Microsoft Flight has lost it's wings *post #56*

[Jay]

After almost 5 years since the last MS Flight simulator and a couple years since MS announced they fired the entire MS flight sim development team (known as Aces) and put the franchise on hold MS announced a new Microsoft Flight Simulator title in production know just as "Microsoft Flight"


It was announced within a "Age of Empires Online" press release:

Microsoft Heralds a New Age of Gaming With "Age of Empires Online"

New franchise installment joins exciting PC lineup of LIVE-enabled titles from Microsoft Game Studios.

COLOGNE, Germany - Aug. 17, 2009 - On the eve of gamescom 2010, the world's largest consumer-oriented games showcase, Microsoft Corp. unveiled the newest addition to the famed "Age of Empires" franchise, "Age of Empires Online." Microsoft also announced the development of "Microsoft Flight," a new entry inspired by the best-selling "Microsoft Flight Simulator" franchise. Published by Microsoft Game Studios, these new titles, along with the previously announced "Fable III," fully integrate the free* Games for Windows – LIVE online service to deliver compelling socially connected gameplay experiences.

"Today, we're bringing powerful, inventive gaming experiences to the Windows-based PC," said Phil Spencer, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios. "Over the years, our PC heritage captured the hearts and minds of millions of players. Reinventing these iconic franchises with social, shared experiences at their core marks the beginning of our return to PC gaming in bold new ways."
"Age of Empires" for a New Era

With more than 20 million copies sold worldwide, the "Age of Empires" series redefined real-time strategy games for Windows-based PC players. Now, the timeless franchise once again invites players to experience its rich storyline in new ways. Developed by Robot Entertainment, "Age of Empires Online" will invite players to create a living, growing online world, shared with friends and friendly rivals around the globe. Begin the journey with your own Greek civilization, and watch as it progresses from a village to an empire. Embark on quests along the way, alone or with friends, and immerse yourself in epic tales, quirky characters, adventure, history and strategy. Together with the Games for Windows – LIVE service, "Age of Empires Online" delivers a rich, social experience that lets you play however you want - anywhere, anytime.

Marrying fresh features with iconic gameplay, "Age of Empires Online" offers something for long-time fans, newcomers and everyone in between. "Age of Empires Online" will feature:

* A persistent online capital city that lives and grows even when you're offline
* Cooperative multiplayer quests, trading and a level-based system that lets you progress at your own pace
* Fun, approachable style and storylines
* Free-to-play experiences via Games for Windows – LIVE



More information, news and chances to join the beta program are available at http://www.ageofempiresonline.com.
Introducing "Microsoft Flight"

Twenty-eight years after the debut of "Microsoft Flight Simulator 1.0," Microsoft Game Studios also announced the internal development of "Microsoft Flight," a new Windows exclusive. "Microsoft Flight" will bring a new perspective to the long-standing genre, welcoming everyone, including long-time fans, to experience the magic of flight.

A teaser of the future of Flight on the Windows-based PC is available at http://www.microsoft.com/games/flight/.

Discover Adventure With "Fable" on the PC

"Fable III" for Windows lets you once again join the action, drama and adventure while you rule Albion as the next king or queen in an ever-evolving world of rebellion and revolution. Discover new quests and unlock new regions as you make choices and sacrifices to test your morality and potentially affect your entire kingdom. The choice is yours: reunite the impoverished people of your kingdom as their monarch, or bring Albion to the brink of collapse.
Powered by Games for Windows – LIVE
All three titles are designed with Games for Windows – LIVE at the core, delivering a seamless online gaming experience from start to finish. Log in with a single identity to earn Achievements and up your Gamerscore across Games for Windows – LIVE and Xbox LIVE. See your friends online, send and receive voice messages, text messages and game invites, and enjoy cross-platform communication. You even receive automatic game updates and the ability to extend the experience with Game Add-ons only found on the Games for Windows – LIVE Marketplace.

For the moment atleast the links provided arn't functioning for the moment but this one does

http://www.microsoft.com/games/en-us/community/pages/gamescom.aspx

I will post more information as it comes.


Update June 22 2011







UPDATE July 26th 2012

MS Flight development has been ended

Microsoft Studios is always evaluating its portfolio of products to determine what is best for gamers, families and the company, and this decision was the result of the natural ebb and flow of our portfolio management. Many factors were considered in the difficult decision to stop development on "Microsoft Flight" and "Project Columbia," but we feel it will help us better align with our long-term goals and development plans. For "Microsoft Flight," we will continue to support the community that has embraced the title and the game will still be available to download for free at http://www.microsoft.com/games/flight/.

 

[Legendary]

Awesome! I love the flight sim series!

 

[Jay]

Offical dedicated webpage is up and working now

http://www.microsoft.com/games/flight/

 

[Legendary]

I saw, I downloaded the trailer and to be honest it wasn't worth the 40mb. All I saw was a plane flying over an endless ocean, the graphics were amazing but thats all that was shown. I am definitely looking forward to this though.

 

[Jay]

Yeah, the sea looks much like FSX with enviromental addons (looks great) but the sky is clearly just a real image. Quite sure the video is just a demonstational video not showing anything real time yet.

 

[Guml8all]

Yes! I've been hoping that there was going to be a new flight simulator. In fact, as I type, I'm flying LSGG - EGLL (Geneva - Heathrow). Just browsing the forums to keep me entertained


EDIT : Which I have just completed. Good Flight (:

 

[Jay]

Slowly some new info is arising, some pictures of MS flight.

