The REAL reason why many people HATE Flight and LOVE AeroflyFS right now is because MS "betrayed" them. Thats the honest truth. I understand it. I dont think its right or fair, but I understand it. Statements like this cause flame wars though. Its the dead elephant in the room peope try to ignore. You cant talk about things like this without it getting rather heated.

Great replies, and spot on! I give Aerofly a nod because they are not MS, and do not have the marketing power MS does. Flight looks good, and is fun, but I prefer the visuals, shadows/lighting, and just overall different feel that Aerofly offers. It's not without it's faults tho, and it'll be interesting to see what the future holds. Where we're seeing and hearing there will be DLC for Flight, I'm not aware of Aerofly's future plans.You hit it on the head - Aerofly's shortcomings include day only...no precipitation...no ATC, radio's, etc. BUT, flying through the alps in the F-18 is absolutely magical and makes other sims look like childs play. The low and slow visuals are amazing as well. The autogen is placed well, and replicate the region well.I am running Aerofly on a 27' iMac (2011) and am getting 50+ fps. Xplane10 runs at about 25 fps on my mac, but around clouds down to around 10. Flight runs smooth on my old(er) PC.I don't think Aerofly will get hammered, because they are a small company who did an amazing job with their first sim (I'm guessing it's their first?) I think Flight is getting hammered because many expect more out of MS. I'm one of those weird ones who feels that MS is ten years behind when it comes to graphics, and I guess I (and others) expected more from MS. I know, flame away at me, I know I'm in the minority...just voicing my opinion. : )I love all sims, for different reasons. There's no reason not to enjoy them all!

Like I said, I hope AFS really takes off (sorry, I had to say it). It seems like a great product, and everyone loves an underdog. I truly hope AFS supports the 3rd party dev's and forces MS's hand in there own 3rd party plans. ITs all a win win no matter how you look at it.

I don't think Aerofly will get hammered, because they are a small company who did an amazing job with their first sim (I'm guessing it's their first?) I think Flight is getting hammered because many expect more out of MS. I'm one of those weird ones who feels that MS is ten years behind when it comes to graphics, and I guess I (and others) expected more from MS. I know, flame away at me, I know I'm in the minority...just voicing my opinion. : )

And with this you answered the questions above. After 20+ years we expected more out of MS. They set the bar with the Flight Simulator franchise and now appear to be backing off from that great legacy. We all wanted to move forward but something happened where MS wanted a different direction. They've went back in terms of what the core product was about, a marriage of many talents (them and the 3PD would around the product). The fat lady hasn't sang with Flight so theirs hope. As far as I'm concerned Flight has potential which is much more than I thought it would at first.

Moving forward with the MSFS would just further alianate the flight sim market, reducing the number of possible customers and possible return on investment. With Flight, MS is investing in the future of flight simming by making a bigger market and welcoming new simmers. Thats how I see it. Unless there is a big market, you cant support a big sim.

Moving forward with the MSFS would just further alianate the flight sim market, reducing the number of possible customers and possible return on investment. With Flight, MS is investing in the future of flight simming by making a bigger market and welcoming new simmers. Thats how I see it. Unless there is a big market, you cant support a big sim.

Based on these early reviews they had better kick it up a notch...

You hit it on the head - Aerofly's shortcomings include day only...no precipitation...no ATC, radio's, etc. BUT, flying through the alps in the F-18 is absolutely magical and makes other sims look like childs play. The low and slow visuals are amazing as well. The autogen is placed well, and replicate the region well.I am running Aerofly on a 27' iMac (2011) and am getting 50+ fps. Xplane10 runs at about 25 fps on my mac, but around clouds down to around 10. Flight runs smooth on my old(er) PC.I don't think Aerofly will get hammered, because they are a small company who did an amazing job with their first sim (I'm guessing it's their first?) I think Flight is getting hammered because many expect more out of MS. I'm one of those weird ones who feels that MS is ten years behind when it comes to graphics, and I guess I (and others) expected more from MS. I know, flame away at me, I know I'm in the minority...just voicing my opinion. : )I love all sims, for different reasons. There's no reason not to enjoy them all!

