It seems like the probability of a new flight simulator being developed is becoming more and more of a pipedream. When Aces was initially closed, there was a flury of "companies" stepping forward that they would develop a new simulator. There was hope with Cascade Foundry, but they have made it clear (and based on what they are developing) that they are working on travel simulators. Aerosoft seems aloof about it's new supposed simulator so who knows about them... X-Plane was supposed to be the go to program, but until Austin makes it more user friendly, that won't happen.So what is left???Some people say that FSX is fine and will be great for years to come. I don't know. I am worried that without something new on the market, that eventually the joystick manufacturers and other third party hardware support people will find it harder to stay in business. Hell, even Bestbuy used to have several different joysticks and controllers. Now they carry one- maybe two brands anymore. As someone who enjoyed the good old days of flight sim and computer software in the 80s/90s I am seriously bummed out! Sigh.

It seems like the probability of a new flight simulator being developed is becoming more and more of a pipedream. When Aces was initially closed, there was a flury of "companies" stepping forward that they would develop a new simulator. There was hope with Cascade Foundry, but they have made it clear (and based on what they are developing) that they are working on travel simulators. Aerosoft seems aloof about it's new supposed simulator so who knows about them... X-Plane was supposed to be the go to program, but until Austin makes it more user friendly, that won't happen.So what is left???Some people say that FSX is fine and will be great for years to come. I don't know. I am worried that without something new on the market, that eventually the joystick manufacturers and other third party hardware support people will find it harder to stay in business. Hell, even Bestbuy used to have several different joysticks and controllers. Now they carry one- maybe two brands anymore. As someone who enjoyed the good old days of flight sim and computer software in the 80s/90s I am seriously bummed out! Sigh.

msfs was never a brand new sim. it would take years to write from the ground up......it was remodeled using much of the older code...ms are placing theyre bets on xbox live......xbox is finished, it cant move on from dx9 to dx11, without developing a completely new console......so its up to the community to continue developement of fs......would the french scrap the eiffel tower, would usa scrap the statue of liberty....fs was microsofts equivelant.....they seem to have lost theyre way....jim

msfs was never a brand new sim. it would take years to write from the ground up......it was remodeled using much of the older code...ms are placing theyre bets on xbox live......xbox is finished, it cant move on from dx9 to dx11, without developing a completely new console......so its up to the community to continue developement of fs......would the french scrap the eiffel tower, would usa scrap the statue of liberty....fs was microsofts equivelant.....they seem to have lost theyre way....jim

When are people going to stop this? There have been nothing official or unofficial coming from MS that even remotely suggests The next Flight Sim (Presumably FlightSim Live) would be a XBox live product. There have been Job postings though indicating it is planned to be a Games For WINDOWS Live product. The only ones that keep saying XBox are the MS naysayers. Let's stick to the facts as they are currently known. Instead of wild unfounded speculation!

We have invested $$$ and untold thousands of man/women hours redesigning the AVSM site, which we will bring online in the next month or two. Do you think that we would do that if we thought for one minute that MSFS was a dead franchise? If we did, this site would have become NASCAR focused in a heart beat.

The market for FSX add-ons is still strong, but that will not be true forever, and when it is not true, there will be a market for another such sim. The fact that Aerosoft have not banged theirs out within a year of announcing their an intention to do so is absolutely no indication that it won't happen; even knocking out a decent single add-on aircraft for FS takes years.Al

We have invested $$ and untold thousands of man/women hours redesigning the AVSM site, which we will bring online in the next month or two. Do you think that we would do that if we thought for one minute that MSFS was a dead franchise? If we did, this site would have become NASCAR focused in a heart beat.

I almost spewed my tea all over the monitor when I read that. Almost.But I definitely understand what you mean, Tom.

I switched from FS9 to FSX a little over a year ago. There is so much left to develop for FSX. I don't see it disappearing any time soon - so many airports, so many aircraft left top develop. I can't even begin to describe how empty the FSX world is compared to the FS9 world.Don't get me wrong, I have no intentions of going back. My point is that there is a lot of work to be done with FSX and I am looking forward to it. With the hardware just catching up to FSX in the last 18 months, we will see a lot more add on activity in the next year or so. We are already beginning to see it now. Think about all the people that have not made the move to FSX yet. Also, I agree - no definite information from Cascade, MS or Aerosoft mean little.

The problem I have with this thread and the countless threads that have been posted on this subject, is that the future of MSFS is measured in the number of developers, developing for it, and the possibility that they might abandon the franchise. I agree that the number of vendors in our hobby is important, but not the definitive answer about the future of our simulator. My criteria for MSFS going the way of the Dodo is when I have landed at and departed from every airport in the FS world. My second criteria is when every airport in the world has been modled correctly and accurately. And finally, my measure of "dodo state" is the modeling of every town, city, burg, and village in our world. Only when those three things happen will I consider the sim dead.

:( I agree Tom, but there's also:every aircraft ever madeevery variation of every aircraft ever made ATC accents that change based on location ATC giving correct SIDS, STARS etc1-Meter or greater texture and terrain, entire worldAirports no longer on a podium:LMAO:I'm sure there's more, but my point is that FSX cannot die, as long as there are people who love it enough to improve upon it.:(

ATC giving correct SIDS, STARS etc

I'm just curious, what is the OBSESSION sim pilots have with SIDs and STARs? In real life pilots hate them.

Dunno if it's an obsession as much as it is a desire for absolute realism. If I were forced to SIDS/STARS I would get sick of them post-haste, sure enough, but it would be cool IMHO to hear ultra-real ATC following ultra-real scenarios while flying solo in FSX. Plus it may help to tighten traffic patterns around large airports. Surely go-arounds would diminish as a result.The Quest for Ultra-Realism cannot be denied!

I'm just curious, what is the OBSESSION sim pilots have with SIDs and STARs? In real life pilots hate them.

I wouldn't call it an obsession, and I've bent SIDs to suit my flightplan before, but I find STARs to be quite helpful as I'm usually multitasking while simming and can miss my TOD or end up way too high on final approach (to the dismay of the passengers in the back!)So I use STARs to keep an eye on my vertical profile to ensure an easy descent (and keep multitasking! Approaching San Diego? I'll keep surfing Avsim until I reach the LAX VOR, then pay attention :()

end up way too high on final approach (to the dismay of the passengers in the back!

Hey nothing like a zero-G nose over followed immediately by a high-speed descent from FS280+ to see who didn't fasten their seatbelts!

I love it how just days later, this post's question is answered directly from Microsoft. :)

I love it how just days later, this post's question is answered directly from Microsoft. :)

Yep!I move this thread to the new MS Flight forum