To be honest though, I don't really think there's a "casual" sim market, people either like this sort of thing or they don't, so I never really got why they thought dialing down the complexity was a good idea.

 

There were many, myself included, that really liked Flight due to this reason. But apparently it was not enough either.

I just loved the fact I could just launch Flight at a whim, without going through a process, and be off and flying somewhere with beautiful graphics at a moments notice. Then exit and be back to my desktop as it was when I launched the program.

 

Yes the global economy is really struggling right now, and is evidenced by many very large successful corporations reporting bad news - even Apple, did not live up to full expecations this last quarter. While I am surprised and saddened by this news, I am not totally shocked.

To me, it's weird how Microsoft has just killed these projects (FSX and Flight) without selling the source code or releasing it.

Lots of companies don't release the code. I would love to see some of the older games like X-Wing updated to newer graphics and play but Lucas has that 15 year old code locked up some where. The reason? They don't want their "brand" tarnished by others that are outside their control. Many companies allow third parties or fans to create strictly regulated add-ons but that's about it. The core code is unknown and untouchable. I do Scifi spaceship add-ons for Orbiter Space Simulator but I limited by the interface given to me. The source code for Orbiter itself is locked up tight and even getting an answer about how something in it works is like pulling teeth. The same goes for many of these games. Used the SDK provided or don't do add-ons. Flight has no SDK and is locked up tight with encryption so no third parties can touch it. The files may look like FSX files but they are not. I know because I tried to extract the airports from the files and non of the common tools worked on the flight files. I also tried to do a simple paint change and got nailed buy the encryption check no longer working. I think Flight is a no go for future add-ons and we will just have to look at it like one of the many one off flight sims like Pro Pilot that have been released over the years without the ability to extend them.

Things like 'slap in the face' and 'betrayal' sprang to mind, but when I think about the people who may have a lost a job because of this and who spend far more time on Flight then I did, words like that are nonsense and misplaced. I feel sorry for those who worked on Flight with dedication and believe. I am sure there were a few of those.

 

Well... at least it made me learn all about VOR.

 

The rest of my thoughts... I'll save for later...

iTHINK, WE SHOULD MAKE THE WHOLE COMUNITY GETTING THEIR MONEY BACK !!

 

Why? We got, and still have, exactly what we paid for.

There were many, myself included, that really liked Flight due to this reason. But apparently it was not enough either.

 

I guess you're right, and I did love the fact that you could fire it up with no tweaking and no fuss. Over time, I think the product could have become something really special, and while many will argue about it's depth, no-one can deny that the game engine was absolutely fantastic. Sad day all round.

So, Flight has turned our to be just a demo of how good a flight simulation can be when it is optimised for today;s hardware and restricted to a small area (Hawaii) created in high fidelity. But, from the begining, it had a 'suck it and see' feel to it. Like MS had no real faith in it but would give it a try to see if this new approach would work. If not, can it. And so, I think we have been treated badly by MS and I, personally, resent the money I have spent on it.

 

The only good thing to come out of this as that Flight has kind of set the standard for future sims. To me, nothing less than the fidelity of Flight will be acceptable in any future sim that comes to market. But one thing is for sure. This kind of fidelity in a full blown sim will not come cheap. And there is the rub.

Compare that to what most of you already have with FSX (or even FS2004) UTUSA and GEX ASE

 

Honestly, what I have in FSX (bought it three days after I bought Hawaii) is an incredibly boring environment, with not s single landmark in all of my home country, and an inferior flight model. As a complete greenhorn, I took a month of flying every day before I could feel somewhat confident about performing a smooth landing in the Maule - while in FSX I could put down the same Maule in (what seemed like) a perfect landing on day one. That immediately tells me there's something wrong with FSX, at least in how it translates the "feel" of the aircraft to sounds and sight.

 

I flew some of the lessons and missions in FSX, very useful all, but flying itself was really bland. At the same time, I totally fell in love with Flight. I sure hope MS sells the code to some capable developers.

 

I think comparing price points is not fair until you include hundreds of dollars you must spend on ORBX or such to make FSX at least minimally interesting to those who prefer the raw thrill and beauty of flight to computing fuel and load balances. I did buy ORBX Australia, only to find out I'd have to buy individual airports as well at something like $20 a pop before I would get anywhere near the detail of Hawaii. I understand there's a market for that and I'm not bashing them - just saying Flight was an entirely different idea, and for many people it worked wonderfully.

FALSE EXPECTATIONS AND MONEY BACK

 

 

..................................

 

Hello Folks!

 

Please, just let me get one thing out of the way. Some of the simmers know that i am a lawyer here in Brazil, and i'm first obligated to say that i´m not writing this to gather clients or anything (the "Flight Sim" community here is huge). My Office only works on criminal cases, and nothing else!

 

I always tried to be as optimistic as possible about the game...i really like it, although i did not agree with some decisions they made. A lot of people spent a lot of money not only buying the game, but buying new hardware, upgrading their flight controls, buying TrackIR, and so on, living the expectation of having 1 new airplane per month, and 1 new dlc scenery every 3 months. That was what Microsoft announced...

 

I really respect other peoples preferences, but i really don't like the other Flight Simulators available right now...don´t know how the law works in all of your countries, but here in Brazil, you can´t create expectations, make people buy software and new expensive hardware to enjoy what was officially promised to them(see Mr. Howard's interview).

