Hobnobs Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 CHATHAM, KENT – December 9th, 2014 – Dovetail Games, the multi award-winning developer and publisher of the Train Simulator series and Dovetail Games Fishing, today gave flight sim fans a lift for the holiday season with the announcement that Microsoft Flight Simulator X: Steam Edition will launch on December 18 at a spectacular introductory price. Microsoft Flight Simulator X: Steam Edition delivers an authentically accurate aerial experience for simulation enthusiasts and those with a passion for all things flight. Pilots can climb into the cockpits of over twenty aircraft, from commercial and fighter jets to single-engine private planes and helicopters. More than 80 missions will test players in a variety of ways, including search and rescue challenges, test pilot scenarios, races and more. The game features updated multiplayer functionality, Windows 8.1 support and over 24,000 airports, delivering a beautiful, connected world and vast horizon begging to be explored. First released in 2006, Microsoft Flight Simulator X’s arrival on Steam marks the first exciting steps in the global licensing deal between Dovetail Games and Microsoft announced earlier this year. In addition to distributing Microsoft Flight Simulator X: Steam Edition, Dovetail Games is also working on its own original titles based on Microsoft’s flight technology, carrying on nearly three decades of tradition established by this award-winning franchise. Dovetail Games and partners will also be launching a range of add-ons for Microsoft Flight Simulator X: Steam Edition on Steam in the New Year. Microsoft Flight Simulator X: Steam Edition will be available on Windows PC via Steam on December 18. This title is rated E (Everyone) by the ESRB. The press release seems to suggest that they have made some changes to the game including the multi-player element. Whether this includes the DX10 issues being fixed natively or even a DX11 implementation remains to be seen. But nonetheless, I'll be following this with interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Culley44 Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 i have completely changed to p3d, but i hope dovetail games can't really expect for people to pay 40 or 50 bucks usd for a game that nearing 10 years old, even with dx10 corrected,thats just my guess on what will be charged, but like you i am interested in seeing what changes are made,unless fsx because 64 bit its really gonna be a wash in my opinion, because once p3d becomes 64 bit, most fsx users will probably completely move to p3d, but all we can do is sit back and wait and see what happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcongram Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 This release announcement doesn't repeat what was said July 25/2014 http://www.dovetailgames.com/news/2014/jul/25/dovetail-games-flight1-software-partner-for-fsx-launch-on-steam Are we to assume it will be compatible with all other add-on manufacturers ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockliffe Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 So how does the current, established FSX community benefit from this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce e Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 So how does the current, established FSX community benefit from this? +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaboki Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 So how does the current, established FSX community benefit from this? I think we should be happy that a company sees an intrest in making flightsims. Releasing FSX to steam is really a good idea, it could bring in new recruits and keep this hobby alive. I really hope they succed. P3D may be good and all but will never be something average Joe would know about without doing some research because it isn't a entertaiment product and probably never will be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackrat Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 I really can't see that many changes have been made to the core program in the short amount of time they have had to play with it. If it's been released this quickly I suspect it is aimed at a similar audience that Flight was aimed at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvic Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 Although P3D is getting a lot of attention, FSX is still being used by many simmers. One thing that gets me about P3D is the fact every time they update, we start the compatibility issues all over again and it is a whole new sim with a whole new price. Good luck to Dovetail, with that kind of investment, I would not think that they are going to be standing still with development. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Culley44 Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 i just read on facebook the steam edition is just fsx with a few minor bug fixes, so by what i understand there is no point to purchase this again,the one thing that would be nice however, you wouldnt have to use discs to install fsx,if 3rd party addons such as orbx and pmdg is yet to be known,and i am sure the service packs would already come with the steam edition,however with p3d going 64 bit in the future, if you are only using p3d it would just be a waste of money. the logical thing to do is have an option for p3d to be on steam, but thats unlikely with p3d being a training platform. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATC Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 I'm still waiting for the day that we see a flight simulator that is rock solid, runs on 64 bit, no stutter and which knows how to use the full power of multiple cores and our GPU(s), until then I stick to FSX and focus and what I like most, which is flying and not trouble shooting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLA1836 Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 Just had notification from PCPilot that Dovetail will be releasing their Steam edition on December 18Check at www.pcpilot.net for more info.Bill. <merged> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simdown42 Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 Hi I'm waiting to see what the release of Dovetail Steam edition of FSX on December 18th does to our flight sim world. Fingers crossed it will be for the better but one never knows. I have a new sealed Microsoft FSX boxed for backup with receipt. I hope I can still activate it if needed. Happy Christmas To All simdown42 <merged> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi stu Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 Imagine if it came out as DX10 standard in 64 Bit !!!!! Now chaps...that would put us all into meltdown wouldn't it...hee hee. Servers melting down all over the world...aaahhhhh If only....