17 replies to this topic

[GRANT ED]

I'd like to make a suggestion regarding the aircraft types used in this game. One appealing aspect of this game is the variety of aircraft you can use. The bad thing is that only about 5 types get used in any large amount. This is because its not worth using anything else.
Some examples are the Q400. Pretty much everyone uses this plane and with good reason. However this is unrealistic. There are not thousands of Q400's being ordered. Same with the 737-900. In reality this is one of the least popular 737 types with the -800 being the plane of choice. I believe one reason the 900 is not as popular in real life is the need for an extra FA. Maybe this could be reflected in the operating cost of the -900.
In the game I almost never see anyone using the 747-400 but in reality it is one of the more efficient planes out there.

My suggestion is to introduce something that will encorage using other planes. This will make the game vastly more interesting and realistic.
Maybe offer older types at a lower purchase cost.

[doug_Or]

You haven't seen a lot of airlines ordering the 747-400 in the last 10 years. The 777-300 and A340-600 have eaten away at the bottom end of the segment while the specter of the A380 has eaten away at the top end. All of these aircraft are more modern and more efficient, and I think the game reflects that.

Now I do agree that the game is not perfectly balanced in some respects. Some aircraft have unreasonable seating (A330-300), which leads to undue popularity. The ability of aircraft to fly to their max range wit ha full payload also unbalances some, too.

FWIW the 738 and 739 both would have 4 F/As in the seating capacities used in the game.

[drv4truk]

Excellent points. Hopefully with the introduction of new pricing and cost data into AE, this will improve. Many of us know which aircraft manufacturers will have the longest q, while others will have no wait.

[simsmart]

*Cough* In development *Cough* (ranges)

[drv4truk]

*Cough* In development *Cough* (ranges)

That and adding runway length restrictions would mean players would have to actually have a strategy. Now they just go along and put an A380 on every route.

[StarLines]

We're working on exactly this at the moment.

The first update will be to the seatcounts and fuel consumption data. With the many aircraft/engine combinations possible in AE, it's a pretty huge task, thus I will not give any timeframe of when this will be completed.

Thereafter, the next step will be payload limitations based on weights and available runway. This will eliminate the floods of A380s on routes for which the aircraft and/or airport is unsuitable. And, as drv4truk correctly notes, it will require every player to have a stategy and choose the suitable aircraft for every type of route, thus making the game more realistic.

[fischer]

Is there a way to work in fleet commonality for cheaper operating expenses? For instance, just having 737's or a smaller bonus for having an all boeing fleet? It would be nice to see someone try to emulate something like southwest, who doesn't have a very central hub but makes up for it with lower maintenance costs.

Regardless, you guys do a great job, keep it up.

[Maestro69]

That and adding runway length restrictions would mean players would have to actually have a strategy. Now they just go along and put an A380 on every route.

Why the cry face? u done it before... lol

[drv4truk]

Is there a way to work in fleet commonality for cheaper operating expenses? For instance, just having 737's or a smaller bonus for having an all boeing fleet? It would be nice to see someone try to emulate something like southwest, who doesn't have a very central hub but makes up for it with lower maintenance costs.

Regardless, you guys do a great job, keep it up.

Discounts for Aircraft commonality are supposed to be already implemented. I'm not sure if anybody has checked the figures lately to see if there is any difference or not. I'm pretty sure (it used to be) the discount happens after you have 50+ of the same type of aircraft.

Yes, I've done the A330 or A380 on every route before. But it is not very realistic and requires little or no strategy. Boring.

[Maestro69]

Well, u wanna be able to grow routes at least and be able to either increase capacity or frequencies if u can make the routes work. Guess that will make it even more interesting when runway restrictions are in place and u gotta even have a bigger fleet to deal with the issues.

Now if only Airbus made the A380 for short runway performance, then all problems solved

[flightsimer]

Is there a way to work in fleet commonality for cheaper operating expenses? For instance, just having 737's or a smaller bonus for having an all boeing fleet? It would be nice to see someone try to emulate something like southwest, who doesn't have a very central hub but makes up for it with lower maintenance costs.

Regardless, you guys do a great job, keep it up.

thats what i do, but instead of just one i have two, (9) 737-700's and (22) Q400's, and a few 1900d's that im trying to sell but with this new system nobody has bought them... but i even took it a step further, i chose a specific engine (CFM56-7B26)so if i add the 737-800 or -900, they all could use the same engines, which in real world would save alot! i will eventually go up to three types, but thats the final number, which would include the 737 family, 787, and the q family.

