Hi. I had always thought that damage was not allowed to be shown in MSFS, so that the age rating (suitable for all ages?) could be kept for MSFS.  But in the latest iniBuilds A350 stream, they model bird strikes, and they show the bird strike damage on the A350:

Is this something new to MSFS 2024 only, or maybe MSFS 2020 + MSFS 2024 are allowed to show limited damage? I'm pretty sure iniBuilds knows what they can and can't do in MSFS since they are one of the closest partners to the MSFS team (iniBuilds isn't 1st party, but they're as close to 1st party as you can get, given that they get so much work contracted to them by MSFS).

That's awesome though if bird strike damage is allowed now. This means that other damage, such as minor damage to landing gear, wings, cockpit glass, engines, propellers, etc, should also be allowed.  I'm not sure if this is a new policy for MSFS 2024 only, or if showing minor damage has always been allowed for MSFS, including MSFS 2020.

Edited February 14, 20251 yr by abrams_tank

I thought it wasn't a Microsoft decision but more of the aircraft manufacturers decision where if they are "officially licenced" - They will often come with terms where they want to see the aircraft in the best light (No damage etc). 

 

3 minutes ago, Zangoose said:

I thought it wasn't a Microsoft decision but more of the aircraft manufacturers decision where if they are "officially licenced" - They will often come with terms where they want to see the aircraft in the best light (No damage etc). 

 

Yeah, that's what I was wondering about too. Maybe it's just the aircraft manufacturer that disallows visual damage shown if it's an officially licensed product, but official MSFS policy has always allowed a limited damage to be shown on planes.

I do hope that more minor damage is shown from the 3rd party developers.  This is really a good development from iniBuilds and I hope other 3rd party developers follow iniBuild's lead (provided if they are in a licensed agreement, their aircraft manufacturer allows some limited damage to be shown).

From a racing Sim perspective there have been official licences with the declaration that "there shall be no visible damage shown on cars", although I believe that to be rare. So it could translate to aircraft licences as well. 

As for Age Rating Certification being an issue, the (great) game Wreckfest is classified as a T for Teens and that has incredible amounts of damage in it, but of course anyone can buy it for their <12 year old.

MS has their strict stipulations on stuff they publish or sell. As long as it isn't a default or marketplace version, a third party dev is free to do whatever they want as long as the licensing agreement is ok with it.

3 hours ago, Zangoose said:

I thought it wasn't a Microsoft decision but more of the aircraft manufacturers decision where if they are "officially licenced" - They will often come with terms where they want to see the aircraft in the best light (No damage etc). 

 

This is something that always struck me as shortsighted. Everyone knows airplanes can get damaged. Actually showing (even simulated) how aircraft can suffer damage yet keep flying and (pilot competence allowing) bring back everyone home safe would only show the planes, and by extension their manufacturer, in a good light.

3 hours ago, abrams_tank said:

That's awesome though if bird strike damage is allowed now.

Not particularly new.  @simbolwas I think the first developer to introduce bird strikes with the FSR500.  And that functionality was able to be activated dependent on bird activity at airports taken from live airport info, not just triggered at random or as part of a pre packaged scenario 👍

1 hour ago, Krakin said:

MS has their strict stipulations on stuff they publish or sell. As long as it isn't a default or marketplace version, a third party dev is free to do whatever they want as long as the licensing agreement is ok with it.

Oh, I see. I wonder if the bird strike feature for the iniBuilds A350 will end up in the MSFS  Marketplace then.

1 hour ago, abrams_tank said:

Oh, I see. I wonder if the bird strike feature for the iniBuilds A350 will end up in the MSFS  Marketplace then.

IIRC the A350 is supposed to be available for console too, so that would mean yes.

1 hour ago, Fiorentoni said:

IIRC the A350 is supposed to be available for console too, so that would mean yes.

Not necessarily. Remember, iniBuilds has said the PC 2024 version purchased from THEIR store will be that one the one that has ALL of the bells and whistles.

3 hours ago, abrams_tank said:

Oh, I see. I wonder if the bird strike feature for the iniBuilds A350 will end up in the MSFS  Marketplace then.

Why not? I only distribute via Market Place, the bird strikers are working on FSR500 on PC, Xbox, MSFs 2020 and MSFS 2024 for all platforms..

Edited February 14, 20251 yr by simbol

9 minutes ago, simbol said:

Why not? I only distribute via Market Place, the bird strikers are working on FSR500 on PC, Xbox, MSFs 2020 and MSFS 2024 for all platforms..

Thanks for your answer simbol! If you don't mind me asking, what is the threshold for the amount of damage that is allowed to be shown in MSFS for Marketplace products? (I assume it's the same policy for MSFS 2020 vs MSFS 2024).

For example, if minor damage is the bird strike damage as shown in iniBuilds A350 video, and major damage is a whole wing ripped off or the entire tail of the plane ripped off, how much damage is allowed to be shown in MSFS as per Microsoft's policy for Marketplace products?  What would constitute as crossing the threshold that Microsoft allows?

Edited February 14, 20251 yr by abrams_tank

42 minutes ago, abrams_tank said:

Thanks for your answer simbol! If you don't mind me asking, what is the threshold for the amount of damage that is allowed to be shown in MSFS for Marketplace products? (I assume it's the same policy for MSFS 2020 vs MSFS 2024).

For example, if minor damage is the bird strike damage as shown in iniBuilds A350 video, and major damage is a whole wing ripped off or the entire tail of the plane ripped off, how much damage is allowed to be shown in MSFS as per Microsoft's policy for Marketplace products?  What would constitute as crossing the threshold that Microsoft allows?

Prop strikes, windshield, etc. seems to be acceptable.. I would say anything that implies an event leading to explicit implication of death is a no, neither blood, etc. there are no hard rules, the MP team validates what you have done and approves it.

The best guidance is to see the rating of the product, MSFS 2020 and MSFS 2024 are rated as E.. https://www.esrb.org/ratings-guide/

 

That's the guidance we follow, MSFS is the 1st block of text.. it needs to be safe for humans under 10 years old basically.

Best,
Raul

 

1 hour ago, simbol said:

Prop strikes, windshield, etc. seems to be acceptable.. I would say anything that implies an event leading to explicit implication of death is a no, neither blood, etc. there are no hard rules, the MP team validates what you have done and approves it.
 

Thanks, that's very useful to know!  Thank you very much for providing this information!

45 minutes ago, abrams_tank said:

Thanks, that's very useful to know!  Thank you very much for providing this information!

Years ago mentioning the possibility of any sort of damage at all would cause a mini-riot. Usually, it was claimed that manufacturers forbade it, yet at the same time, another sim was showing blazing engines on commercial planes and firing missiles, with the community apparently turning a blind eye.

Eventually I decided it wasn't really a logic based reaction, and more like some kind of group pressure that had taken root within the community at some unknown date.

I can already imagine the "stealing resources" arguments that would be made if MS ever decided to resurrect the Combat Flight simulator franchise on the current engine, even on partitioned servers.