I agree with all the above - especially the last sentenceIt seems there is a lot of room for improvement in AFS, but one wonders if it will be open to 3rd party or not - same as FlightFlight sims have come such a long way in all phases of detail, the aircraft, the ground textures, the terrain mesh, the atmospherics and clouds, the water et al..and with each progression comes the realization that there is still so much more room for improvement...Each simulation developement team has their own approach too - the terrain in Take on Helicopters, vs DCS series, vs Rise of Flight vs Microsoft vs AeroflyFS all haveobvious similarities as well as stark differences.I am imagining a day when a flight sim comes along that offers terrain so real - its like google earth on an iPad3...this from someone who remembers straight wire frame rendered flight sims from 1980We are all spoiled rotten by how far the science has come lately

Based on these early reviews they had better kick it up a notch...

Early reviews have been mixed. The BAD reviews have clearly been influenced by the distain and hate for MS, as seen in the IGN review. The GOOD reviews are taken from new perspectives or those of real pilots, as in the AOPA review that said it was "fantastic as an inspirational tool" and "if feels like your really in the air". Thats from a REAL PILOT!!! Yes, he did say as a learning tool it was bad, but he also said there was no VOR's. Clearly he was using only the demo version, since the Maule and RV both have VOR's.

Got Aerofly early when it was first released. Liked it as somewhat as an alternative, but I got bored quickly. Switzerland without weather and no future potential talked about make it a nice, occasional experience, but what about the future? At least the DLC in FLIGHT gives me a lot of hope for a real competitive experience with FSX and I must admit that flying in Hawaii has never been so real and exciting.Stan

Stan - spot on. IF the future includes weather and DLC, Aerofly FS will be a huge hit. I hope they know they have something great on their hands.

Basic requirements listed below. I am running it on an OC'd i72600 with an Nvidia GTX580. Settings are maxed out and I get close to 100fps. Runs really smooth.Bobbers info about it is right on. Lots of room for improvement but also a lot of fun. It also supports Trackir. I don't use TrackIR so can't comment on its performance.They look committed to it, and have released two updates so far, with a beta update posted for those cutting edge users.I purchased it online and was shipped from their office in Florida. I am in California. No problems in that area. (No download option for PC yet, but would be about a 20GB dl)There is an F-18 (opinion seems to be its the weakest of the in game offerings), but a Blue Angel repaint for it has appeared on the forum, so it looks like outside mods are an option.Forum has become more active - http://www.aeroflyfs...en/forumen.html. Check it out for more info.Hardware-Requirements

• Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon64 X2
• 2 GB of RAM
• 24 GB free hard disk space
• Graphic card: ATI Radeon HD 4850 or NVIDIA GeForce 9600or faster with at least 512 MB
• PC: Windows XP / Windows Vista / Windows 7
• Mac: Intel based Apple Mac computers running Mac OS X10.6.8 or 10.7.3 or newer.
• Its recommended to use a Joystick to control the aircraft.

Disclaimer: Not affiliated with Ikarus, I am just an avid flight sim enthusiast.

-ed

Thanks Ed. I would get this sim but I'm not sure how it will run on my system. The burn from FSX is still fresh after six years so I'm cautious before I shell out money.

I'd get it too if I could figure out how to do so. Their shop link from the program info page takes you to a shop where they sell an RC flying sim, but there is no listing for the AeroFlyFS game, so I cannot buy even though I would like to LOLAl

Flight's upcoming Alaska DLC (which we still know very little about) is roughly 37 times larger than Switzerland.

Is its size already announced somewhere? I mean, what if they only make part of Alaska?

https://news.microso...-to-alaska.aspx"We're excited to announce some upcoming DLC: journey with us to Alaska, with over 1.5 million square kilometers (~600,000 square miles) of captivating scenery, new aircraft and additional missions! Check out the screenshots below for an advance look."So entire Alaska.