FSX-SE DoveTail Games Buys Licensing Deal with Microsoft

[repaid22 2]

Just wow. Dovetail games has slowly destroyed, in my opinion, the train sim franchise.

Each version that was forced upon people via STEAM has been more buggier than the last. They turned a decent train simulation into a ad infested DLC gateway.

 

This does not bode well for the franchise... DTG games support is absolutely terrible. They go to great lengths to hush people who speak out about the product and its extreme years old bugs. Anyone looking forward to bugfixes in the flight/FSX engines are deluding themselves.

 

DTG mainly consists of suits from EA and graphics artists. They do not know how to fix train simulator, they certainly are not going to be able to fix Flight/FSX. They see it as a DLC gateway... nothing more.

 

Out of all the passionate flight sim companies... this could not have gone into more wrong hands.

[bukeyolacan 24]

So it will be FSX or Flight engine?

[repaid22 2]

I could be wrong.. but what I got out of the press release..  is that they will distribute FSX on steam..   its the flight engine that they will be toying with.. I'm sure.

[malibu43 2]

It sounds to me like they are:

 

step 1) initially just selling FSX Gold on Steam.  The same FSX Gold that's was sold in boxes and on GFWL.  I wouldn't expect any changes to FSX

 

step 2) Releasing something else later next year.  Based on the timing and the fit to what they currently do with TS, it's probably just going to be MS Flight tweaked and broken out into whatever DLC package model they choose.  Maybe with more DLC to come at a later time.

 

In short - no effect on FSX users.  Hope for MS Flight users.

[adi518 73]

1. No EULA issues.

2. 64-bit support

3. DX11 support

 

The 3 combined is a formula to success. Anything else will not promote the franchise anywhere.

[RatRace 4]

What exactly does "all-new flight products based on Microsoft’s genre-defining flight technology" mean?

 

If it's DLC formerly known as add-ons for the FSX engine, the future looks bleak.

 

If it's new content for MS Flight, at least the MS Flight community would be very pleased.

[757FO 143]

I wonder what this will mean to third party developers. I am not familiar with Steam, does it mean that 3rd party add-on will also have to be purchased via Steam as DLC for the new flightsim DoveTail wll be releasing in 2015? (and also for the rebranded FSX?)

I am trying to keep an open mind, but based on the comments I have seen so far about what happened to trainsim, I am a bit skeptical...let's see what happens

John.

[FLEX1978 373]

 

 

In short - no effect on FSX users.  Hope for MS Flight users.

 

I guess it hasn't occurred to you that if they start producing DLC they will likely want to control what other developers add to the franchise.

[Tom Allensworth 1,532]

I guess it hasn't occurred to you that if they start producing DLC they will likely want to control what other developers add to the franchise.

 

Exactly. For the amount they paid for that license deal, they are going to want to squeeze revenue out of all they can.

[PIC007 82]

If they are going to market FSX Gold, I wonder if that also means they are going to re-start the multiplayer servers, since that is a big part of FSX

[malibu43 2]

I guess it hasn't occurred to you that if they start producing DLC they will likely want to control what other developers add to the franchise.

 

Well, they can't do anything to the copy of FSX I already own to force me to limit the addons I use.  And I highly doubt they would put in all the work and effort to re-write FSX code and folder structures to somehow control add-ons, when Flight is already built in the way you described.

 

My money is still on no changes to FSX.

[spacedyemeerkat 421]

Exactly. For the amount they paid for that license deal, they are going to want to squeeze revenue out of all they can.

 

And they are past masters at that. Oh, yes.

[Boomer 1,619]

I guess it hasn't occurred to you that if they start producing DLC they will likely want to control what other developers add to the franchise.

 

Hence the worry, Tom:  any potential developer in this hobby cannot just be in it just for the money.  We know what happens.

 

FSX really needed to be picked up by some philanthropist with our hardcore simming community in mind and in heart.

[EngineRoom 205]

Complaining that DTG release lots of overpriced buggy DLC is quite ironic given the huge amount of FSX DLC (aka addons) that fits that exact same description.

 

I'm sure you are all aware that a lot of the DLC for TS released on Steam is outsourced to third party developers, and that DTG do not lock the sim down and there are independent third parties like Just Trains, Iron Horse House and Armstrong Powerhouse who are all making and distributing content completely independent of DTG and Steam.

 

Finally, given the extremely introspective nature of flight simulation, how we have raised the bar for entry into the hobby so high in recent years (something which P3D has made even worse), putting both FSX and whatever new sim comes out on a digital storefront like Steam which is accessed by 75 million active users is a very good thing for the future of the hobby.

[FLEX1978 373]

Well, they can't do anything to the copy of FSX I already own to force me to add only their addons.  And I highly doubt they would put in all the work and effort to re-write FSX code and folder structures to somehow control add-ons, when Flight is already built in the way you described.

 

My money is still on no changes to FSX.

 

They can control the distribution of payware. So yes, it can very well affect all of us.

 

Lets take Gary from UK2000 as an example. Amazing developer but I doubt very much that he is rolling in cash from FS sales. What if restrictions are put into place regarding how/where he sells his products & a distribution fee is put in place?

 

I hope it's not true, but as i said this could not work out well for the addon company's out there.