I had to laugh a little when I read your thread. You completely miss the point. I'm not saying I want to see watered-down flight sims. Nothing could be further from the truth. Rather I'm saying that there is a difference between something being difficult and something being realistic. I'm also saying that there is a difference between trying to capture the mechanics of something and trying to capture the feel of something. If you try to capture the feel of aerial combat and try to do so such that the simulation is the same difficulty as the real thing, then I think you will have accomplished something very special and very realistic.
I said at one point that I wanted to try and stay away from debates regarding specific settings. I said that for a reason - I didn't want this thread to degrade into an agrument about padlock or externals or anything else. My point has nothing to do with specific settings. Do I believe in external views? I think they are one way (and with current technology a GOOD way) to make up for some of the limitations inherent in modern computer sims. That does not mean I view externals as the only way or even the best way to make up for those limitations. What I do believe is that there are limitations inherent in current computer simulations, and I think it is frankly stupid to ignore that. All of this 'a real pilot can't do that so we shouldn't be able to either' talk is the #1 reason our genre is in trouble.
Look at the numbers. The more flight sims center on the mechanics of 'realism' rather than the feel of 'realism,' the lower flight sim sales go. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the trend. It ironically doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the solution either.
Why doesn't anyone buy flight sims anymore? Because they are no longer fun. We have such a grainular view on 'realism' that we have forgotten how to capture feeling of the real thing. We have forgotten from the most basic sense what it is a simulation is for. Simulations are by definition not real. The point of them is not to make them real, but rather to make them feel real. None of the modern flight sims do that.
As for Artificial Intelligence, you say that all we need is to code better AI. I disagree. I think that the Internet gives us a unique opportunity to move away from AI entirely. Just as simulations are by definition not real, AI is by definition not intelligent - hence the word 'Artificial' in the name... Why simulate intelligence when you can use real people? Why not simulate the offline campaign instead?
