If you think about buying addons from the Steamstore..

[Cees Donker]

If you think about buying an addon from the Steamstore for your FSX-SE, think twice, or better buy another addon form another publisher! Their addons don't work properly and once you've tried to get this trash to work, they tell you bluntly you've played with it for more than two hours and so you're not eligible for a refund!

[flaviossa]

For now, i have to agree. Completely horrible the DLC system. If the addon you want is available elsewhere go get it there.

[Navy Chief]

That is most disappointing to hear. I have been reading about the forthcoming "Steam Link" device, set for release this Fall. But Steam developers will not say for certain that it will work with 3rd party controllers, sick as my Saitek 52 setup. If it doesn't; no deal. NC

[Duckie]

Been dealing with Steam for many years with other APPS, not FSX. I have found their support to be very slow to respond to issues, if at all, and they have been very consistent in this regard. Logins have been a constant problem. Almost with each major update progress is reset on all apps to zero or beginning, and sometimes the app has been totally deleted. Had to jump thru hoops to get to the right support group then more hoops even with proof of purchase. It's a battle between the App producers and Steam, each stating its not their problem so contact the other party. So, if its not a problem with either, guess who's stuck with it!

I did purchase FSXSE from one of their $5.00 sales but I will only install it if my PC version ever fails.

Just my experience. Yours may be different.

[Cirrus N210MS]

thats why i dont Buy DLC stuff on Steam i buy the old way Pc aviator and justflight

[jschall]

I have had a good experience so far with FSX:SE DLC. I got the Republic SeaBee, all liveries show up. And I just bought the Air Alaska missions, which work great.

I agree lots of people have problems getting FSX:SE working well. And the support is not the most responsive.

But the downloaded content works well in my limited experience.

[flaviossa]

Their instalation system is horrible. Will give you an example: just the fact that they put their DLC files in a complete different place than the default (Outside Simobjects/Airplanes) will break many third part addons like PreciptFX. Just because they are not in the default place.

Another example, about Alaska missions, yes, it installs ok (More or less, if you have A2A Piper Cub), but now everytime i start FSX-SE a "SimVar" banner appears before FSX starts and if you look in windows task manager it will be there wasting your PC memory even if you won´t fly any alaska mission. Definetely not a way to go. I have this information sent to DTG guys and they said they didn´t know about that before. I think the quality process before accepting the addon as a DLC need to be better in this case. Or at least, be more detailed and pass the information to the customer allowing them to choose if they want a "simvar" banner wasting their memory everytime they start FS.

Won´t even talk more about the F16 witch is a complete mess.
To be clear, i´m talking about only FSX-SE DLC´s. Other STEAM apps and games (Including their DLC´s) works perfectly

[napacon]

I Fly FSX Steam ,as well as FSX DISK....Come to think of it FS9 is intact yet....After Loading up the FSX STEAM..I did purchase their
MANHATTAN X.Scenery..And in a few minutes..they wiped clean all my Scenery,planes,ect...This leaving me with nothing,except the new D/L..The rest was a story of FUSTRATION..STEAM ,to me, Was the worst support Ever.A CYBER SPACE NITEMARE...But then again NO BODY HOME AT MICROSOFT Either!.Only thru A simmer on here did I Recover FSX Steam. Butcherbird 17 Most knowledgeable with FSX STEAM...Advice to FSX STEAM Users is Keep your FSX DISK installed..Or Save it intact on a "PASSPORT" ... that that was great help....However,i fly them all...thnx!...CAVET EMPTOR!

[Cees Donker]

After a lot of screaming I'm finally heard, at least I hope I'm being heard (and refunded). Dovetail invited me to contact them. I did so this morning. I'll wait.

Cees

[Mach3DS]

I just recently tried install an old star wars game (JKII) to show my kids, that I had purchased from direct2drive, which is no longer around...game is completely installed but no way to "unlock" it since it's an internet activation. so think twice....even if steam "seems" stable now...could get bought out...anyways I've lost all my D2D games since gamefly bought them out...never say never. I'd prefer to own the "hard" copy even in digital download format...So I make my plug for P3D since it's getting close to the P3Dv3 release...

[Lewis-A2A]

steam user 10 years, no issues here and the DLC for FSX works great nice clean in and uninstalls, I understand that if you try to use FSX Steam edition as disc edition you might encounter issues but the same is true of X-plane, P3D etc. What was the actual issue you encountered I don't see it mentioned here?

