Does anyone know the official figure that differentiates the groups?The question has to be asked.

I think it's fair to say, it's disproportionately lopsided in favor of MS Flight.

Cool.Find out the true numbers!

I don't know exact figures, but I'm pretty sure the FSX team was over 250 while the Laminar staff is less than 20.

I'd second that. I'd hazard maybe LR is maybe about 10 actual coders for various points. A few more people for running the site, handling appointments, bills, payroll, etc, but they don't affect the experience as MS has a department for anything other than making the product, too that isn't in the 250.

The issue shouldn't be the staffing resources, but I understand that's the topic.Would you buy a cell phone with fewer and/or buggy features just because it is from a smaller outfit ?Laminar deserves credit for managing to deliver what they deliver with fewer people. At the same time, Laminar relies on free data developed in part by people like you and me and to an extent, data that may be developed using M$ provided data/resources !To that extent, M$ deseves some credit too.Also to that extent, one could say that Laminar owes X-plane v10's existence to M$ !

Edited January 2, 201214 yr by m_av

I hear y a m-av .. only three of the four wheels on my car turn ..... but, its ok, my car was made by a smaller company! :(

How many OpenStreetMap contributors should be added ? :( X-Plane 10 is the only flight simulator where I can see my street in the default scenery.

X-Plane 10 is the only flight simulator where I can see my street in the default scenery.

Yeah, that's great? I'd rather see the buildings at the airport I'm landing at. But to each their own.This link puts ACES at around 150, which would include FS dev. team and Train Simulator dev team;http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/02/03/microsoft_flight_simulator_partners/print.htmlNow we can wait to see the "Microsoft has 15 times as many people working..." thread replies.

Auran must be the equivalent of aces in the train world then. My kids love to play 'trainz' and it's fairly good example of a small team doing things well, in a reasonably customer orientated way while being up against the big developers as well.

Does anyone know the official figure that differentiates the groups?The question has to be asked.

The MS group includes the phone operator, cleaning staff, and security guards that everyone talks to to get the inside scoop on Flight.

Yeah, that's great? I'd rather see the buildings at the airport I'm landing at.

How bout getting off your rear end and getting some work done if you're a commercial member!

The MS group includes the phone operator, cleaning staff, and security guards that everyone talks to to get the inside scoop on Flight.

Don't forget yourself Jim, you're an important cog in the M$ wheel...by the way, Flight is a subscription-based sim, go tell it on the Mountain!

Yeah, that's great? I'd rather see the buildings at the airport I'm landing at. But to each their own.

Yes that's great. B)Download the airport buildings !- http://forums.x-plan...showtopic=30718- http://www.xpfr.org/?body=scene_cartes- http://www.openscene...g-opensceneryx/- http://www.scenery4xp.com/ (payware)- ...You can also create and customize your own airports:- http://wiki.x-plane....irport_Creation- http://wiki.x-plane....t_CustomizationYou can even convert MSFS sceneries with FS2XPlane:- http://marginal.org....nery/tools.html- http://forums.x-plan...showtopic=44099 Happy flying !

Yes that's great. :(

I think his point is FSX has buildings at airports, BY DEFAULT, and for a fraction of the price. Its a finished product the user doesent need to mod in order to have something useable. It also has landmarks at most major city's and seasons. For $, XPX's "plausable world" is really just unfinished. For that price, I would expect a complete sim and not something that almost requires mods and add-on's to even be close to the 6 year old FSX Gold you can buy for $29.95. Im just wondering, with the lack of scenery, whats REALLY filling those 8 DVD's?

6 years ago, FSX + Acceleration cost $US140 in Australia ($95 for FSX and $45 for Acceleration). In 6 years from now, X Plane 10 will probably cost $30.For eighty dollars, you get HDR lighting, OSM street data, 3D volumetric clouds, a flight model that x plane users say is very realistic, sloped runways, bird strikes, incredible rural scenery and updates for the life of the version run. Urban areas are lacking, but that's one element of the whole picture.When compared to what's available recently (Prepar3d), you got a lot more for a lot less $$'s. Prepar3d is $10 a month or $399 to buy outright. Prepar3d has x plane beat with airport buildings. It has 45 detailed airports and 23 detailed cities...worldwide. I sure as hell hope so for $400! X Plane 10 looks FAR better than Prepar3d. And in my opinion, the flight model is better than Prepar3d.