If I recall correctly,
When Microsoft licensed ESP to LM and others it was on the condition that it was not for entertainment purposes.
I believe it is this old hangover that results in the current wording and 'license paranoia'
Anyone can engage in self education about flying. Please note: If you start to find it entertaining, Microsoft have stipulated that you must stop.
Gawd, that was funny, Ian !
But, on a more serious note (
NOT !), when I read about the "
game changing" feature set in
P3D 2.0, it fills me with an overwhelming compulsion to...
grab my joystick.
...Or was that my "
game controller" ?
Oh, wait, I can't use a "
game" controller (least of all a "XBox" game controller) with P3D, can I ?
And one might wonder if use of a "
gamepad" with P3D might be in conflict with the EULA as well.
Hmmm... lets see:
http://support.xbox.com/en-US/games/pc-games/xbox-controller-for-windows-setup
Home > Support > Games > Set up your Xbox 360 controller for Windows
"Set up your Xbox 360 controller for Windows
Lots of PC games let you play with a controller instead of just a keyboard or mouse. You can quickly and easily install the Microsoft Xbox 360 Controller for Windows on any computer that has an available USB port and that is running Windows XP Service Pack 2 or a later version of Windows.
Note: This information applies only to the Xbox 360 controller for Windows. For help with other gamepads or joysticks, refer to the manufacturer’s website or support center. For information about how to configure a specific game so that you can play it with a controller, refer to the game publisher’s website or support center."
Do we even need the European Union and the US Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department to interpret whether the term "
Game" or "
Simulator" may be interchangeable ?
It seems reasonably apparent to me that the
software context of use for such a hardware controller device may be interchangeable between games and simulators.
I suggest the 2 terms "
Game" and "
Simulator" are interchangeable based on the (landmark case precedent set by ?) the movie "War Games", in which Matthew Broderick's character gets WOPR to run a nuclear war simulation, originally believing it to be a computer game.
The
simulation causes a national nuclear missile scare and nearly starts World War III.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WarGames
http://movieclips.com/bsNe-wargames-movie-shall-we-play-a-game/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHWjlCaIrQo
< I wonder if Lockheed Martin consulted on the making of
that movie ?
>
BTW: The
good news is that portions of the DirectX 11.1 runtime will be made available for Windows 7:
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Se...irectX-11.1-Runtime-Chuck-Walbourn,19135.html
The
bad news is that many users are experiencing graphical anomalies with the (current) "Portions of the 'DirectX 11.1 Runtime'" being made available on Windows 7 Service Pack 1 via the Platform Update for Windows 7 Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (KB 2670838) included with the
Internet Explorer 10 Release Preview for Windows 7," which "includes the updated components above, but is limited to WDDM 1.1 drivers on Windows 7."
Even if P3D works without problems on the DirectX 11.1 implementation available on the Windows 8 platform, I believe a majority of the FS Community have little interest in switching to Windows 8, so I hope MS gets its act together and makes the above 'DirectX 11.1 Runtime' work properly in Windows 7 !
PS: I promise, if I start to find P3D too entertaining, I'll consider letting Microsoft tell me that I must stop; seeing them attempt to enforce that CAVEAT would be genuinely 'entertaining' !
< ...
Ahem... > ...Anybody notice that in War Games,
Joshua was programmed to target Seattle preceded only by Las Vegas ?
<
...Just Kidding, of course... >
Happy Flying !
GaryGB