Ian StephensFlight Sim World or FSW as it became know as was the latest flight simulator package released by Dovetail Games. Flight Sim World's core was based on existing FSX code but it had been brought up to date with heavy modification and rewriting (and of course many new features and functions).
FSW was set to become the go-to flight simulator for PC - with full free flight mode and even more airports than in FSX, based on 2015 nav data. With full support for DirectX 11 and running in a 64-bit mode, technical limitations are a thing of the past and the version would take full advantage of the latest PC hardware.
Unfortunately, Dovetail Games pulled the plug on Flight Sim World after a short stint of selling the package on Steam. It's still unsure as to why they did this but it left thousands of flight simmers disappointed and lost.
This article is a complete guide, covering everything from start to finish.
Flight Sim World is no longer available for purchase but if you were lucky enough to grab a copy when it was available you are still able to use this package.
Many users are still asking questions regarding this somewhat elusive release so we have covered everything in detail in the article below.
The article has been laid out chronologically so you can see the entire show of events from start to finish.
As the article is quite lengthy, you can jump to relevant sections using the links below;
- Trailer/Release Video
- New Dovetail Games Flight Simulator Coming In 2016
- Dovetail Games Flight Simulator and Flight School Announced
- Flight Sim World: New Flight Simulator Announced By DTG
- The Feedback From Users So Far
- Confirmed: (Some) Freeware FSX Add-ons Work in FSW
- SDK Released: Aircraft, Scenery & More
- Our Review
- Project Cancelled (Closure Announcement)
- Microsoft's Revamp of Flight Simulator in 2020
Official Release Announcement/Trailer Video
Below is the official release/announcement trailer video released by Dovetail Games. It discusses the features, technological advancement and even shows in-game captures.
New Dovetail Games Flight Simulator Coming In 2016
Originally posted Aug 2015
Given that it has been several years since we have seen the release of a new flight simulator, many fans are beginning to get a bit anxious to try something new! The problem is that, with so many new releases in terms of fan-made modifications, there are lots of people who are still more than happy to use current simulators and this naturally halts development.
Also, given the end to the Microsoft Flight! project, it has been a long time since anything new was introduced to the markets (aside from X-Plane) – until Dovetail Games made a special announcement.
They announced that alongside Fishing Simulator and Train Simulator they would also be releasing a new PC flight simulator on Steam and the Windows 10 gaming platform
This new simulator will be built using the strong foundations left behind by the award-winning Microsoft flight simulation technology to create something new and exciting.
At the moment, details are a little thin on the ground with regards to what will be included but more details will be released as the project keeps advancing.
The aim is to create a deeply immersive project that will allow both simmers and gamers to enjoy an in-depth flight simulation experience that feels realistic, looks fantastic and really challenges the user.
What Can We Hope For
The simulator, as mentioned above, is still relatively light in terms of details. However, we are hoping that we will be able to see features included such as;
-
Detailed and intricate changes to the graphical engine – we expect that fresh additions will be made to the simulators graphics to maximize realism, detail and intricacy throughout
-
Greater scale – As the development grows and advances, it’s likely that we will see the scale of the simulation world become even larger and more realistic than it is today. This is only expected to improve and Dovetail Flight Simulator 2016 might be just the tool needed to do that
-
Improved realism – Things are getting more realistic with each and every release, and with the latest Dovetail Games release we can expect to see aircraft growing far more akin to the real-life counterpart with this new simulator, as pilots will have even more control in the cockpit than ever before
-
More, more more – The world can be somewhat barren when using some flight simulators, and the hope is that things can change as time goes on with the help of this simulator in populating the world and making it look more authentic
-
Fluidity – Additionally, we can expect to see this new take on flight simulation come to life in terms of the fluidity and the quality of the experience. It’s likely that this will improve overall performance, making flight across the globe feel much more fluid than it did in the past
Community Changes
Without a doubt, the power and the depth of the flight simulation community is one of its main strengths. The large range of people who come and go in the community, providing unique challenges and changes to the industry, is something that keeps the entire community growing and getting stronger all the time. One thing that we expect to see with the release of a new simulator, though, is the community to grow even further.
It’s our hope that this new simulator will allow for things to change even more, as more users and more media interest could finally shine a mainstream spotlight on the community. Given the size and depth of the online community and the range of conventions and events that we see every year, it’s hard to deny the incredible size of the community any longer – it’s time that it was recognized.
Given that Dovetail Games are taking a fresh approach to the simulation itself, we’re hoping it will attract everyone – from the flight simulation gurus to the casual flight fans who could never really get a hang of previous sims. We also hope that it will open up a new part of the community in the form of flight simulation stores and add-on developers.
One thing is for sure, though, this is a really exciting time for sim fans! If you’ve been awaiting a new release since FSX you only have a matter of months to wait now thanks to the upcoming release.
Will Modifications Work?
One thing that we don’t know yet, however, is if add-ons for Microsoft Flight Simulator X will work here. It all depends on how the simulator is built – again, information is rather limited at the time of writing – and if it uses the same kind of textures and the same form of reading files as FSX. Given that it will be built upon the foundations of FSX, though, we are hopeful that these features will be included.
If FSX mods do indeed with Flight Sim World then you can find them in the official Fly Away Simulation FSX add-ons library here.
About Dovetail Games
Dovetail Games are a hugely well-received simulation company, who first formed in 2009. Based in the UK, they have been responsible for some very popular simulation experiences such as Train Simulator and Dovetail Games Fishing. They were also the pioneers behind the massively well-received re-release of Microsoft Flight Simulator X, FSX: Steam Edition.
Dovetail Games Flight Simulator and Flight School Announced
Originally posted Feb 2016
Simulation fans, rejoice! 2016 will finally see the introduction of a new and exciting range of flight simulation games. Fresh from taking on the license in 2014, Dovetail Games has just announced the introduction of their own investment into the series – Flight School.
Aiming to create the most authentic flight simulation possible, this training sim is going to be the perfect step forward for a massively popular series. The idea of Flight School is to create a simple and easy learning environment for those unaware of how to best handle flying an aircraft.
However, that’s not all – for those who want something a bit more advanced, Dovetail Games have also announced a new Flight Simulator of their own.
The introduction of two fresh new simulators onto the circuit is only bound to make the entire market a far more exciting place to be in 2016. This new step into fresh territory for Dovetail, though, comes from a long-term aim of taking on the rights to develop and publish new titles utilizing the flight simulation technology developed by Microsoft.
After taking the reins of the popular series over for themselves, Dovetail Games have got to work on creating two fresh new simulation experiences which are due to freshen up and revitalize one of the most popular simulation series’ on the market.
Always aiming to make a splash within the world of flight simulation, this first step into creating their own products bodes well for Dovetail Games.
Introducing Flight School
For those unsure of how to best fly an aircraft in the world of flight simulation, Flight School will be the perfect learning tool and starting place. It’s a carefully crafted flight simulation experience which will take its time in showing newbies the ropes in how to best fly with maximum safety.
By showcasing how to manage light aircraft as well as helping newcomers to the simulation get to grips with the essential matters that make up a successful flight in a simulator, this could be a vital learning tool for new pilots.
It will provide an engaging and exciting way to learn how to fly properly in a simulator, removing many of the typical obstacles that stop people from getting involved in the experience themselves. However, this does not mean that authenticity is being shunned in favor of ease of use – Flight School will aim to make sure that all pilots will have to learn the real way.
There will be no corner cutting and no making the flights easy – everything that you learn in Flight School will be utilized and made the most of in other flight simulation environments later on down the line.
For new learners and those without any experience of commercial flight, this can be a fine place to get started. Flight School will introduce a series of helpful hints and tips to help hone your skills and reduce the level and seriousness of errors made in the skies.
However, the main aim of Flight School will be to help pilots learn how to fly iconic aircraft and utilize their own unique skills and abilities over time. It will provide the easiest possible introduction to the genre without making it out of touch with other simulators – what is learned in Flight School will stand you good stead for your time spent in other flight simulators.
Why Now?
Put simply, the introduction of Flight School was for one simple reason – to help improve the overall learning experience. One major complaint of previous flight simulators has been that the learning curve was too steep for newbies, and the helpful in-game instructions and directions provided in Flight School is the perfect place to start correcting bad habits and learning new tricks.
By giving you hands-on experience from the viewpoint of a proper student, you will be learning the right habits and getting the correct skills taught throughout so that you can feel as if you have undertaken a proper, professional pilot training course.
The idea, though, is to combine learning authentically and taking on the most professional of flight habits by making it fun and easy to learn. Dovetail Games aim to stay true to the elements of flight simulation that make it so fun, whilst assuring it’s an attainable goal for newcomers to the series.
In a fully 3D world, it can be a huge challenge to learn the ropes of flying an aircraft effectively and managing the flight from start to finish. With Flight School, pilots can learn tricks they have either forgotten or never heard of en route to becoming far more refined virtual pilots.
From learning how to climb and descend through to mastering your ability to pitch up, Flight School can act as your sole representative for proper learning and self-improvement as a virtual pilot.
This training regime can help pilots turn a rough landing into a smooth one and a tough take-off into a simplistic adventure. Everything has been refined and changed to make sure that virtual pilots can actively learn and improve everything about their flight procedure and planning along the way.
This makes a massive difference to your overall flight control, ensuring you stay on the right track as you fly and also making sure that you get access to the kind of help that you need by having a simple tutorial system to learn from.
Flight School is here to help.
Full Flight Simulator
The other big release of 2016 is due to come from the Dovetail Games Flight Simulator release. Seen by many as the next step in improving and changing an outdated module, the newest edition of Flight Simulator will hopefully modernize and improve upon the most solid of foundations.
As flight simulation has lessened in scope and become a more specific and unique brand of “gaming”, it’s become harder for new people to get involved. Whilst Flight School will look to try and deal with this problem and give everyone a gentle access node to the world of flight simulation, Flight School will also look to broaden the scope of appeal.
However, this does not mean that features will be stripped or the authenticity of flights will be diminished – flight simulation will still aim to be as authentic as ever before.
Hardcore fans will still have all the access to the challenges they need and the level of realism they desire; the main difference is that now, with Flight Simulator, everyone can eventually break down the barriers and the challenges and become proper pilots themselves.
The idea of Flight Simulator is to dial back the credentials needed to actually enjoy the simulation – it’s not about becoming a real pilot through the simulations teachings. It’s about getting the best possible level of understanding so that you can translate this into getting the maximum enjoyment possible from being involved in a flight.
Instead of leaving newbies with a sense of dread when they see everything they have to learn and get to grips with, Flight Simulator wants to make them feel awestruck and elated when they see just how effectively they can manipulate the aircraft of their choice up in the air.
The days of flight simulation being a closed shop for experts only should, hopefully, be changing.
This will also come with a Free Flight mode, designed for those who want to push the training they have received to the highest level and showcase what they have picked up from the learning process itself.
Translating the Feeling
The main idea of the new Flight Simulator and Flight School process, though, is to help people understand the actual appeal. In a statement to Xbox.com, Creative Director at Dovetail Games Steve Hood discussed that his previous experiences as a lead on creating Formula One racing video games helped him understand the various challenges associated with helping people “get” something more attuned and specific like flight simulation or racing.
This is what Dovetail Games aim to improve upon with the latest release – making people realize and appreciate the sheer gravity of what is involved with flight. Hood immersed himself in the culture of F1 and what makes it so great for the pros involved as much as the fans, and now hopes to bring this same infectious enthusiasm and courage to the world of flight simulation.
Instead of making you become an authentic pilot through hours of challenging learning and stress, Flight Simulator can now open the doors to help you feel like a pilot much quicker. By taking a fresher approach to flight simulation, Flight School and Flight Simulator might just open the market up to a whole new audience once again.
Speaking to dovetailgames.com, Hood stated that,
“By empowering players to handle the controls of the aircraft, we will help them to immerse themselves in the very best and most thrilling aspects of flying in an up-to-date and technically cutting edge environment.”
This positive move towards making flight simulation more accessible tallies well with the aims of the series, with Paul Jack noting that the simulation experience hasn’t significantly moved on and changed too much since the release of Microsoft Flight Simulator X. A decade on, the idea is to take the best of the last decade and transform it into an appealing simulation product that grabs the attention and the emotions of fans of the series for decades as well as people who felt locked out of the loop in the past.
The simulation aspect, according to critics, has overtaken the enjoyment of the process in previous releases and this latest addition looks set to transform this. Speaking about the latest releases, CEO Paul Jackson noted that,
“Consumers today expect a much slicker experience across all genres. They want simulations that are realistic but also accessible. They want to be led to a place where the focus can be on reaching great levels of accomplishment, rather than struggling to get to grips with the operational aspects. And that’s precisely what Flight School will deliver.”
Keeping in with the Old
This product release comes as an exciting new announcement for the flight simulation community, but there were early fears that this could spark the end of what has been close to a decade of modifications, releases and changes for the Flight Simulator X package. However, it’s already been noted that there is a strong possibility that Flight Simulator will be fully compatible with all FSX mods out there at this moment in time.
Since the base software package is essentially (hopefully) the same or very similar, it’s going to be much easier to include compatibility for old mods and features like this. With new technologies improving the features and giving greater scope to what is possible in the world, it’s more likely that these changes will complement and enhance old mods instead of making them obsolete.
The main idea, then, is to produce the best of the old FSX atmosphere and style whilst modernizing it using innovations from the last decade. What this latest release will not do, though, is abandon the essence that made FSX one of the most popular simulators within the community.
Instead, it looks to build on these strong and smart foundations whilst introduced various new features that would not have been possible in the past. Dovetail Games also noted that they will be in this “for the long-term” and will expand and change the release for years to come.
For fans who have grown tired of FSX and felt like a new release was needed to finally take its crown and move simulation on into a new era, this next step in the series by Dovetail may be just what you are looking for!
Flight Sim World: New Flight Simulator Announced by DTG
Originally posted May 2017
So far, it looks like 2017 might be the year that flight simulation was revolutionized. Having already seen the latest release of X-Plane 11 hit the market, we now have the latest simulator from Dovetail Games. Given they have taken on the Microsoft Flight Simulator license already, we’re pretty confident that this is going to absolutely rock!
This program is, at the moment, en route to being released on the gaming platform Steam. While still in development, Dovetail Games are taking the same approach as many developers: they are releasing it on Early Access. This means that you can be an active part of the development and improvement of the software package as time passes.
This latest release is going to allow fans to use it as it changes and improves, using their feedback to implement the best and most important additions to how the simulator handles itself.
Official FSW release artwork.
What is Flight Sim World?
This latest simulator, then, introduces a new and rather unique insight into the world of flight simulation. Based upon ‘benchmark flight simulation technology’ this latest release is going to be all about mimicking realism as best they can.
While realism is always something simulators strive for, Dovetail has made it clear that this is aiming to be the modern pinnacle of realistic aviation simulation. After all, they have X-Plane 11 to compete with.
One of the most impressive parts of this new release stems from the GA aircraft. Officially licensed and made to follow the exact look and specs of the real aircraft, this will make learning and manipulation of real-life aircraft easier than ever before.
The aim is to try and get that elite level of implementation available in every aircraft that is created. By basing it exactly on their genuine counterparts, this includes every gauge, every knob and each feature that can realistically be installed.
Greater Accuracy Than Ever Before
As the latest in a long line of simulation programs, this is bringing a whole new look and feel to the table. Not only does the aircraft included carry off the look and style of their authentic counterpart, but it’s also accentuated by the impressive detail going on under the hood.
These may look and style themselves on the real aircraft with accuracy and craft, but they also fly like their real versions. With painstaking volumes of detail being put into aircraft that you can fly around with, you’ll get to see all of those features and formats come to life in the most dramatic way.
Screenshot from the Early Access Footage that shows a Mirage in FSW.
A delightful combination of effects from various different disciplines, this provides greater accuracy than it ever has in the past. From behind-the-scenes aviation mechanics to atmospheric mechanic management, these aircraft are going to feel far more challenging – and rewarding – to master. Not only will this help to create a deep and engrossing simulation experience, but it helps to improve the level of detail and learning that you can ascertain from every usage.
From watching the rain hit the windscreen and bounce off as it does in reality to witnesses amazing storms rage in front of you, this makes the world you inhabit feel more authentic.
One of the major adjustments and improvements made here, though, stems from the physics engine. Now, aircraft behaves as it should in accordance with our own world rules and views.
From stalling to spins, it sounds like this new simulator is going to go above and beyond the norm to create that unique and engaging atmosphere both in and outside the cockpit.
