mutley 4,498 Posted January 4, 2012 Report Share Posted January 4, 2012 Get it here Link to post Share on other sites
ddavid 149 Posted January 4, 2012 Report Share Posted January 4, 2012 Still 32-bit - Doh! FREE download - Ouch! Didn't expect that... Did they mention multi-player - must be there, somewhere. Hawaii sounds a fun place to start - But, Tomorrow we conquer the World, Igor!! We'll see, eh?!? Cheers - Dai. Link to post Share on other sites
ShrewsburyFC 215 Posted January 4, 2012 Report Share Posted January 4, 2012 Free ?! Looks like their takeing the same route as Just Flights Freemium development program, but on a much larger scale! It also sounds like you have to have a windows live account to get the full benefits of the game. It will be interesting to see how it all works, when more infos released! Link to post Share on other sites
Tim_A 997 Posted January 4, 2012 Report Share Posted January 4, 2012 On the face of it, the announcement confirms everyone's worst fears. And the cynic in me says the reason that the initial drop is free is because they've realised that nobody would actually pay money for it. At least one site is saying there will be no SDK, and hence no third party addons, and the only add ons available will come from Microsoft through their live store. Now we all know how bad MS planes and scenery are... (which is why we have 3rd party stuff in the first place!). We might hear at next week's CES what Microsoft's actual strategy is though. Link to post Share on other sites
mutley 4,498 Posted January 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2012 It certainly adds kudos to the X-Plane development, which IMO still has a long way to go before I would switch from FSX but it is more likely to happen now. Link to post Share on other sites
Tim_A 997 Posted January 4, 2012 Report Share Posted January 4, 2012 I wonder when we'll see an Icon A5 for FSX, or X-Plane... Link to post Share on other sites
mutley 4,498 Posted January 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2012 Here's the full post from Flightsim.com, this is totally their work, not ours so acknowledgements and thanks to them. Microsoft Flight Fact Sheet Title: Microsoft Flight Availability: Spring 2012 Worldwide Developer: Microsoft Studios Format: Digital download ESRB Rating: Rating pending Pricing: The starter pack is free to play and includes the Icon A5 and the Big Island of Hawaii. Pricing for game add-ons will vary. Product Overview: Microsoft Flight is an entirely new PC game that lets players jump into the challenge, fun, and freedom of flight with no special hardware or past experience. Whether players want to fly freely or choose to master real instruments and controls, Microsoft Flight is easy for a beginner while challenging for the most accomplished PC pilots.The game immerses players in the flying experience with realistic graphics and accurate physics, and will continually evolve with new terrain, aircraft and challenges that can be downloaded via expansion packs. Features: Top features include the following: You're at the Controls. Microsoft Flight offers hours of exciting gameplay for free with the initial download. Set the pace by choosing to turn on flight aids or use the cockpit controls to perform authentic piloting procedures. Choose how to play, whether it's completing missions, finishing challenges, exploring the sky or finding aerocaches. Players looking to deepen their experience can download additional packs that add new aircraft, regions and customization options. As a player's experience grows, so too does Microsoft Flight, with frequently released new content like daily aerocache challenges and regular mission updates designed to keep the experience fresh. If You Can Use a Mouse, You Can Fly. With Microsoft Flight, players can jump into the challenge and fun of flying with no special hardware or past experience. At the push of a button players can see all available missions, be transported to specific locations, view the airplanes in their hangar, or track and share accomplishments. After a brief tutorial, they'll be soaring past the lush, breathtaking cliffs of the historic Waipio Valley or witnessing the vast crevices of the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park with a view from above. Stunning Realism. Microsoft Flight features a visually stunning and realistic representation of the region-specific weather patterns, foliage and terrain, landmarks and flight physics. Players can explore in highly rendered, accurate cockpits of airplanes, or fly with a view of the airplane from the outside. Product Specifications: Microsoft Flight is optimized for the average