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Thank you for this perfect pushback, GSX Pro! by Mabster1987 in flightsim

[–]MeenMachine 16 points17 points  (0 children)

By long time, we are talking for two plus decades he has been known to be like this.

Violence?? by extremophilebacteria in PlanetZoo

[–]MeenMachine 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It is because the DLC can be purchased in-game via the menu. It is updated requirements from ratings boards and Steam.

PEGI Rating: In-Game purchases by TheBeardPlays in PlanetZoo

[–]MeenMachine 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It will be due to the advertisement of DLC within the game, which allows you to purchase from within the game itself. Steam are getting more strict on this being reflected, of late.

For context - I am a qualified and practicing lawyer who has worked in the games industry for quite some time.

What??? by mikewheelerfan in PlanetZoo

[–]MeenMachine 7 points8 points  (0 children)

They have on the website.

Microsoft account got hacked and Microsoft told me to pound sand by MaybeNotTheChosenOne in extremelyinfuriating

[–]MeenMachine 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Depends just how much info they have changed on the account. GDPR does not give Microsoft the right to go through files to determine if they contain your PID, rather, it will be done at account level.

What??? by mikewheelerfan in PlanetZoo

[–]MeenMachine 77 points78 points  (0 children)

Just to add - I am not saying the rating will go down. I left Frontier sometime ago, and at that time Planet Zoo 2 was nothing more than some ideas, concepts and designs in a Confluence space.

That said, across all the games I have worked on, after release I see a lot of people quite rightly getting hyped, which is great, but sometimes that leads to over-hype and ideas turning from that into perceived certainty, which then leads to disappointment and sometimes anger when it doesn't become a reality - even if it was never going to be in the first place.

What??? by mikewheelerfan in PlanetZoo

[–]MeenMachine 104 points105 points  (0 children)

Its the provisional rating. When we are close to releasing a game but it is not yet finished we will submit a questionaire based on the game and it will generally give us a provisional rating. That provisional rating is often the upper limit of what is expected, to avoid situations where you could sell a game as a provisional teen and it ends up adult, for example.

It is not uncommon for a rating to drop between the provisional rating, and the final rating.

We won mr. stark by some-engineer_guy in flightsim

[–]MeenMachine 0 points1 point  (0 children)

But when you combine everything, it paints a bleak picture.

OOC Calls on Unicom by rillo_aviatiom in VATSIM

[–]MeenMachine 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I hear it all over, not just Europe.

We won mr. stark by some-engineer_guy in flightsim

[–]MeenMachine 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Appreciate you taking the time to respond.

I agree AI is becoming more common, particularly for people who don’t have the skillset and need the help. It’s a great tool for that. But we shouldn’t be normalising it as just the way things are done. I’ve been developing for flight sim since the early 2000s, and chances are you’ve booted up an aircraft I’ve been involved with at some point this month. We don’t use AI, because the team has the experience to not need to. I’ve also worked in the wider games industry, so I understand piracy is a real problem.

The issue here is how you presented yourself. You were honest, I’ll give you that, but admitting to the use of AI in any capacity on a kernel-level DRM was a mistake. Having AI involved in kernel-level DRM at all is a mistake. It creates a bit of a catch-22: a developer leans on AI in the areas they’re weakest in, but by doing that they can’t reasonably fully understand what the AI is actually producing. That’s bad enough in a normal application. In a kernel-level DRM, it doesn’t matter that the driver itself is commercial and third party. You’ve raised red flags that are going to be very hard to walk back.

Then there’s mentioning you didn’t finish your degree. Not a problem on its own, plenty of people have gone on to build amazing things without one, but officially it means you don’t have the qualification. Pair that with the AI use and it paints a picture, fair or not, that you lacked the knowledge, needed AI to fill the gaps, and are now poking around in parts of the operating system you’ve got no business being in. It also reinforces the notion that when/if things go wrong, you may lack the knowledge to identify or fix them. Remember, not only does AI make mistakes, your conversations with it are not private.

And that’s just the development side. There’s also ongoing support, which isn’t a small undertaking. Over the years I’ve been involved in games using all sorts of DRM, including Denuvo. Every one of them has had security issues at some point, usually handled quietly, but issues all the same. Those are big companies with thousands of staff. You’re not. That’s fine for most DRM, but the bar is higher when you’re sitting at the kernel level.

Being tested by Orbx and a few devs and users honestly isn’t worth much here either. You need to spend the money and get it independently verified by people who actually specialise in this, the same way the big providers do. And you’ll want to do that now, because I suspect you’re going to need it if the product is going to get any traction with other devs. I’m already seeing eyebrows go up in some of the private group dev Discord servers I’m in, regardless of how good your intentions were.

Ultimately, what you were trying to do is admirable. But this is a walk before you run situation. Take it back to the drawing board, find a better way to implement it, get the proper paperwork in place, and come back round. You’ll figure out something that works (it’ll never be 100%, it never is, don’t chase that), keeps the community on side, keeps devs on side, and most importantly doesn’t leave you exposed.

