Would you pay over $1000 for a comprehensive subsim?

mookiemookie · 03-09-11, 05:23 PM

Train sim fans can do just that. If one were to purchase Railworks and all of the assorted DLC train packs, it comes out to over $1000.

http://blog.pikimal.com/geek/2011/03...-just-1082-35/

While it's hard for me to imagine shelling out $1000 for a train sim, I'd pay a hefty sum for a well done WW2 subsim. If they sold it to me piecemeal in 60-odd DLC packs, I have to say I'd probably buy them all.

CCIP · 03-09-11, 05:33 PM

I've spent over $700 on software for my flight sim, so... that's not entirely outrageous

And I have railworks, but honestly, it had absolutely no longevity for me. It was mostly down to the scripted mission structure and frustration with poor signal logic. Unlike Flight Sim which is just a living world for me to go out and do things (and, thanks to some add-ons, be rewarded for it), the rail sim always seemed to me like just a series of puzzles or challenges to complete. More like a training exercise than an actual simulation of day-to-day operations of a rail driver...

As far as subs, I'm having a bit of trouble seeing how. A modular, all-inclusive naval sim could work with this model, but I'm also skeptical.

Takeda Shingen · 03-09-11, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mookiemookie

Train sim fans can do just that. If one were to purchase Railworks and all of the assorted DLC train packs, it comes out to over $1000.

http://blog.pikimal.com/geek/2011/03...-just-1082-35/

While it's hard for me to imagine shelling out $1000 for a train sim, I'd pay a hefty sum for a well done WW2 subsim. If they sold it to me piecemeal in 60-odd DLC packs, I have to say I'd probably buy them all.

You know what? Yes, I'd probably end up paying upwards of a grand for something like that, being the sim junkie I am and all.

Platapus · 03-09-11, 06:30 PM

It would have to be a very good* simulation

*good being defined as agreeing with my personal opinion on what is a good simulator.

Task Force · 03-09-11, 06:31 PM

Hmm... the day i spend 1,000 dollars on a game is the day i get rolled out of this house in a straitjacket.

Krauter · 03-09-11, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Hmm... the day i spend 1,000 dollars on a game is the day i get rolled out of this house in a straitjacket.

Agreed.

Being a student now and living on my own, I'm loth to say I'd even spend 60-100$ on a game.

Sure I'd agree wholeheartedly when I was living with my parents because, I didn't have to worry about much else other then getting up for school, training for sport and having things done so I could play games.

Then again, with the way things are going for subsims in general, I'd say that 1000$ subsim would probably be the last ever.

Oberon · 03-09-11, 08:23 PM

Aaah, but Comrade Task Force, how much, discounting sales, are all your Steam games worth?

That's how DLC works, you buy the main game one month and then a month or two down the line you see a bit of DLC and think "Hmmm, that looks nice, and for under a tenner too...well...why not spoil myself?" Repeat this several times in a year and you've spent nearly a hundred monetary denominations on one game

The same thing has been happening with Flight Sim for years, I dread to think how much every single bit of payware for FSX would cost if bundled together, it's only because of Steam that you can actually tote it all up and realise that it's over a grand and still rising!

Still, there's still some good freeware out there, UKtrainsim has a lot, and Flight sim has some fantastic freeware stuff...but sometimes it's hard not to ponder if the freeware makers are getting edged out of the market because of the ease and low pricing of DLC and the fact that nine times out of ten DLC content will come with high quality footplate/cabview/cockpit, sounds and model although there have been a couple of deviations from that in both Flight Sim and Railworks. Certainly the more complex sims become the harder it can be for modelers to match the quality of payware stuff and more ex-freeware modelers go over to payware. It's an interesting thing to study, market habits and that, but it's certainly a different market for trainsims now than it was with MSTS...and in some aspects not for the better. For example, the recently released West Coast North is a fantastically detailed line with one locomotive and some rolling stock for about thirty pounds. Now, a few years ago I purchased Great Eastern 1 for MSTS for about the same price and it came with a fantastically detailed route, five locomotives, lots of rolling stock and several multiple-units with original sounds and cabs (although a lot of the EMUs used the cabs from Making tracks earlier release 'London and South East' which I also brought and have). It does seem with Railworks that you are getting less for the same price, admittedly it's better quality than MSTS but, if you scale the ability of Railworks 2 against MSTS, then Great Eastern 1 was the same quality as if not greater quality than West Coast North. I'm not quite sure but I think it might be a longer route too.
It's a worrying trend and I hope that some of the smaller companies like Making Tracks start bucking it, but JustTrains and Railworks themselves have set a precedent, although perhaps no more of a precedent than has already been set for several years in the Flightsim community...

