MSFS Preorder!

[DC1973]

From my buddy who is in the alpha and says he agrees with this Reddit user. So hopefully it's not this bad....I'm not pre ordering yet. No sense in giving them my $120 yet. It's not likely going to change pricing. This looks to be the set price tag.

I don't know what he's been looking at, but I haven't seen anything like that. It could possibly depend on where we're flying, respectively, and of course there are indeed bugs and things that need ironing out, but jeez - this is without a doubt the biggest leap forward for flight simulation that we've ever seen. An open beta seems to be the way of things these days for major launches, with bugs and community requests ironed out and added respectively over time. My trees are normally sized and correctly placed, flight model seems good although somewhat "twitchy" and over-sensitive to turbulence ( and I say that as a PPL ). My only major gripe is with the controls ( hard to program ) and cameras ( same issue ). Other than that it's beautiful and has tremendous potential for the future.

[StormILM]

I pre-ordered the full package. What I saw was enough to pull the trigger.

[TiAr]

Most of the alpha testers are really pissed. No one word about further streaming costs (I am sure, they come). One enhanced airport in germany in deluxe. You don´t want to see pictures of default airports around - based on FSX data. No DX12. No SDK out.

Thomas

[Mach3DS]

Yeah, I'm not so sure that it's the biggest leap forward in flight "flight simulation". I think it might be the biggest leap forward in Weather engine simulation and Procedural object creation and photogrametry. But not so sure about actual "flight" simulation. Not from what I've heard. From what I've heard, it's a step back in terms of actual flight "simulation". I guess we'll wait for the time when everyone is free to talk. I'm not spending my money yet. But there's no reason to not spend your money how you see fit! It's yours!

[Bomber_12th]

Most of the alpha testers are really pissed. No one word about further streaming costs (I am sure, they come). One enhanced airport in germany in deluxe. You don´t want to see pictures of default airports around - based on FSX data. No DX12. No SDK out.

The only FSX airport data they used was the original list of FSX airports, and which they vastly expanded upon. All of the details of the MSFS2020 default airports are completely new, down to the runways, tarmacs, taxiways, structures, etc., all procedurally and manually created based on the Bing Maps aerials, not FSX data. Those that I've seen completed are nothing like FSX airports (not to mention no FSX airports had sloped runways, while every single runway in MSFS2020 has slopes, hills and valleys based on the real runways they replicate).

The sim has been in development since at least 2016, hence keeping it set in DX11 (which looks better than any current sim). It has been reported that they may very well upgrade the sim to DX12 at some point in the future.

The SDK, as of mid-May, was already in the hands of over 400 individual 3rd party developers who had asked for it, and who became SDK testers as well. From what I've heard, the SDK will be public after the release of the sim.

[Mach3DS]

John, this! Yes, eagerly awaiting to.hear from developers the no holds barred truth. Hopefully all fears to rest! It looks too incredible to have it be a lame duck.

[pilto von pilto]

Have to ask Why pre-order ?

I'm a gamer at heart. I understand pre-order bonus's like a different armour package for your doomslayer in doom/ weapon packs etc but I cant see the reason to pre-order, there doesnt seem to be a bonus reason. I mean there isnt a "pre-order now and get the game 2 days before general release and a special edition westland lysander" offer. Or special pricing.

Are they going to run out of product... on a server ?

[Brytskiva]

Preorder is for the sale admins to now what to expect , and they got 1million $ + only today ..... my guess



HB

[Bomber_12th]

I don't know what he's been looking at, but I haven't seen anything like that. It could possibly depend on where we're flying, respectively, and of course there are indeed bugs and things that need ironing out, but jeez - this is without a doubt the biggest leap forward for flight simulation that we've ever seen. An open beta seems to be the way of things these days for major launches, with bugs and community requests ironed out and added respectively over time. My trees are normally sized and correctly placed, flight model seems good although somewhat "twitchy" and over-sensitive to turbulence ( and I say that as a PPL ). My only major gripe is with the controls ( hard to program ) and cameras ( same issue ). Other than that it's beautiful and has tremendous potential for the future.