Discounts for Aircraft commonality are supposed to be already implemented. I'm not sure if anybody has checked the figures lately to see if there is any difference or not. I'm pretty sure (it used to be) the discount happens after you have 50+ of the same type of aircraft.

Yes, I've done the A330 or A380 on every route before. But it is not very realistic and requires little or no strategy. Boring.

actually since u brought this up. right before the end of the last round i was fooling arround... and the discounts stop at 51 aircraft. i used the Q400 for my research, and the price of the plane kept going down but once i hit 51 it stopped at 14.75 mil per frame...

also the biggest thing i dont like is that people will use the A330, a380, etc. on a short regional flight. that kills the people that are flying the route realistically by putting aircraft that would actually be seen on that route on them...

[flightsimer]

also saw something about runway restrictions...

you guys will have to be very careful when doing that, because there are plane here that say they cant go into a certain length, but in RW they do it daily... case in point... the 747, its listed at over 10k ft i believe, but in RW it flys into TNCM daily TO/from europe, and that runway is only 7k ft.

also i posted above about discounts, i was reading it over again, and i think u guys might of been talking about aircraft actually in ur fleet, but i posted about orders... so you can ignore that... i wont be able to tell u anything until another couple of years when i hit 50 with number of Q400's... also have a question about that... does that happen for families, or for specific aircraft? like if i have a mixed fleet of 737, then that should count, i shouldnt have to have 50 -700's, 50 -800's, etc...

[StarLines]

also saw something about runway restrictions...

you guys will have to be very careful when doing that, because there are plane here that say they cant go into a certain length, but in RW they do it daily... case in point... the 747, its listed at over 10k ft i believe, but in RW it flys into TNCM daily TO/from europe, and that runway is only 7k ft.

These flights are normally weight restricted and do not depart at their max payload (or max T/O weight). And exactly this is what we have in mind. We want to limit the aircraft's range and payload by runway available and fuel needed for a certain route.

A 744 can surely takeoff from Princess Juliana or any other airport with a relatively short runway, but the payload will be limited.

But it's still a long way until this can be introduced.

[travelhouse]

I've done the A330 or A380 on every route before. But it is not very realistic and requires little or no strategy. Boring.

Agree, even Millers new addition could click a mouse and place 747's and A380.

That is one negitive of AE, you are given no chance of using the mind, its like the game does need some new direction, added enhacment to power not just wheels of an aircraft, but place full power to stimulate the mind.:airplane

[cws]

These flights are normally weight restricted and do not depart at their max payload (or max T/O weight). And exactly this is what we have in mind. We want to limit the aircraft's range and payload by runway available and fuel needed for a certain route.

A 744 can surely takeoff from Princess Juliana or any other airport with a relatively short runway, but the payload will be limited.

But it's still a long way until this can be introduced.

Since it's a long way off, I'd like to offer a suggestion:
For airports with short runways, add the capability of adding a fuel stop at a nearby airport where the airline has gates. For example, until it got the MD-11 with PIP AA flew its SJC-NRT route using DC-10-30s that made a brief fuel stop in either SFO or OAK.

[simsmart]

But it's still a long way until this can be introduced.

*Snore* Wha? Oh, long way *yawn* off. Back to sleep.

[cws]

Agree, even Millers new addition could click a mouse and place 747's and A380.

That is one negitive of AE, you are given no chance of using the mind, its like the game does need some new direction, added enhacment to power not just wheels of an aircraft, but place full power to stimulate the mind.:airplane

Dear madam Geesh,

Because I have the utmost respect for your accumulated AE wisdom, what would you say would be an 'appropriate' route for an A380?

[travelhouse]

Dear madam Geesh,

Because I have the utmost respect for your accumulated AE wisdom, what would you say would be an 'appropriate' route for an A380?

We all know that in real life, the A380 super jumbo has just made its 1st pax flight and this was with singapore air.

As time goes on singapore air would have this aircraft running SIN to locations like

SYD
MEL
CDG
LHR
JFK
ALT
LAX to name a few

wouldnt think this will be touchingdown in locations like

MSP
DEN
OLY
STN
GMP

Pax wouldnt be there, plus I have not looked at the actual runway data of those mid-regional airports, but thats the difference now.

In the game where there is little restrictions on aircraft v runway v pax anyone can hop little routes with the A380.

One day this game will have runway restrictions and other factors in place, then it will be like the real world, till then we all must expect larger aircraft covering short hops and smaller regional locations.

If these factors were in place, then the game isnt just click and place a jet where you like, but a more thinking role of the airline management to make sure that you look at all data before placement, thus will make the game more real life.