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Is SimplePlanes really realistic?

27.9k CaptainNoble  6 months ago

I Know that to an extent, SP's realism depends on how you build your crafts but in terms of scenery, texture, shaders, FOV etc ,can simpleplanes really be compared to other flight simulators or are there particular settings, fuselage colors, etc that can put simpleplanes on an Infinite Flight, RFS or even Microsoft Flight Simulator Level?

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    SimplePlanes is good for getting a general understanding of not only the really basic stuff ("how wings work", etc.) but also for some of the more nuanced things (how CoM and CoL need to be positioned relative to each other for different degrees of stability, etc.). That being said, it's not a flight sim, and will not give you the kind of in-depth simulation experience that would be necessary.


    MSFS/FSX/X-Plane are all very good options, but if you're looking for something free, I'd recommend FlightGear (it can be a little more tedious with installing it and the graphics/performance are not eye candy by any means, but the simulation element is about as close as you're going to get for quite a few different aircraft types). Even something like GeoFS can be good for getting a feel for basic "realistic" physics, but you're not going to get that from any sort of mobile game.

    Pinned 6 months ago
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    27.9k CaptainNoble

    @TheFlightGuySP can an aspiring pilot also play RFS

    Pinned 6 months ago
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    27.9k CaptainNoble

    @Graingy would you recommend sp for an aspiring engineer or pilot?

    Pinned 6 months ago
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    4,708 OpenHere

    @Aviator720 I honestly do not know how in your thought process, you try to compare Minecraft and SimplePlanes

    6 months ago
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    4,708 OpenHere

    You can exhibit physical realism on the model but it’s far from what you are trying to compare it to. It’s simply outside the scope of what the game was meant to be.

    6 months ago
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    4,708 OpenHere

    short answer is no

    +1 6 months ago
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    28.0k 32

    @Aviator720 nah simpleplanes is far more realistic than minecraft. Idk what TFS is, but the other games are at least a little more advanced than SP

    +1 6 months ago
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    27.9k CaptainNoble

    @BashiriShippers Yeah, no shit Sherlock

    6 months ago
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    27.9k CaptainNoble

    @BaconEggs WOW, I DEFINITELY DIDNT KNOW THAT, Maybe i should just drop out of high school and get on my way

    6 months ago
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    125k BaconEggs

    @NAFASIRO go to a flight school and learn how to fly there (they teach you how to do that)

    6 months ago
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    28.5k Majakalona

    Meanwhile turboprop flight simulator has planes made out of glass

    +1 6 months ago
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    I'd say base SP, many aspects lack too much detail to be considered realistic, for example the very simplified drag model, stalling of wings, and the lack of any engine or system simulation.
    But, if you dedicate an insane amount of effort into funky trees, getting study level simulation is technically possible...

    +3 6 months ago
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    46.5k PlaneFlightX

    While it is possible to achieve ultimate realism if you combine over 2 years of hard work with a quality airport, you will struggle to run this smoothly on even the best computer with today's hardware. That being said, SP is a good game to build planes. If I wanted to fly a complex airliner, I would probably get myself a flight simulator. Instead I've spent over 2 years building a plane with flight simulator realism, while learning a lot about complex aircraft systems along the way.

    +5 6 months ago
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    16.5k FlirBlitz

    Short answer: no

    6 months ago
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    10.5k Eggplant

    I sometimes forget I'm playing a game when I fly a blocky plane into a cone shaped mountain sticking out of the ocean

    +4 6 months ago
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    125k BaconEggs

    if you know what youre doing you can make something realistic

    +4 6 months ago
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    @NAFASIRO If you're looking to be an aerospace engineer, you'd probably be better off actually designing stuff in real life.
    In terms of games, FlyOut would probably be a good choice, alongside Juno and SP.
    If you want to be a pilot, MSFS/FSX/X-Plane would probably be the ideal choices.

    6 months ago
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    I'm gonna be a little less pessimistic than Aviator here.
    SimplePlanes is a bit old. The scripting and processes used are a bit old.
    SP was never meant to be hyper-realistic. It started as a simple mobile game that eventually gained traction and a decent-sized fanbase.
    However, SimplePlanes still maintains decent physics and has a very broad range of possibilities.
    It's kinda like comparing apples to oranges when comparing SP to things like MSFS or X-Plane.

    Anyways, I'm ranting here.
    Is SimplePlanes realistic? To a degree. It's not as advanced as other things on the market (Juno and FlyOut for example), but it's more advanced than a lot of other stuff I've seen.

    Edit: RCP sums it up really well.

    +2 6 months ago
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    As a dev famously said, SimplePlanes is a game where you put blocks together and fly them.
    This game was supposed to be an entry point for people who weren’t familiar with aerodynamics, and those who really wanted ultra-realistic stuff could play KSP or actual flight simulators. Hence the “Simple” in the name.
    The thing is that the game’s managed to attract many more skilled people, hence you often see high-quality builds. But in truth, builds that aim for “realism” are really stretching this 8-year old game to the limit.
    So TL:DR, true realism isn’t possible, and it wasn’t supposed to be.

    +6 6 months ago
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    24.3k ToeTips

    Nah, its called simpleplanes for a reason. Andrew never made it with that intention in mind.

    +1 6 months ago
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    24.3k ToeTips

    @Aviator720
    Minecraft!!??

    Where Gravity doesnt work for non entities??

    +1 6 months ago
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    28.0k 32

    Not really, although super high-quality planes along with mod maps and ReShade can certainly reach the level of a lot of flight sims that are out there.
    For an aspiring engineer or pilot, possibly. The ideas of making mechanical things with sort of realistic physics definitely appeals to mechanically minded people like myself, and it can help you learn a lot of things about vehicles. For an aspiring pilot, I'd probably go with a more realistic flight sim such as Microsoft Flight Simulator.

    +1 6 months ago
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    22.5k Graingy

    1: I'm neither so I am not qualified to answer that. Regardless, absolutely not as far as a work or learning tool.
    2: No.

    +1 6 months ago
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    5,074 Aviator720

    Okay.

    6 months ago
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    5,074 Aviator720

    NO!
    Simpleplanes is even worse than Juno, Minecraft, or BeamNG, TFS, even other similar games.

    6 months ago
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