Quo vadis, MAIW?

[Janeway]

+1

Here are some facts worth contemplating (source "FlightSim.com") (correct on 10th July, 2015)

FS2004 Early Aircraft.....1049......................FS2004 Warbirds.....1958.................FS2004 Modern Military.....7180
FSX Early Aircraft...........329......................FSX Warbirds...........930.................FSX Modern Military.........2587

FS2004 AI Flight Plans.....7436...................FS2004 Other Aircraft.....784.............FS2004 Scenery.....7398
FSX AI Flight Plans...........124...................FSX Other Aircraft..........448.............FSX/P3D Scenery....4494

The numbers speak for themselves.

Furthermore, with the resumption of the "commercial" Flight Simulator series, this flightsimming hobby is now at a Crossroads:
TWO versions are fighting for supremacy....
P3D by Lockheed Martin vs FSX-SE by DoveTail Games.

Just to keep pace with EACH "new" simulator,
one has to virtually relinquish all his addons, aircraft, tools etc. (freeware and payware)
one has to take months to tweak, re-install, download aircraft, scenery etc.
payware scenery has to be re-purchased...for the "same" aircraft, airports etc.
and familiar tools/utilties are rendered useless (with substitutes for them unavailable, in some cases)

Some simmers will move on from FSX to FSX-SE (that's the trend...)
Some simmers will move on from FSX to P3D (many are there already!!)

So what sim is MAIW going to opt for: FSX...FSX-SE...P3D(v2, v2.5....v???)

At this rate, we will be moving from sim to sim (always the most modern one)
and this chasing-after-the-latest-sim will basically limit the time we spend adding aircraft, scenery and AI to it,
because the "next" sim will show up in a year or two...

We have stuck to FS9 for Nine Whole Years...and MAIW has been able to achieve such excellence and abundance of packages precisely because all of us stuck to one sim.

Is there any solution?
Well, there is one that comes to mind...that would cater for the interests of all simmers (FS9, FSX, P3D and FSX-SE).
How is that possible??

Contemplate this for a moment...
MAIW can maintain FS9 as the BASE simulation for all packages.
This means MAIW keeps releasing new packages for FS9...initially.

However, any member (staff, registered member) who wishes to convert some package to "his" prefererred sim (FSX, P3D, FSX-SE etc.) would be encouraged to share his "converted" package with others. IN effect, he makes his converted MAIW package available for download to all simmers (just as all FS9 MAIW packages have been).

As a result,
FS9 simmers would still enjoy "new" MAIW packages.
FSX simmers would start to enjoy "all" the new MAIW packages,
P3D simmers....likewise.
FSX-SE simmers....likewise.

Isn't it simpler to keep designing/creating new packages for FS9,
and then converting these same packages to other sims (FSX, P3D, FSX-SE) by volunteers who have decided to do so for their own personal use, anyway?

[MIKE JG]

If anything MAIW should be developing for FSX Steam Edition. That's currently the only version of the game that is actively being supported on a consumer level by its developer, in this case Dovetail. I know it's all part of the Steam community but they have taken FSX and made it their own product that is way more computer friendly than straight FSX, but is also forward compatible with Windows8. Not only that but their edition is available via download and can be installed reportedly in around 10 minutes with a decent internet connection. They are actively supporting their product and taking suggestions and even implementing those suggestions which is way more than Microsoft ever did. When they do issue updates, it's all available via download.

They took FSX and made it compatible with the year 2015 basically. So if we're looking to the future, we should all be working with FSX Steam from now on. Imagine being able to email them about a certain issue with AI and actually having someone address and fix the issue, that's something that we've never had the luxury of before.

I'm not suggesting everyone run out and get the Steam edition but they seem to be emerging as the leader of the pack going forward.

Interesting times these are......

[DMdoc]

If anything MAIW should be developing for FSX Steam Edition....
I'm not suggesting everyone run out and get the Steam edition but they seem to be emerging as the leader of the pack going forward.
Interesting times these are......

