Ian StephensWell, it's been said, as written on Phil Taylor's blog that we should expect a Microsoft Flight Simulator 11 at the end of 2010, perhaps in good time for 2011 and possibly being called FS11 or Microsoft Flight Simulator 11.
The official name for the next version of Flight Sim has still to be confirmed. We've collected some comments and views about the next flight simulator and posted them with this article.
Update: NEW Microsoft Flight Simulator Announced for 2020
Microsoft have officially announced a new flight simulator package for PC and Xbox set for release in 2020.
You can read the full details along with videos and screenshots here.
Update May 2019
As you may already know, Microsoft eventually killed off Microsoft Flight Simulator and the franchise was sold to Dovetail Games. Microsoft did have a shot at a new simulator called Flight but that fell flat on its face because it was essentially a "game" with DLC.
The good news is that Dovetail Games have gone ahead and revamped Microsoft Flight Simulator X and re-released it on Steam with bugfixes and updates.
You can read our review of the Steam Edition here and of course, all of the add-ons for FSX in our file library will also work with the new Steam Edition.
Looking ahead, Dovetail has decided to continue development with the Steam Edition of FSX instead of creating an entirely new platform. Expect updates direct from Steam.
Original Feature Suggestions for a New Flight Simulator
A user writes:
I really believe (and I could be very wrong) MS/Aces needs to forget about backward compatibility and redesign the whole 'engine'. I have a feeling FSX is more hamstrung by trying to keep older third party stuff usable, and by doing so, possibly continuing with outdated programming. I believe a clean slate is necessary, but can you imagine how that would be received?
A user writes:
The following are what I want:
1) Better lighting that looks more realistic
2) Cloud Shadows
3) Slopped runways
4) Less Cartoonish Autogen and better blending of the Autogen with photo textures
5) No more object shadows when cloudy
6) Fix the Alpha Fade
7) Fix the precipitation textures
8) Fix the wind change direction effects between stations
9) Interaction with Train Simulator
10) Different water textures for lakes, rivers, etc
11) New aircraft
12) New Mission
13) Allow declaring emergencies
14) Better system mulfunction modeling
15) Allow tear and wear on aircraft
16) Use bump maping to create 3D Ice on runways
17) Smoke and particle obstruction effects
18) Lots more scenery and scenery areas
19) Bring back the photo realistic airport surrondings to the airports
20) Solid overcast. I still can't get solid overcasts
21) New missions
22) Pilot carrier ladder
23) STARS and SIDS
A user writes:
Phil announced on his blog several months ago that work on FSvNext has already begun. Were they not planning to do so, a complete reorganization and expanding the staff (nearly double!) would make no sense whatsoever...
A user writes:
You know, Wenting, you and I don't often agree, but here you took the words right out of my mouth...
FS was damn near banned for having realistic crashes 7 years ago... I'd rather have a flight sim than no sim at all because people want to simulate crashes!
My Guess is that FS11 will go to market in Fall of 2010 as a 2011 product. And I'd guess that they will call it FS11 to coincide with 2011...
And for those of you that still haven't been initiated... No matter what bad-arse system you have on release day... It's not enough... FS is ALWAYS designed for the machines releases 18 to 24 months after the sim...
A user writes:
I have worked in the IT industry for many years and my benchmark for comp. performance has always been MS Flight Simulator. My belief is that FS will continue - provided it can attract new users - or perhaps the user base is large enough now for MS to continue. With each new release of FS, it is required to update hardware to take advantage of new technologies in both h/w and s/w. And this is why MSFS "as real as it gets"...it gets better with time and that's why we stay "in the game".
Don't forget... We have a huge selection (over 24,000 files) of free mods and add-ons for MSFS, FSX, P3D & X-Plane in the file library. Files include aircraft, scenery, and utilities All are free-to-download and use - you don't even need to register. Browse on down to the file library here.
15 comments
Leave a ResponseThe content of the comments below are entirely the opinions of the individual posting the comment and do not always reflect the views of Fly Away Simulation. We moderate all comments manually before they are approved.
I've followed MS flight sim for 20+ years and love it. The problem is FSX was outdated when it was released and required system specs higher than the majority had access to.
ORBX has incredible scenery for FSX and A2A Simulations has the best aircraft in the business. Microsoft will have to up their game 10 fold to be of interest to many long-time users and especially for those new to the genre. This means easy tutorials and gameplay settings for new users and a much-improved sim model for those of us expecting a true sim.
