16.1 What is the current state of Microsoft flight simming?
From FlightSim
Q:
WHAT IS THE CURRENT STATE OF MICROSOFT FLIGHT SIMMING?
A:
Just thought I would share my thoughts on the current state of Microsoft flight simming. I was having a clear out in the attic last night and I came across my original 5 1/4" copy protected version of FS2 which I used to run back in the mid 80's on an old Amstrad (8086 processor I think). I remember at the time >thinking what a wonderful program it was - in fact I it was my main justification for buying the Amstrad (Which cost about œ1400 then). So I decided to try and run it on my Pentium 200. After hooking an old 5 1/4" drive to my pc I started her up and there I was in full colour splendor at Meigs field (four colours actually - cyan being one off them - It only supported CGA graphics!). I had one aircraft available, the ubiquitous Cessna and four scenery areas to fly in Chicago, Seattle, New York, and Boston. Sound was a gentle raspberry from the pc speaker. Runways were basically two parallel lines and if you were lucky you might get a couple of rectangles to simulate buildings in a metro area. A blocky instrument panel was included but as the resolultion was only 320 X 200, airspeed, rate of climb,compass heading, turn indicator and two VOR's were all that were included. Boy, but did I have some fun with that program though even then frame rates were an issue and I remember dreaming about being able to run it on a 286 processor (but I certainly could not afford the œ3,000 that would have cost) Soon sublogic began releasing scenery discs as add ons at a cost of $19.99 per disc. About four airports per disc plus a a couple of triangles to simulate mountains was all you got for your money but I managed to collect most of them and never begrudged paying for them. Now of course practically the whole globe is covered with high quality scenery which we can download for free off this site.
We all moan now and again about the shortcomings of FS98 but running that old FS2 last night brought home to me how far flight sim technology has advanced in the thirteen or so years since I used to regularly make the New York - Boston hop in that cessna. I guess I am giving away my age with this remeniscing and some of the younger members of this forum probably never experienced this "golden age of flight simming".
I wonder if by 2010 when we are all running Pentium 6 200 Ghz with real time photo realistic VR glasses, force feedback chairs, and the latest "smellblaster" for that unique aroma of Kerosene, Will we look back on the 1997 release of fs98 and think what a quaint sim it was and how deprived those poor simmers were to have to fly with such a crude program.
We are privileged to be enjoying a hobby in which the pace of advancement is awesome and every new development makes a major contribution to the enjoyment of the flight sim experience.
I await with bated breath the advancements which will come over the next thirteen years - yes there will be teething problems and bum products released. But I want to be a part of it. Never forget that twenty years ago the closest any of us would have come to a flight simulator would have been a plastic aircraft kit :-)
Kieran
All of that progress of Flight Simulator was made without "State of
the Art" competition. Just the desire to produce and sell a new
program. The profit motive, if you will, and to keep up with the
hardware advancements. I think the "competition" has shown some new
innovations in things to include in a simulator. Rain, full time ATC,
photo realistic scenery, etc., but they both have limitations.
Hopefully, Microsoft will "leapfrog" this technology in their next
release. I hope so.
Bob Fiedler
Out of all of the posts I've read in here over the last few months,
this one was by far one of the most enjoyable. I don't feel 'dated'
to have experienced the earlier Flight-Sims... It really wasn't that
long ago! I remember seeing FlightSim for the first time running on
an Apple machine. It was back in High School, probably around 1980
or so. I then bought my own first computer, a Commodore 64, and
before long was running the above-mentioned FlightSim. As I sit here
teaching my son to fly, who's almost 9, I am constantly amazed at how
very realistic the FS experience has become! And kudos are not only
due to Microsoft, but all of the 3rd party add-on companies, like
designers and equipment manufacturers. Sitting here using a CH Pro
Flight Yoke and CH Pedals is every bit as amazing to me as being able
to 'buzz' Mount Rushmore! I shake my head and laugh while
remembering trying to control that darn little Cessna completely by
keyboard commands! Got pretty good at it tho! hehe My my, how lucky
we are today.... The one thing that is painfully missing from today's
FlightSims are the World War I Ace game! I had many hours of
enjoyment as I patrolled around in that Sopwith and got into many a
dogfight with some bizarre looking graphic that I was convinced was
the 'enemy'! That would be real fun to use in the Gaming Zone FS98
section! Lastly, I must add that having the support of Flightsim.com
and all of you wonderful people who provide 'free' tech-support and
upload file after file of wonderful scenery add-ons, planes, and
navigation aids... Microsoft surely owes you... as we all do.
Ronald K. Rosenlof
