Those who have been with MSFS for a few years would remember the stony silence that had previously emerged from Redmond with very little interaction with the developers either before a release of a new version or even after the release of the sim.In recent times this situation has thankfully turned very much around with the participation of taildragger, Phil and pixelpoke amongst others. Many of us long time participants had waited for this development, however the interaction was not new in the flight simulator world with close liaisons with the developers of Pro Pilot and the FLY! series, the most notable proponent being the late and very great Richard Harvey.One of my other "simming hobbies" is the use of City Builder games. I have recently come across a development team that sets the new paradigm for developer interaction, both in terms of requesting feedback from the user community as well as openness and willingness to share with the community what is being developed at an early stage.With the commencement of the development of a new version of Microsoft's Flight Simulator series, we have a unique opportunity to get this next version RTM'd in a form that is in line with customer's expectation and able to be used with with mainstream equipment and avoid the angst that typified the FSX release.The aforementioned development team is from a group called Monte Christo. Their new title is called Cities Unlimited... The latest developer blog demonstrates the concept and to an extent the methodology behind their terrain engine. There is also a weekly poll on some aspect of the new title and there is constant and dedicated interaction from a customer relations type of guy.BTW, the site URL is... http://www.cuplanet.com/ ...you should all head over there and have a look at what can be accomplished, especially check out the forums.The appearance of Phil Taylor and his predecessors on these boards is truely welcome and a long overdue development, but as the folks on the CU website have demonstrated, the interaction can be so much more positive and an opportunity not to be missed in the runup to FSXI.Cheers,Chris Porter:-outtaPerthWestern Australia

I agree although I believe Aces does listen to all the requests (see the request thread for FS11) and have to go through what is possible/feasible etc... to balance it between the casual user and the hardcore sim pilot.One issue that has bothered me since the release of FSX is the way the devs have been treated by some. Sure, it's a public forum, but it's also a community of users who in most cases have the same passion for aviation and flight simming and to see the project manager of the sim we all use get lambasted about certain issues, called a liar, hung in effigy etc..... well, it makes me wonder if they'll be back.Yes, yes, it's a public forum, but calling people a really excited user or kissA's for discussing the sim in a civil manner with the developers has tarnished what could have been an unprecented oppurtunity for all of us irregardless of position on the FS9/FSX/DX10/DX9/Vista/XP/Magic Screenies fence.We all use a version of FS and all have the same goal, the enjoyment of aviation from racing to gliding and bush to airline, so hopefully, as the intensity of the FSXI development increases, the users can put aside any misgivings and work together with a tolerant, mature attitude understanding the complexities involved in all aspects of this hobby and work with the developers as they continue to slug their way towards the sim we all want to see.Ahhhh....one can dream.PS...the city builder looks like an interesting piece of software, thanks for posting the link.

>We all use a version of FS and all have the same goal, the>enjoyment of aviation from racing to gliding and bush to>airline, so hopefully, as the intensity of the FSXI>development increases, the users can put aside any misgivings>and work together with a tolerant, mature attitude>understanding the complexities involved in all aspects of this>hobby and work with the developers as they continue to slug>their way towards the sim we all want to see.>>Ahhhh....one can dream.>>PS...the city builder looks like an interesting piece of>software, thanks for posting the link.Yep indeed so true ;-)http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y156/awf1/sign.jpg