A Minority Opinion

[Tom Constantine]

By now the news that Microsoft closed Aces Studio, casting doubts on the future of Flight Simulator is pretty well known. At first we all heard much weeping and gnashing of teeth as various and sundry vented their disappointment and displeasure. Now that the smoke has cleared I want to offer a minority opinion. I'm glad they did it. I'm happy that the hyperactive force for development is over. I'm pleased that I will have an indefinite future to enjoy FSX and to continue to enjoy the stable and well developed FS9 with many mature addons that frankly raised FS9 almost to the level of FSX. And this is not to mention FSGW3 and all that Jazz. I have 4 excellent installs of MSFS on two computers, each customized for something I like to do. I neither want nor need FS11 to muddy the waters. In particular I do not need the rumored increase of game elements (like full career mode) that were rumored to be in the planning stages.
I'm glad the madness is over and IF a new version should happen to appear in an indefinite future I will give it a pass if it is not a flight simulator. I don't need an airplane flying game.

[sgtmajor]

Tom.... I couldn't have said it better myself!! I finally have two good computers that can run FSX on one.... and FS9 on the other and am relieved that I don't have that "trying to keep up" feeling any longer.

My hopes for the future..... more outstanding developers finally getting some breathing room to really hone their craft!

Cheers,

[bhk]

Interesting observation and one that, until stated by Tom, I had not consciously considered.
But you are right in that the upgrade cycle can, at best, stop or, at worst, at least slow down significantly.

I have bought an extra 1Gb of memory (approx AUS$75.00) to bring my laptop up to 2Gb.
That is the lowest amount I have spent on a computer upgrade of any sort in my entire life and the only upgrade of any sort in the past three years.

Bruce

[Deleted]

Yes I take the point. Pity is though that FSX is an FS2000 with bugs in it that won't be sorted until the equivalent of FS2002 comes out. The danger is that there could be a situation where many who would otherwise stick with flightsimming will drift away because of their dissatisfaction reducing the market and making it uneconomic to ever produce a new bugless version.

That would be sad I think. FSX shows what is possible if only... It would be very sad if that promise were never realised and it will not be unless there is a market pull or a technology push. With Aces gone the latter has disappeared and if the market says the same as Tom, then that will be the end of it. On balance I would prefer the impetus to continue developing still to be there I think.

[meryl]

With addons for FSX such as Orbx FTX covering Au and the planned coming of Orbx FTX PNW
for the USA, still a lot of good things to come for FSX, IMHO

Meryl

[beana51]

I'm in the minority I guess,..I like flying with reasonable scenery...FS9 has been transformed into a satisfying Sim experience .The labor,often of love only,has made FS9 a great sim...FSX, has yet to evolve into a Good sim...still in an "EXPERIMENTAL" mode....
This seeking perfection is the tail that wags the dog.yes ,we are grateful for those who brought us here....A new Sim will task us, what with more demanding equipment needed,..it becomes expensive.
No to say a Sim,that is reflective to the true charestics of flight would not be sought after...Purists,flight Schools would welcome this new tecnoglogy..They of course have it,the costs reflecting the performance.

I am happy with my Sims.FS9 very for filling,FSX,the eternal busy box is fun,...let others pursue the new technology,they are true pioneers ,inovators,... however,i I tend to observe,and go flying for the fun of it ,on a desk top in my home ,and in a Simulated world!........The stuff of fantasy!!

[Deleted]

Mar 8, 2009 17:48:25 GMT -5 meryl said:

With addons for FSX such as Orbx FTX covering Au and the planned coming of Orbx FTX PNW
for the USA, still a lot of good things to come for FSX, IMHO

Meryl

Trouble is there are basic flaws in the platform that addons can't rectify. There will always be problems with add-on scenery seasonality for example because there's a resident bug. And I think that there is an underlying coding problem that has never been actually solved involving microstutters - the Unlimited FR/VSync problem - only correcting the coding will do it.

Frankly I think what MS has done is a total cop out. They had a moral duty in my book to correct the problems in the software that millions of customers all over the world bought in good faith. Just saying tough and shutting up shop isn't good enough in my book - but then I'm old school.

[kbr]

I have to say that I tend to agree with Tom. It will be nice to concentrate on the current sims for a while without having to worry about the next one being right around the corner. While I doubt that MS is out of the flight sim game forever, 2 to 3 years per sim has always been way to short a time and has serious prevented the simulators from reaching the levels that they could have.

It has always been rather disheartening to see the sim reaching new levels only to be cut off and have to start over again on the next newly released sim and wait until developers learn to developer for the new sim. While more often than not, most developers will have the sim well in hand just before the next one comes out.

The developers who love the sim and stick with it, will probably be turning out some amazing stuff that we would never get to see if the next sim was still going to be released on schedule.

PS: These comments should not be taken in any way that I approve of people loosing their jobs as I have expressed my sympathies for those who did elsewhere. It simply means that like other here, I can also see a good side to this situation.

[bhk]

Mar 8, 2009 18:39:02 GMT -5 kbr said:

....The developers who love the sim and stick with it, will probably be turning out some amazing stuff that we would never get to see if the next sim was still going to be released on schedule......

This is exactly what has happened with Train Simulator.

News of the first projected v2 (by Kuju) had the effect of slowing down development for the original 2000-released v1 but when Microsoft decided to can the project, developers continued to work on, and make some amazing enhancements to, the original.

Now, with the second cancellation of the in-house v2 developers who had canned projects for v1 have removed them from the bins, dusted them off and over the next 12 months there will be some eagerly-awaited releases.
All for a game that is approaching its tenth birthday and continues to maintain its popularity.

The same will happen with Flight Simulator, be it FS9 or FS10.

Bruce

[Deleted]

I suppose it'd be too much to expect that MS would make the code available to approved developers so they could do the work to correct the glitches for a share of the revenue.

Nah

[jonathandevers]

I think it's nice that we have two sims for people to choose from that are going to be sticking around for some time. I personally still use both and enjoy the fact that add-ons are readily available for both.

Things are going to get really good over the next couple years addons wise, as long as everybody doesn't fold in the cards, and that's about the longest timeframe I look into the future, so all's good until then!

[windrunner]

Mar 12, 2009 2:45:57 GMT -5 jonathandevers said:

Things are going to get really good over the next couple years addons wise, as long as everybody doesn't fold in the cards, and that's about the longest timeframe I look into the future, so all's good until then!

You're right! we are just awakening. That's why we need every modeller, painter, builder back on the saddle again.

[AirCoaster]

I agree with you Tom. Heck, I was quite happy with FS9, and FSX was just a curiosity for me.... (no details). Otherwise, no comment.

[Slide]

Good points all around. I do not really feel like a minority.