Topics

1

Private World Discussion & Invitation / Realistic World V4

« on: September 22, 2012, 11:53:14 pm »

Realistic World V4.0

Description: This is a continuation of “Realistic World” in which players emulate real world scheduling. Very few airlines today fly to one destination, once a day. Though it is the easiest and most profitable way to play Airline Mogul, it makes the game boring after a few game years. But, this game is different. We try for 3-4 flights per day to a single destination. Why in the world would we do this? A few reasons. One, it gives Airline Mogul an new challenging appeal. Second, it slows the game down. Third, its FUN! We don’t base success off how valuable an airline is, rather how well they accomplished realistic scheduling and aircraft usage.

Guidelines

Version 3

1. Frequencies

Use of 0.5 Frequency and 1 Frequency is frowned  Sad upon heavily, except in long haul operations. One ‘loophole’ to this is that if you serve the same airport with 4 different airplanes at 1 Frequency, this counts as 4 Frequencies.

2. Fleet Commonality

Although it doesn’t have a purpose in the game, it provides realism. When I say commonality, I don’t expect strictly Airbus or Boeing. Instead, when an airline has 1 of each airplane from 5 manufactures. We see it all the time in normal AM games and it is really nice to see an airlines in the old Realistic Worlds we had massive amounts of a single aircraft types and what not.

3. Regional Service

As per RAA.org a regional airline is:
"Regional airlines, operating 9- to 78-seat turboprops and 30- to 108-seat regional jets, provide short- and medium-haul scheduled airline service..."

Since this is the industry definition we will use it for what we classify as regional airline service in AM. I want to be clear here, we are all starting out as regional airlines. The ERJ-195 is a regional jet. What does this mean? Simply if we fly to larger airports say for example ORD-ATL, we should use the appropriate frequency, something like 5-7 times. 

4. Aircraft Usage and Routes

Use reasonably sized aircraft for particular routes. If you are a legacy carrier (as in not regional per the above definition), using an ERJ195 for ORD-ATL wouldn't be realistic. Something like a 737-800 or A321 would be more justifiable.

Use of ATRs (or other regional turboprops) should be limited to routes under 500nm. The reason for this is airlines don’t use them for 3000nm flights that take 7 hours. If you wish to fly longer-range regional routes, please use jet aircraft like the ERJ-145LR or CRJ-200LR. Likewise using a 737-900ER for cross Atlantic operations (though possible in real life) should be avoided. Likewise, ORD-RFD (Rockford, IL) WOULD NOT BE A REALISTIC FLIGHT.

5. Common Sense

Above all, especially if you played in the previous world, use your best judgment. These are merely guidelines and you will not be deleted unless you are really not complying or following anything and ruining the game for others.

World Details

Starting Year: 2005
End Year: 2010
Starting Aircraft: 5xERJ195LR
Gate Quantity: 5
Domestic Bases: 10
International Base: 2 (Takes away from realism but we can live with it)
Full World/All airports (for those wanting to go into less popular areas)
All Aircraft
50 players
New Maps
Password: V4

Expected Launch date per interest 9-23-12.

Please Note: You do not need to reserve a spot nor do you need a real airline name.

2

Game Data / MD Withdrawl Data

« on: April 09, 2011, 03:56:02 pm »

I've searched and went through the Game Data to find an answer but I could not. I do feel it was discussed before though, or maybe not due to the unpopularity of the MD aircraft, especially the MD-90s. My concern is focused not on the data of the aircraft, which is admittedly a tad off, but rather the withdrawal date of the MD-90s. It is true that they first flew in 1994, but when Boeing and MD merged, the 737 was favored over the MDs, and therefore no MDs were ordered. They were being produced for Sudia Arabian Airlines but no orders were being accepted and the MD-90s were phased out. So this conflicts with the 2014 data in the game. I mean, there are many sources that say this, wikipedia, aerospace-tech, ect.
http://www.aerospace-technology.com/projects/mcdonneldouglasmd90/
"Boeing and McDonnell Douglas merged in 1997. The production of MD-90 took place adjacent to the Long Beach Airport of California, while two aircraft MD-90-30 Trunkliner's were built at Jiangwan Airfield in Shanghai, China. The production was phased out in 2000 after delivery of the last aircraft to Saudi Arabian airlines."

Like I said, its not a big deal because players normally favor Airbus or Boeing, but a bit of realism never hurt.