PC user, with no special hardware required. Minimum: Dual Core Processor 2.0 GHz 256MB graphics card, DirectX 9.0c compliant 10GB hard drive space WinXP SP3 or newer 2GB RAM Recommended Dual Core Processor 3.0 GHz 1024MB graphics card: ATI Radeon HD 5670 or nVidia GeForce 9800T or equivalent 30 GB hard drive space Windows 7 SP1 64-bit 6GB Ram Visit the official Microsoft Flight web site here: www.microsoft.com/games/flight/ Screen Shots As part of this announcement, Microsoft has provided us with two sets of screen shots. Click on any one to see the original full size image. These shots were released to all press contacts: These pictures are exclusive to only those select few, such as FlightSim.Com, that were part of the press event at Microsoft headquarters last month: Link to post Share on other sites
remingtonbox 18 Posted January 4, 2012 Report Share Posted January 4, 2012 I would have to say this looks disappointing, I hate the "Level Up" aspect. Sometimes I just want to fly instead of screwing around with a level based game. I love FSX because it is everything a video game is not... open ended. They should add this weather engine to FSX and drop Flight all together. I am afraid all of the negative speculation in the past is correct. Oh and... http://www.fs-freeware.net/downloads/fs-x/propeller-aircraft/viewdownload/15-propeller-airplane/1776-icon-a5-light-sport-aircraft an Icon A5 for FSX Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted January 5, 2012 Report Share Posted January 5, 2012 Random thoughts... After having bashed this with everyone else, caution dictates this - Microsoft didn't get to be what they are by being stupid and they may yet pull a rabbit out of the hat. All indications point the other way, but we're not talking about a two-bit startup here. They just might fool all of us and do something truly stunning with this at some point - I hope so, but I don't see all that much pointing that way just yet. CES is going to be interesting. Consider this too - if I were a MS Marketing Exec looking at future products, I'm not sure that "serious flight simmers" would be high on my list of target audiences for new development projects. Think about how much FS money you've spent with MS in the last ten years - very little, I suspect. We all bought the basic app - and went elsewhere with a ton more money, buying hardware and software add-ons (that MS chose not to market), from others. If you're Microsoft, thinking on the scale Microsoft thinks on - we're small potatoes. The guys who buy Grand Theft Auto and Guitar Hero and the 1st person shooters for the consoles are a much bigger piece of the action than we are if you take into account that we only buy the basic app from them. Here's a possibility - Flight - Hawaii today, Flight - Bahamas tomorrow - Flight - Riviera next week - Flight - [somewhere scenic, with a new airplane and 10 new Challenges] next month. If they do that for three years, which would make them more money - that or FS-Eleven? I'm still thinking console gamers must look pretty good to them. John Link to post Share on other sites
Midlander 0 Posted January 5, 2012 Report Share Posted January 5, 2012 I think the simple fact is that MS Flight is simply not aimed at users of the FS series. I am not a fan of this centrally controlled distribution model. If you buy a software package on disc or as a download, you retain the ability to use it even if the supplier goes bust, or ceases to support the software. Under this type of distribution model, if either of these scenarios happens you lose everything. When I fed these concerns back to MS via the Flight website, I recieved no responce, whch didn't surprise me. To me, this causes huge issues with the future of the "serious" flight sim market. The problem will be that without support for third party add-ons, the current FS user base will not transfer to Flight, as MS have consistently refused to supply quality add-ons for FS. Will the general gaming market be enough to support further development of Flight with MS standard aircraft and scenery? If not,it gives MS the excuse to finally pull the plug. With all due respect to X-Plane, the developers do not have the clout that MS have, and third party developers may not wish to commit resourses to developing add-ons to the extent they have with FS. The other issue is gaming platform. PC-based games appear to be declining in variety and high street availability, with manufacturers preferring to develop for consoles which they can control through tighter licencing arrangements, thus increasing their revenue. My own feeling is that this is the way Flight will go, migrating to X-Box, hence the choice of \windows Live as the distribution platform. Again, this makes third party developments more costly and difficult to progress. Not a pretty picture I'm afraid. I know the market, like nature, abhors a vacuum, but is the "serious" FS market big enough to justify the development of a stable (financially!) new platform to replace FS, when the "casual" market is covered by Flight, wiht the behmoth of MS behind it? Link to post Share on other sites
