36 minutes ago, domkle said:

Why a duck ? The interview of the French dev when he spoke of the ducks, brought to my mind the old Chico/Groucho routine  !  

 Don't overdo it, guys ! We don't ask for migrating ducks at release, snow and Fall foliage would be great to start with for colder seasons ! Then you could add migrating ducks in a DLC (leaving the room now). 

I don't care about migrating ducks either, migrating geese on the other hand... 

To be honest I'd rather have something really special for seasons, say 3 to 6 months after release than just some color changes and a bit of snow. There is so much more to seasons than just color changes and a bit of snow on the ground. I don't think we should see a seasons update just as that, it can also add more effects loosely related to seasons to the sim. 

Just think about: 

• Deciduous trees turning brown in fall and eventually losing their leaves
• Trees blossoming in spring
• Lakes freezing over
• Ice breakers clearing shipping lanes in frozen over canals 
• Snow blowing over the runway and platforms
• Aircraft leaving tracks in freshly fallen snow
• De-icing operations at airports
• Snow storms
• Brine trucks and snow ploughs being active on the roads early in the morning
• Bird migrations (yes I really like that to be visible in sim), but also animal migrations (think about zebra's in Africa)
• Forrest fires in summer in appropriate regions
• Things like Sirocco (dust being blown over) occurring more in appropriate seasons and locations
• Mirages and heat haze
• Smaller animals around remote airports and maybe even bugs flying through the air 

11 minutes ago, Raymond.Groenendijk said:

 

I would like to add Northern Lights.

1 hour ago, DylanM said:

...or "we could do seasons by doing something lame-a** like making the colors change"... 🤣

To my ear twice it was made clear that they would not settle for just "half-arsed"...

1 hour ago, domkle said:

Why a duck ? The interview of the French dev when he spoke of the ducks, brought to my mind the old Chico/Groucho routine  !  

 Don't overdo it, guys ! We don't ask for migrating ducks at release, snow and Fall foliage would be great to start with for colder seasons ! Then you could add migrating ducks in a DLC (leaving the room now). 

Seasons? If we are to have ducks migrating what about witches flying about on halloween, and snowmen in cities in the winter snow scenes. Seriously, how far do you go beyond the basics?  

Edited November 17, 20196 yr by eaim

11 minutes ago, eaim said:

what about witches flying about on halloween

I do not want me to meet my wife in the sim

8 minutes ago, eaim said:

Seasons? If we are to have ducks migrating what about witches flying about on halloween, and snowmen in cities in the winter snow scenes. Seriously, how far do you go beyond the basics?  

Well migrating birds are actually something to take care of, you really don't want to fly into a cloud of birds, so that's something that just adds to the realism. Other things are just cosmetic and they are adding to the immersion factor, something I personally value A LOT. Some people want realism, others want immersion and some want both. What's wrong if they want to cater both parties? Especially if they are tasked with supporting the platform for a decade and keep improving it, we can actually get a simulator that really mimics the world as close as it can be. 

3 minutes ago, Pitbull2504 said:

I do not want me to meet my wife in the sim

Does she at least fly an FAA approved broom? 

"What about the ducks?" = "We want to get this right."

Maybe let's celebrate a development team that cares this much about the quality of the product... as opposed to a development team that just wants to (or is forced to) jam something out to satisfy the suits.  Remember MS Flight?

On that basis, I'll take mine with a side of ducks, thanks!

And yes, that was by far the best line in the interview.

Edited November 17, 20196 yr by Alan_A

42 minutes ago, Alan_A said:

Maybe let's celebrate a development team that cares this much about the quality of the product...

Agreed. I don't understand this community sometimes. There's always a push for "max realism" with even the most minor shortcomings being heavily blown out of proportion, yet when Asobo suggests trying to take things even further, "no we don't need that".

I say go all out on seasons. There's a lot of fun stuff they can do that long time simmers and newcomers will benefit greatly from. Wildfires and bird migrations would be amazing to see. Wildfires in particular open up a whole new range of aircraft and missions that previously weren't possible without add-ons (and even still, the experience isn't great). It's exciting to see such a passionate and large studio get to go all out on a flight simulator. For once we're not getting the absolute minimum of what's possible.

14 minutes ago, HughesMDflyer4 said:

Agreed. I don't understand this community sometimes. There's always a push for "max realism" with even the most minor shortcomings being heavily blown out of proportion, yet when Asobo suggests trying to take things even further, "no we don't need that".

I say go all out on seasons. There's a lot of fun stuff they can do that long time simmers and newcomers will benefit greatly from. Wildfires and bird migrations would be amazing to see. Wildfires in particular open up a whole new range of aircraft and missions that previously weren't possible without add-ons (and even still, the experience isn't great). It's exciting to see such a passionate and large studio get to go all out on a flight simulator. For once we're not getting the absolute minimum of what's possible.

That's what we're doing.  I think you guys are missing the point of us pointing out the ducks.  I shouldn't be surprised though, this is the internet/forums.

So just so we're clear...we ARE celebrating the fact that they're thinking about all this detail.

7 minutes ago, Jeff Nielsen said:

So just so we're clear...we ARE celebrating the fact that they're thinking about all this detail.

Of course. But there's also a crosscurrent in this thread along the lines of "we don't need ducks, just stick to the basics."  That's what I was reacting to.  Sorry, should have been clearer about that.

Edited November 17, 20196 yr by Alan_A

3 minutes ago, Alan_A said:

Of course. But there's also a crosscurrent in this thread along the lines of "we don't need ducks, just stick to the basics."  That's what I was reacting to.  Sorry, should have been clearer about that.

No problem.  It doesn't sounds like the devs are listening to those folks...lol.  It sounds like they're 'all in' or nothing at all.  🙂 

3 hours ago, Raymond.Groenendijk said:

Well migrating birds are actually something to take care of, you really don't want to fly into a cloud of birds, so that's something that just adds to the realism. Other things are just cosmetic and they are adding to the immersion factor, something I personally value A LOT. Some people want realism, others want immersion and some want both. What's wrong if they want to cater both parties? Especially if they are tasked with supporting the platform for a decade and keep improving it, we can actually get a simulator that really mimics the world as close as it can be. 

Maybe birds could be more likely if flying over nature reserves or parks etc

5 minutes ago, eaim said:

Maybe birds could be more likely if flying over nature reserves or parks etc

Or over the Bronx. Just ask Sullenberger and Skiles about those geese... 😎

Seriously, I live in a built-up, close-in suburb of a major US city, and right now we've got swarms of migratory birds coming through.

I have to admit I've only rarely thought of them as part of a season, but they are.  You can look at it from an ecosystem perspective - there's a warm air mass moving south with lots of birds in it.

I'd never say it's a make-or-break feature.  But this (and other details like it) promises to be one of those elements of immersion, like creaking airframes and rain on the windshield, things that are part of the experience.  Once, none of those things seemed essential, or even possible.  But now we're used to them and we expect them - I saw somebody complaining the other day that the Majestic Q400 is looking a little old because it doesn't have windshield rain.  That's a bit extreme but it does show that the baseline changes over time. 

Birds, fires, blowing snow... all those things seem like luxury items now but if MS and Asobo can pull it off, imagine how much more involving the sim will be.  At the moment I'm just really happy to hear that they're thinking along these lines.

32 minutes ago, Jeff Nielsen said:

It sounds like they're 'all in' or nothing at all.  🙂

"Nothing half-assed."  It's a good motto.