3

Private World Discussion & Invitation / [JOIN!] Realistic World V2

« on: March 28, 2011, 12:02:08 am »

Realistic World V2.0

Description: This is a continuation of “Realistic World” in which players emulate real world scheduling. Very few airlines today fly to one destination, once a day. Though it is the easiest and most profitable way to play Airline Mogul, it makes the game boring after a few game years. But, this game is different. We have a group of players who all agree to use realistic approaches on their airlines. What does this mean? Well the biggest is that we don’t use one time frequency flights (excluding international). Instead, we try for 3-4 flights per day to a single destination. Why in the world would we do this? A few reasons. One, it gives Airline Mogul an new challenging appeal. Second, it slows the game down. Third, its FUN! We don’t base success off how valuable an airline is, rather how well they accomplished realistic scheduling and aircraft usage.

Guidelines/Options/How to achieve realism

1. Use of 0.5 Frequency and 1 Frequency is frowned   upon heavily, except in long haul operations. One ‘loophole’ to this is that if you serve the same airport with 4 different airplanes at 1 Frequency, this counts at 4 Frequency.

2. Use of ATRs (or other regional turboprops) should be limited to routes under 500nm. The reason for this is airlines don’t use them for 3000nm flights that take 7 hours. If you wish to fly longer-range regional routes, please use jet aircraft like the ERJ-145LR or CRJ-200LR.

3. Fleet commonality, although it doesn’t have a purpose in the game, provides realism. When I say commonality, I don’t expect strictly Airbus or Boeing. Instead, when an airline has 1 of each airplane from 5 manufactures. We see it all the time in normal AM games and it is really nice to see an airlines in the old Realistic World that have massive amounts of a single aircraft type and what not.

4. Use reasonably sized aircraft for particular routes*. For example, ORD-ATL is a high demanding route. Therefore, using an ERJ-145LR probably isn’t the best choice (yes I know regional airlines have this same route). Instead, an A320 or 737-800 would be a better choice.

5. Regional service. Regional service is extremely profitable in AM. We expect that most airlines start off with regional service and expand into “legacy” services. Nothing really bad about this, except we have to ensure we transition to using correctly sized aircraft for particular routes. Also, if you want to start a regional airline under the same airline name, please announce it in the “Airline News Statements” located in the in-game forums.
    
     a.   To further elaborate on the Regional airlines, if your airline name is B Airline then you should announce B Express in the Airline News Statements. You don’t have to, but it would provide insurance that your airline will be expanding into legacy services and provide added realism
    
     b.   Also, it should be noted, YOU DON’T have to expand to legacy services. Feel free to remain as a regional carrier, just provide realistic frequencies (ORD-ATL would probably be served 6-10 times daily with a ERJ-145).
              i.    I also proposed this in the in-game forum, if anyone two players want to join together to perform legacy/regional carriers, feel free to do so

6. Above all, especially if you played in the previous world, use your best judgment. These are merely guidelines and you will not be deleted unless you are really not complying or following anything and ruining the game for others.

*See 5a, 5b, and 5bi
#5 was italicized because I was going to delete it. Not sure it adds anything. I just want to ensure that if you are going to do LEGACY operations you use larger planes. If you are going to play as a regional only, use regional aircraft only. If you wanna play as both, announce it.

I know it seems like a lot to understand, but really it is common sense stuff. Don't sweat the details, just play the game like you would and keep these things in mind. USING REALISTIC SCHEDULING AND AIRCRAFT TYPE ARE THE MAIN POINTS.

Link to "Realistic World?" original discussion for Version 1
http://stephenm.org/smfforum/index.php?topic=12054.0

Now onto the detail of this new world, I must say, they are not final but what I gathered from the in game forum topic this is pretty much ideal.

Starting Year: 2003
End Year: 2010
Starting Aircraft: 5xA319s
Gate Quantity: 5
Domestic Bases: 6
International Base: 1 (Realism: I know it take from realism slightly, but it is only 1 base)
Full World/All airports (for those wanting to go into less popular areas)
Only Commercial aircraft
50 players
Password: v2


