I am curious to know how a dual install (FSX AND Steam edition) will work. Anyone try that yet? Any downsides?

With all the recent doom and gloom over Dovetail Games, I really did not expect to see them release it for less than a fiver.

 

Pleasantly surprised!

I am curious to know how a dual install (FSX AND Steam edition) will work. Anyone try that yet? Any downsides?

 

The FSX page says that having both versions installed is possible, but add-on installers might be confused.

This may reduce the dreaded OOM crashes at end of flight.

No it will not, this are only a few 'tweaks' in the fsx.cfg that's all. Don't expect to much, dovetail has only the distribution rights from Microsoft.

Nice a digital copy of fsx for that price.

With all the recent doom and gloom over Dovetail Games, I really did not expect to see them release it for less than a fiver.

 

Pleasantly surprised!

 

This is Steam's WInter sale were millions of gamers are going to spend the next week buying all kinds of games they will never install and with the price so low and a 80% discount most will just buy it for later or for nostalgia purposes.

So it's been re-compiled with vs2013 so it might take advantage of new cpu features particularly avx (Sandy bridge onwards) and avx2 (Haswell onwards)

 

 

Would be great to see if there is a fps difference between versions on someone who has a Haswell cpu.

 

I somehow doubt it but you never know

It's downloading at a veritable crawl for me. The server must be getting hammered.

If both the Steam and plain MS versions can be installed at the same time, that means two seperate registry entries.

 

Be careful when installing addons that automatically hook to the MS version, because you will probably have to redirect it to the Steam installation.

 

There is also the matter of addons that modify the fsx.cfg, dll.xml or exe.xml... I'm guessing that the Steam edition must have a seperate version of these as well.

 

The more I think about it, installing FSX products into the Steam version looks to need some work akin to installing FSX products into P3D.

It's downloading at a veritable crawl for me. The server must be getting hammered.

 

602 KB/sec here... (Argentina)

Existing FSX Owners, check here first

If I already own FSX should I buy FSX: Steam Edition?

That decision is up to you. Your existing boxed version of FSX will continue to work after the release of FSX: Steam Edition, however future updates will only support the Steam Edition of the simulator. We have made some functional changes to FSX in the development of FSX: Steam Edition, but in terms of content nothing new has been added at this time.

 

What changes have you made in FSX: Steam Edition from the Microsoft-supplied boxed version of FSX? 

This is a re-release of FSX Gold Edition so you should not expect dramatic differences. However, we have updated it to include all standard Steam functionality, we’ve removed CD checking and combined the components of Gold Edition into a single installation. The major change we've made is in replacing the now-defunct GameSpy multiplayer systems with Steam features, enabling multiplayer to work seamlessly once again. Our aim in this first instance has been to ensure that the software will run for as many people as possible rather than radically improving or updating it.

 

Will there be new content with the initial release?

No, the initial release will only contain the content that was provided with the original FSX GOLD pack which includes Flight Simulator X Deluxe and Acceleration pack, both official Service Packs, with the addition of Steamworks multiplayer

 

What advantage, if any, is there for existing customers to purchasing FSX: Steam Edition?

First of all, although we know that some people are resistant to digitally distributed software we see many benefits of it, not least of all ease of reinstallation and not having to find keys etc. Secondly we have restored the multiplayer features using Steam capabilities and we have sorted out a number of software problems. However, we do appreciate the current benefits for existing users are modest. 

 

 

 

If you already have FSX add-ons

 

Will my existing collection of non-Steam add-ons work with FSX: Steam Edition?

There are so many add-ons currently available for FSX that we cannot promise that all of them will work with no issues. FSX: Steam Edition is installed in a different way to the boxed version and occupies a different location so it is possible that some add-ons may not work, but rest assured that we have made every effort to ensure that as many of them as possible work. Where add-ons do not immediately function with FSX: Steam Edition we will try to work with the community, developer or publisher of the add-on to find the solutions as needed. Again, we cannot promise that 100% of all add-ons released over the history of FSX will work with FSX: Steam Edition, but we are committed to trying.

 

Will I be able to continue using freeware add-ons with FSX: Steam Edition?

As with all other existing add-ons available for FSX we cannot give any guarantees that these will work without issue, however nothing has been intentionally changed with the simulator to block the use of free add-ons.

 

If I have both versions of FSX on my system, in which version of FSX will the non-Steam add-ons be automatically installed?

Most add-ons supplied include installers that are outside of our control and so we cannot definitively predict what their behaviour will be. We expect that most would default to whichever version of FSX was installed first. With some add-on installers, you may be able to direct the add-on installer to deploy into FSX: Steam Edition, but we cannot guarantee the add-on will function correctly in this environment. 

 

Will there be any conflicts if FSX: Box and FSX: Steam Editions are installed on the same computer?

Great question. 

 

If you already have FSX Gold Edition and add-ons installed they will only be accessible through your existing installation. They will not be duplicated across the original edition and Steam Edition of the simulator.

 

If you wish to access your add-ons via FSX: Steam Edition you will need to reinstall your add-ons, pointing them toward the Steam Edition of the simulator.

 

We have worked to make sure the two versions of FSX can coexist, but we cannot guarantee that in all circumstances there will be no problems. If you have a very extensive add-on collection, you might want to consider installing FSX and FSX Steam Edition on separate PCs.

 

Dovetail Games offer a large range of add-ons via Steam for Train Simulator. Are you expecting to do the same for FSX: Steam Edition?

We do plan to offer a range of high-quality add-ons for FSX: Steam Edition. There are, of course, a huge number of FSX add-ons out there and we are certainly not going to try to offer everything - rather we will offer a range of options that we think will appeal to the typical user of the Steam system. There will be more information on this front, along with plenty of opportunity for FSX owners to request and suggest expansion options in the future.

 

Are you working with third parties to publish existing add-ons and to create new ones?

Yes, we are working with some great partners to help bring exciting new add-on content to FSX: Steam Edition.

 

Will all the 3rd party Scenery and Aircraft providers have to recreate their models and sceneries for this?

No, we expect most add-ons should just work as they are, though they may need installing again to the correct directory. Some add-ons which require specific functionality may not work at this stage and we’re working with as many providers as possible to create compatibility.

 

 

Flight hardware support

 

Will I be able to continue using my hardware (eg. Yokes, switch panels etc) with FSX: Steam Edition?

Nothing in the simulator has been changed to interfere with the use of flight peripherals however due to the numerous different ways hardware can be implemented it is possible there may be issues in some set-ups. 

I'm curious about changes to the multi-player functionality. Is multi-player now limited exclusively to Steam's server or are connections to servers such as DigitalThemePark, BostonVirtualATC.com. etc. still possible?

 

Thanks.

The FSX page says that having both versions installed is possible, but add-on installers might be confused.

It's the addon installers I'm worried about. How will both (or just FSX:SE on its own) appear in the registry? Will the addons be able to find it? Are the cfg files still located in the same root system folders? I have so many questions, and at this point can only wait for the inevitable reports of brave guinea pigs.

Really a no brainer. Even as a backup copy of the boxed FSX. They should sell millions of copies.

 

Well done Dovetail for the right strategy.

I bought it, $4.99... Why not. Used a gift card that had like $6.42 on it. Opted into the "New Build" Beta. Whatever that means.

 

Getting 7.2 MB/s download