Should ED offer printed manuals (for a price)?

[The_Chugster]

As an old school gamer i did love the older PC games that came in big boxes with chunky manuals like in the Falcon series. I have been buying up a lot of the old games/sims I had in the 90s because of the big boxes and manuals.

 

Whilst DCS do a great job of crafting their modules I do wish I had some sort of physical product and wondered if anyone else would want physical versions of the module manuals?

 

Know I know I could get them printed myself but it would be much cheaper if ED bought and sold in bulk.

[Sacarino111]

HI

With you, sentimentalyy speaking... Nothing like those old big boxes full with manuals, posters, maps, disks and the smell...mmmmmm. But honestly, I don't think ED would go for it, sadly.

Saludos.

Saca111

[Mars Exulte]

8 minutes ago, The_Chugster said:

Know I know I could get them printed myself

  You could do it very cheaply indeed if you simply printed it black and white on regular paper.

 

8 minutes ago, The_Chugster said:

but it would be much cheaper if ED bought and sold in bulk.

  Only if it was ACTUALLY bought and sold in book, which it would not be, because 99% of people are going to use the free PDF. Especially considering some stuff is subject to change.

[Antiguedad]

In the old times software developers use to sold you a finished product. DCS modules are updated quite often, so manuals would be outdated very soon. Nevertheless, I also miss quality printed manuals like Microprose's ones (F19 Stealth Fighter, M1 Tank Platoon, etc.). 

[Munkwolf]

Funny story about printed DCS manuals (at least to me and my brother). When Black Shark was first released, my brother got it, and I went over to his place to check it out. Before starting up the game, we decided it'd be good to print the manual so we didn't have to alt-tab out to check stuff... and we hadn't checked the page count. A couple of paper reloads, beers, and hours later we were like "how big is this friggin manual?!" and realized what we had started. I think he still has it in a big 3-ring binder.

Edited April 6, 2021 by Monkwolf

[Rudel_chw]

13 minutes ago, The_Chugster said:

As an old school gamer ...  I do wish I had some sort of physical product and wondered if anyone else would want physical versions of the module manuals?

 

At 62 years old, I'm pretty old school too, my first simulator was Sid Meier's "Solo Flight"

 

... however, I believe in reducing the worldwide use of paper as much as possible, a PDF manual offers much better searching options than a paper one, weights zero, cost zero, with appropiate software it can be anotated, drawn upon, selected texts can be copied onto your own Notes

 

... there isn't a single advantage to the paper manuals that I can think of (beyond nostalgia), so No, I wouldn't want a paper manual, as long as there is a good electronic manual provided (that's the biggest failing of the FS2020, which provides zero manuals).

[Hiob]

I usually have the specific manual (DCS or Chucks) loaded and ready on my tablet whilst flying - not an actual book, but no need for alt-tab either...

 

(I too am an oldschool gamer  - I used to have 12 moving boxes worth of old paperback PC games, the oldest one probably something like Maniac Mansion or Ultima or something like this - but I'm quite happy with the modern times. Less stuff to move around)

[falcon_120]

Yes... when the product is mature enough after 5/6 years and no major changes are expected.

[IkarusC42B Pilot]

You can print yourself the manuals for the modules you have

[Rudel_chw]

4 minutes ago, IkarusC42B Pilot said:

You can print yourself the manuals for the modules you have

 

Did you even read the OP post?

 

"Know I know I could get them printed myself but it would be much cheaper if ED bought and sold in bulk."

[IkarusC42B Pilot]

4 minutes ago, Rudel_chw said:

 

Did you even read the OP post?

 

"Know I know I could get them printed myself but it would be much cheaper if ED bought and sold in bulk."

Yeah,That was the joke. Why would i buy something im 5 clicks away?

[sirrah]

2 hours ago, Rudel_chw said:

 

At 62 years old, I'm pretty old school too, my first simulator was Sid Meier's "Solo Flight"

 

... however, I believe in reducing the worldwide use of paper as much as possible, a PDF manual offers much better searching options than a paper one, weights zero, cost zero, with appropiate software it can be anotated, drawn upon, selected texts can be copied onto your own Notes

 

... there isn't a single advantage to the paper manuals that I can think of (beyond nostalgia), so No, I wouldn't want a paper manual, as long as there is a good electronic manual provided (that's the biggest failing of the FS2020, which provides zero manuals).

This!

Also you forgot to mention that digital versions can be updated/corrected.

 

 

Don't get me wrong, I do prefer paper books over digital ones. Probably because I grew up with 'em. But this does not count for manuals, where I want to be able to search for keywords