November 27th, 2019 – Development Update

[Krakin 5,740]

8 minutes ago, Scottoest said:

I honestly don't know if there will be a cost associated to the live Azure mode of the sim.  My gut two months ago would have said yes, and now I'm less sure.  There's a ton of considerations they are likely making about how the sim's economic model will work.  What I find odd, is your assumption that it's a fait accompli they would never dream of charging an additional fee for it.

Simple. They want it to succeed. While some some hardcore simmers would be willing to bite the bullet and pay the extra money every month, the wider market would tear MS to pieces over what they would consider an anti-consumer position. I'll point you towards the outrage over Fallout 76 having an OPTIONAL subscription. I didn't mention MMOs because MSFS is not a MMO. The bulk of the cost of running a MMO is not servers but the far more intensive work that goes into updates, patches, balance fixes etc.
 

[mpo910 2,112]

1 hour ago, 188AHC said:

Interesting. I haven't seen anyone comment on  the framerate comment by Mathias. Watch the video again and listen to what he actually says. Interesting. 

 

You mean the one about controlling the plane is separated from framerates? Even if they are low the plane will still be controllabe

I heard that one twice and think it is a huge step forward. 

Regards Marcus

[Noooch 1,084]

Did you notice the Garmin name is not present on top of the displays?

[SnakeP 39]

1 hour ago, Noooch said:

Did you notice the Garmin name is not present on top of the displays?

Nah, was too busy comparing the screens with their real-world counterpart. 😄

But this could be bad news... I’m still hoping for them announcing a partnership also with Garmin, Jeppesen et al. 🙏

Okay, Jeppesen won’t happen. But Garmin should be feasible. 

[Superdelphinus 718]

8 hours ago, Scottoest said:

actually anticipate this will end with Microsoft acquiring Asobo outright, to be the new stewards of Flight Simulator, along with their other teams working on games.

Microsoft have been on an acquisitions spree the last couple of years for new first-party studios, and have repeatedly emphasized that they aren't done yet.  They've also acquired some of their recent second-party devs like Playground (Forza Horizon) and Undead Labs (State of Decay)

I thought that too at the beginning, but I’m not so sure anymore. I think it would have happened by now with the shared history they’ve had over a couple of title. Asobo don’t strike me as the sort of company that would be happy to only be the stewards of flight sim for 10 years, they have quite a unique and varied back catalogue. 
 

[Scottoest 1,561]

40 minutes ago, Superdelphinus said:

I thought that too at the beginning, but I’m not so sure anymore. I think it would have happened by now with the shared history they’ve had over a couple of title. Asobo don’t strike me as the sort of company that would be happy to only be the stewards of flight sim for 10 years, they have quite a unique and varied back catalogue. 
 

I don't think Microsoft would acquire them to solely manage the MSFS brand, but that would definitely be part of their portfolio going forward.  And either way it seems like the present plan is for Asobo to be tethered to MSFS for the next decade, if all goes well.

[nikita 241]

8 hours ago, mpo910 said:

You mean the one about controlling the plane is separated from framerates? Even if they are low the plane will still be controllabe

I heard that one twice and think it is a huge step forward. 

Regards Marcus

Welcome to modern development standards!

[snglecoil 1,828]

5 hours ago, Noooch said:

Did you notice the Garmin name is not present on top of the displays?

It’s not in X-Plane either but Laminar have done a pretty good job with their implementations of the GNS and G1000. It’s not perfect, but it is certainly good enough to cover the majority of use cases in typical real-world scenarios.
Given Garmin’s dominance in the marketplace, it would be cool to see fully featured versions of a range of their  products available in the sim like the G5...and who knows, maybe someday if you fall asleep on a long cross country, your virtual passengers my have to activate the new Garmin Autoland if the TBM ends up getting it as some speculate 😂

[snglecoil 1,828]

4 hours ago, maggussje said:

But this could be bad news...

Why would this be bad news? You wouldn’t consider using OOTB planes like some of us filthy casual “gamers” would you? 😉

[martin-w 3,234]

On 11/29/2019 at 1:32 PM, andyjohnston.net said:

About 12-15 years ago, there was a program made for Discovery Channel here in Canada which over the course of about eight episodes followed a group of military pilots as they trained to fly the F-18.  It was called Jetstream, and can be found on YouTube for anyone interested.

 

It was fascinating to see the way they went though learning the stuff, which did indeed consist of them reading and memorizing huge amounts of literature, manuals, etc.  And then you would see them going through checklists, which they did at a crazy speed when they needed to get airborne. 

