$1 for 30 days (Xbox Game Pass for PC) seems like a no brainer, though it's only the Standard Edition.

27 minutes ago, IanHarrison said:

I seem to have large gaps in  my knowledge of this sim.  

 

Yes, not anybody can be a retiree and waste his time to stay up to date 😉.

The sim has a flyable core of scenery which is according to alpha testers rather good. All the autogen and vector data are here but the ground won't be as detailed as with streaming. So you can use the sim without streaming. 

If you have a cap on your internet and always fly in the same areas, the sim has a cache mode. You stream down the region/route only once and keep it on your SSD for further use.   CAVEAT : to my knowledge, the cache mode was not activated as such in the alpha but rather simplified as a FIFO mode. 

35 minutes ago, craigeaglefire said:

who will be the first 3PD to announce an available helicopter for MSFS?

that would greatly help the MSFS purchasing decision!

First announcement must be from MS/ASOBO, because MSFS probably has not helicopter support yet. Isn't possible make a good helicopter, without support in MSFS physic/aerodynamic engine. Helicopters are still on wish-list.

3 hours ago, Wobbie said:

Quite correct, he was told to mention 2020, as Avsimmers were confused, and could not tell the difference between MSFS & FSX/FS2004/FS9 & other sims. Note the official names now being mentioned by Aerosoft- distributors of the boxed package, Asobo & obviously Microsoft. Maybe the correct shortened name should be MSFS? Or FS8 -the sim will be released in August? 

"Shrug!'

You have a strange obsession with the topic of sim nomenclature... 

Indeed, I enjoy seeing that the correct name is used for the product, instead of random names, such as msfs2020, fs2020, fs20 and other odd combinations. 

Maybe I was a teacher in a previous life. Why not use the correct nomenclature? 

13 minutes ago, Dominique_K said:

Yes, not anybody can be a retiree and waste his time to stay up to date 😉.

The sim has a flyable core of scenery which is according to alpha testers rather good. All the autogen and vector data are here but the ground won't be as detailed as with streaming. So you can use the sim without streaming. 

If you have a cap on your internet and always fly in the same areas, the sim has a cache mode. You stream down the region/route only once and keep it on your SSD for further use.   CAVEAT : to my knowledge, the cache mode was not activated as such in the alpha but rather simplified as a FIFO mode. 

How does it cope with ortho for high altitude flights?

Downloading tiles at ZL16 in P3D to fly over a decent area takes days, so impossible to do in real time.

I imagine that they do the math and just download the ZL needed for the planned altitude. Still, downloading a bunch of ZL14 tiles is still not something I could do in realtime with current sims. Bing maps is also the worst source for ortho, to the point that I use it for very few areas of the globe (basically, just Chile).

I'll be interested to see how it compares to P3D v5 once you're up at FL 220 or so. At that altitude, autogen-style objects don't help so straight ortho looks just right, which P3D can already do well. My impression is that MSFS has more dramatic-looking and varied weather, but P3D EA (Truesky) may look a bit more realistic, and of course has the advantage of VR and complex payware available right now.

2 hours ago, severniae said:

Gosh this trend of 'pre-ordering' of software products needs to die a death, and fast!

Pre order used to be so that distributors knew how many to produce ahead of demand, it also used to be rare to ask for the money up front. 

Now of course its just used as a way to milk the cash cow before the product is even ready - get the naive to get their money in before they are able to be swayed by the potentially terrible reviews...

Everyone, use your head - do not pre order!

They don't take the money straight away, they sent me an email and said they will not take it up until 10 days or so before release. 

Does anyone have an idea on how big would be the download size for any of the editions?. Will the download come in several zips or just one?. What's the benefit on pre-ordering a downloadable product?, are they gonna give priority to those that pre-order with the initial bandwith?.

Just questions.

Cheers, Ed

1 minute ago, edpatino said:

Does anyone have an idea on how big would be the download size for any of the editions?. Will the download come in several zips or just one?. What's the benefit on pre-ordering a downloadable product?, are they gonna give priority to those that pre-order with the initial bandwith?.

Just questions.

Cheers, Ed

There’s no benefit to pre-ordering unless they do a preload.

It won’t be zipped, it’s just downloaded in whatever way Microsoft’s store downloads things, I never looked into it.

10 minutes ago, Tuskin38 said:

There’s no benefit to pre-ordering unless they do a preload.

It won’t be zipped, it’s just downloaded in whatever way Microsoft’s store downloads things, I never looked into it.

Ok, thanks. MS mentioned they'll make the product available in as many platforms as possible. Aerosoft and SimMarket are already receiving orders (pre-orders) for the physical editions, so I could assume they'll also be entitled to sell the digital editions too, when they're available (and really hope so...). So, if that's the case, how they'll pack the product?.

Cheers, Ed

 

Physical editions are European only. If it actually on a series of DVDs, I imagine when you first install it, it will ask you to connect your Microsoft account to the product to tie it.

Any idea if VATSIM or IVAO are going to be compatible, if at all?  I don't like flying all by myself...

I’m amazed that people still use DVD’s. I believe my system doesn’t even have a disk drive, nor does my car. 

40 minutes ago, edpatino said:

Ok, thanks. MS mentioned they'll make the product available in as many platforms as possible. Aerosoft and SimMarket are already receiving orders (pre-orders) for the physical editions, so I could assume they'll also be entitled to sell the digital editions too, when they're available (and really hope so...). So, if that's the case, how they'll pack the product?.

Cheers, Ed

 

By "platforms" MS is referring to digital game selling platforms, I.E. Steam, Epic Games Store etc etc.  Of course, these platforms all charge a fee for each game sold, so this might just be lip service from MS about it appearing outside of the MS Game Store/Xbox Store ecosystem.  With this being the case, it seems unlikely that you would be able to purchase a digital version through Aerosoft etc., as MS would likely just give them referral links (that point to MS's website) and then Aerosoft etc. get paid out per click.

Definition - What does Platform mean?

A platform is a group of technologies that are used as a base upon which other applications, processes or technologies are developed.

In personal computing, a platform is the basic hardware (computer) and software (operating system) on which software applications can be run. This environment constitutes the basic foundation upon which any application or software is supported and/or developed.

Computers use specific central processing units (CPUs) that are designed to run specific machine language code. In order for the computer to run software applications, the applications must be in that CPU’s binary-coded machine language.

Thus, historically, application programs written for one platform would not work on a different platform.

So, for PC & Console platforms, that's 2 so far. plus DVD's & digital downloads for the PC platform..

But then, a bit of confusion then with the definition?