profiles

[Vee One 33]

Well the parametters of FSX are very different if you fly on a photoreal detailled landscape or a autogen generated on the fly continent. As well it is useless to load 'London FSX' if you fly in the swiss alps.

So my understanding is to be able to select an 'environment' (in FSX terms this is Fsx.cfg, Scenario.cfg, the autogen lookup table, the FEX (REX) environment, the Orbx environment etc) and attach it to a given flight. Etien

That's impossible...! What you want is that when you are in a place, the sim only loads that place. When you're flying, "erase" where you were before and only load where you are at every moment -that includes mesh, textures and objects such as from houses to clouds, including airports and traffic, of course

[TF-197 28]

And it would be nice to have the option to save it on the internet so if your computer crashes you dont loose all that cuz you dont in real if you crash a plane lol

[Kenneth 18]

And while you are at it, make a carriere option like FSPassengersX. If you do not wan't to use you're time make that ultimate flightsim, make sure a third party can add this option, and directly save info in the profile as well.

I'm a FSPassengersx adictive simmer. I Do not fly a flight with out useing FSPassengersX in FSX. Onely when testing and learning new planes.

[Snave 466]

I am very comfortable with the notion of Profiles - particularly if they are externally customisable to enable one to carry changes to the sim settings as well as personal selections and logbooks. I'd see this as an integral part of the modular systemology I mentioned previously.

In simple terms a correctly-interpreted Profile could also be used for not just storing information for the individual, but also as a platform to enable career progression - at high user experience levels you could, for example, limit access to aircraft for which the simmer has no `licence`, meaning the simmer has to pass a solo and check ride before their license is `endorsed` for that class of aircraft or style of flying, more closely reflecting the real world, if desired, but transparent and flexible enough to be simply switched off or modified if that kind of progression is not desired by the simmer. This would allow different types of `Mission` to be available, ramping-up the choice for the user and opening a useful aftermarket as well...

With Profiles one could not only create separate profiles for each simmer in the family, but also various profiles for the individual which could also match to specific menu settings - Your DAY VFR pilot is going to want to see cloud shadows, trees, buildings and that naked woman sunbathing in her back garden on final approach, but your Corporate Jet Jockey is going to want to have the stretch limo draw up next to the aircraft on the apron.

The final argument for profiles is it would enable a benchmark profile to be created for developer purposes to ensure elimination of variables in sim settings and unstated mods by the user don't affect development and testing, but without impacting on the simmers ability to use those mods and settings wherever and whenever they wish. Such a Baseline Profile would be immensely helpful to developers, and beta testers, I'm sure!

[Kenneth 18]

"With Profiles one could not only create separate profiles for each simmer in the family, but also various profiles for the individual which could also match to specific menu settings - Your DAY VFR pilot is going to want to see cloud shadows, trees, buildings and that naked woman sunbathing in her back garden on final approach, but your Corporate Jet Jockey is going to want to have the stretch limo draw up next to the aircraft on the apron."

I do not like the idea of haveing to have different settups for different types of flyeing. I think AFS 2012 should do what ever they can do to limit the need to adjust the sim for different scenarios. I fly the FSX with one setup all the time.

I think it is stopid to have a setup at departure, and then change the setup at FL30, and then a third setup at the arival.

[CommanderX 2]

I think it´s stupid to ask customers what they want. Especially for things like profiles or learning centers or something like that. Some people use it very much und like these features and others don´t care.

I think it´s more important to get things running and not to ask whether we want lights or profiles inside FS or not.

What we want is plain and simple. A new Flightsimulator, period.

Tthe graphics... the best that could be managed without having only 2 frames with a high end computer. Don´t stick with "we want 26 defineable lights blabla." if there are only 18 manageable then do 18...

The engine? Don´t care, the main thing is that this thing do what it should.

The user interface? Make not just one interface.. make one for the easy beginner and one for the hardcore simmer.

The planes? Make some planes, just do them. I promise that most of the user will complain about the bad selection of aircraft...

What do we want? A word that you are going to build a flightsim within the next 3 years :-)

One can do a good product but never ever will everyone be satisfied. Just do your best and we´ll see if the best is good enough to satisfy at least the majority of the customers

So long

[Sharrow 107]

Just do your best and we´ll see if the best is good enough to satisfy at least the majority of the customers

When you are investing millions of Euro's "just doing your best and then seeing how people like it" is simply not good enough. What happens if most people don't like it? Start again?

