Might wanna be sitting down for this one...

[stlkrash]

This is UNREAL. This is like the Navy baggin the Tcat. To the guys effected. I am sorry to hear this news and hope you guys get work ASAP. The dev community just made a big gain, M$'s loss. But being as we the flightsim community have one if not the biggest true community following, I am sure things will look up.

[N6722C]

Maybe MS selling off FS is the best thing that could happen to the title. And all those talented developers would find an open door if that occurred.

LPXO

How did laying off employees suddenly JUMP to "selling off MSFS" :gossip:

Temporary setback -- current ecconomic times -- will not last.

Consider ESP, and its potential. No way will ESP die. It might sleep for a bit, but it's potential is to far to great to be burried.
And with ESP, comes Consumer Spin offs like MSFS.

Naturally, we all feel for the ACES employees, but this is happening to many Worldwide.

As far as the USA is concerned - BIG changes for most .. but not the end of the world.

Geoff_D

[PlaneEater]

Until about 2pm today, I shared an office with Gibbage.

I was at ACES as a contractor in 2007 when we shipped FSX:Acceleration, and I built some of the mission set pieces - the Beamtrawler, the Sugarloaf cable cars / facility, the big SAC hangars at Kirtland AFB, some others - plus painted the liveries for Xpack's P-51 (and cleaned up the mess of a model).

I returned to ACES this August, and I dragged Gibbage up here in October to join the team because there was another contractor spot open. We'd known each other since we were in the IL-2 community and worked together on Pacific Fighters, and we'd stayed in touch over the years in between. About a week ago, our boss - who is a flat-out awesome guy - extended my contract to the full span, scheduled to take my 100 day break in July. That's not going to end up being the case.

The only thing I can add is that I can verify what Gibbage has said, and that I lost my job today as well.

One thing that every person at ACES will tell you is that the community and each of you in it mean the world to us for sharing our passion of flight, and so it really hurts that Gib and I can't tell you more. I was a FS fan before I joined the FS team, and being able to work on the sim we all love so much was a dream come true. I just want to thank everyone here for the time and passion they've poured into Flight Sim for so many years, and to let you all know that every person at ACES is in awe of how much the community cares about what we build.

Gib and I both got to keep our plane-buildin' skills, and I'm looking for paying work as well. If anybody wants an ACES-trained aircraft artist (and I can provide other work experience and references... go ahead and ping me here, or hit my web-portfolio: www.garagebay9.com

Thanks again for all the kind words and encouragement during times like this, folks. It really is helping make things a little easier.

- PlaneEater

[warchild]

I for one will be developing my wares right until Karen tells me to get a real job..lol.

And so it should be.

:woot:

And I for one will be right there with ya. Just, at my age, dont expect me to look for a "real" job anytime soon, or in this lifetime even..

There's lot of negatives here, but that said, theres a lot of positives as well. You folks at Aces: Maybe you couldnt write an fde to save your skins, but you more than knew how to create flight physics in the main engine. Just because Aces may be gone doesnt mean that fs is going away. It'll be here for a very long time to come, as long as we, as a community of developers and enthusiasts continue to explore tis thing we call flight sim and push the boundaries further out, creating a better and more rewarding experience for everyone.

It was a very long time ago when Broderbund sold their F-16 Fighting Falcon to Electronic Arts, and again a long time ago that Electronic Arts stopped producing the game, but you can still get it. The F-16 community kept it alive. Except for dates and names, i really dont see a difference, except maybe one. FS has a much larger community.

Another aspect also is that there is X-Plane, and possible cross development for it.. Eliminate the flight sim worlds religious jihad's and work towards one single community (yeahhhh,, i'm a dreamer, but at least i dream big).

