Would you consider Africa - FACT, FAOR?

[FACT]

Over all the years that I have been enjoying this passion of mine, the one continent that has been neglected is Africa. Whilst there have been some African sceneries and airports developed in the past so much has changed of late that a genuine market opportunity may have quietly emerged, unnoticed.

So my questions is to ask Fly Tampa whether they would seriously consider developing an African airport scenery?

One of the key questions which may well decide the answer, is likely to be whether an African airport (a) would sell and (b) would it sell enough...

There are a number of factors that come into play with cost / profit but the following is in a small way, an initial argument for the case...

My point about the opportunity that has emerged is as follows. We know that another significant player in the flight simulation arena, brought to market a small somewhat unknown airport in Nepal, very close to the Himalayas. What I understand is that this product became one of their biggest sellers.

This is remarkable, especially as it's success ran contrary to the 'norm' that local airports sell the most in local markets. (i.e Dutch buy Schipol etc.). They do, but this products success highlighted an opportunity emerging in the market.

Similarly, Orbx has achieved significant financial success offering a varied and diverse portfolio, another hint that flight simmers will act like any other consumer and buy new products that offer quality (accuracy) and value (immersion).

The most likely candidates could be drawn from the top 10 busiest airports in Africa, three of which are in South Africa. FAOR in Johannesburg, South Africa is the busiest (2016), followed by Cairo in Egypt and then the third busiest is FACT, which is in Cape Town, also found in South Africa. The third from South Africa is Durban.

FAOR has been under development as a 'Mega' airport since 2014 and frankly appears to be struggling, while no one has done a high quality rendition of FACT.

Both have significant long haul traffic, in fact Delta (DL200 & DL201) has one of the worlds longest flights between KATL and FAOR. Add in that FAOR is a hot and high airport, situated at 1700 metres or 5500 feet and you start to get a taste of how unique the experience could be.

So, FlyTampa, would you consider stepping into Africa once Atlanta, Boston etc. are underway?

[stevefocus]

I would also love it if FlyTampa did FACT and FAOR.

[CX 747-400]

Your are right that Africa has been neglected in recent years.

I would love to see a FACT or FAOR done by FlyTampa.

[TETAN]

I fully support that proposal and I belive there is a good market for it. I work at Cape Town International for an international airline and have good access around the airport. Within reason, I would be more than willing to contribute if it would help in any way - Obviously at no charge. I would also be the first customer to purchase the product!

[garrettprs]

I have a lot of respect for Mathijs but his logic belies an important point: simmers will buy anything that's at a high level of quality. We are so used to getting ripped off and paying for junk (notice that there's no freeware anymore and that scenery addons that were once free are now nudging US$20). It's why FlyTampa, FlightBeam, 29Palms, etc. could make a rendition of some obscure airport somewhere in the boonies and it'd likely sell pretty well because people know what they're getting. That Aerosoft as a publisher and its developer cohorts put out mid-level scenery, for the most part, probably explains why there's much more local buying. If quality is mediocre, then locals will buy a scenery because they at least have some sort of connection to it, not because it's a flightsim work of art.

That all said, I agree that a top quality dev could stand to do well developing FACT. I'm surprised Jarrad Marshall hasn't already done since it fits his specs/criteria perfectly as an FTX Global product (amazingly scenic destination, long runway and handles lots of traffic but the airport itself isn't "mega" or huge by any stretch, etc.).

One real risk that I see with FACT, at this point (hopefully it's only temporary) is that there's no other respectable payware anywhere near it to fly to (I have to assume that flightsimmers consider this in their buying decisions) so that would only leave us with long hauls. The lesser risk will be addressed soon by ORBX OpenLC and that's that all of Africa looks pretty bad right now. FTX Global helped with the stock textures but the landclass is awful. Vector data and mesh have helped it immensely but unlike XPL Ortho users, we can't just willy-nilly fix up the aesthetic environment anytime soon. Whoever does FACT would undoubtedly need to do a large swath of the surrounding area, I think, in order to really reap the full benefits. Table Mountain, Robben Island, Cape Town itself, etc. Again, perfect candidate for an FTX Global addon but as we well know, FlyTampa created one of the best cityscapes ever in Dubai.

