Some of the Flight screenshots look quite nice (like the airport with the cliffs in the foreground), but I can't say that I am all that impressed with the "Trike" shot on this page. It's certainly nowhere near as good looking as the Horizon UK photographic scenery that I am currently using in FSX. That being the case, what would be the incentive for me to "upgrade"?

Yeap! a lot of peoples (including me) were very exited when MS announced Flight, I was thinking that because of all the problems we encountered with FSX that Flight will be something very VERY different from it.I was thinking (as many others did) that Flight would be built from a brand new engine out of the box using SLI, 64-bit, as may core you can have in your PC, hyperthreading and more but looking at the screen shots and reading what MS wrote in their press released I can see that Flight will use some of the same FSX stuff with some improvement, like it or not.Yes, Flight does look better compare to FSX.... is it enough......six month ago a lot of peoples were saying "it's still in early development" as they are saying the same thing today so when will Flight be in the middle of its development, soon it will be a year since MS announced Flight, (they were working on it before that) so if Flight still in early developement after one year and that is without using a brand new engine am I right to assume it will take another two years to get it done, if not Flight is not in early development anymore, is it?MS need to show me a 5 minutes Flight without popping trees or houses, no ground blurries at high speed, no stutterings in a Mustang over a big city, palms trees in Florida, ...whisfull thinking....?? My 2 cents....MS will boost the engine as much as they can to make flying as mooth as possible at high speed including some other stuff graphic wise (eyes candy) and the rest will be left to 3rd party developers. Like I said in another thread, if Hawaii main airport we saw is from MS I'm assuming that the rest of the world's airports will be as good looking and as accurate, if not that airport was a developer's airport, will MS do a bait and switch on us with that airport?

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--------Alain- I very much doubt that Flight will have a "brand new engine". If one could look closely enough, I expect traces of DOS could be found in the latest version of WINDOWS!AR

[Alain- I very much doubt that Flight will have a "brand new engine". If one could look closely enough, I expect traces of DOS could be found in the latest version of WINDOWS!AR

You'r saying the same thing as I did. New stuff incorporated in the old stuff, to be perfectly honest and to MS credit the FSX engine is a GOOD engine but with to many bugs, they need to clean it up and implement it so it can use a lot of core and stuff like that.I have no leverage on what will be done to Flight but I KNOW that some involve with Flight making suggestion on some changes to the old engine (SDK wise) do read our post and if I had one suggestion to make it will be this one, "Make sure that this time Flight will run smooth with sliders to the right on a top of the line computer out of the box" . You can go back as far as you want in what I posted here in this site and others and you'll read that I always said tha Flight will not use a new engine, that was just whisfull thinking.My quote "MS will boost the engine as much as they can" meaning that they will debug it as much as they can with some implementation, exp: a fully operational DX10.I also understand that with third party addons Flight will be like FSX "kinda" because with new add-ons for Flight the envelope will be pushed even further and as good as your computer can be you will still be able to saturate your hardware with top of the line 3rd party add-ons no matter what, have you tried to play Crysis 2 on a mid range computer at high resolution with all the eyes candy? Look at my PC spec, I use a 63" monitor for Crysis 2, it's beautifull to look at visual wise but my rig is pushed to the max.

There is no denying that this looks good. Very good in fact, with some subtle things that appear if you look closely like mowing direction lines on the golf course fairways. Even sun ray streaks if you look closely.If it delivers with frame rates they will have a monster hit and money maker.Bob - (Las Cruces, NM)

You'r saying the same thing as I did. New stuff incorporated in the old stuff, to be perfectly honest and to MS credit the FSX engine is a GOOD engine but with to many bugs, they need to clean it up and implement it so it can use a lot of core and stuff like that.I have no leverage on what will be done to Flight but I KNOW that some involve with Flight making suggestion on some changes to the old engine (SDK wise) do read our post and if I had one suggestion to make it will be this one, "Make sure that this time Flight will run smooth with sliders to the right on a top of the line computer out of the box" . You can go back as far as you want in what I posted here in this site and others and you'll read that I always said tha Flight will not use a new engine, that was just whisfull thinking.My quote "MS will boost the engine as much as they can" meaning that they will debug it as much as they can with some implementation, exp: a fully operational DX10.I also understand that with third party addons Flight will be like FSX "kinda" because with new add-ons for Flight the envelope will be pushed even further and as good as your computer can be you will still be able to saturate your hardware with top of the line 3rd party add-ons no matter what, have you tried to play Crysis 2 on a mid range computer at high resolution with all the eyes candy? Look at my PC spec, I use a 63" monitor for Crysis 2, it's beautifull to look at visual wise but my rig is pushed to the max.

