Lol pull the other one guys.

 

So that's what all you men tell your partners ""HONESTLY love were not just playing games you know we're serious simers here".

 

It's amazing to the sh@@ us woman have to Listen to

 

+1 as well

 

Denial is a river in Egypt they say  :rolleyes:

 

Face it, you are a bunch of Man-Boys playing around with Flight Simulators, there is no difference between that and any other gamer out there, you just prefer a slightly different genre   

Maybe because we are simmers & not gamers?

 

Why not both?

Why not both?

I will admit I love both....my current list includes

 

FSX

Euro Truck Simulator

Empire Total War (My all time favourite)

Total War Rome 2

Far Cry 3 and 4 (all of them really)

GTA

Assassins Creed

Skyrim

Farm Simulators (I love that kind)

Tropico4 (Gets to be dictator)

Cities in Motion (very relaxing for some reason)

Rise of Nations (Yes I still play this one)

 

I am forgetting some......but all of my current game library is all on Steam so I am happy FSX is going there so I can finally toss those stupid DVD's 

So you would blow away you're current FSX installation, just to save a half inch slot on the shelf, or not to have to retain a stack of invoices with key codes?

 

Last time I installed FSX, it was a nightmare.  Started with FSX of course.  Then the Mesh.  Then started adding in my UTX products.  Then update with each consecutive patch for each of those.   Then my GEX products and those updates.  Then Ezdok.  Then tweaks.  Then Active Sky Next on another machine.  Then MCE.  And on and on and on.  Took over a week to get it all running smoothly.  Oh wait, almost forgot about installing the airplanes.

 

Now if all this stuff was totally automated by Steam and it was as simple as clicking a checkbox by all the DLC or modifications that you desire, then sure, Steam would be great.  But what you have, at least to start off with, is all your old addons, that you still have to install manually, and tediously, and laboriously, now into a new Steam version of pretty much the same FSX.  Are you confident it will really be much less of a pain?

Seriously though, I wonder if there won't be a bunch of kiddies downloading FSX to their laptops thinking they are getting a game, and then being turned off by the fact that as far as games go, FSX really doesn't offer much in that department.  I know for me though, to make it more than that takes a lot of work, and that doesn't strike me as compatible with the download-and-play/plug in DLC model that I associate with Steam.  It could very well be that I just don't have enough experience with Steam to know otherwise.

 

I think some on here need to take a better look at Steam and the PC gaming market. The average age of PC gamers is some where in the 30s, depending on the study. NPD says 38 in their report from September of this year.

 

https://www.npd.com/wps/portal/npd/us/news/press-releases/37-percent-of-us-population-age-9-and-older-currently-plays-pc-games/

 

Steam is so popular because it works very well as a game distribution platform, and is slowly moving into software in general, and I think it is a great place for flight sims. Games, especially smaller ones, can have a much higher visibility as all users on Steam have to access. and all in one place. It's just unfortunate that so many can't seem to get past the stereotype of gamers being 12 years old. Many certainly won't be interested, but some will. And more flight sim users can only be a good thing for the rest of us.

So you would blow away you're current FSX installation, just to save a half inch slot on the shelf, or not to have to retain a stack of invoices with key codes?

 

Last time I installed FSX, it was a nightmare.  Started with FSX of course.  Then the Mesh.  Then started adding in my UTX products.  Then update with each consecutive patch for each of those.   Then my GEX products and those updates.  Then Ezdok.  Then tweaks.  Then Active Sky Next on another machine.  Then MCE.  And on and on and on.  Took over a week to get it all running smoothly.  Oh wait, almost forgot about installing the airplanes.

 

Now if all this stuff was totally automated by Steam and it was as simple as clicking a checkbox by all the DLC or modifications that you desire, then sure, Steam would be great.  But what you have, at least to start off with, is all your old addons, that you still have to install manually, and tediously, and laboriously, now into a new Steam version of pretty much the same FSX.  Are you confident it will really be much less of a pain?

 

If you already have FSX installed and setup the way you like it, then no, you don't need to bother with Steam, and I don't think anyone is trying to force you to switch. However, yes, that is exactly what Steam is good at. You buy the game and what ever DLC, add-ons in the world of flight sims, you want and it downloads and installs everything for you. Far easier than trying to manage a bunch of discs, receipts, serial numbers and/or product keys. Not to mention the many different DRM scheme that FS add-ons makers use and having to get a product activation reset only to find the developer is on vacation for a week. When it comes to moving Steam games to a new location, you basically just drag the Steam library folder to the new drive, or even new PC.

 

There are many advantages to using Steam, and it would be great if people would look into it in more detail before just brushing it off as a place for kiddies to play.

I think you are missing the point.  If Steam can manage all of your existing addons for FSX, and do it as good as you can manually, then that would be fabulous.  But just because it does a good job doing that with Rise of Flight, or Elder Scrolls, doesn't convince me that it can do that so transparently with FSX.  If anything, I see it as an extra layer of abstraction that might even further muddle an already confusing software baseline.   If every addon developer got on board, and worked out the myriad of ways of doing things, the DRMs, etc and transferred all of your licenses straight to steam, then that would be another matter altogether.  I just don't see that happening in such a way any time soon, such that you get a nice convenient, one-click shopping cafeteria of FSX goodies that all works great and conveniently as a black box that requires little human management.  I'm happy to be wrong, if such the case might be.

 

As far as FSX demographics being compatible with Steam demographics, I can't speak on it.  But I think we agree that conventional, solitary, boring, civilian, flight simulation, without explosions, fast paced action, boob-shaped body armor, a compelling character development track, cum social media gateway, is currently a niche.  Whether you download it on Steam or install it from an old disk, I can't see a simple remarketing of FSX as greatly expanding that niche market.  Maybe it will make Dovetail a few bucks if their sales exceed the cost of the rights they got from MSFT, but I don't really see this making flight simulation "cool" again (if it ever was to begin with). 

