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Microsoft will only continue to produce a flight sim if they think there is good money to be made off of the investment of time and resources.

I think with the difficulties presented by attempting FSX (taxing the crap out of people's systems so that there were nothing but complaints from the community for years) and the total flop that was "Flight".............. they are likely out of the flight sim biz.

I think what we are really waiting for is someone else to pick up the fumbled football.

best,

.......................john

FSX was, and remains, coded BADLY. The fact that nowadays it can finally be used (never resolved stability issues aside) is only to be credited to the vastly more powerful hardware of today. Not the code. NEVER the code.

Maybe you do not remember, but I do. When FSX got out, THE most powerful PC on the world money could buy could not got it over 20fps at scarce graphical density. It was blatantly made HALF HEARTEDLY badly and M$ charged for it FULL MONEY, and this rightly soured some tempers.

Now it gets out that M$ felt humiliated by the bad reception FSX got... but excuse me... if I am a bricklayer and a person hires me to build him/her a wall, I accept and go building that wall using bad quality bricks, lime, cement and other materials, and TO TOP IT ALL OFF, taken by a moment of absolute sloth, I make a half-assed mess of the job TOO... an apparent FROM THE START half-assed mess... and then I go half cocked, charging full money for said abortive attempt of a wall, what would happen to me?

I tell you what would happen to me. In the civil part of world I would get sued, on some other parts I would get booted out of the premises and not paid, on other parts still I would receive both the above cited treatments, not necessarily in that order, while on other less civil places my physical integrity would first be put in serious jeopardy and then I would get one or both the first two treatments.

M$, being M$, wanted the money, immediately and NAY A WHISPER, if not in absolute adoration and gratitude REGARDLESS???

WHO THE HELL DO THEY THINK THEY ARE!? >:(

That is not how business are done... that is how THE MAFIA behaves, and THOSE are OTHER kind of businesses polite people should not indulge in.

If THAT is the way they want to behave, as grown up spoiled children, better having lost them. I am very sorry for the FS franchise... as in: I am sorry M$ EVER put their hands on it... but THAT kind of people are better forever lost.

FLIGHT HAS DIED!!!
Ah the sweet taste of victory!
We can speculate what may happen in the future of flight sims, but honestly there are way to many curve balls out there. So lets just enjoy the fact that WE, the simming community, beat MS.

FSX was, and remains, coded BADLY.......

I have always suspected that...

In my days, long ago, on my 1970/1980's, 8-bit Computers, we had a number of ways of coding a program...

BASIC language: The slowest and easiest to understand.
Compiled BASIC language. Intermediate speed
Machine Code. Using assembler language. The highest speed, directly accessing the Central Processor in Binary Code.

http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_code

I don't know what language FSX was coded in (C++? and compiled?), but for us, any part of the program that required the fastest and most efficient speed, was always coded directly in Machine Language!

Does anyone use Assembly Language coding nowadays, for maximum speed and efficiency?

Paul....Sinclair Spectrum Rules... ...!

[size=12]Not wishing to sidetrack this thread ... but I will add that FSX ran fine for me from day 1 (OK I'm not looking for 60FPS - 25 was fine) and that was

A lot of users here sure know what Flight Simming is about, as evidenced by the great comments and predictions recounted and boasted. I recall my meager input to this topic several months ago was simply that you either DL it, try it, love it, or leave it. And the masses have spoken. I think it was easy to predict the revolt of the educated Sim-enthusiasts, but to see the program fail in a potential market of newcommers, should definately put egg on the face of M$. Anyhow, be it that I never did even waste my time DL'ing the M$ Flight program, and just stuck to my trusty FSX, I think I will simply tell Microsoft "better luck next time". This of course assumes there is a next time for them in this genre. Seems that those who predicted the quick failure of Flight also stand by that M$ has failed out of this market perpetually...time will tell.

