NZFF

Just finished watching the Twitch MSFS Dev discussion, always great to see some real involvement from the developers, I guess the questions are screened a bit, but Jorg's openness is a joy to behold!
The important bit was the info on the upcoming World Update 12, New Zealand. This will release 24 Feb NZ time. Jorg did mention the involvement of the NZ govt, I'm glad (but not surprised) to know that LINZ have made it easy for them to source local data. The new mesh looks incredible, this will be the first representation of NZ in any sim with all the pointy bits as default.
The 'bespoke' airports are pretty much exactly as expected:

• Orbx's previous projects from FSX/P3D:
• -- NZGS Gisborne
• -- NZMF Milford Sound
• -- MZMJ Martin's Bay
• -- Quinton Lodge
• -- NZWR Whangarei.
• A few from NZA:
• -- NZQE Gorge River
• -- NZRO Rotorua
• -- NZTL Tekapo
• -- NZWS Westport

So nothing additional to what we have seen previously.

A bunch of photogrammetry cities:

• Christchurch
• Hamilton
• Nelson
• Queenstown
• Tauranga
• Wellington

I'm still not 100% sure about photogrammetry, but I am looking forward to seeing it in this update.

There are a lot of good POIs which I won't list:)

NZA is obviously ready to release NZCH to coincide with WU12, this does look great from the latest previews.

Plenty of scope for local developers, I am excited for this, even though nothing has changed for me -- some very interesting comments from Jorg today on developer access to the Marketplace, this has always been a priority for me, and there was some good/bad news from Jorg. Good, in that they do intend to solve the issue with allowing more devs onboard, and bad in that there is a definite prioritisation based on what people are taking about online, which really means what devs are announcing. This is a bit of a chicken and egg situation for me, do I continue developing through my own store only (frankly not enough to live on) in the hope that I will eventually get access to the Marketplace...

Still, it's great to be able to get really excited about the future of NZ simming!

I'll be sure to watch it from home tonight. You say "bespoke" does that mean they are offering those Orbx and NZA titles bundled w and made compatible w MSFS update 12 for free?

PS this is the twitch link I'm assuming https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1725146227

deeknow wrote:I'll be sure to watch it from home tonight. You say "bespoke" does that mean they are offering those Orbx and NZA titles bundled w and made compatible w MSFS update 12 for free?

PS this is the twitch link I'm assuming https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1725146227

Yes, and yes. I should have posted the link but Twitch is such a painful way to find/view things like this (once it's finished streaming) that I normally just wait for it on Youtube.

The Orbx airports are remakes?/updates? of previous sim's payware, but the NZA airports were always MSFS freeware. For example, you won't see their NZNS or MZMC.

I have just realised that next month it'll be 2 years since I applied for Marketplace access -- time flies when you are not having fun!

Really looking forward to this!...

Rob, any further thoughts on Tauranga Airport, since it's included as a photogrammetry city?

Tauranga would still be a good option, but maybe not at this time -- I am hoping for something a bit closer, so I can fit in visits around my current commitments. Plus it would be a big job, which doesn't scare me, it's just that I want something I can complete this year.
today I followed up a couple of airports which have been difficult to get to talk with in the past, this time via Facebook which is a bit weird for a boomer bloke, but we'll see.

toprob wrote:I have just realised that next month it'll be 2 years since I applied for Marketplace access -- time flies when you are not having fun!

well I for one can't wait to see what you'll build for us when you DO get the green light, good luck and God's speed

Just some of the Twitch MSFS Dev discussion presentation slide screen shots. Side note, Hobbiton although not a City they did a special aerial photo shot just before Xmas 2022 just so that NZ can have special Photogrammetry scenery of the Hobbiton area in Matamata.

Also note worthy is that Microsoft might be planning to hold an event in NZ most likely Auckland with Jorg Neumann Head of MSFS Team, flying out to NZ to attend and celebrate the World Update 12 NZ release around 24 Feb NZ time.









If you're wondering, the above slide screen shot is the POI for the Lighthouse in Pungarehu, it's also known as Cape Egmont Lighthouse with Mount Taranaki in the background.

One thing I'm confused about is it states 6 photogrammetry cities but then lists 7. Is Auckland included because of specific landmarks or is it also full photogrammetry?

FlyingKiwi wrote:One thing I'm confused about is it states 6 photogrammetry cities but then lists 7. Is Auckland included because of specific landmarks or is it also full photogrammetry?

The initial number on all the slides shows the number announced back in Nov 2022. Note that back then there were only 4 bespoke airports.
EDIT: the POI slide above says 'airports' in error, I guess. There were initially to be 30+ points of interest, now 60+

Many thanks for the preview.
End Feb, eh?
Should be Locked and Loaded by then, I will eat anything you make.

toprob wrote:Tauranga would still be a good option, but maybe not at this time -- I am hoping for something a bit closer, so I can fit in visits around my current commitments. Plus it would be a big job, which doesn't scare me, it's just that I want something I can complete this year.
today I followed up a couple of airports which have been difficult to get to talk with in the past, this time via Facebook which is a bit weird for a boomer bloke, but we'll see.

Come on man ... Rangiora ... you know you want too ... !!!

Maybe Palmerston North and/or Masterton?

cowpatz wrote:Maybe Palmerston North and/or Masterton?

...and maybe in that order.

toprob wrote:

FlyingKiwi wrote:One thing I'm confused about is it states 6 photogrammetry cities but then lists 7. Is Auckland included because of specific landmarks or is it also full photogrammetry?

The initial number on all the slides shows the number announced back in Nov 2022. Note that back then there were only 4 bespoke airports.
EDIT: the POI slide above says 'airports' in error, I guess. There were initially to be 30+ points of interest, now 60+

Ah I see that makes sense.

toprob wrote:This is a bit of a chicken and egg situation for me, do I continue developing through my own store only (frankly not enough to live on) in the hope that I will eventually get access to the Marketplace...

Still, it's great to be able to get really excited about the future of NZ simming!

If being asked, distribute via your own store and make some good advertising around it. Even an announcement on the official MSFS forum with screenshots should bring quite a number of sales. Add AVSIM, of course NZFF and a couple of others and you should be good. Discord might be another platform those days (although I never made friends with it myself).

I never buy an addon from the Marketplace if it's available elsewhere. I find it confusing, awkward and slow with updates. Even to the point I miss some Marketplace-only offerings. I know, buying via it would support MSFS development, but then MS should make it fun buying there.

Kind regards, Michael

I try to buy from the marketplace when I can for the simple reason that it'll tell me that there is an update. It may be a little slow in getting there but I'm sure that I have products from other web stores that I don't have updates for simply because I don't know they're available. I'd rather do my shopping in one place.

Yes I'm the same, each to their own but I've actually only bought stuff from the marketplace so far, I know there's a lot of really good stuff out there that isn't on the market but from a convenience point of view it's nice to have it all in one place and not worry about missing out on an update, especially given how regularly addons do need updating after new sim patches.

A lot of talk about airports for MSFS and difficulties with marketing. Curious why nobody cares about XP12 , is it because the market is too small there ?

I must admit I'd normally prefer to buy from the Marketplace, although I have made a few purchases through developer sites. It makes sense to me that we can have a single source of products and updates, much of which is semi-automatic. Hence my desire to be accepted into the marketplace.

tanken2 wrote:A lot of talk about airports for MSFS and difficulties with marketing. Curious why nobody cares about XP12 , is it because the market is too small there ?

For me, this came down to the 'community'. A small but vocal group saw me coming from a MS sim base as some kind of cash-grab, and for a while I was bombarded with messages threatening to destroy my business. At the time, it seemed like a good reason to quit any XP development, and I suspect that nothing has changed in the last few years.

toprob wrote:For me, this came down to the 'community'. A small but vocal group saw me coming from a MS sim base as some kind of cash-grab, and for a while I was bombarded with messages threatening to destroy my business. At the time, it seemed like a good reason to quit any XP development, and I suspect that nothing has changed in the last few years.

I still don't understand this at all. I've never seen the XP community attack someone like that. Sometimes I see people go onto the XP forums saying that the sim is rubbish and MSFS is so much better and they get to hammered quickly but I've never seen nor heard of a situation like you describe.