Looks Like Microsofts New Sim Is On The Way

[cmpbllsjc 2]

Maybe Aerosoft won't have to proceed with a new sim after all? Just saw this posted over at Avsim so I though I would pass it on.

Video preview: http://content4.cata...055ee71c269.wmv

Introducing "Microsoft Flight"

Twenty-eight years after the debut of "Microsoft Flight Simulator 1.0," Microsoft Game Studios also announced the internal development of "Microsoft Flight," a new Windows exclusive. "Microsoft Flight" will bring a new perspective to the long-standing genre, welcoming everyone, including long-time fans, to experience the magic of flight.

A teaser of the future of Flight on the Windows-based PC is available at http://www.microsoft.com/games/flight/

POST EDIT: Meant to say in the title On the way, not ONE the way. Cant edit it :-(

[mopperle 4162]

A teaser of the future of Flight on the Windows-based PC is available at http://www.microsoft.com/games/flight/

A teaser?

Doesn't tell anything, can be done with any rendering/video software. IMHO same bu****it as the not finished DX10 support in FSX (that's why it is called preview)

[Aerosoft Team [Inactive Account] 51558]

Maybe Aerosoft won't have to proceed with a new sim after all? Just saw this posted over at Avsim so I though I would pass it on.

Video preview: http://content4.cata...055ee71c269.wmv

Introducing "Microsoft Flight"

Twenty-eight years after the debut of "Microsoft Flight Simulator 1.0," Microsoft Game Studios also announced the internal development of "Microsoft Flight," a new Windows exclusive. "Microsoft Flight" will bring a new perspective to the long-standing genre, welcoming everyone, including long-time fans, to experience the magic of flight.

A teaser of the future of Flight on the Windows-based PC is available at http://www.microsoft.com/games/flight/

POST EDIT: Meant to say in the title On the way, not ONE the way. Cant edit it :-(

Edited your title.

We are not too impressed about this. They dropped MSFS, told everybody they would not do stand-alone games anymore, pissed off all professional users. Then they announce it again without any details. They did exactly the same about Train Simulator 2 years ago and they dropped it a few months later.

In the long run it doesn't mean a lot for our plans, we got something they don't got and that's high end content!

[cmpbllsjc 2]

Edited your title.

We are not too impressed about this. They dropped MSFS, told everybody they would not do stand-alone games anymore, pissed off all professional users. Then they announce it again without any details. They did exactly the same about Train Simulator 2 years ago and they dropped it a few months later.

In the long run it doesn't mean a lot for our plans, we got something they don't got and that's high end content!

Thanks Mathijs for editing the title.

Yeah I must say that I was fairly surprised to see a trailer for this. Although there had been some postings a while back at MS for programmers and the likes who had aviation back ground/experience. It will be interesting to see what comes of this. You never know, it might just be more like a video game with no ability to add 3rd party content like a/c or airports. Or, maybe it will knock of socks off, so to speak and be the best version yet?

It's way to early to tell, but interesting to say the least.

I'll say this about it though. Hopefully if it is a viable new sim and is written to take advantage of todays computers rather than the computers of 5 years from now, like the past versions of FS have been, maybe we will finally have a sim that the majority of users will like and put an end to the division of FS9 vs. FSX users.

[limp 29]

Yeah, not really interested either... I won't get excited for the moment...

[Sharrow 107]

The fact that they dropped the word "simulator" from the title is telling. Cleary this is intentional and it points to a break of some sort from what they did in the past. Having said that in my opinion MS would not likely forgo the opportunity to allow 3rd party addons - the key difference, however, is that it would be through a tightly controlled MS app store.

[BlueBallroom 44]

for me it looks like a game, not like a realistic simulator.

but this is just my impression

[Shaun Fletcher 570]

Hello Folks,

Again only time will tell. coming to a store near you maybe, maybe not, maybe, maybe not.

[mwilk 4]

Mathijs,

Keep going on the Aerosoft simulator. Competition brings out the best and more choices are good for the flight sim community.

Regards,

Mike W.

[Python 9]

We are not too impressed about this. They dropped MSFS, told everybody they would not do stand-alone games anymore, pissed off all professional users. Then they announce it again without any details. They did exactly the same about Train Simulator 2 years ago and they dropped it a few months later.

In the long run it doesn't mean a lot for our plans, we got something they don't got and that's high end content!

