Is it a game?

[No Longer Active]

Hi

Simple question for some end of year fun and chaos.....

Is flight sim a game?

Is it logically and physically a game?

I get asked this a ton of times!

What's your view?

It would be nice to put an official 'end' to the theory here only on mycockpit!

[Tomlin]

Man, after 996 posts you had to ask the mother of all questions didnt you, Alex? We are going to probably get a ton of responses on here but the short and simple answer (from ME) would be that it really depends on how you use the product.

If used the way that the vast majority of home cockpit builders use the product, then I would say NO, it's definately not a game (or at least not used as a game). I justify this based on, what's the difference between someone like Ivar's excellent 737 sim and a true certified training sim built by CAE, Flight Safety, etc.? They both have the physical qualities that appear to be a 737, they both have a visual system (even if one is superior to the other) and they both allow a person to train on certain aspects of flight, even if it's just learning how systems work, Crew Resource Mgt., Instrument systems, etc. It really does not matter if the home sim flies as well as the 'real' simulator, because if you look up the word simulator it states that simulation is "the imitation of some real thing, state of affairs, or process. The act of simulating something generally entails representing certain key characteristics or behaviours of a selected physical or abstract system." So when used as most members here use the simulator software, I'd so No- it's not a game.

However, I bet that even a full Level D sim could be used as a game depending on how it was used by the folks operating it. It would just be very expensive.

Legally, MSFS is sold as a Game. Im sure that many members here are aware of why this is- Legal Protection. Naturally with MS being a business, a commercial version would cost much more to produce to commercial standards and it would sell for quite a bit more than the retail/game version. A few years back I was involved in the development of a system to be used in real aviation that incorporated a simulation running concurrently in the cockpit and our Business Develoment coordinator contacted MS about getting a special license to do so. The long and the short of it is that MS refused a special license to us but did mention that a special version of the software was coming down the pipeline that COULD be used for our purposes. About 4 months later, ESP was announced :-)

So, I say that it really depends on who is using it and more importantly HOW it's being used. If you ask many pilots, they will say MSFS is a GAME. However, some will tell you it's an important tool that's helped them prepare for many real world flights before flying into unfamiliar airports, terrain, etc.

[No Longer Active]

Lol....

996 Posts and counting lol.....this is the mother of all questions and to end the crazy year, you need a crazy member like me to settle this once and for all....

I was just interested in what members views were in this as you can tell a lot about the member by there response...and I just love hearing the story.....

My view is that a flight simulator is not a game, it is a representation and simulation based on real events within your control that allows you to realistically simulate and control various aspects of a real flight.

Type in MS Flight Sim to in Google and you will be presented by many 'computer game' stores selling various flight sim products and accessories.

I guess a flight sim can be played as a game, or flown as a simulator and and not the two together!

Mind bending stuff....by my girlfriend says its a game, so its a game to the majority and a simulator to serious enthusiasts like us!

[Matt Olieman]

Sounds like a good poll question. Rate it with 1. Absolutely a Game and 5. Absolutely a Simulator (or not a game).

Good question Alex, how about a poll right on the home page? :)

[Steve A]

Cool question, i just had Eddie (oal 331) visit me whilst he's in Cyprus from Athens. Before his visit i would have said a game/simulator.
After watching him program my FMC and do things i didn't even realise were possible through msfs, making things appear on my displays i have never seen before.He basically showed me how to use msfs like it should be used, as a simulator.

I think if you sit at a desk with a joystick flying missions, its a game.
If you have any kind of hardware interfaced with it, its definately a sim.

So i reckon Simulator/Simulator :D

[PascalHaldenstein]

Yes this is really the mother of all questions concerning this hobby. A few days ago the people from Zurich Airport called me and asked me to pick up a package from Canada ( my new MIP from FDS yey :p).. so I went there and had to go through the whole process of getting the right delivery sheets and customs and stuff like that..
When I had to declare my package at the customs office the lady asked me as what she should declare my package with the sentence " Airplane Parts" written on the invoice. She first meant that it was some kind of RC plane and I explained her that the package consisted some parts for a home simulator..

After nearly half an hour of discussion and many confusing questions about the same topic as discussed here ( serious simulator and/or game parts?? ) when came to an end and declared it as metal goods.. anyway.. what I want to say with this is that most people don't know this hobby and when you explain it to them they think that it's some kind of a toy for grown up men.. almost every "non-simbuilder" thinks that its a game and a toy..

For me it's definitely a serious project and not a toy!!

cheers

[Goldmember]

When real life pilots are in awe of what home built simulators can do, I guess it's not a game.

[Tomlin]

Good story there on the Customs declaration. I invited a young friend over last night (he's about 20 and Im 34) to show him the sim in progress and ask him if he'd be interested in helping me finish up the building process and learn to fly it from the ground up, sorta like a mentor/mentee relationship (he and I are both involved in another hobby as well, Airsoft Mil Sim) and once he understand the bredth and depth of this whole simulator 'thing' all of us builders are involved with, his answer was a resounding "Yes- I want to get involved!" So, now I have a younger guy who may learn a thing or two about all of this and get involved in real aviation, as he has been considering taking flying lessons. After I took about 45 minutes to show him my project, the software, and explain how it all works pretty much just like real flying if you take it seriously enough, it got him excited and now I think I have a flying partner. He can see it's definately not a toy or game in my sim hangar :-)

[verticallimit]

It is the place in the world where I am most relaxed.
So perhaps the simulator is a healing program.

:cool:

[fweinrebe]

MSFS is/was a simulator from the start. With the introduction of Missions in FSX it also became a game.

[Per Alm]

Hello!

To me it doesn't matter if people call it a simulator or a game. My opinion is that it's more a simulator than a game if you learn something about flying using it.

I think a more interesting question is: How good are FS9/FSX as simulators?

How close to the real flying do we get in our desktop sims??

Obviously sitting in a real/home made cockpit is a huge leap forward compared to sitting in front of a computer screen and a computer keyboard and a joystick.

I guess the navigational part of MSFS is pretty close to the real thing!!?

But there are of course other aspects to consider.......

How close do we get when comparing with multi million dollar sims or real aviation??

What do you think??

Regards