A New Kind of Aviation Experience
One of the first things that stand out when looking at Flight Sim World’ release, though, is the level of variety it provides. While some will be more than happy to fire up FSW and enjoy a basic flight without much nuance or challenge, the opportunity to add parameters exists in abundance.
Whether you just want to enjoy a simple, easy flight across a pristine and tranquil sky, or you want to put yourself in life-or-death situations, the opportunities exist in abundance.
Seneca V in FSW.
You can set the weather to be as challenging as you like, as well as the condition of the aircraft and the skies above you. From flying into storms with a blown engine to trying to stop a rapid descent with very little wiggle room, this allows you to really push the realms of experimentation and excitement.
You also get access to a new Flight Planner system that allows you to have total control over the whole experience.
From managing the weather that you are about to fly headlong into, to changing the location and the time of day, you have all the controls you need to make the experience your own. You can even add in randomized events that will take place during the flight to make your flight more unpredictable and even more challenging.
Set Your Own Rules
For those who would rather put their time and effort into mastering the world of creativity entirely, too, there is the option to do just that.
The flight simulation community is known for being artistic and creative when it comes to making new content for other users to enjoy. Flight Sim World looks like it is going to be providing the same artistic license and creative flair to all users, through its extensive and exciting new Pro Mission Editor.
A highly detailed 3D virtual cockpit.
This allows you to set up customized scenarios that fit any kind of rules or demands that you would like to take on. This is a professional level of tool that can help you make flights that are of a minimal challenge, or to help you put together aviation experiences that are all about avoiding the most complex and minimal of challenges.
Whatever you feel is missing from your own mission logs, you can find all the help that you need to bring that to life and make it stand out once and for all. Set your own rules and make the chance of your success depends on the choices and scenarios you implement!
A Modern Environment
For those who are involved in other strands of the simulation and gaming industry, FSW will be a godsend. Now, we have a software platform that allows us to really push our hardware to the very limits of performance!
This new 64-bit, modernized environment runs with a smoothness and a depth of performance that never existed.
Now, this platform could be the basis of a new release that allows for greater levels of graphical implementation and for more risks to be taken with features and inclusions. Thanks to this, then, a new and modernized environment is in the process of being created – in a manner that everyone can enjoy being a part of.
An example of the ground textures we can expect to find within the sim.
If you despair at the graphical gap between simulation and mainstream gaming, then this might be just what you were waiting for.
As the brainchild of the work of some of the finest simulation developers in the industry, FSW promises something totally different from what many of us are used to at present. Partnerships are expected in the future to help bring add-on DLC and premium content to help further expand the official hanger-list that we can pick from.
What about Freeware Add-ons and Downloads?
It has been confirmed that users will be able to generate their own content - that's definite. What is still slightly unknown is whether enthusiasts and hobbyists will be able to create third-party freeware add-on packages such as aircraft, scenery, and missions like we have been doing for FSX for decades. And if they are able to create them, will they have to be released via Dovetail's channels such as an in-app UGC browser or will they be allowed to be distributed over the Internet freely such as on this site, FlightSim, Avsim, Simviation... etc? We are all hopeful.
We still have no information yet as to an official SDK.
Staying Involved
So, we’re not too far away from the release on Early Access. We’ll be bringing regular content updates about the latest changes and improvements that we have found about this wonderful new piece of kit.
As time passes and we draw closer to the full release date, we’ll be sure to keep you updated. Until then, be sure to download Steam and subscribe to the Flight Sim World page. Then, you can join the Early Access drive as soon as the opportunity comes to sign up and take to the skies in a wonderful, richly enhanced new world!
The Feedback From Users So Far
Originally posted May 2017
Well, it’s been nearly a week now since Dovetail Games Flight Sim World hit Early Access. As the easiest way to let people fly before the full release, the Early Access edition has been, on the main, well-received.
While there are always critical comments – and some criticisms are very much worth keeping an eye on – the overall view is a positive one. What to remember as well is that, at this stage, it is still in early development.
Problems that exist just now will be removed, and features will be improved or taken out if they aren’t up to the standard needed.
This is about as early in development as you should be able to take part in a flight simulation experience. There are lots of rough edges, yet it still handles extremely well. Let’s try and round up what the overall consensus has been, looking around at the comments online and from our own take so far.
Screenshot from FSW.
The Layout
The first thing that people appear to be approving of is the new UI and layout. We touched on that in our pre-release preview, that early users were very impressed. It would appear that the general public feels the same way. The interface is easy to navigate, simple to read on any resolution and scales very well. The added color and charm makes it even more enjoyable to work with, as well.
Given the detail of the layout, though, the main criticism has been it's more video game than a simulation. While that’s a fair criticism, people coming from gaming looking for a more serious experience will feel right at home.
The Usability
The controls appear to be picking up most joysticks that people are using without too much problem. Saitek, in particular, seems to have its models more or less working perfectly so far with the new release. This means that, even at Early Access, Dovetail Games have gone the extra mile to ensure that usability is at a high level even from day one.
The interface, as mentioned above, also makes calibrating and configuring a piece of cake. The usability of the simulation, then, has been more or less widely acclaimed. It’s easier to use than previous simulators, and that is all that you can ask for really!
Screenshot showing 3D VC and ground terrain in FSW.
The Aircraft
The most important part – the aircraft – is the most commonly diverse range of opinion. From complaints about a lack of jets (this was made clear way before EA release) to the really poor take on the Vans, the opinion is very much mixed. The Diamond DA40 model, at least, has been getting a lot of positive acclaims – most seem to be quite happy with these new improvements.
The presentation is pretty good overall, although some parts are clearly still in development mode. From the way that the landscape correctly scales as you get closer/further to how the aircraft sounds when taking off, it’s all very realistic.
The majority of the aircraft feedback, though, has been positive. While there’s still a lot to be done to bring the aircraft up to the standard expected, the Early Access klaxon has to be sounded. For a very rough start and a development that is going to see user feedback as the key, we’d say that Flight Sim World has made a very impressive start.
The default Piper Cherokee in flight.
The Scenery
The world is also a lot more impressive – as you would hope. Even at an early stage with much more to be done, though, there’s a lot of new additions. Many airports look busier if still a little generic, and most of the overall autogen has been much improved. Things look less flat, and even stuff way off in the distance looks pretty crisp.
The primary worry comes down to hardware. Even on high-end rigs, many people are finding it hard to get near High/Ultra settings, seeing FPS (frames per second) plummet. This needs a lot of work, but, again, EA!
Lots of complaints are appearing about how fake the trees and some autogen looks on lower graphical levels, too. Given the hardware complaints about people struggling to get it running at the upper echelons, that does not make for a good starting point.
Image showing the new rain effects and ground terrain.
However, this is all subject to change as time goes on. Textures could still be improved and the overall quality of the autogen will likely need to be refined, also, but it’s a decent start. There are lots of things that we expect to see change as far as the development of this simulator goes, but this is looking pretty promising.
We finally have a 64-bit flight simulator that follows the FSX model. While there’s plenty of growing pains, the future looks pretty bright for Dovetail Games latest release.
Confirmed: (Some) Freeware FSX Add-ons Work in FSW
Originally posted May 2017
Dovetail Games' new flight simulator, Flight Sim World (FSW) was released on Steam Early Access last week and many of our users have been wondering if existing FSX add-ons will work with this new release. While Dovetail hasn't mentioned a lot on this topic, we thought we'd have a look ourselves and see what we could find. The results are interesting.
As mentioned, Flight Sim World was released on Steam's Early Access platform on the 18th May 2017 and much of the community have been wondering if existing add-ons and expansions (freeware and payware) will work with the new sim.
Dovetail haven't mentioned a lot with regards to expansions and add-ons but our early testing with our own selection of files seems promising.
The directory structure within FSW is very similar to FSX, which is what we expected because of course, they are developing this new simulator on the existing FSX platform.
We tested four of our existing files; three aircraft and one scenery package. Here is what we found...
Aircraft: Honda Jet
- Type: Aircraft
- Working: Yes (with some errors)
- Download from: https://flyawaysimulation.com/downloads/files/2846/fsx-honda-ha-420-hondajet/
All aircraft for Flight Sim World need to have a few lines added into the configuration file of that aircraft. These are the following:
ui_thumbnailfile="texturethumbnail.jpg"
ui_hangarfile="texturethumbnail.jpg"
ui_selectionfile="texturethumbnail.jpg"
ui_tilefile="texturethumbnail.jpg"
ui_info=333705325
These lines have to be added to the end of every aircraft variant within the configuration file. They must also have the correct location of the ‘texture’ folder changed (e.g. ui_thumbnailgile=”texture.BAthumbnail.jpg).
After adding these lines into the file and launching FSW and clicking on the HondaJet, the following error message was shown:
After clicking ‘Cancel’ the aircraft loaded in fine and seemed to fully work.
However, one thing noticed was the displays in the cockpit appeared difference than in FSX:
This displays appear black and grey without the same background as in FSX:
Scenery: Ibiza X Freeware
- Type: Scenery
- Working: Yes
- Download from: https://flyawaysimulation.com/downloads/files/24308/fsx-ibiza-x-scenery/
The scenery installs well and without any problems.
However, instead of adding the scenery to the Scenery Library within the game, like FSX, you need to add it in manually to the configuration file. The following lines must be added to the end:
[Area.127]
Title=@IDS_AREA122_ADDONSCENERY
Local=Addon ScenerySFD_LEIB_Ibiza_X
Layer=127
Active=TRUE
Required=FALSE
These lines have to be added to the end of the configuration file for every new piece of scenery installed. They must also have the correct edits including changing the Area number to the latest and changing to the location and layer number.
Once done, there are no further steps within FSW and the scenery works straight away without any problems.
Aircraft: iFly Freeware 747
- Type: Aircraft
- Working: No
- Download from: https://flyawaysimulation.com/downloads/files/1898/fsx-ifly-boeing-747-400/
The same three lines must be added into the configuration file of this aircraft as the first add-on. The aircraft appears in Flight Sim World and can be selected with all the details being shown.
However, once clicked on, the following messages appear:
"This is not a Flight Sim World aircraft model" error message.
And then:
"The publisher could not be verified. Are you sure that you want to run this software? " Error message regarding the unsigned gauge files.
And then:
"Would you like to designate this module as trusted software? " confirmation box.
And then:
"Visual model could not be displayed" error box.
All four, except the second message, appear each time the aircraft is selected. The second message is first-time only.
Once then loading the flight, the following messages appear:
"This is not a Flight Sim World aircraft model" error message.
And then:
"Visual model could not be displayed" error box.
The entire program of Flight Sim World then crashes after several seconds of a gray screen.
Aircraft: Project Airbus A380
- Type: Aircraft
- Working: No
- Download from: https://flyawaysimulation.com/downloads/files/3947/fsx-emirates-airbus-a380-800/
Despite adding in the same three lines to the configuration file from the first add-on, this aircraft does not appear in the Aircraft Menu at all. This includes attempting to edit the configuration file in several ways.
Aircraft: POSKY 747-200
- Type: Aircraft
- Working: No
- Download from: https://flyawaysimulation.com/downloads/files/1550/fsx-boeing-747-200-air-force-one/
Despite adding in the same three lines to the configuration file from the first add-on, this aircraft does not appear in the Aircraft Menu at all. This includes attempting to edit the configuration file in several ways.
Final Thoughts
So there you have it, we tested four existing freeware FSX compatible add-ons in FSW and those are the results. It seems that it should be possible for developers to port these older files over to the new FSW without much hassle. However, with the current limitations and lack of SDK at the moment, we think that only "basic" type aircraft will work at present. If you're looking for full FMC, fully 3D virtual cockpit and stuff like that - it could be a while before we can get our hands on these.
As you can see, the Honda Jet worked without any problems, albeit a few error messages. But hey, we have been dealing with these gauge and panel error messages for years even with FSX. Also, we feel that pretty much any scenery expansion will also work with the code adjustments mentioned above.
SDK Released: Aircraft, Scenery & More
Originally posted Jan 2018
For years, the flight simulation community has worked together as one to create world-altering content. Simulators have been transformed with new content, new aircraft and entire alterations to the shape of the world as a whole. So far, though, alterations within Flight Sim World has been a fair bit more challenging than it once was.
Now, development just became a whole lot simpler. A new Software Development Kit (SDK) is due to be released. Now, it will be much easier for hobbyists, third-party developers and newcomers to modding to create add-ons for Flight Sim World. Having been developed for some time, this new SDK adds a wealth of new features to how we can mod and edit Flight Sim World.
Now, freeware developers will be able to easily create high-quality content without anything like the same challenges as before. Using the SDK, implementing new aircraft, scenery and extra features and add-ons will be so much simpler.
Once seen as a monolithic challenge, the new SDK should make editing much easier for newbies and veterans alike. If you have ever been interested in learning how to make add-ons for Flight Sim World or any simulator, an SDK is the place to start.
Moving Forward
Ever since FSW was first released, mods and add-ons have been slowly but surely appearing online for it. However, the lack of an SDK meant that it was left to advanced developers and veterans. It also meant that modding was taking longer and that the challenges involved in fully implemented new add-ons were more than most would have expected.
Since add-on content has helped to turn good simulators into champions of the industry, it’s vital that FSW is easy to modify. With the release of the new SDK, that just became much easier to visualize and see take place.
PC flight simulation additions and third-party add-ons have been a decade-plus experience. It has played a major role in making the simulation more popular. By helping to bridge graphical, technological and philosophical divides, these add-ons add so much to the simulator. It’s why, without doubt, the release of the new SDK should do a lot for freeware developers.
In what was once weighty, challenging and unwieldy experience, everything could be made much simpler. This official update from Dovetail Games is sure to have a profound effect on how – and who – mods.
When Will The SDK Arrive?
It was announced in early November by Cryss of Dovetail Games over at Steam that it would be released ‘before the end of this year’. We’ll be sure to provide more details as and when we can about release times and dates. At the moment, though, the aim seems to cram as many features into the SDK as is possible pre-release.
While some in the community were concerned that add-on development was taking away from Dovetail Games upgrading the core simulation, that has been refuted. Cryss states that all add-ons are handled by the Third Party team, meaning the SDK should be feature-heavy and not rushed.
A mid-November announcement from Stephen Hood informed us that the SDK was the next major update planned. It is claimed that the initial release will provide the required tools for aircraft, scenery and mission content creation. That should be a big relief to the developer who was wondering when the ‘big names’ of the industry could get to work.
Broadly, for the best modifications to be created, an SDK is an essential requirement. It’s needed to help make sure that mods can be put together in the right way. Since this SDK is supposed to contain all of the tools that third-party partners are using already, it should be more than powerful enough to start with.
We’ll release more information as and when it is released from Dovetail Games. Alongside the new SDK, Hood announced that all libraries needed for the C++ application would be provided at the same time.
So, for those who have been wondering when development and add-ons would arrive in earnest, we are nearly there. As soon as the SDK hits the market, the key developers can get to work developing their usual creative add-ons for Flight Sim World.
Stay tuned!
Our Review
Originally posted Apr 2018
After a long, excruciating wait, Flight Sim World is finally out of Early Access release. While first ‘released’ in May 2017, the simulator has gone through some extensive changes since then. In this article, we’ll take a look at just what the latest simulator from Dovetail Games is capable of. Given the hype and the turbulent Early Access process, there’s certainly a lot to think about with regards to FSW.
Now that it’s here, though, we’ve had the pleasure of messing around with it for some time now. It’s gone through some pretty major changes since it first landed on Steam, of course. That being said, we found that the 2017 release provided a large volume of what was to come. So, if you were never too impressed back in May 2017, you might not be too enamored with the April 2018 edition.
That being said, it’s a very impressive simulator. How impressive, of course, depends on your own personal take. We personally are big fans of FSW, but with much to still work on and improve, it’s hard to say what the ceiling is for this simulator.
It’s a certain improvement over the likes of FSX, but does it beat other modern simulators like X-Plane 11?
In this article, we’ll take a look at key areas. This will hopefully help you to better understand just where we see FSW in the modern pantheon. If you are swithering on whether or not you should pick it up, this will hopefully help you to “get” what you’re investing in.
Given the lengthy development process and the rather argumentative nature of the release, is this worth the wait?
Should you invest your money into FSW?
Or would you be better off waiting for a while until some of its kinks are corrected?
What is Flight Sim World?