Task Force · 03-09-11, 08:34 PM

Nice wall of text Obi!

yea, id hate to think of how much i would have spend on steam without sales.

03-09-11, 08:53 PM

Generally for me if its over 20 bucks its a bit too expensive.

Oberon · 03-09-11, 09:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Task Force

Nice wall of text Obi!

yea, id hate to think of how much i would have spend on steam without sales.

I tend to ramble when it's late (or very early), I really should go to bed before I crash the server with a Skybird length monologue.

TorpX · 03-11-11, 01:53 AM

I don't know about $1,000, but I would be willing to pay a decent price. It would have to be good though. Not another modderama.

Gargamel · 03-11-11, 02:31 AM

No.

I spent $3 on SH3.

I shy away from SH4 at $20.

It would be nice to have that amount of disposable income at the ready, but even if I did, I highly doubt I would pay that much.

Why not make it a modderama as mentioned?

Make the engine and gameplay as perfect as you can, but leave skins and details to the modders. Cut down on development costs by focusing on the things the modders would not be able to change later.

Howard313 · 03-26-11, 01:39 AM

for $1000 i could buy my own submarine.

http://www.travelgadgets.org/entry/c...bmarine-yacht/

hmmm, not a bad idea actually.

Weiss Pinguin · 03-26-11, 08:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Howard313

for $1000 i could buy my own submarine.

http://www.travelgadgets.org/entry/c...bmarine-yacht/

hmmm, not a bad idea actually.

Just what I was going to say

How's that for immersive?

Factor · 03-26-11, 03:59 PM

Since my wife watches the bank account online like a hawk, I don't think I would be able to get 20 bucks in without getting my bank card taken away from me.

03-09-11, 05:23 PM	#1
mookiemookie Navy Seal Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 9,404 Downloads: 105 Uploads: 1	Would you pay over $1000 for a comprehensive subsim? Train sim fans can do just that. If one were to purchase Railworks and all of the assorted DLC train packs, it comes out to over $1000. http://blog.pikimal.com/geek/2011/03...-just-1082-35/ While it's hard for me to imagine shelling out $1000 for a train sim, I'd pay a hefty sum for a well done WW2 subsim. If they sold it to me piecemeal in 60-odd DLC packs, I have to say I'd probably buy them all. __________________ They don’t think it be like it is, but it do. Want more U-boat Kaleun portraits for your SH3 Commander Profiles? Download the SH3 Commander Portrait Pack here.

03-09-11, 05:33 PM	#2
CCIP Navy Seal Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Waterloo, Canada Posts: 8,700 Downloads: 29 Uploads: 2	I've spent over $700 on software for my flight sim, so... that's not entirely outrageous And I have railworks, but honestly, it had absolutely no longevity for me. It was mostly down to the scripted mission structure and frustration with poor signal logic. Unlike Flight Sim which is just a living world for me to go out and do things (and, thanks to some add-ons, be rewarded for it), the rail sim always seemed to me like just a series of puzzles or challenges to complete. More like a training exercise than an actual simulation of day-to-day operations of a rail driver... As far as subs, I'm having a bit of trouble seeing how. A modular, all-inclusive naval sim could work with this model, but I'm also skeptical. __________________ There are only forty people in the world and five of them are hamburgers. -Don Van Vliet (aka Captain Beefheart)

03-09-11, 06:30 PM	#4
Platapus Fleet Admiral Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 19,369 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 0	It would have to be a very good* simulation good being defined as agreeing with my personal opinion on what is a good simulator. __________________ abusus non tollit usum -* A right should NOT be withheld from people on the basis that some tend to abuse that right.

