Re: Drop in forum activity - Forests & Trees?
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Thread: Re: Drop in forum activity - Forests & Trees?

  1. #1

    Icon21 Re: Drop in forum activity - Forests & Trees?

    No ... this is not about scenery!
    I too have noticed a drop forum activity recently and would like to share my thoughts:

    Firstly; our "beloved old girl" is 22+ years old.
    For a sim this old; makes her comparable to the "Roman Coliseum" vs a modern condo tower.
    However the Coliseum NEVER got the upgrades to make it a viable structure for the future.

    CFS2 is currently the BEST IT HAS EVER BEEN. There can be no argument here.

    All this WITHOUT the support of a “parent company” updates?
    How could this even be possible in 2022?

    This speaks volumes of the commitment of those whom truly love this sim to keep pushing her into the future.

    Many have come back to CFS2 after years of exploring other sims/games.
    I am one of them. I just spent $500+ on a GTX 1660 Ti 6GB … to get the most OUT of what our ingenious creators have put IN.

    Can you put a price on love? (NOT counting “shore-leave” and weekends in the “red light” districts !!!)


    Secondly; The CFS1, 2 & 3 releases targeted a market for WW2 sims.
    That would indicate MS was looking at WW2 & later military vets and “baby boomers” as target group in addition to main stream gamers.

    In 2000, the home PC market was growing. I think the MS CFS & FS series were built with the idea of expansion (unlike most sims of the era)

    I firmly believe that MS wrote the sim in an EASILY HACKABLE (& expandable) format for just this purpose.
    To allow people (especially OLDER) to actively “get into it” and perform “entry-level” program modifications (technically “hacking”) FOR FUN !!!

    Which it would appear to have “snowballed” into a very pleasant addiction as we continue to uncovered many of the “secrets” hidden by the designers.
    Don’t agree? Just look at the ages of the members in this forum.

    Case in point:
    - 3 weeks after I bought my 1st PC in March 2005, I was given the CFS 1, 2 & 3 + FS98 disks.
    - joined SOH in Oct. 2005 & began virtually “living in this forum” because I spent so much time here.
    Within a year my PC knowledge & skills exploded exponentially … CFS2 provided my software “basic training” and I went on from there.
    I personally learned allot of my abilities, initially thru CFS2


    And Thirdly; It’s summer time. For those of us in the northern hemisphere it’s warm & pleasant outside.
    We’ve been couped up all winter .. maybe been spending too much time on the PC? (Just ask your wife, significant other or boss?)

    Now it’s time to go outside & play for a change … winter will return soon enough.
    Even .. Captain Kurt is on vacation! We all need a break at some time.

    In the past 17 years, I have NEVER … sat in my back yard, at night, in front of a fire, drinking beer … and play CFS2 on a laptop. NEVER!!!
    I’ve never taken my laptop on a camping trip either.
    See my point?

    The reality is … CFS2 forum traffic drops in the summer months … this is 100% normal. (dunno about the other forums)
    - but even the “Visitor” numbers are currently down from the winter months.


    However be aware the our CFS2 Flight sim community is contracting.
    Some have left & may return.
    Sadly some are gone forever and dearly missed.

    SOH is in danger of becoming a Unicorn. Many old sites have fallen to time & low membership.
    Of the sites that remain; only SOH has maintained the MOST active CFS2 forum.
    SOH IS:" The Centre of the CFS2 Universe"


    So it’s up to new Membership & Donations to keep this place alive!

    For the rest of us?
    We’re all so totally addicted & in love with CFS2 … there is NO ESCAPE!


    With all the terrible things presently occurring in our world, sometimes a persons vision can become cloudy.
    Often they are unable to see the forest ... due to all the brown sticks and the green stuff which obscures their view.........



    Thanks for reading this, I hope it helps;

    - Brother Durt
    Dirtman


    ~~ CFS2 Fulfills my need to "peacefully" blow things up ~~

  2. #2
    Beautifully put... CheerZ!

    "If you're in a fair fight, you didn't plan it right"


  3. #3
    Very well said!

  4. #4
    Well said, Durt

  5. #5
    Hear, Hear!!!

  6. #6
    Well said, I'm one of those that has returned to the flight sim community. I'm trying to get myself back up to speed. I sure missed it when I was gone and am happy to be back into it again.

    Thanks to everyone who makes this a great site.

    Rob

  7. #7
    I currently have seven installs (Pacific, Europe, Med., Vietnam, Korea, Training and WW1) and fly them constantly. The ONLY thing I would change is the ability to use TracIR.

    Steve
    Do not fear the enemy, for they can take only your life. Fear the media far more, for they will destroy your honour.

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by stoney View Post
    I currently have seven installs (Pacific, Europe, Med., Vietnam, Korea, Training and WW1) and fly them constantly. The ONLY thing I would change is the ability to use TracIR.

    Steve
    Stoney:

    GEt ready fo an "East Front" install too. I'm almost a third of the way trough building a Soviet-sided Kursk/Zitadel campaign.
    "De Oppresso Liber"

  9. #9
    Dirtman,

    You make some very valid points about the perceived drop off in CFS2 activity. It's summer, the sim is older, and our community members are also getting up there (as am I). There is another reason some have "moved on". Newer sims, such as CFS3, IL2 and IL2 Cliffs of Dover have made incredible advances in graphics and scenery. That being said, they also have their drawbacks. while CFS3 has improved somewhat on the graphics and flight models it lacks the 2d panel many of us are used to. I built a sim pit with a 27 inch flat screen as a monitor which is great to just look a little down to see my instruments instead of panning down or having pop up instruments in unrealistic places. It basically defeats the purpose of a large monitor.

    IL2 and IL2 Cliffs of Dover have seen perhaps the greatest advancement in graphics and realism. Just check out some of the Youtube videos posted by the Air Combat Group. This choice again, leaves you without a 2d panel. However, the much improved graphics negate the need for labels on A/C. Unlike CFS2 and 3 you can actually make out A/C (including type of A/C) at a distance more akin to real eye site. And the scenery is so deep and detailed it easily lures younger sim pilots away from our old beloved clunker. The drawbacks here are a need for a large monitor, very expensive PC hardware and the reliance on the dreaded Steam Network. I don't believe this sim is as open ended as CFS and you are stuck with their missions, A/C or setting up extensive online squadrons that require no less than virtual enlistment by it's members.

    All that said as far as I'm concerned, CFS2 with all of it's downloadable world that now includes theatres and A/C that were never included with the vanilla version, still gives you the biggest bang for your buck. You don't have to have the latest and greatest PC, you don't need a subscription, 99% of the D/L's are free and if you are so inclined you can create a slew of missions and campaigns that suite you. If you are like me, you can build a sim pit that in a way requires a 2d panel. The money spent on something like that is about the same (or more) than one of the newer sims and the PC's needed to run it but you are not stuck with only their mods, missions and campaigns.

    Yes, CFS2 is older. It may not be as visually stunning as some of the newer sims, the AI can be a bit "funky" if not positioned exactly right in Mission Builder but there is still something about it's open ended properties that will have us and hopefully future sim pilots staying and coming back.

    Now if MS could make a sim with the graphics of IL2, but everything else about it the same as CFS2.....GOLDMINE! But that's about the same as hoping to win the lottery.

  10. #10
    Oh yeah Shadow Wolf, I'll be looking forward to it for sure!
    Do not fear the enemy, for they can take only your life. Fear the media far more, for they will destroy your honour.

  11. #11
    People do go back to school in summer. I know I did that back in the day to catch up on credits or if needed certain courses to graduate.

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