So you would blow away you're current FSX installation, just to save a half inch slot on the shelf, or not to have to retain a stack of invoices with key codes?

 

Yes I would.....but also consider that since FSX first came out I have lived in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Toronto, Ontario. New York City and Wellington, New Zealand so that means I no longer have to drag those stupid DVD's all around the world anymore. 

 

I get to smash them like they smashed the Fax Machine in the movie Office Space  :Big Grin:

 

But yes I am all about tossing things so the next time I have to move I don't have to bring it with me  B)

 

 

 

I think you are missing the point.  If Steam can manage all of your existing addons for FSX, and do it as good as you can manually, then that would be fabulous. 

 

I am fully aware that Steam will not manage FSX third party addons but all that stuff including my future FSX Steam Edition and all other Steam titles fits nicely on a 1" thick 1TB external hard drive and can easily travel anywhere in the world when I have to. Also if I ever lost that external drive it doesn't matter because you can download everything again 

Whether your current add-ons could be managed by Steam would be up to Dove Tail and the add-on developer. It is certainly possible though. Some games that were originally distributed outside of Steam let you register the product with Steam and add it to your library. Right now, no, we don't know exactly how current add-ons will work. However, with the restrictions placed on changes to the Steam version of FSX, I don't see why one couldn't add their current add-ons manually and then buy new ones through Steam or other sources in the future.

 

So again, if you're happy with your current setup and have everything setup and configured, there may be little point in the Steam version for you. For new users, or those like ytzpilot, it may be a great option to have. Especially as new boxed sets of FSX appear to be getting hard to find.

Why not both?

Very true,   siming of course is a game and obviously more then a game but a hobby as well and a respected one at that. 

 

 

Face it, you are a bunch of Man-Boys

Thats funny 

This has been mentioned before but ill through my 2 cent in as well.  i think its very exciting for FSX coming to steam,  if it works any thing like X-plane it will be fantastic.  

I have Steam on my OS C drive but my Steam library on my K drive and  have Prepar3d on my E drive,  one click and can do a clean install and download all 60 GiG's of X-plane onto my K drive. My connection is 15 M down so it would take about 8/9 hours to complete...So many Ad On's for FSX so it should be interesting how Dovetail will handle it

The issue right now is if the myriad of third-party developers are going to get support for the Steam version. I hope they do and I hope there aren't too many issues concerning compatibility, but as it stands now, none of them (eg. Aerosoft, Orbx, PMDG etc) have any idea how this is going to work and how the Steam versions API/FSI will differ. This is why I'm holding off on a re-purchase until this major issue is tackled.

 

Maybe because we are simmers & not gamers?

 

Hate to break it to ya, but unless you're sitting in a Level A-D FFS or FTD rated for that specific airframe, then you're in a game.

Hate to break it ta ya, too, but I believe you are making a false dichotomy between game and simulation.  By that logic, one might as well argue that anything short of the real thing is nothing but a game, even a Level-D simulator.  It is likely a discussion beyond the scope of this thread, but I will say that I think most would agree that there are very many levels on which one can approach FSX or other similar programs.   Generally speaking, people who use FSX less realistically than me are Gamers, and people who use it more realistically than me, need to get a life. 

 

 

Uh Oh. The calling someones "Game a game" has been invoked!

Uh Oh. The calling someones "Game a game" has been invoked!

 

Yeah I've tried to convince my old lady that it's not a game, especially since moving to P3D... you know, because Lockheed Martin makes it!

 

Couldn't make the case. I don't even believe it completely myself, which is probably why. We've agreed to call it "software"

Mmmm, So, now we have developers coding (still) for FSX, coding for P3D, & now, recoding for FSX-Steam? (if the install path is different).

Maybe newbies will go for Steam, & the so-called ease of install, Us old timers will carry on with either our existing FSX &/or P3D?

As, I'm sure the Steam release will not be as big as our existing market, I wonder if there will be a flood of add-ons for a 'new' game?

The mind boggles if we will now start getting installing choices when we ger a new addon. eg.. Install into 1.FSX, 2. FSX Steam, 3. P3D, 4. FS9.

Maybe the dev's will support it them.

Anyhow,... not much longer now..

Mmmm, So, now we have developers coding (still) for FSX, coding for P3D, & now, recoding for FSX-Steam? (if the install path is different).

Maybe newbies will go for Steam, & the so-called ease of install, Us old timers will carry on with either our existing FSX &/or P3D?

As, I'm sure the Steam release will not be as big as our existing market, I wonder if there will be a flood of add-ons for a 'new' game?

The mind boggles if we will now start getting installing choices when we ger a new addon. eg.. Install into 1.FSX, 2. FSX Steam, 3. P3D, 4. FS9.

Maybe the dev's will support it them.

Anyhow,... not much longer now..

 

I've installed FSX over and over again, as I'm sure you have. Eventually though, something is bound to get screwed up. Been there more times than I can count (in P3D also), and I'm sure you have as well. It typically required or requires a complete wipe and reinstall. With Steam that's not a issue. Simply verify the integrity of the cache, block certain paths if you should choose given specific addons, and your done. No need to uninstall, clear the dir's or AppD sections etc etc that was always required in the past. It's ease of use at its best. Via several mouse clicks.

 

If that's not for you then so be it. Stick to what you know and are accustomed to.

 

A lot of these conversations/posts remind me of speaking with my Grandfather on why unleaded gasoline is better than leaded for the environment and the people in it.