I remember them saying they didn't want to do seasons unless they could colour change the satellite imagery to match the trees. Maybe that was something they just couldn't do on the MS2020 version of the Asobo engine.

 

On 6/16/2023 at 9:35 AM, B777ER said:

Jorg and MS likely realized they could monetize feature requests and thus the most requested items will now cost us all money in form of MS2024. 

That wasn't it at all. It was because they had done so much work, that it was better to release as a new product than to break everything in an update.

Edited June 17, 20232 yr by Tuskin38

20 minutes ago, Tuskin38 said:

That wasn't it at all. It was because they had done so much work, that it was better to release as a new product than to break everything in an update.

Provide the source that said it would 'break everything in an update'.

26 minutes ago, Tuskin38 said:

That wasn't it at all. It was because they had done so much work, that it was better to release as a new product than to break everything in an update.

Sorry but unless you're working for Asobo and leaking inside information that paragraph is complete nonsense.

10 hours ago, Ricardo41 said:

If the franchise is to survive

I understand your argumentation and it's probably true to a large degree, but what makes you think they need to do this to "survive"? P3D and XPL survive for decades while mostly catering only to the hardcore crowd. It's about maximizing profits for Microsoft, not survival of the franchise, that's why they do that stuff (and that's also why they do MSFS 2024).

On 6/16/2023 at 3:27 PM, edpatino said:

Regarding "Seasons", are people talking about the changing vegetation and terrain according to the time of the year?. Aren't they already covered in MSFS2020 by external programs like REX AccuSeasons or Bijan?. To me, any of those two make really a good work.

Sorry for the question, but maybe I'm confused.

With shaders modifications they could change the colors of the terrain. 

I guess that they will do it that way in Fs2024.
 

1 hour ago, Fiorentoni said:

P3D and XPL survive for decades while mostly catering only to the hardcore crowd. 

Whilst I agree with the general thrust of your post I think it worth pointing out that P3D never catered to the ‘hardcore crowd’.

It worked and works because it’s tailored to and marketed to large intergovernmental and business organisations willing to purchase commercial licenses for training purposes.

XP works because Laminar is based in Austin’s garage and he works with a dedicated team of young men in shorts. Hence his overheads are small.

2 minutes ago, DD_Arthur said:

Whilst I agree with the general thrust of your post I think it worth pointing out that P3D never catered to the ‘hardcore crowd’.

It worked and works because it’s tailored to and marketed to large intergovernmental and business organisations willing to purchase commercial licenses for training purposes.

This is exactly it. There is really little comparison between P3D and MSFS. LM did not purchase the rights to the old ESP code to offer a flight simulator to enthusiasts. It had an internal need for a platform on which scripted familiarization and training missions could be simulated for its clients. Its development reflects this; the basic platform had minimal functionality; poor default scenery, no atmosphere, etc. All this was added on by external developers. P3D was more of an SKD project than a flight simulator -- it depended completely on third party developers, which was essentially its model. 

16 minutes ago, DD_Arthur said:

Whilst I agree with the general thrust of your post I think it worth pointing out that P3D never catered to the ‘hardcore crowd’.

It worked and works because it’s tailored to and marketed to large intergovernmental and business organisations willing to purchase commercial licenses for training purposes.

XP works because Laminar is based in Austin’s garage and he works with a dedicated team of young men in shorts. Hence his overheads are small.

Well yes, but that's not contrary to what I said. Cutting costs and focusing on the core and letting 3PDs do the rest could be done by Microsoft, too. Not that I *want* it, I'm just saying it's not about survival per se. Maybe survival with a huge team, yes, we could agree on that.

6 hours ago, GSalden said:

With shaders modifications they could change the colors of the terrain. 

I guess that they will do it that way in Fs2024.

This has been intended by Habashi but never worked properly. REX projected it, but shifted it into some indefinite future. I recall ORBX already fabulated about this approach when their giga-sized Prepar3d TrueEarth sceneries didn't come in 4 seasons years ago.

It's certainly the way to go but seems to be more involved than expected.

Kind regards, Michael

People forget why seasons are so hard. It isn’t just about making trees snowy in the winter. Actual proper implementation of seasons requires an understanding of all the earth’s micro-climates to be modeled, which is a massive task. Terrain in the Caribbean doesn’t look much different season to season. Areas of the US get very colorful in the winter but don’t actually see snowfall. Trees at the top of some mountains are snow covered all year long, even in warm climates like California. It also changes numerous other systems like AI behaviors, runway conditions, etc. people will be very unhappy to see boats moving around on a frozen lake bed.

That said, it certainly seems like a bait and switch to put on the 2020 roadmap and then later move behind a paywall. I suspect it will become clear that 2024 is basically just 2020 with some nice new textures, a few added “most requested” features, and a lot of gamer driven gameplay elements. I’m still not convinced it is anything but a cash grab.

On 6/17/2023 at 1:06 PM, B777ER said:

Provide the source that said it would 'break everything in an update'.

Ignore the break everything part.

On 6/17/2023 at 1:12 PM, MarcG said:

Sorry but unless you're working for Asobo and leaking inside information that paragraph is complete nonsense.

Matt Booty from Microsoft said it was the MSFS team that decided they had made enough changes to justify selling it as a new product.

Source:

 

Edited June 18, 20232 yr by Tuskin38

2 hours ago, Tuskin38 said:

Ignore the break everything part.

Matt Booty from Microsoft said it was the MSFS team that decided they had made enough changes to justify selling it as a new product.

Source:

 

so you state something then ask others to ignore it? lol 😄

On 6/17/2023 at 2:14 PM, Fiorentoni said:

said. Cutting costs and focusing on the core and letting 3PDs do the rest could be done by Microsoft, too. Not that I *want* it, I'm just saying it's not about survival per se. Maybe survival with a huge team, yes, we could agree on that.

Maybe they could, but I don't think very many people want that model for a flight simulator. I don't think it served us well with P3D; those years now feel pretty stagnate. And for me using P3D was certainly a lot more expensive than MSFS -- especially once I include the necessary third-party developers and all the premium fees tacked on because it was a "professional" platform.

On 6/17/2023 at 9:35 AM, Fiorentoni said:

P3D and XPL survive for decades while mostly catering only to the hardcore crowd.

Back in December, Ricardo41 discovered a hardcore XPL crowd parading through a MSFS airport.  

 

12 hours ago, CaptainAddOn said:

Areas of the US get very colorful in the winter but don’t actually see snowfall.

Not sure what part of the US your in, I'm thinking Key West, because most other places - winter is the most drab looking time.

 

Edited June 19, 20232 yr by Alpine Scenery