A new simulator (July / August issue)

[Aerosoft Team [Inactive Account] 51558]

It already past 3 months and 7 days from the famous first post about "The secret project"

So i'am simple interested if something will happened?? Will Aerosoft start production of the new Flight simulator??? Or it is just 3 months of nothing??

The secret project is not secret anymore, but it also has nothing to do with the simulator discussed here. It's yet another simulator...,

check this: http://www.forum.aerosoft.com/index.php?showtopic=28022

For the Aerosoft flight simulator it starts to look like September 27th will be one of the most important days. I hope to have a meeting the most important people involved and decide more or less to go or not to go. Keep in mind this is a massive project, in time, in money in loss of sleep.

[MABE54 21]

The secret project is not secret anymore, but it also has nothing to do with the simulator discussed here. It's yet another simulator...,

check this: http://www.forum.aerosoft.com/index.php?showtopic=28022

For the Aerosoft flight simulator it starts to look like September 27th will be one of the most important days. I hope to have a meeting the most important people involved and decide more or less to go or not to go. Keep in mind this is a massive project, in time, in money in loss of sleep.

Mathijs:

1.- I ended up totally confused now. Please tell us what is "Airline Simulator 3, Pilot Flying"??? Does it stand on top of MS-FS or alone as its own platform???

2.- Why would Aerosoft create two running Simulators if the new one will use the same engine of "Airline Simulator 3, Pilot Flying"???

Sorry for my confusion in advance,

MAB

[Aerosoft Team [Inactive Account] 51558]

I think the reason for this was that Flight Simulator probably wasn't a very big money-maker for Microsoft. Microsoft is a big company with lots of other more successful products, so it doesn't hurt them any to drop something that isn't doing as well as their other products. I'm not a marketing expert either, but that's my theory.

FSX was supposed to be really the front game for Vista. Now Vista did not do very well in games so DX10 did not do very well. This really caused serious problems for FSX. NOw it got to be said that FSX was one of the most problematic FS releases ever done and in the end therewas just some manager who did not like it anymore. At the same time they started development of a new version of Trainsim, stopped it, restarted it and stopped it again. All these changes were the result of change in management. That's how MS more or less operates. It makes it a very unreliable partner for us that that's the reason why we don't really care a lot about what MS will be doing.

[Aerosoft Team [Inactive Account] 51558]

Will the Aerosoft Flight Simulator allow Freeware (Aircraft, Scenery, Panel, Gauges, Traffic,etc) or will it be purely Payware.

Cheers,

MAB

It will be for sure a very open platform, most likely it will not be closed in any aspect.

That said, it got to be understood that the new platform will make it rather hard for amateurs to work on it. For starters you need a lot of high end and very expensive software to make anything these days. 3d Max, Photoshop etc, it is hard to see any serious development done without these professional tools.

[Aerosoft Team [Inactive Account] 51558]

Mathijs:

1.- I ended up totally confused now. Please tell us what is "Airline Simulator 3, Pilot Flying"??? Does it stand on top of MS-FS or alone as its own platform???

2.- Why would Aerosoft create two running Simulators if the new one will use the same engine of "Airline Simulator 3, Pilot Flying"???

Sorry for my confusion in advance,

MAB

Sorry for the confusion, they two projects have very little in common. Both are fully stand alone developments and have no links with FSX.

AS3 is a simulator of the role of the pilot of an A321 and MD83 (perhaps more aircraft), while the Aerosoft Flight Simulator is a full blown sim that should fully replace FSX. Different customers, different platforms different everything. AS3 is a long running project, started way before FS got in trouble but it just does not have the potential to be ported to a full blown sim to replace FSX because it is extremely focused to do what it should do perfectly.

[Aerosoft Team [Inactive Account] 51558]

And what about a new simulator totally on line or with a minimal installation?

Some months ago I was watchin this site OnLive! Why also the new simulator can't follow this way? would be fantastic for us, and we could pay an annual subscription to fly and have all up-to-date. What do you think about?

This would be save the user constantly from:

- installing scenery and add-ons upgrades

- find the best setting for own hardware

- no problem on formatting own hard disk and loosing data

- play all over the world

and many more!

Well yeah, that's how Rise of Flight handles things, but they do store the data on your own disk. But handling the installed files is totally easy, no worries about what addon is installed, what needs updating. Very attractive from that aspect. Unfortunately there are a lot of people who have no problems keeping their Xbox connected to the internet but freak out when their PC needs the same.

[Aerosoft Team [Inactive Account] 51558]

All this about Microsoft made me wonder. Is Aerosoft privately own or publicly (stocks, bonds) own???

Cheers,

MAB

It is at this moment fully privately owned by my CEO Winfried Diekmann. Though the millions a project like this will costs is not something we just shake out of a hat, you should not compare us to many of our good friends and competitors. We got multiple offices, around 50 people employed in one way or another, we are the elephant in our small nice of the games market. So we do not expect to have to find external capital for this project by changing the ownership of the company.