 

[Aldo]

Very nice!
It's a pity there is no way my PC would run this
Hopefully by the time it comes out I will have a supercomputer!
Are you still flying in FSX, Jay? I'm slowly getting back into it after quite a few months.

 

[Jay]

Actually the priority for Flight over FSX is performance, they acknowledged the performace issues with FSX and working hard on performance (FSX issues come from mistakes and legacy issues with old MSFS titles). If you can run FSX with some mods at a good speed you shouldn't have a problem with flight.

Yeah I am still flying in FSX, haven't done a good flight for a few months (GT5 is here after all) but when the PMDG 737NGX series aircraft arrives I will be doing a lot of flights and posting pics.

 

[VXR]

A cut-down 360 version would be appreciated, MS...

 

[Coxis]

Any tentative release dates?

 

[Beliall]

A cut-down 360 version would be appreciated, MS...

Seconded, then I won't need an awesome PC to run it.

 

[Jay]

Any tentative release dates?

Nope, MS Flights announcement was pretty much made extra early due to some publishers showing interest in getting in to the Flight Sim market after MS seemed to drop out. MS announced Flight is in development so they think twice, after all Flight sim has been MS's best PC selling series.


As for Xbox version, MS has strictly said no many times and they apparently wish to put more effort into their PC games division which I appreciate. PC exclusive games getting into the console market has very often had a poor outcome and I (and a huge sim community) would hate to see that happen to MS flight sim series. Flight however is attempting to become more and more accessible to everyone in performance and gameplay options without losing any of the sim features MSFS has had before.

 

[Robin]

This is great news! I love flight simulator and I just hope this title is as comprehensive and customizable as the previous ones. Finally having a flight sim which takes advantage of this generation of computers graphics is a real treat! Does anyone know who's developing it internally?

I'm also for a 360 version and it (along with Forza 4) might help sway me to get a console. I bet Kinect could be implemented in a interesting way.

Robin.

 

[Jay]

Does anyone know who's developing it internally?

New internal studio (un named as far as I know), although they have re-employed some ex-Aces (MSFS devs). Oh and yes Flight will be open for modders, they have made this clear.

 

[DJW_GT]

Looks stunning! It's good to hear the performance will be better this time round. On FSX I could just about get 10 fps on medium-low graphics at the best of times!

 

[Aldo]

Actually the priority for Flight over FSX is performance, they acknowledged the performace issues with FSX and working hard on performance (FSX issues come from mistakes and legacy issues with old MSFS titles). If you can run FSX with some mods at a good speed you shouldn't have a problem with flight.

Yeah I am still flying in FSX, haven't done a good flight for a few months (GT5 is here after all) but when the PMDG 737NGX series aircraft arrives I will be doing a lot of flights and posting pics.

Ahh that is great news then.
I can get a consistent 30FPS at Med-high graphics levels on FSX just now.
Yeah GT5 has stopped me playing any other games for the past couple of months!
👍

 

[Robin]

New internal studio (un named as far as I know), although they have re-employed some ex-Aces (MSFS devs).

Gosh that must have felt like a kick in the teeth for those laid off dev's. Those must have been some awkward (re)employment interviews! Maybe it will be called 'Spades'.

Oh and yes Flight will be open for modders, they have made this clear.

Cool stuff 👍 If only other games where this open minded, I guess FS knows its target market REALLY well.

Robin.

 

[Jay]

Gosh that must have felt like a kick in the teeth for those laid off dev's. Those must have been some awkward (re)employment interviews! Maybe it will be called 'Spades'.

Hah yeah, problem is they couldn't get many back due to them starting their own independant development company

http://www.cascadegamefoundry.com/the-team/

Cool stuff 👍 If only other games where this open minded, I guess FS knows its target market REALLY well.

Robin.

Yeah they do, MS has worked with payware developers many times.

 

[zedextreme8177]

Hello to you all!

I'm an enthusiast of FSX, constantly flying around logging the hours while playing GT5

I also specialize in creating addons: Aircraft repaints and engine sounds.

Definitely looking forward to the new MS Flight Coming out hopefully this year

 

[TB]

Thread moved and merged.

 

[ShylockHolmes]

Looks good! Hopefully it's in 3D and uses real world weather.

 

[lbsf1]

Wow, I have fs2004 and have played it loads since I got it as soon at it was released when I was 8 and wanted to be a pilot when I was older.
The graphics are now looking slightly outdated however this new one looks amazing.

 

[Jay]

New video

[youtubehd]Xhc29ia-sb4&hd=1[/youtubehd]

 

[Coxis]

Wow, it looks beautiful... loving the shadow transitions and sun glare. Why doesn't this come out already!?

 

[JJ72]

I still can't run FSX in full or in HD with my new rig

They need something radical to make it run faster yet also look better, and hope they get better autogen data too, as most of my flying are low altitude VFR stuff.

 

[Jay]

I still can't run FSX in full or in HD with my new rig

They need something radical to make it run faster yet also look better, and hope they get better autogen data too, as most of my flying are low altitude VFR stuff.

That is their first main goal with Flight, system performance and they have stated this many times since it was announced as this is (still these days with addons) the biggest problem of FSX.

 

[Leonidae@MFT]

Now, all they need to announce is new Combat Flight Simulator and I'll be satisfied..

 

[Roush_fan_99]

Now, all they need to announce is new Combat Flight Simulator and I'll be satisfied..

I'm with you there, one with sections from each era starting w/ WWI and continuing to today's technology

The book "Fighter Pilot" about Robin Olds is a must read for any aviation fan

 

[Jay]

A new MS Combat flight sim would be great, I loved the 1st and 2nd MS Combat flight sims.