Looks very good! Definitely an improvement over FSX. As for performance I hope it will require a nuclear PC to run with all sliders @ 100%. I want all the candy I can get. I'm not one of those who goes to bed crying because I have to move some sliders to the left... I run FSX perfectly fine on a six year old computer.

As for performance I hope it will require a nuclear PC to run with all sliders @ 100%. I want all the candy I can get.

You do? I hope it won't require a nuclear PC to run with all sliders @ 100%. I already spent all my plutonium money on other stuff I'm hoping that you can run it well on any of todays i-seriers procesors that you can OC to a reasonable level (3.6 to 4.0ghz), without having to wait for tomorrows equipment, which always seems to be the issue in past versions.

I think I'll stick with buying OrbX scenery... I guess increased coverage is great and all, but others will take it much further.

Don't get me wrong orbx looks great but at least we have something to look forward too when it comes to full coverage of the whole planet. while it will be generic it will help the overall look of the sim. it will be very interesting too see how optimized performance will be and by the time ms flight comes out some of us will be running the new Intel Sandy Bridge cpu http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Bridge_(microarchitecture) and AMD cpu should be out also by then. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulldozer_(processor) but they should really run msflight with slower, lower end computers first. I think I remember aces speaking about removing the sliders so I'm wondering how thats going to change and how different the menu interface will be. well I gotta say I'm at least grateful that the ms flight team is listening to us and posting the videos and screenshots and keeping us updated which is something they didn't have too do.

Microsoft Flight will be a whole lot better than some of us feared, and as good as many of us hoped.Merry Christmas

Looks like an improvement to me...More natural contours (specially steep cliff walls), small streams, better lighting, improved ground textures/coloring, better water, vegetation fits in better and just an overall more "natural" feel.FSX looks rather game-y placed right next to that shot in fact. I'm not sure what differences people aren't seeing? Mesh? Big deal. Accurate mesh is accurate mesh even if its FS2002. Even that being said, Flight has more small details in it's mesh.Edit: Misread your sentence. We agree fully :(

Yeah in the 6th screen shot, you can see the shading and lighting difference from the top right of the picture to the bottom left of it. I'm really impressed by this, it gives the sim a natural look.

The screen shots look so fantastic and amazing this early in development. I get more excited with every tease they put out. And with X-plane 10 also looking promising too, it looks to be a banner year for flight sim enthusiasts. At least for some of us. Of course, I'm pretty thankful to have FSX with some of the great mods and planes developed for it. It really is amazing how far flight simulation has come since I bought my first one for the Apple II in '83.One thing that is really interesting to me is the amount of negativity directed at these products. But I guess its not unusual as most complainers are usually the loudest. The chatter doesn't bother me, tho. Why would it effect my own enjoyment? But it is a great litmus test to whether you are basically a positive person or a negative person. You get a rough idea of what the rest of their life must be like. I feel sorry for them, but hope that some of these people will be able to see how fortunate they really are that products are being developed to help continue their hobby. (Although, there are a few that I think would love to see it all burn down just for the satisfaction of a final comment on it, LOL.)

Lot of people want Microsoft to fall flat on their face. And it's not just users it's other companies as well. I've personally had enough of it, stopped using Google for the simple fact that it doesn't even recognize the characters C#. Does C++ fine.. but when you type C# it thinks you're asking for C3PO or some stupid nonsense.

The screen shots look so fantastic and amazing this early in development. I get more excited with every tease they put out. And with X-plane 10 also looking promising too, it looks to be a banner year for flight sim enthusiasts. At least for some of us. Of course, I'm pretty thankful to have FSX with some of the great mods and planes developed for it. It really is amazing how far flight simulation has come since I bought my first one for the Apple II in '83.

I agree as well as can't believe how far flight sim has come. I still remember when I was a kid with a Commodore 64 running the subLogic version and thinking that is was the coolest thing in the world, but of course hoping for more. I wouldn't have believed then that a desk top PC flight sim would have ever gotten to the point where it is now though. It will be interesting to see what the next 10 years brings.

One thing that is really interesting to me is the amount of negativity directed at these products. But I guess its not unusual as most complainers are usually the loudest. The chatter doesn't bother me, tho. Why would it effect my own enjoyment? But it is a great litmus test to whether you are basically a positive person or a negative person. You get a rough idea of what the rest of their life must be like. I feel sorry for them, but hope that some of these people will be able to see how fortunate they really are that products are being developed to help continue their hobby. (Although, there are a few that I think would love to see it all burn down just for the satisfaction of a final comment on it, LOL.)

I feel the same. Frankly, I can never understand why some folks put forth so much time to bash a product that we barely even know anything about, rather than just sit tight and see what it turns into, then make an informed decision to either praise or complain about the said product. The funny thing is, almost every FS forum you go to, its usually the same people complaining. Same could be said for all the little arguments that break out in these threads, usually the same people time and again. After 7 years of browsing this forum, I guess I have gotten used to it and usually just pass the nonsense and read the posts that are civil and lack the arguments and complaints.Sometimes I think people that project a lot negativity stems from things that have happened in their lives that have't gone their way or have had a lot of bad things happen to them, and overtime they just adopt a negative out look on a lot of things. I've been fortunate to have a great life, not that everythings gone my way, but its been good enough that I tend to be pretty optimistic about things until proven otherwise.I think the next sim looks to be shaping up rather nicely and I am very interested to see the end result.

The Flight team say its based on FSX. It really needs to be worked from the ground up. As an FSX user, I can say FSX is the worst simulator Microsoft has ever made. Its singe threaded (which was alright for FS9, made 6 years ago), HEAVILY dependent on CPU power (Which is the exact opposite of every other game/sim manufacturer), has issues with loading textures and corrupting textures, and the list goes on. Although I do hope they have done the right thing and completely rewritten the engine to today's standards rather than 1998, I just get a feeling that it will be FSX part 2.Again, I do hope it will turn out great, as I can run FSX very well. :( :(

Kylan: maybe you should learn more about game engines before passing judgement on an outdoor sim like that. GTAIV is a billon dollar franchise, how come they have the same exact issues with all the resources in the world? FSX works fine the addons don't when you overload the system.The fact of the matter is threading alone doesn't speed anything up.... never has never will in fact it slows things down. You might want to remember that next time.

Lot of people want Microsoft to fall flat on their face. And it's not just users it's other companies as well. I've personally had enough of it, stopped using Google for the simple fact that it doesn't even recognize the characters C#. Does C++ fine.. but when you type C# it thinks you're asking for C3PO or some stupid nonsense.

When I type C# into Google I get pages of hits about the language C#

sorry I don't search by just "C#" that was a keyword. Bing always gives better results.

The Flight team say its based on FSX.

Where has this been written by anyone from MS? Granted, it very well might be, based on examining the miniscule video clips, as well as the screenshots posted yesterday, but the reality is that they may well be using only the scenery part of the engine from FSX thus far. Based on the list of other features however, it's pretty clear that they at least will be "all new code."

...FSX is the worst simulator Microsoft has ever made. Its singe threaded (which was alright for FS9, made 6 years

No, it is not "single threaded," not since SP2. Please do try to get your facts straight. :(

No, it is not "single threaded," not since SP2. Please do try to get your facts straight. :(

I just gave him the benefit of the doubt that he was referring to the render loop.....for arguments sake anyway...