I would agree, but when you have dealt with a company for awhile, read posts by customers of that company on forums, regarding their products, and business model, and customer service, I think that voicing an opinion regarding what you predict might happen, is not wild speculation but is based in part on one's past experience.

 

That's a fair point. But you still can't be sure what's going to happen... And I didn't use the word 'wild'.

Maybe LM is going to come out with a 64 bit fishing game.... :wink:

 

Exactly Bob 

1,500$ thats it  :wink: I am way past that 

 

So my point is I am not going to re-spend thousands of dollars on addons and re-buy them for a sim that will not be a true simulator as we know it 

 

 

 

Exactly Bob

 

Er... so you are willing to re-spend thousands of dollars on addons and re-buy them for a 64 bit version of P3D...?

 

 

P3D is a pretty $$$ intensive hobby too.

I have lost count, but I think I have over $1500 of add-ons now..

 

Indeed, and therein lies the rub! I have a lot invested in addons that are now P3D only.

None of that stuff is going to work in DTFS and neither will any FSX stuff that devs. have been

kind enough to make P3D compatible for me will work in DTFS either. So that is $1000's I would have to abandon

to switch to DTFS.

 

Also despite FSX being aimed at the masses when in was released the buzz died down quite quickly because it was a pile of dog poop. It was the third party developers and people like Nick Needham who showed us how to pick hardware and squeeze the maximum performance out of it that made FSX what it was before P3D V2 came along Microsoft had little or nothing to do with. They then tried MSflight which was roundly rejected by FS enthusiast.

 

Given DTG's recent announcements, I think there are 1 of 2 possibilities. Joking aside it will be Prepar3D V4 licensed for entertainment use. I am not joking when I say that I think there is a good chance that LM and DTG are collaborating to achieve the same end result. Why wouldn't they their markets are completely distinct.

 

If not that then it will be an inferior version of FS compared to Prepar3D. Why? Because LM are way ahead of DTG and have already said that they intend to fully optimize the code before they recompile a 64 bit version. Unless scenario 1 above is false are we to believe that DTG have accomplish what LM have done but in half the time? I doubt it. So, again, unless scenario 1 is true, I expect DTFS to be quote inferior to P3D

Indeed, and therein lies the rub! I have a lot invested in addons that are now P3D only.

None of that stuff is going to work in DTFS and neither will any FSX stuff that devs. have been

kind enough to make P3D compatible for me will work in DTFS either. So that is $1000's I would have to abandon

to switch to DTFS.

 

 

 

If not that then it will be an inferior version of FS compared to Prepar3D. Why? Because LM are way ahead of DTG and have already said that they intend to fully optimize the code before they recompile a 64 bit version. Unless scenario 1 above is false are we to believe that DTG have accomplish what LM have done but in half the time? I doubt it. So, again, unless scenario 1 is true, I expect DTFS to be quote inferior to P3D

Just like Richard you seem to forget that going to a 64 bit version of P3D will cost you just as much as switching to DFS. It may even cost far less to switch to DFS. I am 100% sure that DFS will be cheaper than P3D (well, okay, the Pro version) and the same will go for addons: a lot of companies ask more for P3D addons (for some very odd reason but that's another story).

1,500$ thats it  :wink: I am way past that 

 

So my point is I am not going to re-spend thousands of dollars on addons and re-buy them for a sim that will not be a true simulator as we know it 

 

Took tons of years to get this far - you think they will do it in a couple months you are sadly mistaken

 

It will be arcade simulator  -  buy one region at a time with no real backbone to the simulation portion are you kidding me lol

 

If I am wrong I will eat my words but I highley doubt it

 

Rich, how do you come to that conclusion?

Among the little things we know about DTGs project is a) that it is an FSX code base (same as P3D when it comes to the flight model), b ) that they promise to offer the whole world to fly in upon release. (Btw: Buying one region at a time is exactly what we all do with GEX/Orbx stuff, isn't it?)

Just like Richard you seem to forget that going to a 64 bit version of P3D will cost you just as much as switching to DFS. It may even cost far less to switch to DFS.

 

The question is, what earth shattering, mind blowing improvement is going to be had by switching to 64 bit.   X Plane has had 64 bit for quite awhile and their market share is dismal at best, so apparently 64 bit isn't the holy grail. I think the present version of P3D works pretty well. I fly 3-4 hours almost everyday, and 99.9% of the time everything works, and works well. I can live with an occasional hiccup. Just as many Train Simmers will stick with their present version of TS12, and Dovetail knows they will, I think most flight simmers will stick with what they have now if it works well for them. Any new sim is going to have growing pains, and bugs, and so will the add ons that work in that sim. Some people like fixing things, and others just like to enjoy flying. 

