Was wondering if you get the base version through Steam, not the free xbox game pass one,  the standard purchase one, will you be able to upgrade it later to the Deluxe versions etc?  Is this via Steam or some other way?

Cheers,

Simon

The upgrade can be done within the game itself. Steam is just giving you the launcher. 

32 minutes ago, simon747 said:

Was wondering if you get the base version through Steam, not the free xbox game pass one,  the standard purchase one, will you be able to upgrade it later to the Deluxe versions etc?  Is this via Steam or some other way?

Cheers,

Simon

Asobo have said that upgrades will be possible, but that it is better to buy the deluxe version from the start of that's what you want. So presumably more expensive to upgrade later.

As for upgrading via the steam version vs MS:

A lot of people here are convinced that Steam and MS versions are identical, but major developers do not seem to agree with them!

From PMDG today:

"Now- precisely how you get your add-ons installed will vary quite a bit, I suspect, based upon whether you get the add-on via the in-game store or from the developer directly. There is still not much clarity on this topic, at least not as far as the developer community is concerned"

In short, if PMDG do not know how MS and Steam versions differ, it is safe to say that Avsim forum members also do not know! 

2 hours ago, OzWhitey said:

Asobo have said that upgrades will be possible, but that it is better to buy the deluxe version from the start of that's what you want. So presumably more expensive to upgrade later.

As for upgrading via the steam version vs MS:

A lot of people here are convinced that Steam and MS versions are identical, but major developers do not seem to agree with them!

From PMDG today:

"Now- precisely how you get your add-ons installed will vary quite a bit, I suspect, based upon whether you get the add-on via the in-game store or from the developer directly. There is still not much clarity on this topic, at least not as far as the developer community is concerned"

In short, if PMDG do not know how MS and Steam versions differ, it is safe to say that Avsim forum members also do not know! 

You probably misunderstood this statement. Both steam and MSStore versions will work with the same, unified, marketplace. It’s in-sim, and it will be the same no matter where you purchased it. 
 

What was stated above is, it may differ if you buy it on the internal, in-sim, marketplace or if you buy on directly on the 3rd party store. 
 
It might be like that:

Marketplace: everything will work within their content manager. Automatic installations and updates. Everything controlled in-sim. Support will probably be provided directly by MS/Asobo.

3rd party store: You probably need to deal with external installers/updaters. All the support will probably go through the 3rd party support environment. 
 
That’s what I got so far. But like you said, not everything is clear so far. Specifically talking about the internal marketplace, it will be an unified one for all the versions, that’s what they’ve said on the last stream.

53 minutes ago, ca_metal said:

You probably misunderstood this statement. Both steam and MSStore versions will work with the same, unified, marketplace. It’s in-sim, and it will be the same no matter where you purchased it. 
 

What was stated above is, it may differ if you buy it on the internal, in-sim, marketplace or if you buy on directly on the 3rd party store. 
 
It might be like that:

Marketplace: everything will work within their content manager. Automatic installations and updates. Everything controlled in-sim. Support will probably be provided directly by MS/Asobo.

3rd party store: You probably need to deal with external installers/updaters. All the support will probably go through the 3rd party support environment. 
 
That’s what I got so far. But like you said, not everything is clear so far. Specifically talking about the internal marketplace, it will be an unified one for all the versions, that’s what they’ve said on the last stream.

Precisely. I am not sure why people are having a hard time understanding that the base install is the same for everyone and that the in-sim updates are controlled 100% by MS. That is information openly made available directly by Asobo. 

4 hours ago, Slides said:

The upgrade can be done within the game itself. Steam is just giving you the launcher. 

If you are unsure just sign up for $1 game pass trial to try out the base game before you decide to buy. 

1$ is for every month including all games? Is it possible to pay with paypal? Never used the store, only managed today to update my win10 for the store finally to work via the updater from ms downloads.

Edited August 16, 20205 yr by Mike44

1 hour ago, ca_metal said:

You probably misunderstood this statement. Both steam and MSStore versions will work with the same, unified, marketplace. It’s in-sim, and it will be the same no matter where you purchased it. 
 

What was stated above is, it may differ if you buy it on the internal, in-sim, marketplace or if you buy on directly on the 3rd party store. 
 
It might be like that:

Marketplace: everything will work within their content manager. Automatic installations and updates. Everything controlled in-sim. Support will probably be provided directly by MS/Asobo.

3rd party store: You probably need to deal with external installers/updaters. All the support will probably go through the 3rd party support environment. 
 
That’s what I got so far. But like you said, not everything is clear so far. Specifically talking about the internal marketplace, it will be an unified one for all the versions, that’s what they’ve said on the last stream.

