Seanmo

We all do. They make most of the "free" Asobo airports that are in the World Updates. It would seem that is the main reason we haven't seen many new Gaya airports since that initial set of releases shortly after MSFS's launch. Welcome back, Gaya!

It should be obvious by now that PMR is a troll. Feed him at your discretion.

Even though he purchased the scenery from SIM Market instead of direct from Orbx, he'd like Central to show that he has purchased LOWS direct from Orbx.

Ar I don't think many of us have the issue you are facing. Is it possible that you have one of the many freeware Frankfurt addons (from Flightsim.to) installed? Otherwise it seems like a weird anomaly that is going to be hard for Orbx to reproduce. The good news is that the conversion to DirectX12 to allow for the Xbox version of MSFS will allow better utilization of CPU cores. That should help everyone.

C'mon now Preston. They just today released a brand new roadmap. Don't you think they would have mentioned those if they had any news whatsoever about them?

The promised "week (or less)" has come and gone with no word on progress. Any news, Orbx? Note that I am not at all upset about the London Pack. I understand completely what has happened and simply would like an update. I'm sure I'll be happy with your update whenever it is released.

That's her sister. Not a realism killer. And boy have we come a long way when the top airport complaint is the people inside the airport!

LOL! Well, anyway... I love my London Landmarks and I will purchase Paris the moment it becomes available for purchase. I have no idea what cities you will do next, but I eagerly await the announcements. When I first saw MSFS on Youtube, I thought I'd buy a few airports but couldn't imagine buying non-airport scenery. Thanks for proving me wrong and congrats on taking your scenery to the next level.

Wow! That was unexpected! "This is the first of several airport projects we have in development for this scenic corner of the US; be sure to keep an eye on our social media and forums over the coming week for more details and information." Sounds like we can expect more unexpected wonders of the West. I have seen a Monument Valley freeware add-on that will be awesome with these new airports.

MSFT gets a cut of the proceeds when you buy it through the MSFS Marketplace. Orbx gets all the proceeds when you buy it directly from them, and you get the added bonus of installation support and the ability to use Orbx Central to manage things like updates. I think you'll understand why Orbx can't take a position regarding this given that they have signed agreements with MSFT to be in the Marketplace, but I can wholeheartedly recommend buying directly from Orbx.

Have you seen the Youtube video comparing all the "phenomenal" FS9-like buildings Orbx has given us in place of actually phenomenal default Asobo buildings??? One this is absolutely certain for anyone who has actually compared default verses Orbx: They have done a terrible job on this one. And as far as a FPS hit, how is it that Asobo can make such great buildings with the same tools and not suffer a FPS hit? Do properly compare the scenery (or watch the video) before replying. Bottom line: Paid replacement scenery should ALWAYS be better than default from 30,000 feet or 30 feet!

I will post a video here of me eating my RTX 2060 - every last (giga)bit of it - if MSFT either abandons FS in the next 10 years or begins charging a monthly fee for it to those that purchase the sim. There are few things I'm certain of in this uncertain world. Their commitment to Azure and of this sim as a showcase of that technology is one of them. "In the end, that was what shut ACES down. It simply was not profitable enough compared to other opportunities Microsoft could invest their money and resources in." In the end, what shut ACES down was the Great Bush Recession. I don't know if you remember late 2008 as I do, but there were lots of companies that were laying of tens of thousands of employees on a daily basis. That lead to other companies doing the same, and the economy quickly tanked. (That continued until the new regime smartly spent their way out of the crisis and created an unprecedented 10 years of economic growth.) Like virtually all publicly-traded companies in late 2008, MSFT had to cut costs in the face of declining revenues. That was not going to happen in the very profitable server, Office or Windows divisions. FSX was an ageing platform that was not likely to produce significant new revenue streams in the short term (just about all simmers already owned it) and was going to be costly to upgrade in the long term. They closed ACES (and those employees lost their livelihoods) in January of 2009. The current economic crisis is far worse and will last longer, but this is a brand new investment on MSFT's part. By the time the platform really starts to mature, the new regime will likely have once again turned around a mismanaged economy and there will not be a need to lay anyone off in the FS divisions. But if you are really worried about people losing their jobs, pray for the people who make X-Plane or P3D. People will continue to fly in those sims for a while. But neither platform can realistically compete with FS especially as every little gripe with the version that ships in a few days is dealt with in free updates. The version that ships on Tuesday will be amazing to all but the most jaded of X-plane owners. But it will also be quite different than the greatly enhanced version we all will be playing in two years after all the free updates. Now can someone please develop a Connie and a TriStar for this?

This new Q&A with the FS devs might answer some of the questions about scenery and free updates to it, the SDK, the 37,000 hand-crafted airports versus the 30, 35 or 40 "Hand-Crafted" airports, the eventual inclusion of helicopters, etc. Very informative.

If you were in charge of preparing Orbx products for the FS launch and the aftermath, would you focus on the most popular/best selling or... Australia?

I worked for MSFT back in the early 90s, and was familiar with FS going back to the SubLogic days, but I never actually got around to playing any version of it. I did, however, become more interested in aviation in general as the years went by. In around 2011 I checked in to see how realistic it had become, and I was very impressed with what was being done with FSX -- particularly the add on aircraft and Orbx's scenery. But I did not go so far as to actually purchase FS. I still have never have run a flight sim in spite of having had PCs since 1982. A few months ago I saw a video recommended to me by Youtube. Like everyone else, I was stunned by how good the new FS looked. This gave me a reason to buy a new PC for the first time in over a decade and I've been coming here (and PMDG's site) to see what was coming to FS. This announcement is great news for everyone. I haven't been this excited about any game/simulation since the 20th Century. I'm not a pilot and never will be, but even I want these airports and scenery enhancements. I can live with the default airports in FS, but I don't mind at all paying extra for high quality packs even for places I've never been, but especially the London airport. And I know from years of lurking how great these new Orbx's products will be. I feel like all the years of hard work you folks have put into your products is really going to pay off now as people like me enter this hobby for the first time. And those who have been in the hobby all along will be able to feel some of the same joy of discovery they had decades ago when they first experienced FS9 or FSX. I wish you all the financial and critical success I trust you will achieve and am certain you have earned. Congratulations, Orbx. I will look forward to every new announcement from now on.