OT: Dovetail to launch two new flight sim titles in 2016

[hschuit]

Dovetail Games made an interesting announcement today, some of the highlights:

"The big questions are: What is happening with the announced Dovetail Games Flight Simulator (DFS)? Are Flight School and DFS the same? Will Flight School turn into DFS?
Firstly, Flight School is not DFS. Flight School is a standalone experience designed to teach players the basics of flight simulation in a fun, accessible way. Flight Simulator is still very much in active development, and upon release will be a much bigger and feature-rich simulator."

"DTG Flight Simulator is still very much in development and is planned to be more expansive and evolved than Flight School. We are committed to developing a cutting edge flight simulator which takes full advantage of modern PCs and can be continuously built upon. For starters, Dovetail Games Flight Simulator will be a 64-bit simulator using DirectX 11 and take full advantage of modern GPU and CPU performance."

Read the entire community announcement here:
https://cdn.shoutlet.com/file/18677/5034582.pdf

[txnetcop]

I knew this would be a natural progression. Glad to see it!
Ted

[YoYo]

Maybe it will be reanimation of MS Flight! ? If yes, I can't be happy....

The first screen:

[YoYo]

Btw. DTG Flight School will be a 64-bit simulator using DirectX 11 and take full advantage of modern GPU and CPU performance.

http://steamcommunity.com/app/314160...6890550990408/

[Scandinavian]

So now the big question is, will scenery and aircraft be easy to convert. That's the make it or break it of a new simulator in my mind.

[heywooood]

Sounds good to me

[Montie]

I think this is what we need to keep the genre alive, as they say we have properly lost two generations of flight simmers, maybe two generations of third party developers as well. I look forward to see what they can do.

[pilto von pilto]

Well I'm optimistic. Any new simulator(s) even if it isnt a bona-fide success has excellent ramifications for current simulator use and future community longevity. More people into this hobby = more developers = more products at a more frequent rate.

I think the issue of porting scenery/planes isnt the biggest question. My question would be how open will the new simulator(s) be to third party? I remember the product manager of Flight at MS saying that third party support was a high priority and we all know how that one turned out. No I think the question of third party support is greater than backwards compatibility as without third party support you dont have backwards compatibility.

Could we be seeing a re-emergence of the heady days of the early 2000's ? When every-one had a little more hair, a little less belly and the beer just seemed to taste a little better.

Oh and if someone from DTG is reading this. Flowing frothy cold beers will be bought in your honour today at AH towers.

[StormILM]

I hope DTG is working up an SDK that will help Dev's migrate current high end FSX/P3D products over to their platform. That would be a true plus to get most of the addons we have now into a 64bit platform. It would remove many of the known limitations and shortcomings of FSX. I also have a suggestion for the Mods here, it would be a great idea to extend an open discussion invitation thread between DTG and all the Devs (payware & freeware) to get an early jump on cultivating ideas for migration and new products. This could be a real Win-Win move.

[YoYo]

I hope DTG is working up an SDK that will help Dev's migrate current high end FSX/P3D products over to their platform. That would be a true plus to get most of the addons we have now into a 64bit platform. It would remove many of the known limitations and shortcomings of FSX. I also have a suggestion for the Mods here, it would be a great idea to extend an open discussion invitation thread between DTG and all the Devs (payware & freeware) to get an early jump on cultivating ideas for migration and new products. This could be a real Win-Win move.

+1 I hope too but I think it will be, they did FSX:SE and know that this market is very, very big.

[hairyspin]

Btw. DTG Flight School will be a 64-bit simulator using DirectX 11 and take full advantage of modern GPU and CPU performance.

http://steamcommunity.com/app/314160...6890550990408/

Where did you read that? I can only see the following:–

Dovetail Games Flight Simulator will be a 64-bit simulator using DirectX 11 and take full advantage of modern GPU and CPU performance.

There are two titles announced: (1)DTG Flight School and (2)DTG Flight Simulator. The second is to be the real deal.

[JimmyRFR]

I think it's a great announcement - I applaud the effort they're sinking into it.

Might be a good strategy as well. Release a tightly controlled, fully self contained first version (DTG Flight School), which will serve to not only gain new customers but to test new technologies without the added complexity of dealing with third party addons. Then, once the platform is refined slightly, and they have some experience with how it's being perceived, they release what they are describing as a 'proper' full flight sim (DTG Flight Simulator) complete with, we're presuming, third party support.

The fact that they're releasing two separate, but closely related, flight simulators is going to confuse the heck out of everyone however, and likely make any thread like this a mess as people weigh in on either or both versions!

