Less than 44 days until release and still not even a single screenshot. This is unbelievable...

 

If you're talking about Christmas, the last I heard here from Martin was that they were delaying the announcement for unspecified reasons and there was no official release date yet. 

 

And yeah, it's getting a bit close for a release by the end of the year, if we're not seeing any promotional images or videos. We're not even seeing a text list of features, or a minimum system requirement. I would expect at least 2 months of pre-release info for a major sim release, so we're probably looking at middle of 1st quarter 2017, I'm guessing. 

If you're talking about Christmas, the last I heard here from Martin was that they were delaying the announcement for unspecified reasons and there was no official release date yet. 

 

Martin said that the announcement had been delayed but the development of the sim was still on schedule, so I'm still expecting a release by Christmas.

Hi Martin, just wondering if Dovetail Games is still on track for a Christmas release or, early 2017 release? Thanks,

 

Alex

Hi Martin,

 

What is stopping Dovetail from releasing an approximate release date or at least managing the expectations if a Q4 release has changed? If the game is weeks away from being available then certainly some assets like aircraft/scenery are ready to be shown via in-game screenshots. Flight School had a 3 month run-up with game previews and interviews with Stephen Hood concerning gameplay expectations. Surely you can understand why we're becoming skeptical; this game's status is nebulous to say the least. 

They are probably evaluating their options. They are clearly not ready for a "polished" release. But they might need to rush it because XP11 is "ready" and will take a good share of the christmas-cake and the swingers. Options... Once they decided on the strategy, they will let us know.

 

Flo

Hi,

 

I have 3 questions/wishes:

 

1. Will 128-buttons joysticks be supported?

FSX supports 32 buttons, i.e. it ignores the 96 last ones, although acquiring 128 buttons through DirectX is really straightforward when one already knows how to acquire 32 buttons. Supporting more buttons would make the life of home-cockpit designers easier since a joystick interface does not demand the pain of developing a specific driver, and the hardware development is rather simple using arduino and alike micro-controllers.

 

2. Will 3D be fully supported?

FSX works quite well with Nvidia's 3D-vision, however the lights are not 3D, night approaches are not a nice experience. Full 3D-support would enhance immersion.

 

3. Use of the mysterious thing that will replace SimConnect.

FSX SimConnect is a DLL, accessible to many development environments: this is nice.

I am not 100 % sure, but I understand that P3D has decided to provide a library. Presumably this library is compatible with MS Visual Studio and requires static linking which rules out other development environments.

Please, provide something open, not only for MS Visual Studio users.

Anyone know if new info is around? 

Anyone know if new info is around? 

 

Nothing yet, but we'll likely get some info in around a week's time.

Martin.

Are there any considerations being given to the use of VR. I an a member of Steam but haven't had the time to explore the site that much. I was looking at hardware news on Hard OCP and an article about Google VR and Dovetails co-interest in the VR camp. The new Google Earth VR it seems to me would be a dynamite vehicle that could be folded into Flight simulating.  If you can but the headset on and travel the world, why would you not be able to do it in an aircraft. A flight simulator based on such a system would capture every simmer on earth, VR or otherwise! Can you imagine flying over Real World scenery. It would no doubt require A very high end computer but their coming. Some caching would have to be developed to not take down the darn internet! But lets face it, we are going in that direction. Why not crack the door open now?

I wish you success with the new flight sim!

 

BaldyB 

Are there any considerations being given to the use of VR

I'm pretty sure that VR will not be in the initial release. At some point, either here or in the Steam forums, DTG Martin said they were waiting to see if (1) VR continued to remain popular and (2) which system(s) became the most popular.

 

Bottom line DTG had more important things to work on for the initial release.

The new Google Earth VR it seems to me would be a dynamite vehicle that could be folded into Flight simulating.  If you can but the headset on and travel the world, why would you not be able to do it in an aircraft. A flight simulator based on such a system would capture every simmer on earth, VR or otherwise! Can you imagine flying over Real World scenery.

 

I'm sure we'll see VR integration sooner or later in this sim, if not in the initial release. It's already starting in the other major flight sims.

 

That said, I don't think Google VR is a good basis for a flight sim. What it offers is accuracy. What it lacks, is anything more than a static picture taken at noon in good weather. When flying a sim, I like seeing the color of light change from dawn to dusk, and the shadows changing direction on buildings and trees. I've learned to enjoy flying a sim at night time (X-Plane in particular). I like seeing cars moving on the highway. Most of all, I love the challenge of flying in heavy weather, seeing the runway break out at decision height.

