I make this mistake all the time LOL



Selecting an exe loads it, and selecting a theatre loads it, but selecting a planeset lists the planes in it so that you can check it out, but does not load it.
To load it you must click the "Click to switch to the selected planeset" button, and it is easy to forget to do it

Perhaps adding "STEP 1 of X", "STEP 2 of X", and so on, to items that must be selected. At logical spot, say top left, where most people would start reading, state that the process has "X" steps, and list them, Step 1, Step 2, and so on. In the list of steps, have each step in a different, but easy to see color. Have each Step "block" as it were, colored to match the corresponding colored Step previously listed. If a step is omitted, or selected out of sequence, selecting out-of-sequence Step prompts user to go to step that must be selected.

At least, do not have all choice blocks the same color, unless there is an overriding reason to do so.

I am only just learning to use that software

LOL! I'm FAR behind you on almost everything computer-related, that's for sure. So, please don't take my remarks/suggestions as anything else but well-intentioned, and well-intended.

OTOH, as a computer user, I have encountered many different user interfaces, some of them being vastly better than others.

Your interface, shown above, can be quickly and easily improved, perhaps by following some of my suggestions, and perhaps suggestions posted by others.

The point to all this interface business is to reduce or even eliminate altogether user frustration and delay in implementing choices and playing the game.

Now, as you may have noticed, I am something of a persistent person, and am willing to ask questions, even if the questions are about elementary topics. That's how one learns.

Imagine someone who is not so persistent, and not so prone to ask questions. When they reach their personal frustration level, they will bail out, and likely choose another sim, (even if it is inferior in some ways) because it is easier to get up and running, and because it is easier to configure. This is particularly the case if they have not invested any $ in the sim.

In short, they want to have fun and go flying. If it's a hassle to do so with a particular sim, they'll go elsewhere to have their fun.

It is true that the more complex sims involve more time/effort to set-up/run than the simpler ones, but I have seen simple sims that caused an unexpected amount of user confusion, despite their simplicity. Red Baron 3D is a good example of a confusing user interface due to non-standard navigation symbols. I have to re-remember it every time I take a break from the game, even though there are relatively few selections available at any one point.

Even the original EAW had some interface flaws. For instance, on some menu pages, one had to figure out, by trial-and-error, to scroll across the bottom of the menu page to highlight the (usually) invisible navigation commands. On Jane's WW 2 Fighters, one had to figure out that by scrolling over the selected aircraft, one could access pix and text descriptions of the component over which one had hovered.

To sum up, then user interface is second only to the over quality of the sim itself. Good games with great user interfaces will often prove more popular than great games with terrible interfaces. If people made choices based solely on product quality, we would have used Sony Betamax video tapes and players.