Will the Simulator ship with any kind of toolkit ? - for instance aircraft repaints - terrain modelling  etc etc ?

 

tx

 

 

On an unrelated note I have to ask about the clouds in the screenshots - they aren't casting any shadows. This was one of the problems with FSX. Martin, can you confirm whether there will be shadows in the final version?

 

Not for Flight School but they are being looked at for Flight Sim. Keep in mind that everything you are seeing is from Flight School and not Flight Sim. Flight Sim is much bigger project. 

 

- Martin 

 

 

Will Flight School have any form of head motion?

 

That is not something we are looking to included. 

 

- martin 

 

 

Ok, but are we just talking ground textures here? Or are you partnering on land class and vector data down the road as well for DTG Flight Simulator? You said you guys wanted to update those aspects.

 

At the moment we are focusing on what our partnerships mean for Flight School. We are exploring additional options for Flight Simulator and will have more news on them later in the year. 

 

- Martin 

 

 

Are there any plans in the pipeline to run an open/closed beta? If so can I sign up now please

 

There are currently no plans to run a beta for DTG Flight School. It remains possible for Flight Sim but is not set in stone. If we do run one we will of course let everyone know. 

 

- Martin 

 

 

Great news about your collaboration with Orbx. The screenshots look great. I miss cloud shadows however. Will these be included in Flight School and the full flight simulator?

 

Not in Flight School but they are being looked at for Flight Sim. 

 

- Martin 

"I miss cloud shadows however. Will these be included in Flight School and the full flight simulator?"

 

Not in Flight School but they are being looked at for Flight Sim.

Hi Martin,

 

For the main sim, I would like to see cloud shadows, sunrays through the clouds, and trains as well as road traffic would be good.

 

Best regards.

I´m interested in the news regarding shadows, I can´t see them on flight school. I hope they will be present in the Flight Simulator (objects and cloud shadows).

Really stoked about working with Orbx. Hopefully you guys can make the world really stand out, more than with just some pretty textures and buildings. Make the textures look 3D and convincible, etc.

 

My question is if the Orbx partnership means they will be able to continue development of their regions and airports, and have them as DLC? Obviously not for Flight School, but I would hope the partnership continues and we can easily purchase more of their great work.

For the main sim, I would like to see cloud shadows, sunrays through the clouds, and trains as well as road traffic would be good.

 

All that would be good. Cloud shadows are certainly being work on. The other things are for future consideration. 

 

- Martin 

 

 

I´m interested in the news regarding shadows, I can´t see them on flight school. I hope they will be present in the Flight Simulator (objects and cloud shadows).

 

That is the plan!

 

- Martin 

 

 

I bet you're glad you signed up for this Martin

 

I think I am winning. I am certainly doing my best to answer as many questions as possible. If I miss anything do let me know. 

 

- Martin 

 

 

My question is if the Orbx partnership means they will be able to continue development of their regions and airports, and have them as DLC?

 

I am not aware of any reason why not. However, you are probably better asking the Orbx team directly what their plans are. I can't speak for them.

 

- Martin 

Question for Martin: Will DTG be re-writing the terrain engine for the new flight simulator?

 

Quoting the ESP SDK: "The terrain system is optimized to minimize disk space". I think it's fair to say that a number of the constraints the team at Microsoft were working under are no longer applicable and a rewrite is probably due. Some things I'd like to see is more detailed data for the entire world, a wider LOD radius, and an engine that is more vector-based so that we don't see the problems of blending raster and vector data as mentioned in some posts above.

 

I put this one to our development team. Here is what they had to say:

 

"We are looking to improve the engine but nothing at this stage that constitutes as a complete re-write. We have more detailed data for some of the world (all of the world takes time!).  The sim engine is a good compromise though between aerial imagery which looks good from altitude and modelled data which looks good from the ground." 

 

- Martin 

 

 

Will this partnership with Orbx also lead to new and improved default airport buildings and textures?

 

Our partnership is currently focused on bringing the FTX Global technology to DTG Flight School and DTG Flight Simulator. However, we have a strong and open relationship with Orbx Simulation Systems and we look forward to working with them closely in the future development of the Dovetail Games Flight Simulator platform.

 

- Martin 

 

 

One of the drawbacks of the FSX tech (for me) was an apparently hardwired north/south east/west orientation to the roads which defied real life, and also flat ribbon roads that ran right over such things as fields, football stadiums, etc.
 
Even using Orbx technology, have these legacy issues been addressed in any way?

 

I put this one to the development team for you. Here is what they had to say:

 

"We haven’t done anything specifically for this.  The OrbX textures may help and we have more detailed vector data now for our key areas" 

 

- Martin 

Take a look behind the scenes at the development process for making DTG Flight School.

 

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.601475196695997.1073741833.583211945188989&type=1&l=05bfaa1e57

 

Take a look behind the scenes at the development process for making DTG Flight School.

 

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.601475196695997.1073741833.583211945188989&type=1&l=05bfaa1e57

 

 

Looking superb!

Hi Martin,

 

Looks as if my question from earlier may have been overlooked:

 

How will the partnership with Orbx affect/constrain other third party developer companies that want to provide scenery/terrain enhancements to DG flight Simulator?

 

 

How will the partnership with Orbx affect/constrain other third party developer companies that want to provide scenery/terrain enhancements to DG flight Simulator?

 

Odd, I thought I did answer that. Oh well. 

 

It shouldn't have any affect at all. Over the past 2 years, we have been working with developers, both big and small, on FSX: SE. This includes the team at Orbx Simulation Systems, who we initially partnered with to bring the award winning Friday Harbor and Meigs Field to Steam. We fully intend to continue such relationships and welcoming both existing and new developers to the Dovetail Games Flight Simulator platform. Dovetail Games’ partnership with Orbx Simulation Systems is the first step towards this.

 

- Martin 

 

 

Will there be a normal hierarchical structure like FSX, or will it be a closed compressed structure like a gaming system?

 

My understanding is that it remains very similar to FSX: SE. Things might get cleaned up a bit as we move towards the final few builds of the sim.

 

- Martin 

The Cherokee work in progress looks fantastic, thanks for the screenies.

 

Looking forward to what can be achieved with PBR and the advanced texturing/materials methods in use here. Are you working with an existing FS aircraft developer such as to produce this (Lionheart maybe)?

Martin I think you missed my question: will there be more than one paint scheme for the two planes provided in Flight School?

Martin,

Regarding DTG Flight Simulator,

 

Will you make the changes needed to spread the load evenly on all available CPU cores?

 

Thanks has always been the number one performance issue with FSX.

 

Thank you.

 

Hans

The released Screenshots show at least a red/white and a white/yellow Piper Cub.

 

Thanks for the update, I see that now, at least the Cub will have more than one scheme.

 

I'll ask this of Martin then: Will there be a Cherokee version with wheel pants? It's quite a sharp looking little plane and I'd love to see the Cherokee version with wheel pants in Flight School.