Here's an easier analogy....some of you are putting the cart before the horse. Games are DATA + CODE... until the 3rd party developers get their hands on Flight the code, there won't be any decent data to drive it, it's as simple as that. What looks better the original FSX screenshots, or the ones from ORBx?

I mean Microsoft's excuse is rubbish. Why would I want to see oversize houses and trees when every thing else is to scale, airports, cars, aircraft etc.  Just doesn't make sense doesn't it.  FSX determines the height for you.  So single storey houses with pitched roofs look ridiculously oversized.  It's a FSX bug.  You cant do anything about it which is why even Orbx scenery has oversized autogen.Of course we see the very same bug in Flight because Flight is a patched FSX.Look at the upcoming XP10 use of properly scaled auto-gen.http://www.x-plane.com/pg_news.htmlAre you saying that FSX and Flight's oversized autogen looks better than this?  You've got to be kidding.

From my perspective .. thats not enough to determine that it will look good .. you linked screen shots form a YET to be released software.

Here's an easier analogy....some of you are putting the cart before the horse. Games are DATA + CODE... until the 3rd party developers get their hands on Flight the code, there won't be any decent data to drive it, it's as simple as that. What looks better the original FSX screenshots, or the ones from ORBx?

Who's telling that the dev. don't have the Flight code already (or some of it), are you sure that MS will be waiting for the dev. to be ready when ready with their scenery....(I've read that some where...ready when ready) if they are opening a market store, the store will be empty for what six month to a year MS waiting to get some stuff from the dev.?Where will MS get their feedback to make the sim better....from us by reading forums like this one or from the dev. reporting back to MS about what we want and what's easier to do to suit their way of making better and more beautiful sceneries for us?If I was MS I'll be asking the dev. (the approved one after I gave them the code) to be ready with some stuff so I can sell it in the market store as soon as I open it.Just my 2 cents.

That's not really an argument for Microsoft to release code any earlier than they have to. That's simply a good argument as why the Flight store makes zero sense to begin with.

That's not really an argument for Microsoft to release code any earlier than they have to. That's simply a good argument as why the Flight store makes zero sense to begin with.

I'm not sure I understand the meaning of your last sentence but what I'm trying to get at here is that if a market store is to be open I assume it will be open at the same time Flight is release because if MS want to have something in it for us they will have to release the code to the dev. ahead of time don't you thing....the exact time of the code release is not really in question as long as the dev's. products is ready for the opening..Make no sense to me to have a market store if it is empty when Flight is released......but again we are dealing with MS here.

At first glance, I wasn't impressed at all. Then I asked myself, "Why did they post this particular picture". That's when I think I got it. There is some really subtle reality in some of those pictures, especially in the more distant backgrounds and contrasting sky areas. And are those sun-streak shadows coming off of high spots on the ground in picture one ?I hope all this is just not my imagination created by a sense of hope. But under any scenario.... I can't wait !Bob - Las Cruces, NM

The day FSX was released were there FSX specific programs available that very same day?

But my point remains, this "bug"/"choice" is still present in Flight and it proves Flight is using the FSX code base (at least for the scenery engine and I imagine most other places too).

How can you be so sure of that when the only shot of autogen buildings has them so far in the distance that they are at most a dozen pixels tall?

...if a market store is to be open I assume...

Ever hear the line about what happens when you assume?"IF" a market store? What store? Where is the link to this fact? All I have seen is people posting guesses, which then get picked up and carried about to different places and soon become sure-fired, can't be anything but the truth.Like your comment;"...are you sure that MS will be waiting for the dev. to be ready when ready with their scenery....(I've read that some where...ready when ready)" Where exactly is "some where"?I've read "some where" aka FS Developer that there will be no jets, no ATC and that we'll all have to use a Nintendo Wii controller to use Flight. Want the link? It's entertaining to read all the "I think..." comments, but when they start getting spread around and get to about knee level that I start to realize there's a bunch of manure being spread about. I'll be happy when I start to see the "I know..." comments, but I expect that will be a long time off. Anyone at this point in time that wants to say "I know..." is either blowing hot air or they would be on the receiving end of an email from Microsoft terminating any further contact for violating the NDA they agreed to.