Tim_A 997 Posted January 5, 2012 Report Share Posted January 5, 2012 It's quite clear that the only serious mainstream replacement for FS is X-Plane. It's the only game in town as far as ongoing development is concerned. Sure there is LockMart and Prepar3D, but they are specifiically excluded from going for the mass market by their licencing contract, and so they can only ever be a small player, pulling in a few people at a time by word of mouth. Flight is an X-Box game in all but name. If that's what the MS marketroids think that people want, that's their perogative. but (a) you can't kill things. (b) you can't bomb the sh*t out of things, and those two facts alone will turn off most X-Box gamers within a few minutes. The serious X-Box gamer is not going to be happy with some "hello flowers; hello sky; tra-la-la", go through the hoops and find a yellow shiny thing, without a load of bad guys shooting at you. It's not going to get anybody interested in Aviation (the dumbed down flying and dumbed-down default plane see to that), and anybody interested in proper aviation is not going to find it here. 99% of people interested in gaming want to shoot (at) stuff. 99% of people interested in flying on a PC want to do it in airliners. MS obviously think they have a market for Flight, but I really don't see who it's aimed at. * (statistics entirely made up. Which makes them as good as anyone else's) Link to post Share on other sites
ddavid 149 Posted January 5, 2012 Report Share Posted January 5, 2012 Love the Basil Fotherington-Thomas quote, Tim! BTW, it's "Hello clouds, Hello sky..." - ah, those were the days... Oh, M.S. FLIGHT! Whilst gamers may want a shoot-em-up, they need regular new challenges, they're addicts, see. So, give 'em a free platform, get 'em hooked and wait for the queue to form for more 'medicine'. And, yes, it may make sense financially. Certainly more so than the income 3rd-party FS add-on companies make. As to XBOX, I'd watch out for other 'hand-held' platforms - they mostly use the same basic hardware and the big game makers produce for different platforms, too, don't forget. I guess there'll be a few of us 'beta' testing - although I've a feeling this is more of a promotion stunt (sorry) than true testing. So, who's going to Review M.S. FLIGHT, eh? Form an orderly queue, Lads! Cheers - Dai. Link to post Share on other sites
M31 0 Posted January 5, 2012 Report Share Posted January 5, 2012 Flight is an X-Box game in all but name. If that's what the MS marketroids think that people want, that's their perogative. but (a) you can't kill things. (b) you can't bomb the sh*t out of things, and those two facts alone will turn off most X-Box gamers within a few minutes. The serious X-Box gamer is not going to be happy with some "hello flowers; hello sky; tra-la-la", go through the hoops and find a yellow shiny thing, without a load of bad guys shooting at you. It's not going to get anybody interested in Aviation (the dumbed down flying and dumbed-down default plane see to that), and anybody interested in proper aviation is not going to find it here. 99% of people interested in gaming want to shoot (at) stuff. 99% of people interested in flying on a PC want to do it in airliners. MS obviously think they have a market for Flight, but I really don't see who it's aimed at. * (statistics entirely made up. Which makes them as good as anyone else's) These are the thoughts I've just put down in another post here Tim, its not going to keep the casual gamer attracted for long once they realise they cant blow stuff up. I do reckon its lot more than 1% of folk who want to fly on a PC want GA type Aircraft though, most of my virtual flying is that way and a lot of add ons support that, Airliners are not really my thing, fair play to those who like it though. I wouldn't be surprised if it does get ported to X-Box. Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted January 5, 2012 Report Share Posted January 5, 2012 I thought Aerosoft was working on a FS replacement at one time, though they now seem to be connected to X-Plane in some way, formal or informal. My guess is that they put thier project on the shelf when Flight was announced, but now seeing what Flight is (and isn't) they may decide to dust off what they had done and continue. In any case, I won't be buying Flight unless there are some serious changes in direction, content and general philosophy. I think X-Plane has a very long way to go to get level with FSX but this new development may also energize them and they might just see an opportunity to really briing it up to and beyond what we have now. What's changed is that Flight is no longer the 800 pound gorilla in the true flight sim sandbox, possibly opening the way for anyone else (X-Plane, Aerosoft, others) to build the true successor to FSX. John Link to post Share on other sites
