Bumping since the OP’s question of aircraft image assignment has not been addressed.
Hoping not to put words in OP’s mouth so to speak, but:
“How is aircraft image determined?” AKA: The image based on aircraft type. Example. 767-200ER has 5 bars, CRJ 900ER has 4 bars, etc.
Wishing to know how this is assigned and what criteria is used.
I don't understand why some have better ratings as well. 99.9% of pax would not know the difference between any of the md80 aircraft. They would have no idea. I work in the industry and I have no clue what the difference is.
If it was based on reputation of the aircraft we should take the 787 down to minus a million. No body could pay me to go flying in one of those fire hazards- especially over oceanic sectors. I would go in any russian airliner before that.
I've been down this road, but did not get a definate answer as to how it is done, good luck. I think they assumed that passengers would have knowledge of aircraft rather than "that one with the blue stripe looks cool". that is NOT the case with most people.
Was just hoping the AS team could tell us how they determined the images for aircraft… seems simple enough.
Bump...
That's easy. Getting a DH-4 or ATR would simply spend you more time and so we don't like these aircraft as compared to jet planes.
This overall image is a number which compare the aircraft a bit and put them in relation. It is roughly based on studies of the airlines which kind of aircraft are prefered more by the customer. In general - the larger a cabin is, the more it is liked. Long fuselage are also more liked but only if it is not tiny. There are some more effects like pressurized cabin, loudness, flight characteristic, air conditioning itself etc.
The passenger in general don't decide wether to fly with one or another type as they don't know the differences. Of course there are some exceptions - i.e. the difference between normal jet and turboprop is in most cases well known and is a significant factor in real life. In AirlineSim the aircraft type is part of the image. So the values which influence your enterprise image after a flight.
Oh, BTW thank you, and I think that you should adjust those values, as I would avoid a Dash-8 9+2 bars) http://croydon.airlinesim.aero/action/enterprise/aircraftsType?id=16700
more than a 737-200 (-3 bars) http://croydon.airlinesim.aero/action/enterprise/aircraftsType?id=10200
Of course the image value are not measurable and therefore we may have to discuss about the values. It would be interesting to hear, why you think that this should be changed and what you would expect instead.
I would avoid a Dash-8 9+2 bars) more than a 737-200 (-3 bars)
Well everyone is certainly entitled to their own opinion....
Q400 can fly 650Km in an hour，not 565，please go to wiki to search. data should be right，is the first thing in this game
any airports data have many mistakes
First of all - don't quote wikipedia. It is good to have an overview, but many data in wikipedia are not accurate and based on wrong sources somewhere in the internet. Thats easily resulting into mixed-up information. We use the economic cruising speed. So if you find a ressource about a higher economic cruising speed, please send us the information to support@airlinesim.aero - we would be glad to fix that if needed. This is also valid for airport data, which shall have "many mistakes" ;)
Maybe the aircraft image should be similar to the way seats are selected- It depends on the length of a route.
Mikk, that is a very good idea, but likely difficult to implement, as then people would stop using CRJs (Regional Jets) on not-so-regional routes, if the passengers don't like it for long distances.
This overall image is a number which compare the aircraft a bit and put them in relation. It is roughly based on studies of the airlines which kind of aircraft are prefered more by the customer. In general - the larger a cabin is, the more it is liked. Long fuselage are also more liked but only if it is not tiny. There are some more effects like pressurized cabin, loudness, flight characteristic, air conditioning itself etc.
The passenger in general don’t decide wether to fly with one or another type as they don’t know the differences. Of course there are some exceptions - i.e. the difference between normal jet and turboprop is in most cases well known and is a significant factor in real life. In AirlineSim the aircraft type is part of the image. So the values which influence your enterprise image after a flight.
Based on some of the information you have given, it sounds like the scale for aircraft image may require some adjustment. The 787 has been designed to increase PAX comfort with higher cabin pressure, larger windows, a new lighting and overhead bin system and cabin noise reductions. In game it receives the deserved 5 bar image rating, however so do aircraft such as the 737NG which although comfortable (assuming equal seat size) does not offer many of these features. It also has a smaller cabin. The 737NG also receives a 5 bar aircraft image.
The A380 and 747-8i also offer unique advantages over smaller “5 bar” rated aircraft. Much larger cabin sizes and noise reductions and yet still receive the same rating as the 737NG.
I will try to find some objective reviews between aircraft types within the same airline however, because of route length the services and amenities offered make comparing just the aircraft types difficult, as cabin services will vary between types. I’ll post any information I can find when able.