Excellent points, DC! I also feel that that Reddit user was a waste of an alpha tester position that could have been filled by someone who could have actually contributed something to the alpha testing. The lighting/graphics engine (should be in bold), the photo scenery, the AI-generated trees and buildings, the AI-generated night lighting, the weather (should be in bold), the flight planning, the live air traffic, the airports and airport life, the aircraft visuals inside and out, the sounds and sound environments, systems modeling and failures and the flight dynamics I think are all revolutionary/state of the art, and all of this in an "out of the box", no addons, sim. As for the controls, as is the case with some other sims like DCS, it is important to spend some time tuning the sensitivity curves, which will differ from one user's peripherals to the next (gets rid of the twitchy-ness) - I have all of the aileron, elevator and rudder axis sensitivity curves set at -25 for my CH Products Fighterstick and rudder pedals. I found it no harder to program controllers than doing so in any other new sim/game for the first time.

I was flying over the mountains around Yosemite yesterday with the C208 and it's probably a good thing VR is not currently supported as I probably would have lost my lunch due to some of the violent updrafts and downdrafts I encountered (otherwise a very stable aircraft most of the time).

[Bomber_12th]

Very good point, pilto von pilto.

(Having done the preorder, it says in my account that it releases/is available on August 17th, not the 18th as is described elsewhere.)

[Mach3DS]

Excellent points, DC! I also feel that that Reddit user was a waste of an alpha tester position that could have been filled by someone who could have actually contributed something to the alpha testing. The lighting/graphics engine (should be in bold), the photo scenery, the AI-generated trees and buildings, the AI-generated night lighting, the weather (should be in bold), the flight planning, the live air traffic, the airports and airport life, the aircraft visuals inside and out, the sounds and sound environments, systems modeling and failures and the flight dynamics I think are all revolutionary/state of the art, and all of this in an "out of the box", no addons, sim. As for the controls, as is the case with some other sims like DCS, it is important to spend some time tuning the sensitivity curves, which will differ from one user's peripherals to the next (gets rid of the twitchy-ness) - I have all of the aileron, elevator and rudder axis sensitivity curves set at -25 for my CH Products Fighterstick and rudder pedals. I found it no harder to program controllers than doing so in any other new sim/game for the first time.

I was flying over the mountains around Yosemite yesterday with the C208 and it's probably a good thing VR is not currently supported as I probably would have lost my lunch due to some of the violent updrafts and downdrafts I encountered (otherwise a very stable aircraft most of the time).

Agreed John - Like me!! LOL I never got an invite! But I'm afraid that many testers were like this guy. If they're treating it like an xbox game rather than a more serious simulator - anyone could be a tester. No qualifications required other than a PC. So, unless the alpha test pool was filled with people who have

1. Knowledge about aviation
2. Airmanship
3. Knowledge about simulators
4. Attention to detail
5. Meteorological knowledge

then, it was simply a free for all to try out a shiny new toy. Unfortunately, unlike, COD, Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, Doom etc etc. FPS games - Sims actually need people to test with qualifications. otherwise - how ya gonna know if it's wrong??? LOL.

[TuFun]

Comment from Mathijs....

https://forum.aerosoft.com/index.php...comment=989186

[DC1973]

Have to ask Why pre-order ?

I'm a gamer at heart. I understand pre-order bonus's like a different armour package for your doomslayer in doom/ weapon packs etc but I cant see the reason to pre-order, there doesnt seem to be a bonus reason. I mean there isnt a "pre-order now and get the game 2 days before general release and a special edition westland lysander" offer. Or special pricing.

Are they going to run out of product... on a server ?

Europe, and later the rest of the world, will have access to a hard copy of the simulator, due to it's large download size. Aerosoft pushed for this, and I think it's a great idea. So, pre-orders made sense for production purposes.

[DC1973]

Agreed John - Like me!! LOL I never got an invite! But I'm afraid that many testers were like this guy. If they're treating it like an xbox game rather than a more serious simulator - anyone could be a tester. No qualifications required other than a PC. So, unless the alpha test pool was filled with people who have

1. Knowledge about aviation
2. Airmanship
3. Knowledge about simulators
4. Attention to detail
5. Meteorological knowledge

then, it was simply a free for all to try out a shiny new toy. Unfortunately, unlike, COD, Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, Doom etc etc. FPS games - Sims actually need people to test with qualifications. otherwise - how ya gonna know if it's wrong??? LOL.

I didn't get an invite either, despite RW aviation credentials and sim knowledge - I approached MS as a developer, and was then accepted. I agree that a flight simulator alpha should have prioritised those with aviation experience, but also one has to remember that this isn't a product that's aimed solely at hard-core simulation fans. It's a product for the mass-market and thus feedback from various users builds a picture for the general market's opinion of the product, which is then tailored to suit the largest possible consumer base, to produce the greatest possible commercial success. No brainer.