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simdown42 Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 If FSX, or P3D for that matter, are released at 64 bit what happens to all the addons we have already invested in eg, ORBX, Aerosoft, PMDG, A2A etc. Do they suddenly become dinosaurs or will we be able to make them work somehow? simdown42 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prattpt6 Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 P3D has too many issues with OOM errors and my FSX has none with the same scenery addons. FSX with the DX10 Fixer now is rock solid and until there is a 64Bit version of either or, FSX is the sim for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Culley44 Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 under main put always full load=1 it fixed all my oom problems in p3d [Main] AlwaysFullLoad=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottyBS Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 There was a post on the Dovetail Facebook page where somebody stated they had received info from PMDG that the Steam version was not designed to take any add-ons, including Vatsim or IVAO online flying. Don't know hoe true. Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Venturi Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 One thing is for sure, with their investment in FSX its certainly not "dead" any longer. As a multi award winning developer they would have looked at this from every angle and then some so I think its good news for all flight simmers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Kane Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 I have many games I have purchased in the past on DVD that I have purchased once again on Steam. Reason being the updates and backup and restore option in Steam is second to none. I welcome an FSX on Steam as updates do come regularly and automatically and when you back up it backs up your latest copy so no need to update when you reinstall. Skyrim on Steam has worked well as that is a package with plenty of third party developers adding on to it as we have with FSX so that ecosystem works great as well. I see this as a plus, if the price is right I will sign up for the convenience of never having to install FSX with DVD's ever again. Will worth it for under $50. If they've fixed it up substantially even better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Venema Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Before jumping in with both feet on the 18th I'd wait a few days for reports posted on the major FS forums to hear about compatibility with all your legacy addons including Orbx. The 'old' FSX was an open platform with a thriving developer community using an SDK. The press release seems to suggest a private club of third party devs aligned to Dovetail's Steam business model. Certainly Orbx has not been invited to participate. You may get the convenience of an online installer but that is worth nothing if it only works with Dovetail-sanctioned addons. Given what I know about the state of the FSX code licensed from MS, I doubt there is anything new in there except new hooks to integrate the online function into the Steam Community infrastructure since the old FSX online servers are now dead. There almost certainly won't be DX11 support, and definitely not 64-bit support, dream on about that! Plus you get the yummy default FSX textures ..... But I am speculating like everyone else, so let's wait and see Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobnobs Posted December 10, 2014 Author Share Posted December 10, 2014 Not to invite the most prominant after-market scenery developer to participate in their iteration of FSX sounds like commercial Suicide to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dominique Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Funny in a way that so many people cried for FS11 for years, went ballistic when Balmer closed the Aces shop and when FS11 (a.k.a. known as Prepard3D ) is up and running, there's so much excitement about a stale version of FSX . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simmerhead2 Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 This is nothing more than the emperor's new clothes. A whole bunch of nothing. Don't waste your money folks, get the "Gold" edition on DVD or invest in the future that is here now called PREPAR3D! It's got all kinds of shadows, ocean waves, DX11 graphics, no autogen popping, volumetric fog and can chew more autogen than FSX ever dreamed of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boleyd Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Dovetail does two things - One, create a very user (gamer) friendly interface with personal and public scoring. They also, as said below, lock down the ability to use a general population of addons we are used to. Eventually you will have to by all addons via Steam. If you follow their treatment of the Railworks product the business model is evident. As far as technical improvements, the inability to accurately model a railroad tells you they have little chance of making serious changes to FSX. Before jumping in with both feet on the 18th I'd wait a few days for reports posted on the major FS forums to hear about compatibility with all your legacy addons including Orbx.The 'old' FSX was an open platform with a thriving developer community using an SDK. The press release seems to suggest a private club of third party devs aligned to Dovetail's Steam business model. Certainly Orbx has not been invited to participate.You may get the convenience of an online installer but that is worth nothing if it only works with Dovetail-sanctioned addons.Given what I know about the state of the FSX code licensed from MS, I doubt there is anything