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Show HN: I made a flight simulator, except you're just a passenger

446 points · 205 comments · rkotcher

  1. drayfield · · focus · HN ↗
    Or you could check out the non-vibe coded Airplane Mode from 2020:

    <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;store.steampowered.com&#x2F;app&#x2F;931310&#x2F;Airplane_Mode&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;store.steampowered.com&#x2F;app&#x2F;931310&#x2F;Airplane_Mode&#x2F;

    1. apexalpha · · focus · HN ↗
      That&#x27;s... why?

      I can understand slow games like EuroTruck or Farming Sim. But what&#x27;s the point of this?

      1. rogual · · focus · HN ↗
        These days it&#x27;s pretty unusual to think of an idea that hasn&#x27;t been done yet, so when you do, I guess you just don&#x27;t think too much and go make it.
        1. fc417fc802 · · focus · HN ↗
          Is there a mosquito simulator yet?
          1. fmbb · · focus · HN ↗
            <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Mister_Mosquito" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Mister_Mosquito
            1. actionfromafar · · focus · HN ↗
              Time for the more biologically correct Mrs Mosquito?
            2. mitxela · · focus · HN ↗
              Is there a mosquitto simulator, where you roleplay as an IoT pub&#x2F;sub server?
          2. djeastm · · focus · HN ↗
            Well, now I&#x27;m intrigued. I can envision some interesting mechanics...
        2. matheusmoreira · · focus · HN ↗
          Does everything have to be original and novel? I think reinventing a better wheel is a perfectly good use of AI tokens.
        3. piltdownman · · focus · HN ↗
          Case in point:

          <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Goat_Simulator" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Goat_Simulator

          1. [deleted] · · focus · HN ↗

            [deleted]

          2. bartread · · focus · HN ↗
            That one predates vibe coding by quite a few years though: a lot of hard work went into Goat Simulator, and there were no doubt other more obvious choices for how the developers spent their time, but they still chose to make Goat Simulator.
            1. amiga386 · · focus · HN ↗
              Also it&#x27;s a geninue game with goals to complete, mainly cribbing from games like the Tony Hawk&#x27;s series.

              Two separate categories: Meme games[*] don&#x27;t have to be vibecoded, not all vibecoded things become meme games.

              [*] A &quot;meme game&quot; being a game which is tries to be ridiculous and is predominantly popular because of social media exposure. I would include games like Goat Simulator, Horse Magnifier, Squirrel with a Gun, QWOP, Untitled Goose Game, Trollface Quest...

              1. bartread · · focus · HN ↗
                &gt; Horse Magnifier

                I can only imagine: clearly I need to check that out.

            2. keyringlight · · focus · HN ↗
              From what I remember it was a project for Coffee Stain (the studio) to train up&#x2F;onboard new hires, having started as a modding team with Sanctum for UT3 and later a full standalone release. Then they ran with it for a while after it struck a chord with people willing to give them money.
      2. lIl-IIIl · · focus · HN ↗
        Might be helpful for people who have never flown.
      3. wj · · focus · HN ↗
        Every once in a while I would put Flight Simulator 2020 on my desktop and work on my laptop. I found that watching the digital world pass by while working put me in a slightly different headspace. Not sure it increased productivity but working while sitting in an actual plane does provide me a bit of focus.

        Train ride videos on YouTube scratch some of the same itch.

        1. teepo · · focus · HN ↗
          there was a time when i would have a window open to a spacex web camera as they were building a launch site.
      4. piltdownman · · focus · HN ↗
        Nonwithstanding the human fascination with simulation and simulacra, Airplanes and Air Travel represent a fascinating cultural touchpoint with much insight and depth to plumb depending on what aspects you simulate.

        For example, think of a history class charting flight from the Wright Brothers, through the Golden Age of Aviation, right to the present day. Even showing the drastic differences pre and post 9&#x2F;11 by reference to the processes and experiences of commercial airline travel would represent a worthy pedagogical endeavour. We do a lot more to achieve a lot less in terms of making &#x27;history come alive&#x27; currently.

        1. xprnio · · focus · HN ↗
          A game where you&#x27;re narcoleptic and keep falling asleep at random unannounced times. While taking a flight from A to B, you wake up at different times entirely, on the same (or an equivalent) flight, seeing whatever was going on back then. Sometimes it&#x27;s a flight with the Wright Brothers, sometimes you&#x27;re flying during WWII, and sometimes you might just be on the plane heading towards the twin towers (right as you wake up back on your own original flight). Maybe even some mini-games where you might have the chance to foil a hijacking in progress, or maybe you need to be &quot;the doctor on the plane&quot;, or maybe you wake up as the guy that&#x27;s carrying the crying baby. You never know when, where, or who you&#x27;ll wake up as.
      5. latexr · · focus · HN ↗
        Slow? There’s a Faming Simulator competitive esports league (because of course there is). You can find videos on YouTube.
      6. [deleted] · · focus · HN ↗

        [deleted]

      7. rkotcher · · focus · HN ↗
        well, I&#x27;m the kind of person who stares out the window for the entire flight, so to me this sounded fun to make and recreate that experience. but really, no point at all to this haha
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