Note this is purely speculation based on joining the dots from watching the trailer and observing the industry over the past few years.

How did Microsoft stun the world with this trailer? Here's how:

1. License the FSX code to Dovetail Games (DTG). Add a clause that anything DTG adds to the code becomes Microsoft IP when the license is ended

2. DTG converts FSX to 64-bit, licenses TrueSky (https://simul.co/truesky-pro/ - note Microsoft Games Studios are listed as a user) and adds PBR. Flight Sim World (FSW) is released. FSW fails to sell enough copies, so DTG shuts the project down and spends the last year negotiating terms with MS on giving back their enhancements

3. Microsoft grabs the FSW code and adds SimulWater (also from TrueSky)

4. They add code for Bing 3D to stream 3D cities in real time, probably with local HDD caching - see my post here for proof of the source data:

 

5. They use Azure AI learning to create synthetic FSX landclass textures for outside the 3D cites (you can see landclass used in the trailer)

6. They license some aircraft and airports from Aerosoft, who were almost absent at FSExpo (No Winfried or Mathijs) probably because they have this new MS gig now

7. They license procedural moving grass and trees from SpeedTree (https://store.speedtree.com/)

8. They hire a killer video editor to very cleverly cobble together glamour shots from some of the 3D cities

9. They time the video to drop within an hour of FSExpo in Orlando closing

Now they have 18-24 months to actually build out this tech demo into a real working simulator, and will probably reach out to the FS developer community to actually fill in the content to make a plausible world with nice cities and airports and more aircraft.

A very shrewd and clever plan to inject FUD into the FS community and create hysteria based on a tech demo.

/end_speculation

 

A very shrewd and clever plan to inject FUD into the FS community and create hysteria based on a tech demo.

 

What is FUD?

8 minutes ago, simaddict said:

A very shrewd and clever plan to inject FUD into the FS community and create hysteria based on a tech demo.

 

What is FUD?

https://www.webopedia.com/TERM/F/FUD.html

A good analysis fta2017

I see. Thank you!

Mike.

39 minutes ago, fta2017 said:

9. They time the video to drop within an hour of FSExpo in Orlando closing

Some plausible theories there. However, I really think you (and a bunch of other people) are giving FSExpo way too much weight. Microsoft's release timing was based on their E3 schedule alone. FSExpo coinciding was just a coincidence.

 

Edited June 14, 20196 yr by snglecoil

No disrespect to any third parties,  but that “tail” doesn’t wag the entire Microsoft dog. 

 

I am not naïve of human nature, mixed motives and patterned behaviour, but disagree 100% with the original post in it's overall cynical portrayal of MSFS and how it got to this time and place.

It's not as simple as that.

Kind regards,

Spirit Flyer

Stephen

Edited June 14, 20196 yr by SpiritFlyer

More likely:

1. Microsoft has been quietly working on a new version of MSFS for at least a couple of years, leveraging new tech.
2. Once development gets to the stage where they are ready to make the announcement, they release a trailer at the biggest computer/games event of the year.

Or, you can go with a crazy conspiracy theory if you prefer.

There have been comments elsewhere on this forum suggesting that the new Microsoft Flight Simulator has been in development for the past five years.

Edited June 14, 20196 yr by Christopher Low

Like I said it's conjecture but if this topic survives, let's revisit it in 18 months when the sim is released and see how close I got to the real picture. I honestly really doubt that MS has been working on a new flight simulator for five years, that sounds more nonsensical that all the other wild theories going around.

 

Sure... Their huge gaming division let the guys behind it announce this "vaporware" on the largest game conference on the world just to have some fun...

I'm sorry, but it's really hard to agree with those arguments you used to build your theory. 

But well, we are all here speculating, that's ok to speculate, but why open a new and dedicated thread just for this conspiracy theory you made? Why not just do it in the main thread?

Edited June 14, 20196 yr by ca_metal

5 minutes ago, fta2017 said:

Like I said it's conjecture but if this topic survives, let's revisit it in 18 months when the sim is released and see how close I got to the real picture. I honestly really doubt that MS has been working on a new flight simulator for five years, that sounds more nonsensical that all the other wild theories going around.

 

I don't think they thought it up last week and I don't think 5 years. I reckon it's somewhere in between.

But it's certainly a well thought out plan - MS plan VERY carefully and don't throw something together based on a bunch of miscellaneous happenings.

Perhaps it started being developed concurrently with planning for the Project Scarlett XBOX?

It's going to be a great way to showcase a variety of their technologies and the new hardware.

My suspicion is that they started developing this shortly after DTG took the old code off their hands.

Rumors are that they've been at this for years and that trailer doesn't look cobbled together. Take the city scenes for example. They are clearly much more polished in game than just raw streams from Bing (which you can go look at right now for comparison). That's the data source, but there's a lot more going on they've done with the atmospherics, lighting engine, autogen models, etc.

 

Some of the scenes are pure Autogen - and it looks good.