IMO, You're starting to just make guesses based off of little 'for sure' information. :(

IMO, You're starting to just make guesses based off of little 'for sure' information. :(

Maybe I do maybe I don't, I can't confirm or deny but one thing for sure is that you are entitled to your opinion.... :(

It better have cloud shadows, real time lighting and better shadows. Even though it looks like the same engine as FSX uses I really hope it had a major facelift to run much better. I am already leaning to X Plane 10 the screens of that are looking amazing.

It better have cloud shadows, real time lighting and better shadows. Even though it looks like the same engine as FSX uses I really hope it had a major facelift to run much better. I am already leaning to X Plane 10 the screens of that are looking amazing.

Well, Microsoft keeps stressing the performance topic. They have also said that the engine is built from the ground up. (meaning, what you see is new. Well, we would hope, at least) I can't see X-Plane ever having the flexibility of FS...especially seeing how many add-ons there are for FS.

To some extent I can agree it looks - "nice".But very far from fresh code or even "clean slate". This kind of software built from scratch would surely given us Rise of Flight or even A-10 Warthog in terms of graphics (and physics). Its 2011, approaching 30 years of flightsimulator history - by now MS possesses tremendous knowledge on what the community really wants; its stated several times already in this thread from those who are not laying on their backs in praise of new default airplanes and some overworked scenery from Hawai.And for those who believe we should leave it to the 3d party developers entirely to hand us better weather, AI, models, scenery etc - why so naive ? I would've agree if MS actually evolved a better platform, one that did not depend on numerous other products to give satisfaction. But this looks too much like FSX, and for most of us FSX meant years of frustration before both the community and hardware would cope. In everyones mind I guess we all hoped for "something new".Yes, its still early I hear you scream. They still have time to revolutionize Flight! with better physics, better weather, AI, lighting and ATC. And NO: they have not said anything about not doing so... But judging from the screenshots over the last 6 months theres nothing that indicates this, its a mere implementation of some shadowing and another way of blending upgraded textures. And for reason; if you could only have ONE type of shadow in a flightsimulator, what would you choose ? Look at e.g. X-plane and the enormous effect cloud shadow bring to depht and height. It plays a major role! And its not a part of "FS11"....? That's not only strange - its provocating. Who are they targeting with this ? Devoted and faithfull simmers ? Or the average console-player who just likes to be entertained ?I truly hope they have much more to show us than this ! :(

One thing is for certain we can't rely upon Microsofts marketing department to tell us the true story of this sim. The truth will only be revealed by the eager early adopters (of which I won't be one)Bryan.

One thing is for certain we can't rely upon Microsofts marketing department to tell us the true story of this sim. The truth will only be revealed by the eager early adopters (of which I won't be one)Bryan.

How could a true enthusiasts skip out on the next generation of this franchise? 

It's looking great so far, let's not get over our heads obviously but there will be a lot of room for improvements from third party developers. I like what I'm seeing but like other users I'll say that AI and weather are a must for the next version. I hope they realize it.

How could a true enthusiasts skip out on the next generation of this franchise?

+1

...but I can't say that I am all that impressed with the "Trike" shot on this page.

Me neither. But that's what FSX looks like out of the box. Flight's version taken from much the same location can be seen on the Microsoft site.

How could a true enthusiasts skip out on the next generation of this franchise? 

Oh, I didn't say I would skip it, I said I would not be an early adopter. I have no intention of carrying out beta testing for Microsoft, and I also have no intention of indulging in the gnashing of teeth that took place when FSX was released.I will wait until some kind individuals start posting about the performance of the sim and whether our existing add-ons will work with Flight before making decisions on purchase.Bryan.