FS2004

    AR Mods – New Interface Design for FSX / FS9

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    Change easily the look, buttons, sounds, dialog box of the game.

    AR Mods designed new interfaces either for FSX or FS2004.

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    1. Alex N on

      Really? There is a market for this kind of thing? I’m sure simmers will have no truck with this. If anything this is the sort of thing that a true enthusiast would give to the community for FREE.

      Reply
    2. Ian P on

      Clearly someone thinks so, as if no-one had bought it, the section at the bottom of the product page for ‘people who bought this also bought…’ would be empty.

      Reply
    5. Alex on

      There are a handful of sceneries in Simmarket that might meet only FS2002 freeware standards. Still I am sure people buy them. It’s not a recent trend, although I think it is now much more common than 5 years ago. This might have been freeware some years ago (I am sure this was done before and it *was* freeware. But we live different times, money’s scarce for some now while there’s plenty of it for many. And it’s a free market. No one’s obligated to buy.

      Reply
    7. Ian P on

      There’s always been “low end” payware, usually sold for a handful of dollars/whatever, certainly since FS98 that I remember. Abacus still sell shedloads of products by otherwise freeware developers.

      That level of products are usually sold by people who have released freeware before and, for whatever reason, they’re trying to recoup some of the expenses of creating it. Make no mistake, creating freeware definitely costs real money and there’s no doubt that money is scarce for many, so people who previously would have given things away are now trying to get something back for it.

      I wouldn’t buy this (not that I could afford it right now anyway!) but if people do, are they “idiots” or supporting the developers in a difficult climate?

      Incidentally, yes, the entire FS front-end is skinnable, as this proves. I think it’s easier for FS9 than FSX, but either can be done.

      Reply
    9. Ian P on

      And as Alex says above, nothing forces anyone to buy it.

      Isn’t this a little bit of what people are complaining about regarding people feeling “entitled” to get things they want with the hobby these days? Why should it be free? Why, aside from licensing conditions on some things, should there be ANY freeware for ANY sim?

      Reply
    10. Patrick on

      People probably expect stuff like that to be free, because people usually offer (even popular) mods for popular PC games for free (except Gary’s Mod for Half Life 2) for the sake of helping / boosting the community. I don’t disagree that lots of work is worth lots of money and developers have to pay their bills, just like me. This is their right, this is their decision.

      But within the FlighSim community, it seems many people regard FSX-users as a money-milking cow, and every little piece of code has it’s buyer. The word “rip-off” comes to my mind, when I see mods that increase the battery life of plane, payware airports that look way worse than most freeware airports, placebo FPS boosters and “realistic” payware planes where the only thing that they have in common with the real plane are their names.

      So this GUI mod is a nice looking thing, but I still have this odd feeling that FSX/FS9 customers are the only people in the world, who need to pay for a GUI mod. And they’re probably the only people in the world that are willing to pay for a GUI mod. I can t help, but to think that this is weird. Sorry.

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      • Patrick on

        -And I’m not sure if a “New Realistic Moon HD” (also by AR mods) is really worth 7.14 EUR. Especially when other mod developers for PC games offer High Resolution texture packs for free. I doubt this moon texture requires for more work than those packs. But it is their decision. I guess if people are willing to pay for this, a mod like that has its payware justification.

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      • Ian P on

        So what you’re saying, Patrick (which, as a freeware developer, I happen to agree with) is that people offer freeware to ‘help the community’ – but that’s not a reason why people should be entitled to anything for free, just a reason why some people allow their work to be available for free.

        If you think that FSX/FS9 users are the only people who would pay for a GUI mod then you’re mistaken, though. The whole world of “free to play” games is funded on a principle of getting people to pay for things that they don’t ‘need’ to play and there was yet another case in the British press recently of a father wanting to ban Apple from marketing games via their App Store which actively encourage users, particlularly children, to pay small amounts constantly for new coloured graphics, new pets, crops, etc. I’m constantly amazed by the fact that people will pay real money to paint their tanks a different camo colour in World of Tanks, but good grief, a lot of people do it.