In the early Ninties, Bill Gates made an announcement stating that by the year 2000 Microsoft would own all the desktops in the world. A few years later they attempted o get everyone to purchase and use network terminals where you would turn on the terminal and log into your account on the web.. Welll, no one was interested then, so now, we have the X-Box. Maybe it's a good thing they arent going to be developing fs any more. .I personally dont trust their motives. I expect however that fs being a game to them will maybe get ported to the X-box Live and if you want to play it you can pay a fee and log on and fly the toy planes. Otherwise you can pay out the nose for ESP..

It all just means that we as a community, need to be stronger, not freak out, be a little more patient with each other, a little more helpful with the newbies, and a little more adventurous in what we do. Who knows. This may be a golden opportunity for us all, and I'm sorry, but i'm not going to grouse over the loss of ACES if it means those people are now free to develope in ways they have wanted too and couldnt, and cn now be more active with the rest of us..

Pam

[warchild]

Let's be sure not to lose or damage our FS9 and FSX CDs then. May not be able to buy replacements down the line, and we may need 'em for a while!



Mike

My only concern here is that each time you install FSX you have to register it either via the interface or by telephone call.. This could seriously put a crimp in our continuing to enjoy this software.

Pam

[Cerberus]

I’m still having a lot of trouble keeping up with all of the projects we have going on, and could also use some good help again. Don’t hesitate to ask if anyone needs anything.

[barryward12345]

How will this affect FSx activation? Will MS continue to sell FSx?

Barry

[Gibbage]

Im sure MS will still handle activation. That was handled by MS, not some PC at Aces studio.

[Francois]

Anyone need a good aircraft modeler with LOTS of experience?

I am sure that all well-known development houses like RealAir, Flight1, Eaglesoft, Aerosoft, FSAddon and others could use your skills and expertise...... as I am sure that FS isn't dying just yet !

However, working in the add-on business sure isn't as lucrative as being a Microsoft employee, I am sure .... well... up to a few days ago that is :help:

[CodyValkyrie]

I am sure that all well-known development houses like RealAir, Flight1, Eaglesoft, Aerosoft, FSAddon and others could use your skills and expertise...... as I am sure that FS isn't dying just yet !

However, working in the add-on business sure isn't as lucrative as being a Microsoft employee, I am sure .... well... up to a few days ago that is :help:

You speak the truth! I'm sitting here looking at the last couple of dollars on my desk until my next paycheck. Man, I wish cigarettes weren't so expensive.

[n4gix]

If we could get every flightsimmer in the world to pony up $10 or so, maybe we'd have enough capital to start our own flightsimulator line...

[P-12C]

I would love to jump into this thread and shed some light on what happened today, but I must be respectful of the NDA I am under.

I will be looking for work soon, and that can be scary, but I am optimistic that I will land on my feet.

I am VERY proud of my work and the work of all my teammates. FSX will continue to be sold and should have very long legs with all of the great work being done by third party developers.

I'll be checking in to keep some tabs on what is going on in the Flight Sim world.

Thank you for all of your well wishes,

Paul

[CBris]

Reading this thread in parallel with the one on Cessna's standpoint on royalties (http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforum...ead.php?t=2694) it looks like the whole industry is cutting of its face to spite its nose. (Deliberate reversal of that saying) But if anyone is to take up the reins, they'll have to pay royalties to Microsoft. Will EMI be handling the case?

What any new flight sim will look like is anyone's guess right now, but as long as it is away from the Redmond corporate mindset and gets the necessary leadership it deserves, we are still in with a chance.

I really feel for the ACES crew, I also worry for all the other third party developers - from hardware and software and I hope that any new FS owner actually gets the core code as well - royalty free of course.

[CodyValkyrie]

As I have said already in PM to a couple of guys here, let me know if you are looking for some work. I'm keeping my eyes out for a good fit for various clients. Hopefully if nothing else, it wouldn't hurt to do a few spot jobs here and there with some of the guys I work with to make a few bucks.

*shrugs*

Good luck to you all regardless and thanks for your hard work up to this point.

