I just read Tom's blog...

[Super Six-Four 5]

and I would strongly suggest it's worth the read. Very well stated, and I'm willing to bet right on the money. I think there's a lot riding on Flight, so to dismiss it so early in the game is very short-sighted IMHO.Cheers,Todd

[MarkW 1,490]

Interesting read. time will tell where this ultimately goes, however, I for one think MS will want to attract new flight simmers and cater to the hard core as well. I have yet to find a reason why the would not want to cater to both or why they could not cater to both...lets hope I am right!

[Guest jahman]

Tom's article here.Great read, offering additional insight (Thanks for sharing!).To me the last paragraph stands out:

In the meetings with Microsoft in December, the question of FSX's future was asked.. I can't remember the details of the answer, but I can sum it up by saying that MS has NOT SAID they are abandoning the product or ruling out a future successor. You can interpret that, anyway that you wish.

So if perhaps MS is sitting on the fence regarding FSXI, maybe "making some noise" might bear its fruits.Technically this makes a lot of sense, as Flight and FSXI would share the aircraft simulation and scenery rendering codebases, while the gaming and serious simming aspects would remain separate and out of each other's way.So we could have Flight for the masses and FSXI for the hard-core bunch, plus of course any Flight simmers wanting to progress into "serious simming" would have a path to do so.An intermediate solution, with the result only known when the product(s) are released. Schrödinger would be proud!Cheers,- jahman. Edited January 17, 2012 by jahman

[nbz 4]

So we could have Flight for the masses and

...for the hardcore bunch, "additional content that adds [...] customization options."http://www.microsoft.com/games/flight/#press-takes_to_skies

[Guest firehawk44]

so to dismiss it so early in the game is very short-sighted IMHO.

I don't think anyone is dismissing Microsoft Flight, just showing more or less disappointment in the marketing. Thanks for bringing the blog to my attention. I'm a big fan of Tom's....Best regards,Jim

[RicardoNY1 2]

Good read indeed. As much as I may be one of the ones running around with their hair on fire, my concern with FLIGHT is MS' sincerity and ability to produce the quality and selection of add-ons that the communuty desires. Are they motivated and are they going to take the time to create the airports and scenery utilities we have come to enjoy? I have this feeling that MS is seeing things in pink........I don't think they are in touch with or have a reliastic understanding of how involved, complex and varied add-ons are. Or maybe they do. Again, I have a hard time belieiving MS will be capable of organiizing the manpower and talent to produce what we have seen from at least a half doxen big name 3PDs. It's my impression that it takes not only a lot of time, resources and motivation, but a sharp ear for what people really want in an add-on. I think outfits like Orbx, Wilco, Flytampa listened to and sensed what the community was looking for in terms of the product and quality. How good has MS been at that as of late? I'd honestly like to believe that MS has a crew over there ready to roll up their sleeves and start coding an entire fleet of AI aircraft, repaints, flightplans, an FSUIPC alternative, replacement textures for everything from the ground to the clouds, that they would be opening up the Boeing and Airbus manuals to give us a Project Magenta or a Prosim737 replacement, specific aircraft sounds sets, specific runway/aircraft replacement lights, specifc replacements for the flight models, and the list goes on. That is the beauty of an SDK, being able to spread the realistic workload of such a vast selection of resources to everyone, and everyone involved has produced tons of them. I just don't see MS being able to replicate the caliber or selection unless they are so darn serious about Flight SImulator and we just don't klnow it.

Edited January 18, 2012 by RicardoNY1

[Mountain Man 142]

Reads like damage control.

[snwboardn 87]

That is the beauty of an SDK, being able to spread the realistic workload of such a vast selection of resources to everyone, and everyone involved has produced tons of them. I just don't see MS being able to replicate the caliber or selection unless they are so darn serious about Flight SImulator and we just don't klnow it.

What else are you going to do if you are a 3rd party dev? You have 4 options FSX, Flight, XP10, P3D... Either 3rd party wither up and die or they move on from FSX... Do you think PMDG goes bankrupt before they give in to MS's demands, or learns a whole new system in XP?

