Hi Microsoft/Asobo, 

I hope you get to read this or indeed things get passed on. So on the insider with the latest development roadmap it outlines in July more Partnership Releases in addition to the ones we have, also it mentions Mid July a preview into August/September?? It mentions September yet you are releasing it mid August? The timelines have slipped a little although nothing drastic so was just wondering is this really retail ready??? I think the Closed Beta had really confused a few people in terms of testing etc.. And feel maybe it is now being rushed out the door. Are there features missing?? 

Kind regards 

 

Duncan Odgers 

Edited July 14, 20205 yr by Duncan Odgers

True, the latest DR was published on June, 4th, and it lists a _further_ development roadmap update planned for August/September.

So it's clear that the bigwigs at MS have anticipated the release by a few months, at least.

I wonder what caused them to change the plans so suddenly. Were they running out of pre-release budget or something?

This is definitely interesting, and I'm hopeful that the Thursday Dev updates maybe give some insight into this!

MS has always said that it will be released as soon as it is playable. The project should run for 10 years. 

That means the development continues. Our desires become more and more complete over time. 

I'm not scared, "full speed ahead, captain!"

Edited July 14, 20205 yr by KERNEL32

Remember those things called “service packs” for large feature updates and bug fixes? Didn’t FSX have a big update after about a year (so long ago I can’t remember)? Personally I’m fine with “It’s good enough, let’s get into people’s hands and we can dot the i’s and cross the t’s a little later”.

9 minutes ago, Bottle said:

Remember those things called “service packs” for large feature updates and bug fixes? Didn’t FSX have a big update after about a year (so long ago I can’t remember)? Personally I’m fine with “It’s good enough, let’s get into people’s hands and we can dot the i’s and cross the t’s a little later”.

lol everyone says this until launch day and the thing crashes on start-up

10 minutes ago, Bottle said:

Remember those things called “service packs” for large feature updates and bug fixes? Didn’t FSX have a big update after about a year (so long ago I can’t remember)? Personally I’m fine with “It’s good enough, let’s get into people’s hands and we can dot the i’s and cross the t’s a little later”.

Yes but when you are paying a lot of money, surely big bugs should be ironed out before release, some people are still seeing issues with bridges in the videos which we know is hard to do. Service packs are fine to add content and fix bugs but hope that this is not another Prepar3d V5 (released way too early) scenario!

If you look at the video game development trends over the past several years, the paradigm has shifted from a big single release to a live service model. The developers have already commented that MSFS is a 10 year commitment or something along those lines. It looks like they are planning some sort of "live service-like" model for Flight Simulator. That means that the development roadmap continues well after the initial release.

I say live service-like because typically a live service game relies heavily on a continuous stream of revenue from in-game purchases like season passes, cosmetic items, and other perks sold directly from the developer/publisher. I'm sure there will be additional 1st party content sold in the online marketplace, but it is clear that the team has engaged and embraced 3rd party content. Regardless, it is clear that there is more development of the core platform planned and that is a great thing!

Edited July 14, 20205 yr by snglecoil

1 hour ago, Murmur said:

True, the latest DR was published on June, 4th, and it lists a _further_ development roadmap update planned for August/September.

So it's clear that the bigwigs at MS have anticipated the release by a few months, at least.

Or development went faster than they expected.

Or the August/September roadmap is for Post-Launch development.

There are many possibilities.

Edited July 14, 20205 yr by Tuskin38

I believe they stated this would be a many-year game development process.

Let them release it, I am sure they will add features, bug fixes as time goes on. If you want to wait...that's ok too.

 

 

8 minutes ago, Tuskin38 said:

Or development went faster than they expected.

Or the August/September roadmap is for Post-Launch development.

There are many possibilities.

Development is NEVER faster than expected in software development.

 

2 minutes ago, Mucker said:

Development is NEVER faster than expected in software development.

Cheop's Law: Nothing ever gets built on schedule or within budget.

Hook

1 hour ago, Bottle said:

Remember those things called “service packs” for large feature updates and bug fixes? Didn’t FSX have a big update after about a year (so long ago I can’t remember)? Personally I’m fine with “It’s good enough, let’s get into people’s hands and we can dot the i’s and cross the t’s a little later”.

I'm with you here. Some people can't cope with any sort of bugs - see P3D v5 for a good example - but I'm just happy to get my hands on a new sim. I have faith that MS and Asobo will progressively improve MSFS over the coming few years. So I'm definitely on board for the 18th of August, and will happily cope with whatever inconveniences arise.