LAUNCHING 04-21-11


If you have any questions or suggestions, post below. I'm just announcing that I am most likely going to start another world and if you did not get to join in the first one, now is your chance!
____________________________________________ _
Users: Airline; area of operation
1. Pilotguy121a: Central American Airways; Central American operator with integrated regional service
2. Go Parts1497: Global United Air; IAH, US operation
3. East West Airlines: Global United Express; US operation
4. Bindu: Delte Airlines; US Operator
5. Norge: Mandela Air; Tambo
6. 1993matias: BalticAir; Riga
7. Reyes25: Reyes Air: LAX
8. AirbusGuy350: Delte Connection; US Operator
8. kilmo: Kookaburra Airlines; Down Under mate (Australia)
9. Hockeylad777: Oahu Air; Honolulu
10. BamitzMrk: Kookaburra Konnect
11. Vamerica: Kiwi Air: New Zealand
12. Wizze: Air Dingo; Down under
13. Dobbins: Global United Connection; Western US
14. Kevinaj: Pan American World; North America (John F. Kennedy Airport)
15. therood: Four Lions Airways; India
16. jetrc: Lofthansa; FRA (Germany)
17. Nipoel123: Flying Dutchmen; Amsterdam Schiphol
18. Steex: Grand Tiger Airways; India
19. Chastwood: Eastern China Airlines, Asia
20. ba4: jetWorld Airlines; ABZ
21. SomedayTrijet: Villair - China Southeast Airlines; Xiamen Gaoqi (XMN)
Current as of 04-21-11
*Any two colors represent Legacy/Regional pairs. If I need to correct the above list, private message me with the correction.

edited by BINDU to include changes for Airbus Guy and I

4

General Chat / Confused about loadfactor and frequencies

« on: February 26, 2011, 04:57:04 pm »

Hey all, I've been playing for awhile now, 2+years, and I have created 5+ private worlds, the latest being a realistic world where we try to use realistic frequencies and aircraft (size) for particular routes. However, in trying to maximize my aircraft usage, I found something that is rather perplexing when dealing with .5 frequency and 1.0 frequency. See Example below:

So say my goal is 3xFrequencies with an MD-90-55
A/C #1 does 2x service at $150 with 100% load
AC #2 does .5x service at $150 with 100% load, but this then decreases A/C #1s load....

My question is, why does this happen? I noticed it only does it with .5 and 1 (or 2 or 3) on the same routes. However if you use 2x1.5 services at the same price on the same route both are at 100% loadfactor. Can some please explain this issue? I'm almost positive it has something to do with the formula with .5 frequency flights vs 1 freq flights.

5

[+] Suggestions / "View all Aircraft" suggestion

« on: February 04, 2011, 12:32:14 am »

I would like to see the specs of the aircraft available from the "View all Aircraft" page. For example, if i click on the 737-700, it will bring me to a page that is similar to the order page (with all the specs) for the aircraft, except with out the option to order (as in this example the 737-700 is not yet available for purchase). I realize this may not be entirely realistic, but it won't really provide an advantage or disadvantage to players. It will just for reference/planning purposes.

I have also looked through the 13 pages in the suggestion sub-topic and I did not see this suggestion. Please excuse me if there is a way to view the specs already, I looked on the wiki and didn't find anything. Oh, and I realize that I can get info from other sites about these planes, but the info may very from AM's aircraft info.

6

Game Strategy / The MD90s

« on: January 31, 2011, 05:37:00 pm »

Hello all. I'm always mystified when I see the A vs. B discussions on which airliner is "better" and everyone always seems to say Airbus is. Which, on the surface against Boeing, in an early to late 1990s game seems to be true. However, we all overlook the MD-90s, specifically the MD-90-55. Just take a look:
MD-90-55 Specs
Seats: 187
Speed: 437 kts
Range: 3107 nm
Fuel Usage: 784.00
Price: € 67,534,340

A320-200 Specs(IAE engines)
Seats: 179
Speed: 469 kts
Range: 3527 nm
Fuel Usage: 796.00
Price: € 72,398,208

Boeing 737-400 (closes competitor)
Seats:159
Speed: 439 kts
Range: 2486 nm
Fuel Usage: 944.00
Price: € 64,064,567

I mean, for the money, the MD-90-55 is a much better choice over the A320. Less fuel usage, more people, similar range, similar speed, less cost=less mx. So, why is it that I hardly see people use it? BTW: I'm my world is currently in 1995.

7

Private World Discussion & Invitation / Realistic World?

« on: January 21, 2011, 11:06:42 pm »

Not an invitation but rather a poll to see if anyone would be interested in this...

So one major issue with this game is that it goes to fast. Within the course of 2 real weeks you can be making 40million in a game day. One reason why this is, I believe, is the 1 frequency trip, having 1 plane fly to 5 different destinations. While it is the quickest way to make money in this game, it is severely unrealistic in most cases. I want to create a world in which we create the utmost realistic airline possible.
For Example:
-Using at REALISTIC frequency
---What I mean is that if you have a 737-700 going from ORD to ATL, NO airline would run that once a day. Neither should we. More like 4-5 times daily.
-Standardizing your fleets
---I see it all to often, people buy 1 of every airplane possible. NO airline would ever do that. There is no benefit to it in game but this is about realism.
-Using reasonably sized aircraft for a particular route
---Using a CRJ-200LR on a route from ORD to ATL would be somewhat unrealistic, so in this world it should be avoided

So the reason I'm asking if this sounds enjoyable is because it would a world with a password to detour those who wouldn't read the rules. This world is meant to accommodate suggestions and issues that I've seen and experience while playing.

