Add-On Future with MS Flight

[cmpbellsjc 2,963]

Blue horseshoe loves Blue Star Airlines. :(

LOL :( Blue Horseshoe also loves Anacott Steel.

[Guest F4PhantomRAAF2]

I don't agree with a central marketplace (as prices will be high!) but what I do think, you will all be very interested in.We should link our copy of MS FLight to our name and serial number. When you buy an addon, you must quote your name and serial number. If not, then you will not be able to activate the product.Its simple, AND, Microsoft is not into selling addons.I think allowing freedom in the market is going to reduce prices and will be better service. If you have a 'central' store it reminds me of communism too much.Just have the serial number on your Flight software be used to activate the product similar to activating windows. This will prevent piracy. When you buy the MS Flight base software, you get a serial number with it. You will use it for your future purchases (depending if the developer wants to use that system). Hopefully MS can make the FS community more attractive by not charging developers anything to use the registration/activation service.Daniel

[Kosta 122]

Explain please, what good would that be. I read your post twice, without really getting a point of registrating Flight to my own name.Just opposite, I see an open market for identity theft.And what good is that to the addon company - they usually have their protection schemes.

[alainneedle1 97]

Easy to understand how that will work...By Flight, play offline and you don't get all the goodies that Flight online will provide. (You don't attract flies with vinegar right?) You want an airport or scenery from an MS approved dev. you go to the market place and after shopping around from dev. to dev. you buy what you want after entering your Flight registration number and or your flight store customer number, credit card, paypal accepted, the airport or scenery is now downloaded in to YOUR flight, all done under MS umbrella, no piracy since you don't have acces to the addons.....the dev. are happy and MS get his share of the profit......that is why FSX addons won't be compatible with Flight.If you all have a better idea lets hear it, I'm open to all kind of opinion on how Flight online will work.

[n4gix 4,955]

And what good is that to the addon company - they usually have their protection schemes.

One of the stated goals of Flight will be to create an installer package as a component part of the SDK for developers to use, as well as a centralized marketplace in which to vend their products.This would mean that every product would use the same installer, making the process consistent. The centralized marketplace would provide maximum possible exposure for the developer, enabling a far larger potential for sales of their products.

[mgh 89]

Microsoft has set out the technical requirements for Games for Windows here:http://msdn.microsof...vs.85%29.aspx#4the system requirements here:http://www.microsoft...amesysreqs.mspxthe test cases here:http://msdn.microsof...v=vs.85%29.aspxthe certificaction process here:http://www.microsoft...ionProcess.aspxand the approval rating certification here:http://www.microsoft...GameRating.aspxThese give a good flavour of Microsoft's approach.

[n4gix 4,955]

Microsoft has set out the technical requirements for Games for Windows here:<snipped for brevity>These give a good flavour of Microsoft's approach.

Although those are the requirements for a complete "game platform + game assets," they do provide at least a glimpse of the comprehensive nature of MS's approach.It is to be expected that some similar process will be put in place for any 3rd part assests for MS Flight.

[Guest veeray]

Still.. those are all primarily installation issues.... says nothing about the quality of the product just the installer. The real issue is what makes a Flight aircraft unique from simply an FSX port.

[Guest F4PhantomRAAF2]

The best flight sim is of course made through cooperation between passionate and talented individuals. Microsoft did provide the SDK and independent developers did their thing. A very generous arrangement in my mind. The best solution would be for MIcrosoft to create a set of userfriendly tools so anyone anywhere could create stunning freeware. That would be the least greedy option!

That is a good idea if a program can be automated enough to create photoreal scenery for example. Aircraft addons will never be automated, but you could make it a lot easier, like having 'tasks', like a VC, model, sound etc.Daniel

[Guest F4PhantomRAAF2]

Explain please, what good would that be. I read your post twice, without really getting a point of registrating Flight to my own name.Just opposite, I see an open market for identity theft.And what good is that to the addon company - they usually have their protection schemes.

Well when you purchase an addon, if my system is used, the addon developer would send your name email and serial number upon purchase to Microsoft for checking and come back with a unique ID, which must be entered by the purchaser to activate the addon. The protects private addon developers more by preventing people from activating a product they don't own.By linking it to your own copy of MSFS you will radically lower piracy and allow more money to be made by developers.Usually people tell me they download a 'copy' of their software and they don't bother to buy it. Maybe they aren't serious simmers, but at any rate if it was hard to get they may end up buying it.Well I haven't seen ID theft because of Windows software activation. So why should you see it in Flight Sim? If you go to a forum or facebook and share your serial number and email adress with everyone then you may be exposed. But who gets a serial number and uploads it when if the software on the unique DVD needs that serial number it will be useless to those downloading pirated product.And if you want to install your product in another machine or even format your had disk, you will have to resend the original info to MS to get a new activation number.Another piracy measure would be to have your email address of what you used to activate the MS Flight with. Then a specific coded key can be emailed to you. I know it sounds complicated, just ideas. And pirates make me angry because we have to spend time and money to protect stuff from them.Daniel

[mgh 89]

Still.. those are all primarily installation issues.... says nothing about the quality of the product just the installer. The real issue is what makes a Flight aircraft unique from simply an FSX port.

That is true. But I'm sure Microsoft will find some way of dealing with sub-standard add-ons.

[N2056 33]

Considering the number of threads in this forum that end up like this maybe the name should be changed from "Flight" to "Economics/Political Science". :(

[WarpD 824]

A single installer combined with a single, centralized protection process means if the protection is cracked... it's cracked for anything and everything covered by that protection process.Microsoft has yet to release a single product to the world that wasn't pirated within the first 30 days... sometimes before it was even released commercially.

[N2056 33]

Considering the number of threads in this forum that end up like this maybe the name should be changed from "Flight" to "Economics/Political Science". :(

In the time since I posted this it would appear that many of the threads it was aimed at have been removed. Thanks!

[JSkorna 137]

In the time since I posted this it would appear that many of the threads it was aimed at have been removed. Thanks!

Amazing what the Report icon can do.