More transparency around SDK development and 3rd party progress please

Official Microsoft Flight Simulator Wishlist
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If you are satisfied with vanilla MSFS, this post isn’t for you. I’m glad you are happy, and if you are new to FS, welcome. This post is more for those that consider themselves enthusiasts. For me, FS is my only hobby, and it has been that way for over two decades. I view each sim as an investment, so it is important for me to know where the sim will be in a few years. I don’t want to invest in add ons if the sim won’t fulfill my needs in the future. I may be in the minority, but I know I’m not alone.

I’ve been reading so many comments about the SDK’s shortcomings and issues with developing 3rd party content for MSFS, and I don’t know what the truth really is. I’d love to see updates with prominent developers for every content category (PMDG for aircraft and AIG for Traffic, for example). A live stream with Q&A would be even better.

I want to know what the developers need, and how Asobo is responding to those needs. I want to know what the dynamic is between Asobo and the developers. Are the developers being unreasonable? Are both of you cooperating? Is someone trying to hide something? I want to know if MSFS is worth investing in. I want to know if high end aircraft are possible in MSFS.

Sunlight never hurts. Without transparency, people will speculate and create their own ideas about how things are going and how they will progress. Speculation is never good, and it creates the dreaded phenomenon of “fake news”. No one wants that, so please, open the kimono.

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Going to be a gamble with some risk. The third party devs that are actually working closely with Asobo are probably under an NDA. And while they’ve said they’re committing to a 10 year development plan, there’s no guarantee Microsoft won’t pull the plug someday, or that their other claims will come to fruition. Beyond the guarded snippets we get from the Q&A sessions and the blog posts, I don’t see how we’re going to get any more transparency here.

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We can ask for more transparency, and we can keep asking for it until we receive it.

It is always a gamble, but I had more confidence when we were dealing with FSX/FS9/P3D. This sim is almost completely new, and there isn’t a lot of information out there. People had deep knowledge about past sims even on the day those sims were released, because they were so similar to previous sims. MSFS is new to everyone.

I’ve already bought the sim, so for me, that’s not the issue. I won’t, however, buy scenery or other add ons until I’m convinced that this is the sim of the future me. Complex airliners, complete charts, nav data, better ATC… are included in my sim of the future. I’ll start investing now if I’m confident those things will come. If I’m not confident, I’ll wait and see. Asobo, MS and of course, the developers can build confidence by being more transparent.

Had PMDG not announced their support as early as they did, I wouldn’t have bought MSFS. To me, it seems like a possibility that MS/AS told PMDG that certain things were possible, but didn’t follow through with those promises? On the other hand, maybe PMDG jumped the gun and assumed MSFS would be a viable platform for their products, but they are now finding out that they can’t implement their products as easy as they thought they would be able to.

PMDG was an early adopter, but what about the other major developers - FSLabs, QW…? We know Aerosoft is on board, but they are also a distributor. Is it possible that MS/AS is giving Aerosoft special treatment so they can get the jump on other developers?

These possibilities may be detached from reality, but without transparency, who knows what the truth is.

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Yeah i’m also waiting for professional planes on study level which we already know and love from other sims like Prepar3d, X-Plane and also from FSX. All we know is just that the 3rd party devs have big issues with the possibilities of the SDK. At this state of the development it seems to be impossible to create planes on that high level. In my opinion the first study plane we can expect is the CRJ series from Aerosoft. When they release their addon than the other devs will follow but for now we have to be patient. In the future we will have those planes but well for now many devs will not focus on MSFS because they cant do what the customers expect from them. So for now they will continue projects in Prepar3d and X-Plane. So let’s be patient :slightly_smiling_face:

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A monthly live developer Q&A is scheduled for this coming Wednesday, September 30th, at 10:30am PDT (1730Z) via Twitch.

Dev Update 24 Sep

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Hello everyone,

I believe these past few months/weeks answered the OP request for more transparency!
As mentioned during the last Q&A, the SDK team is getting bigger to improve this tool.

The way we interact with developers is also going to change with a new dedicated Q&A plateform. This will ease discussions and will be helpful for both Asobo and Developers/Creators.

A documentation page is now available: SDK Documentation

If you missed it, you will find below the first SDK live Q&A (There’s more to come :slight_smile:):

I’m closing this thread!

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