I was havin fun testing out the demo when I got a message saying there is a time limit and it subsequently shut the sim down...what exactly is the purpose in this? I really appreciate the demo and I am grateful that you guys worked hard to get it to our hands, but I don't understand this time limit thing.

The time limit shuts the sim down after a certain amount of time. It most likely will not be part of the final version.Ian.

>The time limit shuts the sim down after a certain amount of>time. It most likely will not be part of the final version.>>Ian.How very insightful.

Thanks, keeping in line with the original post.Ian.

>Thanks, keeping in line with the original post.>>Ian.I think what the original poster meant is "why does the demo have a time limit at all?" (correct me if I'm wrong).I have to ask the same thing. The demo is already quite limited....why limit it even further?Also, guys, try to curb the sarcasm. It really isn't needed.

A time limit is the industry standard for demos - no surprise at all.It's pretty generous - I didn't measure it the first time.As to why a time limit - many people would only get the demo and never the full game.And I don't find it limited in the least otherwise - except that it's confined to one region of the world. The rest of the scenery would have made it a multi gigabyte download.

Hey look on the bright side. Maybe there is a known memory leak issue and the time limit just keeps us from hitting that wall.Oh wait. Someone said to cut the sarcasm. :)Rhett

You're right, I apologize to the original poster, I was out of line.I believe it's either a security issue within the code itself or a marketing issue. Security because this I believe is the watered down current full version without scenery and other aircraft but could be added on as the folder structure is there, although not the final exe. Or marketing because it teases the user as most good demos will do to want the full version.Again, my apologies for being a smart ###. Not my usual way of things on the forums.Ian.

Is the time limit per-flight (from the moment you start a flight, after which you can start a new time limited flight), per-session (from the moment you run the EXE, after which you have to run the EXE again) or a date (demo expires after a certain date)?If it's per-flight and sufficiently long (say, half an hour) that's fine and it's probably there to make it clear you can't leave the island. Someone's bound to try and fly away from the island to see how far the ocean stretches ;)If it's per-session and you have to re-run the game every time the timer runs out, that's an unnecessary nuisance.If it's date-limited it doesn't matter much, as long as the date goes beyond FSX's worldwide release date (I imagine the team will release a more polished demo after the game's out anyway).

>Is the time limit per-flight (from the moment you start a>flight, after which you can start a new time limited flight),>per-session (from the moment you run the EXE, after which you>have to run the EXE again) or a date (demo expires after a>certain date)?>>If it's per-flight and sufficiently long (say, half an hour)>that's fine and it's probably there to make it clear you can't>leave the island. Someone's bound to try and fly away from the>island to see how far the ocean stretches ;)>>If it's per-session and you have to re-run the game every time>the timer runs out, that's an unnecessary nuisance.>>If it's date-limited it doesn't matter much, as long as the>date goes beyond FSX's worldwide release date (I imagine the>team will release a more polished demo after the game's out>anyway).This post sounds like something out of the next season of LOST.

The version does not appear to be date limited - it's some type of timer for the session / time the demo is open.Also this is far from the final executable and definitely not the final scenery - it's still very rough in places.I've modified parking at TAPA and TNCM with my FS2004 AFCAD files - other people have added AIA B752's - AI AAL traffic flying into TNCM - I've flown the FS2004 Vickers Vimy, Milton Shupe's Howard 500 and the Alpha Sim Hornet in the demo.I've learned a new type of parking spot exists - which will identify the fuel location on an airport if setup correctly.Quite a bit of stuff - AI boats and vehicles have model files, textures and .CFG files with fltsim.x sections - so additional boats and vehicles will be common.

Okay, so the demo will timeout after a certain period of time has passed from the moment you start the EXE, and you have to re-start the demo to fly again? How long is the demo period?

It's about 30 minutes. The timer for the most part only runs while you're actually flying.

30 minutes sounds reasonable, but the fact that you have to start all over again from the desktop seems unnecessary. Forcing the current flight to end when the time runs out and having to start a new flight would be enough, unless of course there's a memory leak problem with the engine that is masked by restarting the demo.Still, I doubt a month and a half ago anyone here expected to have a playable demo of FSX in their hands so even if the demo's beta-grade and time limited it's more than we've had with previous versions of the sim :)Besides, I seriously doubt the time limit will remain a problem for long; eventually FSX will be released and no one will look back at it anyway.

>30 minutes sounds reasonable, but the fact that you have to>start all over again from the desktop seems unnecessary.>Forcing the current flight to end when the time runs out and>having to start a new flight would be enough, unless of course>there's a memory leak problem with the engine that is masked>by restarting the demo.>>Still, I doubt a month and a half ago anyone here expected to>have a playable demo of FSX in their hands so even if the>demo's beta-grade and time limited it's more than we've had>with previous versions of the sim :)>>Besides, I seriously doubt the time limit will remain a>problem for long; eventually FSX will be released and no one>will look back at it anyway.Only problem have with the time limit is that FSX takes a bloody long time to load up so it is pretty annoying to keep restarting the demo.