[EDDHFlyer 0]

[i hope to have a meeting the most important people involved and decide more or less to go or not to go. Keep in mind this is a massive project, in time, in money in loss of sleep]

Hello Mathijs,

my eye caught up a sentence from your reply and I made it bold to point it out. That means that there is possibility that the Aerosoft flight simulator might not see the light?

Panos

[MABE54 21]

It is at this moment fully privately owned by my CEO Winfried Diekmann. Though the millions a project like this will costs is not something we just shake out of a hat, you should not compare us to many of our good friends and competitors. We got multiple offices, around 50 people employed in one way or another, we are the elephant in our small nice of the games market. So we do not expect to have to find external capital for this project by changing the ownership of the company.

Thanks for the answers Mathijs:

It is good to know the ownership aspect of Aerosoft which, IMHO, has better chances to succeed with the new Simulator that way.

I guess AS3 was thought out before anybody knew MS was to pull the rug from under FS.

I still think that the new Simulator should start from a clean canvas (from the ground up) since there are major changes in PC development just about to get consolidated. There will be a little war between CPU vs GPU coming next year to a theater near us and we (I) wouldn't like to see our new Simulator get cut on the side of the looser. 64B + Multicore + Paralleling + CPU Graph + Ray-tracing = My bet.

The time is right for a new Sim that's a fact that can't be disputed. But it has to be right from the beginning for the sake of us (buyers) and your boss. Sorry if I am too blunt.

Cheers,

MAB

[riccardo74 2]

Well yeah, that's how Rise of Flight handles things, but they do store the data on your own disk. But handling the installed files is totally easy, no worries about what addon is installed, what needs updating. Very attractive from that aspect. Unfortunately there are a lot of people who have no problems keeping their Xbox connected to the internet but freak out when their PC needs the same.

Hi Mathijs,

thank you for your replay. I think the on-line or partially on-line solution is the best option for AerosoftFS.

About your meeting, please make all the possible efforts. All we, the community, are waiting for the new AerosoftFS, made from scratch. Made with the high end developing techniques and features. I hope AerosoftFS will make with the same engine of Rise of Flight is done, I saw many videos on youtube and it looks very fantastic. And keep in consideration our requests. The result will be the most used FS, the number 1.

[BPL 39]

Well yeah, that's how Rise of Flight handles things, but they do store the data on your own disk. But handling the installed files is totally easy, no worries about what addon is installed, what needs updating. Very attractive from that aspect. Unfortunately there are a lot of people who have no problems keeping their Xbox connected to the internet but freak out when their PC needs the same.

I have no problem with the way that Rise of Flight handles things. I just don't want the new sim to be online only with a yearly subscription and only online play, which is, as I understand it, the way Microsoft's new sim is going to be. I want this to be a product, not a service. I have no problem with having to be connected to the internet to play RoF. But, that's because I can still play single player, I don't have to pay a subscription, and it's not a totally online game. It's a product, not a service. If a company wants to continue to make the same amount of money after the initial sales die down, they should sell us add ons, not charge us a subscription. I think that having the new sim totally online (I'm not talking about having to be connected to the internet, I'm talking about totally online.) is an all-around bad idea.

[Goair-18 7]

I dont know if anyone has said anything about this!! But i would like to see the heat shimmer effect coming from the back of the engines!!! I know this can be done as iv seen this effect on some other games!! But the question is, is it easy to do!!!

[frkaipanika 9]

For the Aerosoft flight simulator it starts to look like September 27th will be one of the most important days. I hope to have a meeting the most important people involved and decide more or less to go or not to go. Keep in mind this is a massive project, in time, in money in loss of sleep.

On the September 27th ...in the evening i'll be here on the forum waiting for Mathijs Kok post.

[Dan2152 0]

Cool..27th September ready and waiting lol

[MABE54 21]

[That said, it got to be understood that the new platform will make it rather hard for amateurs to work on it. For starters you need a lot of high end and very expensive software to make anything these days. 3d Max, Photoshop etc, it is hard to see any serious development done without these professional tools.]

Mathijs:

There was something in the above paragraph that made me uneasy so I didn't reply then.

Didn't we want the excitement and frenzy experienced in FS2002 Professional and FS2004 for the new Simulator??? Do we want to take on what Flight Simulator left off or do we want to be just a mere alternative to X-plane??? I can see that you will be covered at the bottom either way but the top is up for grasp.

There will be a slight change in role playing for Aerosoft IFF they go ahead with the new Simulator. Aerosoft will own the new platform and not just developing sidekicks as up until now which it will still be able to do but now with a big upper hand in it. Like paying yourself and giving yourself change. Not bad if play correctly.

In the new role playing what was once taken for foes or nuisance then might be or turn around to be your biggest allies now. Yes, customer do not pay but neither does Aerosoft. It is in the eyes of the beholder.