First off, a touch of background. Flight Sim World arrived via the Dovetail Games purchase of Flight Simulator X. Despite the fact that Dovetail Games are more known for their train sims, this might seem a bit of an odd marriage together.
That being said, though, it’s a very impressive combination. First off, they helped to modernized FSX. Adding some improvements and killing off some long-lasting bugs, they re-released FSX to Steam under FSX: Steam Edition. It was a big hit, and many were hugely appreciative of the re-release. However, the hands of time were ticking and fans demanded something a bit more.
Then came the announcement – Flight Sim World was coming. With people so used to using FSX, the questions were already in the air. What about modding support? Would it really build upon the original to the extent that you would want to really see?
Using the old FSX game engine, they built up a whole new flight simulator from the floor up. Known as Flight Sim World, it promised:
- Improved graphical performance and general realism.
- Better aviation performance and greater realism.
- A more naturally impressive and immersive world without the need for (so many) mods.
- Vast new changes to aviation, allowing for new and improved flight tools and techniques.
This all sounded very impressive and promising, then. Fans were essentially being promised FSX 2 – a total revamp and rebuild of a much-loved simulator. When FSW hit Steam, though, it’s fair to say that it’s early May 2017 release was mixed.
Fans were unsure of some of the features, and others found it to be a departure from the FSX formula. With the release now more or less confirmed, then, what can you expect if you were to try it?
The Back End
Before we break down key features and the like, we wanted to take a quick look at something very important. Given this is built upon the old FSX engine, people were hoping that this simulator would be a major improvement without too much departure from the old-school FSX formula.
Well, given that this is able to extract much out of the simulator’ engine, it’s definitely an improvement on the back-end. However, most impressive is the fact that FSW takes far more control over the use of graphical processing capacity.
People tend to want to leave FSX behind due to the graphical divergence between that and most releases in 2018. Well, this makes it much easier to tap into the true visual qualities that the engine could provide us with.
However, one of the major changes from FSX to FSW is the development of the back-end application. FSX was 32-bit, and this is 64-bit. In basic terms, this means that FSW can go far beyond the limitations of FSX. 32-bit software has far more limitations in terms of what it can be, mainly because they can only tap into a maximum of 4GB of RAM.
This is a major issue, as it would mean that even if you had 64GB of RAM, your PC could only use 4GB of it on 32-bit programs.
This is a 64-bit development, though. That’s very impressive, as it allows for greater development of the graphics and the performance engine that is provided. This means more realistic and authentic flight, better visual performance and the ability to tap into everything that your PC has to throw at it.
That’s very important, as it can now match up with the likes of X-Plane 11 and really live up to the standard set in 2018.
Features and Requirements
Users who wish to get a good kick out of Flight Sim World, according to Dovetail Games, will need a machine that can match the following:
- At least Windows 7, recommended Windows 8/10 64-bit.
- Intel Core i3 6100/AMD APU Kaveri A10-7850K.
- 8GB RAM.
- Radeon R9 Fury or GeForce GTX 970 /w DirectX v11 at least.
- At least 40GB of available HDD space.
- Fully working internet connection.
The Key Features that are listed for Flight Sim World often include:
- The use of Acu-Feel™ tech – a major flight simulation mode that’s become an industry standard.
- Highly detailed GA aircraft made to match their real-life counterparts as best as possible.
- Authentic modeling for both the aircraft and major landmarks and locations across the world
- Professional, detailed and intricate flight sim planning for easy use and full control.
- New globalized textures to help revamp the look of the world and make it much more realistic.
- Lessons and missions to learn from, with a full mission editor for professional development.
- A pilot progress solution to help see flight stats and track time spent in the sky.
These detailed features make sure that you know you are using a flight simulator that’s modern. How good though is FSW in reality?
Given the immense work that has gone into other simulators over the years, is this really a simulator that you can get the maximum out of if you decide to install it?
Can you really make more of FSW without much installed than, say, the modern and improved FSX complete with all manner of new add-ons?
It's important to note that FSW, though building on FSX, is naturally short of available add-ons. Given it’s just out of Early Access, there’s a natural shortage of FSW-compatible add-ons at this moment in time.
.jpg)
Changes from Early Access
It’s important to note that Flight Sim World has changed a huge deal since it was first released into Early Access. If you haven’t used it since it was first introduced in May ’17 you will notice a huge level of changes within the simulator. The menus are fuller, there are more aircraft to pick from and generally bugs are far reduced.
However, it’s also vital to say that this is NOT finished. When this came out of Early Access earlier on in the year, Dovetail Games were very quick to say this is merely Stage Two. This is not 100% ready yet. In an announcement they released themselves, Dovetail employee Steve Hood said that:
“We’ve got a lot planned for 2018, including IFR implementation, expanding the core fleet of aircraft, improving the look of the world, live weather and my own personal pet project, improvements to ATC, to name just a few.
I’ve said that I want to build a platform that will stand the test of time over the next 5 or 10 years. We’re not there yet, but the goal hasn’t changed and the journey we’re on together is far from over. This next stage of development is a necessary change of gear.”
So, keep that in mind when you first fire it up. Things like dynamic weather only came into action in February, while updates to the overall flight roster are still to come. There’s much to come, which means that many new changes will come as time goes on to correct some of the complains we have in here.
That’s very important, as FSW is still in need of some pretty significant work. Though fine at present, and a big change from even the late 2017 editions, there is much work still to be done here.
Interface
The first part of the simulator we want to look at from a performance POV, then, is the interface. The interface has not changed immeasurably since it first became available. More features are open to you, of course, but it’s still that same sleek, clean solution. Logging in for the first time, you will be asked to make a Dovetail Games account. If you already have one, then just log in.
Then, you can start to set up things like your location and some degree of preferences and general adjustments. The settings for changing stuff around like the graphical quality and what’s available is very in-depth. I do admit that even for a technically minded person the sheer number of options was a bit off-putting at first, but perfectionists will feel right at home in the detailed Settings open to you.
.jpg)
You can even set your own home airport, which is a nice touch. Once you get in and set up all the jargon above, you’ll be taken to a very crisp and smooth menu. The text is crisp, everything is easy to see and the little icons are self-explanatory. In comparison to some simulators that give me a headache at the best of times, getting around the layout and the menus here was pretty easy.
The interface is very easy to use, especially when flying. While I’ll try to avoid making too many generalizations as everyone has their own HUD preferences, I found it very clear. Easy to find the info I need in the menus and in the cockpit of an aircraft, but not too easy.
It’s all very advanced, and it makes it very easy for me to enjoy a much more modern experience. Sick of FSX’ outdated interface? You’ll feel at home here.
Aircraft Selection
The aircraft selection, though, is when my eyebrows began to become stuck in a semi-permanent “huh” mode. The quality of the aircraft is great. The quantity, though, is a bit of a joke. In this era of DLC and paid-for add-on content, it’s a shame to see that there’s so little to start with. If you want to start getting more aircraft, you are going to need pay on top of what is a very poor selection.
You get a few aircraft to pick from, with what is essentially about seven aircraft. The aircraft is a very poor selection, given it’s a flight simulator. While I fully understand this is fresh out the box, so to speak, this is a very poor selection. You presently get just a few options, including the likes of the Cherokee, Super Cub, and Twinstar. I accepted a poor quantity of aircraft during early release, but it’s not really acceptable now.
Even more worrying for this simulator is the lax uptake from third parties. With just a couple of third-party models on show, despite Dovetail saying they want to work with third parties, it would appear few are getting involved just yet.
Performance
Thankfully, the actual aviation performance is more or less spot on. I was much more impressed with flight performance than I was just about anything else. The quantity is so poor, though, that it just left me wishing I had more options to try out this great simulation on. I have mostly used Free Flight so far, though the mission selections are naturally very good.
I also enjoyed the training program, which is quite tough. You will certainly get yourself in a bit of a struggle with the training if you are not used to other simulators. My main complaint would be that Dovetail Games have not done enough to help newbies to simulation get an education from the training; even the simplest missions would be very frustrating for a newbie pilot.
That being said, performance is very good. On a machine that wasn’t a million miles away from the specs mentioned before, I frequently was getting 60fps performance and enjoying very good flight performance overall. the controls are very responsive, the planning features such as flight planning are very easy to use and the general selection and set-up of your aircraft are as interactive as I would have hoped for at this stage.
If I was to compare the often bug-ridden performance of FSW in May 2017, this is a big improvement. It felt very stodgy and off-putting at times, to begin with, but this is much cleaner. While I’m not happy with the lack of new aircraft, each aircraft performs well in the wider world.
The world itself feels much better than previously, too, with very little pop-in from objects and the general world moving much smoother around you. Overall, performance levels are very good – though they could still be improved with the future releases of features which will likely impact on performance, such as dynamic weather.
Graphics
As you might expect, the graphics are well on par with the likes of X-Plane 11. This well lives up to expectations with regards to graphical performance. Given the fact it’s 64-bit, it looks tremendous and pushes far beyond the meager limitations of FSX in the first place. They are very smooth, with sharpness where needed on things like trees, cities and other major objects.
Everything from the way that the mud shoots up around the tires as you take off is very impressive, as are the mid-air effects. A nice touch is the addition of damage and wear and tear in the cockpit. It’s rare to fly a pristine aircraft, and FSW helps to sell that image perfectly. From lens flares on the cockpit window to the accurate reflections, everything here works together as one to create a much more immersive and realistic aviation experience.
There are many views to pick from, too, which makes it easier for you to appreciate the visual impact that has gone on within this simulator. Graphics easily match up with performance, though as expected major cities and airports could definitely do with some improvement which will come with scenery add-ons.
Sound
The audio experience is great, too. The overall appearance of the audio in the sky is a nice touch, making sure that you get the ambient sounds that make flying an aircraft so enjoyable in general. Sounds are very important, and this gives you everything from environmental ambiance to the sound of your aircraft reacting to your actions.
If you are used to add-on aircraft in simulation looking great and sounding just as good, FSW makes that standard. Easy enough to get the right sound quality through the easy configuration menu, too, it’s very easy to get the right kind of sound performance for your own machine.
Realism
And now for the main and final part of the simulator, we want to look at – realism. I personally felt like the basic settings are a touch too unforgiving for beginners, too easy for veterans. Thankfully, you can tune just about everything that you like to make the flight as easy/hard as you would want.
It can give you a totally authentic flight experience or it can give you a very arcade, simulated and streamlined style. Newbie pilots will find this easier to get into compared to other simulators due to this. Veterans, though, will be able to really ramp it up and make flights as easy/hard as they want.
You can tune everything using the various realism settings, and this makes it easy for you to totally change things like how aircraft perform and react to what you have asked them to do. from simulating real-life G effects to turning off aids and help, you can tailor the experience to your own level.
This is very useful and should make it very easy for you to engage with this simulator regardless of experience level.
Verdict
Pros
- Excellent balance between authenticity and performance.
- Great visual experience that looks far better than the likes of FSX.
- Great weather system which is sure to improve with time when Dynamic Weather arrives.
- Easy to modify and change to suit your own skill level as you like.
- The control scheme is excellent, easily adjusted and compatible with most inputs.
Cons
- Aircraft selection is terrible for such a big release.
- Reliance on third-party add-ons is already a concern.
- Poor improvements in terms of new features (albeit with the promise of more to come).
- Customization could be much better for aircraft.
Overall? FSW is a good start for a new simulator. If we think back to the likes of FSX when it first hit, there was plenty of stuff missing from then, too. This is a good start, but it does need to really move into the next stage of development ASAP.
If you buy Flight Sim World, don’t expect it to be 100% complete just because it is released. There is more to come on what is a very solid foundation. As it is, though? You might be disappointed by the lack of non-beta multiplayer usage.
There’s more to come with FSW, which is a good thing given the lack of basic features. There’s a lot here to love, some stuff to fall out over, but plenty of time for FSW to move to the next level in good time.
Project Cancelled (Closure Announcement)
Originally posted May 2018
The simulation world has been, for a long time, filled with shocks and surprises. We often get a lot of them as time goes on, but one of the biggest shocks was the late-April announcement that Dovetail Games’ Flight Sim World was closing down. It’s a major story in the industry and has obviously caused a hell of a lot of consternation.
The simulator was seen by many to be the next step forward in a hugely impressive industry. With other new-gen flight simulators arriving on the scene in recent times, there was a natural optimism that FSW could live up to expectation and deliver a truly special aviation experience. Sadly, it’s come to an end.
There’s been a lot of questions from the community, too, and we’ll try to cover some of them below. First, though, we just want to take a quick look at the reasons given by Dovetail Games for deciding to stop production. They announced that the reason they have stopped was that,
“Unfortunately, after many detailed discussions, we regrettably don't see a clear direction that will allow us to keep to the development time we'd want, alongside the player numbers we need.”
That’s obviously a bit of a worry, as there was massive hype about FSW. With it clearly needing more work than was anticipated, it’s been decided that not long off a year since it went into Early Access, that FSW will be removed from sale as of May 24th, 2018.
It’s a crushing blow for Dovetail Games and a major kick in the teeth for fans who had such high hopes. Following the great work done with Flight Simulator X and its reboot, this comes as a bit of a blow for the wider future of the simulation industry.
What’s Next?
Well, at the moment, nothing. FSW is dead, more or less. There’s nothing more that can be done to help keep it alive any longer, sadly. You can read a detailed post from DTG Cryss, one of the staff members over on their official forums. While there are always those little burning hopes that something like this could be resurrected, at the moment it sounds more or less dead in the water.
Part of the problem, at least when speaking to other community members, was the lack of third-party support. This has been a major part of the lifeblood of the industry, and the fact that there was so little support for third-party add-ons really did help to kill FSW before it off the ground. Sadly, that total lack of desire to use third-party content in the way that it had been so popular on other simulation models is a real shame.
It contributes at least in part to the end of the FSW project. It’s a real shame, though optimists may wish to look at it as a chance for someone else to rise up and try to take the place which is now vacant on the market.
Dovetail Games, though, were one of the companies who seemed willing to invest and really put the effort in for a new simulator. The lack of third-party support though was a major surprise. Given their success in other simulation fields, it felt like it was only a matter of time before FSW got itself off the ground and into top speed.
Unfortunately, this crash landing means that we’re a simulator down. With X-Plane 11 seemingly doing well and Prepar3D version 4 though, at least one of the more modern simulators appears to be on the right track. Flight Sim World, though, appears to be over.
What Went Wrong?
Amongst the rawness of the news and the fact it’s still all being developed and processed, it would be hard to say with any definition. Of course, one of the main reasons that some have speculated for its downfall is the fact that FSW was more based on the Dovetail model for Train Simulator.
Some noted that with Train Simulator, there was no competition and thus they were the only show in town. This meant that they could get away with a bit more control over what kind of markets they moved in, and it feels like the lack of third-party support for FSW was built on the same foundations.
Again, though, it’s hard to provide any kind of clear conclusion at this moment in time. The fact that we have so much choice in the flight sim industry means that it’s easy for people to turn to other projects if they aren’t getting 100% what they want. With the choices so relatively minimal with FSW to start with, it’s easy to see why so many stuck with the large libraries they have instead of starting afresh with such a limited volume to choose from.
Still, it’s all very sad. The death of FSW is a real blow for the industry, but at the very least it might provide some kind of lessons for other developers in the future.
Thankfully, those who own FSW will still be able to play it in its current state. If you already own it, you won’t lose it nor any of the DLC that you have invested in. For that reason, you can enjoy a relatively easy last few flights on the simulator. Just know that, as of today, no new updates or changes will be coming in.
It’s a shame to see it end like this, but we wish the Dovetail team all the best in the future. It’s a brutal end to what was one a hugely exciting and popular part of the simulation community. Whatever comes next, we hope that it can get off the ground in a more positive and productive manner than FSW was able to.
Now, there’s a new gap in the industry. With nothing on the way to replace it at present, those looking for a more modern take will need to settle for this version of FSW or turn to X-Plane 11 or Prepar3D v4 (which most people did anyway).
Microsoft's Revamp of Flight Simulator in 2020
Update November 2020
It's not hot off the press so to speak but Microsoft released their brand-new flight simulator package on August 18th, 2020. They also bought back the rights to Microsoft Flight Simulator X from Dovetail Games along with the "Steam Edition" rendering Dovetail Games "flightsimless".
It's highly likely, reading this, that you have the new Microsoft Flight Simulator package already - or have at least played with it. True to style, we of course cover this new simulator in great detail.
We've written several pieces about this new sim worth your attention. You can find our ultimate guide to FS2020 here along with our full, in-depth review written by a flight sim expert here.
