Flight sims don't end with Microsoft. Other than x-plane and FSX( still a great platform), open source flight sims are getting increasingly better. I don't know how many folks still remember FLY!, but a few dedicated developers have been converting it into an open source sim. FLY! was known for its superb cockpit graphics and flight modeling. Now, we have the first Alpha version of this sim as an open source program.

There is reason, therefore, to be optimistic rather than pessimistic about the future of flight simming.

For someone who started with the Commodore flight sim, I am very happy where I am today.

 

tc

Does anyone really imagine that simply because they'll no longer be able to fly a half arsed pay as you go MS flying game, one which specialised in having aeroplanes with no cockpits, over one of just two lacklustre terrain areas (both in the US), where there was no AI, no ATC, no radar, no dynamic scenery, no dynamic weather, no jets, no helicopters, no gliders, no autogyros, no balloons, no airships, no multi-engine props, and no prospect of any of these things either because there was no third party innovation, and which consisted principally of a daily 'challenge' of popping magic spheres in the sky and hearing a chime sound, that the future of flight simulation is over?

 

Come on people, really? If anyone thought that was the future of flight simulation, then all I can say is that their expectations must have been really very low indeed.

 

Al

 

Thank you. That was very informative.

Does anyone really imagine that simply because they'll no longer be able to fly a half arsed pay as you go MS flying game, one which specialised in having aeroplanes with no cockpits, over one of just two lacklustre terrain areas (both in the US), where there was no AI, no ATC, no radar, no dynamic scenery, no dynamic weather, no jets, no helicopters, no gliders, no autogyros, no balloons, no airships, no multi-engine props, and no prospect of any of these things either because there was no third party innovation, and which consisted principally of a daily 'challenge' of popping magic spheres in the sky and hearing a chime sound, that the future of flight simulation is over?

 

Come on people, really? If anyone thought that was the future of flight simulation, then all I can say is that their expectations must have been really very low indeed.

 

Al

+1

 

There are great flight simulators out there...and I mean, real flight simulators.

Flight

In memoriam

Its life was ...

 

Short

Not so sharp

and leaves a bitter taste.

 

Not Msofts finest hour.

a company that in some ways seems to be coming synonymous with poor quality .

Like so many others these days all surface gloss, advertising spiel and flim flammery.

And also like so many modern businesses /companies/ utilities /banks etc truly god awful to deal with.

 

Even my bloody keyboard has decided to pack up on me now.

Andy

So where do we go from here?

 

The same as I did before Flight was launched: Enjoying FS2004 on VATSIM network.

 

I never borthered to download/install Flight since it didn't appeal to me.

I can/will enjoy FS2004 for years to come, although I hope that in the (distant) future a good replacement will emerge.

For sure it won't be Microsoft providing that, but maybe some other developer.

XP10 in it's current state can't replace FS2004 for me yet.

It amazes me how some people think that FSX is gonna last forever. We all know that FSX is like a 70 year old man that doesn't have that much time to "live" anymore. FSX maybe has 1 or 2 more years in it, but not much more than that. I am sure most of us play other games too, and we all see the huge difference. Graphically for example, 90% of the games nowadays have got beautiful dynamic shadow and lightning effects. Of course there are many great add-on developers for FSX, but dynamic shadows and lightning inside the cockpit is something I am really missing a lot. Of course back in 2006 graphics weren't as much advanced as now, I know. But look at Aerofly FS, the inside cockpit graphics with especially the shadow and lightning effects just add SO MUCH MORE to the immersion.

And that's not the only thing FSX is missing. WIth our FSX monster rigs we can run pretty much every game at max graphics at 60+ FPS without a single stutter. While at FSX we sometimes have to look at a stuttery 20 FPS. And then the plug-and-playability of other games. All games of nowadays just work when you install them, they always work, don't crash, and don't have any problems. While in FSX there is an endless list of problems, we need to tweak CFG files ourselves to get better FPS, we need to try solving CTDs, OOMs, installation problem and other errors, and just things that are not working. Thing with FSX is, it NEVER works right.

 

So where are we heading now? Aerofly FS and XPlane 10 are at least heading the right way but we are definately not there yet. All we need for FS11, is FSX with a new engine, new graphics, new flight dynamics, that will run at a solid 60 FPS, doesn't require any tweaking, doesn't crash and always works right like all other games do.

