Realism and FSX Acceleration

[P-12C 0]

I'm not looking for a flame war, but with all the anxiety about our upcoming Acceleration expansion pack, I thought I would blog about realism.If you disagree with expanding the FSX platform and really think we aren't supporting more realism by adding new systems and infrastructure, then by all means say so.

[victorwest2 0]

Personally, I'm looking forward to the add on but others may/will disagree. Just wondering though. Has the expansion pack come about as a result of the feedback the team got from the survey or is there no specific connection.

[MatthewS 761]

Really looking forward to it!Can you get a bit more technical and elaborate on the new systems etc?

[sargeski 16]

I'm actually looking forward to "Acceleration". Just another aspect real life flight to simulate.

[mleegard 2]

I for one, can not believe there has not been more development of the missions? Either, payware, or freeware. I have enjoyed flying the missions included with Fsx and thought more developers would jump on the bandwagon. Whether or not one feels they do or do not create more "realism" does not matter in my opinion. They force you to fly where you have not previously and in different aircraft. I wish there more missions! Looking forward to the new missions....

[Guest Redvan]

I cant wait for it :) As you said, it's just an expansion, adds a different type of playability to an already realistic sim :) Dont really see why anyone would have a problem with that... :shrug:

[P-12C 0]

>Can you get a bit more technical and elaborate on the new>systems etc?I've blogged about many items already and posted on Hover Control about the helicopter systems and Sim Outhouse regarding the Carrier ops. Maybe I should initiate a new blog post that covers all of it in one place.

[P-12C 0]

>Just wondering though. Has the expansion pack come about as a>result of the feedback the team got from the survey or is>there no specific connection. With each product we create we take into consideration the various surveys we have conducted. You may be refering to the public one we did before FSX, but we have also conducted surveys using companies that specialize in them that you may not be aware of.Some of what we chose to do we gleaned from surveys, some from feedback on FSX (more missions), and some stuff we are doing specifically because it builds the platform so we can continue building on it for FS11 or some other product.We take a pretty long view in our planning to help ensure we are building the right things in the right way for the future.

[jimdbird 0]

"The F-18 is using many new systems that can be applied to any modern military jet."How will this work with 3rd party developers?For example: http://www.forum.aerosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=130541)Will they need to build 2 aircraft? a)FSX-SP1 b)FSX-SP1-Acceleration2)If they only need to build 1 aircraft

[BobP 56]

I like the idea concerning the expansion, however, it is difficult to get excited when I can't use very much of FSX Deluxe due to poor performance on my system. The performance issue might explain why there are so few responses to the OP. Bob...

[Guest]

If you get out into any of the gaming forums you will not see any of the negative rants you see around here. People really enjoy the new content, and for the most part only have great things to say about FSX. I'm very much looking forward to Acceleration, as a warbird and fighter jet are things I've always wanted in this sim. Being that add on aricraft are not found in any stores, and most FSX users don't really know about add on developers, the expansion is going to make many people happy. Plus, the fact I will be able to get three high quality aircraft for around the price an add on dev charges for a single aircraft, often of lesser quality, is very nice. All three look awesome, and I have yet to see any add on dev release an FSX warbird, chopper, or fighter that come close to whats in those screen shots.

[P-12C 0]

>"The F-18 is using many new systems that can be applied to>any modern military jet.">>How will this work with 3rd party developers?>This is a tough one. When we develop new systems, it is virtually impossible for us retroactively make them work in a previous version. I'm not saying actually impossible, but when you consider the testing, likelihood of campatibility issues with third parties, and a host of other issues, it's not feasible.So in short, if a third party wants to take advantage of the new systems, that add-on would need to be used with the Acceleration pack installed. This will make some third parties (maybe many), not want to take advantage of the systems and that would be their choice to make. Of course having the Acceleration pack installed will not hinder installing add-ons that use FSX/SP1 functionality alone. It won't make a difference to the end user either way.All of that said the new stuff is pretty cool and opens up new experiences, so some add-ons will probably take advantage of them.

[Guest fsxmissionguy]

mleegard,Yea, I had the same feeling about the lack of addon missions ... so I started to develop missions (some freeware, a couple very low-priced payware) to see if I could ascertain the market for these products.Unfortunately, I couldn't find the market for missions (it may be there, but I could not find it.) Freeware missions are exceedingly difficult to do professionally.My belief is that the vast majority of Flight Simulator X customers have no idea what avsim.com is, or that add-on missions are even possible. They don't go looking for them (perhaps because they just don't know how.) Or perhaps they don't trust software from total unknowns (I rarely do, so I don't blame them.) Most of the missions I produced were helicopter missions also, so that probably limited their appeal (I chose that avenue because there were very few chopper missions in the FSX RTM.)The best mission I produced and distributed free (it took 8 weeks to develop) was downloaded by about 1,250 people - globally. Although it was universally praised, I found that too limited a market, and a harsh reality, because it was really fun to do them.Perhaps someone with more skill than I possess can develop the market.

[Guest tmilton]

I've always been a simmer as opposed to a gamer, but I have to admit I've enjoyed the missions in FSX immensely. I think adding missions to the sim was a brilliant move. I'm looking forward to the Acceleration pack and the new missions included. It's nice to take a break from the point to point flights I usually do and take on some adrenaline packed challenges.Out of all the missions, I have liked the race with the jet-powered truck the best, and I'm looking forward to some more racing with the Acceleration pack.Just a thought, here's an idea about a race that would be great if it were included in the future - how about expanding the rocket truck race theme to where multiplayer users can choose to race jet-powered cars on the ground against users who choose to race in aircraft. Maybe the location could be the Bonneville Salt Flats where high speed race cars are tested. Now that would be exciting! :-)

[Tim Arnot 5]

Will it allow for regular aircraft races too? ie 'racing for the rest of us' with Pipers, Cessnas and so on. I'm thinking along the lines of the modern-day Schneider Trophy http://www.eghj.com/events/schneider.pdf and similar events staged around the world.I know you can knock up some markers in a scenery file and fly round the course ;-) but I'd be looking for something that could track infringements (turning inside the marker, flying too low), validate the winner, maybe even calculate handicaps...