 

None of that is available in Google VR. It's a sunny day snapshot that's great for accuracy, not so great for immersive flight simulation. Wait another 20 years, and the image will probably be a 3D world synthesized from billions of live cameras on the ground and in the sky. Then it will be fun to fly.  :smile:

I'm pretty sure that VR will not be in the initial release. At some point, either here or in the Steam forums, DTG Martin said they were waiting to see if (1) VR continued to remain popular and (2) which system(s) became the most popular.

 

Bottom line DTG had more important things to work on for the initial release.

It was just a quick thought, I have no doubt that someday... but I'll be 82 in a few next quarter so again...?

Good luck

BaldyB

I'm sure we'll see VR integration sooner or later in this sim, if not in the initial release. It's already starting in the other major flight sims.

 

That said, I don't think Google VR is a good basis for a flight sim. What it offers is accuracy. What it lacks, is anything more than a static picture taken at noon in good weather. When flying a sim, I like seeing the color of light change from dawn to dusk, and the shadows changing direction on buildings and trees. I've learned to enjoy flying a sim at night time (X-Plane in particular). I like seeing cars moving on the highway. Most of all, I love the challenge of flying in heavy weather, seeing the runway break out at decision height.

 

None of that is available in Google VR. It's a sunny day snapshot that's great for accuracy, not so great for immersive flight simulation. Wait another 20 years, and the image will probably be a 3D world synthesized from billions of live cameras on the ground and in the sky. Then it will be fun to fly.  :smile:

Your points are right on and well taken. I agree with you that when you can barely make out the runway markings at DH and make a decent/good landing, you do feel a sense of accomplishment! Of course it's fun! Lately my flights have been few in number. We just moved into a new house and I 'm busy building kitchen cabinets (out of wood, poplar to be exact!) Cant stand particle board.

I'm waiting for AMD's Zen CPU. Going to build a new rig, maybe.

Good Luck

BaldyB

Hi Martin, 

 

I'm a happy FSX:SE owner but admittedly I'm no pilot.  I would classify myself as an advanced general user, someone with limited flight knowledge but enough to start a PMDG 737 from cold and dark state, program the FMC decently (although I still struggle with STARS/SIDS), and someone who has spent several hundred dollars on add-ons including REX Texture Direct  4, REX soft clouds, ORBX product suite, Active Sky 2016, GSX ground services, XPAX for passengers, and several custom add-on airports and AI traffic (World of AI).

 

I'm an I.T. architect by day and I've been in I.T. since 1978.  I was one of the first PC gamers when all graphics were horrible so playability was the only differentiator.  Nowadays, successful titles fall into one of 3 categories; visually stunning, enjoyable to play, or some combination of both.  After reading countless posts on various sim websites over the years, the common theme I've seen is people's desire for "realism" of different types.   If I were to rank the realism types most desired, I would say they are:

 

1. Airplane detail (including virtual cockpit panel functionality)/ graphic quality

2. Flight dynamics

3. Cloud detail / graphic quality

4. Weather

5. Graphic object quality/resolution (with smooth motion because any jitter in the display ruins the experience). 

6. Terrain & Mesh detail (as close to real-world as possible)

7. Airport graphic detail (including working jetways, non-flat ground, and animated ground services) and building/layout accuracy

8. Building/structure detail (as close to real world as possible)

9. ATC (I'm no pilot but many pilots seem to be asking for more realism of ATC including STARS/SIDs)

10. Passengers (animated boarding, deboarding, flight attendant communications, etc. similar to XPAX)

11. Missions

12. Failures

 

The add-ons I own with FSX:SE accomplish a large percentage of the items on this list but where FSX:SE still comes up short is in the overall graphic quality (obviously due to DierctX 9/10), performance (again due in large part to DirectX 9/10), and lack of built-in support for things like realistic panels (unless you buy add-ons like PMDG), Passengers, Ground Services, and enhanced ATC servicing.

 

Now that I got my Christmas wish list in :-), my questions are

 

1) Is your general design goal to build on what FSX already delivers well and perhaps simply upgrade the graphic engine and add the functionality that these popular add-ons address or are you basically starting with a clean slate and potentially risk delivering something that takes a step backwards on any of these items?

 

2) Will the product be positioned such that most of the enhancements that people are currently buying addons for (like the ones I've mentioned above) be available as DLCs or will the base package include many of these important items that seemed to be lacking from FSX.

 

Thank you for giving us an opportunity to contribute to your design discussions.

 

Mike

T'was some weeks before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. The joysticks were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that Saint Dovetail soon would be there. And so on....

 

 

 

Tim

I see someone on the Steam forum said their offices in Chatham had a "to let" sign outside.

 

Have they done a runner?