I'm including a post that I just wrote on another forum... as it's just as relevant here as it was there... if you happened to have read it before, my apologies for the duplication.
After reading through this thread, I'm not really sure how to respond other than what I just read are a lot of unfounded words based purely on speculation and conjecture with an attempt to come across as the wise and all knowing voices of the masses.
What's missing are the FACTS.
I hope those of you who only see darkness at the end of the tunnel are just as brazen in acknowledgment of the actual FACTS when the time comes.
To put it plainly as I possibly can, NGiS has only one goal and that is the development of a new consumer oriented flight simulator based upon up-to-date software and hardware for the near future and for many years into the future.
Creating a business... that is based upon a firm foundation to which to build a new flight simulator is a process and most certainly takes time... however, more importantly it takes the commitment to stick with it no matter the complications, struggles, snags, hitches, obstructions, etc.
In less than a years time, NGiS has grown from a simple gathering of interested enthusiasts to determine the need or want of a new simulator to a dedicated team of over 30 highly qualified individuals who love flight simulation and want to continue to see it flourish.
In that same time NGiS has also become a voice, an advocate of consumer flight simulation... a voice which has caught the attention of some of the most influential entities within the simulation industry, all who are very much interested in working with NGiS which will lend itself to being enabled to press forward with the creation of a Next Generation Flight Simulator.
My question to anyone who is interested in prolonging the life of consumer oriented flight simulation for years to come is this; what would happen if all community members put aside the dismissive viewpoints and picked up the banner and rallied around the one movement, the one company that favors the continuation of flight simulation for the masses? No one is asking for your money or your time... just some patience and a bit of moral support.
Now imagine for a moment how much more we could accomplish if all of us pulled together to achieve something that not one big business is willing to do!
A fail-safe against extinction isn't really a bad thing.
(...if you would take the time to consider the state of flight simulation as it exists today, it truly isn't difficult to see the writing on the wall. The longevity of flight simulation is based upon platforms that have reached their limits and are straining at the seams in order to prolong existence. Newcomers of this genre are in short supply, simply because what they see in currently available flight simulations don't stack up visually to the software that are being delivered in this day and age... so newcomers fall away as fast as they come to see. The flight simulation community, is literally dying off and if new blood is not brought into the community soon, it'll take a miracle for consumer flight simulation to rise from the ashes).
Fortunately, there are those within the community who do see the efforts of a handful of flight simulator community members and the light at the end of the tunnel... and we are grateful for the support we do receive.
In a matter of time, NGiS will be able to announce the extraordinary accomplishments in securing the future of consumer flight simulation. We have been in discussion with some exceptional companies and are nearing agreements. When that day comes, and it will, many of you will sit and ponder, wondering how in the world is a relatively unknown company, such as NGiS, capable of pulling it off.
At that time, some may chose to forsake the path they currently travel, spouting their proposed prescient utterances... then again... once a doomsday prophet uttering the evils of NGiS and its inevitable demise, the allure of having a following most probably will be too great to ever see that light at the end of the tunnel.
Stephen Borick
In addition I'd like to add that yes, NGiS is indeed made up of a bunch of amateurs, with the tenacity, persistence, determination, patience, and resolve to do something that needs to be done. No one in NGiS comes to the table with any airs that we are anything but flight simulator community members who are gathered together in an effort to sustain flight simulation as we know it, nor do we place ourselves in a position to supersede the community to which we are most loyal to. None of us here at NGiS are scholars, masters of the written word, polished at forming proper sentences that can disprove such pettiness beyond doubt that we're professionals.
But... Just because there are smudges on the aircraft windows, doesn't mean that the airplane can't fly.
Outerra is a fascinating engine that has been in development since 2008 and founded in 2010. I think the answers to why we did not chose Outerra to work with has been answered by the pious and unfounded statements made by one of the developers... there was absolutely no extended offer from the Outerra organization to work together towards achieving the ultimate goal of a new flight simulator for the community.
My personal opinion regarding Outerra is that it has potential, potential that has been faithfully worked on for over 8 years and as of to date is still a platform that does not meet or exceed the visuals that one would expect from a modern up-to-date engine. If you have Outerra Anteworld on your computer, I invite you to center your attention on areas of detail such as the Grand Canyon, Yosemite National Park, Mt Rainier... are these areas true to their real life counterparts... isn't this something that you would desire in a modern up-to-date engine. Fly across the Pacific Northwest, Southern California, Nevada, the UK, Africa, Australia... notice any significant difference in the climate, terrain, vegetation, do you feel that you've moved from one part of the world to another? If one of the features most desired by enthusiast is for an accurate representation of the world we fly over, then Outerra is not the answer, at least in it's current state.
To go beyond the current offerings of flight simulation on a world scale, both in fidelity as well as dynamics, an engine capable of achieving such a goal must be the core of the development. NGiS has found such engines and are working daily to obtain access and have made great strides in doing so. Soon, the talents and skills, the ones that truly matter, the ones that TEAM NGiS does possess will be used to take those tools and craft a new flight simulator that will be worthy of being a successor to that which has come before.
No amount of words, for or against the efforts of NGiS will matter in the long run... it will be the results and the results can be nothing short of a new flight simulator that provides a sense of familiarity, that caters to 3rd party developers, exceeds expectations in realism and continues to develop along with new technologies in both software and hardware.
It would be wonderful to have the full support of the flight simulator community on a level where we here at NGiS can hear the desires of the community above the bombast of the few who tout judgment based upon nothing but hearsay, rumors, speculation and whispers. As a community, all of us together most certainly can achieve what appears to be unbelievable and do so with the resolve to strengthen consumer flight simulation in an extensive effort to avoid an untimely demise.
For those who would like to have all the facts all the time... it's just not possible. Non Disclosure Agreements prevent such capabilities. I would love to share what I know, when I know it as I am well aware that the haze of Non Disclosure leaves doubt, speculation and suspicion. But to reveal what we've been asked not to reveal until such time that it's appropriate would be equally grounds for doubt, speculation, suspicion and non-trust from those to whom we depend upon for the very tools necessary for the development of a new simulator.
- Stephen Borick