new in there except new hooks to integrate the online function into the Steam Community infrastructure since the old FSX online servers are now dead. There almost certainly won't be DX11 support, and definitely not 64-bit support, dream on about that!Plus you get the yummy default FSX textures .....But I am speculating like everyone else, so let's wait and see Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 If confirmed, a major amount of addons from several editors will be incompatible. FSX steamed will be interesting for newbies who consider FSX like a standalone game and don't need to go beyond Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kolorabi Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Hi all, it's worth noting that they claim most add-ons will be compatible. http://www.gamer.no/artikler/flight-simulator-x-gar-inn-for-landing-pa-steam/166200 Quote from Lidia Rumley, who is handling PR for them in Europe (this is her exact quote, not a translation): "There are so many add ons currently available for FSX that we cannot promise that all of them will work. FSX: Steam Edition is installed in a different way to the boxed version and occupies a different location so it is possible that some add-ons may not work, but rest assured that we have made strenuous efforts to make sure as many of them as possible work. Where add-ons do not work with FSX: Steam Edition, we will try to work with the developer or publisher of the add-on to try to make it compatible in the future." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COBS Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 You have to ask yourself why a large and capable organisation like Microsoft got completely out of Flight simulation . My opinion is that it became too complex for them to progress the Flight Simulation beyond the FSX iteration . The Flight Simulator is not strictly speaking a game , it is in fact a simulation that strives to emulate real world flight values and conditions , that makes the platform exceedingly complex to structure and program . The complexity of a Flight Simulation should never under any circumstances be underestimated ! Again you have to ask yourself what resources , scale , and aerospace technology must a organisation have to tackle and program a modern advanced Flight Simulator that we now want and expect . In my view there are only a small handful of companies in the world with access to the requisite aerospace technology to produce that Simulator , and one of those is Lockheed Martin , fortunately for us they are doing exactly that with the Prepar3D platform . Cheers Karol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 In my view there are only a small handful of companies in the world with access to the requisite aerospace technology to produce that Simulator , and one of those is Lockheed Martin , fortunately for us they are doing exactly that with the Prepar3D platform . All is fine as long as LM and Dovetail Games come to an agreement that "Now will be as good a time as any" to make P3D a true "Flight Training Aid" - limited to schools, colleges, universities, flight training schools and commercial airlines with each having a custom-buit front-end and getting rid of the $59.95 version completely, this leaving Dovetail/Steam to supply the entertainment flightsim community with an honest retail FSX - Steam Version. Speculation on a 64-bit version is time wasted: considering the enormous manpower, time and technical effort needed to do this - it would be better spent wrinting a new sim completely. 2 cents. pj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallard Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 And why don't we all just wait for the 18th before engaging in wild speculations of what will become of the whole flightsimming future based on what we will get to see by Dovetail's release on that day? Cheers Mallard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaboki Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 No matter how they do it I hope they succed. I probably won't buy it because Im more than happy with what I got, and since It's not too long ago they got the code I doubht there is much change. But steam is the greatest advertizing platform out there so it could bring alot of new people into flightsimming and sooner or later those people would look for something better than what dovetail gives them and they may start too look for alternatives(and in the end may end up like us haha). It's how I got into FSX, It started with steam, I found a cool ad about DCS. Bought it, and eventually I ended up here lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Venturi Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 And there is always the danger that Steam brings in hundreds of thousands of new FSX simmers which will be great for 3rd party devs however it will mean they could be to busy , let me rephrase..they WILL be to busy to pump out add ons for 2 platforms Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dominique Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 All is fine as long as LM and Dovetail Games come to an agreement that "Now will be as good a time as any" to make P3D a true "Flight Training Aid" - limited to schools, colleges, universities, flight training schools and commercial airlines with each having a custom-buit front-end and getting rid of the $59.95 version completely, this leaving Dovetail/Steam to supply the entertainment flightsim community with an honest retail FSX - Steam Version. Speculation on a 64-bit version is time wasted: considering the enormous manpower, time and technical effort needed to do this - it would be better spent wrinting a new sim completely. 