Regarding the Avsim article on the future of MSFS. All I can say is, I've had it! I will continue to fly FSX as long as MS supports it and allows future activations. That's fine with me, and if they ever pull the plug on that then I'll revert to FS9. However, having said that, no way no how am I gonna buy an XBox to fly any future incarnation of FS, nor will I be forced to pay for every extra plane or scenery area! In my opinion Microsoft has gone way too far here! I suppose that thier thinking is that they could make more money that way, but in reality, again in my opinion, the money made from this move will not be for Microsoft, but rather for Austin Meyer the creator of x-plane. If I were him I would hire whoever he needed to and pounce...pounce hard!!! It will take years for Microsoft to pull any Flightsim out of the ashes of ACES Studios and in that time Austin could pick up 100% of the Flightsim market. Think of that. One guy has the chance to corner a market that he barely had a fingerhold in a month ago, and he could do it virtually overnight! If he doesn't act now he will be missing out on the chance of a lifetime! Austin if you are reading this, I can't speak for the whole community, but i can say this. From what I've seen, all you need is detailed cities,airports and a few more little extras and you have MS beat for good! Don't blow this oportunity to beat the big boys and make a buttload of money in the process! I guess this is a call for support of X-plane and Austin Meyer! I don't even own it yet...but I will if it is developed to modern eyecandy standards. Honestly I am outraged at Microsoft's behavior in this matter Do I seem miffed? I am!!!!

Regarding the Avsim article on the future of MSFS. All I can say is, I've had it! I will continue to fly FSX as long as MS supports it and allows future activations. That's fine with me, and if they ever pull the plug on that then I'll revert to FS9. However, having said that, no way no how am I gonna buy an XBox to fly any future incarnation of FS, nor will I be forced to pay for every extra plane or scenery area! In my opinion Microsoft has gone way too far here! I suppose that thier thinking is that they could make more money that way, but in reality, again in my opinion, the money made from this move will not be for Microsoft, but rather for Austin Meyer the creator of x-plane. If I were him I would hire whoever he needed to and pounce...pounce hard!!! It will take years for Microsoft to pull any Flightsim out of the ashes of ACES Studios and in that time Austin could pick up 100% of the Flightsim market. Think of that. One guy has the chance to corner a market that he barely had a fingerhold in a month ago, and he could do it virtually overnight! If he doesn't act now he will be missing out on the chance of a lifetime!Austin if you are reading this, I can't speak for the whole community, but i can say this. From what I've seen, all you need is detailed cities,airports and a few more little extras and you have MS beat for good! Don't blow this oportunity to beat the big boys and make a buttload of money in the process!I guess this is a call for support of X-plane and Austin Meyer! I don't even own it yet...but I will if it is developed to modern eyecandy standards. Honestly I am outraged at Microsoft's behavior in this matter Do I seem miffed? I am!!!!

Austin will miss the opportunity if he (and the fans that post all of XPlane's superlatives) does not heed the advice given here to build his flight model into something that better simulates flight. As long as I see posts discussing how superior "Blade Element Theory" is to all contenders, I will steer clear of his product. I certainly won't buy his sim just for the sake of having a new flightsim every few years no matter how miffed I am at Microsoft.

If I were him I would have been on the phone the next day to all those ACES developers working out some sort of development deal. Have heard both good and bad about X-Plane, like all flight sims, but isn't is true that that each major upgrade is incorporated into the previous sim. That is too say you don't have to scrap everything you worked on with the previous version? (my knowledge on X-Plane is very limited).Then again, is this not a perfect opportunity for an open source like Flightgear to "take flight" sort-of speak? There's probably a good six years left between FS9 and FSX before it grows long in the tooth and by then we could have quite a substantial FS platform that would not have to be scrapped every 2-3 years. You could build a flightsim world that could last 20-30 years. We certainly have the talent pool out there to create a whole new world!

In my opinion Microsoft has gone way too far here!

Can't agree with you more. MS has gone too far and killed the goose with the golden eggs in the believe that their strategy for Xbox will work. What is really appalling is that they make this move in the midst of a crisis, hoping everybody will believe that they have to do this because of the crisis. :( No they don

I have to agree. We use X-Plane at Aims Community College where i am attending flight school. It's an okay sim for use as an instructor-station/simulator with the proper equipment, but it is by far no comparison for recreation to the enjoyment I have had with FS2004 and FSX. If the ACES team ever teamed up with Austin, I believe a new and promising future would be revived for FS.Wait -- didn't the government try to break up Microsoft and their attempts at monopoly-type business? Oh, okay! This must be their way of sneaking back into that area of their particular "expertise"I hope they realise the moment they quit supporting activations for FSX, P2P hacks are going to go through the roof -- mainly because no one wants togive up FSX for the joke of programming that the rumers state they are doing.Bleah.Austin, ACES -- if you read this -- I am with the author. Team up and make the world FS community one of the happiest communities in the computer gaming industry.