The whole point is to get as much input as possible from as many people as possible before you spend a single cent. For sure you can never please everyone but for sure you want to be as certain as humanly possible that you can please most of the people, most of the time.

[BPL 39]

When you are investing millions of Euro's "just doing your best and then seeing how people like it" is simply not good enough. What happens if most people don't like it? Start again?

The whole point is to get as much input as possible from as many people as possible before you spend a single cent. For sure you can never please everyone but for sure you want to be as certain as humanly possible that you can please most of the people, most of the time.

Right on, Konrad. I, for one, feel privileged to be a part of this process. I am very grateful to Aerosoft for listening to our input. By asking for our input, Aerosoft is greatly increasing the chances of success for AFS2013. By doing this, Aerosoft is showing that they value our opinions; not assuming that they have all the answers. I believe that MSFS fell far short of what it should have been. It was good but not great. If MS had asked for our advice, instead of keeping their new FS versions a secret until they were almost finished being developed, they could have made a much better product. You don't just throw millions of Euros into a project without careful planning and customer input. I think this is a very wise practice on the part of Aerosoft.

Thanks, Aerosoft, for this opportunity.

[AlfredQ 1]

I think it is stopid to have a setup at departure, and then change the setup at FL30, and then a third setup at the arival.

Not if the sim does it for you. For example on ground level you do not need long distance tiles drawing, as a matter of fact you would not even need to see beyond the next building so a lot of resources can be used to make the environment around you . Once you take of and climb to a certain altitude the high definition on ground level is not so important anymore, cloud environment become priority. On approach it reverses again......it simply means the system can be used to do amazing things at the right time.

I am not a programmer so I am not sure if that is even feasible but we have been asked for input the "how" is for them to figure out. That means there is no such thing as a "stupid" idea only ideas that may not be practical or feasible to implement!

Kind regards and God bless

Alfred

[Aerosoft Team [Inactive Account] 51558]

Okay let's get controversial... should profiles be stored online and should they include your add-ons? I mean if you install a new copy of AFS2013, log on it would automatically update you sim with all the stuff you bought. A bit like Apple does.

No online connection needed to play though that's just not a good idea at this moment.

[Sharrow 107]

Okay let's get controversial... should profiles be stored online and should they include your add-ons? I mean if you install a new copy of AFS2013, log on it would automatically update you sim with all the stuff you bought. A bit like Apple does.

Just to clarify - what do you mean by your online profile including your addons? Are you referring to product keys or the actual product itself? If the latter then forget it (VFR Germany anyone?) and if the former then best you just come out and say it that this is a DRM measure as opposed to masquerading it as a convenience for the user.

How would 3rd party addon developers feel if Aerosoft had access to the data on what every user of AFS2013 has installed? Unfair competitive advantage comes to mind real quick.

I do not like it, and the fact that you mentioned Apple just makes it worse.

[darem 106]

There is a thin line between what I would accept and what I wouldn't.

VERY close to this thin line is the way Native Instruments (www.nativeinstruments.de) handles updates. One step further, and I am out.

[Janvw 1]

I would like profiles in the new sim, but why should they be stored online? I would not like that. I don’t even like automatic updates, because I am sometimes happy with having no bugs and would not like to have the chance to get one with an update. I don’t mind ways of checking that I have a legitimate copy of AFS2013 and I even don’t mind giving information about how I use the program, but only when I am asked, not automatically.

Regards,

Jan

[Alexander Wurz 42]

I do not see the benefit of storing profiles online - but I do not mind if they would - as long as there is a good reason for it 

[Saikrishna 0]

There would be no advantage of having profiles online, unless you have AFS2013 on multiple computers, and you want to have the same profiles on both simulators.

As for updates, I don't care about updates as long as they don't eliminate features or degrade performance.

For addons, if you were to store your addons online, you would have to upload/download hundreds of MB of data for the addon to be available anywhere. Even if all addons were hosted on one server/site, and the profile included like a list of addons bought, the addons would have to be downloaded to the other computers. The only solution that might work is to include all addons on the computer beforehand, which would mean multiple GBs of data and higher costs. Basically, that solution doesn't work. Therefore, including addons in profiles and uploading online is useless. However, including a list of addons in the profiles may be useful in computers where there are multiple users on one computer (Ex.: a VFR user would care more about Scenery and VFR addons, while a IFR user would care more about Traffic and Weather addons.).