 

Jetstream was an awesome series. Watched it here in the UK, on Discovery. Do you remember that F18 lady pilot who landed in formation, at night, and kept over correcting with the rudder? Almost tuned the jet over and the instructor had to taker over. I recall she qualified for okay. 

Yep, tons of school work to do before you fly fast jets. 

Great series here on UK TV recently featuring our new carriers and F35 B's. Including the first SRVL. Shipborne Rolling Vertical landing. 

[SnakeP 39]

1 hour ago, snglecoil said:

Why would this be bad news? You wouldn’t consider using OOTB planes like some of us filthy casual “gamers” would you? 😉

😁

No, my friend, this is actually the challenge for MS/Asobo: To get both groups interested in the default planes. My hope is (well, “was”) that they’ll focus on just a few OOTB planes, which are presented in great detail and, maybe except for failures, down to study level. And to make those planes accessible as possible for casual “gamers” like you, who have every right to use and enjoy the platform as much as we hardcore-simmers (hopefully) will!

I bet you watched all their videos so far and the tremendous amount of work they put into the development of the TBM, for instance. It’d be sad if they stopped at something like the Garmin and only scratched the surface there.

Yeah, the latter is essential only for the hardcore simmers, but as I said, all of us should have fun with that...game. 😉

[snglecoil 1,828]

17 minutes ago, maggussje said:

😁

No, my friend, this is actually the challenge for MS/Asobo: To get both groups interested in the default planes. My hope is (well, “was”) that they’ll focus on just a few OOTB planes, which are presented in great detail and, maybe except for failures, down to study level. And to make those planes accessible as possible for casual “gamers” like you, who have every right to use and enjoy the platform as much as we hardcore-simmers (hopefully) will!

I bet you watched all their videos so far and the tremendous amount of work they put into the development of the TBM, for instance. It’d be sad if they stopped at something like the Garmin and only scratched the surface there.

Yeah, the latter is essential only for the hardcore simmers, but as I said, all of us should have fun with that...game. 😉

Forgive me. I'm just busting your chops a little over some of the broad strokes with which you have chosen to paint in characterizing a hard core simmer vs. a casual gamer. There is a fair amount of real-world experience represented in this forum. My personal interest interest in flight simulation is a little bit deeper than you assume simply because I welcome a larger quantity of first party aircraft from Asobo. Yes it is speculation on my part, but given all that they have shown to date,  I don't get the feeling that many corners will be cut with regards to system depth. Are they going to simulate every aspect of every system in a transport category aircraft? Probably not. But there is still a significant value in something that provides 80% depth vs. 100%. There is a lot to be said for variety as well.

I know you said that you are starting you real-world training in the near future. That is fantastic! I know you will enjoy every minute of it! With regards to the sim, you may be surprised what ends up being important and what does not. It can definitely be a tremendously valuable tool for applying what you learn. You'll get a better understanding for the limitations as well. For training, focus on the what the sim does well and enjoy!

[SnakeP 39]

11 minutes ago, snglecoil said:

Forgive me. I'm just busting your chops a little over some of the broad strokes with which you have chosen to paint in characterizing a hard core simmer vs. a casual gamer. [...]

Everything fine on my end! 🙂 I guess it’s one of the “side effects” of what MS/Asobo showed so far that people like me actually got interested in flying OOTB planes. I’m absolutely fascinated by what might be possible...

Maybe my words were a bit too strong or misleading: In my opinion, “casual gamers” are the vast majority and the most important group to consider by MS/Asobo. And with their promise “to deliver a hardcore sim” you can always dial things down to suit the casual gamer—I just wanted to express my concern that too many planes would contradict that promise.

I don’t want to speculate by saying that; this “thing” they’re teasing us with is simply far away from any expectation that anyone here or anywhere else had just six months ago. 🤯

[andyjohnston.net 617]

20 hours ago, maggussje said:

Again. Casual “gamers” equals many OOTB planes. Hard-core simmers equal just a few planes with great instrument depth. 

What a stupid thing to say.  Lots of people who've been using these sims forever (myself included, almost 25 years) would rather have a variety available.  I don't feel I should have to shell out for additional aircraft after having purchased the program.

[andyjohnston.net 617]

2 hours ago, martin-w said:

 

Jetstream was an awesome series. Watched it here in the UK, on Discovery. Do you remember that F18 lady pilot who landed in formation, at night, and kept over correcting with the rudder? Almost tuned the jet over and the instructor had to taker over. I recall she qualified for okay. 

At the time, I worked for National Defence, and I did look up her name in the global address list.  Thought about dropping her an e-mail but decided against it.