2 hours ago, Slides said:

Then what is the discussion exactly? Nostalgia for the past? 

All of the two additional people who would buy MSFS if it had 2D cockpits aren't even going to pay for 1 hour of an Asobo developers time.

The point of the discussion is to discuss including a utility & feature that some find useful if the development costs to do so are not prohibitive.

It's great that you have contempt for a 2D panel. Personally, I have no use for a 2D panel. Unlike you though, I do not sneer at, and have irrational contempt for ("... All of the two additional people..."), those that do.

3 hours ago, Ricardo41 said:

2D-Panels are the horse and buggy of flight simming. 

 

Why do ‘modern’ VC’s still look so bad, cartoon and lifeless then? 

Would be nice if you could use them as an alternative! Shouldn't cause much damage and would also make it easier for freeware devs to get started in this sim!

22 minutes ago, Doug47 said:

Why do ‘modern’ VC’s still look so bad, cartoon and lifeless then? 

Now its interesting, because I've always felt that way about 2D cockpits, which I always hastily deactivated in FSX whenever I mistakenly made them appear......

37 minutes ago, Doug47 said:

Why do ‘modern’ VC’s still look so bad, cartoon and lifeless then? 

They don't all look that way to me, but some do. I think the more cartoon-like 3D cockpits are mainly a result of developers avoiding the use of high resolution texturing on panel surfaces and gauge bezels, so performance doesn't suffer on lower-end computers. A panel with just flat gray paint renders faster than a high-res texture on that same panel. Dynamic reflections on glass gauges and PFDs are another thing that add to realism, but cause a performance hit so not everyone uses them.

Another factor is the tendency to render cockpits as if they're fresh off the factory floor in a plane that's never been flown. Everything super clean, no paint wear, no dings. Brand spanking new, every time you step into the cockpit. That can look a bit cartoonish even with texturing. Not everyone wants the "vintage warbird" look with paint wear and dings everywhere, but a little bit adds to realism.

Anyway, a 3D cockpit with high-res texturing, reflections, and a dab of "user wear" looks completely believable to me. But you might need a medium to high-end system to render it without a performance hit.

24 minutes ago, HiFlyer said:

Now its interesting, because I've always felt that way about 2D cockpits, which I always hastily deactivated in FSX whenever I mistakenly made them appear......

I’m talking good payware quality although a lot of the finest 2D panels have been freeware.  
You’d be very hard pressed to find any VC’s that are in that same realm as the great photorealistic panels that have been available.

A 2D panel on a flat screen representing a real flat panel seems to be a novel concept for some. 

 

 

I understand the need for home pit builders etc. Doing full 2D cockpit panels for all planes and panels is going to be quite some work. You can't use the textures from the 3D and have to start from scratch. And with the quality of the 3D cockpits these days with lighting / shadows / reflections etc I guess a 2D cockpit is going to look very weird - even if it is super high resolution? Even in good ole FSX they do look rather odd IMO. 

So I think the compromise would be to include a "no cockpit view" as a default view where you can have the instruments like in the external view? To my understanding that is possible creating a custom view. Maybe add a black background for nostaligia. 

Looking at other simulators in development today neither DCS or IL2 BoX have 2D (or no pit). 

Simply put, I want to have my cheap 32" monitor as my 'vfr screen' mainly focused on things outside the aircraft, while I have my laptop sitting on top of my yoke with my instruments displayed. I don't really care if they are 3d or 2d, but 2d would have it's benefits. If there is any add-on solution I'd certainly be interested