Add-On Future with MS Flight

[mgh 89]

Adobe offered me an update to Flash Player (10.2). It's neccessary to click on a link to read the licence before installation. The instaliibutton is greyed-out.Clicking the link gives a fiurther list of links to licence agreement for all Adobe products - 10 screens worth. It includes Flash Player Licences for 9.0, 10.0, 10.2, as well as 10.2. Clicking on 10.2 downloads 191.55 kb of 3.31 MB then stops. After several minutes it announced Adobe Reader 8.1 has a problem, apologises, and asks if I want to send an error report. It was a free update but if I'd paid I'd be most unhappy/If Adobe can manage by itself, this just think what what a consortium of developers might manage.

[strider1 575]

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

You sould be proud of yourself. Pat your self on the back....Now you can continue speculating......."All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident."Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860

[N2056 33]

You funny guy!Yes, I am glad that the B.S. posts got yanked. They had no place here. A mod obviously agreed! :(

[Mike T 211]

I posted a new blog entry giving my prediction of how MS Flight will impact the 3rd party developers. Care to give it a read and comment? MS Flight Add-On Store?Regards,Owen

I don't think that this prediction is necessarily a bad thing and I welcome it. What you are suggesting is an iPhone / iPad app store model that enforces using only the Apple App Store for add-ons.1. To enforce this paradigm Microsoft would have to "lock" Flight so that the scenery.cfg, aicraft.cfg, and simobject directories are hidden and only accessible by the Microsoft "app store." Of course, this is possible because this is exactly the way that the iPhone and iPad work. This means that applications will be vetted and pre-qualified before being made available on the "app store" which also means that buggy garbage and half finished fiascos will be a thing of the past. The quality of add-ons available in the app store will be reflective of Microsoft so they will have a vested interest in banning products like the Airsimmer Airbus until it is actually FINISHED... which is fine in my book. 2. This would have no impact on freeware because, like the Apple model, freeware applications are welcome at the app store as long as it meets the security and quality guidelines. Instead of having to look for freeware on 10 different sites until you find all the parts, it will be available in a single site and professionally packaged so that novice users don't have to dig around in directories and edit config files. Brilliant. 3. There will be ONE type of copy protection instead of having scores of different copy protection types clogging up FSX. This will protect the developer and the user alike. This will also take away the developers ability to charge extra to re-download or reset a key. Also reinstalling Flight and all add-ons from scratch will be a piece of cake since all purchases are in a single location with a record of what was purchased and what was not. No more going to 20 different sites and begging for key resets and trying to remember where you purchased a product, what credit card you used, what your password was, and which site you downloaded a product from when 5 different sites carry the same product. No downside here.4. The ability to "jailbreak" Flight will undoubtedly follow which will give access to developers whose products are not available on the app store. However, like Apple, jailbreaking Flight will probably void your warranty and open you up to all types of issues, but that decision will ultimately be up to the individual user.5. Microsoft's app store will be another source of revenue attached to a Flight ecosystem and may even make it worth for Microsoft to develop some detailed add-ons that only a company with a multi-million dollar budget could pull off. This may even take the life cycle time line down for detailed add-ons to months instead of years. Look at PMDG, LDS and Radar Contact. PMDG started talking about the 757 before FSX was released. PMDG has posted "almost ready" screenshots of the 737NG for six months and Radar Contact 5 was announced more than 5 years ago! 6. Lower prices! If developers see sales of 100,000 instead of 10,000 that lowers the price point required to turn a profit. This in turn drives (should drive) down the price of software.7. Exposure to OTHER developers. Hopefully a widely known app store for Flight will entice talented developers from other games to Flight in hopes of making some money. Instead of having only one or who companies capable of making a proper high fidelity aircraft or detailed scenery you can conceivably have many. This will in turn force competition and drive down prices while increasing quality. So, the question is what is the down side to a Microsoft App Store? Personally I am looking forward to it as a huge advancement for the hobby.

[Mike T 211]

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.

Neither has any Flight Simulator developer. Every add-on, irrespective of protection type has been cracked sometimes on the very day it was released. As a developer I would think that you know this all too well. So the fact is whether they crack 20 different add-on protection schemes or one Microsoft protection scheme what is the actual difference when the outcome is the same: free software for the unscrupulous? The fact is that if the software is in demand, it has been cracked so it serves no purpose to point at Microsoft when everyone else is in that same boat.

[WarpD 824]

Neither has any Flight Simulator developer. Every add-on, irrespective of protection type has been cracked sometimes on the very day it was released. As a developer I would think that you know this all too well. So the fact is whether they crack 20 different add-on protection schemes or one Microsoft protection scheme what is the actual difference when the outcome is the same: free software for the unscrupulous? The fact is that if the software is in demand, it has been cracked so it serves no purpose to point at Microsoft when everyone else is in that same boat.

The difference is this: If I can release a product that takes 6 months before it's cracked, that's six months of solid sales before people find the 'front door' wide open and help themselves. If the Microsoft protection is cracked, it's cracked for every single product past, present, future being protected by it. Microsoft's protection system is based on a sales volume approach more than anything else. Addons will never, ever achieve the sales volumes required to compensate for piracy loss.

[Guest veeray]

I'm confused here... you can't just throw time and money at a project and come up with PMDG quality stuff. RSR might be able to do this, but I highly doubt anyone else could. On top of that you think PMDG is going to sell their product at a 33% discount so it's in the MIcrosoft store? I'd imagine they'd sooner give Micrsosoft the 747X and wait for the new customers to come to them. Correct me if I misunderstood, but you were comparing these addons to Iphone apps, which is ludicrous.

