RLGaming.com

So in case you didn't see it, there is a new combat flight simulator that has been in the works for several years now, Falcon 5.0 by MicroProse. Not a whole lot of information has been released about it, but I can tell you what I know:

• The makeup of the company MicroProse is very different than the original MicroProse. For those of you who don't know, MicroProse was bought/sold/acquired numerous times over the past couple of decades. It was defunct for a number of years. Most recently, In 2018, An Australian simulation entrepreneur named David Lagetti acquired the name and logo for MicroProse. With prior experience creating military simulation software, he basically formed a brand new MicroProse and worked to acquire some of the original licenses of some of the original IP. In 2023, it acquiring the Falcon license in 2023.
• The new company attracted the attention of Bill Stealey, one of the 3 original people who started MicroProse way back in 1982. Stealey has joined the new company.
• Supposedly (although not officially verified as of yet), Falcon 5.0 is supposed to be a study-level sim.
• It will feature more than just the F-16. The F-35 is also supposed to be available.
• It will have a dynamic campaign, and as of this week there was an announcement that core development had been completed on the dynamic campaign.
• Razbam is believed to be involved in working with MicroProse in some way. Despite this, MicroProse just put out a message stating that they are building the new simulator entirely in-house and that no external vendors are involved in shaping the core product or its direction. That would suggest Razbam's involvement only as a 3rd party add-on developer.
• We have no idea on a timeline of when Falcon 5.0 will be released. It could be years.
• Features are not known other than a dynamic campaign. Multiplayer and VR are unknowns.
• Interfacing with external cockpit hardware is a strong probability, but nothing more is known as this time.

https://stormbirds.blog/2025/11/22/razb ... gn-design/

Count me in as being interested and a potential customer.

Wild Bill Stealey!!!

My first experience with him was on my Commodore 64, Microprose's Gunship. The first one! Cool that he's still around. He's up there with Scott "Elf" Elson ala Jane's F/A-18.

It's good that there is still potential for a flight sim out there--I honestly don't think the interest is there on a whole like it used to be decades ago--people in this day and age just don't have the interest, the time, or even the attention span to learn a study sim. So it's a gonna be a challenge to keep it marketable and sustainable, as I'm sure it is for ED even though they'd never admit it.

So what does this mean for Falcon BMS? That was built on the structure and code of Falcon 4 and so now that all parties concerned have now bought the rights and licenses for MicroProse and especially for Falcon, does BMS have to cease and desist since that code is now MicroProse's again? Will there be no more development of BMS?

I'd be interested to see what the sim is like, but I don't know that I'd be flying it as much as I do DCS. The F-16 is fine, but my heart is not into it. My passion is in carrier ops, and that will never happen with an F-16. And of course my deeper passion is the F-14. Given the current development stage and timeline for Falcon 5, I don't see them getting into other aircraft like that anytime soon, and if they did, how? A sandbox like DCS ? Because if not, I don't see what the attraction will be for those who aren't into the F-16--DCS has got that edge. The F-35 might be interesting, but being this is a study sim, that aircraft will be much more fantasy than anything else since everything is classified. Suppose MicroProse concentrates on say the F-14 or better yet, the F/A-18E/F or the F-14D--that would be great--but they have a tough act to follow, especially for the F-14. I've flown F-14 sims ever since the 80s (90s if you count "study sims") and Heatblur's really is killer, the best F-14 sim I've ever seen and had the pleasure of flying. It would be really tough to switch to MicroProse's. Of course if they do a really good F-14D, that would be a game changer--but again, then the aircraft would be a little fictional as those systems are still classified--that's why Heatblur hasn't done it yet. They are sticklers to realism.

Supercarrier, despite its flaws and unfulfilled promises is also a standout that Falcon 5 will not have, at least in that specific sim. So that too is a mark against them for me.

So yes, despite all the politics behind ED and their handling of the matter, I say it sucks, but they still have a better product than anyone else, and MicroProse will really have alot to contend with if they can pull this off. In the meantime, I would find it very hard to switch. Yeah there's no dynamic campaign, but ED says there will be and they might have it before MicroProse even has their sim. But MicroProse was the originator of the dynamic campaign so if they have the same code writers or coders that are just as good if not better, they could pull it off. In the meantime, we have Foothold, which to me is so incredibly great and it's the closest thing there is to a dynamic campaign (at least it's persistent) and it's not even ED who wrote it. But I'm happy with that for now, in the absence of a dynamic campaign, or even with one, who knows...?

And hey, as long as MicroProse gets rid of those terrible post-mission one liners and bad musical score, that might be enough to attract me further.

v6,
boNes

I have an answer for your question on what becomes of BMS. If I understand correctly, MicroProse has publicly stated that they are totally supportive of BMS and will continue to honor the original agreement allowing BMS to exist. As before, BMS is not allowed to make any money from their efforts, but they can continue developing it as a freeware project.

The sim market itself is still a niche market, although it has grown in recent years with the development of FS2020 and FS2024 and of course DCS. As evidence, I cite the growth of sim hardware manufacturers that cater to the segment. There are WAY more hardware products than there were 10 years ago. It's still a niche, though... but clearly some hardware manufacturers are finding success.

It remains to be seen how extensible F5.0 will be, and I have the same questions about naval aviation. I would guess that when F5.0 comes out it will not have a ton for it in the beginning. If it is a good product and foundation that allows for expansion (and good expansion products) then it could become popular over time. We will have to wait and see. There is still very little known.

Yes, the F-35 will be fantasy land. Of course I am sure you are also aware that ED has promised a "full-fidelity" F-35 as well, which is also fantasy land.

Maybe they will make the Navy version of the F-35 available at some point. Anyway, I'm interested. I will keep an eye on this. But, I'm annoyed that RAZBAM has anything to do with this.

It’s very hard to predict the future when it comes to software development of any kind but I don’t think we will see a Falcon 5.0 release for 4-5 years. In the meantime I’ll be learning all the DCS modules I’ve barely put time into. Ha!