As I've posted in another thread, the range of the main aircraft in the game (ICON A5) is 300 miles. From Hawaii it's 3000 miles to the nearest mainland. I imagine it's just sea forever.

What I want to know is what happens if I, say, buy the UK Region, and China region. Will I be flying over water the whole way there? :(

No: Because there is no plane that will accomplish such a long flight. You will fly UK, China (parts of it), or Hawaii.

I have debated about where to post this question as I think it will get lost in the din of all the forum "noise" right now, but here goes. Can someone who was privy to the MS presentations and discussions prior to the release of today's information shed some light on any business model discussions that occurred? What were/are the Flight's team's expectation in terms of Flight's potential to bring in cash? How long it would take to generate revenue? The expectations for said revenue? My take is that the Flight team saw an opportunity to monetize both the freeware market and the individual pieces of the simulator, which seems to be an extraordinarily risky proposition when you have a community that can already populate a fully featured low-cost sim with wonderful FREE additions. Throw in payware that folks are willing to spend upwards of $100 a piece for, and this model breaks down quickly.I have run through a bunch of scenarios in my mind and can't figure out how this got past any kind of management type at MS... the assumptions necessary to make the modular "pay as you go for pieces of the world/aircraft" flight sim work are untenable, and I can't see how at the end of the day this will help generate revenue for MS. I am sure the cash outlays for this kind of project are not too extensive, especially when you can borrow when necessary from the "old" code, but this still represents a financial risk in a niche hobby. Not the kind of decision I would have expected from a major corporation.

Can someone who was privy to the MS presentations and discussions prior to the release of today's information shed some light on any business model discussions that occurred?

The answer is almost certainly no because it's commercially confidential. No company would release such information.

True, but there was probably some discussion of the general nuts and bolts of how and why they modeled the product the way they did. I guess what I'm after is gauging how much (or how little) their expectations for the success of the product took into account the broader flight sim community. Tom A seemed to suggest they knew full well that they would not be generating fans among the "hard core" flight sim community, but we're the group with the highest propensity (and financial ability) to buy addons. If that's the case then they shot themselves in both feet... a limited sim that represents Pilotwings isn't going to hold the attention of gamers who want first person shooters or depth of adventure like Skyrim, and it won't attract attention from those of us that could support the pay as you play model. Just looking for some "why" among the "what".

What I want to know is what happens if I, say, buy the UK Region, and China region. Will I be flying over water the whole way there? :(

I'm guessing you will just warp between the various regions you have bought. I.e. you fly to the edge of the Hawaii region, a menu pops up, you click UK and hey presto, you're in the UK. That's more or less how it works in ship simulator, which has a comparable scenery model: there's several detailed ports, linked via a generic stretch of ocean.A small note on the legal discussion. I think reverse engineering is often prohibited by the EULA even if it would be allowed by the appropriate laws.Amid all the doom and gloom, let's remember that FSX (or FS9 if you prefer) still work fine. Whether Flight is a flop or not, there's still plenty in the pipeline for the games with simulator in the name.

I have run through a bunch of scenarios in my mind and can't figure out how this got past any kind of management type at MS... the assumptions necessary to make the modular "pay as you go for pieces of the world/aircraft" flight sim work are untenable, and I can't see how at the end of the day this will help generate revenue for MS.

One possible scenario, admittedly I'm just making this up: through the store, they sell "The Professional Upgade Pack" or such, containing a basic rendition of the entire planet as they did for the FS series, together with the surprising amount of "24000" airports, an ATC that lets you fly 70 miles past the airport before the approach and still not getting separation right, and a small selection of planes good for covering some distance... like a Lear45, B737 and an A321 that never flies a coordinated turn. All for just $69.Something remotely similar worked before for them.

But that is exactly what they are not allowed to do, selling to the general public. M$ may react in court if they feel threatened by LM.

LM are already selling a $10 per month 'developer' subscription.......there is no emphais on anyone to prove they are a developer though.

No: Because there is no plane that will accomplish such a long flight. You will fly UK, China (parts of it), or Hawaii.

Well I wasn't exactly referring to the ICON A5. :( More like one of the intercontinental models when they start releasing them in the Marketplace..

I'm guessing you will just warp between the various regions you have bought. I.e. you fly to the edge of the Hawaii region, a menu pops up, you click UK and hey presto, you're in the UK. That's more or less how it works in ship simulator, which has a comparable scenery model: there's several detailed ports, linked via a generic stretch of ocean.

I suppose so, good theory.

One possible scenario, admittedly I'm just making this up: through the store, they sell "The Professional Upgade Pack" or such, containing a basic rendition of the entire planet as they did for the FS series, together with the surprising amount of "24000" airports, an ATC that lets you fly 70 miles past the airport before the approach and still not getting separation right, and a small selection of planes good for covering some distance... like a Lear45, B737 and an A321 that never flies a coordinated turn. All for just $69.Something remotely similar worked before for them.

LOL, unfortunately I think you are right! It seems to me that anyone who gets seriously interested in aviation through Flight will end up "graduating" to FSX, X-Plane, Prepar3d, etc. I remember my flightsimming path going something like Pilotwings, F/A-18 Hornet, A-10 Cuba, MS Flight Sim 5 (I think that was it... ran it on a Mac PowerPC), FS 2002, 2004, FSX...

Edited January 5, 201214 yr by flytn

LOL, unfortunately I think you are right!

I actually believe / guess / speculate that MS will bring Flight up to at least FSX standard in terms of content and functionality. For me, it is too early to write this thing off. The press release mentions that Flight has "region-specific weather patterns" - I would not know why they do this for Hawaii only. (http://forum.avsim.net/topic/358544-ms-press-release-flight-01042012/)I just guess that it will all be cut into smaller pieces than my above example. Those that buy just the region where they live because they want to fly "at home" will get this for a quite small price... those who want the planet (= all scenery pieces) and every feature will likely pay more than for FSX+Accel.And IMO there would be absolutely nothing wrong with that. What makes or breaks the deal is, if *detailed* scenery (airports etc.) can and will be made by third parties, and if planes will be developed by Those Who Care for the physics.

I would not know why they do this for Hawaii only

Because Hawaii is a region maybe?

LM are already selling a $10 per month 'developer' subscription.......there is no emphais on anyone to prove they are a developer though.

I suspect it won't be too much longer before Microsoft closes that little loophole.

Because Hawaii is a region maybe?

I understood "region-specific weather patterns" to mean that weather would be different in different regions, indicating that more regions will be available. Not that the weather system was reduced to only "typically" Hawaiian weather because there will only ever be one single region.But even if I am right, this unfortunately does not necessarily mean that the entire planet will be done.

I'm certain they'll add on regions, I was just pulling your leg.