[Hughes-MDflyer4]

I did a quick comparison between DTG Flight School and FSX:

FSX
http://i.imgur.com/TJuFTef.jpg

Flight School
http://i.imgur.com/DiMCkNZ.jpg

[JimmyRFR]

I did a quick comparison between DTG Flight School and FSX:

FSX
http://i.imgur.com/TJuFTef.jpg

Flight School
http://i.imgur.com/DiMCkNZ.jpg

Good job. That's darn near exact placement there... how did you know where to go?

[Hughes-MDflyer4]

Good job. That's darn near exact placement there... how did you know where to go?

Thanks! It was this post that determined the airport for me. After that, it was a matter of carefully slewing around and making slight adjustments over and over. It's not perfect, but it gets the job done. I also have the technique down to a science after doing many of the same style of comparisons for Microsoft Flight several years ago. :P

[JimmyRFR]

Thanks! It was this post that determined the airport for me. After that, it was a matter of carefully slewing around and making slight adjustments over and over. It's not perfect, but it gets the job done. I also have the technique down to a science after doing many of the same style of comparisons for Microsoft Flight several years ago. :P

Heh, I've posted in that thread a few times, but since the announcement I've stayed away... I suspect it's going to become the exact type of mess I was referring to.

Interesting to see the differences (and similarities) for sure. Looks like the same mesh, same landclass data, and same vector data (at least as far as the river is concerned) as FSX has.

[YoYo]

Btw. check this info:

Flight school is a standalone experience and is not compatible with add-ons or content released for other simulators. - Martin

and this

DTG Flight School There will be a Free Flight mode, for those players who want to head off and explore the entire world . - Martin

so it will not be the next MS Flight! with small part of the one area only....

@hairyspin
The answer is Martin from DTG. The engine will be te same.

Full version will open for 3th party developers and maybe free addons (but its a my idea), Flight school not. We must wait for more info. It will be interesting Year!

[StormILM]

The more I hear & see, the more confident I am that this will be the true future & continuation of where FSX left off with DTG incorporating a lot more technology and graphics progression beyond FSX and MS Flight. I don't foresee any reason why there wouldn't be considerable effort to help get more Devs into this Sim (creating new products) as well as helping pave the way for current Dev's to migrate their current products (similar to some original FSX models being migrated to X-Plane and DCS). I truly hope DTG places no restrictions on Freeware Development as such was the genesis of the legacy platforms and addons growing into what we currently have. Freeware scenery and aircraft are just as much the lifeblood of the hobby.

[Boss86001]

I'm looking forward to it especially if it is based off the Flight engine.

[Mach3DS]

P3D already looks this good and incorporates everything other than 64bit that I see in that screenshot. It's already here in P3Dv3.1. Just saying. Why wait for something that may or may not be what you're hoping for. Almost everything currently available is compatible with P3Dv2 or v3. Very few addons do not work. There are some, but generally they are taken care of quickly. Gents, honestly, if you haven't taken the plunge....P3D is where it's at. v3.1 has laid the foundation in features "under the hood". It's the gateway update to some really impressive stuff coming.

[JimmyRFR]

Why wait for something that may or may not be what you're hoping for.

There's no waiting involved, really. All of us have one or more sims that we're currently flying, likely happily so. Myself, I have FSX, FSX:SE, P3Dv3, XP and DCS to keep me, er, busy. But that doesn't mean that I'm not looking forward to seeing whatever might be coming on the horizon.

[Mach3DS]

There's no waiting involved, really. All of us have one or more sims that we're currently flying, likely happily so. Myself, I have FSX, FSX:SE, P3Dv3, XP and DCS to keep me, er, busy. But that doesn't mean that I'm not looking forward to seeing whatever might be coming on the horizon.

Good point! I suppose if it does t pan out we'll stick with the current.

[zswobbie1]

I'm looking forward to it especially if it is based off the Flight engine.

Not. Based on FSX.

[zswobbie1]

I think it's a great announcement - I applaud the effort they're sinking into it.

Might be a good strategy as well. Release a tightly controlled, fully self contained first version (DTG Flight School), which will serve to not only gain new customers but to test new technologies without the added complexity of dealing with third party addons. Then, once the platform is refined slightly, and they have some experience with how it's being perceived, they release what they are describing as a 'proper' full flight sim (DTG Flight Simulator) complete with, we're presuming, third party support.

The fact that they're releasing two separate, but closely related, flight simulators is going to confuse the heck out of everyone however, and likely make any thread like this a mess as people weigh in on either or both versions!

Not really closely related. One is a Flight School sim, a closed platform, (no 3rd party add-ons) the other is a Flight sim, hopefully with 3rd party add-ons.

Could this be similar to FSX, but with the training missions take out & now a separate program?

[zswobbie1]

This seems like they have taken FSX, taken out the training missions with lessons & made it into a separate program, & modernized it to 64bit, DX11.

Anyone know how compatible 32bit add-ons will be?