Getting a little worried with a few items that haven't been focused on yet with only a few months until release (a short time in terms of major features to the sim being complete considering the five year development cycle).  No real mention of ATC and seasons.  AI is very sketchy as well.  The ability to incorporate an updated package like Ultimate Traffic would be perfect right out the box as a start.  They can develop the SDK to expand on the ATC engine to incorporate third party development of some really cool ideas but default ATC is a standard mainstay in the FS series now.  The talk of real world ATC is complex and who would man it, how would that work with AI? We now have a justified reason for a subscription fee thanks to the global cloud scenery but are we looking at one season in this new sim world?  What's going on with our third party developers and this new sim?

It's not truly a 'Flight Simulator' upgrade with scenery, weather, and flight dynamics alone.  That would be on the level of XPlane (minus the weather component). The interactive world is what sets Flight Simulator apart since FS2002.  Any role back of all that we have now would be unfortunate and for most of us a reason to stay with sims like P3D (for ever how long that lasts).  It would be a repeat of the excuses we heard with FLIGHT.  There's allot of great things being offered so far but there's allot of things mysteriously omitted this far into the project.  The door is fully open for excuses down the road, promises of features coming later, and the age old "We're not focused on that right now", etc.  I've been around long enough to know what happen prior to FSX's release where the community was involved only to be let down by a great many things.  I hope I'm wrong and this new sim builds on all the things we have now and not cut corners on key features.  If they opt for cutting features it's a toss up on how successful this will ultimately be...

4 minutes ago, Dillon said:

Getting a little worried with a few items that haven't been focused on yet with only a few months until release (a short time in terms of major features to the sim being complete considering the five year development cycle).

What do you mean by a few months? They've only said it will be released next year, not when. Given that the project is still in the alpha stage, there is a long road to travel before the final release, including going through a beta cycle too. At this point they are still locking down the features that will be included and have talked about seasons, AI, VR and ATC, all of which are still under review. Looking at this, I wouldn't expect a release date until the second half of next year, and probably even the third quarter.

I hear ya' OP - but I think it's too early to worry yet.

I won't be surprised if this doesn't fully release until around a full year from now (or even holiday 2020)

25 minutes ago, Dillon said:

Getting a little worried with a few items that haven't been focused on yet with only a few months until release

Actually I'd say more like a year away.  Or close to it. 

It's pretty early to be that worried about anything.  This is great new technology, and it will get into our sim lives sooner rather than later, no matter what or how we fly.

Until it's released and in my grubby little hands, it is nothing but lies and propaganda. 

There won’t be seasons at launch.

They confirmed this week that AI and ATC are being worked on.

52 minutes ago, bonchie said:

There won’t be seasons at launch.

Could you quote where they said that?  Also, whatever they said about AI and ATC.  Thanks.

Hook

6 hours ago, Dillon said:

We now have a justified reason for a subscription fee thanks to the global cloud scenery but are we looking at one season in this new sim world?

Wut?

A perpetual summer sim just won't work.  There is no point in them creating the perfect weather environment if you're going to see summer textures in hard winter regions.  It just doesn't make sense.  If they are as keen to make this the sim they say they are, then they will address this for sure.

26 minutes ago, ErichB said:

"A perpetual summer sim just won't work...."

Even as an FSX user myself, I suspect that there is a plethora of X-Plane users who would disagree.

Edited October 18, 20196 yr by RustyFlyer
word omission

Just now, RustyFlyer said:

I suspect that there is a plethora of X-Plane users who would disagree.

Let's not even go there.

6 minutes ago, ErichB said:

Let's not even go there.

Works for me! (relic FSX user here)

15 hours ago, Dillon said:

Getting a little worried with a few items that haven't been focused on yet with only a few months until release (a short time in terms of major features to the sim being complete considering the five year development cycle)(See below).

Okay, I know I'm old and British, but  many, many years ago when I was at school part of our English tuition consisted of something called comprehension! No, I'm not trying to be facetious or snide, I'm just bewildered! All of the above has been covered and in some cases answered. The material containing these answers is freely available online. I would suggest those in the dark avail themselves of it.

"Getting a little worried with a few items that haven't been focused on yet with only a few months until release (a short time in terms of major features to the sim being complete considering the five year development cycle)"

FACT: FS has been in development since 2016! Asobo, unlike many developers working under time constraints who use "shotgun mode" in their development, are far more surgical in their approach, focusing on and honing in on certain features until they are fully functional. They also said that the "legacy mode" is fully functional and can be used if required. ( How this functions within the new FS framework has yet to be revealed, but it's there if required)

YES! The Following Will Be In FS, Eventually:

(1) AI Aircraft (following RW routes)

(2) Shipping Worldwide

(3) ATC

(4) Aircraft persistence i.e. wear and tear, aircraft performance will deteriorate over time and require repair etc

(5) Flamingos

(6) VR Support

(7) Seasons (self evident)

I know the Devs spoke with a mixture of German and French accents, so listen carefully to the following video (you may have to turn it up in certain places) This video is the best quality as far as hearing what the devs are actually saying:

 

Edited October 18, 20196 yr by n4gix
Snipped out the majority of the useless full quote. Please STOP quoting the complete message. You do have a "Delete" key you know... :(

At Cosford, some Devs reckon the the initial release could still end up being just short of 2 years away, even then MS will only release a Sim without some features which will come at a later date, take your time MS and do this right, we (the simmers) will benefit in the long run, in the meantime we still have some great flight sims to fly with.

12 hours ago, Dillon said:

It's not truly a 'Flight Simulator' upgrade with scenery, weather, and flight dynamics alone.  That would be on the level of XPlane (minus the weather component).

I think it's definitely an upgrade with those improvements. Leaving aside the new weather system for a moment, X-Plane, or any other sim for that matter, doesn't even come close to the scenery we've seen in the new sim. The flight model could well also be better. As to the weather, if it's delivered as advertised, it will be a huge improvement over anything (including payware add-ons) available at the moment. I would certainly buy it with just those improvements.

Edited October 18, 20196 yr by vortex681