Serious question about VAs and FSP Pilots

[Airliner]

Okay, here's the deal:

Is it possible to transfer pilot data from one FSP to another with the same airline info? Let me explain.

Let's say I have an airline setup, say American Virtual Airlines, with 3 pilots - career mode off; economic mode on. Someone else sets up
their FSP with the same pilot as one in my airline. Now, the fun part. My friend here flies a flight with their pilot and then sends me the
data, which I put into my airline, updating the pilot of the same name and also updating my airline's income, reputation, etc.

Is this possible? If so, I can see a huge world opening up for VAs. Each can be setup with the economic model and make a new pilot
each time someone joins the airline. After each flight, the airline get's the cash and rep and can then purchase more aircraft and expand
their routes.

I think this could be pretty wild. So the base question remains - can you dump pilot data from one installation of FSP to another, updating
your airline as you go? If so, I have an even better idea than the original AI airline setup.

[the_nick]

I tought somebody else asked it already , and the answer was no .
but I can be wrong if I'm talking about something else .
wait and ask Drew he will know the right answer

[Drew]

as the_nick says, its not possible

the only way to do it, is to keep sending the 'database' folder to each other when that person wishes to do a flight (providing all pilots have
a purchased copy of FsP )

eg, you wish to do a flight, so you have the database folder. once you have completed your flight, your friend mike wishes to do a flight,
then you send him the database folder, he starts a flight using his pilot in the company. Once he is done, he sends the database folder
back with his flight recorded etc........

[Airliner]

Okay. Also, to clarify, I'm not talking about uploading the data to a VA site - that's understood that it happens. I want to basically fly a flight
on one computer (or many flights with different pilots on many different computers) and then tally them together on one.

[Airliner]

Oh...

You must see where I was going with this: A Virtual Airline World website thingy-do.

Each VA would sign up and get a page on the site. Then, they would get a scenario made for their airline (Name and basic criteria
preset - economic mode on/career mode off - NO! Career mode ON!). Then, the VA would buy a plane or planes with it's starting cash
and setup some routes. When pilots sign up, each must have reached the proper career level in FSP to get the route they wish to fly.
Then, away they go - after downloading the liveries, etc.

Now, after the flight, they send the data up to the web and the VA manager can crank it through their FSP files and the cash/reputation is
updated. They can then buy more planes, set more routes, etc. Also on the site, others could download liveries and schedules for each
airline to make a full world of VA's in FS.

Of course, this could be done manually, I guess. When a pilot uploads the FSP data to the VA, the VA manager could then just crunch the
numbers manually and get more aircraft that way - but that could open up cheating. WE NEED AN AIRLINE AUDITOR! Wait, the site
doesn't even exist!

[Drew]

yes i know, thats what i replied to....

you cant 'merge' multiple flights for 1 company within fsp, you would have to send the database folder around and only 1 flight could be
made at a time.

[Airliner]

Our posts were overlapping (EASY ON THE TONGUE!) - NO! Not THAT kind of lapping! Oh, it's been a looong night.

But not as long as if the time I worked was actually as long as if I had started 3 days ago, before I had a day off and after I was on vacation
but not before I ate a cheeseburger while the sun was out and had my left foot in the sand while my other foot was in the water in a
different state...

So, what car does my neighbor drive?

And now for something, completely different... I NEED SLEEP!

[AltairZQ]

Could that be added to next FsP release? Please?

[Airliner]

I'm working on an independant version right now that could be setup with just FS9. In truth, there aren't enough VA's to fill the skies so
each individual would play as an airline. Each flight would contribute to the airline's status. However, if the airline wants to hire further
pilots, they can do so and they can also add to the flights. The "control" would take all data, say once a week and update the website to
show all rankings: On-Time performance, Pax Satisfaction, Best Low-Fare, Best High Service, Most Cities Served, Most Pax Carried,
Highest Growth Rate, Largest Fleet, etc...

I'd like to make it just for FSP, as this would be as simple as generating a file from the FSP doc that's generated after a flight. Not to
mention, it might encourage more sales of FSP! Kickbacks? We'll see.

Ideally, it would be a combination of FSP, a virtual airline and Airline Empires. So, you will manage your own airline by purchasing aircraft
and setting routes. However, Pax generation will be done not by the actual route but by your performance on actual flights, amount of
advertising spent, etc. There's a bunch of other stuff mixed in too, such as if you neglect to fly a route for too long, it will negatively affect
your reputation. Bottom line, it needs to be less detailed than a full-scale airline simulation so that it will also be fun. Like a VA, you can
fly what you want and when you want. If one of your pilots flies a route, they send you the after flight report that's generated which is filed
in the add-on program. Then, either once a week or once a month, the airline sends it's data to the web and everything is updated.

There would also be the option to upload fleets and schedules so that anyone can, if they wish, download them and see everyone else's
scheduled flights.

I'll update when I work out some more details. It would be great to just upload FSP airline stats and use them. But, the problem arises
when an airline wants to "hire" other pilots to fly for them. That's why I might just make it for FS, using data from "Saved Flights" files, but
with the ability to still use FSP for the Pax and incident factors.

Here's the cut and dry:

An Airline signs up with their name and code, get's a dedicated forum section and a page on the website for their airline. They also get
an amount of starting cash. With that, they buy planes, spend on advertising and pay for landing rights, fuel and periodic maintenance.
Also, the airline will set routes (point to point) with fares and services. Then, each aircraft will be assigned a schedule based on those
routes. The flights of the schedule can then be flown at any time and in any order, depending on when you or your other pilots wish to fly
them. After each flight, the airline runs the add-on prgram to process that flight into their airline. This will then spit out numbers for future
flights - meaning, the pax amount will not be entirely generated by FSP - what is flown, how often, the amount spent on advertising, the
airline reputation in general, etc. This means that economy mode will be off in FSP, if used in conjunction, as that would override the total
pax for each flght. Anyway, I'll see what I can come up with.

[crowebird]

Im kind of already doing this for my VA.. but all the scripting is done on the website with php, and everything is executed when the flight is
exported...
The user uses FsP like they noramlly owuld execpt with their company you dont use ranking, (unless you want too, nor do you have to
use money) -- becuase all this information is tallied up on the php script and stored in the database, it is like FsP features being done
outside of fsp, this way everyones flight info come together on export, to work like it should in FsP if a feature like this was available... You
cant really do if the plane is available, becuase if you have bought 20 planes and have 200 members, and 25 wanted to fly, then 5 get
screwed... so far the script is working to my liking with added features, such as filing flight plans before the flight which is required to
submit your flight when you are finished.

[clootie]

Drew wrote:
you would have to send the database folder around and only 1 flight could be
made at a time.

Drew, if the datbase files we're made into a MySQL database (lets say for VA options) would this solve the issue?

[WBHoenig]

More than likely that would only be possible if you could decode the database file's engine, and then MySQL (via phpMyAdmin) might be able to export it.

[clootie]

Maybe an option for the developers to look at for next version. Having a MySql Database to hold the information, be of great value to VA's.