So Dovetail outbid PMDG and other 3rd party devs for the MS FSX code.

 

What kind of bid was this for? Basically, does Microsoft still own or have any claim or rights to the code whatsoever? If yes, then what is preventing PMDG from bidding with Microsoft again and purchasing the FSX code?

 

And if no, then that means Dovetail can do with the code whatever it wants, including re-selling it to PMDG, correct?

 

 

 

My thoughts are this...

 

Dovetail gets better fps than FSX, solves the OOM VAS issues, then everyone jumps on board. PMDG supports Dovetail because it doesn't run into the licensing issues like P3D and less of a hassle/port compared to X-plane.

 

Years down the road, after Dovetail has cornered the market, what is to prevent them from pulling the rug from underneath everyone's collective feet? So to speak?

 

If FSX-SE basically flops or ends up catering only to the "FLIGHT" arcade market/demographic, then perhaps Dovetail will see that it makes more financial sense for their own bottomline to resell the code to PMDG (doesn't mean Dovetail will kill off FSX-SE, just that it will be liberated the code for others to develope an independent platform), and stand to make more money that way than try to skim the PMDG simming crowd by forcing everyone on FSX-SE a la FLIGHT style and then once they get everyone on board, they do a bait and switch?

 

 

The "what ifs" sound more like a conspiracy theory!

I'm buying more stock in Reynolds Aluminum! :Money Eyes:

 

 

then what is preventing PMDG from bidding with Microsoft again and purchasing the FSX code?

 

Nothing but enough $$.

 

MS will sell to whomever has enough cash.

So Dovetail outbid PMDG and other 3rd party devs for the MS FSX code.

 

What kind of bid was this for? Basically, does Microsoft still own or have any claim or rights to the code whatsoever? If yes, then what is preventing PMDG from bidding with Microsoft again and purchasing the FSX code?

 

And if no, then that means Dovetail can do with the code whatever it wants, including re-selling it to PMDG, correct?

Not correct.

 

Microsoft still retains full ownership of the source code to FSX. They did not sell FSX itself to Dovetail - they sold a license permitting Dovetail to use the FSX source code to make and distribute a version of FSX via the Steam distribution platform.

 

Dovetail made some modifications to the code to make multiplayer work again, (since Microsoft's own multiplayer servers were shut down), and they also corrected some known bugs in the graphics engine. The modified source code was re-compiled with a newer version of Microsoft's Visual Studio, which seems to have resulted in the Steam version of FSX running more efficiently on modern hardware compared to the original FSX, with possibly better utilization of VAS memory.

 

But in any case, I'm quite sure that Dovetail could not, under any circumstances, re-sell FSX to anyone else, as they do not own it - Microsoft still does. Dovetail HAS been given the right, however, to use the underlying FSX technology to produce a brand-new simulation platform of their own design - but at this time, nobody knows when that might happen, or what form the new platform might take.

 

Since Microsftt still owns the rights to FSX, I assume there would be no reason why they could not license the FSX source code to another developer as well - but I'm quite sure the price would be very high.

Microsoft still retains full ownership of the source code to FSX. They did not sell FSX itself to Dovetail - they sold a license permitting Dovetail to use the FSX source code to make and distribute a version of FSX via the Steam distribution platform.

From reading this, it sounds like Dovetail could do with FSX what Lockheed Martin has done with ESL. As PMDG has reminded us, the FSX license is for entertainment use only, so Dovetail might also be restricted by that license as well.

 

While Prepar3D v2.x and FSX are still more closely compatible, we could see more separation between Prepar3D and Dovetail's version of FSX that makes some of the cross-buy goodness go away. Dovetail's development strategy for the next version of FSX will probably not aglign with Lockheed Martin's.

 

Let me have some fun and speculate, what if Dovetail's version of FSX hit 64bit first?

Edited December 26, 201411 yr by n4gix
Removed excessive quote.

 

 

Let me have some fun and speculate, what if Dovetail's version of FSX hit 64bit first?

 

<speculate>That would be good since it's likely the Dovetail version's price would remain reasonable as an entertainment product, and developers with existing products are also more likely to adapt their products to the Dovetail version without forcing a separate license with a higher price.  </speculate>

Let me have some fun and speculate, what if Dovetail's version of FSX hit 64bit first?

 

Let me have some fun and speculate, what if Dovetail's version of FSX hit 64bit first?