The difference is this: If I can release a product that takes 6 months before it's cracked, that's six months of solid sales before people find the 'front door' wide open and help themselves. If the Microsoft protection is cracked, it's cracked for every single product past, present, future being protected by it. Microsoft's protection system is based on a sales volume approach more than anything else. Addons will never, ever achieve the sales volumes required to compensate for piracy loss.

You are missing the point. If something takes 6 month to crack it means NOBODY wanted the product in the first place. Don't kid yourself.

[JSkorna 137]

You are missing the point. If something takes 6 month to crack it means NOBODY wanted the product in the first place. Don't kid yourself.

No, quite the opposite. If nobody wants it, then there is no reason to crack it. It is the most popular software that attempts are made for cracking. Don't fool yourself.

[Guest veeray]

No, quite the opposite. If nobody wants it, then there is no reason to crack it. It is the most popular software that attempts are made for cracking. Don't fool yourself.

How is that any different than what I just said?

[JSkorna 137]

Sorry, I did mis-read your post. My apologies!

[bsmfinegan 12]

The difference is this: If I can release a product that takes 6 months before it's cracked, that's six months of solid sales before people find the 'front door' wide open and help themselves. If the Microsoft protection is cracked, it's cracked for every single product past, present, future being protected by it. Microsoft's protection system is based on a sales volume approach more than anything else. Addons will never, ever achieve the sales volumes required to compensate for piracy loss.

Anybody who cracks your product or anybody elses never had any intention of buying it in the first place.This idea that the hacking of software protection leads to lost sales is most ill thought out theory I have ever heard.That is why ORBX are probably going to remove their wrapper system, the penny has dropped and they have realised what I have said above.Bryan.

[Mike T 211]

I'm confused here... you can't just throw time and money at a project and come up with PMDG quality stuff. RSR might be able to do this, but I highly doubt anyone else could. On top of that you think PMDG is going to sell their product at a 33% discount so it's in the MIcrosoft store? I'd imagine they'd sooner give Micrsosoft the 747X and wait for the new customers to come to them. Correct me if I misunderstood, but you were comparing these addons to Iphone apps, which is ludicrous.

Yes, you CAN through time and money at a project and come up with PMDG quality stuff. The fact that non of the current developers have the money or the resources to make this happen is beside the point. For argument's sake: If I sell 1000 copies of a product at $80. I make $80,000. If a Flight App Store allows you to sell 10,000 copies at $54 (at a require 33% discount as you say) then I make $540,000...ummm, yeah PMDG would hate that.Oh, and the Iphone APP paradigm is fast becoming the NORM. Both Apple and Microsoft are looking at selling apps for their OS through app stores. You can get MS Office or other such large programs through an app store eventually. Not understanding this shift in the industry is what's ludicrous. So yes, I think you misunderstand the lucrative potential if done correctly.

[dmaher 0]

Anybody who cracks your product or anybody elses never had any intention of buying it in the first place.This idea that the hacking of software protection leads to lost sales is most ill thought out theory I have ever heard.That is why ORBX are probably going to remove their wrapper system, the penny has dropped and they have realised what I have said above.Bryan.

That’s a myth too :( These people would still use add-ons. They would have add-ons but not as MANY.The folks that would benefit most from reduced piracy are mainly only the top developers (PMDG for instance).Forced to be more selective limited dollars go to supporting the best value…as they should.Looters take what’s available…not what they consider a good purchase.What’s good for those preferred developers is good for honest users.Obviously those developers can invest more, and so build more and push fidelity.What is arguable is the conversion factor. One theft would not equal one sale -agreed.There’s no data to support any guesses. But more often than not folks are underestimating IMO.Working in the software industry I got to meet lots of people who use cracked games.It’s the mainstream of people…thankfully I think that tide is slowly turning.You may think they’re just children with no money. That’s not the case.But they generaly all think they're doing no harm.You can dismiss theft…that’s your prerogative.

[bsmfinegan 12]

Sorry that’s a myth. These people would still use add-ons. They would have add-ons but NOT as MANY. The biggest benefactors of reduced piracy would be the top developers. Folks like LVL-D, PMDG, RealAir, and so on. What’s good for those developers is good for honest users. Developers can invest more, and so build more and push fidelity. You can dismiss theft…that’s your prerogative.Working in the software industry I got to meet lots of people who use cracked games. You may think they’re just children with no money. That’s not the case. But they generaly think they're doing no harm.

The bottom line is if can be cracked it will be cracked. Software or hardware protection often causes more hassle to the legit customer than people who pirate software.The "lots of people you meet" are probably just a drop in the ocean of legit users.Companies like ORBX recognise that fact.Bryan.

[dmaher 0]

The bottom line is if can be cracked it will be cracked. Software or hardware protection often causes more hassle to the legit customer than people who pirate software.The "lots of people you meet" are probably just a drop in the ocean of legit users.Companies like ORBX recognise that fact.Bryan.

:( Bryan you’re more familiar with ORBX news than me, but I won’t be holding my breath for a Lancair distributed without DRM.PS…you read my post before I finished writing. I didn't mean to write anything that sounded super confrontational.You have your point of view…and lots of people agree with that.I’ve got mine and yeah it’s different.