PMDG have already stated that there will be no 64bit upgrade fee for Prepar3D Aircraft. I can see some devs following suite on that. I can see ORBX doing the same. Probably, other devs will have an upgrade fee which is reasonable. But if you switch to DTFS they will all be new purchases for sure. To be honest if DTG have done this on their own I suspect we will see a better looking better performing less capable version of FSX. I'd be surprised if it could even accommodate a PMDG. I suspect it will have less hooks for addons, not more. All in the interest of eye candy and 60fps

I have to take issue with this statement, as it implies that the management any large organization is oblivious to the work of the thousands of small units that make up their corporate structure. In any big organization, every small team has to show that it benefits the corporation in a positive fashion. Some benefits are linear and are strictly monetary, like selling 10 F-35 aircraft to Italy. Other services may have indirect benefits, such as good publicity or providing a needed support service to other elements in the corporate structure. Contrary to the belief of some here, virtual reality and computer simulation in general is a big growth industry. LM's flight simulation group has hit upon the idea of using all of us "civilians" to test out what they are doing. And we are paying them for the privilege of testing everything. What a deal

What you say is true. No real issue at all. Yes we P3d users are very much a part of the big picture for the Prepar3d program. My point was really that their sim program is not going to have to give some knee jerk action to a start up company who is basically re-re-releasing a +10 year old program because they are going to simply re-compile that program to 64bits because there are so many in our community that think this is the end to all ends. 

Edit...I love paying them for that privilege! 

But it's good to see DTG posting here,

 

where...

where...

Here:

 

http://www.avsim.com/topic/483642-ask-dovetail-games-about-dtg-flight-school-flight-simulator/?view=getnewpost

If and why we so desperately need 64 bit now that P3Dv3.1 already addressed the OOMs for most of us is a very valid question.

 

Personally I currently have the most stable and at the same time good looking flight simulator I ever had and I've been doing this for quite some time and I never before spent so much time on actually flying and enjoying myself instead of the endless tweaking and troubleshooting we all were so used to.

 

So with this said what would make me consider flushing this nice situation down the drain would be if the new simulator looked and operated in a way I can only dream of at this point in time. I think it will really have to be that much of an improvement for me to consider doing the switch. At least initially.

 

In the end I think what flight simulator to use if you're into simulating flight and real world OPS rather than playing a game simulating flight will be an easy choice to make and time will tell what the name of that choice will be.

$1000 ... we can put it in an escrow account  ... actually gambling isn't permitted here otherwise I would take you up.  Having gone thru all that is P3D's changes over the years and listening to what prevents people moving to a new platform:

 

6.  Migration from FS9 to FSX took years (and still plenty of FS9 users)

 

A matter of months?  Definitely not ... you're knocking at the wrong door ... if you want it to succeed, you need an SDK, then you need 3rd party to evaluate the SDK, then you need to hope the differences in SDKs aren't significant.  I'm all for optimism, but I do like to apply some realistic optimism.

 

Cheers, Rob.

 

Well it depends how the "new platform performs" still remember how fast the migration

wend from 2002 to the good old FS9 ;-) (That is after the first SP 6 months later) ;-) before that it's was slow)...

It also depends on the 3 party stuff available at least in the past it did ;-)

Ok popcorn time and enjoy all the conspiracy and speculations which aren't even close to the truth as we had in the past also...

Fun sometimes to read all those old topics and opinions from the past...

Great posts in here.  Very curious like everyone else how this plays out.

 

Personally, I just can't see DTGFS being revolutionary when it's still based on the same old code.  I'm personally VERY happy with P3Dv3.1, and love the stability our platform has had the past 10 years.  When there is "the next best thing" coming out every year, third party developers never had the time to accomplish what they have now, which is what I really enjoy.

 

I've had FS4-FSX-SE, Fly!, Fly2!, all the Looking Glass FU's, Sierra ProPilot, X-Plane and P3D just off the top of my head.

 

Until there was "stability" and not a new release always looming, nothing great was developed.  Finally, after the "unfortunate" bailing by MS on future development, we now have all the fantastic addons we love.

 

It's going to be hard to throw away a decade of great addons for the new shiny base platform.

 

I personally hope LM keeps P3D going strong and our great libraries of addons can be made to work for free or nominal fees if and when the 64 bit jump comes. 

 

So with this said what would make me consider flushing this nice situation down the drain would be if the new simulator looked and operated in a way I can only dream of at this point in time. I think it will really have to be that much of an improvement for me to consider doing the switch.

 

This is exactly what I think. Any new flight simulator would need to be revolutionary (rather than evolutionary, which is what any simulator based on FSX/ESP technology would be) for me to consider ditching backwards compatibility with all of my addons. I seriously doubt that DTG FS will be anywhere near that threshold