MS Flight but not as we want it!

[AndrewJamez]

BIG News at air daily X confirming that the "FS Flight on hold" rumor is false but that the truth about it is just as bad. That all th 3rd party developers have been shut out and Flight will be a "closed game" eg no addons etc. If this is true then it will way heavy on the hearts of many sim fans.

Read about it airdailyX http://airdailyx.blogspot.com/2011/09/micr...ot-on-hold.html

[toprob]

Hmm, one anonymous comment which strings together the more fanciful conspiracy theories about Flight...

[AndrewJamez]

I really hope its just more disinformation. i really do. I want to be flyimg sims when i'm old and grey and hopefully have moved on from FSX by then.

[creator2003]

I have a feeling that these rumors wont be fully answered until after Oct 5th as the Msflight director is away on vacation till then .

[toprob]

Oops, I need to clarify, after a member email -- the AirDailyX news item is just the bit about Flight not being on hold -- the rest is an anonymously posted comment, the kind of thing which anyone can add to a blog. It would surprise me if something like this didn't show up.

[creator2003]

Its already got the right ingredients for another block buster fsim ,rumors /the haters /great scenery shots/more rumors/and no comment leaving us all in the dark not letting anything slip before they want it done , insiders lol they probably payed abit to stir the rumor pot ..
it sounds all like the typical hog wash i expect from a up and coming Sim release .

[connor]

If MS do produce a rubbish sim, they'll be the ones getting the pain. People simply won't buy it.

[toprob]

We can safely assume that MS are not going to create a rubbish sim -- FSX was their most successful by far, so I don't see them misreading the market much this time around.

[AndrewJamez]

Air daily X asks John Venema a few questions. Read the last one reguarding MS flight. Does not sound good at all. BUT... an interesting bit about prepar3D as an alternative.

http://airdailyx.blogspot.com/2011/09/excl...ew-of.html#more

[SeanTK]

Every time a new FS iteration appears "on the horizon" these same comments appear. Every. Time.

Doom, gloom, and suspected corporate greed in order to undermine 3rd parties is always the order of the day whenever Microsoft seems to make a move in this realm according to the vocal masses of various FS communities.

I'll wait until it is much closer to release in order to form an educated opinion.

[Charl]

Venema is a hardheaded businessman, and his business case rests on this statement:
"Flight is not what people are expecting, it won't compete with FSX at all, it's a completely different sim category. FSX is the serious sim platform for the hardcore and will be for at least 5-10 years"
So there you have it.

Makes sense to me, especially when he concludes:
"... certainly hardware is now capable of overcoming most of the shortfalls of the code. We are also very excited about Lockheed Martin's PREPAR3D, which is built on FSX"
ORBX would be hedging its bets on (non-gaming) applications of its resources within PREPAR3D.
I am hoping that some of the LM team's work on that crappy code will trickle back to the entertainment software, perhaps in the same way Accusim works.

Wow a sim built by an aerospace company, now that's worth waiting for.

[Naki]

I cant imagine John Venema telling half truths...I'm happy sticking with FSX for 5 years and letting the fantastic addons improve the experience for me.

QUOTE (Charl @ Sep 20 2011,8:10 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Wow a sim built by an aerospace company, now that's worth waiting for.

...provided its not priced like a real Aerospace product

[toprob]

Yeah, I'm sure that John wouldn't tell half-truths, but he is one for marketing-speak. He wants to promote their work with Prepar3D at the moment, so that's the point he was trying to make -- the Flight comment was a smooth misdirection. You'll notice on the Orbx forum when someone asked his if he actually said that, he gives a very comprehensive reply, which includes another plug for Prepar3D, and manages to side-step the question completely.

My attitude is still the same:
I've seen the very same speculation before every FS release since the invention of the internet.
My understanding is that most third parties only get involved at the beta stage, anyway, and Flight isn't there yet.
There are a lot of (a) gullible people, and (b) others who take advantage of this.
In the end, when the product is released, the 'speculative journalism' scores a big fat zero.
However, following the crazies is kind of fun.
I don't want them here on NZFF, though, so don't encourage them.

[Charl]

Venema mentioned negotiations around "price points".
ORBX might just be brash enough to crack that nut.

5-10 years?
Makes total sense, the FS market overall shrank significantly after FSX.
It would need a mature product and plenty of excellent addons to grow it back.

ooh I wonder if my FS9 install will hang on that long...that'd be 4 computer upgrades I didn't do - whole lot of FS goodies to be had for that amount of cash.

[markll]

QUOTE (Naki @ Sep 20 2011,9:25 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

...provided its not priced like a real Aerospace product

Well if I remember correctly, Lockheed Martin bought the IP for ESP which was the "commercial" sim engine that Microsoft spun off from FSX. The price Microsoft charged for a single copy of ESP? US$1k per license