Something stirring over at Microsoft....

[paiken]

This was posted on their community forums a few days ago. Not sure if it means anything, but it appears that there may be a pulse left in the franchise.

"Greetings fellow aviators. I am one of the new community coordinators at Microsoft Studios supporting Flight and Flight Simulator X. I've logged a handful of hours on many of Microsoft's flight simulator games over the past few decades and happy to be back in the cockpit of what is perhaps the longest running PC franchise of all time. I'm eager to learn what I can from the veteran pilots and ready to support the dedicated fans of the series.May all your skies be clear and your landings smooth.

~USN Saint"

Link here...https://news.microsoftflight.com/blogs/news/archive/2013/07/19/jul-12-community-update.aspx

[spotlope]

Sounds like they're still supporting FS... which in itself is not particularly newsworthy. Nice to know, though.

[falcon409]

Interesting that he mentions supporting both "Flight and Flight Simulator X". Is he not aware that "Flight" died, lol.

[ShawnG]

he's probably well aware of how many people fly it every day, since it's an online thing. It's dead as far as development goes, but then, so is FSX.

I wouldn't get too worked up over this, the previous community manager left recently, and he's the replacement.


Given how Flight was recieved, Microsoft was going to do one of two things: quit FS development entirely, or develop a new simulator completely in secret. It's most probably the former. if it's the latter, you won't hear of it for a long time.

[RKinkor]

he's probably well aware of how many people fly it every day, since it's an online thing. It's dead as far as development goes, but then, so is FSX.

I wouldn't get too worked up over this, the previous community manager left recently, and he's the replacement.


Given how Flight was recieved, Microsoft was going to do one of two things: quit FS development entirely, or develop a new simulator completely in secret. It's most probably the former. if it's the latter, you won't hear of it for a long time.

FSX dead for developers you say, wow news to me and my bank account.

[falcon409]

FSX dead for developers you say, wow news to me and my bank account.
Yep, FSX is far from dead.

[heywooood]

I think he meant dead as far as MS involvement goes - MS is making no patches for or developing new content for either Flight or FSX
Seems like a valid observation to me

3rd party development for FSX is ongoing and glad are we of that
Will MS continue to protect FSX code within its new Windows frameworks ?
I hope so. Otherwise I'll have to maintain a Win 7 offline PC
just for FSX

[stansdds]

I think he meant dead as far as MS involvement goes - MS is making no patches for or developing new content for either Flight or FSX
Seems like a valid observation to me

3rd party development for FSX is ongoing and glad are we of that
Will MS continue to protect FSX code within its new Windows frameworks ?
I hope so. Otherwise I'll have to maintain a Win 7 offline PC
just for FSX

Agree! Flight, FSX, FS9, and all previous versions are dead to MS. I'm sure MS is keeping an eye on the flight sim community, if the community suddenly started to expand, MS might develop a new version of Flight Sim. If there is a dollar to be made, MS wants to be the one making that dollar. But, as it is, we are small potatoes compared to the business software and console gaming markets.

[dhazelgrove]

The cynic in me says that he's well aware that we're having issues with the latest updates, and he's trying to quieten things down.
Things over at the M$ support forums are getting very heated.

Dave

[griphos]

Isn't "community coordinator" just a fancy title for Facebook intern? Also "handful of hours" "over the past few decades"! I don't think anything can be read from this.

[mmann]

I've logged a handful of hours on many of Microsoft's flight simulator games over the past few decades ...

~USN Saint"



I logged a handful of hours the first day I got FSX. :isadizzy:

[falcon409]

The cynic in me says that he's well aware that we're having issues with the latest updates, and he's trying to quieten things down.
Things over at the M$ support forums are getting very heated.

Dave
What updates are you speaking of?

[airattackimages]

FSX dead for developers you say, wow news to me and my bank account.
He didn't say developers, he said development. As in Microsoft involvement, which is exactly right.

[heywooood]

What updates are you speaking of?

he means (I think) the MS update to Win 8 that broke FSX...

has no one had their coffee yet this morning, except myself, airattackimages and of course, stansdds?

[dhazelgrove]

What updates are you speaking of?

The Windows 8.1 preview.
As said, it won't allow the graphics part of FSX to run. You can add scenery and traffic files, and the databases are updated on startup, as you'd expect, but that's as far as you can go. FSX simply drops out without any error report or log.

It's known that the problems lie in the area of the DirectX9 graphics that FSX uses. FS2004(FS9) uses DirectX8, so will run, but that too has some issues with the display of water textures.

Dave

[falcon409]

Wow. . .another reason to stick with Win7. Sorry to hear about that.

[Hughes-MDflyer4]

The Windows 8.1 preview.
As said, it won't allow the graphics part of FSX to run. You can add scenery and traffic files, and the databases are updated on startup, as you'd expect, but that's as far as you can go. FSX simply drops out without any error report or log.

It's known that the problems lie in the area of the DirectX9 graphics that FSX uses. FS2004(FS9) uses DirectX8, so will run, but that too has some issues with the display of water textures.

Dave

For me, the crash with FSX was and has remained a G3D.dll error. It's likely a small change made to the handling of memory or something like that and when whatever function comes around that needs to get that information from the memory, can't go without it, and thus a crash occurs.

Also, I believe FS2004 ran DirectX 9, as DX9 came out in 2002.


Wow. . .another reason to stick with Win7. Sorry to hear about that.


Not really. It's only 8.1 that has the issue. RTM 8 is perfectly fine apart from the joystick issue, but that is easily fixed by mapping controls through FSUIPC.

[orionll]

RTM 8 is perfectly fine apart from the joystick issue, but that is easily fixed by mapping controls through FSUIPC.

Er... What joystick issue?

[Hughes-MDflyer4]

Er... What joystick issue?

Joysticks disconnect after a few hours of use. The sim must be restarted to use them again. Not noticeable for many GA/helicopter pilots, but the commercial airliner community very much suffers from this, unless of course, FSUIPC is used.

[dhasdell]

I just had a Facebook message with a link to this page: https://plus.google.com/102575299631094018361/posts

[Dumonceau]

I just had a Facebook message with a link to this page: https://plus.google.com/102575299631094018361/posts

Now isn't this typical Mickey$oft?! I get the following message when trying to open the community site (using Firefox)

"We are experiencing an error on the community site. Please close this page and reopen your browser to continue."

:icon_lol: We truly are in safe and capable hands!!! :salute:

EDIT: same thing with IE10...

[fxsttcb]

Hmmm... Petition? The latest post on the MS Flight community board references one.
Microsoft : Rehire ACES studios and resume work on Flight Simulator 11 (http://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/microsoft-rehire-aces-studios-and-resume-work-on-flight-simulator-11)

Dunno what good it will do, but, it certainly can't hurt...Don

[dandog]

The link in question worked for me. Plus, I also signed the petition. Got to hedge my bets. Lets get MS and LM working on it. A little competition usually helps.

[SPman]

How many Microsoft designers does it take to change a lightbulb?

None – they just define darkness as “industry standard”.

[warchild]

petition signed.

Actually Part of me wants to support Lockheed Martin in this. Microsoft is a company that thinks it owns the world, and in my opinion dont deserve our support and our hard earned income. they abandoned us: abandoned their own team of people too. i dont take well to that. Lockheed, though its motives may be no more honorable than microsofts, picked up this abandoned software, created loopholes that allowed everyone to own it, and sustained the community. the results of Lockheeds involvement may be debatable but the fact that they have been a positive influence in the community is undeniable. Microsoft may see future Dollar signs. Lockheed may see future pilots and the ensuing need for future aircraft. to us, its all the same. We see a simulator where the world can be explored, dreams ambitions and fantasies developed and played out, and friendships and rivalries not unlike the great stories of old grow into community legends.
I want to kick microsoft too the street. they had a good thing and then they forgot us, on purpose. To be sure, there is no philanthropic drive in either company. What compassion towards fellow simmers exists is all right here in the community, and the true dreams, fantasies and historical tools that will exist in the future, will not be made by either microsoft or lockheed, but rather by us, the members of this community.

[dandog]

Bottom line, neither MS of LM will move forward on a simulator if the money is not there. I still would like to see MS and LM battle it out for the money. We would all benefit from the competition.

Dumonceau. You forgot that MS would then would try to copy write/patent darkness, and then totally mess up the whole darkness interface on a future release.

[Dumonceau]

Bottom line, neither MS of LM will move forward on a simulator if the money is not there. I still would like to see MS and LM battle it out for the money. We would all benefit from the competition.

Dumonceau. You forgot that MS would then would try to copy write/patent darkness, and then totally mess up the whole darkness interface on a future release.

Indeed... M$ is IMHO an evil empire. I have to work with their ****ty products every day and know very well what they call "support". it is a money making machine with no regard whatsoever for their users or customers. But they DO work with NSA to spy on us all!!

Oh well, that is capitalism for ya...

[Skyhawk_310R]

Folks, we need to accept reality for what it is and not what we want it to be. The folks in charge at Microsoft today could not possible care less about the PC flight simulator market. The only reason the FS series became the multi-generational title it became is because the number two man, and co-founder, at Microsoft for so long, Paul Allen, was a devoted champion of aviation, general aviation in particular. Allen demanded that the FS series continue and what Paul wanted Paul got! When Paul Allen retired in 2000, that champion left, and the only surprise really is why it took until 2009 for Microsoft to fire the entire Aces Studios staff.

Even if there was lingering interest (and trust me there isn't any) the truth is Microsoft is facing serious challenges in far more vital business areas. Due to their refusal to support anything past IE 8 in Windows XP (which remains the most prevalent O/S in use today), for the first time ever IE lost its rank as the number one internet search engine, overtaken by Google Chrome.

Microsoft is also losing big on their O/S future as people are increasingly unhappy with their products for tablets and PC's.

The only serious option I see to reignite a PC based flight simulator is for people to convince Paul Allen to finance such a project with another company. The only way I see that happening is to write the code with the intention of supporting commercial uses and expand the market to include anyone who wanted to purchase it for any reason, including good old fashioned entertainment. In that respect, perhaps the best course would be to try to enlist the help of Paul Allen to convince Microsoft to unshackle their current limits on ESP derivatives such as Prepar3D.

I give none of that much chance.

Ken

[Dumonceau]

Folks, we need to accept reality for what it is and not what we want it to be. The folks in charge at Microsoft today could not possible care less about the PC flight simulator market. The only reason the FS series became the multi-generational title it became is because the number two man, and co-founder, at Microsoft for so long, Paul Allen, was a devoted champion of aviation, general aviation in particular. Allen demanded that the FS series continue and what Paul wanted Paul got! When Paul Allen retired in 2000, that champion left, and the only surprise really is why it took until 2009 for Microsoft to fire the entire Aces Studios staff.

Even if there was lingering interest (and trust me there isn't any) the truth is Microsoft is facing serious challenges in far more vital business areas. Due to their refusal to support anything past IE 8 in Windows XP (which remains the most prevalent O/S in use today), for the first time ever IE lost its rank as the number one internet search engine, overtaken by Google Chrome.

Microsoft is also losing big on their O/S future as people are increasingly unhappy with their products for tablets and PC's.

The only serious option I see to reignite a PC based flight simulator is for people to convince Paul Allen to finance such a project with another company. The only way I see that happening is to write the code with the intention of supporting commercial uses and expand the market to include anyone who wanted to purchase it for any reason, including good old fashioned entertainment. In that respect, perhaps the best course would be to try to enlist the help of Paul Allen to convince Microsoft to unshackle their current limits on ESP derivatives such as Prepar3D.

I give none of that much chance.

Ken

The name of the problem, the "Beast" if you will, is Steve Balmer. His number is 666.

[DennyA]

Um, you do realize Paul Allen left Microsoft in 1983, and left the board of directors in 2000. He wasn't keeping FS alive...

[MCDesigns]

Indeed... M$ is IMHO an evil empire. I have to work with their ****ty products every day and know very well what they call "support". it is a money making machine with no regard whatsoever for their users or customers. But they DO work with NSA to spy on us all!!

Oh well, that is capitalism for ya...


It's funny for me to read posts like this. i work with MS (no $ sign) products daily also and have never really had any issues with support, especially when we switched all work machines to Win 7, what a fiasco that was. (As for conspiracy theories, I have more with Google than MS) So while I am not an MS fan boy, I also am not on the evil empire bandwagon also, they are a business and i really can't fault them for the practices I have seen, especially since I have seen worse from other large companies. While I am bummed to see the state of FS as it is, the company I work for cans projects all the time when they are not profitable or even if the big boss doesn't care for them it seems, it's business and unless someone at MS tells me up front it is something different, I will accept it as that and move along

I really had high hopes for FLIGHT, even with the stupid DLC format. I really wish they would release an SDK and let us mod it. With the shadows and first person mode in Flight, I would be one happy camper developing for it.

[Skyhawk_310R]

Um, you do realize Paul Allen left Microsoft in 1983, and left the board of directors in 2000. He wasn't keeping FS alive...

Yes, he was.