20 minutes ago, Woozie said:

The term "raw-data" isnt just about data compression (like RAW files in photography). It means unprocessed, pure data that still needs to be adapted to be fit for a certain purpose . As ca_metal already stated, it may contain data thats completely irrelevant for creating scenery

Yes I know. But I thought he meant it as uncompressed.

The base problem here is one of perception. I read in the sentence that I quoted that 2 Petabyte of GIS data are the resource that Azure AI will build the scenery from - and then stream it to you, since nothing else would work in that scenario. Could be done live, but that would be even more amazing. Or it has been done in advance, and the 2 PB are just the processed result which is then streamed. As a programmer, I enjoy the thought of a new technology, a solution that would be in accordance with the current tech trends. 

You seem to read some kind of threat into this, that I don't quite understand. Yes, it may well happen that everything that we know about MS sims is suddenly obsolete. And so? If it means that I no longer have to layer and rearrange scenery files from a multitude of sources that may or may not compromise my sim, that would be - a relief.

Best regards

Edited June 12, 20196 yr by Lorby_SI

Seems like most of these ideas and discussion of "photo scenery"...I guess that is the correct term....may be fine for tubeliners guys but from what I have seen it sort of falls apart for GA low and slow guys. I admit I have only looked at this area a few times but what I saw was kind of ugly. I quit throwing money at ORBX because they just seem to start over and over with new tech and after all these years have never got around to a finished product for the eastern part of the US.

photoscenery at the correct resolution is far better suited to VFR

the beauty of ortho4xp is you can paint the countries you fly over at FL400 at much lower res

streaming tech should dynamically increase res as you get lower

Edited June 12, 20196 yr by EGLD

Without our third party developers, our sims would be mostly unusable for the vast majority of us.

Imagine having to fly FSX or P3D is its stock form. Not a pleasant prospect.

One has to think that MS has the foresight to realize that it is the third parties that make FS the success that it is.

The aftermarket will adapt and thrive.

This is not the end, it's only the beginning of an amazing furture.

regarding seasons, sounds like the perfect task for all that Azure AI compute power to analyze textures from different regions and make decisions about how to modify to simulate changing conditions

Edited June 12, 20196 yr by EGLD
spelling

Apologies Oliver, i guess i misunderstood your post i was quoting. 

8 minutes ago, Lorby_SI said:

You seem to read some kind of threat into this, that I don't quite understand. Yes, it may well happen that everything that we know about MS sims is suddenly obsolete. And so? If it means that I no longer have to layer and rearrange scenery files from a multitude of sources that may or may not compromise my sim, that would be - a relief.

Are you referring to me or someone else? If its me, can you please elaborate further? I dont see this as a threat at all, actually i would welcome a clear cut and zero backwards compatibility. Its time to move one and embrace new tech. 

Just now, EGLD said:

photoscenery at the correct resolution is far better suited to VFR

Until you get below 1000ft then the tile sizes start to increase exponentially the closer you get to the ground and then, even with the best data, anything below 200ft looks poor.

True, no solution is perfect

We should probably jsut give up 😁

7 minutes ago, EGLD said:

regarding seasons, sounds like the perfect task for all that Azure AI compute power to analyze textures from different regions and make decisions about how to modify to simulate changing conditions

I think using shaders to change the seasons would be smarter at this point. Something like Xenviro is doing for X-plane. This way you won't limit the seasonal changes to pre defined textures. The shaders can modify the whole scenery without having to modify each texture. 

You can use the shaders to accomplish wet surfaces, snow, orange foliage on the ground etc.

Edited June 12, 20196 yr by ca_metal

9 hours ago, Paraffin said:

My main flight sim X-Plane will no longer be usable if Laminar disappears and can't run the occasional "phone home" for authorization. I have a few payware planes and some scenery with DRM that might die, if the developer isn't around for new authorizations.

Generally when a company decides to close the doors, or just the auth servers, they make it possible for license holders to obtain authorization in other ways. When Adobe shut down the auth servers for Creative Suite 2, they made new install files available that did not require the auth servers to activate.

 

This, of course, led to everyone and his dog pirating CS2, which Adobe doubtless knew would happen, but they decided if they weren't gonna sell it anymore, they shouldn't screw the people they'd already sold it to.

There's nothing particularly magic about Steam or Xplane that the same thing couldn't happen should they shut down. Regarding Steam specifically, while it's true that you did only buy a license to use the software rather than ownership of the software, that license is in perpetuity which means if Steam were to shut down and leave you stranded, they would be opening themselves up to massive lawsuits that would be better avoided by making it so that offline mode could be used exclusively before they turned off the lights.

 

13 minutes ago, Woozie said:

Apologies Oliver, i guess i misunderstood your post i was quoting. 

Are you referring to me or someone else? If its me, can you please elaborate further? I dont see this as a threat at all, actually i would welcome a clear cut and zero backwards compatibility. Its time to move one and embrace new tech. 

Sorry about that, I must have mixed this up somehow. I see so much "resistance" in some parts of the community...

Best regards

2 hours ago, FlyingRoo said:

Hey folks, this announcement from MS has finally pushed me out of the lurker shadows and into the active community.

Not sure if you've seen this already but PMDG released an official statement

https://forum.pmdg.com/forum/main-forum/general-discussion-news-and-announcements/14257-12jun19-pmdg-and-the-microsoft-flight-simulator-2020-question

 

Did Mr PMDG just describe us as a herd of stampeding cattle?

6 minutes ago, part_time_punk said:

Did Mr PMDG just describe us as a herd of stampeding cattle?

LOL!!! 

No comments!

Quote from Matt Booty, the head of Xbox Game Studios:
 

"It’s interesting. The very first game that Microsoft ever published was Adventure, and then I think the second one was Flight. That was a published game, and then we acquired it? I think that’s how the history goes. There’s so much going on right now.

We put up that little tag at the beginning about satellite data and Azure AI. I don’t know if you know how that works, but we’re taking satellite map data, which is amazing, because it covers the whole planet, but it has big limitations. Parts of the planet are covered at different levels of detail. In order to make a modern flight simulator at the fidelity you need, you need accurate data. We’re using machine learning to fill in the places where we don’t know more than what the satellite data tells us. We know this is a blank spot in the middle of Nevada. Here’s what the stuff around it looks like. We know what Nevada generally looks like. Now we’ll generate that procedurally. There’s a ton of cool stuff in Flight Simulator."

Source: https://venturebeat.com/2019/06/12/how-microsoft-showed-up-at-e3-locked-and-loaded-for-games-a-new-console-and-the-cloud/
 

8 minutes ago, part_time_punk said:

Did Mr PMDG just describe us as a herd of stampeding cattle?

I would say thats an accurate conclusion!

 

After reading RSR's comments i'm really wondering how the outcome would have been if PMDG and their partners would have been awarded the MSFS licence....i actually doubt that it would have been as open as he is promoting 😉