Discussion Thread for the "Ask Dovetail Games..." Thread!

[dtrjones 356]

Hi Martin

 

As this is on Steam, how would it work if there was more than 1 user on the PC?

Should they buy a copy each on a separate Steam account?

Will their progress be tracked separately?

 

Thanks.

 

Hi tbaac, to load a steam game you have to log into steam. So the game will only be available for that account. Even on the same machine. You can easily switch accounts on the same machine though by clicking on you username in the steam client and selecting Change User... Yes the progress will be tracked per user, this is basic steam behavour so I would expect this to be the same in-game.

 

One less for you Martin!

 

Cheers,

Dave.

[Paraffin 2,197]

Actually I am part of the audience that DTG is trying to grab. That's because I have never taken the time to learn how to fly or navigate properly in a flight simulator. I have had far too much fun simply setting the trim for take off/cruise/landing (yes, that's right......never touching the trim controls again), full flaps, and flying from one airfield to another in a straight line. "Low and slow" has never been a more apt term than when it refers to my own style of flying!

 

That being the case, a decent training simulator that can teach me the basics of flying properly in easy to understand baby steps is something that interests me. However, this needs to include tutorials on basic navigational skills that include VOR/DME, NDB etc. If I decide to purchase DTG Flight School, then I want to know that I will be able to learn those basic skills that I can then transfer across to P3D (or whatever other flight simulator I may use in the future).

 

I can certainly understand and appreciate that desire, I just wonder how deep they'll get into it with this introductory sim. For what it's worth, the rendered (non-in-game) trailer on Steam has a voiceover that says the following, while showing an animation of the plane flying over an enlarged aviation chart:

 

"Learning your charts is just as important as learning your aircraft. You never know when the weather will close in on 'ya, but if you keep your charts in mind, you'll always be okay."

 

That's a bit ambiguous about exactly how you'll use those charts, with or without instruments. It could just be talking about compass and seat-of-the-pants navigation with a moving map. But at least we know there will be something in the sim about navigation.

[henryjr32 0]

I think maybe Martin is not coming back...

[Melchor 18]

No wonder....I would do the same if I was him.

[Tony H 21]

It does feel a bit like there have only been 3 questions and they were all rhetorical. 

 

Dave/Dtrjones, I realise how Steam normally works and I'm the only one who uses my Steam account.

But I was trying to encourage my 6 year old daughter to have a go on FSX earlier without saying, "Crash!"

I was thinking, "Do I really want to buy another license on the off-chance that my daughter might play it occasionally?"

[ca_metal 2,021]

It does feel a bit like there have only been 3 questions and they were all rhetorical. 

 

Dave/Dtrjones, I realise how Steam normally works and I'm the only one who uses my Steam account.

But I was trying to encourage my 6 year old daughter to have a go on FSX earlier without saying, "Crash!"

I was thinking, "Do I really want to buy another license on the off-chance that my daughter might play it occasionally?"

 

You should read that:

 

http://store.steampowered.com/promotion/familysharing

[Tony H 21]

Thanks ca_metal, I like that answer better  :wink:

 

I was aware of authorising someone to use your games but didn't realise it worked in that context or that the achievements were individual.

That's fantastic.  My daughter will hardly play anyway but at least this way she could do.

[ca_metal 2,021]

Thanks ca_metal, I like that answer better  :wink:

 

I was aware of authorising someone to use your games but didn't realise it worked in that context or that the achievements were individual.

That's fantastic.  My daughter will hardly play anyway but at least this way she could do.

You´re welcome.

[dtrjones 356]

Thanks ca_metal, I like that answer better  :wink:

 

Me too! Thanks ca_metal!

 

All told, Flight School would be ideal for your daughter, you should support DTG and get her a copy as well!! :smile:

 

Cheers,

Dave.

[Tony H 21]

 

 

All told, Flight School would be ideal for your daughter, you should support DTG and get her a copy as well!!

 

If I thought she'd play often....

 

Just thought though, there's a minimum age on Steam accounts.

[HiFlyer 9,359]

Thanks ca_metal, I like that answer better  :wink:

 

I was aware of authorising someone to use your games but didn't realise it worked in that context or that the achievements were individual.

