A New Version

[Bradader]

Love to see a boxed Version 2Disc 1st Offline 2ndOnline or just an offline Disc Version with a Warning You Must Have This Type Operation System, No minimal required system, to save others having problems, that is only one type problem I can see I know for sure there is more, but for sake of keep this Question short.

[MikeMikeJuliet]

I'm sorry, I don't really understand what and why you are asking this...

 

Why would you need/want a disc version when the sim updates so frequently that installing from a disk would still require a ton of updates online. Secondly DCS is a single package in regards to singleplayer and multiplayer... why would one need separate discs? DCS can be set to offline mode after installation in the game.

 

And why would the disc have an operating system requirement but not other system requirements? DCS is a high-end program requiring significant horsepower to play well. This would be crucial information.

 

 

Could you elaborate on what and why you are asking this? It seems pointless to me with the littke info you have provided...

 

 

Regards,

MikeMikeJuliet

[Worrazen]

Actually I did float such an idea in my mind once, not sure if I ever mentioned it here, in some kind of an super-def version available for the public in future meant only for the most powerful PCs, with like 128GB RAM and 64GB VRAM (if these will be even separate at that point --> Intel EMIB, 1 ,2 ) with near lossless audio and textures or something like that. Practical, nope, but whatever, stuff like this is rare or nonexistant, at least someone could do it. In general it's not that big of a deal, it's just another branch with different assets and some modifications probably to the engine too and options screen, etc.

 

But the assets would be so huge, it's more practical to release it physically on a HDD all "preinstalled", you would technically install but that would just be metadata and a pointer to the data on this special HDD. So you would log in to your DCS Account, and you could order the premium version by mail, you won't get any discs, you would get it on a 6 TB Hard Drive, with phsyically printed manual, big printed maps, premium packaging, all the extras and stuff like that for a serious DCS fan.

 

Updates would be more rare ofcourse first because it's Premium, you're not in for beta testing, and to make it simpler on the dev maintenance as well as on user updating, it would be like 2 times a year, all stable and tested, if size is an issue, let's say an update is like over 100GB or more, it would just be an option to have it shipped on a 128GB or 256GB SD Card. Or pretty much all updates would have a digital and physical version for the sake of convenience or if someone plays this in remote vacation house and has to do maintenance (corruption), there could be an option to try to repair the installation from one of the physical updates and hope the corrupted part is on there, as an alternative to an online repair, stuff like that gets to be more doable managable if you think about it deeper and start figuring out these ways to make it work, it just takes extra thought to get there, just doing less frequent updates helps a lot in such an idea.

 

So it's all possible if someone really wants to do it.

Edited July 31, 2018 by Worrazen

[ac5]

I'm sorry, I don't really understand what and why you are asking this...

 

Why would you need/want a disc version when the sim updates so frequently that installing from a disk would still require a ton of updates online. Secondly DCS is a single package in regards to singleplayer and multiplayer... why would one need separate discs? DCS can be set to offline mode after installation in the game.

 

And why would the disc have an operating system requirement but not other system requirements? DCS is a high-end program requiring significant horsepower to play well. This would be crucial information.

 

 

Could you elaborate on what and why you are asking this? It seems pointless to me with the littke info you have provided...

 

 

Regards,

MikeMikeJuliet

 

Pointless to say the least... It's 2018....

[Bradader]

Thanks Worrazen wow great reply, Sorry it took so long to get back for reply.

[Mars Exulte]

A boxed copy would have to be paid for, for one. It wouldn't be "free to play" and it wouldn't include any other modules or maps because... you don't own them yet and there's no way to know what to put on there, nor are you going to get access to them without having purchased.

 

There's no way to get around sizeable updates. Any modules you purchase will require downloads. Do you know how long you would remain compatible with online servers? Exactly 7 days, the time it took the first patch to release, so up front this would be effectively offline only by this "only update twice a year" suggestion.

 

And shipping updates out on SD cards and stuff? You're going to be paying for all that, too. And it will still be out of date in exactly 7 days, and it will still not have all the modules on it.

 

So the only way this is even possible, is if they custom tailor the initial case, and subsequent update "discs" to you personally... which is not going to happen.

 

Also, shipping it out on discs has zip to do with hardware or operating system minimum requirements. That's not even logical. The medium it's delivered on doesn't change the product.

 

Lastly, any disc'd version of DCS beyond only the absolute minimum would end up requiring dozens of discs (my current install is 142gb), and take literally forever to install. You think waiting on a download in the background is bad? Sit there for 4-5 hours feeding the damn thing discs. You're not making any headway on convenience. As for manuals and such being printed along with this horde of discs... You're talking about a custom tailored package that would amount to probably a hundred pounds (or more), cost a fortune to ship, and would probably cost you more to purchase than all the modules are worth in the first place.

 

-edit

 

Printed manuals are easy to do though. Just take the PDF down to a printer facility and they should be able to hook you up easy enough, although it's still apt to be fairly pricey by the time you're done. Some of these manuals are 500+ pages. Even assuming a few cents apiece, you're apt to be looking at $30-50 I would think, just for one. Maybe more, I don't know what they actually charge, tbh.

[SkateZilla]

There will be no more disc versions or printed manuals due to many things:

-Production Costs of DVDs

DCS Core by itself is 55 or So GB without ANY Modules and about 150+GB with all of them.

So even w/ Double Layer DVDs, your looking at at LEAST 3 DVDs for an install that will be outdated by several weeks by time they are pressed and distributed.

 

-Production Costs of Packaging

-Production Costs of Printing Manuals

-Production Costs of Distributing

 

 

All of these costs of for things used only once or not at all (not everyone uses the 900+ page Manuals, and the DVDs will be outdated before they even ship, so You'll install, and then have to update, then download any modules.)

 

There's no point in spending the money for these things.

 

I keep the latest OB Version with No Modules backed up on an external drive.

Any Manuals you want to be printed can be done easily at a printing store.

[David OC]

WISH: Rollback to 1997

 

Yes, but no...:cry:

 

In my mind it was good because that's all we had then. Looking back now considering what we have now + VR, not so much. If you want to blame someone, that would be Steam Valve.

 

"Through user polls at the time of its announcement in 2002, Valve also recognized that at least 75% of their users had access to high-speed Internet connections, which would only grow with planned Internet expansion in the following years, and recognized that they could deliver game content faster to players than through retail channels. Valve approached several companies, including Microsoft, Yahoo!, and RealNetworks to build a client with these features, but were declined."

 

[SharpeXB]

There’s still a use for these things...

[mytai01]

I would love to to go back to the old punchcards myself...ahhh... DCS Punchcards edition...

[Bradader]

Where do I singe up TMcClure.

[Bradader]

Thanks for the reply's.