I'd love to see a new version of Train Simulator.But this time they must have better route making tools included. The ones they had in the first version were so difficult to use only a precious few people were willing to put in the massive effort required make even a small route. Compare that to BVE which is really a simple cab only Train Simulator, but its been popular because of the ease in which anyone can make their own routes.Regards.Ernie.

Perf = PerformanceTony

I'm assuming he was referring to the fact that the DX10 update for FSX won't be out Jan 31 (and we never said it would be :-> ), but as far as I know, Vista will still be released then :->

>I'm assuming he was referring to the fact that the DX10>update for FSX won't be out Jan 31 (and we never said it would>be :-> ), but as far as I know, Vista will still be released>then :->>>Uh, I know that Tim. I think he was saying DX10 won't ship with Vista.As far as I know it will.He was saying DX10 won't be out any time soon, which doesn't seem correct.RhettAMD 3700+ (@2310 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2 GB Corsair XMS 2.5-3-3-8 (1T), WD 250 gig 7200 rpm SATA2, CoolerMaster Praetorian case

>"You may be able to see and explore the same living dynamic>world of FSX from a different prepective!">>I think your going a little too far with this... :-spacecraftFrankla may not be far off the mark. Think long-term. Think "World Simulator", not "Flight Simulator". Think of Combat Flight Simulator running on the FSX engine. Think of Midtown Madness being resurrected on the FSX Engine.Perhaps think of AOE or Rise of Empires ported to this new graphics and physics engine - if you look at the DLL files in the main flightsim folder, you'll see that it's quite modular. No more restrictions on the size of the battlefield - you literally have the whole world - sky, sea and land - as your canvas.As for spacesims: well, if the engine can model Earth terrain, it could model other planetary terrain too. Changing the gravitational constant should not be too dificult :>)So think of FSX as a trial of a new platform for multiple types of simulator. No, these ideas are not going to be on the shelves next month, or even next year, but in tandem with new hardware available in two, three or four years, a lot of potential new opportunities arise.Don't underestimated the PC-focused folks at MS game studios now that Xbox is well established.- SkyDrift

Hi Rhett,Well as far as I know it should be.I beliver this is the SDK with the DX10 runtimes in it.http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...&displaylang=enAnd the quote is:"Direct3D 10 RTMThe DirectX December 2006 SDK contains the first official release of Direct3D 10, the latest graphics platform from Microsoft."Maybe I'm not understanding sopmething as well. I am "assuming" the runtimes are available, thus will be included with Vista.I understood it as DX10 is done, but it's drivers for the the new hardware that's lagging. (or still not perfected)Regards'Garett

>I was hoping all Aces resources was going into fixing FSX.>:-hmmm That's really not how software development works. You may as well argue that ACES shouldn't have people employed to clean the office or answer the phones, instead all should be working on an FSX patch.The staff allocated to work on FSX will be the staff needed to complete the task in the most efficient way.Meanwhile and entirely separate team is working on the new train sim.

>>>I was hoping all Aces resources was going into fixing FSX.>>:-hmmm >>That's really not how software development works. You may as>well argue that ACES shouldn't have people employed to clean>the office or answer the phones, instead all should be working>on an FSX patch.>>The staff allocated to work on FSX will be the staff needed to>complete the task in the most efficient way.>>Meanwhile and entirely separate team is working on the new>train sim.Now it's more clear why parts of the FSX SDK like the Object Placement Tool are having serious bugs...ACES dad splitted up their effort into 2 teams, FSX and the Train Sim.So the Final-Qualitycheck of FSX before selling it, was a minor part of their job.regardsBert

I for one is happy Aces has decided to develop a new Train Sim. It was heartbreaking when MS announced the cancellation of MSTS 2. For those that think there isn't a strong following for train sims like there is for FS need no further than look at train-sim.com. I always thought that integrating a train-sim into FS was a natural. Or at the least utilizing FS type scenery. This would open the possibility of being able to traverse the whole country or countries by train rather than be limited to individual routes like the current version does. I think the best approach would be a stand alone product using FS scenery, with the ability to interface with FS using Multiplayer. This would allow some players to drive the trains while others can fly around them in their airplanes, expanding the "living world" experience MS/Aces is trying to create in FS. By keeping it stand alone it won't compromise any of FS functionality and will add more flexibility to both products.

I agree - I never bought the last one, but i saw it on a friends machine and thought it lacked something - couldn't say what though...Anyway i'll buy the next version just out of curiosity if nothing else, just as others will i'm sure....You never know - just might get to like it. That's how it goes sometimes.....RgsEd:-spacecraft

I am happy beyond words about this. I am not only a big FS fan, but also am a Train Sim fan. Liked Train Sim 1, but I think it is outdated. Been hoping for years for a new version but thought there was some falling out between the developer & MS. Good to see Microsoft is taking it over completely.I just hope they model the Northeast corridor with the overhead wires (catenary). That would be sweet.ME HAPPY HAPPY!!! Yay! Wooo Whooo!

I think it's an excellent move that MS and ACES are extending the engine and amortizing the costs over multiple projects. A train sim is cool- and fun. I work for a transit agency and would like to see the lines modeled in real time, on a map that resembles real world. With the existing DLG data, the track locations are already known. Imagine a vatsim type of organization running the MBTA (my employer) SETRA or Metro North rush hour trains? Or running the Amtrak NE corridor with Acelas and Metroliners (and the frustrating delays :))Plus the need for distant visibility (like fs) is not as great so object density could be increased with similar performance. Really only a few mile radius (in most cases much less) is all that's needed with aggressive culling in metro areas. Tie it in to MSFS and other sims (the live world concept) ind the cool factor is very much there. The possibilities are endless, and this could be the first stab at tying in the Live 3d metro views- Boston is very well done, o the point where I can clearly ID my office and even the funky architecture of my office building.I hope that that tech can be patched to MSFS as well instead of using generic structures or bad placement data for those of us with broadband connections.Tim

>Imagine a vatsim type of organization running the MBTA (my >employer) SETRA or Metro North rush hour trains? Or running the >Amtrak NE corridor with Acelas and Metroliners (and the frustrating >delays :))I'd think it possible, with multiplayer support, which I don't think was in TS1. Would require some sort of dispatching ad tracking program either built-in or 3rd party.But the ability to create routes, stations, objects, and various rail cars/carriages easier than it was in TS1 to me is key for the success of TS2.I'd like to see more emphasis on commuter/subway routes, and tunneling support. Freight is nice but those are really really long routes.Also better train mechanics, In TS1 the Trains did not rock bounce, and sway like real trains do.Regards.Ernie.

I'll only buy the Train Sim if it has guys spray painting grafiti on box cars in the local yard. The train sim version of AI ;-) Mike