[Cees Donker]

steam user 10 years, no issues here and the DLC for FSX works great nice clean in and uninstalls, I understand that if you try to use FSX Steam edition as disc edition you might encounter issues but the same is true of X-plane, P3D etc. What was the actual issue you encountered I don't see it mentioned here?

I thought to buy the Aerosoft F-16 Fighting Falcon from Steam. It has only generic textures, no real liveries. Installation of the liveries resulted in a not visualized model. It's a lot of work to repair. I don't want to do that.



Cees

[Daveroo]

not FSXSE,but i use Pcars (now) Assetto Corsa and TS2015,which just updated to TS2016,before it was even reliesed they were in the forums talking about issues people werent even having yet!! before you slam the folks at steam,check and see if its a "steam" product,i doubt it,its probalbly repackaged from the original people and the problem may lay inthem not really wanting you to pay less for it from steam?..i dont know..just a guess,but i have had NO,none,zip problems with DLC...where ive had problems is with 3rd party products not installing at all....

[Cees Donker]

Well Dave,

It lies with Steam this one. They stripped all the textures that were in the original release, only leaving some generic textures.

Cees

[JimmyRFR]

I feel I have to toss in two cents on this subject.

The name 'Steam' keeps popping up as a 'they did this' or 'they did that'. For the most part, this is very incorrect.

Steam is simply a store that acts as a distribution platform. They have certain guidelines that have to be followed by their developers regarding the main installation location of a application / games files, and they provide a varying level of DRM / copy protection. Outside of that, almost every other thing is in the control of the developer of the application. When DLC doesn't work right, it's almost always the developer / original publisher of the DLC to blame, not the distribution platform.

Steam currently has 6908 applications available through it... do you think they personally package and inspect every single one? They simple sell and distribute the packages that are submitted to them by developers or publishers.

Everyone's mileage may vary, but I've used Steam as a method of purchasing computer games (in the hundreds) for as many years as it's been around, across many different computers, and I've never had a single issue with Steam itself. With the games bought through Steam? Occasionally, yes. But 100% of the time, these issues are the result of a developer, directly or indirectly, or an original publisher's application of additional DRM.

Issues regarding the Steam edition of FSX and addons or DLC bought for it through Steam have more to do with the fact that our current FSX installations are an extremely complex mess, in even the best of circumstances. Problems with addons not installing correctly occur just as frequently in boxed FSX as they do in Steam. The question becomes more an issue of whether a program whose life has been extended and prolonged as FSX actually belongs on a platform like Steam, where the vast majority of applications / games are designed from the get go to be a single location, one click install, with easily extendable assets.

As I said, one's mileage may vary. Not everyone has had as good of a run with Steam as I have, and there are certain issues inherent to any digitally locked-in platform. But those issues are separate from very application specific problems.

[ak416]

Well Dave,

It lies with Steam this one. They stripped all the textures that were in the original release, only leaving some generic textures.

Cees

That would be Aerosoft and/or Dovetail, not "Steam". Steam is a digital distribution platform, owned by Valve.

[Cees Donker]

That would be Aerosoft and/or Dovetail, not "Steam". Steam is a digital distribution platform, owned by Valve.

I paid Steam for this addon. They sell it. I must adress them to get a refund.



Cees

[ak416]

I paid Steam for this addon. They sell it. I must adress them to get a refund.



Cees

That does not mean that they are responsible for stripping the liveries out of the release. Aerosoft and Dovetail are.

[Bjoern]

I paid Steam for this addon. They sell it. I must adress them to get a refund.

You paid neither Steam nor Dovetail, only Aerosoft, so take it to them if you want a refund.

[IanP]

No, Bjoern - you go to the store for a refund.

Also:
Developer:Aerosoft GmbH
Publisher:Dovetail Games - Flight

Therefore, Steam are the vendor, Dovetail the publisher and Aerosoft the developer. The publisher is responsible for content, the vendor for the product being "fit for purpose" and the developer has no part in the transaction with the end user, in this case. if you'd bought it from the Aerosoft website, then all three parties would be "Aerosoft" and oddly they'd be responsible for everything.

However, this one will be down to trademarks and logos. Almost every military on the planet has now trademarked their logos and other "intellectual property" to prevent people using it for profit. Ridiculous, but true. Dovetail have a very strict policy of only using liveries, logos, names and insignia that they are specifically licensed to use. This is why you have a "PNW" rather than "Harbour Air" livery in the Seabee pack and it will be why you have only a fictional livery for the F-16. It's also why you have "Airwave", "Orbit", "Pacific", etc. in FSX, rather than real world airlines.