As with FSX and even Flight Sim World, we've continued our coverage in the add-ons library. You will find all of the latest Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) add-ons over at this page here.
We want to know your thoughts. Please post them in the comments section below!
Don't forget... We have a huge selection (over 24,000 files) of free mods and add-ons for MSFS, FSX, P3D & X-Plane in the file library. Files include aircraft, scenery, and utilities All are free-to-download and use - you don't even need to register. Browse on down to the file library here.
216 comments
Leave a ResponseThe content of the comments below are entirely the opinions of the individual posting the comment and do not always reflect the views of Fly Away Simulation. We moderate all comments manually before they are approved.
I'm really looking forward to the release of this program, all I want from the program is to make sure the graphics are smooth.
Unlike MSFX, they claimed their graphics ran smoothly on a bare based system and the new high-end computers, but when I finally bought the program and was using the best of the line powerful computer systems, I never saw so much choppiness and jerking (frame rate) in a program.
I even changed to the highest graphics card on the market at the time. I am currently using an average laptop while playing the MSFS-Steam and it is AWESOME, no lag time at all.
Good luck with the development of your program, and I can hardly wait for its release!
If they have the source code, maybe they can bring back the moveable tower view and increase the sound range from ground to air over the airfield as in FS2004. Otherwise, I'll stick to FS9.
Regards
I hope Windows 10 will not be mandatory. I installed 10 only to remove and go back to 8.1.
I think this is great. It is good that ways are being developed to improve games and realism.
My only comment would be because so many have invested quite heavily into FSX, especially those who have built their own cockpits that I can imagine many would not be in a rush to change yet especially, as the article said, companies are developing add-ons to improve what FSX can offer.
Watching this closely.
When it was first announced that Dovetail Games was going to release FSX for Steam, I was somewhat skeptical but they have done a great job.
I look forward to seeing this new flight simulator next year. I honestly hope it will be everything most of us hope MS Flight would be.
Bring it on! ;)
It looks very interesting! If it's better than FSX, who knows?
I would certainly take a look at it when it comes out.
I, like many others, look forward to a new release. I did download the Steam edition but the very modest selection of different airplanes was a disappointment. Hopefully, that will change.
Also, there were issues because I used my sim in different locations and kept receiving emails that someone may be trying to access my account... I wrote a few times assuring them that this was simply a laptop issue but received no response.
I do look forward to a new release but hopefully, plenty of aircraft to choose from and no issues with using laptops :)
Paul
I just purchased some planes the other day. I hope the new flight sim will be compatible with my add-ons.
I'm running FSX Steam & it is running well for me, I have the old FSX disk copy too.
Hi,
I am waiting with an open mind for a new simulator. Having used FS9 & FSX it has taken a long time to get the right computer system to get the best from FSX. So the wish list is to break out of the 4k memory limitation as I would think that a 64-bit system and 64Gb of memory is a total waste on another 32-bit limited simulator.
I use SIOC to run the many switches and LED numeric and lamp displays in my home built cockpit. Do you think that I will be able to connect to the various store locations (at the moment through FSUIPC) allowing us to physically interact with the cockpit?
A number of users link together using Hamachi or similar to effect. Great multiplay experience, especially when completing air to air refueling without the stuttering image of your partner's airframe (Hamachi is great for that). So, please allow for the ability to multiply using third part connections.
Modification of aircraft to allow modification to different marks or military use (panels etc). The scenery as airfields rarely show as the real airfield (incorrect hangars and positioning of ramps and signage) I am sure I have missed some other important inclusions but I am sure that others will want their say and mention them.
Thanks for asking for our input.
Adrian
I hope it will be an improvement. I have been frustrated with all of the add-on's that don't work as advertised.
I upgraded to a new PC with 32Gb of ram and a very fast processor, only to be disappointed by the insufficient memory messages I receive. The new Steam upgrade did not help. All of the Mega Scenery add-on's are scaled back in order to get a frame rate that is relatively smooth.
I would be absolutely delighted.
I am a prepar3D user.
I will have a look at it when it's out. I just hope that they can do something about the VAS to stop us simmers from getting OOMS.
It's always good news when a new flight sim is about to be released. However, if their new product is not a vast improvement then it's not going to be embraced by the flight sim community.
Many flight sim owners already own a flight sim and have invested lots of time and money into their current sim program. I currently use FSX and considering Prepar3D. However, I'll wait for this new flight sim before jumping ship.
I hope Windows 10 is not mandatory, that could be a deal breaker.
Not to be a pessimist, as I certainly hope that Dovetail can do something worth our while, but as a developer, I’m going to call the kettle black.
Dovetail’s launch into flight simulations is based upon old technologies created by Microsoft nearly 10 years ago (and longer). While the list of “What can we hope for” is certainly worthy of our attention, it’s not feasible to hope for because of the technologies that are being used. I’m afraid that Dovetail will be limited by this technology very much the same way that LM has been curtailed with P3D. Although P3D, along with add-ons from various vendors, is quite beautiful to look at, it still inherits the same limitation of LOD, CPU dependencies, not really optimized for multi-threading, stutters, framerate, etc. and more than likely not ever going to see DX12 and it’s amazing throughput capabilities. The engine/software… just isn’t built for it.
What is more likely; is more of the same, with Dovetail adding a series of DLCs similar to the same marketing technique that they use for their train simulators. I could go into details, but I think you’re getting the jest. What is needed is a completely new Next Generation Flight Simulator built upon modern technologies that are capable of using modern hardware. Although the site is currently being revamped for its second phase, a discussion regarding just such a flight simulator is taking place with Phase II focusing on development.
You can find the website by googling “next generation flight simulator” and by going to the website you’ll currently see a very nice slider showing off some of the possibilities. The site should be completed by the end of this week with the forums back up and running. If you’re really interested in seeing the features that so many of our community members have been asking for over the past 10 years, it isn’t going to happen on the back of old tech, but the more feasible approach is to abandon the old and to embrace the new.
Can add-ons for FSX still be employed into a new simulator? Absolutely… particularly aircraft and airports; scenery, on the other hand, can be adapted but it may look more like an old house on a beautifully landscaped lot. With new tech being used, scenery add-ons used to enhance areas to look more like its real-world counterpart will be the thing of the past… it will all be built in and a part of the initial release of the product.
Yep, flight simulation for the consumer needs to continue to progress in order to maintain the level of interest that it currently holds, however... the more modern and detailed the flight simulator, the more interest will be gained by those who are just discovering the joys of flight simming.
Since I bought the Steam edition of FSX, the simulations work perfectly on Windows 7.
I'm very happy with this game and hope many new releases will appear.
With all respect, since when are X-Plane and FSX the only simulators out there? I can list FlightGear (total freeware and very good considering), DCS, Rise of Flight, Lockheed Martin Prepar3D and iL2 Sturmovic series as a start...
All mentioned are high-quality simulators that can equal and beat what the old FSX has to offer. It's time to move on and allow these above to stand tall. FSX Steam edition I feel will just not cut it, it's primary problem, is the Steam client itself. One constantly needs a live connection to the internet for this Steam client, even if the game is set to offline mode. This just simply does not work with simulators as I am sure the majority of us simmers are offline many times in LAN parties. The club meets and demos at schools and other public spaces around our living areas in our countries.
All of the above with the exception of iL2 Sturmovic is free of this invasive and controlling Steam client.
Andrew
The Dovetail article is just wishful thinking.
I agree with Andrew Brown and Steve Borick, I'll believe it when I see it.
Andrew, just for clarification... you're absolutely right! There are other flight simulators out there, but with the exception of FlightGear and P3D, none of the simulators you mentioned fill the niche for the type of flight experience that is being considered here.
When you take into consideration a whole earth simulation and the ability to plot, plan and fly civilian and commercial aircraft, what is currently available is based upon old code that is quite literally being tweaked to maintain a semblance of what can actually be achieved through the use of more modern technologies.
Nothing could compare to the possibilities that can be achieved through the use of up-to-date tools.
I believe Microsoft has produced a great job in the last few years with their flight sim programs but I strongly believe that it is now the time for a new flight sim system with new ideas and more user-friendly programming.
I hope that Dovetail will work in conjunction with other developers so that their flight systems such as A/C scenery and other add-ons are fully compatible.
I fully agree with the comments of Andrew Brown concerning Steam.
Sounds fantastic!
It would be wonderful to have a super smooth flight sim with great graphics - a real-world environment and easy to understand the program instead of having to be a computer engineer.
Also, I think it would be extremely imperative for the third party add-ons to be compatible since they offer ultra quality aircraft and great service.
What about us MAC users? Do we just have X-Plane at the moment?
As good as it is, I miss many of the features of FSX particularly the ability to customize AI at all levels and all airports.
AI, airport and scenery tweaking would be a big motive for me to get involved - if it was MAC suitable!
I think we don't need any other simulators! FSX gold edition is OK. I have FSX Steam Edition too but I didn't note anything new! My advice is: Don't download and pay for it!
I hope this works for Dovetail.
I would welcome a new FS system.
Good luck.
What bothers me, is that we spend a lot of money on aftermarket add-ons and each time they come up with a new system where the old add-ons don't work!
I understand from a developers point of view they need to make money but again, the amount of money we put out for the add-ons then they don't work on the new system is why many of us still operate FS9.
I only want to know if FS2004 can work in the new Windows 10. I note that FSX works without a problem it seems, but I'm not sure for the FS2004.
When I connected the software in Windows 10, the screen went blank and doesn't show the principal menu to select or create a flight. What can I do? Can you give me your opinion? Thank you.
Best regards,
German Diaz
Like others, I would emphasize that the real breakthrough would be a 64bit version. If that is to be the case then I will be a day one purchaser.
Meanwhile, P3D is the only sim to make significant changes to the old engine. If LM go to 64bit, then Dovetail would have to be good.
Where I can find an answer to my question on 10 Sep 2015? Is there a special site to find it?
Thanks,
German Diaz
FSX came out in 2006, it will be ten years since that version. The graphics in the new sim better be off the charts. No more paint pallet looking ground or minimal detail close to the ground. Computer graphics in today's games are near reality now and this sim better deliver that. The joy of flying is looking at the scenery! That is what will bring in more fans and users.
The detail in the cockpit reworking buttons and realistic moving shadows etc needs to be there. (See videos of IL2 cliffs of Dover and later. Its been possible for years and nothing less is acceptable) There should be options for detailed simulation of systems and failures. Start from cold dark, warm up of engines to proper oil temps, etc. Again, the OPTION to do these things. People who like an arcade version of flying can turn these things off.
Lastly, a true mission builder and scenery builder that is easy to use would be most welcome, though not as important as the above. They could release the sim and people could build their local airport and upload for others to install. Available on previous MSFS versions but a good easy to use builder with the sim would ease this availability of scenery. Asking for military aircraft that shoot and drop real bombs would likely also be too much I'm thinking as this is a civilian flight simulation and there are plenty of military flight sims, so this also is just an 'ask for'.
Looking forward to the new MSFS 11 though.
Its been way too long.
It is much smoother than the box version of FSX. It works great! I've had it for a while now. All add-ons will work, it just takes a bit to get used to getting the files loaded. AND GUESS WHAT? Multiplayer is back! And it actually works!
I've been giving flight lessons in the 208 using aircraft share. However, it is not a NEW flight simulator program. It is FSX cleaned up... Just so everyone knows.
Happy flying!
Dovetail doesn't seem to want add-ons to be compatible unless they sell them or get a piece of the pie. I really enjoy making my own buildings, hangers, etc. I purchased FSX SE but used my CD version way more because the instant studio will not work in the Steam version.
I hope they find a way to make all of the terrains at correct altitudes more realistic.
I will be waiting to see if they make it compatible before I purchase the new sim.
Hi Stephen,
You are leaving out one of the most advanced of the flight simulators that fills the niche of whole earth simulation and the rest you mention, and one I did mention, and that is X-Plane, along with FlightGear and P3D. And to add P3D, according to what Lockheed Martin has said, in the next year, will have no resemblance to its source, that of Microsoft ESP, the professional product and not well-known component of which the entertainment part called FSX, was founded on. Already since version 2, one can see the major changes away from Microsoft original old code, I have just upgraded to version 3.0.
So we have accessible to us, three ultra modern up to date flight simulators superior to anything left of FSX, and Dovetail's fixes of it. And as I again will repeat, the problem with FSX now is the Steam client. I have posted ad nauseum, especially on FlightSim.com, of how simulators cannot be constantly connected to the internet, especially in many parts of the world where simulation is enjoyed. Simply because a client controls and demands that of the same, even if one can go offline with the game, the client can never go offline.
So at the top of the list, LAN gaming goes out the window, as many LAN parties are private and not connected to the internet, especially in flight simulation.
German,
I have installed Windows 10 home and Pro 64bit and have FS9, FSX, FlightGear, X-Plane, P3D, etc all running fine, even with freeware and payware scenery and aircraft add-ons. There is a small issue with FS9, in that as you mention, when it launches by default, it launches full screen in its startup menu, unlike FSX which launches as a window, and the aircraft window is black. A quick fix is to tap and hold the Alt and Enter keys to reduce FS9 to a window, then the aircraft is visible. Select one's choice of aircraft, and set up the rest of the parameters for the flight, then tap and hold the Alt and Enter key to return to full screen, and start the flight.
The rest of the FS9 experience is as one would expect and it actually runs in some ways better (maybe this is a placebo effect, not sure as I have not tested thoroughly/scientifically, no time for FS9 much now) as per the feeling of one's flight.
One thing I did notice, no OOM's or CTD's so far, that used to plague FS9 in the past.
Hope this helps,
Andrew
My guess for those of you who saw "massive frame choppiness, and horrible performance" (not necessarily quoting those here, just the many comments I see all across the flight sim boards) is that you are demanding too much.
You all would do well to go read through the post that NickN did on the FSX "bible". He takes you through step-by-step on how to get FSX running with beautiful fluidity, amazing looks, etc. What he observes is what many people do "I bought this when Microsoft said that X processor, Y RAM, and Z GPU were enough. It's been 5 years since FSX was released, I just bought a top of the line computer so I should be able to just throw Windows on it, load up all my crapware (you really don't need those add-ons to make your printer work, you don't "need" to have something that monitors your internet connection and writes out a log of the speed, you don't NEED to have ANY toolbars other than maybe a password keeper and an RSS feed combiner, you want them, but you don't need them.)
I load up all my crapware, turn up Antivirus to its max then turn up HIPS to its max, load 6 copies of variants of Antivirus, HIPS, HIDS, find 200 freeware add-ons (for my computer)...." Now, after all that, your logic is "I'm going to install FSX in the default directory, on the same partition and same physical spindles as the OS is installed, I'm then going to go find every freeware add-on to FSX I can possibly get my hands on. I'm going to then load 32 737s, 18 Airbus 300s, 85 Cessnas, 40 Learjets, etc. then I'm going to load on 6 weather generators (3 are payware), 4 more pay way scenery tools, 15 freeware scenery add-ons, I'm going to find the airports that just to load, consume 1.8GB of my VMS space, then I'm going to have several different hardware add-ons, and finally, I want to have every plane PMDG released with every livery for them, plus I want to have iFly, CaptainSim, and all of the Flight1 software.
With all of that loaded (still on the same drive), I'm going to launch all of my weather generators, try to use a freeware flight planner/dispatch tool, then load FSX and wonder why it takes forever. I then go to the 'settings' tab and, because I have 'the latest thing', I'll yank every slider to the 'most dense', then go to 6 different websites and desperately try to apply all the various "performance improvements" to various files. I'll then add in 3 more video cards (not of course knowing that any video card beyond 1 is useless to FSX), and after all of this, I'm going to go to forums and complain that "Microsoft didn't sell us a good product". They should have foreseen that I wanted to add enough planes that, if you spend an hour flying each and start when you're 12, you won't have flown 1/2 of your fleet by the time you're married at the age of 32.
Please, be reasonable about what you are expecting. If you go into an FSX install with some of the simple things NickN says (frankly, you don't have to implement everything), and if you realize that you bought a FLIGHT simulator, you DID NOT buy an "AIRPORT TOUR" simulator, you did not purchase a "DETAILED MAP OF THE US down to the current blades of grass growing simulator", and you certainly did not purchase a "DOG FIGHTING simulator". (The later is out there, just go buy it.) But if you'll keep in mind what you bought, and the fact that, in flight, you need to have your head in the cockpit until you've landed, then you can go watch some replays of your landings, etc. Then you'll really like it, you'll get out of it an amazing performance, and you may even learn a bit about the flight!
