can we have the internal simulator back please

I've always been a fan of the simulator too.

Note that in Q10.0 the GUI was re-written, so carrying the simulator forward would have been a very large project(it's not like they just dropped it for fun). Also, since it's not a generic simulator, the underlying models have to be hand-created for each device. So as new families like Straix V come out, their simulations have to be re-created.

Now, I think they could have dropped simulation support for large families like Stratix V, since it really wasn't good enough for anything of that size, but CPLDs, Cyclone designs, or just quick sanity checks, it was really nice.

One other option I've seen, if you don't want users to deal with an RTL testbench, is using Tcl to drive Modelsim. For people who think that way, it's really quite straightforward. I don't have a good example on hand, but it's literally a line to drive a signal. Just a thought as something easy.