[BPL 39]

I don't necessarily mind automatic updates (Although it would probably be a good idea to make these updates optional.), but I'm not sure that I like the idea of addons being stored online. Will this be a way to store only Aerosoft addons, or will this apply to all addons? Will this exclude or discourage third party addon developers? If so, this is a very bad idea, IMHO. I think that AFS2013 should be left as open to third party addon developers as possible. That's what has kept FS2004 and FSX going.

I also don't like the idea of being locked down to a server or program, such as iTunes. I have nothing against Apple (I am a happy iPod touch owner.), but I don't think that this is a good idea for AFS2013.

[Vee One 33]

I like the idea of having ALL my stuff in MY computer at all times. And of course, I want to use AFS2013 and all its addons even if I am disconected from internet. Need internet to install AFS2013 and it's addons? I'm OK about that. But no more than that.

Don't you ever travel, Mathijs? I don't want to have to depend on internet to live, work or even simulate. It's absurd. That's what "hardware" is for.

Happy planning!

Vee One

[CommanderX 2]

I would like the idea to have profiles stored online. Not only profiles like what graphics we want to use. I would think of Captain 1, who is airliner Captain at Delta VA and mostly flying B763 and Captain 2, who is Bush Pilot in the wilderness of Brasilia and Captain 3, wo is...... and so on.

I would like the idea plus Add On developer could use these profiles like FSPassenger or something like that.

To have bought products online available is always a good idea. Maybe not for the 15 Gigabyte VFR Photoscenery but for the 50MB Airportscenery or 100MB Aircraft add on it´s a good thing.

[Dotsalgon 13]

Just to clarify - what do you mean by your online profile including your addons? Are you referring to product keys or the actual product itself? If the latter then forget it (VFR Germany anyone?) and if the former then best you just come out and say it that this is a DRM measure as opposed to masquerading it as a convenience for the user.

How would 3rd party addon developers feel if Aerosoft had access to the data on what every user of AFS2013 has installed? Unfair competitive advantage comes to mind real quick.

I do not like it, and the fact that you mentioned Apple just makes it worse.

I think that he was refering to Aerosoft's add ons... so that everyone with a problem wouldn't have to open topic with a phrase "PLZ SUPPORT HELP ME!!"

The online profile with the add on could check if the files are ok, corrupted, installed ect. Because not all of us simmers are experts in computers!!

My opinion also is that AFS2013 should also include a launcer that connects to the net and verifys when the sim is original and not pirated (Like Assassins Creed II)... Yes you have to be online to fly, but eather way most of us are cause we use realtime weather and we have broadband connections.

BtW Aerosoft and even you could easyly see what most users have downloaded as add ons from the bigger freeware sites like flightsim and avsim..

Peace!

Dot!

[Pi@no 17]

Glad to read from you on this forum, Mathijs !

• I would like to have sim. informations like flight hours, settings, logbook etc. online for some reasons.
  First: when you reinstall the soft, it's more easy to just click "restore profile from XX/XX/2013 00:00" than pasting files in directories, etc. and it's more safe. (disk crashing, etc.)
  And second, with theses infos online, you can expand the community, you can create badge (like Xbox gamercard), you can create competitions, etc. Depending of what infos you stock online.
  
  But I disagree with the fact the addons will be online. (wich part of the addons ?) How to manage this with others companies ?
  No, don't like... 'Can create problem with authorizations, etc.
• I'll really like to have a simple addon manager ! Managed by size, creator/publisher, etc.
  You want to delete an add-on ? Just go to the add-on manager and it'll uninstall the addon properly.
  And a cool feature would be that in this addon manager, there are an update function that can check the updates for all the products/addons installed.
  
  It thing it's possible to do this with a little work...
  For example, for the update function, all editors can provide a XML-like file with dedicated URLs for the update process (last build number, url to download updates, etc.).
• And, it will be great if add-ons don't install/use .exe files, only .dll and non-executable files. (obj, ini, etc.).
  In this vision, we can imagine that add-on can be installed by the add-on manager, no need of a special installer from the creator of the add-on.
  For this, you should define categories for every add-ons (for example: AI Traffic, Airplane, static aircraft, Airport, etc.).
  A lot of companies do this, and I like it !

