Interesting comments on the Microsoft Flight Simulator graphics engine and how it manages both back compatibility and progress from “The Little Wheel Goes in Back” Blog.
Backward compatibility | The Little Wheel Goes in Back
“I just finished reading a couple pretty extensive threads on AvSim on how important customers think backward compatibility (specifically to accomodate third-party add-ons) should be when designing the next version of Flight Sim…”
Update: 00:46:41: Steve Lacey on the same topic
Backward Compatibility In Flight Simulator | Random Thoughts
“I've lost count of the amount of times that I've read on forums "Why can't Flight Sim look like my <insert FPS de jour here>?" I wish we could, and we're striving to make the visual fidelity of the product on a par (or better) with the best graphics engines out there.
Flight Simulator allows you to be anywhere on the planet, at any time of day, in any day of the year, at any altitude (or attitude for that matter). Most other games have your eyes approximately six feet off the ground at a fixed time of day in a well constrained location. Everything is prelit and stage-crafted for that visceral experience.
I'm not trying to make excuses here, but you can't compare apples to pot roast.
And if you'd like to help out, I'm hiring.”
