More FSX Criticism, This Time From Developers

[Pielstick]

http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az= ... &mode=full

With the release of SP2 some very well known developers are coming out and publically criticising Aces for the way they have handled the development of FSX.

From my recollection this is pretty unprecedented. Let's hope the powers that be sit up and take note and actually give us a half decent product with FS11.

[Trev Clark]

They never have in the past

[FlyTexas]

They've got a pretty interesting discussion going. Phil from Aces made a statement which definitely took me back. He said...

"The fact of the situation is that it is no longer possible to sell non-FSX aircraft as FSX aircraft. 3rd parties will have to decide to update or not update their products, and inform their customers.

I meant it when I stated that this was a precursor of things to come, back compat is about to undergo serious changes. In the future it will very likely no longer be possible to resell old content for the new platform. At all, as in the platform will refuse to load it. "

:o If this is true I'll definitely be more selective with my commercial add-on purchases in the future. In the past we've always had a pretty good chance that a commercial add-on will function somewhat in a new version of FS. But now...well.

Brian

[Pielstick]

Well I can certainly see the position of the addon developers...

Make an FSX version of your aircraft (based on earlier FS9 work). It works fine in both FSX RTM and SP1.

Put the product on sale, everything seems to be ticking along nicely.

BAM! SP2 hits the scene and all of a sudden your product line is no longer compatible with FSX.

People install SP2 and find all sorts of problems with their hitherto perfectly functional aircraft. They start contacting your tech support for a problem that is not of your making.

I can certainly see why Steve Halpern and Ron Hamilton are not too happy, especially when Phil Taylor's attitude is basically "Like it or lump it!".

What happened to the claims of MS/Aces working on concert with third party developers?

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse..... :brick:

On the plus side though, we've still got FS9 with more than enough content to keep us busy for a while yet, and it all runs great on current hardware!

Now, if you'll excuse me it's way past my bedtime... :flying:

[FlyTexas]

I wonder what will happen to payware sales once backward compatibility is no longer an option. It's not hard to imagine zero sales in the 6 months or so before the release of a new version of FS. Who wants to buy something that is guaranteed to be worthless in 6 months? And what developer would want to build anything during that same time period? Once a new version of FS is released I'm sure a developer would want to wait for the SDK before begining a new project, so that adds even more time to the period of idleness/zero sales. It kinda paints a bleak picture for developers who rely on FS add-on sales for their livelihood. :-(

Brian

[Trev Clark]

I think (I have said it before) that the future of MSFS for me is danger of being bleak to say the least. The time it takes now to get a good payware (let alone freeware) quality project finished will mean a sky full of Boeings, Airbuses and the odd F16.

The way things seem to be going nobody will be making the sort of stuff we have here in 2 or 3 years, I would rather fly Ricks Andover or Argosy in FS2004 than have to suffer a 737 or whatever in the latest FSX11 or whatever it is called.

I love having a hanger of about 300 types, the buzz of downloading a new project (free or not) has been what has kept the hobby fresh over the past 10 years. With freeware stuff getting rarer and rarer and payware stuff more expensive, the lack of backward compatability will help like a hole in the head!

This policy may well help 'front end sales', which is what MS want, but I think it will hurt the 'hard core simmers' in the long run. What is more important? The latest eye candy or the ability to experience flight in your favorite old aircraft (that the MS boys would not recognise if it landed on top of them) like the Vixen for instance.

[DaveG]

If MS/Aces decide to totally remove backward compatability from the next incarnation of FS, I think it's going to kill it stone dead. FSX has been out for over a year now, and there are still only a handful of pure FSX aircraft and sceneries available. Take up has been slow as it is, imagine how it would be if no FS2004 add-ons worked at all.
Will pure FSX aircraft that follow the SDK work in FS-XI? I wouldn't put money on it
Dev time, especially for small freeware developers, is getting longer and longer as we try to get to grips with new features and try and find ways around problems which didn't exist in earlier FS versions. To have to start all over again when FS-XI appears doesn't sound like fun to me. :-(

[Rick Piper]

Hi Dave

In My view aces & M$ seem to forget that it's the addons world that make FS popular.

without the addons FS is a non seller as it will be like many other games and get removed after a few weeks/months of play.

whereas with the addons it stays on and grows as you can fly whatever you want wherever you want.

I really like FSX but the continual lack of smart thinking at Aces is killing it for all of us.

Anyway i doubt if they care what we think as it's already taken a year of paying public beta testing to make FSX a useable sim
which has put me a year behind as i stopped developing while the goalposts keep moving.

Anyway back to the grindstone now xwink

Regards
Rick

[Trev Clark]

Maybe this the time to have a big site like Avsim or FS.com to organise a petition to send to MS, with possibly 10's or 100's of thousands of customers behind it, it might work. Trouble is though, MS is god and you know what our US cousins are like when it comes to questioning the almighty!

[petermcleland]

I'm very content with FS9 and will continue to purchase quality addons for it as available...I'm just not going the FSX, XI and XII gaming route at all. I've got FS9 projects queuing into the future. The very nice thing about it is that Windows XP is just superb for operating it and they can stuff Vista where it belongs ;-) . Also, as graphics cards and computers improve over the years my FS9+ all the wonderful stuff I've added to it will just run faster and faster while the FS ten, eleven and twelve users will still be on slide shows :flying: