A very sad day for flight simmers

bilbosmeggins

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Having waited with much trepidation for the latest Microsoft offering, Microsoft Flight, news filtered through today of the full horror of what is in store for us. The "game" will be free, consisting of one plane and Hawaii. Everything beyond that will be "pay as you go". And, worst news of all, there will be NO third party development allowed. Given that it was the third parties who made fsx etc shine this really is shocking news.

MS somehow seem to think that they are missing out on a portion of the market and now wish to attract the casual gamer. What they haven't considered is the fact that the casual gamer will have little or no interest in purchasing the latest Cessna 172, or an upgraded airport. Casual gamers want explosions, deathmatches, and high scores aplenty. Lots of unhappy simmers out there today. I feel deeply miffed....................:(

Microsoft Flight: Behind the Scenes at the Microsoft Studios
 
Free-2-Play is the future for most games, especially those that will be rich with content although have a dwindling user base.

APB Reloaded being the main example here.. Total flop on release, although the F2P re-birth gave it new life.

It gives everyone a chance to try it, and if they like it, they can continue playing it by opting to buy extras. Micro-purchase games are going to be the future.
 
But who will purchase add-ons for MS Flight? Anyone with an interest in flight will, by their very nature, be drawn to flight sims anyhow. This latest offering is NOT a sim. By MS's own admission it is a game. Collecting coins and flying through floating hoops will not appease the sim-crowd, and is insufficiently entertaining to cater for the average shoot-em-up joe. It's not the paying for add-ons that is the bitter pill, we do that anyway with FS9, FSX, X-Plane etc. It is the prohibition of 3rd party and user development. The MAIN reason why the previous offerings were as successful and enduring as they have been up until now.
 
Another thing to consider is that when users purchased FSX etc, they were given the world as a playground. Okay, so it was an ugly world, with barren looking landscapes, but it was a world none-the-less. You could embark on that long-haul flight from London to Sydney. MS Flight comes with Hawaii. That's right, just Hawaii. So, when you've tired of flying around that little island, and fancy a bit of trans-continental, you will have to purchase every mile that you wish to cover. Still sounding good to you? I am totally devastated by the news personally...
 
Another thing to consider is that when users purchased FSX etc, they were given the world as a playground. Okay, so it was an ugly world, with barren looking landscapes, but it was a world none-the-less. You could embark on that long-haul flight from London to Sydney. MS Flight comes with Hawaii. That's right, just Hawaii. So, when you've tired of flying around that little island, and fancy a bit of trans-continental, you will have to purchase every mile that you wish to cover. Still sounding good to you? I am totally devastated by the news personally...

It looks like they're moving away from the PC market of flight sims, as they're not the only kid on the block anymore. Above you listed a few flight sims which probably put MS to shame; also the flight sim market will be very narrow. Not a lot of people are PC gamers, and a lot of people definitely aren't flight simmers! - E.G, your bog-standard CoD cowboy.

Btw.. I wouldn't be surprised to hear this news at some point:

MS Flight Sim 360 :rolleyes:

I didn't say that F2P or Pay-As-You-Go games were good. But there's more than 'a few' who have done this with their games, including Valve!
 
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It looks like they're moving away from the PC market of flight sims, as they're not the only kid on the block anymore. Above you listed a few flight sims which probably put MS to shame; also the flight sim market will be very narrow. Not a lot of people are PC gamers, and a lot of people definitely aren't flight simmers! - E.G, your bog-standard CoD cowboy.

Btw.. I wouldn't be surprised to hear this news at some point:

MS Flight Sim 360 :rolleyes:

I didn't say that F2P or Pay-As-You-Go games were good. But there's more than 'a few' who have done this with their games, including Valve!

Unfortunately, the console route is already being heavily hinted at. I'm already recalling the massacre of IL2 when it reached the consoles. Suddenly looked twice as nice, but had absolutely nothing under the bonnet.
 
Unfortunately, the console route is already being heavily hinted at. I'm already recalling the massacre of IL2 when it reached the consoles. Suddenly looked twice as nice, but had absolutely nothing under the bonnet.

Consoles ruin everything!

I need to get my hands on a decent flight sim, I've not played one in ages. I used to love them back in 'the day'. I had a look at the 'Best Flight Sim' thread and will have a look into them.... I think I'll give the 'Microsoft Presents: Test Flight Unlimited' a miss.. lol
 
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Consoles ruin everything!

I need to get my hands on a decent flight sim, I've not played one in ages. I used to love them back in 'the day'. I had a look at the 'Best Flight Sim' thread and will have a look into them.... I think I'll give the 'Microsoft Presents: Test Flight Unlimited' a miss.. lol

Given the system that you have why not try the Warthog sim? It's gained accolades left, right and centre. Or, for more seat-of-the-pants stuff, Rise of Flight is fantastic.

Ps. I did not add RoF as a link. Some Shopskim thing just nipped in and auto did it. Bit sneaky don't you think?
 
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Given the system that you have why not try the Warthog sim? It's gained accolades left, right and centre. Or, for more seat-of-the-pants stuff, Rise of Flight is fantastic.

Ps. I did not add RoF as a link. Some Shopskim thing just nipped in and auto did it. Bit sneaky don't you think?

Yeah, this site has a link-trawler. It picks up keywords and fires up a link to PriceRunner, or something similar :)

I'll have a look at those two tonight! Cheers! :D
 
maybe theyre looking at the train sim that is near a grand for everything available which includes alot of DLC and want apply that model to flight sims.
 
How cool is this kids setup. Makes me want to buy a flight sim.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p16jyQIeIyY&feature=related]My PC Flight Simulator setup Demo Flight 1 Part 1 - Boeing 737 [HD 720p] - YouTube[/ame]
 
This guys sim is crazy, I thought he was in a real cockpit

 
Yeah my dads starting to build one... Very pricey and stupid i think but Meh we all have our Hobbies
 
meh nothing amazing. Where's the multi-screen? also why is the throttle stick on the right side? Can't use buttons on it (I have similar one, one up from that X-52 Pro)
 
M$. They have alienated the only people who loved FSX, and not given enough to the casual gamer to care.
 
Jonesy012 said:
M$. They have alienated the only people who loved FSX, and not given enough to the casual gamer to care.

I don't know about that. It would be nice to see the eventual results I.e. how much Microsoft make out of this compared to Flight Simulator X.

Microsoft Flight DLC was the number 1 download in the Steam simulation chart so I'm guessing there doing well out of it.

I've played a little bit of the free part of the game. Enjoying it so far. Might be tempted to get the DLC pack with 2 planes which is currently on sale.
 
I don't know about that. It would be nice to see the eventual results I.e. how much Microsoft make out of this compared to Flight Simulator X.

Microsoft Flight DLC was the number 1 download in the Steam simulation chart so I'm guessing there doing well out of it.

I've played a little bit of the free part of the game. Enjoying it so far. Might be tempted to get the DLC pack with 2 planes which is currently on sale.

Well, I see Flight reached it's natural conclusion with M$ abandoning the venture some time ago. The entire flight sim community expressed their initial disgust at the venture and now have the satisfaction of saying"told you so". Such a shame that they can't, or more like won't, listen to their customers. Their arrogance beggars belief.
 
Nothing will ever better Knights of the Sky anyway.

I remember playing that on my amiga very well, lots of good memories about it.

as for flight, never took to it, I tried it when it was in beta, then went back to FSX. I couldn't care less about flying around hawaii. I always wanted to pick a plane, a location and a destination.
 
How hard is it to set up the tracking device for your face? Standard webcam I presume?
 
I've never tried a webcam tracker. I've heard that they are quite good but a bit choppy. I use a Trackir 4 which does the job admirably.
 
Nothing will ever better Knights of the Sky anyway.

Now that brings back some good memories. I'd forgotten about that game.

Did you play 'Reach for the Skies', the Battle of Britain sim on the Amiga? That was even better.
 
DCS-A10C on a curved screen..



I would kill for a setup like that but no space. Oculus Rift looks very interesting though.
 

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