Thanks for reading.

[Kenneth 18]

Hey people.... Online profiles etc.... No thanks!

I have a game, Empire Total War. I hate this stopid steam thing. Now I have a problem with the auto uptdating system. After i have formated my hardisk for some days ago, I wanted to have some old fassion war strategy matches. And what happeneds. The f*****g Steam thing does not work. I have installed the game, but i can not laounch the game before a update is downloaded and installed. Stopid!

NO, never go "online" with you're product NEVER! Onely for the multiplayer games and downloading weather. No online profiles and auto updates......

------------------------

And one more thing. http://www.infinity-universe.com/Infinity/

The developer behind this project said it very easy, and it is True: http://www.gamedev.net/reference/business/features/spotlightFB/

----------

Question: "You have a large and active community, how key are they to the direction that Infinity has taken and will continue to take in the future?"

Answer: "Very important. It’s probable that Infinity wouldn’t have progressed to what it is today (and what it will be tomorrow) without its community. In addition to giving feedback on ideas and designs, the community is directly responsible for the majority of the content in the game, through the contributions system.

Sometimes it feels a bit overwhelming. The community has helped a lot, but the hype and the expectations are so high after all these years, that I’m concerned there could be some disappointment and frustration for some when the first version of the game is released for testing. The game cannot, and never will be perfect, and everybody has their own personal vision for the game."

------------

And this is the most important one: -- Do not miss this one --

Question: "The scale of the game must pose some interesting challenges – how do you go about making it fun for players?"

Answer: "That’s a hard question, as the definition of fun is different for every player. In general, I think trying to make a game fun for everybody is the best way to ensure that it isn’t fun for anybody. So our main goal is to make it fun for ourselves and hope that many gamers will share our vision."

-------------

How meny games has not been rouined because the developers lust for monney and bigger market? No, I'am not at sosialist, and I hope Aerosoft makes a lot of monney from this flight sim, but please please do not destroy this fantastic oppurtunity to make a better SIMULATOR than the FSX.

If I sum it up.

Make a simulator for the hardcore, not for the mayority. Remember, flight simming is for people with spessial intersts. If Aerosoft goes the middle way, then the hardcore will not use the sim, and the other ones that still do not learn how to fly will not use it either. I say, realism realism realism, as far as you can get. Do not jump in the idea of haveing easy systems leting you just fly aorund for fun.

And yes, if you do not want to learn the systems and what buttons to press down to start the engine, well, then you must stick to the Piper Cub. You onely learn to fly the hard way.

I am a flightsimmer, my two brothers are not. They will newer be flightsimmers, eaven if the flightsim is easy to fly. They do not have the interests in planes like I do, they think flightsims are boring. They will NEWER ever buy ASF2013.

Kenneth

[CommanderX 2]

Hey people.... Online profiles etc.... No thanks!

Ah yes. A completely onlinesolution is not the thing I have in mind when thinking about onlineprofiles. But I would like to have a button "update now" and my profile(s) should also stored onilne if I want to! If you have no online connection it must (EASY) be possible to play/fly.

Onlinesolutions should be on a voluntary basis. Imagine your internetconnection breaks down and you would like to fly...

[Arista 64]

Okay let's get controversial... should profiles be stored online and should they include your add-ons? I mean if you install a new copy of AFS2013, log on it would automatically update you sim with all the stuff you bought. A bit like Apple does.

No online connection needed to play though that's just not a good idea at this moment.

I'm confused. These profiles sound a lot like simple shop accounts now. If you're thinking about heading anywhere near an Apple-like, locked-down environment, where every (third-party) add-on has to pass through Aerosoft's hands, where it's even hard enough for the user to add her own content and tweaks, think again. The flight sim market is not mainstream enough for such a business model to work, in my humble opinion. Now if you plan to provide an add-on store for your own (and possibly third party) add-ons that's loosely integrated into the sim, in that said store is just one possibility through which to get add-ons, but not the only one (or the only straightforward one), I'm all for it. If you're considering integrating an add-on shopping framework which let's the sim interact seamlessly with multiple add-on stores (Aerosoft and third-party, and including freeware repositories), all the better.

