Microsoft Flight

[coolts]

If it broadens the scope of flight Sims then it’s got to be a good thing for the genre as a whole. Let’s not sniff too much here. Pilotwings on the N64 had me gripped for months. Not the same as F4 for sure but the sheer sense of flight in their hang glider simulation was......uplifting. Sure the end result was trivial in a "collect stuff" way, but the feel of being airborne and at the mercy of the winds. They nailed that.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I love switchology and submodes and all of that. Hell, I’ve preordered a TM-Hog mainly because of all those switches, but I got into this genre for the flying, not the button twiddling. That’s an extra treat.

Besides MS switching the development of an IP from one team to another happens all the time, not necessarily a bad thing. How many of the current ED devs worked on Flanker?

[HitchHikingFlatlander]

^Rocket Pack master in PW64! No, not realistic but in the 90s on a console that was pretty entertaining.

[Luke.S]

god could you imagine if they made a study sim with all the planes from the previous flight sims. No one would ever fly anywhere. We would all be trying to start the 747.

 

It would be ****ing awsome. Like when we all first got BS "uh what the hell do I do now, woot got it, oh crap crashed"

[VIKBELL]

The 747 starts just like any other large aircraft. Check list , pilots, fuel and APU.

[Avilator]

god could you imagine if they made a study sim with all the planes from the previous flight sims. No one would ever fly anywhere. We would all be trying to start the 747.

 

It would be ****ing awsome. Like when we all first got BS "uh what the hell do I do now, woot got it, oh crap crashed"

If you want near-DCS level switchology in a 747 and other large aircraft, look up PMDG for FSX. They have some excellent products, and they are doing more smaller aircraft as well. They have had a Jetstream 41 out for a while (I have this plane, great for flipping switches), and they are still working on a Dash8.

If you want to take it further, there is another company called FS2Crew that makes voice-recognition software that simulates a first-officer. They have most of PMDG's planes covered, as well as planes from other companies.

[SUBS17]

god could you imagine if they made a study sim with all the planes from the previous flight sims. No one would ever fly anywhere. We would all be trying to start the 747.

 

It would be ****ing awsome. Like when we all first got BS "uh what the hell do I do now, woot got it, oh crap crashed"

 

If you fly the missions you'll find that even the stock FSX aircraft have plenty of switches to use in fact in one of the missions involving a cessna caravan has 2 possible outcomes when your engine craps out.

1/ is you glide and land on the aircraft carrier

2/ is you switch fuel boost pump on and continue to your destination.

 

There is plenty more as well especially some of the other aircraft its more complex than what it looks. Ideally any new sim should have scalable complexity so then everyones happy although extra rewards for those hardcore players. BTW try rampstarting the EH101 in the acceleration pack even without some of the other features its still quite a mission to start up.:thumbup:

[Luke.S]

yeah it would be easier if the cockpit textures weren't so Low-Res. It is that fact alone I always use the shortcut because I simply can't read the labels.

[LawnDart]

If you fly the missions you'll find that even the stock FSX aircraft have plenty of switches to use in fact in one of the missions involving a cessna caravan has 2 possible outcomes when your engine craps out.

1/ is you glide and land on the aircraft carrier

2/ is you switch fuel boost pump on and continue to your destination.

 

Sounds like someone didn't run their checklist if they had to go with option #1. :music_whistling:

[SUBS17]

Thats how the mission can be played you get rewards for both outcomes though its quite cool.:thumbup:

[Grimes]

I kinda liked the mission scenarios from FSX. They give you something to do and they get to point out some of the cool additions to the game that you might not have noticed had it just been free flight.

[coolts]

The problem was IMO that they never went far enough with missions, etc. and the fact that it took them 25 YEARS TO INCLUDE THEM. Most simmers need a feeling of progression and involvement which the largely sterile environments of FSX simply couldn’t offer. Your aircraft was empty for instance. Where are my hands?

 

They got by for years on goodwill from within the company but when Bill Gates went, so did their free reign.

 

“Former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates was fascinated with Antoine de Saint Exupéry's book Night Flight, which described the sensations of flying a small aircraft in great detail”

 

I know that there are a bazillion add-ons and that some just enjoyed the feeling of flight, etc. That’s fine and each to their own, but being a “PC Pilot” Mag subscriber there are constant letters beginning with “so what do I actually DO?” with regards to MS Flight simulator. This flagrant in-audience-assumption-attitude just doesn’t work in today’s gaming software market and an audience which generally has;

 

· Less time to spare

· More distractions

· Lower attention span (because of the above)

· No availability of proper printer manuals. (FSX didnt even have proper pdf manuals for crying out loud. How elitist is that? Can you imagine ED releasing A-10 with no manual?)

 

The devs just didn’t take these points seriously enough and relied on the theory that “those who bought it before already know what to do”. That theory may hold true for a company selling fishing rods or cars, or even small indie devs, but not software from a publisher with global marketing.

 

There are of course limits to what can be achieved in a civilian sim, but surely they could have had a career mode, etc. hopefully with q total re-boot of the franchise they may achieve this and I am sure they won’t want to alienate the existing FSX audience.

 

Just look at the Silent Hunter debacle for an example of a franchise that should be moved to pastures new, (or publishers new).

Edited August 23, 2010 by coolts

[nscode]

It had missions in FS98

[leafer]

We should be welcoming games that swell our ranks, even if they're not hardcore enough for us. Some of these guys will eventually make the step up to DCS!

 

+1

 

Boy, tough crowd. I cut my teeth on US NAVY FIGHTER and it took a few more years before I realized that was not how airplane fly. I actually returned the original Flanker because I thought it was a horrible game...kept falling out of the sky eventhough the burner was working overtime and the stick pulled all the way back.

[VMFA117_Poko]

OMG! I missed that announcement!

[average_pilot]

There isn't much announced anyway. Close to nothing.

I must admit that, whatever this product is all about, they are doing it well marketing wise. They have ALL sim communities talking about interestelar vacuum.

[Havok]

EF2000 was pretty sweet also. Flying thru the fjords and being able to smoothly pan 360 degs was nice.

[SUBS17]

EF2000 had a good campaign as well.:thumbup:

[104th_Crunch]

Guys, the dream is over

http://pc.gamespy.com/articles/111/1117073p1.html

 

The article mentions a new hardcore game for the PC from MS. It also states that MS flight will be a social game and Browser based! I'd be surprised if it will even work with a joystick lol

Edited September 4, 2010 by Crunch

[Steel Jaw]

Crap and junk. Humbug. Pandering to the stupid.

[Grimes]

Not entirely all bad. Browser based games are becoming more and more popular these days. Quake Live is the obvious example of a game that kept its core principles and plays very similar to its installed cousins. Guess they might reveal what the game actually is at PAX...

 

And OMFG DUKE NUKEM FOREVER!!!!!! GEARBOX IS WIN!

[104th_Crunch]

And OMFG DUKE NUKEM FOREVER!!!!!! GEARBOX IS WIN!

 

Hail to the king baby!

[joey45]

D.N.F. > Duke Nukem Forever

D.N.F. > Did Not Finish...

 

They have been making that game for over 10 years I think.....

[Shaman]

Microsoft Flight news

 

Microsoft has announced new product to replace discontinued Microsoft Flight Simulator line.

Here's the official website and trailer.

 

Microsoft Flight

 

http://www.microsoft.com/games/flight/

[Steel Jaw]

*YAAAWN*

[Shaman]

Yeah, I did the same ;)