2 cents. pj I wonder what you mean by an "honest" retail version ! I see a stale retail version frozen at the level of 2006 with the DX10 bandaid and some. Dovetail FSX is just about an EOL last hurrah. But it may kill the budding P3D market which is the only future of this hobby. The deal you describe is the worst case scenario meaning that all the P3D advanced features would be lost for the general public, and it is unfortunately not entirely improbable ! Basic idea, I don't see any reason to rejoice in that Dovetail anouncement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sniper31 Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 And why don't we all just wait for the 18th before engaging in wild speculations of what will become of the whole flightsimming future based on what we will get to see by Dovetail's release on that day? Cheers Mallard +1, I concur... That, and you know Mallard, its what us flight simmers do. We hear of anything new out there in the flight simming world, and we speculate, discuss, breakdown, review, etc before the product has even been released. And then when it is, we wash, rinse and repeat the process on what direction the new product might take, since it didn't live up to our ridiculous expectations Ah well, best advice in all this thread said by a few folks above to include JV, is to sit back and wait until its released and out in the world. In the meantime, I will by flying and enjoying the experience in Prepar3D V 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Kane Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Flight Simmers have always been Nay Sayers for over 30 years now. It is a big part of its culture Best example of the 'Sky Is Falling' in the history of Flight Sim was when Microsoft moved MSFS from being DOS base to exclusively runnng under Windows. Historically Flight Simmers ran Flight Simulator under DOS with a Boot Disk to maximize system resources to run Flight Sim with optimal performance. When Microsoft announced that FS95 was going to run under Windows95 the Flight Sim Community went ballistic. It turned out FS95 ran better under Windows95 and had a list of new features we still use today in both FSX and P3D, it was the biggest leap forward in the history of the franchise. For all of those Nay Sayers back then I see none of you running Flight Sim in DOS with a boot disk anymore so you were wrong. I see the same time and time again as the Nay Saying is just a big part of the culture surrounding Flight Simulator. Perhaps I will save some of these posts and make you eat your words in a few weeks. Or just sit back and wait and see that the Sky is not really falling once again, this is just another new initiative that brings the franchise forward and into the homes of a new generation of Flight Simmers. oh yeah and that is the other thing......go easy on the next generation of Newbies on these forums as Steam will create a lot of new customers for FSX Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaboki Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 But it may kill the budding P3D market which is the only future of this hobby. P3Dv2 is far from the only future of this hobby, we need a alternative with entertaiment licence to keep getting in recruits or this hobby will die for sure. And some competition is always good, the more sims the better atleast it's how I see it. Heck even the terrible MS flight actually managed to recruit a few guys into FSX, and maybe today some of them have P3D..... Lets not paint it all black. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack the Swede in Spain Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Can´t beleive what i´m reading!!!! " Steam brings in hundreds of thousands of new FSX simmers". You are allowed to use your head even if you are a simmer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaboki Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Can´t beleive what i´m reading!!!! " Steam brings in hundreds of thousands of new FSX simmers". You are allowed to use your head even if you are a simmer! Maybe not hundreds of thousands, lol. But they brought me here and many others I know of. We need all the recruits we can get haha If there is one thing civil flightsims need, it's advertising, even if Dovetails FSX crash and burn like MS Flight, it could bring in potencial customers to the real thing. All PR is good PR:p Steam certainly is good for combat sims, I wouldn't have had half of them if they wasn't on steam... Lol, your hard on the trigger Jack:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 I wonder what you mean by an "honest" retail version In the sense that the P3D " honestly - I'm a 'student', and a 'member of the academic community' (nudge-nudge, wink-wink)" - introduces a shade of grey as to what constitutes "an academic community", as advertised in their Licensing Options web page. Prepar3D offers the academic community a platform to develop hands-on lessons. In Prepar3D, students can: do this and that, .... etc.. A Steam edition od FSX would be aimed unequivocally at the entertainment market. No ambiguities. Staight. Honest. I reckon there's a lot of people question the integrity of the P3D "Academic" License - I know it makes me feel uncomfortable, and that's one of the reasons why I've stuck with FSX, using Steve's Fixer. pj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack the Swede in Spain Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Kaboki!!!! Jesus Christ!!! You have been into the FS business for many years so don´t try to fool me and other people on this forum that Dovetail brought you into the FS business. Why not be honest instead? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dominique Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 In the sense that the P3D " honestly - I'm a 'student', and a 'member of the academic community' (nudge-nudge, wink-wink)" - introduces a shade of grey as to what constitutes "an academic community", as advertised in their Licensing Options web page. A Steam edition od FSX would be aimed unequivocally at the entertainment market. No ambiguities. Staight. Honest. I reckon there's a lot of people question the integrity of the P3D "Academic" License - I know it makes me feel uncomfortable, and that's one of the reasons why I've stuck with FSX, using Steve's Fixer. pj I understand now, Paul, thanks for the clarification. I believe that you're not alone being troubled but 'm afraid I'm not one of you. I don't have any of your scruples vis à vis the twisted construction of imaginative lawyers and/or markering people. Couldn't not resist to the nudge-nudges and the wink-winks . Also remember that LM had untill P3D only very few customers (one of them, guess whom, is 1/3rd of its total sales), they may have to learn mass marketing better ! BTW P3D is very nice, just sayin' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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