3 hours ago, ChaoticBeauty said:

If I find the will to start up the simulator again any time soon I will try and make a comparison with the earlier Around the World trailers to see if the claim of the one-month delay stands.

Decided to start conducting this test today. From the latest Developer Q&A, this is the answer we got regarding the state of water mask implementations from the Around the World trailers.

Quote

World data is continuously changing and getting better. Trailers are showing the latest updates to the world that are released in one of the next upcoming big update. Water masking of some areas in Asia was updated with previous updates and is already in the sim. So usually there should be no more than a few weeks or a month of delay between some new world feature visible in a trailer and the game. This applies to all improvements to world data including water masking. We could do our trailers based on the current public version of the data ; but then, just a few weeks after the trailer is out, it would already be obsolete and the sim would look better than the trailer… And we can’t update the trailer once the world has been updated, would be too much work for our video team. So we produce a trailer that contains the latest data, even if it is a few weeks to release.

So I viewed the Oceania trailer, released on 18 August 2020, and then checked in-game, to see if the water masks have been implemented. Sadly this is not the case.

I apologise for not trying to approximate the shots' composition, time of day and weather (though the last one is impossible for me now) very much, but those pictures should be enough for a clear comparison. All of my screenshots were taken just now, with streaming Bing and photogrammetry data enabled.

More than three months since the trailer was released, still no water masks. Clearly, there is still much to be done.

I will do more as time allows. I had some trouble locating the Samoa and Timor spots. If anyone wants to do more comparisons, feel free to post them here.

28 minutes ago, ChaoticBeauty said:

Decided to start conducting this test today. From the latest Developer Q&A, this is the answer we got regarding the state of water mask implementations from the Around the World trailers.

Thanks for taking the time to do this. 👍  As you can probably tell, I have been having a rough few days with the sim, and my trust is beginning to ebb away more and more.  Things like this need highlighting because as your pictures show, there is one hell of a difference. 

Does anyone think their bridges look better in the videos as well?  At least they don't seem to show the shadowy mess underneath, and the false road and traffic on the water.  I noticed their Golden Gate Bridge was superb looking in the first trailer, which I think was last year.

I know all companies dress-up their products when they can, but they shouldn't try it on with flight-simmers.   They should know we are a fussy lot. 😁

So I’m not exactly sure why the water masks were removed if they looked great in a previous version?

Indeed, a mystery!

There is a fine border between hype and dishonesty. I reckon they are on the wrong side.

5 minutes ago, Dominique_K said:

There is a fine border between hype and dishonesty. I reckon they are on the wrong side.

I'd give them a pass if they've pulled the trailers and promotions using the old watermasks. If not, I agree.

Edited November 29, 20205 yr by odourboy

I enjoy flying mostly in the Caribbean and this missing water mask is really dissappointing to me as it really sold me when I first saw the trailers!

1 minute ago, odourboy said:

I'd give them a pass if they've pulled the trailers and promotions using the old watermasks. If not, I agree.

What bothers me is that the trailers do not contain a disclaimer informing the potential buyer that the watermasks are not presently in the product and will only be added at a later date. 

I have to agree... we were misled and I have to wonder if the same excuse would be valid if one of the promoted aircraft was missing. Or certain landmarks. This is bait & switch tactics, not a promise of what’s coming. The least they could have done is add a note to the marketing images...  “Visuals depicted may or may not be a true representation of the product.”

Edited November 29, 20205 yr by Danno

Aside from the autopilot issues, this is the biggest problem with the sim IMO. Sure, the water masks may be coming, but as stated by the developers, this is a 10 year project. When are we getting the water masks? 2029?

 

 

I've been waiting for these visual enhancements since I saw the video. I hope they get it done soon.

They have said many times they are slowly adding the water masks...

Take a good listen, they talk about water masking here... They will be publishing a map on water mask areas at some point.

MSFSofficial - Twitch

Edited November 29, 20205 yr by rjetster

Regardless of the marketing tactics, I'd defer these and all the other scenery updates in a nanosecond in order to get flight characteristics and performance issues addressed.

5 minutes ago, rjetster said:

They have said many times they are slowly adding the water masks...

True.  But MSFS was marketed through the videos as having these features. Not that it might have them one day, some time in the next ten years.

46 minutes ago, rjetster said:

They have said many times they are slowly adding the water masks...

Take a good listen, they talk about water masking here... They will be publishing a map on water mask areas at some point.

MSFSofficial - Twitch

They also said everything that was in the videos older than a month or so should be in the sim now.

I am debating making a video cut of exactly the devs words from the Q&A, and the current state of the sim. 

I am tired of being gaslit by their lies.  Which is what this is....it's not any mystery.  It's a lie plain and simple.  

Edited November 29, 20205 yr by marsman2020