        I’ll let you in on a little completely open secret as well, by the way. Money milking? It is incredibly hard to make your sole income by developing after market products for a mass market game, let alone a niche one like MSFS. I’d be amazed if this sells more than a handful of copies, it certainly won’t make the developers rich.

        There’s also the issue that surely, if skinning the GUI was so simple, then there would be loads of freeware reskins and improvements available? They certainly do exist, but they’re far from common.

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      • Ian P on

        I’ll put this as a seperate comment rather than editing my last to include it, because it’s actually a fairly important point.

        A lot of titles – PC and otherwise – that allow modding tools do so with a license condition that the new content cannot be sold or traded. There are many reasons why this may be the case, such as protecting copyrights and trademarks, for example, but in the case of MSFS, like other titles such as The Sims to name but one, the restriction does not apply. You are not allowed to reverse engineer or decompile content and sell it as your own under the development license, but content created by yourself is not restricted from being sold at all.

        Reply
        • Patrick on

          Hi Ian – I agree, nobody is entitled to get anything for free from any developer. And I also understand that developers don’t get rich making FSX addons (sometimes it is quite the contrary) – or can even survive just by making FSX addons. My wording was maybe a little bit to strong, but when I see replacement textures for the moon for 7 EUR I think, somebody just wants to make quick money from people who don’t now of free alternatives. Sometimes I think, I should offer a mod/texture replacement for FSX, that took my less then an hour to make, claim that it enhances overall sim-quality and increases framerates and sell it for 4.99 EUR (it is cheaper than 7 EUR!) and hope that buyers don’t read any reviews.

          Dont’ get me wrong. I am willing to pay for FSX addons and tools, big and small. Like many other fellow simmers, I probably payed way to much for this hobby over the last years.

          But every now and then I see those placebo FSX-FPS-enhancers, I get upset. Especially when there are also great freeware tools, like FlusiFix or FS-SIMtizer. These things, plus the modding-communities of PC games plus some high-value-low-price FSX tools raise my expectation when it comes to payware like that.

          There are great free- and payware tools out there that are worth the money. Maybe this GUI mod is among them, as it looks really appealing, but I’m not sure if it is worth my money (i.e. if I am willing to pay the money) when it is the price of half a TOPCAT, a tool, that is far more useful. But this is a decision everybody has to make for themselves.

          And yes, sometimes I am surprised that people pay 3 EUR for a Sims hairstyle.

          Reply
          • Ian P on

            Can’t find free alternatives, or don’t want to spend the time looking/creating alternatives – that’s how I see it, these days.

            A lot of people in most hobbies will look for an “easy” option; maybe a pre-built RC aircraft/car, a filter/frame in Photoshop or a painting service for their VA. It’s not always laziness, which some people ascribe it to, often it’s a lack of time or inclination to put the hours in for whatever reason.

            The price for these things is set by a number of things and basically, the cheaper the price, the more you have to sell. Selling through any distributor – online or offline – comes at a not-inconsiderable cost and once you’ve taken that off your income from each sale, what’s left? If it’s Cents/Pence then it probably wasn’t worthwhile. A few €/$/£, though, might pay for an add-on, supporting another developer, a bunch of flowers for a long suffering partner or, in my case, probably the next order of aerodrome layout drawing copies from the RAF Museum.

            (Edit: I’d probably better point out that I cannot sell what I create, even if I wanted to, because I use freeware object libraries created by others which come with license restrictions. I wouldn’t sell my airfields, even if I could, the way I create them right now.)

            It’s ultimately down to a lot more than just taking the mickey by asking for money. If people want it and are prepared to pay for it, then why not recoup something?

            Having seen some of the default object reskins that people have done for Sims2, which they charge for (look! I made the red car black!), nothing surprises me any more what people will pay for.

            Reply
    11. Ray on

      Actually, when I first saw this – I went yes! The video said to me – this is the way Microsoft should have structured their Menu system..

      I am waiting for someone to take the plunge and buy it and offer a review – I mean, I have so carelessly thrown around money in the past – and there is a couple of other things I would like first…..

      Reply
    12. maddog on

      Hello
      Ray, the menu structure is unchanged

      Just load \FSX\Uires\dlgmed.bmp into Paint and start messing about, its not difficult.

      Reply

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