Mike: Just an FYI for folks thinking of moving to FSX-SE: I'm running FSX-Steam Edition on two computers (both Windows 7), and have successfully added MAIW and World of AI aircraft without problems on both computers. It's fun to check my hometown airport (KCHS) and see what commercial jets are in, and then wander over to the Joint Base Charleston side of the airport, and see how many C-17s are there - and what other planaes might be visiting. The other day, I finally saw a C-17 taxi and take off. Fun to watch, and highly distracting from actually flying...

[Jive1]

Hey!
I see it all this way....
FS9 in my opinion has only one important desadvantage, being the oldest one of the Flight Simulators that are in the running of the discussion.
FS9 however has also a few very important advantages when discussing about the same flight simulators, having the most addons, being the stabliest of them, and letting the simmers themselves make corrections when necessary. I don't know wether the other sims offer the same possibilities in handling errors and or problems...
I am still, even when FS9 is somewhat older and thus seems to be not modern enough to keep it as a standard, I am still preferring FS9 before all other sims, because it is the most realistic..
I would enjoy if MAIW continue to keep FS9 as the standaard flight simulator.
Greetings
Jive1 - Belgium

[delta_lima]

As an FS9 user since the day it became available until 2010, and a user of FSX+Acceleration ever since, I've recognized that some folks, whether its MAIW or Calclassic, prefer FS9. I've chosen to adapt what I could, where I could, into FSX. I'm a glass half full type of guy, and so haven't sweat the fact that the porting over hasn't been perfect, and been grateful that MAIW has taken on some cool projects that have aligned with my own aviation interests.

That said, I don't understand the whole notion of "FS9 being the more accurate of the two sims". I fail to see how

a) moving carriers,
b) no FL100 limit
c) a true spherical globe (vs FS9's cylindrical globe)

is in any way less accurate. I'm not even going to touch on the myriad graphical enhancements, since that'll only produce the typical "that's just eye-candy" argument that, frankly, is getting stale. So too, for that matter, is the uninformed FSX=MS Flight "game" argument.

In my view, the only place FS9 has and will likely always have the advantage, is for the global autogen and scenery addons such as GoldenWings 3 and SilverWings, which allow the entire world's scenery to go back in time to either the 30s, or the 50s, depending on which package you choose. Those were genius packages by Lynn and Bill Lyons, and unfortunately, I doubt we'll ever see something like that for FSX ever again.

As for stability, I had to work way harder tweaking FS9 to optimum than I have FSX, and that included a period of 6 years, where both were running on the same mid-to low-end computer. So while some folks have struggled to get FSX to run, that's by no means a universal truth.

If MAIW chooses to continue on an FS9 track, I respect and accept that. Let's at least be honest and say it has more to do with it being the platform most of its users continue to use, legacy continuity, etc. At least that's honest and understandable.

Looking forward, if there was a tool to readily convert the scenery bgls to a better optimized FSX bgl format, (just like AIFP instantly convers traffic bgls from FS9 to FSX format) then the solution would be to continue to develop for FS9, with those running either FSX, P3D to easily run the conversion programme on the scenery files for those platforms. Win-Win.

FSX-SE is a good direction to consider, though I don't have it to comment. The fact a good number of devs are offering addons for it, though is telling.

Again, thanks for all the great work - it is greatly appreciated.

dl

[airforce2007]

Honestly I think MAIW should stick with FS9, that is where everything is at, already a lot of aircraft but there are so many missing and we need to see more, or even though it will take more time, from now on make packages that are for FS2004 and FSX, just an example: MAIW Muir AAF. Have a Muir AAF pack for FS2004 and another for FSX. That will keep a lot of us happy, those of us who would rather keep chugging on with FS9 and those who want to move to FSX.

[jcapde]

FS2004 ++++

[timbob1]

I will still stay with FS9, most off my designs will port over to FSX. For me it is far less glitchy and I know how to use all the design software that i need, I don't really want to change that. So its FS9 for me.