I purchased FSX Gold Edition on disc around 18 months ago & ended up completely upgrading my PC rig in order to run the FSX software - even with a decent processor, ram & graphics card, the main recurrent problem for me was program crashes.
A year ago, I decided to try a swap to FSX on Steam and I've had no problems since. I also bought X-Plane 10 on Steam and alternate between the two flight simulators depending on the aircraft I want to 'fly'. I really only fly helicopters i.e Dodosim 206 & Alebeo R66 in FSX and Dreamfoil Bell 407 for Steam. My own opinion is that each simulator has its own positives and negatives i.e I love flying the Dreamfoil 407 but the UK scenery in X-Plane falls short of the scenery quality in FSX.
On the other hand, X-Planes individualized preference settings can be tweaked to a somewhat OTT extent. If the Dovetail team can provide a flight sim that offers the best aspects of both FSX & X-Plane, namely the aircraft realism of X-Plane & realistic quality scenery (achievable in FSX with add-ons) as its standard default quality, I'd definitely give it a try... Providing it offered the same selection of quality helicopters such as the Dodosim 206, Alabeo R66 & Dreamfoil 407.
In any event, another high-quality flight simulator on the market can only be a good thing.
Good luck Dovetail with your project.
Am I not the only who notices how messed up Train Sim is and have a true fear of what the flight sim will be like?
For Mac users, there are other alternatives, though many are not as polished as X-Plane or FSX. Compare FlightGear (available for the very reasonable price of $0.00 for download of the program and somewhere around 200 planes) to FSX or X-Plane.
The Mac version of FlightGear has a nice GUI, runs quite quickly and both the Mac and Windows versions are very well documented and have great tracing. This makes it so that you can generally troubleshoot any issue through either the wikis, forums or just reading the logs and seeing that a directory is missing.
Please, take a few moments and look at FlightGear. Give it a shot, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised and happy about what you get for the price you pay!
I have TS 2016 and I love it, the only drawback is the extreme cost of adding anything to it. In other words the DLC. The content is very much overpriced and would literally cost $1000s to have all for the DLC available.
Although I would love to see a new flight sim I can promise you unless you are wealthy and have deep pockets or are just willing to devote a large part of your income to Dovetail, you will still be in a sparse world with not much detail.
Every new airport or scenery enhancement will cost probably 30 or 40 dollars. Want a new plane? Got 30 bucks? It may not be pay to win but it will definitely pay to play.
Wow, lots of different types of posts... Can't believe the article headline on this page!... New simulator? You've obviously forgotten that Lockheed Martin has released Prepar3d! Which is one of the best simulators on the market I might add?
Dovetail Games, I seriously doubt is going to produce anything different/better than what Microsoft already gave them i.e FSX. I seriously hope you all consider at least an academic license for Prepar3d before going out & spending money on whatever it is that Dovetail releases in 2016.
Well, I am not holding my breath! Dovetail has a terrible track record, I am a "proud" owner of the Train Simulator. They keep throwing out a "new" version every year. With virtually no improvements. And the graphics have not gone far from the original MS Train Sim 2 or whatever it was called.
In my honest opinion, that is just a cash grab company. Not a decent business worth of getting my hard earned bucks anymore.
Having been an avid flight simmer since 1995, I always look forward to new releases. For those who are concerned about the $1,000+ that have been spent on third-party software, think of it like this: Microsoft released a new version of FS every 2-3 years anyway and every year, the hardcore dedicated simmers upgraded anyway because the value of the new simulator was always better than your old sim, even with the add-ons.
What makes this any different? If anything, this is 10 times better because there hasn't been a new version in over 10 years! Also, no matter how great your computer is or how many add-ons you have, are you REALLY that satisfied and happy with your sim? You can't be that happy knowing there are bottlenecks galore and you aren't getting everything you paid for since you are scaling back add-on scenery, aircraft, and the game itself just to run at a decent FPS.
Let's face it, as beautiful as FSX looked upon release and how nice it even looks today with add-ons, it was written improperly. The coding was a disaster! The sim was not optimized or efficiently developed at all. Single core usage, limited GPU support, 32-bit architecture, inefficient texture mapping, OOM errors, conflicts, errors, patches, etc. It was a nightmare and still is.
We should all welcome a newly designed, fresh, optimized, efficient, modern piece of software released using updated graphics, updated engines, updated physics, 64 bit architecture, more efficient use of shaders, SLI GPU, multiple cores, better texture loading, better autogen, weather effects, a.i, atc, mesh, landclass, vector data, coastlines, water, aircraft textures, cockpits, special effects, lighting, shadows, reflections. Better use of AA, filtering, switching views, Vsync/Gsync, frame rates...
Microsoft quit before it was finished and the aces team who developed it is now gone. It was poorly written to run on even a SUPER computer. They thought processors at the time would be single core but faster going forward, so there was no multi-core support. Even then, it was poorly developed for a single core; the GPU load was put on the CPU and distant textures were being rendered when they weren't on screen and shouldn't have been. Autogen popping, disappearing, shimmering, dx10 sample mode with its own issues requiring 3rd party software to run properly. The patches, Phil Taylor, cfg tweaks, and even the Steam Edition could only do so much. With the CFG tweaks trial and error, you basically had to redesign FS yourself as a programmer and to the casual or novice user, that just wasn't happening. We spent more time tweaking than simming - it was just a nightmare.
Dovetail is now able to use current modern hardware/software and design methods ON TOP of the original Microsoft FS formula to bring about what will probably be the best flight sim to date. They can take advantage of Google Earth maps, Windows 10, DirectX12, multiple cores, multiple GPU. They may even ask the third-party software developers to have a hand in the development and give them a cut, then we would have no need for OrbX scenery, UTX, REX, FSGlobal, etc. We may have the entire earth under our simulated aircraft. Screw the $50-60 new game price tag, if it is truly next-generational and eliminates the need for third-party software, I'll pay $300 for it and most of you will agree.
To sum it up:
3 Good things:
I, as many am looking forward with bated breath for this eventual evolution of flight simming... My fear is that as of today, the technical support that Dovetail offers is one of the worst with a high intolerance for customers needs and issues... They assume it is the user that has made the error too many times and sadly, the simmer has few other options an some even preferring to stick with the old.
As I said, bring it on but make damn sure you will have the tech support and manpower for true customer satisfaction... There are other companies working on the same thing. Prepar3D V3 is a great advance and just twiddling their thumbs, this also goes for the add-on providers... With new technology and real-life realism comes better and higher detailed aircraft... FSX comes with enough default aircraft to learn with but there are very few aircraft providers that reach the edge like PMDG. Even Carenado does quite a job but provides little documentation to properly master their aircraft... The future in simming is up for grabs... still. Dovetail has the right idea but don't blow it.
I have held off from leaving FS9 due to the incompatibility of add-on scenery, but I think this will be the time to move on. I doubt any new platform will use the same codes as FSX or any past formats and as such I will admit it is time to start over.
I don't want to sound sour but I think everyone will need to leave our old platforms in the past where they are now confined. We will all most likely need to dig deep to repurchase our favorite add-ons and move forward.
I just bought several add-ons for FSX. With the new version of FSX, if these add-ons do not work and do not take patches to do so then I will stay with the FSX version that I have.
Would it be possible, with today's top rated home computers to use data offered by Google's Earth or Google's Maps in a flight simulator?
How about the coming earth girding, a loaf of bread sized satellites? Wow! Being able to fly any place in the world and seeing it in 24 hr. "real" time?
Come on, Google - hop into this fantastic new age and give us something we can sink our teeth into!
My biggest concern is that DTG may force us to upgrade to a new version of FS and leave all of our investment (both financially and in time spent) in add-ons as obsolete.
Just an idea... The other day, the FAA announced that there were now more registered drone pilots in the U.S. than real pilots... I was just wondering if they could include a quadcopter drone in the collection of aircraft for these sims. Just a thought, trying to keep up with the times!
Great words, a lot of promises. But what are you actually going to do to make FSX better?
My concern is about FS9. Much of my flight sim experience has to do with mods that were available for FS9 and not necessarily in FS10. I have a considerable investment in time with specific environments - the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, along with Berlin Airlift.
I didn't particularly care for much of what FS10 did - Perspective, more limited aircraft, not as much available for specific environments. Will I remain in FS9 or will this new FS accommodate my tastes?
It should be interesting if the new FS could implement Google Earth to improve the scenery environment.
Sounds exciting, already my money is burning a hole in my pocket. I, for one, can't wait!
I really believe we are getting a lot of smoke and ash being blown up the 'wazoo'. I have a feeling that the only thing we'll see is a combination of MS Flight, Flying School and a broken down version of FSX. What else gets to me is these guys promised to improve FS. What? Are you kidding me?
I've been flying my desktop and laptop since the old Commedor 64 days and have enjoyed every one of MSN's ups and downs with this program and I still find it fascinating to be able to climb into the sim pilot seat and cruise all over the world. As for my part, I don't see where it's been a drag on learning on any of the FS programs.
OK, so let's give Steam a chance and see where it goes. Looks to me it's going in the trash just like a couple other simulators have gone.
Have good flights and remember, any landing you can walk away from, is a good landing!
Thanks,
Jerry G
I have a lot of money tied up in Mega Scenery for FSX, can't afford to move on and leave all that behind...
There are rumors that the simulation will also be available on next-gen consoles, is that a possibility for the near future?
If what this latest from Dovetail games is finally manifested in the products discussed, then I think Dovetail has been listening (even to us old timers that go back to day one) and I look forward to their newest issues.
Doc
Quite a lot of words in this article, the vast majority of it fanciful speculation about a product for which details are still under wraps.
When I hear directly from DTG that FSX add-on products will function in this new sim, I'll be intrigued. When I see it with my own eyes, I'll be convinced.
I look forward to what you are bringing. I am a CFI ASMEL and have taught for 53 years.
Have it Mac compatible!
I have always enjoyed MSFS, except for the latest. MS Flight X-Plane sucks Mac compatible and not through Parallels.
See where it goes.
You should release this on the 10th anniversary of the release of FSX, we can finally relief FSX of its duties. I remember the first-day FSX was released, I bought it at Walmart.
NO OTHER SIMULATOR ON THE MARKET IS AS GOOD AS FSX!
FSX Steam is an excellent product, but it is old and I do look forward to a new version. However, it must be comparable with the current. My wish list would be a 64-bit system, improved instrument panel gauges that are crisp in detail, better navigation map, and flight planning and most importantly a system that is better engineered to consistently provide a minimum of 25 FPS rate.
In your flight training, you cannot emphasize enough on "throttle for altitude, pitch for speed".
When I was learning to fly (real airplanes), that was never emphasized enough but is very important!
If you are low and slow on your approach, the throttle is the only thing that will save you!
Okay... Props for Flight School but my concern from the way this article was written is that the next FS will be significantly DUMBED DOWN for the sake of newbies.
What about those of us with over 20 years of experience and loyalty to a product? What made MSFS successful at its peak was that it provided an ever-widening platform with every release that individual everyday developers could build upon.
If Dovetail does not release an SDK with this next incarnation of FS so Avsim and Flightsim dot com can buzz again, then I'm afraid it will be doomed.
Real flight, Piper Cherokee:
The only time I scared myself during a flight was when I was flying solo. I was coming in on a normal approach when the wind shifted to a tailwind, putting me into a stall condition. Due to my training, I responded correctly about 40 ft above the ground by lowering the nose to get my airspeed back. I should have also added throttle and called a go around, but instead, I landed the plane VERY firmly after a second flare.
I called the tower and said I would like to make this a full stop landing instead of a touch and go, as previously requested.
Sou usuário do FSX, espero grande melhorias para o FSX Mariney Silva (Brazil)
Desejp um FSX super real e super moderno.
Mariney Silva (Brazil)
I am excited to see the final release of this flight sim. However, I have the same concerns that others have and that is it will possibly be "dumbed down."
I firmly believe it is possible to realize a sim that has the capability to welcome the new person but still have the hardcore realism the experienced simmers crave and the newbies (like myself) aspire to master.
I hope it's compatible with Vatsim and Acars most VAS use. The updated flight map would be nice too.
Great news!
Requirements for good flight: Exact throttle control, braking, exact elevator, ailerons, rudder, autopilot, GPS, radio, your freeware F16 Lockheed Martin CC916 on the tail is very user-friendly and great visibility. All aircraft need this type of GPS, AP, radio or better.
Downloading aircraft should automatically adjust the delay time for the execution of the joystick and actual movement of aircraft for more accurate control of aircraft if possible.
Helicopters need the same type of autopilot as F16. Flyaway Sim F16, F18, 777 are very good downloads.
Thanks,
Ghembree
Good news! Hopefully, what they say becomes reality. My main wish for an updated FSX (Dovetail FS) is a high-quality multiplayer interface and environment to replace the sh*t GameSpy. I know there are servers but a simple to use, worldwide multiplayer feature with dozens of peers and hundreds of AI aircraft and ground crews, etc.
That is what gives the game a high element of realism, along with the great mechanics and realistic effect which hopefully will also be improved. Keeping the game open world is also a must, so I can fly from London to Sydney in real time if I wanted. Finally, I think that it should support high-end graphics cards and multi-core/thread CPUs and monitors for the ultimate sim experience.
I paid £60 for FSX back in 2006 and honestly, if I could see the improvements mentioned then I'd pay even more for the base game.
Please dovetail, don't screw this up.
Fingers crossed :D
Microsoft introduced FSX many years ago and this program developed to the extent that it offered simulation virtually on par with real flying. Over time I have invested in a large number of scenery and aircraft add-ons and when Steam announced that Dovetail offered the Microsoft version of FSX I did not hesitate to move over.
As a pilot, I consider FSX to be the best simulator available and would rather see Dovetail improving FSX further over time. Add-ons are still being developed for FSX and I see it is becoming common for these to be compatible with FSX Steam Edition.
Great news about a new flight simulator would be nice if monitoring of multiplayer participants could be looked into so that those of us who enjoy flying with others don't have to put up with bad language and mics being kept open in order to play music or just stop any genuine coms. I do hope that compatibility with present platforms is addressed. Also what about a CFS4 now that would be something to look forward to All the best Neil
Its already here p3dv3
Brilliant simply put been using sims 20 years finally p3dv3 came out v2 and v3 were ok but p3dv3.1 has is sorted highly recommend it I finally can fly without crashing PC loving it happiest man on the planet
I have experienced several OOM's(out of memory) issues with the current 32bit FlightSim's FSX and P3D that I truely looking forward to the implementation of a 64bit version to avoid such errors. I used to max-out the graphical an pure-FS options for the max of 'as real as it gets' feeling(read it as many HighRes Add On's in use). In my opinion only to solve when the 3-4Gb barrier can be passed and that is only pssible via a 64bit version of FS unless a firm garantee that 'FlightSchool' together with compatible Add On's never lead to OOM's, thank you.
My money is on that its the old Microsoft flight that Microsoft tried but failed with. Hope not but if it is I hope that they have totally redone it in 64bit and made it into a proper Sim and added better realistic scenery and not the old laid down scenery and then put down roads that cut through buildings "not very realistic". On the subject of old DLC working I would be willing to start all over again even though I have loads of addons if its new and better and don't need addons to improve it out of the box that's great
Some people have been suggesting that this may be on consoles, but I object.
The simulator wouldn't sell well on a console, because a console is more for actual games, for quick-to-learn normal games. Plus, all the customization that made FSX so awesome would be GONE on a console.
:P
Than you dovetail games, we have been waiting for this a long long time. As fsx is an aging sim hence with a lot of issues due to this. We need a modern version of fsx 64 bit engine that can cope with ultra realism and high graphics setting without sacrifice and worries. FSX is a great platform to build on and if we can utilize all add on it would be great. Another great idea would be to have AI aircraft in the countries livery at the airport of arrival, in other words if you were flying into Istanbul LTBA you would find Turkish airlines parked at the gates or taxing for take off ect. CLS and PMDG is a must as they make some great aircraft. Cant wait to purchase this sim and build on it.
My one request it that you make a boxed version. I do not like downloading games. When I spend my money I want something tangible in my hand.
