Ok that make sense. Thanks for clearing that up F4U!
Would they be more attracted to a sim that is easy to get started in or something hardcore? I think the answer to that is obvious. So not only does a "less than hardcore sim" (lite sim has a bad connotation... what is a better term? something that doesn't suggest "arcade"?) with a dynamic campaign (or at least a well written scripted campaign that has that "feel" we all miss) better fit what we present niche members want it also could help grow the niche.
Microprose was almost single-handedly responsible for combat flight sims taking off back in the day, and none of their sims were what we would call "hardcore" these days. But they had atmosphere, were accessible, easy to get into(keyboard overlays anyone?), and a heck of a lot of fun--but it was the atmosphere I think that contributed the most towards their appeal, and this is something the Russian(especially the Russian) sim developers don't seem to understand or care about.
When I was a kid I wanted to feel like Tom Cruise or Clint Eastwood or Roy Schneider in Top Gun, Firefox and Blue Thunder, and their "sims" delivered.
They had enough atmosphere and fun to pull it off, while distinctly not being "arcade ace combat" by having rich underpinnings based on reality with fantastic manuals.
So I think for a modern developer to have a chance at bringing back the genre, they need to remember what helped it succeed in the first place--how the old games captured the imagination of our youth.