I wouldn't worry too much about this, MS flight sims have always had their issues, as much as i love FSX it has major flaws such as frame rates for one, poor scenery etc etc. If anything this could be good competition for you, a nice incentive to make the best possible flight sim you can, we all pay £30+ for individual add on aircraft anyway, i think we have enough time for two different simulators in the long run. And if there is good competition for MS (were hoping you) then those that cant afford both may well jump over to Aerosoft who are obviously a more deicated producer in the flight sim sector when compared to the huge organisation that is Microsoft. just learn from their mistakes and give the people what they want

What id rather see m$ do is fix FSX for us loyal fans if they have a flight sim department again??

All the best.

[BPL 39]

I don't think that Aerosoft has anything to worry about. My guess is that this will be more of an arcade type of game based on the dropping of "Simulator" from the title. It may even be some sort of online, subscription-based game. I really don't expect to be impressed.

[Snave 466]

I wouldn't worry too much about this, MS flight sims have always had their issues, as much as i love FSX it has major flaws such as frame rates for one, poor scenery etc etc. If anything this could be good competition for you, a nice incentive to make the best possible flight sim you can, we all pay £30+ for individual add on aircraft anyway, i think we have enough time for two different simulators in the long run. And if there is good competition for MS (were hoping you) then those that cant afford both may well jump over to Aerosoft who are obviously a more deicated producer in the flight sim sector when compared to the huge organisation that is Microsoft. just learn from their mistakes and give the people what they want

What id rather see m$ do is fix FSX for us loyal fans if they have a flight sim department again??

All the best.

Far from worrying, I feel that this may be exactly what the Aerosoft Flight Sim package needs - MS do all the legwork making a new `game` (I too notice that nowhere except in their reference to the previous product is their any mention of `simulator` - it's all `game` from here on in) and then Aerosoft step in with the high-end package that delivers what simmers find lacking in the online toy...

The very essence of the MS `Live` MMO concept is that it MUST pander to the lowest common denominator, and therefore must by implication be pitched at the moron-level 10-year old with dreams of shooting down Jumbos with Spitfires. Instead of `flight model fidelity`, think rocket mods, gun action and looping airliners. My! how I look forward to that...

I cannot see at this point how MS Flight can deliver on ANY of the important virtual reality issues that mark out a successful simulation product without by implication excluding the 95th percentile, and so defeating the very objective of massive multiplayer online - huge numbers generating licence revenue, no matter how banal.

And then there;s the problem with games that require an online connection. The recent history of simulators converting to online MMO is not good - Silent Hunter 5 is a disaster.

But it's early days. As long as AFS is there to pick up the pieces of the dissatisfied simmer who's completion of a nine-hour transatlantic flight between major international hubs has been spoiled by some lobotomised brat shooting them down on approach to JFK Int with a rocket-propelled biplane armed with Stingers I'm sure there will be a place for it.

[alainneedle1 32]

Worry...not to worry....worry.....I would be.....is this not a step in the right direction....this is more than six month ago right?......as I can tell by reading on other developper's forums...they may be involve in it......

Quote:

" Since ACES closed I have gone on record on many occasions to clearly state that we will continue to support the Microsoft platform, and only the Microsoft platform. Whilst we have been approached a number of times to port to X-Plane and look at other sim alternatives, my position as CEO has been clear: we're a Microsoft shop and will stay that way.

Secondly, please do not ask us for more information, other than what Microsoft themselves have published (as they did today) on public sites for everyone to see. Whilst it's fun to speculate about this new platform, you need to understand we simply cannot say anything at this early stage. Please respect our wishes in that regard.

Finally, we are 100% committed to releasing content for this new platform, in whatever guise that may be; of that you have our promise."

end of quote.

Worry.....not to worry...worry....

By the way my earlier thread was not to be insulte anybody but just to tell you all Microsoft was ahead i(IMHO) n the race for a new sim. or game so if I have insulted somebody please accept my apologies......

[Aerosoft Team [Inactive Account] 51558]

What id rather see m$ do is fix FSX for us loyal fans if they have a flight sim department again??

That's the comment of the day (hate the m$ thing though, if you allow me to say so, it's very 1995). What MS did was to tell us they are working on something related to flight. Could be a game, could be a simulator. Could be online only, could be stand alone. Could be open to add-ons or could have a closed environment. Could even use a closed shop environment like the iPhone has. Now from all the info we had we already knew that. They also shown us a 'trailer' that has nothing to do with the game/simulator but is just a render, almost certainly not in any way connected to the game. Remember the great image of that lake they showed is for FSX? Ever seen that in FSX? No you did not. And you will NOT see anything like this trailer in what MS is doing now.

