Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

MSFlights.NET to Steam Edition - FSX

Collapse
X
  •  
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • MSFlights.NET to Steam Edition - FSX

    Greetings everybody,

    As most of you already know, Dovetail games acquired the 'entertainment' rights to Flight Simulator from Microsoft last year. As a result, Microsoft Flight Simulator X was released as a purchasable game on the Steam platform.

    If you are unsure of what Steam is, below is an excerpt from geeksquad.co.uk
    -----
    What is Steam?
    At its heart, Steam is a digital game distribution service. You can browse the extensive catalogue of games and buy them for yourself or as handy gifts. In recent years, Valve has been adding more and more features to the Steam application, including distribution of not just games, but desktop software for things such as animation, photo & video editing and more.

    What makes Steam so great is just how easy it is to get hold of the games you're after. You simply need to login, find the game and buy it. It will then be downloaded to your PC and once finished it's ready for you to play! Steam is also notorious well known for its enormous sales where it will offer games at a massive discount - often in bundles so you can get plenty of games at once for a small price.

    Steam also puts a lot of emphasis on community features - you can chat and communicate with other players while gaming, and compare scores and achievements.

    -----

    So why is Steam important to msFlights.net?

    The boxed edition of Flight Simulator X has been discontinued, and stock of it on websites like Amazon.com is nearly depleted. The base retail cost for new boxed versions of FSX is now over $150.

    Unfortunately, the Steam Edition of Flight Simulator X is not multiplayer compatible with the boxed/classic edition. What this means is that the Steam edition of Flight Simulator X is where all of our new players will be coming from and discovering us. In recognition of this, and out of excitement for the possibilities that Steam may bring to Flight Simulator X, many of our community members have already purchased it.

    You can view FSX on the Steam Store page here:
    http://store.steampowered.com/app/314160/

    Compare it to the unit cost of a new FSX boxed edition here:
    http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Flig...1&keywords=FSX

    We are not completely phasing out the boxed edition of FSX immediately; this will be a natural and gradual shift over the course of several months. Many other communities have made an abrupt switch to the Steam version of Flight Simulator X for a multitude of reasons. In order for the msFlights.net community to stay relevant in the flight simulation world, it makes sense for us to make this same transition.

    I am hosting a “FSX on Steam” giveaway on the msFlights.net community Facebook page. On Monday, March 16, I'm going to be printing off all of the usernames that were submitted as a comment to that Facebook post, and I will be having Sylvia pick some out from a hat. Those picked will be gifted a copy of the Steam edition of FSX. If you don't have FSX on Steam yet and can't find the funds to pay for it, this is a good opportunity to get it! This is something I will do a few more times before July, so stay tuned to our Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/msflights

    Will your add-ons work with FSX on Steam?

    In short, yes. Now, almost all of the add-ons that you are accustomed to using will work on the Steam edition. The main reason that we have not made this transition sooner was to provide add-on developers time to make their products compatible. Our very own Novawing has been kind enough to put together some content on our official YouTube channel, which explains how to connect to multiplayer, how to install new liveries, and how to install aircraft and scenery; he also provides an overall introduction to the Steam edition of Flight Simulator X.
    https://www.youtube.com/user/MSFlightsMedia/videos

    I hope to see you all in the virtual skies on both the boxed and Steam edition in the coming weeks and months. Happy flying!

  • #2
    I think that it is important for people to know that Dovetail has been very busy with the latest patch to fix some of the instability issues that we have seen with servers not staying online and individuals getting fatal errors related to terrain.dll and ntdll.dll. I believe the patch will be available to the public very soon.
    I also will be making changes to the helicopter flights that I host on Sundays. It is my intention to duo fly the helicopter flights in both boxed and Steam edition if I can find someone to take the steam lead....
    HawgDawg4Life.....

    HawgDawg4life@msflights.net
    See my videos Here

    Comment


    • #3
      The Great 48! series, and my other group flights, will continue to run in Classic FSX until we have (a) compatibility, (b) stability, and (c) security, for FSX Steam edition.

      A. Compatibility
      Once Active Sky Next is out of its open beta and is fully released with full Steam compatibility, I will deem this condition fulfilled. We have many members with ASN now, and it makes a significant difference to the immersivity of our flying experience. HiFi Technologies are still busy with this and you can check progress via their forum. As far as I know, ASN working will complete my own personal compatibility criteria, but YMMV.

      B. Stability
      Once FSX Steam edition servers have demonstrated their ability to stay online to the equivalent level that Classic FSX servers are able to do so, I will deem this condition fulfilled. I feel it's essential to afford both group flight participants and organizers (considering the amount of hard work it takes to arrange a good group flight) a reliable experience without delay, inconvenience, or break in immersivity that might come from having server outages during a group flight. Judging by Hawg's comment above, Dovetail are busy with this, and we can await the evidence.

      C. Security
      Once we have at least the level of security that we have on Classic FSX servers, currently afforded by FSopen, I will deem this condition fulfilled. That security includes allowing us to kick and ban, as well as set network traffic (packet) limits. Without it, group flights can become very much more taxing and less enjoyable experiences for both leaders and general participants. To the best of my knowledge, FSopen will not be appearing on Steam edition. Fortunately, our talented and generous HawgDawg4life has been working on some software to step in with the security functionality that we need. Hooray! I'm quite prepared to wait patiently for this to be complete.

      The Great 48! series is now just past its halfway point, but will still continue till August. Hopefully all the conditions above will have been fulfilled long before then. If so, I'll consider transitioning it to Steam. If not, we'll continue with Classic.
      Last edited by Storm; March 15, 2015, 12:25 AM. Reason: spelling

      Comment


      • #4
        The over priced versions of boxed fsx was a freak thing i can still find many copies for 15 bucks i have steam but it is not stable enough for me to join group flights in. The 3 i have tried have had some of the worst lag ive seen in fsx (position lag). But if and when it stabilises ill be there.
        sigpic

        Comment


        • #5
          Hmm keep on trying, especially after their latest update they're working on. I will be putsing around with it this upcoming week as well.

          Where have you been able to find it for $15? Not that this would change anything, but I am curious because Amazon, even used copies are selling extremely high. There are a few for 30-40, but they come with no registration key.

          Comment


          • #6
            sorry that is 15 uk
            And i have them on ebay and amazon.co.uk for 15 so that is probably about 25/30 us dollars.

            Here is one a 10 second google search popped up-
            sigpic

            Comment


            • #7
              What is the gold edition running for pounds?

              Comment


              • #8
                49.99 on one page and 230 on another found a 10 dollar gold copy
                sigpic

                Comment


                • #9
                  Hawg raised a good point earlier. And I concur. I too do not want to leave anyone behind. There are, and will continue to be, pilots who have either Classic or Steam but not both. I decline to force their hand. Therefore I too will consider looking for co-hosts for my group flights, so we can stage the events concurrently in Classic and Steam and yet share the same Teamspeak channel.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Steam put FSX on 4.99 to 14.99 at one point
                    The sales are pretty frequent, but sometimes don't last very long.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      for this to cover exist a wondertool called Newsletter, subscibe for it on Steam and you stay allway's informed and i'm pretty shure, soon as they offering sales you will find the info here in the Forums, too.
                      CaseyRyback59/Andreas
                      Staff Member
                      VA-Manager

                      Comment

                      Sorry, you are not authorized to view this page
                      Who has read this thread:
                      Working...
                      X