Dear Santa, Please may it be 64 bit, please may I never have to tweak another config file in my life, please make it utilise my graphics card and not require me to have a 1000 core nasa CPU to get more than 30 FPS at a busy airport , oh, and please include lots of basic stuff in the price like decent graphically designed aircraft, nav data and scenery so I don't have to spend £100's just to stop it looking like its from a 1980's arcade game. Thank you, ,, oh, and please don't use the chimney it's fake. Big kiss x
I won't get too excited about this news (even though it's kinda hard not to) but I hope it is a 64bit version. Go FS!
Yes, fully agree with Badwolfx. The only thing must be done is a code optimization to fully utilize newest graphic cards, multi-core processors, 64bit architecture etc.. If you need some comparision how the simulator should look like and behave, install DCS World! It does not need 10 PCs connected over network, and 10 multicore CPUs in each of them... and still looks and runs great on 3 monitor setup (5760x1080, on GTX 970, 16Gb ram and CPU ICore7 3770S - not overclocked in any way!
thx
Having bought the FSX-Steam Edition and felt totaly let down by its bugs,resulotion problems,snail like tech-support staff who seem to dogde the questions your asking i will sit and wait and see how this goes. This sounds pretty good but being dovetail putting ideas into reality and making them work is another story
Firstly, I hope that you do everything in your power to ensure inter-compatability with FSX. I, like so many other, have so much money and energy invested there, that it would only be motivating for me to get on-board if I can bring my other things with me (like favorite high-quality high-priced aircraft, like from A2A). The weather and environmental high-price add-ons are also quite necessary and need to be here as well. I am looking forward to a product that brings us further forward with features and graphics and particularly using modern engines that compile things in a more useful way for modern computers, giving us a great natural view while still using fewer resources and taking advantage of the speed capabilities of our modern equipment. Of course add-ons like TrackIR need to be there as well, not to mention all of the flight gear like pedals and joysticks, etc. A tall order, I know! Good luck.
OK Im waiting for...somthing new
Yes the new sim seems with good intentions. 1. It should be less sensitive to computer errors, less processor intensive than FSX, easier, less errors. 2. It should be compatible with at least the large add-ons as Switzerland professional and many others, Rex, a.s.o. 3 it should provide also flying school for military fans and have combat qualities in this case.
Hi :) I would love to see airliners with fully functioning FMCs, and planes with G1000s. As for the flight lessons, here is a tricky issue. Many "Ground Schools" out there do a huge amount of testing. "Do this, and now do that", the instructors bark. Instead, a careful, methodical, and patient series of demonstrations of the various procedures would be more appropriate ( and more useful ) ... ....those are my thoughts :) Paul
VR support and a decent flight recorder with features like FS Recorder.
I hope this will be a stand alone software, and not one that requires going through Steam, which has always given me a lot of problems
I hope this will be a stand alone software, and not one that requires going through any of those sites that require installing through them, only being able to use it through their connection and so on.
Hello, Will it be fully compatible with Windows 10 directx 12. FYI FSX Steam edition is not compatible.
It would be great if the new flight Sim 2016 would be more interactive ref the following: 1- Call outs as you prepare to land. 2- I am from Montreal Quebec and would like to see much more detailed scenery offerings for this area.
Please do not make this a steam only simulator. Flight School, fine. I get that, but when the full releases comes later this year don't have it just available on Steam.
I would seriously prefer not to have to use Steam to run the sim. Thanks
I'm actually ok with nothing I purchased in the past being compatible as long as the new stuff out of the box looks and performs better. If I spent $500+ on add-on's over the last few years and received years of enjoyment from them and a new sim comes out that is better looking and performing then I would be ready to take the next step to a more next-gen sim if that's what it is. What I Fear is HUGE costs for add-on's like in TS2016.
Needs multi-core, 64-bit w/larger RAM usage, DX12 / Vulcan, & built in VR support (including hand tracking for the long term, i.e. Oculus touch, etc). I also don't know the state of multiplayer networking, but that should also be updated if necessary.
Please do not make this a steam only simulator. Flight School, fine. I get that, but when the full releases comes later this year don't have it just available on Steam. i have matrox2go, i hope it will work for my 4 screens. AlI
When. A lot of talking and nothing available yet. When is this available and do we need a fancy computer again?
Ive been A Die Hard FSX user and as most have been.. I have been frustrated that with the thousands ive spend on decent Hardware that neither fsx or p3d utilizes the New hardware to its full capacity... Will this actually utilize 64 bit tech... or is it just a polished up turd like p3d basiclly...
I hope it will not be like FSX when it was first released. In 2007 I know of several simmers who spent in excess of $5,000.00 back then to build the fastest PC available at the time and were disappointed. It has been 9 years since FSX release. Only in the past couple of years has the cost of a PC that will run FSX become affordable. By affordable I mean less than $1500.00
I would hate to see a new sim come out that would require a very expensive new PC build.
As a friend once told me..." spending $4000.00 to run a $50.00 sim is foolish".
It is a good idea to launch FSX in 64 Bits with integrated Global FTX that improve performance and resolve compatibility issues. The more compatible with FSX Addons added within a single installer, the more attractive the product. I would also add REX. One good thing that has FSX and P3D is no flight school lessons Rod Machado with PPL and ATPL. Failure, no Castilian version :( and is not a free software, you must purchase through Steam installing the entire platform.
Wow can't believe all the people complaining already...(meh I hope it's compatible with fs9...meh meh meh...) get over it people! If you want every sim that ever comes to market to be compatible with your old outdated addons then that's what your sim will forever look like.....I want new sim platforms to look better, feel better, sound better, not remind me of my old platforms and addons. A lot of you are stuck in the past so that's where you can stay. Quit quibbling about how much of your life and savings you've spent on fs9 or fsx and look forward to better platforms.
As like many other fellow FSX and FSX SE simmers I too have invested heavily in addons and hope that these investments can be utilised in the new Dovetail Flight Simulator. If not then I will not be obtaining a copy as for improvements to MSFSX my setup has never run so smooth and detailed, well done Dovetail for that
@Andrew - maybe compatibility with FS9 i not an issue, as most of the simmers are now on FSX, but compatibility with FSX add-ons is a extreem big selling point. FSX uses old technology och simply can't utilize alle the add-ons mostly because it's 32bit program.
Many has 16 or 32GB RAM on board now an this can't to ged rid of Out Of Memory errors.
I Think personaly that 64bit remake that can utilize actual graphics cards (DX12) and mulit-core processors (in flight simulator there are so many threads - senery, weather engine, airplane with all subsystems - it should be relatively easy to utilize many cores) - that's what we all waiting for. IF we can install all the scenery/ground, airport addons plus have a detailed realistic plane - what more we need?
So - it's not moaning - it's a strong suggestion to producers. It takes more energy and Money to convince new people to try a sim game. If the NewFSX will be FSX compatible in term of addons - then all simmers move to the new game without waiting - that's a huge selling point.
It appears these flight sim products are stillborn. Sad.
What about 64bit Fsx that will still in 32bit???
Hello to you Ian from Ron Kolesar AKA The Blind Pilot. I like all am on the edge of my seat to wait for the new release of Dovetail Games's new version of the flight sim world. I've asked Paul, and I've Asked Stephen if we can do the following. 1. bypass steam and purchase, down load and install on to one's pc and enjoy the game outside of the steam world. Why did I ask for this? Because for we who have to see through our ears, Steam is not blind friendly. We've tried to get a holde of Valve Corporation the owners and the designers of the STEAM gaming world. But they will not return our e-mail letters nor our phone calls. I fly thanks to three programs that work hand in hand together. 1. FSX from October of 2009. 2. FSUIPC 3. The voice input program from Canada called Its Your Plane or IYP for short. Check out their you tube videos out on their web site at www.itsyourplane.com So, here's to the new 64 bit processor version of fsx. That is all that I know that will be in the new version of FSX. Ron kolesar AKA The Blind Pilot. Or thanks to a sighted friend out on Steam BVI_PilotThis is Ron Kolesar the Blind Pilot once again. I'm hoping that we also can gain access to the Dassault Falcon 8x or for short the DF8X. For we rich playboy FSX pilots who own the DF7X want the newer better DF8X. 1. The DF8X flies 500 miles further than the DF7X. 2. The DF8X's fuel is 35 percent more efficient than the older DF7X. So wilco publishing who designed the DF7X, said that they would think about designing the df8x after all of the bugs were worked out of their DF7X. But I can not see what is the differences between the features of the DF7X that wilco publishing wants us to purchase and the free version that is out on www.flyawaysimulation.com Then it is in their down load library. So, here's hoping if enough of us ask wilco publishing, we just might be able to up grade our DF7X's to a new DF8X. Just my two cents on the topic. Many Thanks. Ron Kolesar AKA The Blind Pilot And thanks to a sighted friend for STEAM BVI_Pilot
20 October 2016 is here and nearly gone.. waiting very very patiently and still wondering was this an April fool joke, nothing has been released on the progress and anything to give us encouragement that our simulator systems will be compatible with the new PC version of the 64 bit flight simulator. please consider favorably that some news is released......
So are you guys going to give us updates? Or should I just buy P3D?
when in 2016 is flight sim coming out. 1 month left in 2016 and no word
As a keen (80Yr old) FltSim enthusiast who greatly enjoyed M/soft FltSim 2004 with my disabled Grandson (the disks now refuse to reload) I would like to know approximately when your new (2016) version will be available and will it run efficiently on a modern (Intel i7 processor laptop/1Tb capacity) laptop. Thank you - JJN Oxfordshire UK
Looking forward to see an updated flight simulation product. Hopeful for a seamless set up on windows 10?
I, too am an ancient simmer from the early days. For me, I would not consider a Steam - linked Sim. When I tried one and trouble struck a few years ago they ignored my calls for help. What I would like to see in a new Sim is a user friendly scenery maker. Scenery development is a fascinating and creative aspect of simulation, but the FSX SDK is so counter intuitive and unnecessarily difficult to set up that I have given up trying. My idea of a really good scenery developer is the one in Trainz 12 - where all aspects of scenery making are possible. Utopia perhaps, but we can always dream
Have you noticed its 2017 now? What happened to the promised amazing new FS for 2016?
Is there already a new full fsx because it's 2017...
It is now March 2017 and no updates from Dovetail on their new flight sim for a long time. Plus there is no mention of it on their web site. I think it has been cancelled. It is vapor ware folks.
I have always been passionate about FLIGHT! I have been a STRONG fan of Microsoft Flight Simulator from its inception and earlier versions ALL THE WAY to FSX. I CAN'T WAIT for the release of FSW. I'M SO EXCITED!!!
Sounds good. Let´s wait and see. So far I stick to my FSX
ok referent to that x plane has otained the license of microsoft FSX - I'll be waiting for your news about it thanks aldana
Looking forward to it,do we get a discount seeing they robbed The last one from me. Gov a lot to love up to!
as a 2000 hour pilot no longer able to fly for medical reasons. I fly fsx steam edition almost daily, and look forward to the release of flight sim world. I will be an early adopter. Though living in california now, I flew many hours from Manston, so know your area very well.
regards
Sorry !! Je ne comprends pas suffisamment l'Anglais (écrit et parlé) pour apprécier votre e-mail et donner un avis. Je ne suis pas certain d’avoir bien compris de quoi il s'agit.
A B
I think all of you will Revolutionize Flight Simulation to the Next Level if its done Right. Many thanks and just couldn't wait for something New. Best Wishes.
Finally. It's been long over due. I am from the very first generation of FS users and went through all the updates up and until FXS. Welcome Dovetail and Tks. Now all I need to know are the hardware requirements for the FS Dovetail version so I can shop for a new computer. Tks in advance.
Will there be older airplanes like beechcrft skipper.
What I want to know is if these "new" simulators will work with the PC completely off line or they want to go "register" with the vendor - to prevent piracy. The reason why I ask is because I bought FSX from Steam and, when the phone company changed something, Steam would no longer recognize my FS. When I contacted them they, in not so many words, told me to go fly a kite. I will not buy anything that only works on line, no matter how pretty.
I asked and they advised it is only for general aviation aircraft i fly the buss for my virtual airline a320 a319. They will be working on it. I plan to get it anyway. Sounds exciting and 64 bit
Looks awesome! Looks like I may have to make another PC upgrade though! May stick to FSX for a little longer.
Like so many other comments above, I too look forward with great anticipation for this new title....:)
Welcome. Hope that addons inclusive scenery of fsx can be transferred. Welcome are also military planes with missions as DCS and also dvd version as not everyone has top internet speeds to download steam.It looks promising.
Having been a long term FSX user I am looking forward to FSW
just what i`ve been waiting for!
Not wanting to rain on the parade but heard the same thing from MS about their "Flight" release which got so much ridicule people made "Hitler" you tube video's about it. Their display at CES in Las Vegas got them almost laughed out of the convention center.
One thing hardcore flight simulator enthusiasts will not tolerate is a "video game" platform.
Anything "new" must have at the minimum: ability to support multiple monitor set ups and scenery with actual landmarks a pilot can navigate with. I remember my first X-Plane 9 experience... yikes! Las Vegas looked like Pittsburgh with factories everywhere and green as can be..... nothing even closely resembling the real world area.
While "flight dynamics" has always been a hot topic, I have found with a little patience and tweaking, almost any FSX model can be made to fly pretty realistically. I think it is more important that all the knobs, buttons, dials and "gizmo's" work in the simulator as they would in the real plane. Simulator training is more about getting comfortable with a new aircraft type layout than it is "feel" as a static simulator will never feel like the real plane.
Other than all that negativity, I'd love to see something new bring new sim pilots into a world I have enjoyed for a long long time.
I just hope they take their time to make a "stable initial release" so they don't turn customers off with a product so far from completion the average sim pilot cannot see the value in the new system.
Screw Steam. I've had more problems with them than anything. I (like an idiot) bought and downloaded the Steam Edition of FSX. It was no different except for the endless add-ons for $25-$50 a piece and when they didn't work and started crashing my Sim.....Steam offered no support. When I canceled payment on a Piper Archer add-on that never worked from day one, they locked up my entire Steam account even though I'd probably bought over $200.00 in other things. It's a gimmick that offers NO customer service whatsoever.
Buy the program direct.
Will really appreciate updates to the FSX and Vpilot. It sometimes makes my system crash/hang and trust me, I use the top range "Alienware" computer.
Hi ALL! Have waited for this for some time. I have a good system(AMD FX8350 @ 4.6, Radeon R9 280X, DDR3 Mem high Res Monitor(1080) with all the best tested tweaks & even with this,I only get good performance. With other games I get high frame rates,this should do well. :-))
Sicuramente il fattore 64 bit mi sembra molto valido per la simulazione, ma mi chiedo, tutti gli scenari che noi sviluppatori abbiamo creato per FSX saranno compatibili per X Plane 11?, la Lockheed Martin con il suo P3D versione 3 e 4 lo ha reso possibile, attendiamo anche l'uscita di P3D a 64 bit. Buon volo a tutti
Have been caught out with Steam before. Download is not up to it and would have to be a stand alone CD or its no go for me....specially as FSX is really zinging along fantastically at present, thanks to many hours of tweaking.
It´s nice to hear, there´s is the second line of flight sims (Microsoft-Line vs. Xplane-Line) back in compatition. I ask myself, if the ton´s of payware aircraft will also run in the new FSW or if there will be at least a conversion tool. Nevertheless - its fine to have companies dealing with aviation simulations. I will go on supporting those developers in buying FSW as soon as its available on the market (e.g. steam). I´m tensed what airplanes will come with the basepack. I have seen a Seneca V and a Piper Malibu I guess...
I would like more details on this simulator
i am a pilot and have used Microsoft's FSim plus Accelerator as well as all previous versions since inception. When Microsoft ceased supporting the program I switched to MS Flight Simulator Steam. TheSteam program is obviously a copy of the original Microsoft version except for the following: In selecting long flights and flying normal speed, operation of the program is normal but as soon as higher speeds are selected , the screen goes into a wobble when selecting outside view . I never experienced this problem in the DVD version of Fsim and hope this problem has been removed in FSW version. Because I feel comfortable with FS Steam I prefer it to XPlane 10. Don't know what XPlane 11 is like though, have not tried it yet.
When will FSW become available for test download, how will this affect my existing FS Steam program and will you notify us when download is available ?
Will any of my Go-Flight and Saitek panels and instruments work with this new Flight Sim World?
As an avid user of FSX and over 20k hours on sims as well as over 2k hours as an instructor, I used fsx heavily to refine my ifr procedures and so did my students. Now with FSW, I am hoping that we can now play at max resolution and that pur hardware today can make game play smoothe as silk. If they are successful people will now be able to create 3d environments with low budget projectors ;)
I truly have no respect for Dove tail. They made a dreadful excuse at prior flight sim, sold it on Steam, and left people shafted quite literally. The name of that awful sim was Flight school. It clearly wasn't based on any form of real flying..it stunk! They knew full well they would never do anything more with it, but they still shoved it out there for unwitting consumers to buy.
