Flight post mortem.

[Gibbage 199]

And there's allways THIS FACTOR, so difficult to get around with....

 

Ballmer had nothing to do with Flight. I would not be surprised if he didnt even know of its existence. MS is just such a MASSIVE corporation, that 1 man cant know everything that goes on. He has better and bigger things to worry about.

 

Very nicely worded Kevin. After he gave that little speech just prior to Flights release bashing FSX and it's "rediculous 25000 airports and world wide scenery", thats the point I decided I would never support FLIGHT!

 

And that is why I say that he ran it into the ground. I never met the man (thankfully), and I dont know the full story and may never, but my opinion that he ran it into the ground is based 100% on those very interviews. That man never cared about flying or Flight, and you can tell that by his words.

[jcomm 5,890]

Ballmer had nothing to do with Flight.

 

Among many other things, that's one of the things I liked about Bill Gates too - as far as I was told/read he did care about MSFS :-)

[Gibbage 199]

Bill Gates and Paul Allen cared about aviation and were supporters of simming. Sadly they both left MS long ago. I think it would be really cool if Paul Allen picked up Flight and let the team fulfill there true vision. He has the money, resources, connections, and love of aviation to do just that. Let me be clear that this is me just dreaming and I have not heard any rumors from the team. I haven't heard much of anything from the team, as they are all still in a state of shock and have much bigger concerns then spreading gossip with a former team member. I wish them all the best of luck, and hope they all land on there feet. It will be months before we learn if anything will happen, if we learn anything at all.

[alainneedle1 97]

I have a question: why didn't FSX get the performance-enhancing treatment? We were (and still are by some) given rubbish about how it was designed for "future hardware" yet it still runs like crap 6 years on. Meanwhile, Flight is mysteriously running the way FSX could only dream about.

 

I'm sorry for the team members that lost their jobs. That sucks. However, I'll always be wondering how MS were conned for so long over the state of the product. As developers on the product, you must have known??? Why did no-one speak out? This is what is wrong with the state of management today.

 

Best regards,

Robin.

 

Flight was made to replace FSX on the long run, some third party (as I said at the beginning) were involved in the making of it (as you all know one of them blew a gasket by telling on himself), some crumbs were initially suppose to be sent to FSX...not much but still....the first goal for both party was to try to erase piracy as much as possible with the market store, like that and with their products protected more devs. would be incline to go this route...maybe less money per addons to the devs. but more on the long run...it did not happen as planned.

 

Let just say that some don't play well with others...

 

Anyway, there is always something coocking on a back burner somewhere....

[CryogenicPilot 1]

Second, WHY is Flight dead? That is not an easy question to answer. Again, I was out of the loop for over a year, but it seems that sometime after I left as an artist, Joshua Howard took over lead for Flight and pretty much ran it into the ground. The Flight that was launched was NOT the Flight I worked on. Also, even if Flight did make money (I dont know if it did or did not), I dont think it was enough to be on MS's radar.

 

The team did an amazing job with the task they were given. There are some hidden gems in the game, and the team only scratched the surface of what was possible. Most of the team members were from ACES, and were very enthusiastic about flight simming and the product. Many members had there PPL, were retired commercial pilots or even flight instructors. Members of the team even owned many of the aircraft that were modeled! Flying is in there blood and all they wanted to do was share that passion with the world. Sadly, the teams vision of Flight was never allowed to fully materialize.

 

It sickens me the potential for something better for flight sim fans and aviation enthusiasts is now dead for no other reason than GREED on MS's part.

 

I am sorry if I sound like a broken record, but I just had to put that out there... again :P

[Gregg_Seipp 565]

Truthfully, it was never any real "revenue generator" of any type, but it was a terrific "Goodwill/Loyalty Generator" for Microsoft as a whole...

 

I always bought the latest version of Windows when I bought the latest version of MSFS.

 

Personally, I think this is text-book self-destruction of market dominance. They couldn't have done it better if they'd have tried.

[bakka 2]

Hang on! Did this guy really say 'But ultimately this was the right decision for Microsoft' taken from http://forum.avsim.net/page/index.html/_/pri-news/joshua-howard-regarding-ms-flight-r493

 

If so its clear this guy is to blame, I hope the rest of the flight team find a job really soon, but this guy making that kind of comment does not deserve to be a part of any team, ever . That actually got my blood boiling.

 

My post mortem:-

Flight was miss managed and lacked direction from a person who clearly was not passionate or competent enough to run this project

[RoboRay 126]

Hang on! Did this guy really say 'But ultimately this was the right decision for Microsoft' taken from http://forum.avsim.n...-ms-flight-r493

 

Those are normally the type of words spoken by somebody who still has a job and hopes to keep it.

 

My post mortem:-

Flight was miss managed and lacked direction from a person who clearly was not passionate or competent enough to run this project

 

That was clear from the beginning. However, there was always a chance Flight might succeed in spite of its mismanagement, on the strength of those who actually built it. They made a remarkable effort, with what they had to work with.

[Gibbage 199]

I dont want to start a lynch mob going after Joshua Howard. I never met the guy, and I dont know the full story. Yes, the buck stops at his desk, but going after him wont bring Flight back.

[bakka 2]

Lynch mob...now thats an idea! :)

 

I guess everyone is just frustrated at what could have been

[HughesMDflyer4 470]

Anyway, there is always something coocking on a back burner somewhere....

 

You were right about how Flight turned out...lets hope you are right about this, too. :P

[Gibbage 199]

Nice! A Mythbusters reference!!!! Wonder how many people will get that one...

 

I agree, that it was a great idea, aimed at the wrong people. My only hope is that someone picks up the torch and bring it to the right people.

[Simmo W 24]

Brilliant post Kevin. I'll link to this at our site. Pass on our appreciation and concern to your talented friends

 

I don't remember the mb episode, but it still looks like a piece of poo?

[ak416 0]

Based on your experience and knowledge, how badly do you think the release of the Warbirds instead of proper, "Deluxe", aircraft hurt the launch of the game? It seems most people didnt even get a chance to spend their money, because only now are we getting the content we had hoped for.

 

I probably dont know enough to say this, but I cant help but feel that is where they really dropped the ball. It was clear from day one that the large majority had no interest in planes without a purpose and especially without a cockpit.

[RoboRay 126]

I don't remember the mb episode, but it still looks like a piece of poo?

 

It takes dedication and a lot of hard work to polish poo, but just look at it shine. Both the Mythbuster's work, and the Flight Team's.