought when 1st started this game.

You know your limits and visual, you keep focused the way you want it to be generated and the rest of us will follow.