Should Microsoft bother with Aircraft? serious :-)

[Tierborn 188]

>I think it's just marvellous that we have a new sim, full of>new goodies, every two years. Makes the shelf life of many>payware add-ons rather short, too.>>Mark "Dark Moment" Beaumont>>http://www.swiremariners.com/newlogo.jpgWell said ....Vernon

[Guest ponyboy]

Yes, MS should definately continue. Just look at their Century of Flight series of aircraft. They are excellent. Just the right combination of detail yet framerate friendly. Sure they need to update the 747, 777, and the 734 but those guys are excellent modelers and are easily up to the task.Where else to you get 10-15 aircraft complete with 2-d, 3-d panels, and custom sound for $50 bucks? Oh yea... they through in a world of scenery to boot! ;)Also, the same argument could be said about scenery... why now sub-contract that out to FSGenesis, and then the textures, then the weather machine. You could sub out the whole product.

[Guest]

No, and for 2 reasons.1) it would still take the same time to create.2) the number of customers for FS itself would plummet.Due to 1) the cost of development would skyrocket (as the development team would increase in size dramatically).Due to 2) the revenue from sales would go down drastically.Both will cause the salesprice of FS to go up sharply, causing a further loss in sales.You'd end up with the $1000 copy of FS (yes, I did take that increased development effort into account).

[mgh 89]

I wouldn't be surprised if most FS purchasers run it "straight out of the box".That's probably the reason why FS starts with engines running and the message about parking brakes - press ".", open the throttle and away you go, wiggling your joystick once you're airborne!.I've read posts from, presumably, experienced users (after all they've downloaded and installed the packages) saying they can't start the engines on some detailed 3rd aircraft: another post complained about the time it took to start up and prepare for takeoff.I've no doubt these packages are accurately detailed but would be completely inappropriate for the majority(?) of users who MS must target. Just consider some of the elementary questions that are asked in these forums. I'm not denigrating those who ask them - we all began in a state of ignorance and had to learn ourselves -but they do illustrate some of the considerations that MS must take into account.

[btacon 1,790]

They should continue to build aircraft and make at least 1 of the added aircraft "state of the art". Best MS can envision.From there, other developers will show them how it is done! Everyone learns, many profit $$$ - wise, and we all profit as hobbyist and enthusiast. NO ONE HAS TO BUY anything more than FS09...you can get an "intro to flight" for the initial investment of 20 - 40 $$$ US, but once you buy an

[greggerm 312]

I did a quick glance through the responses to Peter's thoughts, and found so many people simply missing his point, or otherwise going into the details that a contract could easily determine....Contract employees - many MANY game shops contract out sound effects, texture effects, and other portions of a game they are working on in the interest of speed and efficiency. This allows the inhouse developers to concentrate on other things, or lessen their workload enough so that they can pefect something they otherwise wouldn't have time for. The contracted employees specalize in the field, and can whip up great work in far less time than a multifunction programmer may be able to. Peter is simply stating that if Microsoft were to look outside it's offices for contract employees to work on the airplanes, they have a WEALTH of talent in the "public sector" who may be able to create aircraft superior to what they could do in-house, and in less time. It's not a matter if Average Joe can tell the difference... It's a matter of holding your standards high. We all know that MS would probably never do something like this, but it makes for great conversation fodder. NO - He's not suggesting that they remove all default aircraft from the product and ship the sim as a terrain and weather generator for 3rd party aircraft. (Although I would be interested in that version, should it ever come about!) Most 3rd party aircraft developers out here are doing it as a second job. Thus, it takes many months to go from start-to-finish on a project. If Microsoft were to bring in some external talent, I am sure they would have some strict deadlines AND provide full-time wages to insure the project was completed on time. I don't think we're talking about LDS767 caliber aircraft, either. Just some planes that don't feel so crippled when compared to outside offerings. It just seems that the 3rd party developer has found the way to make a simulated airplane behave as it should in the virtual world, and those that developed the sim it in the first place cannot. The very same can be said about their scenery division. If they went outside, or at least employed the technologies that current 3rd parties do, they could vastly improve their scenery generation. Peter - I'm with you on the idea. While I know it'll never happen, I can see your logic in it and maybe someday we'll be treated to some more advanced default aircraft that both a beginner AND an old hat can enjoy flying. -Greg(Total Sidenote: I've heard that most HIGH END, airline level simulators have pretty cruddy graphics engines powering their huge wraparound displays. I wonder why they haven't just dropped a WIDEFS setup + MSFS into the mix with some powerful computers and tied it into the sim logic. Even with sliders turned down it would be an improvement!)

[btacon 1,790]

Greg...I agree with your intent, but disagree on execution.I would rather MS invest in engine "potential", and leave the extra good to outside, 3rd party, no connection to MS individuals like Rob Young, Lou Betti, Steve Small, etc.Let MS do what it does best and the others will make their mark.My 2-cents,bt

[cat 2]

Trouble with this is bt, in my opionion, you get a brilliantaircraft set up then in 2 months time, a new version of FS arrivesand you then may have to wait 4 years for a completelyup-to-date version of your favourite to arrive again.Peter Sydney Australia