That's fantastic.  My daughter will hardly play anyway but at least this way she could do.

 

I wouldn't be so pessimistic. Little kids played Flight all the time, and I remember one little girl that everyone was trying to help, and she spent most of her time in trees....... She had headphones, so everyone could here her whooping. 

 

On the other hand, multiplayer in Flight had a very strong social aspect that won't be available in single player Flight School........ 

[HiFlyer 9,359]

Like many here, I'm excited at any chance to move the hobby forwards a bit, yet there is a bit of melancholy that we have been moribund so long that we are excited for a few graphical updates that are old, old news to the wider gaming world.

 

Even I forget for a few moments occasionally how far we are behind.

 

Nice reading! https://warthunder.com/en/devblog/current/891

 

[rtodepart 761]

i preordered too . if a couple of years back you would told me that ORBX was modeling the entire world on a flight sim i would paid alot more knowing i was imited to one or 2 planes .. im sure whats coming after flight school is going to be a even better product ... for what i had read so far DTG is doing what MS should of done take all or a few current FS developers and let this guys fill in the blanks spots and wraped all in one final product ...  fn this is done in a correct way there should not be anymore need for FSUIPC and the like ....

[Paraffin 2,197]

Like many here, I'm excited at any chance to move the hobby forwards a bit, yet there is a bit of melancholy that we have been moribund so long that we are excited for a few graphical updates that are old, old news to the wider gaming world.

 

Even I forget for a few moments occasionally how far we are behind.

 

Nice reading! https://warthunder.com/en/devblog/current/891

 

 

Nah... I'm not calling the hobby far behind based on that video, because the difference with a civilian flight sim is that we're dealing with real dynamic weather systems based on injected METAR (and other) data, not cloud eye candy to make a combat sim look good. A game can take all kinds of shortcuts if it's just eye candy and not real weather.

 

BTW, I like combat sims! But I want real weather systems in my civilian flight sims. What we get now inX-Plane, for example, is a primitive 3-layer system that can't model things like discrete vertically-developed CB's with vertical airflow. But for eye candy, at least it can model a decent cloud layer based on current METAR data like this: (X-Plane with Skymaxx Pro 3.0, NFI):

 

 

 

Now if this combination of sim and injected cloud eye candy -- or any other one like the upcoming DTG sim -- could just model a proper anvil thunderstorm, I'd be happy and I would buy it in a heartbeat!

[HiFlyer 9,359]

Nah... I'm not calling the hobby far behind based on that video, because the difference with a civilian flight sim is that we're dealing with real dynamic weather systems based on injected METAR (and other) data, not cloud eye candy to make a combat sim look good. A game can take all kinds of shortcuts if it's just eye candy and not real weather.

 

Well who's to say that flight school is going to have realtime/injected weather? (I actually kind of doubt it and suspect we will see weather themes, but it might be a valid question to ask in the actual Ask Dovetail thread)

 

Honestly, I actually tend to dislike the realtime weather in our favorite sims. As you said, there are effects, cloud types and conditions we just don't see, simply because the current tech can't really depict them. There are some interesting attempts to work around it a bit, but still major flaws exist in my eyes, at least, in X-plane (for one instance) where weather can change very violently from Metar to Metar and layer to layer. (a common problem)

 

Plus we do eye candy here just as much as anyone else. I have the bloated (and now deleted) mega high resolution cloud packages with super-duper lens-flare-O-vision to prove it! :smile:

 

There's only so much you can do with the present cloud systems though, and as was mentioned in the article by the War Thunder designers, current implementations to date have a lot of fudge as well, also using 'tricks' to make them look good.

 

Though its blasphemy, this makes me actually tend to prefer weather themes, because they're more coherent within a given flying area, and not likely to do silly things as the metar changes, like suddenly throw you into a completely different weather universe (X-plane again)

 

It remains to be seen how Flight School will handle all of this. I know Ms Flight implemented a new system that was never fully realized that was supposed to be great.......... It makes me wonder if Dtg can do as well, at least in their full fledged sim, or will they punt and license one of the current favorite weather engines......... 

 

Actually, I'm also keeping my eye on Outerra, as their new release of a few days ago (still alpha) showcases some smoothly changing realtime weather. It will be interesting to see where they take it.