First World Update - Japan - Coming 09.29.2020

[Scottoest 1,561]

4 hours ago, Kilo60 said:

Couldn't he world/scenery update team prioritize work on global Object/World photogrammy abnormalities before pumping out smaller enhanced areas?  Fixing issues that effect the whole world would be a better use of this specific teams time IMHO!

This fundamentally misunderstands how they even "fix" that stuff, which they've explained before  They don't go in with artists and manually edit terrain abnormalities - they continually work to refine the tools and algorithms that are processing their data sources in the first place.

As they said about this Japan update, outside of the new landmarks they created by hand, the rest is a result of new photogrammetry and topographic data.  Better data equals better results.  Trying to hand fix everywhere on the PLANET that their tools have spit out something incorrect, is a foolish waste of time and resources.

Instead of hand-fixing every green blob tree in the world, your time can be better spent upgrading your systems to recognize blob trees, then remove and replace them with a tree from the model library.

[FlyIce 354]

Exactly. That why I'm very much willing to be patient with Asobo/MS. They have already done a fabulous job, just give them a year or so see how much progress they will make. With they keep pushing out world updates like this Japan update, the future is really bright.

[FilbertFlies 980]

1 hour ago, Maxis said:

i havent touched the A320 since patch screwed with it.

This is showing as being fixed by today's update. Also, if you haven't already, you must try the A32NX mod. Their latest master version fixed the Engine 1 bug and it flies much more realistically overall.

[armchair_pilot 54]

This is great news. I am quite confident in what they are doing, but why do I smell that future world updates (regional updates with some handcrafted airports, landmarks etc) will be sold as DLC? Certainly there is a lot of work and costs involved, including handcrafted airports from a 3rd party dev. It would be very pleasing if they would update the whole globe like that for free, but I don't think it is going to happen, as much as I wish it would. 

Nonetheless, the world as it is now is already looking terrific and way more than acceptable despite a few flaws. More than happy about the progress.

[Ricardo41 5,954]

32 minutes ago, armchair_pilot said:

but why do I smell that future world updates (regional updates with some handcrafted airports, landmarks etc) will be sold as DLC?

...because it says so right here:

"we are developing some exciting paid DLC that we plan to rollout over the coming months and years, and we will share more information in the future."

Source:

https://www.flightsimulator.com/september-24th-2020-development-update/

[Shack95 2,658]

This update is excellent news, not only because I‘m looking forward to discovering Japan but also because it is a strong indication that MSFS plays a more active part in the decision making processes at Bing Maps than I previously thought (or Bing Maps coincidentally decided just now to push on with photogrammetry and mesh, which I highly doubt). This makes me confident that we‘ll see some major improvements in some of the less convincing places in the future. 

Edited September 25, 2020 by Shack95

[bobcat999 8,484]

On the paid DLC, my interpretation from information they gave on a recent webinar, was that they will roll out DLC occasionally if they think the content is substantial enough to be a new and worthwhile addition to the Sim.

Helicopter and glider packs we talked about.  My take is that they will develop this DLC with their partner companies (as they have done with the Japan airports). 

So for instance, the glider pack may have a selection of models, and maybe a system implemented for the glider tug aircraft.  Maybe specific glider airfields updated and 'missions'.  Eg. ridge soar for 45 minutes above an altitude of x at this location.

The helicopter pack possibly will be done in conjunction with a company they mentioned that are specialists in helicopter simulation specifically.  (They did mention them but I can't remember the name).  Once again, the pack could include a selection of helicopters, heli-pads, and missions.

They also specifically said that you would not need to buy the packs to load a separate payware or freeware helicopter or glider into the sim.

I would buy the packs if the content looked good and the price was right.  👍

 

 

 

Edited September 25, 2020 by bobcat999

[armchair_pilot 54]

50 minutes ago, Ricardo41 said:

...because it says so right here:

"we are developing some exciting paid DLC that we plan to rollout over the coming months and years, and we will share more information in the future."

Source:

https://www.flightsimulator.com/september-24th-2020-development-update/

But what kind of DLC? Scenery, aircraft, tools, missions...?

[Moria15 950]

1 hour ago, Ricardo41 said:

...because it says so right here:

"we are developing some exciting paid DLC that we plan to rollout over the coming months and years, and we will share more information in the future."

Source:

https://www.flightsimulator.com/september-24th-2020-development-update/

That statement absolutely does NOT say that future world updates will be paid DLC.

[pstrub 998]

4 minutes ago, Moria15 said:

That statement absolutely does NOT say that future world updates will be paid DLC.

I agree, at least as far as the photogrammetry data and AI-autogen landscape are concerned. I don't think it makes sense for them to hold more than one version of the base world scenery available in the cloud, and they're going to use the same data to improve the bing maps experience over time. 

I could imagine though that at some point they try to sell the handcrafted airports related to future updates. I don't know - they may as well stay free in order to motivate users to explore the new scenery. In the end it's in their own interest to keep the platform active and attractive by adding some content for free.