[grunau_baby]

Apart from the shocking news, I really wish everyone personally involved the best for the future! I know how it feels since I lost my own one-man-business 4 years ago when the german webdesign market literally collapsed, but there were other challenges ahead and things actually became better. Don´t give up!!!

I also think there are many chances elsewhere for you talented people. An independant new simline is just one (but very unlike, I guess) future possibity from my usual "against the grain" thinking (I had a dream: FS without MS limitations).

I think the existing platform can still give us enough to enjoy with all the creative input and hopefully it turns out that you can make a living with your labour of love. So I guess we now really should think twice before argueing about addon pricing in the future.

Our comunity has seen many downturns in the past, but this is a big one for sure, but let´s hope it is a) temporary (market-related) b) giving more time for enhancing the exisiting platform c) creating new ways

Time will tell, maybe it´s still too fresh to be fully overlooking it all.

Alex

[empeck]

Best wishes to guys at Aces, it is shocking news to hear FS franchise is being axed :( Hope you guys find a new job soon.

[fsdreamscapes]

Hey Guys,

There may be some opportunities here at FS Dreamscapes for anyone at ACES looking to develop some projects...

I'm going to chase up a few leads tonight as well and see where those leads may go...

Good opportunity to rebuild a sim from the ground up...

Email me at dean|AT|fsdreamscapes|DOT|com if anyone from ACES is interested in developing some projects...

My prayers are with you guys,

Dean.

[harleyman]

Still in shock over here....Can't believe this horrible news for all these MS people....


I like the idea above about the entire community chipping in and getting a new sim going..That ever happens..I'm in.......


I also wonder if and how this affects the latest MSTS that I have been drooling over for months now?

Looks like I can drop the need for an i7 build now....

[RickN]

I feel for the folks at ACES, not so much for MS. In fact I am switching my companies systems to Linux this year.

Anyway folks I have two words for you. Flight Gear.

A free, open source flightsim that could really be something if the talented people here were working on it.

I am not into the civilian sims much preferring the combat sims, but even I fly Flight Gear at times for something different. I am not sure if you could make payware add-ons for it but I do not see why not.

[txnetcop]

To all you guys at ACES I want to encourage you. A very short few years ago I lost my dream job of 18 years in Silicon Valley. I was making money hand over fist and thought it would never end. It did and abruptly. I was handed divorce papers soon after, suffered from a serious health issue soon after that. I thought my world was collapsing around me and soom there would be no more me. All my friends walked away from me except one and he died two years later. I thought of suicide seriously. We lost our home, our plane, our cars and I was living out of a used KIA. She had a thing going with guy that had money and landed on her feet.

Guys, that was the second time in my life I had lost everything I cared about. At that most desperate point of my life I decided I could wallow in this or do something about it. God gave me the strength to take one step at a time and rebuild my life. It's been a little while, and I don't make what I used to, but I'm happy. I have a wonderful new wife, and in spite of some divorce issues that will never go away-don't ever get a California divorce-MOVE somewhere else, my life is a good one and I started a small network contractor business that keeps me afloat. I can grow it if I want to.

One thing I learned while serving the U.S. Army Airborne that always kept me going-that is another story. There is always one more thing you can do. Never give up, never quit, never say die, but most all, look at what skills you possess and make the most out of the tools you have to work with. There will always be obstacles in our way even in good times, we must learn to adapt and overcome. Every soldier knows this, and so should every man, woman and child.

This is a big community, and I think any of us would be willing to pony up whatever to help you guys, if you decide to build a new ground up sim or whatever other clever ideas you come up with. Together we are mighty. The economy we have now will not end as long as capitalism is alive and well. It is sick and in trouble because of some greedy wall street thieves, but not dead-not even with some new fools at the helm-don't make this political. Every administration has them!

We really appreciate what you guys have done for us. Don't allow yourselves to fall into depression, don't hesitate to ask us for help, but most important don't give up your dreams.
Ted