I had that too. Falcon was the one to beat!
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So many people above with similar roads as mine. Grew up flying the early FS titles with my dad and so glad they have not only brought it back, but in such a big way. It is an incredible achievement to recreate everything they have. I do love that the community continues to push what is possible as well. Should be very interesting in the coming years to see where it takes us.
Great topic !
I started simulation with Aviator on a BBC Computer, then switched to FS2 on Atari 520 ST, then switched to next versions of FS on PC’s.
So yes, I’m definitively amazed by what we have today (I’m playing on XboxX) !
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I agree 100% with you. The problem is that in every version since FS4.0b we had excellents ai traffic systems. It was an important part of the whole. For me it´s a big fail
Omg. I remember that game. Boy it ■■■■■■ my wife off hiding in the den playing that
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I spent many, many hours on that game. On a 386sx, guessing less than 10 FPS but I didn’t care. I took a 1,500 mile bus trip and brought along the manual to read. I basically memorized it. Good times.
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Totally agree. This game blows my mind. My friend is a real world Senior A320 Training Captain for a major airline and when I sent him screenshots of my MSFS in action he said its ruined his experience in the full motion sims when it comes to the visuals! He wished the CAEs had MSFS level visuals!
Is it just me or did they pick the wrong event to reveal it. Because I was expecting the audience to stand on their seats and a happy riot to begin. But I found their response subdued. Not many flight gamers were there!
Accurate. I belong to that group. The little things: Replay. Why did they take away “S” and “A” view keys. Let us hit “P” for a true pause. Let us save setting config files . FSX let us do all these things. So when its missing from a sparkly new product it gets noticed.
This jumped out at me. There is a life lesson in those words.
Rest of us would do well to heed them, not just for gaming but I mean for living! Well said.
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I actually have that same video in a “Flight Simulator Favorites” playlist on my YouTube alongside the trailers and product reviews. 
But, to be fair, this was the same year Wasteland 3, Gears of War 5, Halo Infinite and Cyberpunk 2077 were announced/dated. It was HUGE for Xbox gamers. A “airplane game” was the least of their anticipations.
But, despite myself being a “console pleb”, I didn’t give a hoot about any of those announcements once I saw that trailer for Flight Simulator. I needed my flight simulator back.
Funny enough, years back, there were rumors that a version of FSX was going to come to Xbox 360. Sadly, that never happened…but the 14 year wait has certainly been worth it.
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Y’know, despite being only 35, I still feel old considering what I grew up with. God, it just feels weird thinking about it:
We had a few office computers that my brothers and I would play games on, they weren’t for gaming, but they ran things well. Some of us might be old enough to remember them, the brand was called “Compaq”.
I played so many games on them. The specific ‘sims’ were:
- Of course, Flight Simulator '98, '02, and 2004.
- Sim Copter (yes, the Maxis one)
- The bad boys from NovaLogic (if they were still around, they’d put Call of Duty to shame): F-22 Lightning 3, Comanche 4, and F-16.
- Search & Rescue 2 by Interactivision.
- Jane’s WWII Fighters (this is another one close to my heart).
- Top Gun: Combat Zones (I had this one on the Nintendo GameCube)
And finally…
- Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator 2 & 3…
This is something I think should happen once FS '20 matures a little more. DCS clearly holds the CFS market, Microsoft and Asobo could really take a slice out that pie with this being revived.
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When I read of someone complaining about the looks of the jet exhaust or a problem with ground personnel walking around the tarmac, I chuckle. It wasn’t all that long ago that buildings looked like they were made of Legos and instrumentation was just a step above Mickey Mouse. Having gotten into simming after a 15 year layoff, I’m impressed to say the least. More finicky, yes, but the results are often mind-blowing.
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Lots of people going overboard elsewhere due to there being a bug in cloud generation for the live weather. Some of it is bordering on offensive, people screaming and stamping feet at their keyboard one imagines. Some bemoaning that they have actually paid so want a refund. It would be far better if they had to write a letter to complain, I would hazard a guess they would not be half so bothered. Social media hypes up an irritation and it becomes an outrage!
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When the MSFS 5.0 was released in 1993 I was working in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I live in Brazil (SBVG). I bought and opened the box on the 737-200, and read the wonderful manual in the air. Unforgettable.
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I think it goes both ways, as in life it usually does. Do some users go overboard? Sure. Could the communication be clearer and in a more timely manner? Absolutely.
It has been more than a week all the users got was “we are investigating” a couple of times and today it was: “we figured out it was not just one region or server effected”
They said more than that if you would care to read what they actually said. They identified the source of the problem and are waiting for a fix by Azure.
Being a software professional I do get irritated with simple regression bugs that get reported early in beta and then just get ignored and thrown into the pile.
But when it comes to weather and AI issues, I see them more as something to evolve over time. The AI in MSFS at least eases my concerns about our AI overlords overtaking the world. Once cars start driving over bridges instead of under them, we may need to worry.
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Just a “youngster” at 84, started in 1982 on an Apple II. I am absolutely blown away by the strides that have been made over the years. It is hard not to appreciate the efforts that have been undertaken to make this simulator what it is today. Keep up the good work, Asobo/MS!!
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AI traffic in MSFS is not based in the same technology as AI is defined in general computing. It is more like a predefined logic that parses inputs (live traffic or schedules) and then follows predefined tracks using a predefined set of rules. That’s why planes cannot follow a taxiway if the links aren’t there, or can’t park at a gate if the radius isn’t defined, regardless if it’s in the middle of the apron. AI aircraft in FSX arguably worked better than now, and that was back in 2006 when AI was a lot less mature.
I was speaking more of the AI generated scenery.
Just this afternoon I was cruising along the French countryside at 3000’ in the Beech Staggerwing. I just couldn’t believe how beautiful everything was.
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What was this topic about again? Sorry, I’m old, can’t remember half the time.
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