now they were beta testers for Microsoft

 

I've been a beta-tester for Microsoft since MS-DOS 5 LOL..I continue to this day...

 

but I believe now that its just part of the change process

 

It's a bit like PTSD..classic pseudo-bereavement symptoms

 

Change is always hard. Plus ca change; rien c'est la meme chose :Thinking:

Its one of the first things I did when the initial yelling about flight began. I have said before that there is a lot of convenient amnesia going on about that, but I believe now that its just part of the change process.

 

Nobody likes change...

Its one of the first things I did when the initial yelling about flight began. I have said before that there is a lot of convenient amnesia going on about that, but I believe now that its just part of the change process.

 

There was almost a revolution when FSX came out. Typical discussions were about how FS9 users would never buy FSX even if it was free. It looked bad, it was amateurish, frame rates were in the dumpster, users had to spend thousands to upgrade their hardware, there were no 3rd party add-ons, the default aircraft were unflyable, and on and on. Quite a few simmers that I personally knew at the time, gradually stopped flying altogether, ( including me) because they didn't want to start from scratch with FX, and they felt that FS9 issues would now never be fixed.

 

There are even lengthy discussions presently on Avsim, about people that are "upgrading" their FSX to ( ready for this ) FS9....They say it runs better, looks better, and they have more add ons available.

 

Nobody likes change...

 

You got that right.

I've been on sabbatical from flight sims since around the time FS9 came out, so I missed all the "excitement" last go around.

 

But I wonder if knowledge that third-parties could and likely would fix many of the shortcomings in the delivered product may have tempered them somewhat, as compared to this paradigm change. Now, with no indication of when or even if anyone will ever get the opportunity to address the problems Microsoft doesn't devote time or money to correcting, I can understand the unwillingness to consider change even more.

It might be that MS in the end needs to open the platform to some degree, if nothing else to keep interest from dwindling. They already have a nice delivery mechanism in the Live marketplace, and they'll be able to tax the contributed content to make some income on it. On the other hand, there's always the technology problems of sandboxes and interfaces, which I understand didn't work great in the FS days, and these are essentially no easier today than with earlier versions of Windows/FS (Maybe Win8 has some stuff that could be used).

But I wonder if knowledge that third-parties could and likely would fix many of the shortcomings in the delivered product may have tempered them somewhat, as compared to this paradigm change. Now, with no indication of when or even if anyone will ever get the opportunity to address the problems Microsoft doesn't devote time or money to correcting, I can understand the unwillingness to consider change even more

 

My impression is that the devs are struggling to keep up. Lots of bugs to fix. Lots of aircraft to fix ( need cockpits). Lots of wishes to provide (all documented on ths forum). How do they sleep at night?

 

Either MSGS needs to beef up the team or further consideration needs to be given to what 3PD's could do to help.

 

Having said that, I for one am very comfortable with the DLC pricing so far and do not want to get charged over the top 3PD prices for DLC.

 

Bit of a conudrum.

My impression is that the devs are struggling to keep up. Lots of bugs to fix. Lots of aircraft to fix ( need cockpits). Lots of wishes to provide (all documented on ths forum). How do they sleep at night?

 

Either MSGS needs to beef up the team or further consideration needs to be given to what 3PD's could do to help.

 

Having said that, I for one am very comfortable with the DLC pricing so far and do not want to get charged over the top 3PD prices for DLC.

 

Bit of a conudrum.

 

If I recall correctly, FS9 had major bugs galore when it was released, and months and months later after the service packs were released, it still had many, many problems, and still does to this day. The fact that Flight has not crashed or locked up on me in all the hours I have flown it, has no major problems, but some minor flaws in 600,000 miles of territory shows to me that the programmers have done and excellent job, and this is with a much smaller team than FS9 and FSX had. Look at the problems that are listed on this Flight Forum, mostly minor little annoyances rather than major problems. Nothing in life is perfect, and that goes for simulation programs to. I worked on simulation displays for the largest makers of simulators in the World, that cost 10's of millions of dollars, and there were always bugs and programmers were always trying to fix this and that, and these simulators did not have the detail that Flight does.

 

I guess we can complain about the paint color on a terminal building, or a bush in the wrong place, or the taxiway tilting in the wrong direction, but to me it's all nonsense. I now can fly a simulation program on my PC that makes me feel like I am up in the air in a single engine plane, and that doesn't crash and burn every time I try to run it. That keeps me to busy to look over the entire 600,000 miles with a microscope looking for every little fault I can find.

I guess we can complain about the paint color on a terminal building, or a bush in the wrong place, or the taxiway tilting in the wrong direction, but to me it's all nonsense. I now can fly a simulation program on my PC that makes me feel like I am up in the air in a single engine plane, and that doesn't crash and burn every time I try to run it. That keeps me to busy to look over the entire 600,000 miles with a microscope looking for every little fault I can find.

 

What may be nonsense to you may not be nonsense to someone else, of course. There are quite some flaws in Alaska that do take away something of the immersion. It's nice that you are satisfied that it all feels real up in the air and that the program doesn't crash but some people want more then that. I like to fly very low and slow and seeing odd 'waterfalls' and bumps in the water is really spoiling it a little. And I don't need a microscope to see that. And bushes aren't simply in the wrong place, but sometimes in places that make landing a bit hard. Just to name two problems. I don't care if FS9 was bugged or not: I am playing Flight and not FS9 and some things really need to be dealt with!

 

You make it sound as if everyone who complains about something is a moaner but that's a bit harsh imho.

My impression is that the devs are struggling to keep up. Lots of bugs to fix. Lots of aircraft to fix ( need cockpits). Lots of wishes to provide (all documented on ths forum). How do they sleep at night?

 

Bugs = well hopefully as folks see them, they report them either on the Steam support forum, or emailing them to the Flight Team.

Aircraft to fix = the no cockpit aircraft were by design, so really hard to say they need a fix. However it would be very nice, if they developed cockpits and offered them as some sort of dlc for sure. Or at least some new aircraft with cockpits.

Wishes = They have already started, with Track IR support and working toe brake axis. Hopefully sign of more to come...

Sleep = I hope they sleep very well, so they are fresh and alert when working on the above.

Surely Flight is featured and priced to meet the requirements of its target market - which isn't Flight Simulation enthusiasts?

 

The Alaskan Wilderness Pack is priced at $14.99 (less than £10 sterling). At that price it is unrealistic to expect ORBX/PMDG qualilty.

You guys need to read this article from top to bottom, the man who wrote the article is not loved by everybody but he is right on the money if you ask me.

 

 

 

You can apply this article to any sim.

 

http://asn.aerosoft.com/?page_id=10773

 

My impression is that the devs are struggling to keep up. Lots of bugs to fix. Lots of aircraft to fix ( need cockpits). Lots of wishes to provide (all documented on ths forum). How do they sleep at night?

 

Either MSGS needs to beef up the team or further consideration needs to be given to what 3PD's could do to help.

 

Having said that, I for one am very comfortable with the DLC pricing so far and do not want to get charged over the top 3PD prices for DLC.

 

Bit of a conudrum.

 

I feel they are doing about as well as a small, poorly funded team could possibly hope to do. I just wish they had more to do it with.

 

I am generally very pleased with Flight. While using, it is extraordinarily rare that I think "this could be better if only...."

 

It is only when I shut it down that I think about what all it lacks.

 

I'm content to watch Flight slowly grow, so long as it grows in ways that it enhance it as a simulation, as well as a game.

 

I would not be chomping at the bit saying "More! More!" if I wasn't liking what they have been giving us.