Graphics and terrain mapping have long been an issue. Autogen has been used as a crutch for far too long; half the fun of flight is seeing landmarks and terrain you recognize from home or the new faraway places you wish you could go to.
When you fly FSX and see blocky traffic below driving on maps that do not match the roads and the same repetitive buildings, it gets old really fast. I hope MS amazes us or I'll just keep buying add ons for FSX that make it what it should have been, to begin with.
Are they going to add heat shimmer to the exhaust on the planes? That would really make it real! I hope they do. We should be able to carry passengers too.
I am looking forward to the newest version, I would like a whole new outlook on the programming and contrary to the remark above about starting with a clean slate, thats all well and good but some of us, me included has spent a fortune on addons etc and would be pissed to find that it wasn't compatible.
I have my favorites like everyone else and the only way of seeing if my favorite bit of vfr airspace is better than anything the MS/Aces can put together is to wait and see what I get in my new package upon installation.
I was dejected when I got FSX, it was jittery there were trees on the runway and water tanks where water tanks should not go - and that has been a big bug bear for me. we dont have many of the US type in the UK but we have to put up with them (try flying around Pole Hill and the farm there - I know for a fact he hasn't got a water tank 30ft up on his farm!) So if the scenery was truer to the geographical location I would be impressed and I have to wait to see that in the meantime $40 per version (+/-) for scenery that wont be used again is as mad as a Manhattan banker and the only people who would gain would be the likes of Aerosoft who I must admit I wouldn't mind paying them again for top quality scenery - but please let me use it for as long as possible.
It was bad enough to learn that some of the fs2000 aircraft couldn't be used after fs2004, why should that be a problem? because some of the historical aircraft were not re modeled for fsx and as such cant be found now so that was a loss. Its obvious that as things progress you have to let the past go I realize that and it was sad when I booted out my four year old pc to replace it with a multi core processor, 16gb of ram and 2gb of vid ram just to run FSX the way FS2004 ran... What I got out of that was hassles trying to sort out the AI on windows 7, and the ai in fs2004 decided that only the WOAI addons would show up.
Eventually it sorted itself out and still some bought software wont show up if you try and run them in directx 10 mode I mean give me a break! I agree in everything that C prowse said it in his comments, I will just keep buying addons for fsx that make it what it should have been like to begin with, ever have the feeling that you have been manipulated into trying to get better from what should have been spectacular in the first place and turned out to be a damp squib that may or may not have gone Fffutt when you lit it? I must have spent close on $10,000 dollars on addons and pc's just for FS over the past 5 years, isnt it about time we got that amount of 'bling' built in?
What I would like to see in the new FS 11 is a more friendly when it comes to add on example I like Flight X. It makes things look more realistic, also I can fly any Aircraft or Airline I desire. Ps cant wait for the new FS Sim.
Can't wait to compare the new FLIGHT to the new X-Plane. You can d/l a demo to see for yourselves. Wow! I am a long time fan of MSFS. Started back in '98
WHEN WILL FS 11 BE RELEASED?
WHEN WILL FS 11 BE RELEASED?
Do you have any ideal when the new Fs11 will be here
I would like to to be able to plan a flight plan then I can do multiple stopovers before reaching destination. E.G. Sydney to Egypt via Singapore, Tokyo, India. would be more realistic for passenger stops and refueling
Do you have any idea when the new FS11 will be released?
Hello, I own fs 2004, is there an upgrade to bring things current? Is it necessary? It works OK on my win7 system. Thanks for input.
Is the FS11 on market already
Uhm, why is there no option for "yes, but I uninstalled it ASAP as it's the worst pile of steaming poo MS has put out in a long long time", heh. I hope there's a proper MSFS on the horizon, but fear "FS11" may have completely killed the series. :(
~Tiny
The problem stems from the apparent fact that MS thinks FS is a game and that the flightsim industry thinks its a training system. Until MS realises the true nature of that beast, will they be serious about the franchise software.
MS Flight was a stupid idea, given birth by greed. Trying to reep the profits that the third party developers were making, without considering the actual work that is accomplished behind these developer' products.
It's funny that these tiny companies are willing to invest millions into sceneries or aircrafts but Microsoft doesn't want to. If they don't want to develop the next gen of FS, sell the franchise to a consortium of companies that are willing to bring it to a new level. A will, that seems to escape MS' management.
Hello there, would like to know if you guys could incorporate some Navigation Software into the sim like the FSNavigator that was available for FS2004, that was a great NAV System and very easy to use. I've had every ver. of flight simulator since it was first created and love the program. Would be nice to have that NAV back though, Thanks. Much Respect, Jack