[Rongor]

Hey there,

I am not really voting for the specific suggestions here, instead I want to add that the scenery market indeed lacks destinations outside the well covered American and European landmasses (therefore I am totally fine with the suggestions of the OP).
In recent years, major scenery developers slowly added Asian hotspots and the occasional touristic exotics. I never felt that people were that eager to mostly fly only across North America and Europe. The only reason for the addon density there seems to be the general desire of customers (most of them living in the "western nations" I guess) to be able to recognize their home regions and as FSX/P3D always delivered the best stock quality there (as meager as stock scenery even there still may be), it is only reasonable for developers to look there first for sellable projects.
Studios like Orbx indeed do a good job with their Global/Vector/Landclass products to eventually open up the rest of the world to be explored. Vast areas of the globe finally appear in enjoyable beauty, inviting everybody to venture some flights there. This will naturally lead to people seeking for addon quality sceneries.

Orbx just recently released SouthAmerica Landclass and I would not be surprised to see Southamerican sceneries popping up on the market soon.
The next landclass project by Orbx is Africa, so African sceneries will gain more sales easily.

Btw after Africa, Asia will follow.

[mcdonar]

I have been a satisfied customer of FACT by NMG Trading for some time.

[CX 747-400]

I have been a satisfied customer of FACT by NMG Trading for some time.

Sometimes, something is better than nothing, but in this case I will stay with default.

After watching the product video from the NMG website, I have decided that Blueprint makes an amazing airport.

Here is the video from the NMG website:

https://youtu.be/1RHWlthHp3U

[FACT]

I have been a satisfied customer of FACT by NMG Trading for some time.

I take my hat off to what NMG have created, I would have no idea how to do that.

But, if someone like FlyTampa, Orbx etc., brought to market airport scenery for FACT or FAOR....would you buy it ?

[ErichB]

I'd buy FACT in a flash.

NMG were good for FS9 - but they've done absolutely nothing to update their development techniques since then. It is now very old looking, cartoon style scenery. They just keep rehashing it for every new version of sim

[FACT]

Me to, I would snap FACT up and anything else on South Africa a top end scenery / airport developer like FlyTampa made.

To assist this kind of project, local help would be vital and there are some great freeware developers in South Africa that would jump (i.e. the Aeroworx gang) at the chance to assist and collaborate...similar to what PMDG did on their DC 6.

They are usually lurking over at avcom.co.za....hint hint!!

Now then........ if only someone from FlyTampa would care to comment or provide a perspective that would be marvellous!!

[FACT]

Anyone from FlyTampa - would you be willing to comment on this topic.
Many thanks

[DeeJay]

Maybe access to the airside of the airports could also be a problem?? ...I don't know. But if anyone made good South African airports, then I would be one of the first to buy them. However it would be very desirable not only to have FACT or FAOR, but also some smaller local addons there.

One real risk that I see with FACT, at this point (hopefully it's only temporary) is that there's no other respectable payware anywhere near it to fly to (I have to assume that flightsimmers consider this in their buying decisions) so that would only leave us with long hauls. The lesser risk will be addressed soon by ORBX OpenLC and that's that all of Africa looks pretty bad right now.

That's exactly what I think ...sadly! I never was a "local" flyer (OK, now that GES just came out, maybe for some time), but someone who loved whole areas that were really well covered by sceneries. Best example is FTX PNW or also Australia: I've never been to any of those places in real life, but the availability of the whole ORBX structure plus some bigger airports by other developers made them two of my "sim homes".
That said, I don't care if such a region would be Vietnam, Northeastern Mexico or Southern Morocco... most important is that it's well done!
In my opinion South Africa has a huge potential for both VFR flying, regional flying as well as international routes with all the nice payware aircraft available. I've been there 2 times now, and I think this would be a kind of landscape that hasn't really been there before in the FSim world (Australia might be the closest to it), at least not in the current quality expectations. A good hub could be a good start there.

Unfortunately I really cannot count NMG sceneries for regional flying. Their FS2004 (then freeware) sceneries destroyed my whole FS9 installation. And since then I see zero progress at the pictures.

I have a lot of respect for Mathijs but his logic belies an important point: simmers will buy anything that's at a high level of quality. We are so used to getting ripped off and paying for junk (notice that there's no freeware anymore and that scenery addons that were once free are now nudging US$20). It's why FlyTampa, FlightBeam, 29Palms, etc. could make a rendition of some obscure airport somewhere in the boonies and it'd likely sell pretty well because people know what they're getting. That Aerosoft as a publisher and its developer cohorts put out mid-level scenery, for the most part, probably explains why there's much more local buying. If quality is mediocre, then locals will buy a scenery because they at least have some sort of connection to it, not because it's a flightsim work of art.

Very well said! That's what I always think when I read the Aerosoft forums, but I can't really say there.

For their FAOR... I don't know if I should believe in that after the latest comments in the forums. There have simply been too many announced projects that never materialized..