Million Dollar Idea.

[Skyguns MKII]

I'm sure we all get those intrusive thoughts about projects or business ideas and today I had kind of a interesting one I thought I'd share.

So here it is.

Imagine getting a warehouse and setting up a bunch of rooms. In each room a mock up of different aircraft that meet the needs of your party size. IE big party could use B17 or a dive bomber/2 seat fighter for the smaller parties. These mock aircraft and the rooms they are in would have a 360 projected screen and you would just carry out realistic and immersive missions with your friends. 50 cals that kick back, Strobes when shot, Large fans. Aircraft and battle sounds implemented in your radios that you use to communicate with your pals. Fog machines ect. I know different things have been done in other scales or themes but I have never heard of anything like this existing.

So any angel investors? 

[DmonSlyr]

 I'd consider it much like a sailboat charter boat business. 200k investment. 1 - 5 groups a week maybe for about $250-500. You'd be paying for repairs and maintenance regularly. Your rent would be steep given the space. You'd have to be able to set difficulty of the plane and realisticness off the cockpit. I'm just not sure there's a real profitability in it.

[Skyguns MKII]

I'd consider it much like a sailboat charter boat business. 200k investment. 1 - 5 groups a week maybe for about $250-500. You'd be paying for repairs and maintenance regularly. Your rent would be steep given the space. You'd have to be able to set difficulty of the plane and realisticness off the cockpit. I'm just not sure there's a real profitability in it.

I feel like it would cost waaaaay more honestly. R&D, programming ect. I guess the "cheaper" way that covers your point of cockpit realism is to eliminate the cockpit and only allow a "crew" of gunners/Bombardier with screens large enough to cover their view out the gun ports in a cylinder close enough to give patrons the feel they are in a fuselage. As far as difficulty is concerned I'd make it either a high score system where groups can come back and be competitive or like an escape room where the aircraft is the difficulty.

The most cost effective way to start this with minimal effort imo would be to build a big wood cylinder with cutouts for windows and just throw a bunch of cardboard boxes and foam everywhere to resemble the location/feel of aircraft components and slap a foam karate Helmet and  vr headset on everybody with some pre program gaming calibrated to what's physically there.

(Full disclosure I am not trying to justify nor defend a position of actually starting this. Just think it's an interesting concept)
Just wanted to throw that in there before the heat came lol

[AKIron]

They did mechs something like that 25-30 years ago. Didn't last long.

Maybe they live: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BattleTech_Centers

[CptTrips]

I'm so old. 

I remember when I was all into Falcon 3.0.  There was a guy whose handle was...Hardware? 

He had a vision of a Falcon 3.0 Sports bar kinda thing.  Rows of top tier simulator simpits set up like that.  But combined with a sports bar kinda thing so that when you weren't playing you could watch the action of those that were on big projection TV in the bar area and order food and stuff.

He had it all spec'd out.  It sounded awesome at the time.  It'd have to be in just a few major cities with big enough population to have a chance at enough traffic to be viable.  You'd really make the money on food and booze.  You scale it so there weren't quite enough booths for everyone to fly so you had to wait and eat and drink and watch the action dying to get your chance to get in. 

That was back when games like Air Warrior charged by the hour so it didn't seem insane.  And Home PC were low end enough using copper wire phone line 800 bd modems that an establishment with high end hardware would be worth the trip. So you'd charge an hourly rate.

It would have the kind of hardware and connection you could never afford at home.  I don't think he ever did it but it sounded awesome at the time. 

Lol.

Heck, soon I don't think you will even have movie theater with the kind of stuff you can have at home.  Don't think it would work today.

[Animl-AW]

I'd consider it much like a sailboat charter boat business. 200k investment. 1 - 5 groups a week maybe for about $250-500. You'd be paying for repairs and maintenance regularly. Your rent would be steep given the space. You'd have to be able to set difficulty of the plane and realisticness off the cockpit. I'm just not sure there's a real profitability in it.

I’d have to say you’re prolly right. You’ve been around my kinda stuff. Some of it is right-offs.
Right now, I got stuck on a Magic card convention at McCormick. I see no real profit here. Yet, grand prize is $50k. I see this one as a right-off. Just pay me my money. Having all 3 meals catered all weekend.

Not sure this small genre can fill the seats in something like that. Ya never know. I’ve certainly seen stranger things.

[Animl-AW]

This is way bigger than I thought. Give me my money! Lol

[Gman]

They did mechs something like that 25-30 years ago. Didn't last long.

Maybe they live: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BattleTech_Centers

Red Planet in Chicago, used to play the Btech sims there back in the 90s whenever I was in town.

[AKIron]

Son and I went to one in Plano Tx I think it was long ago. Was fun.

[RichardDarkwood]

I'm sure we all get those intrusive thoughts about projects or business ideas and today I had kind of a interesting one I thought I'd share.

So here it is.

Imagine getting a warehouse and setting up a bunch of rooms. In each room a mock up of different aircraft that meet the needs of your party size. IE big party could use B17 or a dive bomber/2 seat fighter for the smaller parties. These mock aircraft and the rooms they are in would have a 360 projected screen and you would just carry out realistic and immersive missions with your friends. 50 cals that kick back, Strobes when shot, Large fans. Aircraft and battle sounds implemented in your radios that you use to communicate with your pals. Fog machines ect. I know different things have been done in other scales or themes but I have never heard of anything like this existing.

So any angel investors? 

I had a similar idea to this a while back, but instead of gaming it was billiard rooms. Each room would be themed. Like the Masconi Room, The Mizerak room.

[Gman]

I had a similar idea to this a while back, but instead of gaming it was billiard rooms. Each room would be themed. Like the Masconi Room, The Mizerak room.

I'd play there, very cool.  Calgary in the mid/late 90s had a pool hall called "Masconi's" that was on the 4th floor of a large office tower right downtown.  It's was very toney, Had a TON of 9 foot 9ball tables and a bunch of the bar box for 8ball league play back in the VNEA and BCA days - I played mostly VNEA/BCA 8 ball leagues, but my missus at the time was a pro 9 ball player, and we played a ton at Masconi's.  She still plays pro 9/10 ball today, top 15 rank in the world at one point last I looked.

[RichardDarkwood]

I'd play there, very cool.  Calgary in the mid/late 90s had a pool hall called "Masconi's" that was on the 4th floor of a large office tower right downtown.  It's was very toney, Had a TON of 9 foot 9ball tables and a bunch of the bar box for 8ball league play back in the VNEA and BCA days - I played mostly VNEA/BCA 8 ball leagues, but my missus at the time was a pro 9 ball player, and we played a ton at Masconi's.  She still plays pro 9/10 ball today, top 15 rank in the world at one point last I looked.

Hell yeah. But Masconi was a " Straight Pool " player and they used the big tables. Masconi set the world record for balls ran off the table in a row, I think it was 504 or around there.

My wife is on the bar leagues locally and we came up with the idea of not just another smoke filled pool hall.

[Eagler]

Son and I went to one in Plano Tx I think it was long ago. Was fun.

Was that a jet cockpit on motion platform with a projected screen showing the air battle you are in?

They put you in a flight suit with a helmet then spun you around in a contraption to simulate g forces...

Did that somewhere in Texas back in the late 90's

Eagler