Aerosoft needs a close door meeting of the minds in a hurry before the deadline of the next month. One shot, that is all Aerodoft gets. Please get it right.

Cheers,

MAB

[kingnish 0]

Hi,

First of all, I would like to thank aerosoft for taking on this project. I have a couple of ideas. Like the Wii the new sim should have virtual people who can move around the airport freely and hop into any open plane and fly it. Also, in one mode the virtual person might have to start flying small planes at first then they will have to gain flight hours to fly bigger and bigger planes. Also when it snow the plane should get effected and people should have to clean the snow of the runway and the plane(this was already mentioned by somebody). Another thing that would be cool is 1player mode and 2player modes. By this i do not mean online. But in fsx the free flight is 1player only half the cockpit is shown on the screen in the 2D cockpit. There should be a 2player mode where both sides of the cockpit is shown in the 2D cockpit.

This is all for now.

[BPL 39]

In FSX, airports next to lakes often have huge cliffs that drop off into the lake, when in real life they don't. I think it's because of the lack of sloped runways in FSX. Airports next to lakes are usually higher than the lake, but the runway slopes down gently toward the lake. In FSX this is not possible; so as soon as the airport ends, the elevation has to drop quite a bit in a very short distance, creating a cliff. With the addition of sloped runways in the new sim, this problem should be fixed.

[Seahawk72s 0]

In FSX, airports next to lakes often have huge cliffs that drop off into the lake, when in real life they don't. I think it's because of the lack of sloped runways in FSX. Airports next to lakes are usually higher than the lake, but the runway slopes down gently toward the lake. In FSX this is not possible; so as soon as the airport ends, the elevation has to drop quite a bit in a very short distance, creating a cliff. With the addition of sloped runways in the new sim, this problem should be fixed.

What plans are being discussed for the interface with water and the physics of water itself..?

Same as FSX.. OR Weather able to influence the water surface...waves..? Aircraft motion that is effected by the water interface..? Any subsurface motions or effects..? OR maybe water objects that can be modified to appear to be effected by water and weather..?

Thanks,

tc

[maxter 4]

First of all, I would like to thank aerosoft for taking on this project.

Ummmmm, that might be a tad premature, don't you think?

Cheers,

[Aerosoft Team [Inactive Account] 51558]

What plans are being discussed for the interface with water and the physics of water itself..?

Same as FSX.. OR Weather able to influence the water surface...waves..? Aircraft motion that is effected by the water interface..? Any subsurface motions or effects..? OR maybe water objects that can be modified to appear to be effected by water and weather..?

Thanks,

tc

I would seriously like the water to responds to wind actions and I think that using a few different bump maps that can rotate this should not be too hard. For sure you could go from small ripples to some moderate wavs. The whole water interaction is a whole different kettle of fish.

[Aerosoft Team [Inactive Account] 51558]

Ummmmm, that might be a tad premature, don't you think?

Cheers,

Well let me make a comment on that.

As said in September we should most certainly make some serious decisions. Yet one thing is clear, if MS indeed stops the series, we'll start a major simulation project. If MS does give any indication they will do something we still might decide to compete with them (as we feel many customers dislike the way they have been left hanging and all professional users will NEVER deal with MS again because it simply has proven to be a unreliable partner).

So in some way, there will be a new sim to take over from FSX.

[ralmav 0]

Hi,

since i am a cockpit-builder it´s very important that all the functions within a new simulator are controllable via offsets.

Are there any plans to integrate Peter Dowsons FSUIP and WideFS f. ex.?

Cheers

Ralf

www.b737ng.de

[BPL 39]

Well let me make a comment on that.

As said in September we should most certainly make some serious decisions. Yet one thing is clear, if MS indeed stops the series, we'll start a major simulation project. If MS does give any indication they will do something we still might decide to compete with them (as we feel many customers dislike the way they have been left hanging and all professional users will NEVER deal with MS again because it simply has proven to be a unreliable partner).

So in some way, there will be a new sim to take over from FSX.

Very good to know. Based on what people are saying about MS's future plans, I don't think I'll be going back to them.

[LufthansaPilot 4]

Hi,

Ive got a new Idea which should be added to the new sim.

The Landing lights (and also all the other lights in MSFS) are too 'weak' for my taste, so I think you guys should make them look better. For instance they should burst through clouds, and make the clouds visible for a few seconds (especially when it is dark outside).

Take a look at the following video and picture:

http://www.airliners.net/photo/Poland---Navy/Mil-Mi-14PS/1571529/L/

[wyoming 2]

Well let me make a comment on that.

As said in September we should most certainly make some serious decisions. Yet one thing is clear, if MS indeed stops the series, we'll start a major simulation project. If MS does give any indication they will do something we still might decide to compete with them (as we feel many customers dislike the way they have been left hanging and all professional users will NEVER deal with MS again because it simply has proven to be a unreliable partner).

So in some way, there will be a new sim to take over from FSX.

You guys might want to talk with this guy:

http://www.white-clouds.org/