From my perspective .. thats not enough to determine that it will look good .. you linked screen shots form a YET to be released software.

Both Flight and XP10 are yet to be released, yet still we see how XP10 can get autogen scaled correctly and Flight cannot. Maybe Flight will fix the scaling before release (though I doubt it). It still doesn't change the fact that Flight is using the same scenery engine as FSX.

How can you be so sure of that when the only shot of autogen buildings has them so far in the distance that they are at most a dozen pixels tall?

You can also see the oversized autogen in other previously released screenshots/movies. Aren't you a previous ACES developer that was working on TS2? Maybe you can shed some light on the sorts of improvements Microsoft were making to the 'core' engine for use in TS2. Is it possible these improvements might be making there way into Flight? What screenshot evidence do you see of new features Flight?

I mean Microsoft's excuse is rubbish. Why would I want to see oversize houses and trees when every thing else is to scale, airports, cars, aircraft etc. Just doesn't make sense doesn't it. FSX determines the height for you. So single storey houses with pitched roofs look ridiculously oversized. It's a FSX bug. You cant do anything about it which is why even Orbx scenery has oversized autogen..

First of all, that explanation didn't come from Microsoft. It was provided by Steve Lacy, after having left MS/ACES.Secondly, it is NOT A BUG! It was a deliberate choice made for expediency. MS/ACES simply never got around to implementing multiple LOD support for autogen scenery objects. For that matter, neither has Lockheed-Martin with their Prepar3D v1.0 release.Might I suggest reading the Autogen SDK before shooting from the hip with wild-a$$ed guesses?http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc526979.aspx

MatthewS: Which photo are you basing that X-plane got it right? The only previews I've seen are at ground level or 300 feet. This one doesn't look that great eitherway...xp10autogen

It is NOT A BUG! It was a deliberate choice made for expediency. MS/ACES simply never got around to implementing multiple LOD support for autogen scenery objects.

I'll call it a 'design bug' instead, still looks bad either way. Like you say Microsoft never got around to implementing LOD for autogen and looks like they aren't fixing it for Flight either.Remember Flight is just an update to FSX. Microsoft is trying to cut as many corners as possible so they can rush out Flight and get back into 'Gaming'. They are not going to spend their dev budget on fixing things like this autogen 'bug'. Rather they will spend their budget on Live integration and the Flight 'Marketplace'.

This one doesn't look that great eitherway...xp10autogen

That XP10 screenshot looks great! Notice how the houses are properly scaled, just compare them to the road traffic.edit: And have a look at Flights 'webisode #2' to see lots of autogen. I see no properly scaled single store houses at all, though I do see lots of double storey 'warehouse' sized houses.

Ever hear the line about what happens when you assume?"IF" a market store? What store? Where is the link to this fact? All I have seen is people posting guesses, which then get picked up and carried about to different places and soon become sure-fired, can't be anything but the truth.Like your comment;"...are you sure that MS will be waiting for the dev. to be ready when ready with their scenery....(I've read that some where...ready when ready)" Where exactly is "some where"?I've read "some where" aka FS Developer that there will be no jets, no ATC and that we'll all have to use a Nintendo Wii controller to use Flight. Want the link? It's entertaining to read all the "I think..." comments, but when they start getting spread around and get to about knee level that I start to realize there's a bunch of manure being spread about. I'll be happy when I start to see the "I know..." comments, but I expect that will be a long time off. Anyone at this point in time that wants to say "I know..." is either blowing hot air or they would be on the receiving end of an email from Microsoft terminating any further contact for violating the NDA they agreed to.

A market store will be open, MS is in business to make money and they will by protecting the dev. from piracy with the store and taking a % from the addons sales, both side are winnig. Am I the only one thinking like that?.... http://polypoke.wordpress.com/2011/01/02/ms-flight-add-on-store/ trust me both side are talking to each other.(Some where) "ready when ready" is a quote taken from severals dev's. forum when ask for a release date on a specific addons, nothing secret about that if you read their forum.Now if you think a NDA is bullet proof ..well...think again but hey!!... lets just say I'm blowing hot air since I will not be on the receiving end of an email from MS.