Simviation Forums

Anyone wondering who Asobo is

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asobo_Studio

It has struck me that the new 2020 MSFS (all previous series were also called Microsoft Flight Simulator too) is not an evolution of the Microsoft Flight Simulator series as the whole structure and language is different and I suspect many of the new users may not even know MSFS has been going since 1982.

I have seen many of the programmers/developers from Microsoft/FSX have moved to Lockheed Martin P3D. Not MSFS. But some may have?

P3D is very stable and is basically an evolved FSX with advanced features and scenery, etc. But the ground scenery is not satelite and therefore cannot, at this date, match the ground scenery of MSFS 2020

MSFS is developed by a gaming developer for Microsoft using advanced graphics and very good Bing satellite scenery but at this stage is full of bugs and is, by their own admission, in beta stage. The visuals are great. The potential is great. But it does have a gamey feel. Not to knock it though because it's at an early stage and has a long way to go. Thankfully they have left it open by normal users to develop.


Overall I still prefer P3D5. The options and addons far outweigh the new MSFS, due to the evolution, and if they can ever get satellite scenery the sky really will be the limit. But the graphics and scenery cannot compare - at this stage.

But we will see.

An interesting post.. If I may..
Asobo is a French games design company that is 18 years old, contracted by Microsoft to develop games.
Microsoft Flight Simulator, or MSFS, no 2020 in the name, neither Microsoft nor Asobo have used or added 2020 in their documentation or description at all.
All previous iterations of flight simulation, as developed by ACES Gaming Studio's, closed many years ago, had their unique names, such as FSX, FS2004 (FS9), FS2000 & so on.

MSFS is obviously very different to earlier sims, as it is developed by a totally different company, basically from scratch. It is actually quite evolutionary in it's detail of scenery & aircraft, compared to older sims.
MSFS, or Microsoft Flight Simulator, was published in August 2020, by Asobo, certainly not in 1982. Asobo had not yet been incorporated then. The first Microsoft release of Flight Simulator 3.0 was in 1988, not 1982.
ACES Gaming Studio closed in 2009, and a few developers were employed by Lockheed Martin.

P3D is based on ESP, the commercial 'not for entertainment' version of FSX, and is licensed as a training tool.

Comparing P3Dv5 with MSFS, is, well, disingenuous, as they have different target markets. MSFS is obviously licensed as an entertainment product, & the other is not. So, to compare the two, is like comparing Windows with Linux.. One is no better than the other, depending on target markets.

Your 1st sentence says that MSFS is not an evolution, your 2nd last sentence does.. ??

By the way, why do you add 2020 to the official name of the sim? There is no confusion with the official name, & do you think, that if an update for MSFS is released in January 2021, you'll be renaming the sim to MSFS 2021?

cevans wrote:Anyone wondering who Asobo is

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asobo_Studio

Honestly, in October 2020, I don't think anybody in the sim community is still wondering who Asobo is.
Pretty much everybody know who they are since the very first MSFS preview video or interview got released, almost one and a half year ago

It has struck me that the new 2020 MSFS (all previous series were also called Microsoft Flight Simulator too) is not an evolution of the Microsoft Flight Simulator series as the whole structure and language is different and I suspect many of the new users may not even know MSFS has been going since 1982.

Well, this is debatable. The Asobo devs said in the interviews that they didn't start MSFS from scractch. They started from FSX, then added/removed/improved/replaced many things in it. So, it is kind of an evolution, I think.

I have seen many of the programmers/developers from Microsoft/FSX have moved to Lockheed Martin P3D. Not MSFS. But some may have?

Many (if not most) devs have announced they intend to move to MSFS.
But there is a big problem that delays this move: the MSFS SDK (the tools to build addons, especially planes) is still being developped, it's not complete yet. Many things are missing and this is preventing the 3rd party devs to create complex planes and/or systems.
It's just a matter of time though. Once the SDK is completed by Asobo, 3rd party devs will start to move full speed ahead. But right now, we have to wait with simple planes.

P3D is very stable and is basically an evolved FSX with advanced features and scenery, etc. But the ground scenery is not satelite and therefore cannot, at this date, match the ground scenery of MSFS 2020

MSFS is developed by a gaming developer for Microsoft using advanced graphics and very good Bing satellite scenery but at this stage is full of bugs and is, by their own admission, in beta stage. The visuals are great. The potential is great. But it does have a gamey feel. Not to knock it though because it's at an early stage and has a long way to go. Thankfully they have left it open by normal users to develop.

You are totally right on this.
The gamey feel probably comes from the origins of Asobo, and also the fact that they wanted MSFS to reach a wider crowd, not just the nice-market of hardcore simmers.
I won't blame them for that, as long as MSFS still has room for hard-core simulation addons

Overall I still prefer P3D5. The options and addons far outweigh the new MSFS, due to the evolution, and if they can ever get satellite scenery the sky really will be the limit. But the graphics and scenery cannot compare - at this stage.

But we will see.

Yes indeed, at the moment P3Dv5 still has the best addons for planes.
For sceneries though...
I mean, I can't even watch the P3Dv5 screenshot topic in simouthouse anymore, it kind of hurts my eyes...
I can't wait to see the "serious" planes coming to MSFS.