What I am going to say now is personal. Not Aerosoft comment.

• We would be happy, very happy, if MS would make a more or less serious simulator that would allow addons. Why would we not? Aerosoft was build on that. The fact we now have FS2004 next to FSX is good for us, we got two platforms and we got customers moving from FS2004 to FSX every single day. Those people are our best friends as they need to upgrade add-ons! If we would have AFS2013 next to MS Flight we would have two very different platforms, even better for us. 3d Modeling stays the same (I cannot imagine MS going off path in that) and we only need two different compilers, two manuals and two installers.
• For me personally, as the person responsible for ASF2013, it means very little. MS dropped the 'simulator' from the name, specifically mentions beginners, puts it squarely in the games domain. All of this points to a different customer then I am planning for right now. I flown 40k miles in the last few months to talk to add-on developers to see what THEY want, I spend thousands of Euro's/Dollars/Yen on beers to find our what customers like and hate. Now I am sure MS is doing market research but I did not see them, nor did the customers I spoke to, nor did the add-on devs I bought diner for (one exception in that, they know who I am talking about). You make up your mind with that info.
• We are as open as possible. We are intending to make a VERY open simulator where every bit is documented and every bit (except the very core) can be replaced by add-ons. A platform, not a product. Every customer we got has say and we do listen to everything, all the major (okay a few might not) add-on developers are talking to me to make sure that what thee need is inserted. Where MS wants to sell the game/simulator we want (need) a new platform. There is a huge difference there.

So in the end. I am sitting here, typing personal comments (not Aerosoft comments), with a glass of wine in my hand and not being worried. The news blurb from MS is good news, no matter how I look at it. ANY new development in flightsims on PC's is good for us.

[BPL 39]

I seriously do not believe that MS will ever release anything with a realistic enough flight model to compete with Aerosoft in the realm of serious simmers. Anything that they release will probably be very close to Snave's prediction, IMHO. An online, unrealistic, arcade, massively multiplayer, subscription-based, "drain-as-much-money-out-of-you-as-possible" disaster.

[Bell417 0]

I understand that this is only a render, but it certainly looks nice! The two most important thing for me in a flight sim are realism (ie, flight dynamics) and visuals. I'm interested in any sim that meets those requirements. I'll follow this project with great interest.

[hypercide 5]

This is all very interesting. I really get your impatience with Microsoft, Mathijs. Because they hold all the marbles all the time, they pretty much do what they want. That's why the ACES Studio, for all their skills, was just a group of employees.

Remember when the only place you found a gorgeous Goose or Maule was in the forums? (Isn't it odd it's a Stearman in that trailer? Where did that idea come from, I wonder?) When beautiful clouds were only had as an add-on? So Microsoft closes up shop for a few years, watches REX, Orbx, and Aerosoft push FSX, which already looks pretty nice (sorry, it does), beyond the beyond in terms of beauty and virtual fidelity. They're surely watching Andras Field pretty closely. If they know that screen rez and computer power are such that "the lowest common denominator" could buy an off the shelf "Flight" game that is fun to fly around in and looks like one of those REX/ORBX trailers, why would'nt they step back into the market? If they know a generation of console-trained gamers (all moving into their 20's) has been trained to supplement game experience with exclusive online content, why would they not go that route? In one respect, the add-on market finds itself an arms-length, uncompensated R&D department creating and market-testing new ideas for Microsoft (I bet they've had the Aerosoft Catalina on the dissecting table for a while now). I'm glad I'm only a consumer who gets to enjoy the spoils and not the producer who has to figure out where a stable market exists.

The trick of it is in that title: it seems to me that "Simulator" belongs to the world of DOS, when the mechanics of code and machinery were probably a lot closer to the average computer user's experience than they are now (impassioned flight simmers seem to be, by nature, the tinkering type--I am). "Simulator" has a strong scientific ring, sounds a bit complicated, a bit much for the guy trying to relax on a Friday night (Aerosoft already knows this part, hence the Airbus). I suspect "Flight" will be expandable no differently than previous iterations. And I'm one of those sad types who, when a choice is available, isn't going to kneel at the altar of flight dynamics if the whole platform looks like, well, a computer game (LOMAC vs Falcon 4, FSX vs FS9). I suspect the game/not-a-game line will not move units.

