...but a new online combat flight sim environment based on FSX.
http://www.combatpilotseries.com
QuoteABOUT COMBAT PILOT
Combat Pilot is the ultimate multiplayer combat flying experience created within the Microsoft® Flight Simulator X (sold separately) universe that puts you in the cockpit of realistic, interactive combat training and encounters.
Callsign registration: http://combatpilotseries.com/coming-soon/
Looks to be a bit groggy :)... and maybe a bit pricey as well. :(
Looks awesome though - I'm so ready for a new Flight Sim to hit the market.
Miggsy - have you looked at XPlane-X at all?
I'm scared to..... I want to get into a new sim ( or a sim that's new to me) but I only want to do the buy-in and learning curve once. I was looking as FSX just due to the number of add-ons. How is X-Plane ?
I admit I've been holding back on it, and have not long up-graded to FSX. On the face of it, it looks superb, and it does support content in a similar way to MSFS. All the vids I have seen taken from it look stunning, and you get a nice selection of 30 built-in aircraft (Ooo that B52!).
But, I gather from reading a lot of stuff on different FS forums that in between all the jucy bits there is an awful lot of.....nothing. Lots of bland empty space, which was always a problem with the X-Plane stuff right from the early versions.
On the plus side, it does seem that the actual engine is superior to the aging MS one, and it has better flight performance envelopes.
If creators start to give it the same TLC that MSFS has been given over the years, then there seems little doubt that it will be a very good FS. Add to that its aircraft design feature and the skys the limit.
Maybe a lot will depend on what MS do in the future. There is a massive fan-base of people who play FS9 and FSX and both games are very well intrenched, so I think they will be around still for a long time, and creators will contine to give it support. If MS persist in this nonsense that is Flight, then new generations of flight simmers will take up X-Plane as the 'standard' FS prog, or at least, that's my take on the situation.
One thing I would point out is that you do need a decent rig to get the best out of FSX, and, I suspect X-Plane will be the same. To be honest, I found that there is not that much difference between FS9 and FSX, and in some ways I consider FS9 to be superior. I upgraded to a better spec rig mainly to run FSX, and still, even with the patch and expansion pack I'm unable to run it on anything like the highest setting, although I can run FS9 on it with all the settings at max and it looks great.
I'll keep my eye on X-Plane and see how it develops, and may, at some point, take the plunge (and its still quite expensive atm).
For some reason I got a twinge of excitement thinking it was somehow a re-release of Chuck Yeager's Air Combat game from many years ago. Who didn't love fighting 262's in F-86s?
I played that sim over and over.... fond memories