[John the Pilot 0]

Microsoft is giving Flight away with the hope that they'll make significant profits on every additional plane, every airport, every scenery area, every ATC feature, every aircraft repaint and every other little feature that together may someday approach the feature set of FS9 or FSX.But if the first few add-ons don't sell well, I'd expect this "add-on" market to be abandoned within a year.So is there a big enough market out there to make Flight add-ons profitable??There's two potential markets 1. The long-term flight sim fan who's built up their libraries over the years. I'm betting most are not going to pay a lot of money to start over with Flight with no guarantee that this product will ever mature to the level of existing features that we have in FS9/FSX.2. The new guy getting into Flight only because it's free. It's a big question how many of these will get past the "free" mindset to purchase add-ons, and how many will just get bored flying the GA aircraft around Hawaii and just set Flight aside while they go back to Warcraft.A company the size of Microsoft must be looking at sales goals of millions of add-ons to consider Flight a success. Keep in mind every add-on has to be priced high enough to create profit for Microsoft to cover the expenses of creating Flight, cover the cost of running the "store", and enough money left over to pay the creator of the add-on for their time and effort in creating the add-on. In other words, they will be expensive compared to price of current add-ons. I'm just don't see sales numbers high enough in the first year for there to be a second year of Flight add-ons.

[RicardoNY1 2]

What else are you going to do if you are a 3rd party dev? You have 4 options FSX, Flight, XP10, P3D... Either 3rd party wither up and die or they move on from FSX... Do you think PMDG goes bankrupt before they give in to MS's demands, or learns a whole new system in XP?

What else are you going to do if you are a 3rd party dev? You have 4 options FSX, Flight, XP10, P3D... Either 3rd party wither up and die or they move on from FSX... Do you think PMDG goes bankrupt before they give in to MS's demands, or learns a whole new system in XP?

I'm not really sure what the future holds for companies like PMDG.........considering that FLIGHT does not appear to be that many steps above FSX, I think compaines like PMDG do have a few years left of profitable business working with FSX........and they may be able to hold the fort longer by pumping out key software at an opportune time. If I had to bet my money, I'd say 3PD's future is pretty secure with FSX for at least another 3-5 years.

[Tom Allensworth 1,532]

Reads like damage control.

And how would that be?

[RYR738 9]

A very enjoyable and informative read.Thanks for sharing Tom.Fred.

[alainneedle1 97]

You guys are looking at this the wrong way, why do you think 3PD were in with Flight....because they had nothing better to do...or because they knew about how much exposure they will get selling their addons in the market store = more $$$....I'll take the 2nd choice.Now, if the 3PD were to increased their sales MS was the solution, who of the regular Joe after buying FSX was looking for addons? I myself at first had to search the web. to find a way to make my sim. run better and from there I found addons developers, this time the search will not be that hard for the new kids on the block, everything will be exposed to them, so how big do you think this market is...big enough to have the big fish in.MS did not close the door to 3PD (the one we know) for no good reasons, trust me, there is always two side to a sory and we have not heard MS's side....if I was MS I'll be pi$$ed at who ever released any info on what took place between them and 3PD....not good for redemtion if you ask me, I'll be welling to bet that some of them burned their bridges, but guess what, like I said earlier, if there is a demand for addons somebody will show up and make them, Orbx, PMG and others do have very good addons, how did they get there, as my father always said...nobody is irreplaceable, and please don't tell me that without Orbx, PMG or who ever it can be your simmers life is over.....pffff...even the great Muhammed Ali lost his crown, his time was up.

Edited January 18, 2012 by alainneedle1

[ahuimanu 50]

But if the first few add-ons don't sell well, I'd expect this "add-on" market to be abandoned within a year.

I think you are completely on the mark with this assessment. Microsoft is NOTORIOUS for jumping ship when things don't go their way quickly.

[Guest jahman]

Microsoft is NOTORIOUS for jumping ship when things don't go their way quickly.

Not at all!Microsoft is notorious for sticking through with what it believes in. The first useable version of Windows was v. 3.1 I can tell you, I had v. 1, 2 and 3.0), Word 1.0 for Windows was hell, ditto for 32-bit Windows NT until v. 3.51, etc. etc. And Windows Phone, after a decade of dilly-dallying has been the talk at CES 2102.Cheers,- jahman.