Personally, after the fiascos of Flight and FSW, I think this time Microsoft / Asobo have got the compromise between reality and accessibility just about right. Devs like PMDG / FSLabs will eventually bring their hard-core aircraft to the simulator, which by then will have matured enough to support their detailed avionics. In the meantime, developers like myself and others will have the middle-ground / easy-access airplanes covered. Everybody gets what they want. Considering the sheer volume of realism we're getting out of the box at less than $60 for the standard version, I really struggle to see anything wrong with the package in general.

[UnknownGuest12]

Since the start of May, and getting to test MSFS "2020", I haven't spent more than 10-15 minutes in P3Dv5 (I just can't do it any more, it all looks too fake and insignificant by comparison to MSFS).

Will keep P3D because all of the planes and scenery I bought...for sure will buy this 2020. If as good as it looks wonder if other sims and all business related will survive this. Already got mail from Orbx saying they will produce content for FS2020. Wait and see...
Regards

[dvj]

Have to ask Why pre-order ?

I'm a gamer at heart. I understand pre-order bonus's like a different armour package for your doomslayer in doom/ weapon packs etc but I cant see the reason to pre-order, there doesnt seem to be a bonus reason. I mean there isnt a "pre-order now and get the game 2 days before general release and a special edition westland lysander" offer. Or special pricing.

Are they going to run out of product... on a server ?

Are you saying there is no Westland Lysander in the pre-order list of aircraft? No way am I going to buy this. Guess I'll be flying FS9 for a while longer.

[FlyingsCool]

While I agree that Alpha should have testers who have aviation experience, they need testers from the full spectrum. This is meant to be a product for everyone, and even people who have zero confidence in using computers need to be a part of the testing experience to make sure it's not impossible to use.

[Bomber_12th]

My original point being, what a waste of an alpha tester if all they were going to do was poke their head into the sim once a month to see how things were shaping up based on other's inputs/work. Some of us have invested a considerable amount of time testing and have noticed continued improvements to what has been reported daily over the past several months, as the regular dev reports attest to.

Ted's link to the Aerosoft Forum with Mathijs Kok's statement is a good read, and Mathijs' comments go hand-in-hand with what I've seen and heard from the development team.

[TuFun]

>> Aerosoft official retail partner for Microsoft Flight Simulator... 5

Rebirth of a legend It is with great pride that we can announce that Microsoft has chosen Aerosoft as its retail publishing partner for the new Microsoft Flight Simulator . Aerosoft will bring the two boxed versions of this venerable simulator to...






Boxed version...

[centuryseries]

>> Aerosoft official retail partner for Microsoft Flight Simulator... 5

Rebirth of a legend It is with great pride that we can announce that Microsoft has chosen Aerosoft as its retail publishing partner for the new Microsoft Flight Simulator . Aerosoft will bring the two boxed versions of this venerable simulator to...



Boxed version...

so if you order the whole Shabbat from MS and live in Europe do you get the boxed version? I saw no option for it?!

[TiAr]

In Aerosoft Forum you can read, what the boxed version is:

https://forum.aerosoft.com/index.php...comment-989168

And you can read about "Optional online streamed content (this is an optional part of the sim)". Microsoft must explain this as soon as possible, otherwise they will not get a cent from me.

Thomas

[Mach3DS]

Yes, if you don't stream the content, then do you get standard autogen? It won't look or perform like what you see in the videos from what I understand? But we definitely need clarity on that!

[DC1973]

Yes, if you don't stream the content, then do you get standard autogen? It won't look or perform like what you see in the videos from what I understand? But we definitely need clarity on that!

You can switch off the streaming if you wish, and that leaves you with a standard autogen as per FSX / P3D. The difference is that it looks a LOT better than what we're used to with the older platforms. Can't say much more than that really, as I think that the NDA is still in effect.

[TuFun]

Available at SimMarket...

https://secure.simmarket.com/ms_flight_preorder.php

[TiAr]

You can switch off the streaming if you wish, and that leaves you with a standard autogen as per FSX / P3D. The difference is that it looks a LOT better than what we're used to with the older platforms. Can't say much more than that really, as I think that the NDA is still in effect.

That doesn't convince me at all. There are a lot of pictures around of the stock. I'm sorry, but this is IMHO more of a step backwards than Out of the Box they promised. And why is a NDA around in pre-order times. DC did you get a sdk? I am not.

Please do not misunderstand, I am no opponent of Microsoft Flight Simulator. I'm rather one who questions some things, and with long experience I've become a bit cautious. Many questions are simply not answered. Marketing is usually something different from reality.

Thomas