Their track record of previous sims is also awful. I am no fans of trains, and its that they should stick with because it's only that they have a real clue about. They are out of their depth when it comes to flying.
People are going to be sorely dissappointed in this dreadful company's offering. While FSX might no longer be the best, it's something Dovetail will get nowhere near on quality. They don't comprehend bugger all when it comes to flying, they demonstrated as such in their last terrible flying schoolr release!
Added to all of this, every single dlc for FSX has never received a single update, now this might not be dovetail's fault...but its going to be the exact same format they plan to take.. so they rake in the money grab on fsx, and then do it again by trying to clone fsx...no thanks. I would rather stay with FSX because it will still be more than any developer who has no clue about flying sims will ever have.
I want the flight sim software to reside on my computer. I am willing to pay for the package. I do not want internet dependence to run the program.
I'll give it some time to hear some comments. Now that I have added scenery and favorite planes to my FSX/S the only complaint I have is that some planes, the panel is so dark I cannot read them. I fly from the cockpit, and enjoy the scenery from "outside view" during instant "replay" I have been flying Microsoft since FS 95. My health and age prevent me from "real" flying any more. This is my real joy in life...
Yes, after so many years we now eventually have a passionate group of people who is going to provide us with hopefully the ultimate in Flight Simulation, well done FSW team, well done.
Noticed GA aircraft. Anything in there for passenger jetliners?
Finally, glad I waited to build my next flight sim computer.
Can you guys please please please include the Lockheed Constellation with all of the working features like the freeware plan. You can control fuel valves, tanks, prop pitch, rpm, different supercharger modes, and so much more. The free one was amazing. The paid one just looked better but you could not control all the things like the free one. This is by far the most fun prop plane to fly. I fly the wing tank tip version. I would gladly pay 100 for this add-on at the stores if you can make it functionally detailed like the free one.
really excited cannot wait
I don't get all the worry about the Steam version being on the local system. I just bought FSX Steam and, I guarantee it's locally installed. I can fire it up with no internet service and it runs just fine.
Good news, will it run on a average PC windows 10?
I urge you to not hold your breath on this release. Dovetail games are the same developers that created Train-Sim World, which pardon the pun is an absolute train-wreck of game. Poorly optimized, lacking in detail and content. If Dovetail purchased the MFS license, that in my opinion i can guarantee the pioneering franchise of Microsoft Flight Simulator is as good as dead. My advice to anyone looking for a new FS, try XPLANE 11, i don't mean to sound like a promoter, but ever since i got, i cannot stop playing. It has brought new life into flight simulation an absolute marvel, trust me you would not be disappointed, i uninstalled my FSX several days after and haven't looked back since.
Does anyone know of the system hardware minimum and recommended requirements for this new product?
This review is complete bull and is biased. It sucks. It's a complete pos. The scenery is still old af (Like 1995/6 scenery for things that aren't airports.) airports are off (at least GA, USA) ummm...flight dynamics and model of aircraft are great. But when you get 5fps on low? Yeah no fam.
Thanks for this update, Ian - FSW isn't as 'closed' as it first seemed!
Ian - many thanks for the info. Can you eleborate on the forums about where to find the info to put in the config file for adding a specific piece of scenery. IE Area, Title, Local, Layer numbers? OR better yet could someone come up with a mini installer that would locate this data and enter it into the config automatically ( dream big ) Thanks again for keeping our interest up.
What about FSUIPC. I have desktop aviation panels that will not work with FSW. Do you have any ideas.
Clearly we will have a lot of freeware addons and tools. Even the FSX Scenery Config Editor is working, so you do not have to edit the scenery.cfg manually (https://sourceforge.net/projects/fs-sceditor/).
I would like to have more information and how do I purchase this system
BTW, do not forget that FSW is a beta version. I'm pretty sure that Dovetail's dev team would want to carry as much as possible of FSX addons to get as much as possible FSX users, but on other side, later update may break more compatibilities because of improved technologies.
AMHO, the most important point is to wait until a first stable release.
After some of the main reviews of this flight sim and given their own track record of failures, I would like to seriously caution anyone even thinking of buying this sim to hold off until it's in it's first full year.
There are also many reasons this sim as gone backwards insteads of forwards, which is far from what I used to expect from Microsoft sims.
The most hilarious thing about this sim, is that of the graphics card , requiring minimum a GTX 970. This might not seem much, but let's be completely honest here...there is hardly any difference between the 970 and the 1070 except a few bits and pieces that dont make much of a difference.
So those on slightly older cards such as say the GTX 950 will struggle to work...all on the back of the butchered FSX framework.
It is not a surprise most of these aircraft don't work, as is always been the case with dovetail, its about the profit not the quality, and as if with other products they threw into early access , this wont see the light of day, eventually and soon, i am excepting them to dry up on updates and that will be that. They also demonstrate they don't have the first clue about flying..one only had to look towards the other disaster flight school.
Personally I will stick with FSX and P3D 3.4 until a newer version comes out. All I want is stability, with ability to add in mods free / payware such as ground textures....what dovetail are doing here, is try a very big money grab...they should never in a million years ever been allowed on the steam service!
Buyers beware, because of the track record of this company, in general they are extremely poor. while it may be 25 euros...it is an extremely backward looking flight sim compared to fsx, there are just so many negatives to take from early access... P3D, FSX and X-Plane 10 / 11 are ALL far superior. FSX still going strong and still pushing hardware after 10 years!
Co'mon guys! At least give me some credit being the one that actually discovered this! http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=929181307 http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=929612810
Drawyah on the Steam forum deserves most of the credit for this!
That IFLY FREEWARE 747 doesn't even work in FSX in DX10 with Steve's fixer..lol...so it was never hopeful for FSW
C'mon Drawyah!
If you're gonna get all broody and make it about "credit", then you should give credit to Reddit User /u/HughesMDflyer4 for being the one that actually discovered this - He posted the solution in 4 hours and 14 minutes (and includes details you don't), and you posted the your "discovery" TWO FULL DAYS after launch.
(Meanwhile, I'd been flying the FSX Extra 300 and FA-18 in Multiplayer in FSW with a Steam Friend for 2 days when you posted up. Yes, if you both have the plane, you can see each other in it in Multiplayer)
https://www.reddit.com/r/flightsim/comments/6bx4jt/flight_sim_world_now_available_on_steam/dhqk3p5/
Posted to Reddit: Thursday, May 18 2017 13:18:47 PDT Posted to Steam: Saturday, May 20 2017 02:55:00 PDT
Anyway, Hughes MDflyer also discovered that you can add this to the bottom of the aircraft.cfg, and the data shows up in FSW's menus.
[Other Reference] range = PLACEHOLDER rate_of_climb = PLACEHOLDER takeoff_distance = PLACEHOLDER landing_distance = PLACEHOLDER ceiling = PLACEHOLDER fuel_capacity = PLACEHOLDER short_desc = "PLACEHOLDER"
[UI Strings] engine_desc = "PLACEHOLDER" prop_desc = "PLACEHOLDER" crew_pass = "PLACEHOLDER"
You can add real data, or leave it the placeholder. You also only need these 4 image listings:
ui_thumbnailfile="texture.1thumbnail.png" // you can often convert thumbnail.jpg to thumbnail.png with MS Paint. ui_hangarfile="texture.1hangar.png" //1920x1080 image. I get them from Google Image Search. ui_selectionfile="texture.1selection.png" //also a 1920x1080 image. Ditto on GISing these. ui_tilefile="texture.1hangar.png"
...and don't need...
ui_info=333705325
It's hardly a fine bargain. Flight school is about as unrealistic as it gets to flying and in fact is nothing more than vapor ware. I have no idea what on earth they where thinking with this title, but it was a critical disaster, and as in dovetail specialities...it was a dead duck in an egg on arrival, like many of their failed promises.
The one thing people are not impressed with , is the quality of FSW, i don't know where editors are picking up on that its been picked up by the majority of users as positive. That simply isn't the truth, and how many of those editors in steam are not really from Dovetail? They've done this sort of thing before and they keep on doing it to big up their flop of a game.
While FSX as plenty of bugs...which could be fixed and which Microsoft wouldn't allow Dovetail to man handle for clearly obvious reasons...its the one simulator Microsoft should open up to open source development which then means all the bugs , issues and everything else can be fixed, and the latest dx 12 thrown in for good measure. The sad thing is, until companies who are solely in it for the money, and nothing else, will continue to dupe the paying public in rubbish they release.
Having tried this sim, it is in no way better than fsx and I am sorry I am with a lot of people here who truly hate their interface....trying to redesign something that didn't need to be changed...just to make it look like they where busy doing something to catch the naive out.
I think there is more than enough top quality flight sims out there right now including FSX, and at best *even^ if they get beyond early access *very unlikely given this dreadful company's record* basically they are nothing more than parasites...sucking money out of people and running to the next and so on. It also explains why the fsx steam addons are never updated...and lay their smoldering and in many cases simply never working...never receiving updates..but what do dovetail give a damn about, they are raking a tiny fortune in, from broken fsx: se dlc aircraft etc.
just beware this is entirely just another money grab by the same people. avoid it like the plague, unless you like burning your money on dead on arrival early access rubbish from this company
as I said in the beginning..hardly a great offer...when its nothing more than end of line vapor ware...that was discontinued in early access..how the heck companies like this are allowed to do such things..well, its clear steam are just as unscrupulous too by allowing companies like this to sell anything , let alone letting them develop on their platform, its dispicable.
Not going to lie, I've not seen that guy's post until now. The videos themselves I released within a day of the simulator releasing, the steam guides themselves took the extra day to compile and publish! The placeholder stuff I did kind of know at the time but didn't know too much about so I left it as it was. I'll definitely give Hughes' Reddit post a read!
Am guessing, but I think they will make it that you buy different aircraft and scenery so they can keep the money rolling. Just like other games.
Very interested in FSW but not ready to give up my FSX just yet, as I would want the big “Boys” that I currently fly, as well as ground services, etc. Would speech recognition be also considered as an interaction with ATC?
I used to be on the Folland Aircraft Ejector seat design and draughting team. I am now 8 1years old and I have been waiting all these years for a Flight Sim of the Folland Gnat and usable ejector seats. How's about it, as your team seam capable of anything??
I've been detered from FSW for the past year after reading various responses & reviews, But last week I decided to bite the bullet & purchase it.
Well what a disappointment albeit on offer I would have been better off buying an uninflated spare tyre for my vehicle, It would of at least had some purpose I could put air in it.
Unfortunately in my opinion no matter what you put into FSW it will always be deflated.
Regards
Bal
Comparing to competitors FSW must score some points higher if their developers are serious in the comparision to other products like the very promising Aerofly FS2.
Not to be cruel but not at all pleased with FSW, I will say it has wonderful graphics and I like the real time weather feature. What is really bad is that you can't download any freeware like you can in Steam. If I am wrong about any on my negative points about this please someone correct me. Save your money!!! Roy
If FSX third party add-ons could be used, I would buy it today. I have several hundreds of dollars invested in scenery and aircraft such as PMDG, FlyTampa, FSDREAMTEAM and other quality third party items. While competition is healthy between X-Plane 11, P3Dv4, FSX and FSW...they all have unique characteristics that would be amazing if combined. A universal simulator would be heaven on earth.
Dovetail need to get a fully-featured Software Developer Kit out so that the third-party developers can get their teeth into the sim. I get the feeling that they want to be like Apple, in complete control of what can be installed and used in their software, but that attitude will stifle development. With XP11 and P3Dv4 encouraging and welcoming 3P developers. FSW is in danger of being a backwater, interesting but going nowhere.
This sim has the potential to take over from where FSX left off. I hope Dovetail don't squander that opportunity.
Thanks for an excellent, and positive review of FSW, Ian. I agree that as a 64-bit FSX based sim, FSW will be able to compete in time with XP-11 and AeroFly. However, FSW has a long way to go. As a starting point for new flight simmers, FSW is attractive in that it has limited scope at the moment. This 'limitation' is fine for new entrants learning about flight and simulation. Also, as an exciting and challenging beta, FSW is just right for more experienced simmers (like me) wishing to get involved with the details of a new flight sim. But, here's the rub: while the new aircraft look brilliantly detailed, there's little option for modding and add-on aircraft so beloved of our hobby. The graphics may have improved immensely, but flight dynamics are unchanged from FSX. Although a good proportion of simmers enjoy GA, there's nothing at the moment for commercial or miltary jets, nor vintage multi props, helicopters and float planes (apart from the Cub). Whilst 64-bit land class textures are an improvement, there's a washed out feel to scenery, especially with 'advanced weather' (which suffers from a draw-call issue that has neither been recognised nor resolved). Lastly, many FSW users have had to disable Accu-Feel because of its adverse effects on flight dynamics. But let's not be disheartened! FSW is a step in the right direction and with careful management, Dovetail will succeed with their business model eventually and benefit us all.
Back in 1978 I was at the movies. I watched "Grease" and here was a song where they lyrics went "Rock´n´Roll is here to stay. It will never die" Remember that??
Well sadly, in my opinion, this not the case with Flight Simulator World. I am as impressed with FSW that I was with the above review. So many words, saying so little.
Yes the lack of aircraft is appalling. Yes the lack of flight sim companies doing stuff for FSW must be worrying for Dovetail Games.
But one problem that the reviewer above completely failed to address - is the rip-off of even the most basic features in FSW, compared to FSX. People who likes FSW loves to say that compared to FSX it is fantastic. Look at the beautiful raindrops on the windshield. (!) and 64 bit graphics. WOW. and it´s true, but come on. Look at what we have here. A skeleton of a flightsim. SO many of the standard features for a modern flightsimulator - or even ancient simulators too, have been pulled in FSW, leaving 7 beautiful aircraft and very very little else into a world in 64 bit, but still with basic FSX ground textures, that looks exactly like FSX did on release October 13. 2006 - and that is a LONG time ago.
I simply fail to see FSW ever getting to be a serious competitor to modern flight simulators like Aerofly, P3D and X-Plane.
Would be great if I could just get the radios and nav systems to work.And you need to bring down the price of add-ons far to high.
Well, judging by this review, FSW may have some good features -- however, the fact that it only has 7 different aircraft is UNACCEPTABLE (twice that many is the MINIMUM for any quality flight simulator), and I will therefore save my money unless and until they offer at least 16 included in the basic package (not counting any third-party add-ons)!
Great Program but only light aircraft at the moment, Graphics are good. Awaiting the next level and hopefully will get some commercial aircraft.
I purchased FSW on early reals along with a friend in Canada who is a retired f18 pilot and helicopter instructor we both feel that FSW has a great future we are particular impressed with the multiplayer option which with its simple to use format puts all other sims on the market to shame the senary is getting better not up to xplane10 standards yet I fly FSX FSW and xplane 11 I have been flying MS flight sim in all its versions for 20 years being a 32 bit application means that however powerfull your system the 32 bit program will not axcess more than 4 gig of ram and will only use one core of your processor FSW is the way forward you need to work on the third parties and include rail traffic and power lines.
Ps the multiplayer beta is great
Paul 71 years of age and still enjoying flight sims
Dovetail keep pushing the boundis
kind regards to the tea
Without the same weather for all users at an airport there will be random aircraft at various runways. Without ATC of some sort there can be no 'controlled' airspace so random approach taxiing etc, no route to stand etc and general taxiway use.
Really impressed with this site and plan to explore over the weekend.
The only question is support for Prepar 3D. I don't see anything offered
Regards, Mike
I am in a bit of a pickle. I have been a Microsoft Flight simmer since 1995, along time.I purchased 95', 98, 200', 2002, 2004, and FSX Acceleration. Admittedly, I was not heavily involved through all of those years. Due to a back injury, 19 surgeries in a six year period I was on and off with it. I am now back with a lot of interests and see a lot has changed in new Flight Sims.
My pickle is; I have a lot of time and $ in both FS9 and FSX, you know the flight sim world is in a never ending build and modify. So what does one do moving forward? And, what does one do with what has been built over the years? My specific dilemma is which direction to take, P3d, XPlane 11, Ifly or one of the other sims. I was hoping to get a few suggestions from those who are more knowledgeable than I with the new technologies. What are your thoughts? Please...