No, I didn't misunderstand anything.

There's a lot of gray areas in what we've been told. As per RSR's comment, this is likely because no one has fully sorted out how this will work.

The approach that Steam is using for MSFS is similar to that used in Assassins creed and RDR2 ie functioning as a launcher. So you should be launching into the same version whether you're using MS Store or Steam. I'd bet the core program will work just fine (and updates probably won't be a problem in this case. Probably).

Addons are a bigger issue. Folder structure differs between MS Store version and Steam version. Someone needs to ensure addons are compatible with both versions. Sims are unique in terms of the large number of addons that are typically used, quite different from something like Assasin's Creed. Do you know for sure that an NG3 purchased on the Microsoft store will be updated for Steam at the same time as it is for the MS Store version? No, because PMDG don't actually know how this is going to work right now either.

"3rd party store: You probably need to deal with external installers/updaters. All the support will probably go through the 3rd party support environment."

As you say, "probably". Nobody knows. I found RSR's comment interesting, as I imagined PMDG at least knew how this was supposed to work by this stage. Nope.

I'm still very tempted by Steam - as I've said, I'm a long-time Steam fan - but I've also learned over the years that Steam is not the best platform for sims at least some of the time (DCS, X-Plane). I've also flagged the point that even if everything is happy and friendly at the start, manufacturers may try to move away from the Steam version over time due to financial reasons (see: DCS).

If we buy 3rd party software and it needs a different installer for MS Store versus Steam (see: different folder structure), will the Steam version be available promptly? Flight sim history shows us clearly that simple new installers involving a single folder's difference can take a year to arrive, or sometimes never be released at all.

On the contrary side: if the Steam release is massively successful (and it looks like it might be), devs may end up supporting this more than the MS Store version! 

Right now, I'm sticking with Microsoft Game Pass MSFS; Whilst I'm fully committed to getting the premium deluxe version, I figured it was easy enough to spend a dollar now, get flying tomorrow and then see how the Microsoft Store/Steam issue plays out over the next few weeks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

3 minutes ago, Mike44 said:

1$ is for every month including all games? Is it possible to pay with paypal? Never used the store, only managed today to update my win10 for the store finally to work via the updater from ms downloads.

1$ is the intro offer for the first month. Anyone on the fence re: MSFS is mad not to grab this and get flying on the 17th/18th

It's $5 per month after that where I am. I paid by the credit card that's linked to my Microsoft account, didn't check for Paypal but MS is a pretty well-established company!

Your 1$ will buy you access to the other games on the MS PC store, though that's not particularly attractive to me - still have way to many games in my Steam library I need to play, too much time simming this year. 🙂

 

Thanks, with the game pass is only the standard FS included? Alien Isolation and Metro are nice.

Edited August 16, 20205 yr by Mike44

25 minutes ago, OzWhitey said:

No, I didn't misunderstand anything.

So we have interpreted his statement in completely different ways.

To me is clear he isn’t talking about Steam Vs MSStore. He’s talking about the differences between buying from the internal marketplace and buying from a 3rd party store like PMDG’s store.

About the internal Marketplace, it was already disclosed that it will be totally unified, you won’t have 2 different marketplaces, there will be just one internal shop for all the versions (MSStore, Steam and maybe in the future Epic Games). It was answered on their last Q&A stream on Thursday.

And yeah, we don’t know how external purchases (the ones made directly through the 3rd party stores) will be handled. Mostly because it will be up to them to set their own rules, just like they do already.

3 minutes ago, Mike44 said:

Thanks, with the game pass is only the standard FS included? Alien Isolation and Metro are nice.

Yes, the game pass includes the standard version of MSFS.

45 minutes ago, ca_metal said:

To me is clear he isn’t talking about Steam Vs MSStore. He’s talking about the differences between buying from the internal marketplace and buying from a 3rd party store like PMDG’s store.

No matter where purchased, all add-on content will ultimately wind up in the same add-on folder... 😏

10 minutes ago, n4gix said:

No matter where purchased, all add-on content will ultimately wind up in the same add-on folder... 😏

I guessed that. But MS/Asobo is trying to play safe and avoiding to confirm external purchases will work no matter the distribution platform. 
 

I know you can’t confirm or deny anything right now, but I think 3rd parties are free to set their own rules when selling outside the internal marketplace. Hence why they will let the 3rd parties answer about compatibility of things purchased directly from their stores.

Edited August 16, 20205 yr by ca_metal

I also asked myself what happens if i buy stuff from the marketplace while playing with game pass and switch to steam version later. I hope the content we bought is linked to our microsoft account, so we don't have to buy payware again.