Is Alaska next?

[RoboRay 126]

Microsoft ist attending E3, but only for XBOX360 games. Officially there will be no presentation of Flight.

 

Maybe they are announcing the XBox version of Flight.

 

[HiFlyer 9,372]

Yes. Previously they have always a couple of weeks before mentioning the next DLC. It's almost like THEY are ready to move on, too.

 

Dribbling away! :LMAO:

[Torg Smith 31]

Not all autopilots do all that. A very simple system offering just basic "HDG Hold" and "ALT Hold" would be sufficient to alleviate most of the problems of having to fly hands-on at all times. Heck, that would be enough to get me flying long-range Jobs in rough weather.

 

I think they want to fire and forget the DLC. In other words, I don’t think they want to go back and revisit past content.

 

The SDK they release is just an interface between Microsoft and anybody that works with the SDK. Microsoft says if you call any method in the SDK it will work the way the SDK says it will. While they don’t need an SDK, they will probably have internal notes on the different subsystems.

 

Take the Maul for example. The autopilot has buttons on it. They would tie the button click to a method in the interface to signify that something needed to happen. Now there is a chance that some state information may need to be passed in with that method call. Initializing the autopilot when the plane is loading into the game, they may need to pass in some pointers to callback functions that take commands from the autopilot to adjust the controls to maintain current flight. All the parameters need to be defined before it is used.

 

Later on they decide that to get a great amount of a performance boost, they need to change what state information is being passed in and the signature of the callbacks need to change. Well they now have a dilemma. The Maul will break if they implement this change. They have three choices. They can skip this optimization until Flight 2, go back and spend the time reworking the Maul (and any other plane that may have the old autopilot), or they can keep the old methods and callbacks in and create new ones that support the optimization.

 

The first choice is most likely as it is the most cost effective one. The second one could have a rather significant cost as when you go back to change the Maul you realize that the new data needed is not available at the time the call is being made and you need to rewrite a bunch of code that will require a regression test on the Maul. This could be very expensive. The third choice can be done, but it increases maintenance costs as over time you will have half a dozen different implementations of the autopilot. If you do need to go back and work the Maul and it ties into the autopilot for some reason, you will need to re-familiarize yourself with the old system to make sure you do not break it.

 

I don’t work at Microsoft and don’t have any inside information. My comments above are my general understanding of programming. Sorry for the wall of text.

[RoboRay 126]

Had they no intention of "revisiting DLC" then the Maule would probably not even have had an inop autopilot in the panel... there would have been a blank-off plate installed in that spot.

 

[HiFlyer 9,372]

Had they no intention of "revisiting DLC" then the Maule would probably not even have had an inop autopilot in the panel... there would have been a blank-off plate installed in that spot.

 

Well it was asked on the Beta forum whether DLC was "as is" never to be revisited, or whether there would be updates ala' Orbx from time to time. The question was completely ignored.

[RoboRay 126]

So, pretty much like how they answer every question?

[HiFlyer 9,372]

So, pretty much like how they answer every question?

 

Yeah. (sigh)

 

They seem to be under such tight restraints that they cant project anything to us.... Including a sense of their enthusiasm for their own project, and of confidence in the future.

 

Flight needs to borrow some promotional energy from the sham-wow guy.

[doggie015 0]

Yeah. (sigh)

 

They seem to be under such tight restraints that they cant project anything to us.... Including a sense of their enthusiasm for their own project, and of confidence in the future.

 

Flight needs to borrow some promotional energy from the sham-wow guy.

 

Vince Offer?

 

At this stage I doubt that even the late Billy Mays can save Flight if the team does not take their head out of the sand and release a "deluxe" aircraft with a fully working VC soon!

[RoboRay 126]

It's not the team. It's their management.

[Torg Smith 31]

I have heard people at Microsoft push Agile Development. I don’t think highly of it. Here is an overview of it. I believe long term planning is important.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agile_software_development

 

You don’t make any changes that take more than a couple weeks. In other words, only make small changes. It throws out long term planning.

 

Here is Microsoft pimping it in their Patterns & Practices where they tell you the best way to do stuff.

 

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/practices/dd128747.aspx

[RoboRay 126]

That sounds a little like my last Navy command... I swear their motto was "Why plan when we can react?"

 

[Gibbage 199]

Agile Development is a nice concept, and works great for indy developers. Within a big corp structure that exist's in MS, there is just no possible way. It takes MONTHS of meetings and research just to figure out what hand to wipe your rear end with over there, and I dont see that changing any time soon. The only way it could work is MS letting the Flight team do what they do best without being micro-managed. That didnt work with Bungie very well because no matter what, MS still wanted to micro-manage it so Bungie left.

[T_Fleck 36]

I agree with those here that say Alaska is a make or break DLC. However, for me it is not about adding ATC , or any of the other most requested items. It is about having something "fun" to do for bloody sakes. I would be lying if I said the last three months did not test my patients with the direction the DLC has gone. I cannot say whether or not "staying the course" was the correct decision or not, but I can say that at this point whatever Howad wants to do, doing the opposite would be the wiser choice. I just hope for their sake, and the sake of the users that they really deliver with Alaska.

[fsxkitty 62]

My prediction is that on June 27 the "Alaskan Wilderness" package will be released at a price of $35. Included in the pack will be a helicopter and a bush plane (both with VCs), many new missions and lots of aerocaches. There will also be something else which will improve Flight's experience. On the same day, another aircraft with a VC will be released for $20.

[RoboRay 126]

I agree with those here that say Alaska is a make or break DLC. However, for me it is not about adding ATC , or any of the other most requested items. It is about having something "fun" to do for bloody sakes.

 

What are you looking for as "fun"?