Sincerely,
Clay M. Collins
claycollins1@gmail.com
"the graphics are on par with x plane 11" who are you trying to kid or what set of rose coloured glasses do you use? this is years away from X-Plane or P3Dv4 secondly you made the mistake of calling it a simulation , it is far from being a simulation even Dovetail still insist in calling it a game. I welcome any new sim on the block but judging by the amount of time it has taken to get to this stage I will be dead and buried long before this game can be considered competition for the likes of Laminar or Lockheed Martin A brave try but no cigar
very disappointed. it seems as steam has to much control. I started with the wrong airport and cannot get out of it..the flight plane has taken over.....stay with FSX it might be old still work OK
Sad another flight simulator software supplyer died. We believe this is the result of user behaviour we can find since 20 years: - users are not willing to pay the work which has been done - any scenery price is too high - users are demanding detail levels which has nothing to do with flying (moving gras ...) - airports are so detailed that flying with frame rates above 25 is almost not possible anymore - users are very negative (see forums: almost only negative threads, almost no positive suggestions) These points drives developping costs up and at the end commercially no success.
I do not know the details behind this case, so above is just my assumption.
Sorry to see you go will miss all your time and efforts. Maybe you might be the Phoenix of the future. Watch this space.
During the implementation of TRUESKY, the software refused to work, I contacted DTG several times, but the answers were crazy... I bought an MSI GS73VR 7RG, and the answer was that the video card was not compatible, it is still an NVIDIA GTX1070 (with Q-Max)
Hello. is a very unpleasant news the expected FSW closed in advance had a lot of time to wait for it is unfortunate decession is probably a sabotage of other companies ????
It's really too bad. FSW looked so promising. Maybe I'll wake up in the morning and the abandonment of what might have become my "go to" sim will have just been a bad dream. Alas, I know better, and the disappointment is quite real. For Dovetail to completely mothball the project seems extreme to me. I can't (or don't want to) understand the decision to completely kill it. It now joins Microsoft Flight as one of those "what could have been" sims, leaving the door open for the next stab at a new state of the art flight sim by any company brave enough to go down that rough road, and one willing to keep an eye on the light at the end of the tunnel, rather than the undeserved "mostly negative" comments at Steam.
I am one of the first to buy an early entry to FSW and very desapointed of seing it close. However I was not surprised, as they have a big number of games to develop and being in competition with Lookheed Martin on a software based on FSX, they have been very late going into the 64 bits flight simulation. The only blame if any is that they knew the amount of work needed and that they put the game at an early developpement for sale ....maybe they needed the money and doing so they have been able to appreciate the size of the market ..if that's the case, I think to be honest they should pay back the money they take. One thing I have not appreciated the way they collected informations from my computer and letting me know after the facts, I would have appreciated if they have asked permission to do it before.
FSW was a was of programmer time and energy from the start. In todays world people want an online interactive experience. DT should have known better after the fail of MSFlight
It's too bad. Just at a time when, via the web, it was said that FSX was dead, and that it was going to be replaced by the FSW ... The turns that the World gives!
Seemed like a lack of understanding what Flight Simmers wanted and an arrogance that they know best. Sorry Dovetail but we like to be involved and listened to, we like to "fiddle and twiddle" . Me, I have 40 hrs. on FSW and 600 on FSX been on Flight Sims for 2 years. I think that tells the story. Sorry a 64 bit failed, could, handled properly, have been the future, Hope the development guys all get decent jobs with better leadership
Wow....all I can say...
I blame Microsoft for letting Flight Simulator die. With their resources, they could have pushed the envelop on flight sim into the next century. But they made meager improvements over the years and just dropped it. Now we only have some part time companies making scenery and new planes that take years to come out.
I feel cheated I bought it and there is no expansion or anything new on the 64-bit version hangs nothing with which I replace the sim
Not good to hear. Bad news
So sorry to see this occur although I am not an owner of the sim. Frankly, I read about too many performance (hardware) issues from casual users and it scared me off....at least for the time being. I guess I waited too long. A valiant attempt so I salute DTG for their trailblazing efforts. Perhaps someone will resurrect it eventually. In the meantime, I keep bolting on more and more stuff to FSX.
I believe one of the main reasons for the downfall of FSW was the fact that there was no decent ATC. and colours were far too pastel. As far as I am concerned good ATC is vital for any flight sim if it is to replace FSX which is still the best, other than it is not 64bit. Dovetail were ploughing ahead with 'adventures', virtual reality etc. without first having replicated all the good things of the old Microsoft system. The same goes for X-Plane 11. Wonderful scenery at height, but no decent ATC to speak of. All that hipe about 'the flight sim you have been waiting for' turned out to be a false claim. I bought both sims and they can't even replicate FSX ATC. What a disappointment. You cannot fly realistic VFR and just call up an airfield on a whim. what I cannot understand is how it was that Microsoft programmed relatively realistic ATC into FSX, but now in 2018 FSW and X-Plane 11 employ Darleks with speech impediments in their air traffic control centres. I have long had the opinion that the sim media world have been too forgiving of some fundamental shortcomings, as even now with FSW having run out of fuel, X-Plane 11 will probably still fob us off concerning a better ATC around the corner.
Well, Yes I would say that it is a travesty,BUT let us not forget that Dovetail is making a fine living in these deals with their other product lines and all of the new programs. Dovetail games is in the press all of the time making bounds of new and enhanced technologies, and its program additions to the FSX FSXA . Let me put it this way, If anyone ever took the time to ask all of US that have been out here cranking out top of the line freeware and expansion/add ons their would of been no reason to close GAMESPY because MIcrosoft couldve had the market then, But no, most of us are stuck with an internet mode that remains on our program like a freakin tombstone. I want you to check back into those write ins and youll see it was predicted that GAMESPY was an issue from the goat. Then of course Lockheed Martin stepping up to the plate. No one wouldve ever been interested in the FSXA system if there werent so much work done to it because we know that ACES did a poop squat job. So, for this site which has done so much for the simmers and a few others Id like to personally thank ,and Im sad to see another company step away ,but im not shedding tears because as i write this they are still making good money. Have a safe flight.Semper Fidelis
In the beginning the majority of the Flight Sim community were behind DTG. They gave feedback and suggestions of what they would like to see. GA aircraft were fine but we wanted jets and heavy metal only to fall on deaf ears.
I have read that third party developers had approached DTG asking for a SDK with little success, anyway DTG wanted such a large cut of the third part developers sale price that it would make it unprofitable for the developers to develop anything..
It seems that DTG management's shortsightedness and arrogance has led third party developers to turn their backs on FSW and users not to invest.
A case of shooting the golden goose.
It'a shame, after have tested the sim was clear that they don't have mind what fsx was and it's again, a great community of simmer that know well what is it. They have careless what the simmer wants' scenery reliable, aircraft and tools to upgrade. They have fail interely the target, stay in touch with the main stream of fsw . the simmers and theyr asks. An FSW disappointed owner
I really don't know much about the business end of building a Flight Simulator but I do know that killing FSW completely was a huge blunder. I still feel that the project could have been turned over to different developers that have the experience that it takes to succeed. Building a sim can't be easy but not being prepared for the long haul is bad business.
Why do they feel that they must scrap the entire project? They had an alternative to FSX and hold the licence and the codes from that cash cow (FSX). As I said, I can not comment on what it takes to build a simulator but I was in the business world for over 40 years and I knew how to build trust with my customers, something DTG has yet to learn
I feel if they bite off more than the could chew, they could have sourced out the project to other companies, like the real aircraft companies. I would rather take a smaller profit and learn a lesson then destroy future trust from my customer base. DTG, you just threw out the baby with the bathwater and it will take a long time for you to win back the trust of you customer base and the integrity of your company....sad
I purchased FSW in the beginning, like most others. It soon became clear to me that something had to give as there were just too many coming onto the market at that same time.
I decided not to carry on with FSW as I couldn't afford, as a pensioner, to cover them all.
I went with the flagship FSX (FTX), the scenery was carried by the brilliant Orbx company which to me anyway is run superbly by John Venema and other high performance, knowledgeable and outstanding leaders who knew how a company should be run, These quiet achievers were also brilliant in another field too, developer. So the standard of work was never less than awe-inspiring.
Only the best of the best scenery make it through to a fickle buying public. POI have to be in the exact position etc, then Mr Venema is backed by two of the best advisors anywhere, namely Nick Cooper and Doug Sawatzky. These two are so very important to a companies success, they answer questions so quickly and exactly, Every Sim must have follow-up like this as newbies can be lost in a moment with slow backup. When they are otherwise unavailable, which is rare, the quality doesn't stop there as there are other members who step in. Bottled all this together they made a team that was unbeatable, again headed by the CEO John Venema.
How could the new kid on the block make any headway against that? FTX had a huge and loyal customer base. Now Lockheed-Martin's launched P3D which many turned too immediately, something new, something flight simmers the world over have been looking for. Reality. X-Plane 11 yet another.
Now awaiting quietly in it's hanger,IPAC's ready to explode onto the scene. It almost did with the launch of LOWI, it's now going through a building stage with new quite amazing inventions like 'hands' which at this moment is being titivated for perfection. New scenery is about to be added at anytime.
There is no-way FSW could hold up against this. A large number could see this, so, unfortunately, FSW thought it better to pull the plug now.
I too hope that their developers can find employment very quickly. Good luck from us, the mayor flyers.
They could have avoided this fiasco if they only included more planes, kept more of the good features from FSX, and let third-party developers in on the show!
I've not been told what is going to happen with my subscription. I would expect this to be cancelled and to be informed as such.
Can someone/anyone advise me what the situation is or if there is any proactive action I will have to take?
I have heard of problems in cancelling the subscription.
Thanks.
I just got my new fsx with acceleration. What do I do for support? Please don't close.
I've been a flight Sim enthusiast since Jumbo Jet Pilot on the Atari 800. I was locked into Msfs when I started flight school in 1992. Back then, I also enjoyed ATP by subLOGIC as it seemed to have great glide characteristics. Well, I thought it did because I couldn't seem to slow the thing down. I made my decision to buy my first mass produced PC AT clone because MS wasn't going to carry on Flight Simulator on the Mac. I really wanted a Mac too because I'd started on the Atari ST back in the day. That's right! The reason I don't do the fruit today is due to the availability of MSFS on the PC.
Apples are for eating!
When I heard about FSW last year, I did some research. Everything I saw reminded me of the fiascos that were Fly!, Fly! 2K, Fly! II, and ProPilot. I spent big bucks on those sims and they sucked. The flight dynamics were not accurate to me and I was using a Yoke controller with pedals. I was in the middle of flight training and MSFS was the only one that seemed right. I ended up with more than 1400 actual before I was stricken with MS and to this day, I still think those other sims sucked. It would be interesting to try some of those sims on modern systems, though, to see if that was the problem. For now, I will stick with FSX SE which runs very well on my current system.
Another bitter disappointment from DTG. In my opinion they were not prepared to invest as much was required in the development of TSW. Probably because their "bean counters" predicted it would not make enough profit. I'm sure it would have become a money pit to their loyal fan base as is Train simulator. Sorry DTG I just think you are greedy and see your users as a source of an extortive income. not to mention of the extortionate percentages you wished to charge 3rd party developers to sell their products within your website.
I'm really surprise that FSW released a potentially great product without ensuring strong support from third party add-on suppliers. I've stayed with FSX (upgraded last year to the SE) simply because of the huge choice of free and payware add-ons.
I think FSW was trash, I agree with Friendly Skies Film's video about FSW, they took FSX and made it worse, they took away all the commercial jets, and took payware add-ons from FSX, then they didn't even fix the bugs FSX has, the graphics engine in FSW is hell, worse than FSX. They also did nothing to the scenery, its trash. All they did was add an ENB or messed with the colors and brightness, FSX is much better, much better add-ons for FSX than with FSW, sure, you can use FSX add-ons with FSW but lots of things won't work, they didn't even tweak it for performance.
NOTE: I do not own FSW, but I know it's bad, I think it was a good idea that they closed it because it was a waste of time.
Private Name.
My only regret, as other's have posted their obituaries, in regards to DTG. Will, Dovetail begin a new flight simulator or where do we, who have had to bail out, at the last moment, land at, another airport, in some out of mind Flight Sim or will add-ons from Fly Away Sim, be available & downloadable, into MS FSX. I'd be glad to payware for what inventory, Fly Away Sim, may be offering, as a post mortem. Too bad, about change of fate. There's still a great many virtual pilots, out here, in cyber aviation. Please, let me know, of any possible change, for the better!! Will there be another Flight Sim to replace Fly Away Sim, I hope !!!
Typical Pigeons Arse..... If it aint profitable, and you cannot rip people off , then ditch it. As for support - they had whole skip for tech support requests.
Thank you Ian for this review, hence I will be staying with FSX-SE & FSX. An Old saying keeps popping up in my mind my dad use to tell me, If it works , then don't mess with it. Therefore I decided instead of messing around with frame rates, and worrying about whether or not my system would handle FSX, I bought a new CPU, an i7, the dark canyon chip. Unclocked the chip is 4.2ghz. Clocked I can reach up to 5.6ghz. My graphics card is just as good. Just this combination made all the difference in the world. You touched on some great points, and I just wanted to thank you for that Ian.
I have never in my life seen a community as conceited, arrogant, and downright selfish (not to mention clueless) as the flight sim community.
You people are the reason why there hasn't been anything like FSX SINCE FSX. You people make all these stupid demands about how you were stupid enough to waste hundreds or even thousands of dollars paying for what are, in essence, nothing but MODS (mods for any other game genre tend to be free, you know; and with a rare few exceptions, there's not much for FSX that's high-quality enough to warrant paying money for) for an outdated, ugly, bug-ridden code base (FSX) but you want them to be compatible with a new 2018-19-20 flight sim?
And to make things even better, you want this newfangled flight sim full of all these new features like 64-bit architecture, better graphics, better performance, better realism, et al ad nauseam, to be backward-compatible with the addons you were dumb enough to money-pit into for FSX? I
'll give some of you credit, there are those among you who know an awful lot about aircraft - but clearly NOT about technology. You can't have it both ways. And frankly, why would you want to? Do you REALLY want your poor pixelated VC from a decade-plus old game in your nice, new, shiny 64-bit photorealistic engine? Kinda defeats the purpose, don't you think?
I dunno about you all, but I prefer to fly in first-person where I can actually see the readouts, dials, gauges, and turn-bits. I don't want Minecraft-quality cockpits overlaid onto my nice shiny photorealistic terrain.
The majority of this community is cancer. No wonder nobody's really making an FSX replacement. Most of you are too stuck in the past and demanding. So you were dumb enough to sink unbelievable amounts of money into MODS, big whoop.
FSX is well over a decade old by now, haven't you already gotten your money's worth after all these years? Nothing will ever progress if you overgrown man-children insist on having your cake and eating it too. It completely boggles the mind to see people demanding brand-new-everything in the game itself, but also compatibility with 10+-year-old assets made for a broken and outdated game that runs on code that's a world apart from the new sim engine.
Greed and entitlement are what has killed the sim genre, not Dovetail or any other company. You people were dumb enough to let mod-makers set the standard of charging stupidly obscene amounts of money for what should have been freeware from the start (like every other game genre out there), and now that you've been swindled out of your money you're too stubborn to move on to a new platform that has all the features you're demanding.
Maybe if you lot hadn't let mod-makers turn you all into cash-cows to begin with, you wouldn't have to worry about whether or not a new, next-gen sim platform can support your mods. And don't even give me the BS excuse about "these airplane/terrain/lighting/whatever mods take a lot of time and effort to make!" - as a lifelong PC gamer, I have seen countless mods being developed for YEARS by people doing it for free because it's what they're passionate about.
Mods are supposed to be free addons for the base game, period. If modders want to make a living doing 3D modeling, coding, etc. then they should work for actual development studios (and, historically, many of the best modders have ended up moving on to making actual games of their own).
tl;dr version: The flight sim community needs to stop being whiny, entitled man-children and accept that if they want to use 2006-era mods in (the current year) then they will be forever stuck with a 2006-era engine that supports said mods and the flight sim genre as a whole will never get any better.
If they want (the current year) graphics and processing capabilities, then they're going to have to stop being stuck-up and entitled and learn to get with the times, even though that means archiving the mods they got conned into paying for.
Technology has progressed so far so fast - and, indeed, still is at this very moment - that it is unreasonable to expect a large degree of backward-compatibility with outdated code, much less code as outdated as FSX.