ccaughie

Looks nice to me, my only concern is that it looks kind of jerky, in much the same way that FSX videos tend to look jerky.Obviously this could be to do with the way the video was captured, but if the sim were smooth I'm sure Microsoft could figure out how to make the video smooth.Early days of course, but I do hope they work on this. Silky smooth motion would make a massive difference to the sim even if nothing else changed from FSX.Colin

Overcast layer from above. Preferably with no land showing through.

I have to disagree about the water - I think the REX one looks fake. Way too luminous compared to the sky and land. The Flight version looks more like what you'd actually see IMO.Colin

Awesome. Very silly, but very funny. :( Colin

Don't you mean Aerosoft? Or are Flight1 working on one as well?I've been following the Aerosoft forum for their fledgeling project, but there hasn't been any actual news for a while. Last I heard they seemed to be trying to make the numbers add up. Here's hoping they do.Colin

Just to bring you up to speed on the two promising developments I'm aware of, here are some links:Aerosoft FS 2012 (working title)http://www.forum.aerosoft.com/index.php?showforum=278Cascade Game Foundryhttp://www.cascadegamefoundry.com/So far there's no evidence that the latter group (which is made up of ex-ACES folk) is working on a flight simulator, but if not I still look forward to seeing what they do come up with.Colin

Only if you take that sentence out of context. Allow me to insert the whole paragraph:"We want stuff to be simple enough that my mom can use it," he says -- and yet it's important to offer the opportunity for a player to grow into the high level of detail traditional sim fans have always desired. "We still want to give the ability to grow into that level of caring, but not eclipse any gameplay opportunities that may exist downstream from there... those complexities can't be a barrier to [other players] enjoying the experience."If you read the whole thing it suddenly doesn't look so bad. They then go on to talk about "sliders on reality". What I'm reading into this is that they plan to develop sims that are as complex as you like if you want all the detail, but easily accessible to novices who don't. I don't see anything sinister there.Colin

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=25919Still not being drawn on what their first project is, or whether it'll have anything to do with flying.Colin

Clearly all commercial planes should be fitted with a "pause at top of descent" feature. :(Colin

They're not very good at spelling, are they?Colin

I'm surprised to see so many negative posts here. Together with Aerosoft's new planned venture I think this is fantastic news. Let's look at the reasons to be optimistic:1. From the snippets on their web site and press release, it appears that Cascade want to simulate an entire world in which you can do pretty much anything. Any world simulation that can cope with not only flight and trains but also scuba diving and hiking has got to be pretty detailed.2. A detailed world simulation is a necessary starting point, and arguably the hardest part, of a good flight simulation. Assuming it includes weather and airflow simulation (as it would have to in order to be a generally useful world simulation), adding flight dynamics on top of that seems like a much smaller problem. So even if Cascade don't do it themselves, someone else almost certainly will. You could even take the FlightGear flight modelling code and port it to the Cascade platform, assuming the APIs are sufficiently comprehensive. Add to that a few quality planes from third party developers and you have a pretty strong flight simulator.3. Since FSX was released people have been calling for the ACES team to throw away the entire simulation engine and start a new one from scratch. Well guess what they're doing now! Sure they've got their work cut out for them, but assuming they've figured out how to fund the project, the end result seems likely to be a lot better than one that inherits a lot of legacy code that was never designed with the needs of a modern simulation in mind.4. The fact that there are (potentially) two teams working on a next generation simulation platform and not just one, and one of them (Aerosoft) most definitely focusing on flight, makes it seem highly likely that we'll have a kick-&@($* flight simulator to play with in a few years. They may collaborate, e.g. with Cascade doing the world simulation part and Aerosoft doing the flight part, or they may compete, which would raise the bar for both of them. Either way we win.Anyway I'll stop idly speculating until we have more news, I just wanted to inject a little optimism into this thread. :( Colin

I also got this, and sent it to the usual receptacle for unsolicited advertising email. I'd also be interested to know how they got my email address. I also wonder whether PMDG know anything about this?Colin

My best, long ago as it was, was Fife, Scotland, from 9500ft in a glider. It was the only time in my relatively short gliding career that I ever got properly established in wave.I know you powered folk see that kind of view all the time, but try to imagine it with absolutely no noise except the wind rushing past (at only 30kts, I was flying a K-8!).Colin

Perhaps I'm missing something, but why is this not just another TrackIR? Yes it's a good demo but I don't see it doing anything a TrackIR couldn't do (although if your figure of 50 bucks is accurate it's definitely cheaper).Colin

I guess it would get a bit more interesting if it was the CFI who jumped out.Do I get to join the sick puppy club? :( Colin