it looks like we may have cloud shadows now if you look in the distance beyond the airport.

REX is already working on cloud shadows for FSX so I wouldn't be surprised if it'll be stock feature in the Flight.

Since this is part of the Windows LIVE experience it will probably require logging in to a Live account and possibly even a subscription fee?? :(

I have a bunch of Games for Windows LIVE games and there is no subscription fee for any of them. These aren't MMOs and it's not the same thing as an Xbox Live subscription. (I have those as well, I know the difference) GFWL is just a set of principles that PC games can use and an integrated UI that's in the game that has chat, a DLC store etc. It's Microsoft's version of Steam essentially.

REX is already working on cloud shadows for FSX so I wouldn't be surprised if it'll be stock feature in the Flight.

Yeah I know, I saw their screen shots about a year ago. I hope that they get it finished up one of these days because their examples of it looked pretty good.

What part of POSSIBLY dont you understand? :(

I will say it again, MS dropped the requirement to pay for GFWL like they require do for XBox Live. No subscriptions fees for it. Do you see Flight being a MMORPG type game where you do have to subscribe? I do not.

Better safe than sorry, that's all...I'd rather be happily surprised than woefully disappointed....

True with that, however remember this, that was a photoshopped screenshot, and I've seen enough of DX11 to know it's plausible. To reference the Mythbusters, it's not busted, but it's not confirmed either. I know it could be rendered, but part of me thinks it's real given that it's DX11 and what I've seen of tech demos of DX11, along with some rumors I heard about FS11 before ACES got canned (which I will not go in to here because they are strictly rumors).

What part of POSSIBLY dont you understand? :(

The precise word I quoted was "probably." Please do try to make your sarcastic rebuttals accurate, eh? :( I will resist making puns on your username... :(

For cloud shadows, just read this paper from SIGGRAPH 2000:http://nis-lab.is.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~nis/cdrom/sig00_cloud.pdfAnd, this paper from 2008:http://www-evasion.imag.fr/Publications/2008/BNMBC08/clouds.pdfI don't doubt that it's plausible that it was implemented in MS Flight.

Ed and Fr. Bill both confirmed that the ACES team was sacked because the ACES PM didn't want to dumb it down.Do you folks really think it's going to be a simulation and not more of a "game"? I'm extremely skeptical...

Who's to say it can't be both. It certainly can be "dumbed down" to reach the wider audience and have a "fly me now" mode. Also still have a more rigorous sim mode. It's just up to the user to select which they want in the menus. If Flight leaves behind all the compatibility that has 'dragged' down FS over the last few versions, instead of spending all that time making sure old stuff still works they can put that into the dual modes the program may have.I'm skeptical too, but waiting to see more first before going into the deep end on one side or another.Wonder when "Train" is going to be announced now. :(

True with that, however remember this, that was a photoshopped screenshot, and I've seen enough of DX11 to know it's plausible.

I thought it was a Microsoft publicity photo created by a Microsoft marketing team who had no knowledge of what was actually possible and planned... as opposed to photoshop contest. It was an edited photo no doubt, but not a contest entry from what I recall. Anyway, I get your point as well - the graphics seen are technically possible on a desktop platform, but my inclination would be to discount that and err on the side of caution. We've seen many high-end graphics rendering demos from nVidia, ATI, and even other 3rd party developers with great terrain engines... but what we don't know is how that all works when you layer on all the other processing needs a flight game will have. Aerosoft is quoted as saying that they've seen all these sorts of engines and capabilities as part of their R & D on their new title, however there was no way to utilize them in a simulator environment due to the other processing requirements needed. The rendering engines are and were stunning, but the horsepower needed to run them in tandem with a simulation engine isn't there yet. Has Microsoft found a way around this? Who knows! But, until we get to see some footage or screenshots actually from MS Flight (*months from now, I am sure), I feel it prudent to consider that video not-representative of what the game will be like. I HOPE I'M WRONG, but for sanity's sake it's probably best to treat it as some sort of game cutscene, rather than an honest-to-goodness representation of what we'll see on our own computers. I thought I was going to sit out this announcement, eat popcorn to watch the comments fly, and not get involved! So much for that, eah?-Greg

It's interesting to see that this announcment came about right after the X-Plane 10 shots were revealed. lol :D

The precise word I quoted was "probably." Please do try to make your sarcastic rebuttals accurate, eh? :( I will resist making puns on your username... :(

In fairness, you actually DID include a quote with the word "possibly" in it.FWIW.I have several GFWL titles and ZERO of them are subscription, ZERO of them affect negatively how easy it is to mod the game. Those should be the only two concerns relevant to why we as simmers should even care.As for dropping the "Simulator", who cares? It means nada, zero, zilch. Game titles are purely to grab interest and I think a simple title like Flight! is a smart way to go.

FS9 - pretty decent platformFSX - many improvements, but many "performance issues," only some of which new hardware has managed to overcome.FSvNext - ACES continued improvements, but were moving in a direction contrary to the desires of their "bosses" at MS GAME Studios, the results of which were the nearly complete sacking of the ACES team.Microsoft Flight - new "in-house" team working from the previous codebase (FS9) but now focused on streamlining the platform into the MS LIVE for Windows paradigm, and using the latest DX11 APIs and tools.What is really astonishing (albeit not at all surprising) is that a few hundred carefully chosen words in an official MS Press Release have probably generated well over 1,000,000,000 words (of mostly worthless BS!) in less than 24 hours! :(

What's wrong with speculating, BS'ing and what not? Did you expect anything else from the community? This is a huge news.

What is really astonishing (albeit not at all surprising) is that a few hundred carefully chosen words in an official MS Press Release have probably generated well over 1,000,000,000 words (of mostly worthless BS!) in less than 24 hours! :(

True. I don't think I've seen so many wet knickers since it was announced the Beatles were coming to town!!!

True. I don't think I've seen so many wet knickers since it was announced the Beatles were coming to town!!!

That has to be the best post yet! :(