Thing is about marketing, they are trying to sell a product. It failed...quite obviously. But what if it succeeded, dispite what so many predicted? M$ would have never known if they didn't try to sell it. Strategic Retreat puts it so eleqantly with his brick layer analogy. Regardless though, Microsoft has been trying to sell bricks for some time. Some bougtth FS98 bricks, some bought FS2004 bricks, some bought FSX bricks, and some bought Flight bricks. Some where happy with their bricks and the mortar that held it together. Others thought they got bad bricks, and recycled their old bricks instead. Others thought the bricks all had their own unique qualities and made the best fence they could with the bricks they had been given. However in the end, the brick business did not work out and M$'s reputation as brick sellers has been distinguished in a mostly negative way, so they may never try to sell bricks again. At least they sold a few bricks on the way, which is all any brick layer could hope for...

I wish the best of luck to the next developer who tries to establish themselves in the market with the next defacto Flight Sim program. Flight simmers are a fickle bunch and it won't be an easy go regardless of how good they make it.

Since a lot has been said about Micosoft's failure creating Flight the way they did it (which I also see as a screw-up), I

When a Company or Government wants to impose its agenda over what the majority wants it usually fails.....M$ Flight was a clean case of this. The majority of their decades old customers did not like their "idea of Flight", but they went ahead and imposed it.....they lost. As simple as that.....--Now the door is wide open for a fresh new sim, I hope some walk in, our community will embrase any if they are up to today

In my opinion, Flight failed because of three main reasons.

1.  No support for third party - The only reason that FS ever became half of what it is today is all of the freeware and payware developers. 

2.  Extremely limited geography - Not since the very early versions of FS were we limited to one area.  This was a huge leap in the wrong direction.  Whoever came up with this idea should be fired.

3.  Gameplay concept - MS abandoned its core set of FS users completely by making Flight nothing more than an arcade game.  After all the hype, all the suspense, all the preview screenshots, teasing all FS users, it was an absolute insult.  I can understand trying to broaden the range of users to sell more copies, but they should not have ignored the cult of FS users that have bought every version of their product over the last 20 years.

Honestly, I think this is the end of MS Flight Simulators.  I do hope something will replace it, but I doubt MS will.  All I have to do is walk through a gaming store to see that.  Years ago such stores were dominated with PC based games, there were dozens of different flight sims, driving sims, action games, etc.  Now the stores are mostly taken up with console based games, with few developers spending much time or money for PC.  My theory for this shift is because almost anyone can afford to buy the latest game console for a few hundred bucks, but it can easily cost a thousand or more for a decent gaming computer capable of running the latest software.

MS embarked on a grand new vision
But made a mistake in their development decision.

Instead of a franchise based on flight simulation
They went for a Game based on a bit of aviation.

Though the advance PR did seem to impress
it was without regard to their past success.

Given the feedback posted here,
I shall not weep one single tear.

(Okay, lame, but my Muse is on the fritz...)

I'm sorry for the programmers that lost their jobs, but I wonder if the really high up bigwigs are looking at the dude that decided to trash the *simulation* aspect in favor of the *game* aspect, and taking the route they took, and are asking "What the H3LL were you thinking???"  Or, were the really high up bigwigs just as guilty of stuffing it?

I read a rather touching post, on another site, written by a man who says he was helping to program Flight until a year ago. He was very apologetic and couldn't break his NDA
  Basically though, he talked of leadership that wouldn't listen and shareholders that wouldn't give a hoot about the small peanuts like Flight.
He did praise the code and SDK very highly.

I think it's sad that MS is going to hold this in their golden hands and not let anyone else have it. Flight actually has huge potential if it was freed up. Oh, but of course, thats what we have all been saying, and what do we know? 

i myself would be so proud if i came out with a product which resulted in a moderate profit, but enabled and encouraged 3rd party developers to challenge their creativity, to produce addons to enhance the product, and make a profit too if needed...kind of a balance of live for oneself and live for others....that to me was so nice about fsx...it created so so much more................correct me if i'm wrong.....

Maybe it's time to close the MSFlight tab and create one for Prepar3D. I haven't gone that route yet but it's starting to look tempting with 3rd party addons being geared for it.

jime

Well... that was quick...