I am wondering if my hobby has reached the peak and is starting to die out.LevelD released their 767 3 years ago,PDMG released their 747 about the same time. The wait for the LD757 and the PDMG 737NG seems to be dragging on for ever. No one has announced any intentions for a new Microsoft Flight Sim. Are we basically going to be flying the same planes, on the same platform for the next 5, 10, 20 years? I am happy with my 767 and 747 in FSX and flying on VATSIM but this "hobby" had such fast progress and developments over the 1990 and up until 2008 and now it seems we hit the end of the runway.Any input, hope, insight?

I am wondering if my hobby has reached the peak and is starting to die out.LevelD released their 767 3 years ago,PDMG released their 747 about the same time. The wait for the LD757 and the PDMG 737NG seems to be dragging on for ever. No one has announced any intentions for a new Microsoft Flight Sim. Are we basically going to be flying the same planes, on the same platform for the next 5, 10, 20 years? I am happy with my 767 and 747 in FSX and flying on VATSIM but this "hobby" had such fast progress and developments over the 1990 and up until 2008 and now it seems we hit the end of the runway.Any input, hope, insight?

To state the obvious...hope = ORBX, FSDT airports, A2A accusimmed aircraft, PMDG J4100 (and more to come), RealAir Duke, GEX-UTX-REX, FS Genesis...I could go on and on, with no end of the runway in sight. It's not even close to a dead end, IMHO.

Dunno, seems a little premature to me. There have been lots of great hardcore releases since then. The PMDG MD-11 was released less than 2 years ago. Even in the last year or so there has been some great stuff such as the PMDG J41, FSLabs ConcordeX, A2A B-17, Eaglesoft Citation X, Realair Duke, Flight 1 Mustang, Feelthere ERJ V2 and Simcheck A300. Plenty to keep me going (and manuals to read) for a very long time...

I hope this thread was meant as a joke...

I hope this thread was meant as a joke...

Are we basically going to be flying the same planes, on the same platform for the next 5, 10, 20 years?

There's a contradiction right there.

Is FSX dead? Not a chance!

Great, I glad to hear that. Anyone know of a flightsim convention in the US coming up? Maybe I need to see the stuff out there.

it just started for me and its getting more exciting when you start to build it up, but can't leave fs9 behind at the same time. Aussiedin

Well, technically, yes it is dead, since it is no longer being worked on by MS, but if you mean 'is the market for FSX dead?', then the answer is most assuredly no.Take a look at the kind of stuff that is coming out for it: Just this week there's been a new MD from CLS, Wilco have announced an update to their Airbus range of products, Airport Enhancer HDX has been released and Just Flight put their own lite A320 up for pre-ordering. That's only in the past week or so and is by no means a full list of everything that has shown up. And most weeks are like that, so the market is well and truly there, as are the products.In actual fact, there probably has never been a better time to create a complex add-on for FS, since developers know that the current version is what they have to work with for the foreseeable future, so unlike in previous years, where there was always a concern among developers about what might be in a new version of FS which could render a brand-new product obselete after a lot of work even on the day of its release, they no longer have that to worry about and can commit to long-term projects. Prior to that, everything had to be banged out within the approximate two-year cycle of a new version of FS coming out.At some point a new civil host flight sim will doubtless come along and eclipse FSX, but we are a long way from that happening. You just watch, in about three years' time, there will be some seriously amazing products available for FSX, and everyone will have the computers which will be able to run such things with ease too.It's not dead by a long way.Al

FSX is not dead, it's just resting while we run to catch up with our new systems.

One thing for sure is less activity in MSFS related forums. I remember this forum being very active a few years ago. Seems like many have given up on flight sim'n or maybe they just found something else to do.

One thing for sure is less activity in MSFS related forums. I remember this forum being very active a few years ago. Seems like many have given up on flight sim'n or maybe they just found something else to do.

Or maybe they have all finally got their systems setup so well that they spend their time flying instead of here looking for tips.It would be interesting to find out from the Avsim staff if they track hits to this site and can compare the stats over the last few years.

Activity on the forums is always down during the summer. Big releases usually are as well but I am surprised how much has been coming out in the past few months.I would say the market is anything but dead. Only in the last 12-18 months has the hardware caught up so that people can really enjoy FSX. Heck, I only switch over to FSX permanently 9 months ago. FS9 isn't even dead yet. You are only limited to the 747 and the 767 because of choice - not because of the lack of availability of add ons.

.......In actual fact, there probably has never been a better time to create a complex add-on for FS, since developers know that the current version is what they have to work with for the foreseeable future, so unlike in previous years, where there was always a concern among developers about what might be in a new version of FS which could render a brand-new product obselete after a lot of work even on the day of its release, they no longer have that to worry about and can commit to long-term projects. Prior to that, everything had to be banged out within the approximate two-year cycle of a new version of FS coming out..........Al

This is exactly what I was going to post, Al. I enjoy FSX like I have no other sim and look forward to developers pushing the envelope on developments, as PMDG always seems to do, and I'm sure others will too.To the OP: If you were a real ATP you would fly the same type (as defined by the rating, this could be various models such as the 757/767) day in and day out, and even possibly on the same route every day. We have variety to choose from and will have more no doubt. However, at some point, we are going to have the likes of a Level D B752 and a PMDG B73NG (and even possibly a B777 later) which will be potentially so real (as you can get in your living room at home) that will be "hard acts to follow", no doubt. But that should be seen as a "plus" and not a "minus", maybe? Thanks, Bruce.

Well, technically, yes it is dead, since it is no longer being worked on by MS, but if you mean 'is the market for FSX dead?', then the answer is most assuredly no.Take a look at the kind of stuff that is coming out for it: Just this week there's been a new MD from CLS, Wilco have announced an update to their Airbus range of products, Airport Enhancer HDX has been released and Just Flight put their own lite A320 up for pre-ordering. That's only in the past week or so and is by no means a full list of everything that has shown up. And most weeks are like that, so the market is well and truly there, as are the products.In actual fact, there probably has never been a better time to create a complex add-on for FS, since developers know that the current version is what they have to work with for the foreseeable future, so unlike in previous years, where there was always a concern among developers about what might be in a new version of FS which could render a brand-new product obselete after a lot of work even on the day of its release, they no longer have that to worry about and can commit to long-term projects. Prior to that, everything had to be banged out within the approximate two-year cycle of a new version of FS coming out.At some point a new civil host flight sim will doubtless come along and eclipse FSX, but we are a long way from that happening. You just watch, in about three years' time, there will be some seriously amazing products available for FSX, and everyone will have the computers which will be able to run such things with ease too.It's not dead by a long way.Al

if the market is not ending . then technically, its not dead.