Opinion Pieces

With the release of Sky Force 3D from REX, FSElite naturally requested a press copy for our reviewers. However what we got in reply was that not only would we not receive a press copy, but a confirmation that neither us nor any other outlet would be receiving press copies for the first 30 days of its release. At that point, a significant number of people would have already purchased the addon. Of course, this would be long after anyone cares about a review for the product at all. This is not something that bothers us, but it is something that we feel our readers should know about. It’s also something that the consumers of Flight Sim addons should know as well, as they are the ones most affected. This article is written as a general state of reviews in this industry, and why they so often come out long after the addon in question.

Dovetail Games released their fully fledged flight simulator, Flight Sim World, just over a month ago. The announcement trailer highlighted some key aspects of the sim including the rain-windshield effects, the use of third party applications to enhance the sim and of course, being 64-bit ready. The launch of the sim was also before Lockheed Martin finally revealed their entry into a 64-bit era with version 4 of Prepar3D, so many flight simmers were excited to see the full ESP engine running with more advance coding. It didn’t take long for some of the community heavy weights to have their say on what they believe the product should be and the impact it will have on them. Whether this be from the development community, publishing partners or long-term flight sim personalities – there was a feeling that this wasn’t going to be the next-generation sim everyone wanted it to be.

With the launch of early access on Steam, reception of the sim was lukewarm to say the least. There were still plenty of questions surrounding third party support, how people will buy products in the future and also what features the sim will roll out next. If I’m being honest, FSElite really had no opinion at this time as many of us were too busy to be able to try out the simulator to form a valid opinion. I’m pleased to say that during Flight Sim Con 2017, I was able to get my hands on it as well as talk to a few of the core team who helped bring the sim to life. It’s by talking to the developers that I’ve been able to really dig deep into what the sim is, what it wants to be and where it’s heading. This is why I finally know the direction Dovetail Games are looking to take Flight Sim World.