All a flight simulation game would need to have in order to appeal to the gaming dummies as well as the hard-core gamers is include an inflight options menu like Prophecy/SO, one that turns on/off things like weapon disabling. This would be simple to use just as turning on/off cockpit struts and such. A little change like that would certainly add a greater sense of realism, as well as the aforementioned difficulty level. If a shield generator can be disabled, why then, not a gun?