It seems that Aerosoft is seriously considering developing a new flightsim. See: http://www.forum.aerosoft.com/index.php?showtopic=25954They have a long way to go but this is good news.Allard

Fascinating read.It would be nice if it became a reality but it'll take a very long time to build from the ground up.

Fascinating read.It would be nice if it became a reality but it'll take a very long time to build from the ground up.

It's is good news, although I'm not sure it's meant to take on FSX head to head.It's also a good thing because it might motivate Microsoft to do bigger and better things with whatever they're planning to do with the next release of Flightsim.Competition is a good thing.

agreed, i hope this will spur MS on to move forward.. (which can only be a good thing for us all) I dont think MS will sit back and allow their market share to be taken away from themi think that the aerosoft would be better putting the time and money needed for such a mammoth project into to working with MS to move forward with vNext or optimise FSX

Not to be pessimistic, but I don't believe at all MS will make the 180

The only real problem is the time needed to recreate a vaste and solid addon library (both freeware and payware) for a brand new simulator.

One of the MAJOR points with this new Aerosoft flight sim is that it would allow the use of most (if not all) existing FSX addons. Sure, the devs will have to do some work to port them over but in no way will this require any major rework on their part. I suspect that a lot of freeware stuff can and will be ported over as well. Would not make any sense for Aerosoft to develop a flightsim only to have to redo their entire library of payware addons which is probably the most comprehensive one on this planet.This is still all a long way away from today but if Aerosoft do in fact decide to go ahead with this (they are just exploring the possibilities at this stage) then you can rest assured that by the time it is released ALL of Aerosoft's addons will be available, as will a lot of other addons. I, for example, easily have 600 Euro's+ worth of FSX addons and if people like me (on average) decide not to migrate to their new flight sim then Aerosoft have major problems on their hands. This is where X-Plane, at least in its current version, falls flat on its face. There is absolutely no reason why I would buy X-Plane today and then dedicate the time needed to become used to a whole new sim. If X-Plane10 does not allow the same kind of easy porting over of FSX developed addons then it is a finished franchise in my opinion, sooner as opposed to later.

It's is good news, although I'm not sure it's meant to take on FSX head to head.

That's what Aerosoft say but I get the feeling that that is EXACTLY what they aim to do - in fact I would say that they intend to take on whatever MS and anyone else can come up in the next few years too! A multimillion Euro investment just to try and carve a new niche within the existing FS market? I think not!

If Aerosoft does come out with a new flight simulator it'll be in a few years.By then FSX will be long in the tooth, a 5-6 year old "game" that will be ready for replacement...it's not a fight, it will be the next generation.

This:

We'll see, we actually got the commercial rights of the sim that FSX is based on so we got something to say, lol.

is an interesting statement. The only 'commecial rights' I'm aware of that MS was willing to part with was ESP. ESP licensing eliminates it's use for development of a competing product with MS's flight sim.

Given that statement and a couple of others I've read, I'm guessing they've licensed the old SubLogic FS4 derived codebase (ie the Airline Transport Pilot series) - just a guess though, no inside info (other than I'm pretty sure I know what they HAVEN"T licensed :-> ). Tim

I, for example, easily have 600 Euro's+ worth of FSX addons and if people like me (on average) decide not to migrate to their new flight sim then Aerosoft have major problems on their hands. This is where X-Plane, at least in its current version, falls flat on its face. There is absolutely no reason why I would buy X-Plane today and then dedicate the time needed to become used to a whole new sim. If X-Plane10 does not allow the same kind of easy porting over of FSX developed addons then it is a finished franchise in my opinion, sooner as opposed to later.

It's a circular argument... You won't move over to X-Plane until developers start to make lots of addons for it. Developers won't move over to X-Plane until there are lots of people using it.This is exactly the sort of problem that any new sim from Aerosoft will have to overcome - they will need to convince enough people to use the sim in order for the user base to grow sufficiently to support an addon market.Then of course there is the question of how much information Aerosoft will release in the form of SDKs to allow developers to make some of the fantastic stuff we have seen over the years.It's great news that someone is considering stepping up to the plate and carrying things forward, and if anyone can do it Aerosoft can. They have lots of experience, talent, reputation and hopefully the financial resources to undertake such a big task. I wish them well!

Why does EVERY alternative to MSFS involve taking our money?There is another way folks! http://www.flightgear.org/

For starters, it's 100% open source, meaning if we think something sucks in it. We can change it. No M$ overlords to deal with.It's FREE!It's made by the people for the people. The better the people involved, the better the product becomes. Imagine if ex-ACES members got behind it, or just one or two really good developers started making planes & scenery for it.FPS? How about a solid 60 on a system that can't hold a steady 25 in FSX. The graphics are not as good as FSX, yet. Given the proper talent, that could change quickly.Aerosoft's idea sounds awesome, and I'd get it if they make it. But they will tell you it's only a concept as of now. And I'm willing to bet it won't be cheap, and I also bet that a Payware addon maker isn't going to let too many other addon developers into their game with out some kind of profit.Flightgear is already here. And it's freeware in the purist form. I've said it before, imagine what it could become, if the entire FS community got behind it.Microsoft basically told all simmers to sod off, so isn't a grand idea to continue to give them our undying loyalty, hoping they might feel some sympathy for us and bring back the FS series?Or would it make a little more sense to back a project created by simmers for simmers for the sole purpose of enjoying what it is we love so much?Just my view on it.

(this post was saved in a screen shot.)

Why does EVERY alternative to MSFS involve taking our money?There is another way folks! http://www.flightgear.org/

I've tried flightgear. Although it is a valiant effort (given it is open source), it is nowhere close to either X-Plane or MSFS. It's not "obscene" to give Microsoft or any other vendor money if they produce an entertainment title we enjoy. Flightgear may evolve and improve, but a good simulator would require a much greater investment than the time people can donate, especially if we want something that can serve as a substitute for MSFS and X-Plane today. There's mention of 60fps in the post regarding Flightgear. Even 120 fps is no substitute for the level of detail MSFS offers (such as FS9 with WOAI or FS-X with Tileproxy). In either sim I achieve my lock of 30 fps consistently. With their level of detail it is more than enough to serve as a satisfying simulation of flight. Regards,John

It's a circular argument... You won't move over to X-Plane until developers start to make lots of addons for it. Developers won't move over to X-Plane until there are lots of people using it.

While there's a certain amount of truth to it being tautological, the real problem is that few developers will begin developing for X-Plane until it provides the necessary API support such that projects can meet or exceed what's already able to be accomplished in FS9/FSX...That X-Plane might be superior in one area to FS9/FSX (and even that is open to subjective interpretation!), there are other areas where it is sorely lacking still.The same argument of course may be advanced to any hypothetical successor/competitor to the MS/ACES legacy flightsimulator genre.

I've tried flightgear. Although it is a valiant effort (given it is open source), it is nowhere close to either X-Plane or MSFS. It's not "obscene" to give Microsoft or any other vendor money if they produce an entertainment title we enjoy. Flightgear may evolve and improve, but a good simulator would require a much greater investment than the time people can donate, especially if we want something that can serve as a substitute for MSFS and X-Plane today. There's mention of 60fps in the post regarding Flightgear. Even 120 fps is no substitute for the level of detail MSFS offers (such as FS9 with WOAI or FS-X with Tileproxy). In either sim I achieve my lock of 30 fps consistently. With their level of detail it is more than enough to serve as a satisfying simulation of flight. Regards,John

I downloaded and tried FlightGear. It has to be freeware because, compared with my FS9, I wouldn't pay a penny for it. It may be a valiant effort but it just doesn't compare.