To summarize I suggest two possibilities:
This will not be a popular suggestion because of the large number of users utilizing these aircraft types (myself included) however I do believe realism is the important factor here.
This suggestions would be preferable in my opinion but would likely require more work on the AS teams part.
I understand the AS team has a long list of improvements they wish to implement, I just wanted to make their life harder )
I think 2) would be a very good idea as it allows a closer regulation (f.e. the A320 has a slightly wider fuselage than the 737NG, so it should be slighty more popular than the 737-but not nearly as much as one bar, but rather 1 percent or so...). But I think the ratings for the aircrafts should be published/displayed somewhere so you can factor this in when deciding for an aircraft.
I think 2) would be a very good idea as it allows a closer regulation (f.e. the A320 has a slightly wider fuselage than the 737NG, so it should be slighty more popular than the 737-but not nearly as much as one bar, but rather 1 percent or so...). But I think the ratings for the aircrafts should be published/displayed somewhere so you can factor this in when deciding for an aircraft.
What about the old saying, “If it ain’t Boeing, I ain’t going” - In fact, I fly Boeing whenever possible! (Over 350k lifetime miles). 737=320 in regular people’s eyes, so lets not split hairs.
I, for one, do NOT like Airbus’ controls since the pilot uses his LEFT hand, when most are right handed, and the fact there is no force feedback - which contributed to the confusion about who was in control of AF447. So lets agree that from a lay-persons perspective, the major aircraft would be equally popular in theory, but the config would matter much more (Ryanair 737 vs ANA BBJ 737).
It was certainly not my intention to start a A vs. B discussion (from a technical or safety standpoint they are pointless anyway, as you can dicuss it ad infinitum, in the end both are about equal, both are good, safe aircraft...you could write examples of flaws in both aircrafts which led to incidents/accidents, but you can't design a VERY complex machine without some flaws...). But concerning the old saying you are quoting, how many of the normal passengers (i.e. not interested in aviation, only wanting to get from A to B without being stressed and with some comfort) can actually spot the difference between a 737 and an 320? The only thing they will notice are differences in comfort and while it is indeed a very small difference (7 inches, 737 cabin has a 139'' cabin, A320 has 146''-thats why I took it as an example for a 1% difference in ranking) the A320 has indeed a slightly wider fuselage. Passengers just dont care if the plane is flown with a side stick or a horn, or if the engines are more powerfull or whatever-they care about comfort and about public image (i.e. if a plane was in the news due to accidents very often, some nervous flyers might avoid it, although it is unjustified in most cases, because often enough its just bad luck - but thats how people think).
I, for one, do NOT like Airbus' controls since the pilot uses his LEFT hand
BTW, this is true for Airbus (at least for the captain, first officer flies with his right hand) - but so is it for Boeing...when flying with autothrottle off (I am A320 rated, but my understanding is that Boeings philosophy is to use manual thrust when flying manually, but if any Boeing pilot is around correct me if I'm wrong) you need your right hand for the throttles, leaving the left for the flight controls...but to be honest, it doesn't make any difference which hand you are using, I am left handed and I have flown gliders (right handed), Pa38/28/44 in flight school (left handed) and now I'm on the A320 (right handed, as I am first officer) - and there really isn't any difference to me which hand I am using and I think its the same for my collegues...
@dalexan1: I don’t think anyone is arguing that the seats/service are the bigger factor, but when talking about the pure aircraft image independent of those factors things like cabin width do make a difference.
For example:
United operates both A320 and B737 aircraft. Due to the slightly wider cabin of the A320 the average seat width is about 0.5" wider, which though small, is noticeable. Completely independent of seat widths, a wider cabin, even with the same size seat is also favored by passengers, albeit at a small margin.
Source: http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/United_Airlines/fleetinfo.php
To be honest I was not arguing for anything but very minor image differences between B737 and A320 aircraft. The real discrepancies are between aircraft such as A380, B787 and B747-8 which based on readily available evidence, are considerably more favorable than smaller domestic aircraft when seats/service are not factored (they are already factored into image separately).
@duoflyer: My knowledge supports everything you mentioned in your previous post. For what it is worth.
I’m going to try and sit on my hands and see how the AS team weighs in.
To be honest I was not arguing for anything but very minor image differences between B737 and A320 aircraft. The real discrepancies are between aircraft such as A380, B787 and B747-8 which based on readily available evidence, are considerably more favorable than smaller domestic aircraft when seats/service are not factored (they are already factored into image separately).
And you are sure that they have the same value?