 

[Moria15 950]

Just now, pstrub said:

I agree, at least as far as the photogrammetry data and AI-autogen landscape are concerned. I don't think it makes sense for them to hold more than one version of the base world scenery available in the cloud, and they're going to use the same data to improve the bing maps experience over time. 

I could imagine though that at some point they try to sell the handcrafted airports related to future updates. I don't know - they may as well stay free in order to motivate users to explore the new scenery. In the end it's in their own interest to keep the platform active and attractive by adding some content for free.

 

Agree..  there are too many Third party add-ons that read the airport database and similar things and we are already seeing some having to add airports that are newly crafted but not in the sim.

I also think that dlc will be things that are not base sim.. I see Aircraft, better quality (but already existing) airports and possibly doing a deal with third party devs for things like GSX, better atc, etc etc  things that will not affect the base sim but are nice to have for those that want it) 🙂  Will be interesting as to whether (like the Japan Update) they comission a third party dev to do something or do it themselves..  otherwise i can see thiings like LOWI where we have competing versions in the market..  one in extended version of the game, one from third party dev,  but from a multi player point of view (and for ease of maintaining the base), you really need to keep the base identical or you are just generating problems  🙂

The biggest issue I see with the Japan update is that until this was announced just a week or so before delivery, there may have been other companies working on the same airports, or additional scenery..  I have no idea whether the new areas will be under NDA and communicated but if not.. it could make the life of some third party devs difficult, to have worked on something for a while and suddenly had it made redundant.  I think theres a very fine balance to be had here in supporting third party devs and enhancing the product.

Graham

[viz 139]

A lot of the praise needs to be put into perspective here. Asobo are without a shadow of a doubt putting the bulk of their resources into fixing/expanding the core simulation, and yes that includes creating soon to be released paid for DLCs. These world updates (4-6 per year) are mostly updated Bing assets and AI (blackshark) improvements which we've known from the start will be added as and when available, the hand crafted objects are mostly sub-contracted (Gaya in this instance) POIs and airports. It's not about team sizes or skill sets, anyone (and I say that with obvious caveats) can make 3D assets and landing challenges, which is why the dev team are not doing the bulk the work here. They have much bigger fish to fry.

[AnkH 2,267]

It looks good, of course, because they (again) only show those things that DO look good. However, this whole AI based stuff has one really big drawback: it will never be as complete as a handmade scenery. There will be ALWAYS some parts of it still being completely wrong and potentiall fully ruining immersion. Call me nitpicker, but if I do a VFR sightseeing tour with a small GA plane in a generally wonderfully rendered region of this world, those AI based drawbacks appearing all over the place instantly kill immersion for me: be it whole parts of forest not covered by trees due to some algorithm mistake, be it 20 story high buildings somewhere in the Alaskan bush, mesh errors turning rivers/lakes into plateaus and and and. The list is huge, no wonder if the whole world is covered. 

And sadly, although we can praise MS/Asobo for their world updates (as long as they come for free), it will never replace or match a handmade region such as TE products. Sadly because no addon developer will ever dare to touch the same region, sales would be far too limited and the risk is huge that another update of MS/Asobo fixes the major issues rendering the addon obsolete. 

Remains the POI stuff, as we have already seen with ORBX London City and the upcoming ORBX Sydney packages. But then? If you live by bad luck in a region with really bad Bing coverage? You are basically doomed to wait for MS/Asobo fixing exactly your region or you will never have your region properly rendered. And never ever you will get an addon for it, as there is simply no sense for the devs of 3rd party addons to do such.

Same goes for the mesh: why we do not have already FS Global offering a worldwide enhanced mesh for MSFS? Might be that it is simply due to the fact that it seems to be really difficult to include custom mesh, but equally it could just be that FS Global does not want to waste any cent in the development of a mesh addon with the risk of their product being suddenly obsolete if MS/Asobo updates the mesh with the next update. 

Verdict: this "out of the box" stuff might look great at the first glance but it sadly also carries a lot of risk that certain things wont be fixed until MS/Asobo decides to do so. And come on, with a 10y support schedule, it might be that the stuff you want to have fixed will be fixed, but only in 2-3 years from now or even way later. 

[Farlis 2,287]

2 hours ago, AnkH said:

why we do not have already FS Global offering a worldwide enhanced mesh for MSFS?

Because the SDK so far does not include the necessary tools to compile digital elevation data. Simple as that.

It will come eventually, but until it hasn't been released there will be no 3rd Party Mesh.

Edited September 25, 2020 by Farlis

[Tuskin38 6,526]

10 hours ago, Ricardo41 said:

...because it says so right here:

"we are developing some exciting paid DLC that we plan to rollout over the coming months and years, and we will share more information in the future."

Source:

https://www.flightsimulator.com/september-24th-2020-development-update/

World Updates like Japan one will be free, but there will be DLC released as well.