Some more details would be:
-1mill starting cash
-5 years; 2005-2010
-8 domestic/2 foreign
-Starting A/C would either be 5xRegionals or 3xA319 (or similar)

Post suggestions or if you would be open to the idea of this.

8

Private World Discussion & Invitation / Reset World, please read!

« on: May 06, 2010, 09:41:15 pm »

Hey everyone, so something I have noticed is that after we all establish our mega-airlines the game gets extremely boring. But who would want to spend 30 more tokens on a new world? My idea is that I will create a world that goes for 20 years. Every 4 or 5 years I will reset ALL airlines and ween out the inactive players. So we will have either 5 four year games or 4 five year games, all in one world, 30 tokens. I have never been in a world that has done this but I may have heard the idea on here somewhere, don't know. Some rough specs of the world are:

-200 players
-2 starting A320-200s
-Start Year 1989
-20 Years
-5 Gates
-500K to start
-Full World; All continents

I fear that many people will join this world and not realize my plans. I will send messages to everyone with the final resetting schedule. We could even do 2 five year terms and a 10 year term.

I need 285 Tokens, have 260 now. I just want some feedback on this and if anyone is interested in joining.
Thanks,
Ryan/Elixir Airways

9

Private World Discussion & Invitation / PW: 1129 is considering a Global Reset...

« on: March 15, 2010, 08:39:02 pm »

I have sent a message to all current airlines in my world asking if they would like to be reset, giving us a brand new world, well, almost. I don't know when it will happen, will have more info soon. But this would be a great time to get in on a modern world (current year is 2002).

10

Bugs / negative hours on leased a/c

« on: January 31, 2010, 07:48:40 pm »

PW: 1129 No Name
Aircraft #: 4026
Lessor: Elixir Airways
Leased to: American Airlines

I do believe the picture explains it all, lol. I don't know why is shows negative hours, doesn't really bother me, but it is a bug.

11

Game Strategy / Should I replace...

« on: January 30, 2010, 05:12:22 pm »

My aging ATR-72-200s? They are focused in Europe out of Heathrow and Frankfurt. Currently have 35 in my fleet and they serve destinations with 7 million pax and below. I chose them because at the time they were cheap and the capacity was good. However, they are getting to be 4 years old now and there is no viable replacement yet (game year is 1998). If this was the year the CRJ-701 came out, i would get those, or in 2003 the ERJ-170LR is released, which has also been one of my favorites. So my choices are as follows:
1. Keep the ATRs without replacing them until the CRJ-701 or the ERJ-170 come out
2. Replace the ATRs with ATRs
3. Replace with A319s (currently my backbone aircraft with 150 in the fleet)
4. Replace with some other aircraft (please name below, must have 1,800nm range).

What is my best option? I'm not a noob or anything, gone through 6-8 games already, just looking for some good advice.
Thanks!

12

Game Strategy / Fleet Commonality?

« on: December 30, 2009, 07:29:00 pm »

Who does it and who does not do it?

I know there is no benefit for commonality but i find it easier to say all routes above 20 million pax will be operated by an MD-90-55. The reason i ask is because in all the worlds i've been in (about 10) many airlines have 10+ different AC but only 1-2 of each.

13

Private World Discussion & Invitation / JOIN PW1129!!!

« on: December 07, 2009, 03:05:46 am »

So, I have 309 tokens burning a hole in my virtual pocket and I am thinking about starting a world. Something like the following
-Full World
-100 Players
-10 bases, 4 foreign
-5xMD-90-55s
-1994-2009
-15 Years
-2.000.000 million starting cash w/5 gates
-No Password

Suggestions?
Who will join?
Might create it in a day or so

14

Private World Discussion & Invitation / getting on 200+ tokens...

« on: October 15, 2009, 01:06:29 am »

so i would like to know who would like the following:
60s (1960-1968)
70s (1970-1978)
76-84
those are the years i am thinking about. let me know what you guys think.

15

Game Strategy / Close All Routes?

« on: June 19, 2009, 10:38:20 pm »

Ok so i'm trying to close all my routes in one world as I just let it ferment and the planes are rather old. Instead of just replacing them all i could just close the routes all at once. I did it for my O'hare base, but cannot do it for any other bases, is it a one time use only thing, or what?
thanks, sorry if this does not belong here, thought it was best though.