Tim_A 997 Posted January 5, 2012 Report Share Posted January 5, 2012 Last I heard they were stalled looking for an engine. I gather it's been put back to at least 2015. Link to post Share on other sites
M31 0 Posted January 5, 2012 Report Share Posted January 5, 2012 I thought Aerosoft was working on a FS replacement at one time, though they now seem to be connected to X-Plane in some way, formal or informal. My guess is that they put thier project on the shelf when Flight was announced, but now seeing what Flight is (and isn't) they may decide to dust off what they had done and continue. In any case, I won't be buying Flight unless there are some serious changes in direction, content and general philosophy. I think X-Plane has a very long way to go to get level with FSX but this new development may also energize them and they might just see an opportunity to really briing it up to and beyond what we have now. What's changed is that Flight is no longer the 800 pound gorilla in the true flight sim sandbox, possibly opening the way for anyone else (X-Plane, Aerosoft, others) to build the true successor to FSX. John They definitely did a lot of preparation ground work for a 2012 simulator of their own and I know this is true because they were talking to Saitek about hardware support when I was a beta tester for them back then, but apparently it was dropped but put on hold, hints are they may resurrect the sim again with 2015 being mentioned. I guess a lot depends on how things pan out with their stated commitment to developing for X-Plane 10, if its a big success they might just be happy to continue doing that. I'd like to see Aerosoft do their own Flight Sim though, if any company could do it it would be Aerosoft, they have some great in house talent and a large pool of loyal satellite developers who code for them who would be happy to make money in this genre. Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted January 5, 2012 Report Share Posted January 5, 2012 Doing it from scratch is a huge task and I'd rather see it done right than done quickly. It will be expensive, however, with no access to ANYTHING in FSX to use as a basis. This FLIGHT business may be good news for the existing software houses - it gives a new lease on life to FS9/X since we're not all going to run off to a new app that has third party development sewed up by MS. It may be business as usual for them, at least for a while. Hardware (and possibly even OS) improvements will continue to improve the performance of FSX marginally for a while yet too, and there have been software innovations that have greatly improved the FSX experience too - there may be more of them in the wings as well. Flight is obviously not what we want but neither is it the end of the world. John Link to post Share on other sites
M31 0 Posted January 5, 2012 Report Share Posted January 5, 2012 Doing it from scratch is a huge task and I'd rather see it done right than done quickly. It will be expensive, however, with no access to ANYTHING in FSX to use as a basis. This FLIGHT business may be good news for the existing software houses - it gives a new lease on life to FS9/X since we're not all going to run off to a new app that has third party development sewed up by MS. It may be business as usual for them, at least for a while. Hardware (and possibly even OS) improvements will continue to improve the performance of FSX marginally for a while yet too, and there have been software innovations that have greatly improved the FSX experience too - there may be more of them in the wings as well. Flight is obviously not what we want but neither is it the end of the world. John Agreed, mildly disappointed here I guess, but quickly getting over it ... guessing that's because deep down I guessed for a long time Flight was going to be no proper successor to FSX. The other possible avenue a lot of folk are talking about is Pepar3D that was sold to Lockheed Martin by MS, this is a much tweaked FSX as far as I can see, but Microsoft have that covered, its