True. For those that may not know.... Steam is a platform, made by Valve, who released their games onto Steam. Steam is not actually a company, it was developed by a company... Valve runs it and manages it!

 

http://www.valvesoftware.com/company/

 

 

Exactly..   The Gaben is god

 

http://gabegaming.com/

Wouldn't it be funny if they just took the content from FSX and placed it into new flight and charged $5 for each one.

 

Australia $5, New Zealand $5, US $5, Europe $5 (might have to split that one up a bit). If a million people download each one (just to have a look) they just made $ 20 Million Dollars - Yeah!

 

It's all about volume.

So, we have FSX, maybe highly modded, as well as FS9, well, some of us still, & also P3D... we all going to wait & see what the FSX-Steam edition is all about? I think that we already have great flight sim engines & it is the add-on developers, both free & payware, that have made the sims what they are today.

Methinks we have far too many guys that want & expect more, & maybe these guys should learn have to develop add-ons to give something back to this amazing & controversial hobby of ours.

 

Thanks for the Steam/Valve info. Basically, we will have a new distribution platform for FSX, as well as, from what I gather, X-Plane.

I'm still not too sure as to how it will impact those that have FSX or those that have moved on.

This clarifies for me, copied from another forum...

I quote...""Steam opens up a new customer base of people that to be honest aren't really Flight Simmers.....They are looking for a turn-key experience and Flight Sim is far more complex then that.

 

Same will most likely happen when FSX makes its way onto Steam as it will be sold to the Steam Masses who never really bothered with Flight Sim before. A handful will get hooked onto it but many will not be able to figure it out.

..

That's only to be expected from a community that consists of gamers of all kinds, of which very, very few are "serious simmers", or even potential ones. Unfortunately the process of turning potential into actual is not helped by Laminar's or Aerosoft's apparent disinterest in giving support. Also we have the usual militants screaming out the "IT'S A SIM, NOT A GAME" mantra in the face of everyone who "doesn't get it", which isn't helping one bloody bit.

Having XP10 (and soon FSX apparently) on Steam is a great opportunity to reach out and get some fresh blood into the flight simming community, and as expected it's being handled in the worst possible way. 

 

Just a few thoughts.. lol, maybe, as Steam is a GAME distributor, this will finally give the final word that FSX, originally developed by a gaming studio, is actually a game. 

The FSX version offered on Steam will not be any different than the one you purchased in the box. They are not making any changes to the program other than (as they say) fix a few bugs. Which by the way have not yet been defined.

 

As for what their own development of a sim will be, I don't think anyone outside their little circle knows what that will be.  Perhaps it will be based on the Flight engine. I seriously doubt they would take the FSX engine over Flight. There is just no comparison in how they run. I can even run Flight flawlessly on my low end lap top. I could never think of doing that with FSX or even FS9 for that matter.

 

What they do with their license purchase is yet to be seen. Anything else is merely speculation.  Sure does keep the forums revving though doesn't it?

STEAM is just a distribution platform. It does not develop software.

Dovetail will sell FSX (with all available Service Packs and Acceleration Pack made by MS) via STEAM.

And STEAM is not selling just games. The store also sells other software of any kind. Look: http://store.steampowered.com/software/

 

X-Plane 10 was released just 4 days ago on STEAM.

Maybe Aerosoft and Laminar research want to be in pole position with a Flight Simulator for the masses before Dovetail hits the shelf with FSX Steam Edition and a (possible) MSFlight successor later.

I hope we will see a Q&A with Dovetail here in the near future about their intentions and plans.

 

In addition i want to mention that FSX isn`t new to the masses and is not just a niche product for simmers. As far as i remember FSX was top seller in pc games for weeks and in the top 20 almost a year.

It`s just the simmers that stick to it since then. That is almost 8 years ago? In the meantime the "gamer kiddies" grew up and didn`t know about FSX or Flight Sims, because they are not available in their environment (e.g. STEAM) and just outdated. Who uses 8 year old software? Just the Flight Simmers, because we have nothing really new.

Today it`s just normal for any new software/game/simulator to be distributed via digital online platforms.

 

We just need a new flight simulator.

X-plane is many things, some good, some bad......

 

But a simulator for the masses, it definitely is not!

 

​(I don't think it even wants to be)

DCS World has been on Steam for a while now, as have a couple of train simulators, so getting serious sims via Steam is not exactly a new thing.

Oh great!

 

Train Simulator 2015 will launch on September 18 for PC as both box and digital download from Steam. The game will be compatible "with an existing range of more than 100 add-on locomotives and routes." Happy tracks, folks!

Looks like DTG has stacked up their determination in the Simulation franchise! Well, how about it, a tweaked Flight Simulator X and Train Simulator 2015, up for release next year!

 

http://www.dovetailgames.com/news/2014/jul/21/dovetail-games-announces-train-simulator-2015-for-september-18

I've been away from MS Flight for about 8 months now, but this positive news has rekindled my interest! In fact, I fancy taking the Icon for a spin in the alaskan wilderness.

 

MS Flight is being revived...I hoped, but I did not expect. I'm so glad I was wrong! Between flights with X-Plane 10, I will be watching this space.

 

- jarsky

Nothing new to tell you... but I contacted Dovetail and at the moment they are still "concentrating on bringing FSX to Steam later in the year."
Microsoft Flight is being held short...  :(

 

To be fair.. we are only humans! 

My MS flight days feel so ancient now! Hard to believe it was only a few months ago I was still playing religiously.... Haven't launched since the shutdown date though...

 

But this sounds like great news! I hope good comes out of it. I also heard of the news that FSX was coming to Steam, but didn't know they had intentions for Microsoft Flight. Is there anything new to find?

We don't at this time know what DG has in mind for Flight. The only sim they've mentioned at this point is FSX on Steam.

 

We'll just have to wait and see what they do. In the meantime we can look forward to the work Steve, Kavinda, Luis Felize Torado, and some others are doing to enable us to expand our world in Flight. It looks very promising.

Hmm… I’d always thought that DTG had something planned for Flight, though they have not mentioned so. Why would any firm try and recreate FSX? I mean, it’s already occupied by Lockheed Martin? They are doing a good job of developing it. Aren't they?

     Theoretically, Flight’s engine should be integrated into the new Sim, otherwise DTG are not going to be off to a good start in the Flight Simulation franchise.

 

As you have already mentioned, Rick, there’s no point assuming what the new Sim will be based on, but in the meantime, let’s keep our eyes peeled for any clues!

Stephen Hood, previously creative director for Codemasters' Formula One series of racing games, has joined Dovetail Games to head up the studio's internally produced flight simulator.

Hood is joined at Dovetail by another new hire, Nick Rooke. Rooke will take up the role of head of third party business at the studio, having previously held role at both Microsoft and SCE.

 

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2014-12-12-new-creative-director-for-dovetail-games

Interesting to see where this goes.