Me and @Franze discussed this idea of M-CFS returning. WWII is saturated market wise but my idea that Franze kinda agreed with could be a big threat is this:
Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator: Vietnam
We got modern(ish) Jets - F4 Phantom
We got carriers
We got prop planes
We got big jets, small jets - all kinds.
Then we go back in time and east…
MCFS: Korea
Slower jets, older jets
P-51 returns
MCFS: PTO
It’s all over…
Why? Well not because they will, but because of all the sim companies…Microsoft could. FSX and potentially this new MFS are global. Time periods wouldn’t be too hard from that.
On a more realistic note - the news of MCFS would be a big threat to MAC imho, if MCFS would be modern era.
Maybe MAC should stream from the cloud? We’d have to hope for better bandwidth that the DCS Updater though.
One unspoken thing on this is this could be a non-VR title, being an XBox common title. Sony seems to get VR pretty well on that side, but XBox has been much more of the bro-market, 60 inch TV with beer and Madden N+1.
If anyone would be tone-deaf enough to release a new Flight Sim in 2020 without VR, it would be Microsoft.
I read on the Wiki for Xbox One that the Windows app for Xbox allowed game streaming to Oculus headsets, but as of 2015 there were no plans for direct usage of the Rift on XB1.
Has that changed at all since - VR on Xbox?
VR and VR controls look like the only way to make that work on a Xbox as Kinect certainly isn’t going to cut it.
I mean, maybe some sort of stream to try to get 40 fps to a headset is possible. You’d like to think that Microsoft would pick Windows Mixed Reality headsets now, rather than anyone else, but if there is a foot on the ground they tend to take pot shots at em.
An Xbox One GPU (Durango) is from 2013 and about level with a GTX 280 or a Radeon 6850, so we’re not talking something that can push that many frames for VR. The ‘Next Box One’ is rumored to have all sorts of hardware, but I’ve not kept up with what they are doing. The only concrete thing I did hear was the dependence on Azure as a ‘connected platform’.
For controls, this is a sim that is going to have excellent Xbox controller bindings, but other than that I’d be surprised at anything more sophisticated.
Agreed. Last year they announced that development on VR for XBO had ceased, which is incredibly moronic, given they had just launched the most powerful console on the market, the Xbox One X, AND WMR within months of each other. Plus, Sony set the ROE that it’s ok to lock VR to your top tier console, and even uses that as a selling point for the more powerful hardware.
Speaking of product launch timing; more I think about it, it’s odd that the XBO release is “at a later date” (implies 2021, given that PC has a 2020 release). The rumblings are that the next generation of consoles will possibly launch late next year. So is it not an odd choice to launch FLight simulator at the end of an aging consoles life span, on the eve of it’s replacements arrival?
While we all know that FS wouldn’t be a volume seller in the same league as Forza or Halo, it would still make an excellent flagship launch title for a new console to show off how powerful it is. I mean, for all intent and purpose, modern flight sims might as well be benchmarking programs, given the massive CPU/GPU overheads needed. Plus, given it’s (presumably) still being developed totally in house at MS, I’d think it would be easier to skunk-works it ahead of a new console launch.
All in all, some very odd choices being made by MS…
I really enjoyed the missions in FSX, that one in Japan where you flew the Bell first and then switched to Learjet to follow some guy and landing on some bizzare “secret island”.
Oh yes, Loopy Larry.
What about that one with the poachers.
Or the fly in, where you could barnstorm some barns and buzz some sheep
I’m looking forward for that next gen weather effects. If its for XB as well as PC I hope there will be some option to simplify things for console and complicate for PC owners. Also I hope they at least implement Track IR, with Flight it was added much later during development.
Yep, that’s a good point. They provided some specs for ‘Xbox Two’ (not the name) yesterday as well. Looks to me a decent 2018 PC spec of ‘Project Scarlett’:
I am not sure if they would make FSX an exclusive ‘next gen’ 2020 only release, but possible.
I mean, the new FSX will be nice looking I’m sure, but there’s always been some ‘pre production’ mock ups stuff. Is that real weather or is that a sky box, for example?
I don’t know, I expect MS FS to look better than everything else because…well…there’s nothing to do BUT look, right? As alluded to, the flying quality could vary wildly by plane and such, so how it looked was often the best part of it.
DCS is about combat, so while it looking good is important it’s not the ONLY important thing. The flying qualities are usually better than MS FS’ stock stuff, and the combat is light years beyond what they had.
Not counting CFS 1-3, I was a big fan of CFS3 (maybe one of the few) and really wanted to see the CBI/Pac in CFS4, which could be a great addition to our drives again.
I’m stoked just to see a big name thinking a flight simulator is a worthwhile development investment. Hopefully it turns out to be a good successful product.
In article on PC Gamer, Phil Spencer said that it took 2 petabytes (!) of geographical data to “stich the world”. It’s only my speculation but looks like the map will be streamed from the cloud. Fair trade off for these kind of visuals. Bummer for those with bad internet connection.
Imagine if MS really pulls it off - whole world rendered in great detail. They have the potential - Bing maps, Azure AI, all the servers. They have the technology. We may finally see a proper AAA flight sim done by a big studio with proper financial backing and tools to support their developement. Now imagine after releasing the base game thay start dropping off more military oriented content in that new engine - new Combat Flight Simulator