only allowed to be limited in use, its currently very expensive for an outright purchase or cheaper for a monthly license, if we all rushed out and bought it MS would clamp down I'm sure ... I'm not 100% up to speed on all this, but thats the gist of it as I understand it ... its a non starter though by the looks of it. Personally speaking I'm not too impressed with the demo of X-Plane 10 and never was with any previous versions, but if they do get 100 per cent support from third party developers and stop constantly tinkering with it like they apparently did with XP 9 (thus creating a constant moving target) it might be worth looking at in a years time? Quite happy with FSX and my choice of add-ons for now though Link to post Share on other sites
M31 0 Posted January 5, 2012 Report Share Posted January 5, 2012 Orbx developer has broken silence on Avsim, interesting reading. If we can get around any stranglehold MS has on Prepar3D sold to the public for more general usage than we have, we might have something for the future, FSX and its great add-ons wont last for ever. http://forum.avsim.net/topic/358739-since-the-cat-is-out-of-the-bag/ Interesting they had insight to Flight code (and I suspect Aerosoft at least did too) over a year ago, many of us had a feeling things were not right, the guy from Aerosofts quotes were probably the biggest give away for me as English is not his first language and he was quick to retract them and encourage folk to wait and see. Looks like Orbx have really wiped their hands (burned their bridges too?) with MS though. Link to post Share on other sites
mutley 4,498 Posted January 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2012 Great link, thanks M31 Link to post Share on other sites
Tim_A 997 Posted January 5, 2012 Report Share Posted January 5, 2012 Interesting discussion. As of today, I have X-Plane 10 on order.. Link to post Share on other sites
mutley 4,498 Posted January 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2012 What do ou make of John Venema's comment Tim? http://forum.mutleys...-long-live-fsx/ (You can answer in that topic or this!) Link to post Share on other sites
Tim_A 997 Posted January 5, 2012 Report Share Posted January 5, 2012 As I said elsewhere, I think the Flight team started out with the best intentions. Then either someone else came in or there was a change of attitude at the top, and all the 3PDs were frozen out, as JV indicated. At that point, basically the writing was on the wall. It was quite obvious from the orbx forums for quite some time, with a change in JV's tone and removal of the Flight sub forum, followed by pointed disinterest that something had gone very sour. Link to post Share on other sites
M31 0 Posted January 5, 2012 Report Share Posted January 5, 2012 What do ou make of John Venema's comment Tim? http://forum.mutleys...-long-live-fsx/ (You can answer in that topic or this!) I'd like to know too what you think of X-Plane 10 once you get it Tim, but the demo's interface is still as clunky as XP-9's was, love to hear what you think of J Venema's comments RE XP -10 too ... one things for sure, Orbx made about the best scenery enhancements for FSX ever without photo scenery that has its own limitations, Aerosoft did some interesting small scenery add ons, like Lukla that appeal to me, some nice GA Aircraft too, but for wider area's Orbx were a force to be reckoned with. If only all the third party devs could work together with Prepar3D and give us what we want. I do find J Venema's comments on the basic FSX source code being better than what us average simmers state very interesting, and how he is excited about V2 of Prepar3D ... I guess we take a lot for granted, That Outoura (<- spelling?) engine that looked nice a lot of us must have seen was probably a non starter for a new sim for sure, but I've always liked FSX, its core engine just needed a lot more tweaking and MS were not willing to do that. Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted January 5, 2012 Report Share Posted January 5, 2012 If the Flight project at MS is really aimed at gamers and not as a replacement for FSX there might be hope yet for a few other scenarios. Prepar3D is one, if MS doesn't put a stranglehold on them. If they are viewed as separate non-competing products, that could happen. If, on the other hand, MS is worried about Prepar3D siphoning off Flight customers, they might not permit broad-based retal sales of Prepar3D. I don't think X-Plane is going to save us. It's going to be some combination of FSX, Prepar3D or a whole new sim developed by someone like Aerosoft. John Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now