 

Some will say: "people still have their new graphics card, TrackIR, or cpu for other games", nobody told them to buy it. That is right, but a lot of them would never have bought them to play other games!

 

My message to all you friends is, "don´t let people step on your expectations and rights...fight for them".

 

As for me, if those guys don´t rethink the whole "shutting down" thing...well..

 

SEE YOU IN COURT MICROSOFT!

Greedy decisions turned out to be suicidal. I love it! LOL

There were many, myself included, that really liked Flight due to this reason. But apparently it was not enough either.

I just loved the fact I could just launch Flight at a whim, without going through a process, and be off and flying somewhere with beautiful graphics at a moments notice. Then exit and be back to my desktop as it was when I launched the program.

 

Yes the global economy is really struggling right now, and is evidenced by many very large successful corporations reporting bad news - even Apple, did not live up to full expecations this last quarter. While I am surprised and saddened by this news, I am not totally shocked.

 

Its strange. Years of simming and I never once learned Vor or any of that in FSX. I did short hops and tweaked, short hops and tweaked, and brought tons of addons as a distraction to keep me interested enough to not give up. But I never once brought a yoke or track IR or foot peddles for FSX. It literally never even occurred to me.

 

With flight, I was actually about to do all of those things and probably would have done so by next month. My interest in simulation had never been higher. And now I think about all those new voices in multiplayer asking earnestly about should they get a joystick, and wondering how this or that worked, and I just dont think we will be seeing a lot of those people in FSX. The barriers to entry into this community have simply become too high and intricate for new entrants without a super-high degree of interest. The opportunity missed is enormous, and from the uncomprehending attitudes I see expressed, I don't think many people locked into the existing communities will ever really understand what was lost.

 

Its a shame.

 

Honestly, what I have in FSX (bought it three days after I bought Hawaii) is an incredibly boring environment, with not s single landmark in all of my home country, and an inferior flight model. As a complete greenhorn, I took a month of flying every day before I could feel somewhat confident about performing a smooth landing in the Maule - while in FSX I could put down the same Maule in (what seemed like) a perfect landing on day one. That immediately tells me there's something wrong with FSX, at least in how it translates the "feel" of the aircraft to sounds and sight.

 

I flew some of the lessons and missions in FSX, very useful all, but flying itself was really bland. At the same time, I totally fell in love with Flight. I sure hope MS sells the code to some capable developers.

 

I think comparing price points is not fair until you include hundreds of dollars you must spend on ORBX or such to make FSX at least minimally interesting to those who prefer the raw thrill and beauty of flight to computing fuel and load balances. I did buy ORBX Australia, only to find out I'd have to buy individual airports as well at something like $20 a pop before I would get anywhere near the detail of Hawaii. I understand there's a market for that and I'm not bashing them - just saying Flight was an entirely different idea, and for many people it worked wonderfully.

 

Exactly.

Honestly, what I have in FSX (bought it three days after I bought Hawaii) is an incredibly boring environment, with not s single landmark in all of my home country, and an inferior flight model. As a complete greenhorn, I took a month of flying every day before I could feel somewhat confident about performing a smooth landing in the Maule - while in FSX I could put down the same Maule in (what seemed like) a perfect landing on day one. That immediately tells me there's something wrong with FSX, at least in how it translates the "feel" of the aircraft to sounds and sight.

 

I have to say that the first time I landed a real C152 I thought "that's it? It's that easy?" The PA28 was even easier and just about boring. In FSX I think it's harder because you don't have the visual clues and the travel in the yoke. Never flown the Maule so I can't say anything about that.

The one that should be fired is Steve Ballmer and all his team.

I'm not surprised, really. If you bought all of the downloads, you'd be paying $94 for a total of 9 planes and, if I did my calculations right, 0.6% of the total land area on the Earth. Meanwhile you could buy FSX for $30 and get all of the Earth, plus about 25 planes. Add in all of the freeware planes and stuff, and FSX is a hundred times better then Flight as far as price.

FALSE EXPECTATIONS AND MONEY BACK

..................................

 

SEE YOU IN COURT MICROSOFT!

 

I am a lawyer in Europe and I do not think you are right in this case. MS was never promising years of development - they offered a sim, completed two sceneries and number of aircraft, and stopped developing. I see that as perfectly legal. It is shame that people invested money in that, but that is the risk they are taking.

the video-game industry is in a global slump, a result of the worldwide economic uncertainty.

 

Rant warning!

 

The video game industry is in a slump as a result of having produced awfully bad games. I'm partial to FPS (guilty pleasure, I know), and it's been going downhill so badly I haven't bought a game I liked in two years. Where's the next Half-Life, the next Far Cry (the original, since the sequel was awful), the next Dead Space (ditto), or the next Bioshock (likewise)? The only game that was really awesome to me in recent years has been Portal, with a surprisingly good sequel too. Have a look at Metacritic, where latest games get top ratings from paid reviewers and all thumbs down from actual players / fans. Compare the original Mafia to the sequel. Compare anything to the sequel.

 

I've bought at least four or five expensive games which were wholly predictable, had no original ideas whatsoever and sucked badly on story, design, dialogs, interaction, characters, everything - but were big on multiplayer, which I have no interest in, but which provides a cheap excuse to limit the expenses on story, level design and artwork, and equally big on intrusive copy protection. No more. If I don't see a game get consistently high ratings from gamers on Metacritic, the game industry will not see a cent from me.

 

Now, Flight... Flight was awesome. So sorry to see it bit the dust.