View Full Version : Microsoft ESP
ColoKent
December 25th, 2008, 06:48
Recently I became aware of Microsoft ESP, and when I went to their website, it seemed like a very comprehensive package (24,000 airports, global terrain, etc.).
Does anyone know more about this product, and also, has anyone gotten the chance to play with it.
Apparently version 1.0 is out now, and version 2.0 has been recently showcased (or will be soon).
Kent
P.S. I realize this is not an FSX-related post, but since there is no "ESP" board, I'm taking my chances posting here (I recognize that someone will undoubtedly start ranting and raving about this being posted on the wrong board. To that person-- "Thanks, I got it. I know it's posted in the wrong place. Gimme a better board, and I'll post this there").
stiz
December 25th, 2008, 06:58
its baiscly a more advanced FSX for the big moveing sims etc, but thats a very basic description :wavey:
ColoKent
December 25th, 2008, 07:03
...appeared to be "advanced" as well: $799!
Kent
IanP
December 25th, 2008, 07:23
It's a platform, which you can use to build your own simulator on top of. It is not designed directly for the end consumer market.
The idea is that if, say, Cessna wanted to make a 100% accurate training simulator for their next light jet, rather than building an entire platform then putting the aircraft into it, they can buy a license for ESP, then just put their aircraft into that base. Unlike FSX or X-Plane (consumer version - there's a development version of X-Plane too), the resulting sim would be put through FAA/CAA/JAA acceptance as a training simulator and hours logged on it would then be legally recognisable as flight hours.
Ian P.
ColoKent
December 25th, 2008, 08:51
...I wonder if the graphics are any better, the flight model better, etc.
Kent
FelixFFDS
December 25th, 2008, 08:52
The key to ESP is that it is a platform on which 3rd party developers create their own content - specific to the simulation application desired.
It is not meant to be any ONE thing, but rather, whatever the customer and content provider decide to simulate.
Yes, ESP 1.0 is basically FS-X, but the content provider has a lot more "hooks" that he can use to tailor the simulation to the desired purpose.
IT's very easy to gloss over ESP as saying it's FS-X on steroids. From a modelling standpoint, at this time, yes. But from what I've seen of the family (ESP, FLightsim, TRainSim), all operate from a common base. Improvements in one will affect the others.
n4gix
December 25th, 2008, 09:01
Ian is quite correct. ESP has precisely ZERO relevance to hobbyist (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&pwst=1&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=hobbyist&spell=1) flightsimmers. :icon_lol:
It is a commercial development platform upon which third-party developers can build their own, unique "application" for a customer, or a company's own in-house development staff can program their own customized applications.
At the present time, ESP is primarily aimed at "flight sim" type applications, but over time it is expected that it will find it's way into other, more earth-bound type applications, such as battlefield strategic planning and after action analysis, et cetera.
Another application could be as a training program for locomotive engineers and crew, and so forth. Because ESP is essentially an open-ended, "whole earth" platform, the possibilities are practically boundless, and limited only by one's creative imagination... :costumes:
Now, I stated previously that ESP has ZERO relevance to the hobbyist flightsimmer, but that's not precisely accurate. Because ESP, TS2, and FS11 all share the same core-platform, anything that ESP end users/developers require that must be built into the core-platform have potential carryforward into both TrainSim and FlightSim end products...
I say "potential carryforward" simply because the nice folks at ACES may or may not choose to use that potential in their new versions. :ernae:
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