It's good to see some up and downs and no flaming. Thank you all very much for expressing some very constructive comments. I hope nobody got the idea that this was a commercial for X-plane. I owned x-plane 7 and I didn't keep it long. It had, and still has, a long way to go, but that was my point. If Austin can bridge this large chasm between MSFS and X-plane, he can write his own ticket. Thanks again all for a flame free discussion. Let's keep it going. If we can stay united as a community then that is half of the battle.

At the moment, I get irritated flying X-plane after about five minutes. I just don't like the flight modeling too much! But it does have interesting scenery with it's global disks. I'm especially interested in mountain topography. So. if Austin could bag his "blade element theory", and go with MSFS's "look up tables",I could get hooked! :( L.Adamson

At the moment, I get irritated flying X-plane after about five minutes. I just don't like the flight modeling too much!

What I don't understand is why you repeat that over and over and over in every single thread where X-Plane is, sometimes even barely, mentioned.I can understand that, when someone claims alleged superiority of its flight model, you feel the need to reply. But in this thread no one ever mentioned its FMIt's like every time one would mention MSFS, I'd go like "It's so stuttering" and "I can't stand its texture blurring" and "95% of aircrafts have not smooth gauges".I don't do that here, nor on the X-Plane forums!Marco

What I don't understand is why you repeat that over and over and over in every single thread where X-Plane is, sometimes even barely, mentioned.I can understand that, when someone claims alleged superiority of its flight model, you feel the need to reply. But in this thread no one ever mentioned its FMIt's like every time one would mention MSFS, I'd go like "It's so stuttering" and "I can't stand its texture blurring" and "95% of aircrafts have not smooth gauges".I don't do that here, nor on the X-Plane forums!Marco

You are correct. I should have stated it differently.The orgininal poster said: From what I've seen, all you need is detailed cities,airports and a few more little extras and you have MS beat for good! I should have said:I disagree. Besides detailed cities,airports and a few more little extras .................he'll need to revamp the flight modeling!L.Adamson

The superior Blade Element Theory... It might be superior indeed - in theory. Modern real aircraft (and cars for example) are designed and tested by super computers. The accuracy of the FS model, the environment simulation and the processing power of an average home PC just don't cut the cake (yet?).Please correct me if i am wrong.

What I don't understand is why you repeat that over and over and over in every single thread where X-Plane is, sometimes even barely, mentioned.

IMHO He doesn't like Austin and wants to bash X-Plane every chance he gets. :(

IMHO He doesn't like Austin and wants to bash X-Plane every chance he gets. :(

Thats a bit harsh. I do think there is some validity to Larry's claim but boy sometimes it just sounds like a broken record. Is there anybody left who doesn't know how Larry feels about the X-Plane flight model...

Thats a bit harsh. I do think there is some validity to Larry's claim but boy sometimes it just sounds like a broken record. Is there anybody left who doesn't know how Larry feels about the X-Plane flight model...

Tongue in cheek.

Well guys-Larry and I have been around since the beginning of flight simming and the "broken record" we have heard since the beginning is the superiority of xplane's flight models over fs's.I made some posts on xplane org of problems I had with the flight model and was told by one-a) fs fm's are a toy-game in compare and :( that xplane's flight models are superior-there just hasn't been a good one manifested yet because it takes too much work to make one.(paraphrasing).I have never had a problem with one person preferring a flight sim over another-I actually prefer many things in the present xplane over fsx.But if you have noticed, Larry , I, and others have a problem with misinformation. Stuff like fsx is more "gamelike" compared to fs9, "serious simmers don't like fsx", "fsx is for animal chasers" ,and the "flight models of xplane are superior to fsx's" all meet that criteria.So I wouldn't shoot the messenger but the message. I don't personally care if a fm is derived from pi meson laser nuclear reactive googly permutations.I do care if it reacts and flies like a real plane. Some "myths" need to be pointed out-especially when repeated like a mantra.

"fsx is for animal chasers" ,

Nope you need X-plane for that :(. Especialy in the early 8.6 times. Chase the birds, hit them and crash. Now 9.3 apperently adds moose on the runway. After my experience with birdstrikes there is no way I going to hit those deer.I think part of the problem is that Avsim forum users are FS centric (and there is nothing wrong with that!). We could benefit if the current X-Plane and Flightgear forums get a more prominent place so the FS part of us doesn't get offended when we discus the good points of one sim versus the other.