03-09-11, 06:31 PM	#5
Task Force Rear Admiral Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: SPACE!!!! Posts: 10,142 Downloads: 85 Uploads: 0	Hmm... the day i spend 1,000 dollars on a game is the day i get rolled out of this house in a straitjacket. __________________ Task Force industries "Taking control of the world, one mind at a time"

03-09-11, 08:34 PM	#8
Task Force Rear Admiral Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: SPACE!!!! Posts: 10,142 Downloads: 85 Uploads: 0	Nice wall of text Obi! yea, id hate to think of how much i would have spend on steam without sales. __________________ Task Force industries "Taking control of the world, one mind at a time"

03-09-11, 08:23 PM	#7
Oberon Lucky Jack Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 25,976 Downloads: 61 Uploads: 20	Aaah, but Comrade Task Force, how much, discounting sales, are all your Steam games worth? That's how DLC works, you buy the main game one month and then a month or two down the line you see a bit of DLC and think "Hmmm, that looks nice, and for under a tenner too...well...why not spoil myself?" Repeat this several times in a year and you've spent nearly a hundred monetary denominations on one game The same thing has been happening with Flight Sim for years, I dread to think how much every single bit of payware for FSX would cost if bundled together, it's only because of Steam that you can actually tote it all up and realise that it's over a grand and still rising! Still, there's still some good freeware out there, UKtrainsim has a lot, and Flight sim has some fantastic freeware stuff...but sometimes it's hard not to ponder if the freeware makers are getting edged out of the market because of the ease and low pricing of DLC and the fact that nine times out of ten DLC content will come with high quality footplate/cabview/cockpit, sounds and model although there have been a couple of deviations from that in both Flight Sim and Railworks. Certainly the more complex sims become the harder it can be for modelers to match the quality of payware stuff and more ex-freeware modelers go over to payware. It's an interesting thing to study, market habits and that, but it's certainly a different market for trainsims now than it was with MSTS...and in some aspects not for the better. For example, the recently released West Coast North is a fantastically detailed line with one locomotive and some rolling stock for about thirty pounds. Now, a few years ago I purchased Great Eastern 1 for MSTS for about the same price and it came with a fantastically detailed route, five locomotives, lots of rolling stock and several multiple-units with original sounds and cabs (although a lot of the EMUs used the cabs from Making tracks earlier release 'London and South East' which I also brought and have). It does seem with Railworks that you are getting less for the same price, admittedly it's better quality than MSTS but, if you scale the ability of Railworks 2 against MSTS, then Great Eastern 1 was the same quality as if not greater quality than West Coast North. I'm not quite sure but I think it might be a longer route too. It's a worrying trend and I hope that some of the smaller companies like Making Tracks start bucking it, but JustTrains and Railworks themselves have set a precedent, although perhaps no more of a precedent than has already been set for several years in the Flightsim community...

03-09-11, 08:53 PM	#9
Rilder Stowaway Posts: n/a Downloads: Uploads:	Generally for me if its over 20 bucks its a bit too expensive.

03-11-11, 01:53 AM	#11
TorpX Silent Hunter Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 3,975 Downloads: 153 Uploads: 11	I don't know about $1,000, but I would be willing to pay a decent price. It would have to be good though. Not another modderama.

03-11-11, 02:31 AM	#12
Gargamel Lucky Sailor Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Rome Posts: 4,273 Downloads: 81 Uploads: 0	No. I spent $3 on SH3. I shy away from SH4 at $20. It would be nice to have that amount of disposable income at the ready, but even if I did, I highly doubt I would pay that much. Why not make it a modderama as mentioned? Make the engine and gameplay as perfect as you can, but leave skins and details to the modders. Cut down on development costs by focusing on the things the modders would not be able to change later. __________________ Luck is a residue of Design.

03-26-11, 01:39 AM	#13
Howard313 Engineer Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: America Posts: 211 Downloads: 102 Uploads: 0	for $1000 i could buy my own submarine. http://www.travelgadgets.org/entry/c...bmarine-yacht/ hmmm, not a bad idea actually. __________________

03-26-11, 03:59 PM	#15
Factor Weps Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: North Carolina Posts: 356 Downloads: 180 Uploads: 0	Since my wife watches the bank account online like a hawk, I don't think I would be able to get 20 bucks in without getting my bank card taken away from me.