Just now, simbol said:

and switched to Android and iOS, look where the MS phone ended..

And Android and iOS both have semi-closed / curated store models. The Apple store is notoriously fussy with getting content approved and they absolutely will decide if the content is good enough. It doesn't seem to have hurt the adoption of Apple or Android.

This stuff drives developers mad, I agree with you on that, but average end users prefer an easy life of quick purchases, automatic updates and quality control.

the point is: MSFS will come for XBOX and PC, so the first question will be: How des MS wants to handle thrid party content incl. Applications on the XBOX. So far all Apps for the XBOX must be UWP - if i remember correctly. If this will happen, does MSFS on the PC will only work with UWP as well because it uses some internal Shop for applications?

 

2 minutes ago, nickhod said:

 

This stuff drives developers mad, I agree with you on that, but average end users prefer an easy life of quick purchases, automatic updates and quality control.

When you learn that you are not an average user 😉 😁

On ‎8‎/‎22‎/‎2019 at 7:39 AM, simbol said:

You should research about all the issues developers encountered with the MS store for the MS windows phone devices.

I'm pretty sure the reason their phones ended badly wasn't because of the store...

The AppStore (Apple) is probably more curated and closed than any other store and seems to be really healthy.

Edited August 25, 20196 yr by n4gix
REMOVED EXCESSIVE QUOTE!!! Please stop quoting the entire post you are replying to!

8 minutes ago, Kaiii3 said:

the point is: MSFS will come for XBOX and PC, so the first question will be: How des MS wants to handle thrid party content incl. Applications on the XBOX. So far all Apps for the XBOX must be UWP - if i remember correctly. If this will happen, does MSFS on the PC will only work with UWP as well because it uses some internal Shop for applications?

All games that have Console and PC versions are different in the way they handle MODS/ADD-ONS/DLCs etc.

Their PC versions are always open to MODS, as the game files are easier to change. On the MSFS2020 I think this won't be any different. For the console version, DLCs/Add-ons will most probably be handled on a closed enviroment/store. For the PC version, we will probably have a lot "not-curated" content.

Edited August 22, 20196 yr by ca_metal

6 minutes ago, domkle said:

When you learn that you are not an average user 😉 😁

😉 I think we're all enthusiasts on here. We'll happily spend an hour messing with installers, scripts, config files etc and maybe even enjoy the challenge.

The MS Flight Sim franchise has sold millions of units. There's a silent majority who will expect things to "just work" with no effort.

11 minutes ago, nickhod said:

😉 I think we're all enthusiasts on here. We'll happily spend an hour messing with installers, scripts, config files etc and maybe even enjoy the challenge.

The MS Flight Sim franchise has sold millions of units. There's a silent majority who will expect things to "just work" with no effort.

Happily ? Enjoy ? I hate it 😄 . But it comes with the territory if we want the abundant production of  addons of the recent years to continue. 

So we have to find a middle ground which could be MS having a store but leaving the sim open to installations outside its sale channel .  

3 minutes ago, domkle said:

So we have to find a middle ground which could be MS having a store but leaving the sim open to installations outside its sale channel .  

Agree with that, and I hope that's the path they pursue 👍

Anyway, the areas I think are ripe for DLC if msfs does everything we think it will do, are:

• airports. Maybe I’ll be wrong but I can’t imagine every airport in the world is going to be modelled accurately and in detail, so I think airports will be one of the biggest markets, second only to...
• aeroplanes. No brainer. If the sim was designed entirely just for me, I’d like it to be a bit like iracing where they’re all produced internally to great detail and quality. But I understand there are other people in the world, and a huge variation in what people want to fly. 
• New elements to the story/ career mode. I desperately hope they are spending a lot of time thinking about how to make this a fun and massively addictive game for a broad range of people, where there is some sort of point of spending hours with the game. If this turns out to be true, additional elements to this mode would follow a tried and trusted path trod by other games in the last. 
• Things that bring the world to life. This would be a massive list if I was to write them all down, but I’m thinking of things like gsx, fs2crew etc. Again, I don’t think that we can reasonably expect Microsoft to be going to these depths in the base sim, although I could be wrong. 
• External stuff like flight-planning, flight following apps etc. I think these will continue successfully. 

On top of this, I think it’s really important that there is a funnel for all of this stuff before it gets to the market. And at the point of the funnel there is a Microsoft QA team. 

39 minutes ago, Rob_Ainscough said:

I don't see how "everyone" suddenly got changed to exclude experienced developers?

A "developer starting from zero" and "everyone starting with zero experience in developing for MSFS" mean two different things. Self evidently no one has any experience in developing for MSFS as it's not released. I said the latter and I meant exactly the latter.
 

41 minutes ago, Rob_Ainscough said:

No, Microsoft already indicated it would be a open ecosystem.

You speak with such authority on something that isn't released. They indicated that 3rd party developers would be able to develop for it, nothing more is known.
 

44 minutes ago, Rob_Ainscough said:

installs and both user types would want that (who wouldn't?) ... and that's exactly what some existing content providers do (ORBX, FlightBeam, FSDT, etc. etc.).  These auto update and click once install features.

So having 15 different app stores and auto-updaters is a great solution for consumers, but a central, MS managed add-on store is a bad idea? I don't follow the logic.

As has been mentioned several times, a central add-on store doesn't necessarily preclude being able to manually install content. It'll just be the path of least resistance.

The fact that FS2020 supports XBox (and thus the XBox store) should be sounding alarm bells for the developer community. I think you can probably expect all addons (including those for the PC version) will have to be sold via the XBox store, with MS taking a cut of your profits.

2 hours ago, Rob_Ainscough said:

No, Microsoft already indicated it would be a open ecosystem.

FWIW I decided to do some digging and this job posting pretty much confirms a curated "marketplace" for MSFS, just as I suggested.

https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/job/672404/Marketplace-Producer?jobsource=indeed&utm_source=indeed&utm_medium=indeed&utm_campaign=indeed-feed

"we are looking for an experienced Marketplace Producer to partner with our Executive Producer in the Marketplace/Store presence for the next version of Microsoft Flight Simulator."

"In this role you will be directly responsible for tracking the quality and timely execution of deliverables from our external partners"

"including setting up proper workflow and communication processes for managing the inventory/pricing/strategies/presence of our internal/external Marketplace store."

Edited August 22, 20196 yr by nickhod

Good find. We have learnt a lot through job adverts lol

Other info on the technologies being used behind the scenes can be found in these job postings for anyone interested. (No mention of a specific engine though!)

https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=flight+simulator&l=Seattle%2C+WA

“content-based events” sound fun...