" Yes it's very DLC centric, however there is also a whole community outside of the Steam ecosystem producing things for it, both freeware and payware. "

 

Yep Trainsim 16 has over 1000 free workshop scenarios on Steam. And with RW_Tools it is possible to edit out the need for payware DLC in many of these. If you don't own particular payware wagons (cars) or engines (locomotives) just substitute in what you do have using RW_Tools and the scenarios can be run that way just as well. You can't substitute in buildings and scenery because they do not occupy the same space as the original. But a train with a different engine or cars still runs. If you need more power, just add another engine up front using RW_tools.

 

The point is free Steam workshops for DTG flightsimulator might also work the same way, overcome some of the need for payware DLC to do what you want to do.

Dunno.. I could never get into Train sims. The idea of following a track & not being able to go up & down, does not really excite me the way cross-winds does. Each to his own, I suppose.

The $64,000 question, for me, is: if the new Dovetail simulator is a MS Flight-clone, as most people here are speculating, are they still planning on licensing and selling FSX:SE?  Or will they let the license lapse and tell people who find their new product too simplified and game-like (if, indeed, that is how it turns out), "well, you can always shell out $200 for P3D if you don't like what we're offering"...?

 

 

The $64,000 question, for me, is: if the new Dovetail simulator is a MS Flight-clone,

 

My humble and entirely uneducated guess would be; yes.  Perhaps even more stripped down than Flight.

The $64,000 question, for me, is: if the new Dovetail simulator is a MS Flight-clone, as most people here are speculating, are they still planning on licensing and selling FSX:SE?  Or will they let the license lapse and tell people who find their new product too simplified and game-like (if, indeed, that is how it turns out), "well, you can always shell out $200 for P3D if you don't like what we're offering"...?

 

 

I doubt that. First of all because as we know P3D is not an entertainement product "officially". Second because FSX-SE still sells and still give them a certain income (which i assume is shared between Microsoft, Steam and them). If FSX-SE gets new players hooked (which it seems to be the case if you check the Steam forum for it and their questions), there is a chance they will give Dovetail Sim a chance too and spend money on it too

AFAIK, if it's not 32 bit and DX11, really not worth even trying...

Yup, FSX:SE has been a good test  for DTG to see what the market could be like for a aviation sim. We shall see..

 

As I said, I worry about the developers out there, with decisions to develop for FSX, DLC's for FSX:SE, P3D, & X-Plane.

Now we'll have yet another. Will the devs concentrate on the existing well established market, or develop for something totally new?

 

In my humble opinion, there should be 3x sims offered..

1. A basic sim for the casual player, with a pack that upgrades it to..

2. An advanced sim for the weekend warrior, with an upgrade pack to

3. An advances sim for the ' Bells 'n Whistle' simmer.

 

So, a DTG Flight Simulation, with 2x additional DLC upgrade packs, to suit all users.

Then, naturally, additional scenery, planes & other DLC's.

 

Just my thoughts.

I'm just hoping it's not FSX in yet another new package. Even MSFlight, for all its advances under the hood, was too much a child of FSX for me in the end. 

 

I really want to break out of the straightjacket on civilian simulation technology left behind by Microsoft. 

No, it's not another re-packaged FSX.

DTG has the license to re-distribute FSX, slightly modded. They cannot change the the core engine thats about 10 years old now, & Lockheed Martin has the original professional version, ESP that they can & have modded fully.

 

So, what is left? FS9, Flight! & the combat sims?

 

DTG could even actually add in the combat side of things into their sim. Maybe a bit of trains as well?

No, it's not another re-packaged FSX.

DTG has the license to re-distribute FSX, slightly modded. They cannot change the the core engine thats about 10 years old now, & Lockheed Martin has the original professional version, ESP that they can & have modded fully.

 

So, what is left? FS9, Flight! & the combat sims?

 

DTG could even actually add in the combat side of things into their sim. Maybe a bit of trains as well?

 

When I say FSX repackaged, I mean something that may have new bells and whistles, but is all too obviously a child of FSX. We all know what an FSX-derived sim looks like from the air. We know the clouds, the lighting, the config (so unchanged over the years) under the hood, etc.

 

I would be happy if DTG had grabbed and enhanced the good stuff like the atc, ai and other things while pretty much utterly scrapping the world-engine.

No, it's not another re-packaged FSX.

DTG has the license to re-distribute FSX, slightly modded. They cannot change the the core engine thats about 10 years old now, & Lockheed Martin has the original professional version, ESP that they can & have modded fully.

 

So, what is left? FS9, Flight! & the combat sims?

 

DTG could even actually add in the combat side of things into their sim. Maybe a bit of trains as well?

That's not entirely true, they can't mod anything visual in FSX-SE and still sell it as FSX, they are licensed though to use the code as a base for their own new sim. They said they have access to both FSX and Flight code. I think we'll probably see a mixture of both, leaning more to the generic, with hooks to expand via DLC later on.

It's using the FSX engine or the Flight engine (derived from the FSX engine, derived from the FS9 engine, deriv.. you got the idea), so it will be based on the usual sim.

Just like P3D is based on the same engine too, regardless of all this dx11 talk people like to mention or the cloud shadows (which were originally in fsx too).

The moment we knew it would have been based on the Microsoft Flightsim series engine we knew it woudn't have been a completely different engine sadly. But it's not all completely bad, even P3D while using the usual engine with its own modifications found some success.

I am more worried about the fact there is nothing simulation wise new to add. Just like using the same addons on FSX and P3D (PMDG included) is exactly the same except for some eyecandies.

Game engines can be modified, changed and upgraded to suit modern technology. I've seen other games which were only DirectX 9, 32-bit, and had outdated effects, completely upgraded to DirectX 11, 64-bit, as well as modern eye candy.

 

They didn't run that much faster because of the upgrade though.

 

 

Yup, FSX:SE has been a good test  for DTG to see what the market could be like for a aviation sim.

 

How is it a "good test"?  FSX already had an established user base and a truck load of content.  A large proportion of people buying it were probably already FSX users looking for a £3.99 backup copy (i was one, haven't touched it though).  Rather than testing the market i imagine that they were looking for early technical experience with the sim engine.

 

 

 

In my humble opinion, there should be 3x sims offered..

 

Lord no; all the fun of LM's opaque nudge-nudge-wink-wink licensing system, but for a consumer product.

 

 

 

DTG could even actually add in the combat side of things into their sim. Maybe a bit of trains as well?

 

I don't think they will attempt to take on DCS in the serious combat sim market, so perhaps a more arcade style would be possible.  How will they combine trains?  I find the idea really quite intriguing, but (beyond using the same engine) how would you integrate the two?

 

 

 

I've seen other games which were only DirectX 9, 32-bit, and had outdated effects, completely upgraded to DirectX 11, 64-bit

 

True, but eventually you are simply putting lipstick on a pig.  It would also break every add-on currently available, if you are going to do that (with no guarantee the market will support you) why not go for a shiny new engine?  As others have suggested, keep the world data, but replace the old ESP engine with something new and better. 

 

How is it a "good test"?  FSX already had an established user base and a truck load of content.

 

I suspect that it was aimed more at establishing a large Steam userbase, which can now be plundered when the new simulator is released.