You'd better get used to it, because it's going to be the norm, not the exception, with unlicensed use of liveries.

Ian P.

[b52bob]

Just my two pennies.

i just installed fsx se after buying it over one month ago. The reason it took so long was Steams inability to connect to the Internet. There are a myriad of complaints all over the net about this. Support took an average of 7 days to reply and after three of these sessions they finally came up with the cure: disable all startup programs but ms services.

this was a long and frustrating experience. For a company that is so large and provides so many games, this glitchy protection should have been taken care of long ago.

on the good side, everything I have loaded so far works well.

Bob

[Bjoern]

No, Bjoern - you go to the store for a refund.

Also:
Developer:Aerosoft GmbH
Publisher:Dovetail Games - Flight

Therefore, Steam are the vendor, Dovetail the publisher and Aerosoft the developer. The publisher is responsible for content, the vendor for the product being "fit for purpose" and the developer has no part in the transaction with the end user, in this case. if you'd bought it from the Aerosoft website, then all three parties would be "Aerosoft" and oddly they'd be responsible for everything.

Nice system. Especially for passing around customer complaints without ever solving them.

[IanP]

Nice system. Especially for passing around customer complaints without ever solving them.

I think you'll find that's standard across all goods, whether physical or digital, Bjoern. It's done that way because it works. You buy something from a shop and you have a problem, you take it back to the place you bought it. Patches, fixes and updates are the responsibility of the local distributor (physical goods) or publisher (digital goods). The developer's contract is not with you, but with the publisher. Depending on the contract, the developer may have already been paid in full when they completed their work for the publisher, or they may get a payment for every copy sold (which I suspect is what will happen in this case).

If you buy a book, do you think you pay the author directly? What about if you buy a copy of a piece of music? You pay a shop, who takes their cut and gives the rest to the publisher. The publisher takes their cut and the author/musician/developer gets a tiny fraction of what you paid. That's reality!

Ian P.

[Lewis-A2A]

I feel I have to toss in two cents on this subject.

The name 'Steam' keeps popping up as a 'they did this' or 'they did that'. For the most part, this is very incorrect.

Steam is simply a store that acts as a distribution platform. They have certain guidelines that have to be followed by their developers regarding the main installation location of a application / games files, and they provide a varying level of DRM / copy protection. Outside of that, almost every other thing is in the control of the developer of the application. When DLC doesn't work right, it's almost always the developer / original publisher of the DLC to blame, not the distribution platform.

Steam currently has 6908 applications available through it... do you think they personally package and inspect every single one? They simple sell and distribute the packages that are submitted to them by developers or publishers.

Everyone's mileage may vary, but I've used Steam as a method of purchasing computer games (in the hundreds) for as many years as it's been around, across many different computers, and I've never had a single issue with Steam itself. With the games bought through Steam? Occasionally, yes. But 100% of the time, these issues are the result of a developer, directly or indirectly, or an original publisher's application of additional DRM.

Issues regarding the Steam edition of FSX and addons or DLC bought for it through Steam have more to do with the fact that our current FSX installations are an extremely complex mess, in even the best of circumstances. Problems with addons not installing correctly occur just as frequently in boxed FSX as they do in Steam. The question becomes more an issue of whether a program whose life has been extended and prolonged as FSX actually belongs on a platform like Steam, where the vast majority of applications / games are designed from the get go to be a single location, one click install, with easily extendable assets.

As I said, one's mileage may vary. Not everyone has had as good of a run with Steam as I have, and there are certain issues inherent to any digitally locked-in platform. But those issues are separate from very application specific problems.

Voice of reason!

though FSX Steam edition does now use a DLC folder so it fits perfectly into the steam platform and as for going out of business? You have more chance of being asked if you're a professional user of P3D and denied use if not able to produce evidence than you do of steam/Valve being brought out by someone or going under. As I write this there are over 8.5 million users logged on playing on steam (and thats none peak time). Its like those at the school i use to work at when we went GAFE (Google apps for education) stating what happens to our stuff if Google goes under,.. if these big companies go under, what happens to your computer work or computer games will be the bottom of the list and far below how much is bread going to cost today given the worlds economy is crashing.

[jandmbear]

What is the benefit to using Steam? I have FSX on disk and after hearing all these horror stories, I wonder what the benefit would be to ever buying FSX or any other sim on Steam?