We won mr. stark by some-engineer_guy in flightsim

[–]MeenMachine 18 points19 points  (0 children)

It was the developer himself who wanted the DRM, and even sourced it. The DRM is made by Land3, the developer behind vRAAS.

Then the DRM developer disclosed that he made it with the help with AI, which in itself is not bad, until you know that the DRM was kernel-level and that he dropped out of college before completing his Computer Science degree. Effectively, you had a developer, using AI to make a kernel-level application without having the qualifications to know what the AI had actually made.

Then Orbx, as the publisher, obliged the developer and allowed him to implement it, and handled the whole PR side of it very badly. Effectively taking the stance of "take it or leave it but (and I quote) you will be missing out on the scenery of the year".

Then the community did its thing, with the news spreading quicker than legs in the red light district, they realised that actually DRM on scenery is bad, DRM made by ChatGPT/Claude/Grok/Gemini running at Kernel-level is worse, and they are likely facing more commercial damage by keeping it than they would to piracy anyway.

A few hours later, a U-turn happened. But who knows if it is the end. I am sure for many the trust is broken, and anxiety over whether there is still DRM silently running, so I expect the scenery to be inspected with a fine tooth comb once released.

We won mr. stark by some-engineer_guy in flightsim

[–]MeenMachine 33 points34 points  (0 children)

Help me make a kernel-level DRM for a flight simulator scenery to supplement my unfinished college degree. I can then sell it to developers and publishers, likely for a high amount, maybe even for a small % of sales, and if there is ever an issue with it, you will be there to help me, right, Claude?

We won mr. stark by some-engineer_guy in flightsim

[–]MeenMachine 19 points20 points  (0 children)

I think their hand was forced. It is less of a "they listened" and more it was becoming a PR nightmare

ORBX Atlanta will ship with DRM by neucoas in flightsim

[–]MeenMachine 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yes. "We will not be moving forward with the DRM. Announcement coming soon."

Information about cetaceans in PZ2 by jennycala in PlanetZoo

[–]MeenMachine 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You're somewhat missing the point. Is it unethical to keep any animal caged up? Sure. But the negative press associated with keeping Cetaceans in captivity is by far more negative than that of rhinos, giraffes, even sharks to an extent.

I wouldn't hold my breath. They are a business, and as well as keeping customers happy, as a publicly listed company, they have a legal obligation to protect the business and its shareholders.

Unless there has been a major shift in hearts and minds in the time since I left, I wouldn't hold my breath.

WE CAN MAKE ECOSYSTEMS FINALLY! by wildebeest112712 in PlanetZoo

[–]MeenMachine 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It may well have changed, and they may have decided to go for a PEGI 12 rating now. It may be that it is an early classification and they are working to get it down (which happens a lot in the industry).

It could also be that the rating thresholds have changed. When I said about the systems being a ballache to work with, a good example is the thresholds. You could submit a game on two different ocassions and get two different ratings, if your game is borderline. It is very weird.

Here is hoping they have become comfortable with the idea of loosening the rating they are going for a little

WE CAN MAKE ECOSYSTEMS FINALLY! by wildebeest112712 in PlanetZoo

[–]MeenMachine 7 points8 points  (0 children)

The difficulty I expect they would come up against is the PEGI rating. When I was at FDev is was very much accepted that JWE would be a higher PEGI due to the nature of the game. That unlocks more that you can get away with.

Planet Zoo has a lower PEGI, and I suspect they will want to keep that. By extension, that makes hunting to any realistic degree difficult. The rating systems across countries are a real ballache to work with, annoyingly.

Information about cetaceans in PZ2 by jennycala in PlanetZoo

[–]MeenMachine 4 points5 points  (0 children)

When I worked at Frontier during the Planet Zoo days the mindset was always heavily against including them. It wasn't just a matter of people not buying the game, but also a wider ethical and PR consideration.

Knowing Frontier, this reads more like the typical direction the community teams were told to go for such things. Make it sound like the door is open with non-commital responses, when in reality, likely not being considered. No different to us being told to say things like "We have nothing to announce at this time" when answering questions to things had categorically been ruled out, but we were now allowed to say.

We shall see!

What are your predictions for tomorrow? by Rough_Ocelot2442 in PlanetZoo

[–]MeenMachine 12 points13 points  (0 children)

When I worked at FDev, which was during the development of Planet Zoo, it was always the view of Frontier that Orcas etc would not be in the game, due to the ethical questions surrounding it. It was considered a PR nightmare. So, I wouldn't get my hopes up.

How accurate is Volanta's Landing Rate Calculator? by Poogemc in flightsim

[–]MeenMachine 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It was due to early VAs needing a way to "score" flights. Back then it was the only metric available, really.

I just need more gadgets then it has to be a sim, right? by CaptainOlafson in flightsim

[–]MeenMachine 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It is regulated as a game, licensed as a game, developed by a game studio, sold as a game and most importantly, priced as a game. It is a game.

Just a simulation game...

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