In the February 2005 issue of Plane & Pilot, there is a great picture of a little runway (does not mention the name of it) with a small hill at the end of the runway. I sure wished we could get this effect in FS9.BTW...the article is about going back to basics...a great read for a sim pilot like me.Roberthttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/106080.jpg

Well almost no runway is completely, and I mean mathematically 100% flat, in real life, like they all are in FS9 :)X-Plane 8 supports sloped runways. This also has disadvantages because if the mesh isn't accurate, or the runway is even slightly misplaced (which is the case with many FS9 runways), you can get really weird looking runways. So the flat airport model of FS9 does serve a purpose. Just wish they'd at least give one the option of using sloped runways.

That brings me to my biggest complaint about Microsoft Flight Simulator. The developers are practically invisible and they feel as if they do not exist. At least with XPLANE and even Terminal Reality's Fly (when Richard Harvey was alive), you at least had the ear of the developer and in turn, made the product better. I wish they had a few key FS representatives around to at least hear our thoughts and comment on them. Why couldn't bill just hire a few public faces for this audience? It's obviously one of the top "games" for Microsoft!Sorry.. off topic rant. Couldn't help myself!

Yes, would be nice if MSFS supported the ability to have sloped runways.As for the comment by others that X-Plane supports this. Maybe it has code to do this, but the implementation is flawed and in most cases the best you get is like taxing down a cobbled road, with the worst like you are taxing down a set of stairs. Just look at the release notes for the stream of 8.0x versions where it is doing its best to return to a flat runway approach again because of all the issues.As for the comment that at least the developer of X-Plane listens. He does, then ignores it and does what he wants while in some cases answering you with an egotistic, terse and rude reply!

I saw that too, and immediately read and re-read the text and captions trying to find out where that is! I hope someone knows...though I'm sure I'll be disappointed in FS9's rendition.Best,sg

>Yes, would be nice if MSFS supported the ability to have>sloped runways.ISTR that a designer in France has produced sloping runways in FS for a ski resort , Courcheval I believe. As I commented recently in another thread, never say something can't be done in FS because there are some extremely ingenious people out there :) --Bryn

Yes, I've heard and seen stories about the developer of Xplane being very egotistical. I don't know if I'd rather have someone be quiet or egotistical. What a trade-off :)

I too wish we got some more interaction from the MSFS team - it's probably a Microsoft company-wide policy though rather than something they choose to do. Still it doesn't make much sense not to interact with the community, especially with an app like FS that has a rabid user base always discussing things, asking questions, offering suggestions etc. You see the development guys from the big game makers like Valve, id, Epic, 3DRealms, etc posting all over the gaming forums like Shacknews, Slashdot, etc. In fact right after Half-Life 2 came out, the Valve guys were doing unofficial techsupport in the Shacknews forums in the middle of the night for people who had questions.