 

And in terms of simulation itself, FSX is not even as good as I thought. If you trim the aircraft properly, holding a stable speed, you don't even have to touch the controls at all, it will just fly in a total straight line. This is by far not realistic. Even with almost no wind in real life every plane needs correction every few seconds to point it where you wanna be going. And then the ground effect, in real life you can put the throttle to idle when you are close to the ground and it's almost impossible to stall, while in FSX you almost immediately start stalling when you do that, that's why in GA planes I never move the throttle to idle until touchdown. And then turbulence, when it's on your aircraft can get into S-turns, just one of those other bugs.

 

And also me has started to play FSX less and less. I am just sick of sometimes having too look at a stuttery 20-25 FPS at big add-on airports, and that's even without AI traffic. I am just sick of tweaking this game to make it work properly. Me as a racing sim enthusiast, iRacing is just so much easier to use. Great graphics, can always maintain 60 FPS, never any problems and that game hasn't crashed on me since I started using it a long time ago, it always works and has never required any tweaking.

 

Please if there is somebody, some kind of company, we need a new flight simulation platform, ASAP!

Yeah FSX isn't going to last forever, but I would still say that it will live at least following 4 years as very used simulator together with X plane 10.

 

20-25 FPS is just fine on my opinion, racing simulator with just a track and some of its surroundings is nothing compared to big addon airport and its surroundings.

 

My FSX works very well nowadays actually, I have autogen disabled though when I fly with big jetliners, but its unnecessary with them anyway and with GA I can use full autogen and almost all other settings with no problems.

 

Only crashes I have are truly on FSX startup which maybe crashes on 35% of the time, other than that it works very well.

 

Plus Flight was graphically also very outdated.

If you trim the aircraft properly, holding a stable speed, you don't even have to touch the controls at all, it will just fly in a total straight line.

 

This is so far from the truth it's not even funny.

This is so far from the truth it's not even funny.

 

Oh yeah it is true, it's way to stable compared to real life. It should be bouncing from left to right, and up and down a bit more, even with almost no wind.

I think Arje makes some valid points. Think about this for a second, most of us have monster computers and yet we achieve marginal performance. The fact is that a processor running at 4.8Ghz can do miracles with any other games or complex applications. We’re the only gamers stuck with low performance. We have the fastest computers in the world and yet FSX brings our computers to our knees. Having to tweak your computer constantly to achieve 25fps is horrible and doesn’t sound to appealing to me. This is the 21^st century and FSX is not/not delivering in terms of performance. In a free and open market, the competition will look for alternatives and that is why you are begging to see the competing working on an alternative to FSX. Ask yourself this question, if a FLightsim product comes out offering much better performance (correcting frame issues) why not take a second look? Would you want to be stuck with 20 fps in a place like New York City or London. FSX is good because it’s all we got at the moment but I suspect things will change in the coming year.

 

Huascar

Exactly, Arjen Vandervelde.

Oh yeah it is true, it's way to stable compared to real life. It should be bouncing from left to right, and up and down a bit more, even with almost no wind.

 

Wrong. Very wrong. I'm working towards my PPL right now in a C172 and I had a chance to fly a Lance belonging to a friend yesterday, and both aircraft are MORE stable than FSX.

 

Maybe you just have bad models in FSX. Have you flown a real aircraft?

Wrong. Very wrong. I'm working towards my PPL right now in a C172 and I had a chance to fly a Lance belonging to a friend yesterday, and both aircraft are MORE stable than FSX.

 

Maybe you just have bad models in FSX. Have you flown a real aircraft?

 

Took one flying lesson in a 152 and it required a lot of corrections compared to FSX. I mean if you don't touch the controls it will eventually fly in a straight line but what I'm trying to say is that there's more movement in real aircraft. In FSX it's like it's got tyres gripping on to somewhere. Also the ground effect is not simulated. What FSX has is exactly the opposite of the ground effect, it stalls when you turn the throttle to idle. And no I haven't had bad models, I fly PMDG and all that, I know the difference between FSX and real life, believe me. PMDG does a great job making it as realistic as possible but a real 737 requires way more corrections to keep it straight.

Arjen, you are wrong. I idle before landing in FSX on every landing and never stall. You don't know what you're talking about.

The state of out hobby, or mine at least, today is no different than it was two days ago! Just because the FLIGHT crowd has become Jaded changes nouthing.THE HOBBY IS JUST FINE. Besides, FLIGHT could never have been a hobby, its intentions were/are to be a game with no availability oto customize by the end user. Hobbies include tweaking, studying, refining, customizing etc