If the latter sounds interesting, you might want to look at how Linux distributions handle software installation. In short, software packages are contained in various repositories which can be hosted anywhere. To install additional third party software, you simply add a repository's URL to the local list of known repositories. The software downloader/installer/updater queries each repository for a list of available software, which it crosschecks against the installed packages to find out what is new, what needs updating, etc. And of course, you can also just provide the installer with a package file on a local disk, which you may have downloaded manually somewhere, created yourself, bought as a boxed product, or obtained through any other way. Aerosoft could maintain a master list of known add-on repositories, but that's strictly optional - community websites could do that as well. Such a framework might or might not include payment handling mechanisms, but in either case, I think a decentralized approach would be much better, in contrast to one where every credit card transaction passes through Aerosoft's hands. All of this could be integrated into the sim in a multitude of ways. For example, the flight planner could feature a "Find add-ons for the planned route" button, the aircraft list could have a "Get more aircraft online" button, etc.

Let me add that requiring an online connection at any time, including during installation, activation, or whatever, is a major obstacle for many (semi-)professional users, simply because many cockpit setups are intentionally not connected to the outside world. So if your copy protection scheme requires some kind of activation, please provide activation via telephone, or some license transfer mechanism, or something.

Judith

[Saikrishna 0]

I'm confused. These profiles sound a lot like simple shop accounts now. If you're thinking about heading anywhere near an Apple-like, locked-down environment, where every (third-party) add-on has to pass through Aerosoft's hands, where it's even hard enough for the user to add her own content and tweaks, think again. The flight sim market is not mainstream enough for such a business model to work, in my humble opinion. Now if you plan to provide an add-on store for your own (and possibly third party) add-ons that's loosely integrated into the sim, in that said store is just one possibility through which to get add-ons, but not the only one (or the only straightforward one), I'm all for it. If you're considering integrating an add-on shopping framework which let's the sim interact seamlessly with multiple add-on stores (Aerosoft and third-party, and including freeware repositories), all the better.

If the latter sounds interesting, you might want to look at how Linux distributions handle software installation. In short, software packages are contained in various repositories which can be hosted anywhere. To install additional third party software, you simply add a repository's URL to the local list of known repositories. The software downloader/installer/updater queries each repository for a list of available software, which it crosschecks against the installed packages to find out what is new, what needs updating, etc. And of course, you can also just provide the installer with a package file on a local disk, which you may have downloaded manually somewhere, created yourself, bought as a boxed product, or obtained through any other way. Aerosoft could maintain a master list of known add-on repositories, but that's strictly optional - community websites could do that as well. Such a framework might or might not include payment handling mechanisms, but in either case, I think a decentralized approach would be much better, in contrast to one where every credit card transaction passes through Aerosoft's hands. All of this could be integrated into the sim in a multitude of ways. For example, the flight planner could feature a "Find add-ons for the planned route" button, the aircraft list could have a "Get more aircraft online" button, etc.

Let me add that requiring an online connection at any time, including during installation, activation, or whatever, is a major obstacle for many (semi-)professional users, simply because many cockpit setups are intentionally not connected to the outside world. So if your copy protection scheme requires some kind of activation, please provide activation via telephone, or some license transfer mechanism, or something.

Judith

To add on to this post:

There are many FSX addons, paid and freeware, across the web. If this system was followed, then it would become much easier to search for addons rather than Googling, etc. If this was integrated into FSX, then software would be easily installed without user interaction and reduces the chance of making errors in the installation process. In fact, updates to the software could be detected by FSX and be automatically installed. Therefore, this system should be implemented in AFS.

[McGoose 3]

Well, could we please get a more specific definition of "Profiles"?

You can have profiles in roleplay games (race, class, stats etc.), they could be logbooks (hall of fame), various hardware settings, a curriculum vitae, a shopping account, the doctor notes of your medical history etc. pp.

Whatever profiles are:

Ingame offline: Aye!

Online: Nah! (Only exception might be if the user would LIKE to share his achievements with others.)

"Your actual flightpath indicates entering The Netherlands soon... buy Schipol now! Your account shows sufficient funds after your monthly bills are already paid.

Make sure to stop in Bruxelles today as well to benefit from our half price special.

Also, don't forget to update your Heathrow license to "EGLL JUNE 2014" (only 9.99€), as your old version will expire on 31 May 2014..."