Aerosoft's challenge is to create a difference. Perhaps, if Microsoft has "Flight," Aerosoft should have "Real Flight"

(Though either way, I'll need a new computer. Again!)

Tim

[bandsma 11]

Now I am sure MS is doing market research but I did not see them, nor did the customers I spoke to, nor did the add-on devs I bought diner for (one exception in that, they know who I am talking about). You make up your mind with that info.

Best point I've seen on this whole issue. Despite everything Microsoft has done for this hobby in the past, where are they now in terms of actually asking the community what they want? They are making it pretty clear they could really care less what we all want. Thanks to Aerosoft we don't have to rely on them anymore for the future development of the hobby.

[Designer Paule 24]

Yeah I received a survey about this new thing several months ago maybe more than a year ago, if I had to think

of what they are coming out with based on the questions a lot of eye candy and not exactly a simulator. I could

be wrong but judging from the past I agree with Mathjis's comments regarding how quickly they pulled things back

after announcing them. For those that were there when they introduced Train Simulator II in Seattle along with ESP

and then pulling out and the closing of ACES I am going to stick with FS9, FSX, and Aerosofts version unless they

really have something unique. Leaving out the simulator is wrong and I call it dumbing of flight. It won't be a simulator

but the dumbing of it and along with that I'll let all the wannabes go with it and I'll stick with the pros. Now if they could

clean up some of FSX and release an updated patch that would be great for the real simulators.

Just my 2 cents worth.

[Python 9]

That's the comment of the day (hate the m$ thing though, if you allow me to say so, it's very 1995).

Haha you may, lesson learned! I stand by my statement though, they need to fix FSX or why would anyone trust their sims/games in future? too many people have been burned by the frame rate problems. I have a high spec system that i spent almost £2000 on just for FSX and crysis!! crysis runs perfectly but in FSX i can get no more than 30fps with pretty low settings! and its blocky movements also especially in fast jets which is pretty much all i use outside of missions. If MS would sort this out i would buy REX and fancy scenery addons and i may have a great simulator..... Or i could wait and hope that Aerosoft do it right for us, and maybe get the flight dynamics a little closer to reality at the same time... Please?

[cmpbllsjc 2]

Leaving out the simulator is wrong and I call it dumbing of flight. It won't be a simulator

but the dumbing of it and along with that I'll let all the wannabes go with it and I'll stick with the pros. Now if they could

clean up some of FSX and release an updated patch that would be great for the real simulators.

Just my 2 cents worth.

How do you know it will be a dumbing of it? Maybe it will be the best sim to date that MS has come out with?

Frankly I think I will reserve my judgment on whether or not to buy it once I know what the new sim actually does, rather than making a judgement based off the fact that they dont use the word "Simulator" in the title or on how the short trailer looked. The only thing we do know is that it's new and will be comming out in the future, aside from that everything else is just a guess.

Maybe they have worked on the flight dynamics and made it run better than FSX?

I could care less what they call it. If it ends up being a viable replacement for FSX and FS9 I will be a buyer. If not, at least I have a nice setup working in FSX.

[Designer Paule 24]

Biwisi still sticking with my opinion after seeing the video

Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

[cmpbllsjc 2]

Biwisi still sticking with my opinion after seeing the video

Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

LOL, the video may only be a render and not even ''in game'' footage.

In any case it will be interesting to see what developes.

[Designer Paule 24]

LOL, the video may only be a render and not even ''in game'' footage.

In any case it will be interesting to see what developes.

Yeah I'll wait and see but based on what I have seen in the past few years, and heard and all the things that people have said vaporware wise about flight simulators and train simulators being brought out

at this stage I'll stick more to Aerosoft than Microsoft.

[jordancollins 28]

Video: Piece of shit this is...nice render, to bad there's gonna be kids going to bed tonight thinking you'll see something like that in a game.

"Flight": They dropped sim...shouldn't have done that, that shows me thats its going to be geared towards 13 yr olds or 80 yr olds.

I will buy, o ya for sure, for a birthday present to give to my Nephew, seeing as it will probably run better then that "other" piece of shit (FSX) they gave me a couple years ago. It's funny soon as the hardware starts to catch up there making a new title. I think the best things that ever happened to the community was the failure of the FSX Franchise...like serious, would you fly FSX without ORBX Aerosoft etc...not me.