Since the cat is out of the bag ...

[Arwen 289]

MS don't know what they have in the FSX engine source code, or they would not have licensed it to LM. It is by far the most capable and impressive 3D far-horizon engine ever coded - bar none. Nothing, even in 2012 comes close to the number of pixels and terrain the FSX engine can push at a locked 60Hz. Problem is, the code needs a little loving and MS won't fund that. So good thing we have a dev team at LM who are doing just that. Can't wait for that engine to be running close to the metal and off the CPU and onto the GPU. Yes, that's coming and it will rock.

You just made my day!After yesterday's crash and burn of my hopes for Flight (which followed my disappointment in last month's X-Plane 10's demo), I stopped in this morning still feeling very disappointed. Here it is, only January 5th, and my two biggest hopes in 2012 simulators, were no longer on my wish list. (X-Plane 10 might be worth while after a year or so of updates.)I own FSX, and I have bought a bunch of addons for it over the years, so I was waiting to see where things were heading . . . is the future with FSX (FSXI?), Flight, X-Plane, or P3D? And I just found out that my new gaming PC is being shipped today, so I'll finally have something that can run FSX, at high settings, with decent framerates. So I'll stick with FSX for now, but I'll jump over to P3D when they release an affordable version (I'm not interested the monthly users fee option, but I would pay $150 for a boxed DVD version).Once I get my FSX up and running on my new PC, I'll be taking a closer look at your addons.Thanks for making this thread. :)

[CFIJose 5,485]

Good luck with paying only paying $150 for P3D. If John is right, and he is MOST of the time, P3D is the future for serious Simmers. I doubt that there will be enough pressure to cause a reduction in price.

Edited January 5, 2012 by DJJose

[airlinejets 709]

when they release an affordable version

Don't count on it. They have a very specific licensing agreement with Microsoft.

If John is right, and he is MOST of the time

He was wrong about Flight...

[Guest]

Good luck with paying on only paying $150 for P3D. If John is right, and he is MOST of the time, P3D is the future for serious Simmers. I doubt that there will be enough pressure to cause a reduction in price.

The pression comes straight by the copies sold. If they are limited the price might go down.Do not forget please that FSX addons development will keep on raising therefore Prepar3D has to lower the price otherwise it will remain a niche market just like right now.

[mwilk 1,106]

Any clue why the 3rd party devs where locked out ? Where you asking to much or is just the largest part of the cake in additional content (which I believe) ? In one hand, I think it was not fair from Microsoft since you made some great effort to give them positiv feedback, in the other hand the (crazy) price of additional scenery and aircraft should have made them drool over...

I think Microsoft finally figured out where the money in this hobby lies. It's not in the base simulator, so much. It's in the DLC. My guess is they want such a large cut of the pie for addons, that they developers said ,"No thanks". It's like computer printers, HP can sell printers relatively cheap because the money is in selling the ink.

[GHarrall 494]

Don't count on it. They have a very specific licensing agreement with Microsoft.

It doesn't stop them selling a $10 per month licence to anyone who calls themselves a 'developer' though.Do you have specifics of this agreement with MS? If not, you are guessing like the rest of us.the full $499 licence gives you permission to use P3D and any scenario you have developed for it in a commercial business setting. Example - a flight school or such where profits are being made. This is why the cost of entry is so high. All commercial software is the same type of situation.If LM can or want to do a P3D 'lite' or 'individual pro user' licence, I am sure they are considering it.if not, then I can live with the $10 per month situation. I would rather not, but there you go.

[CFIJose 5,485]

Don't count on it. They have a very specific licensing agreement with Microsoft.He was wrong about Flight...

Hence, the emphasis on MOST.

[airlinejets 709]

I can live with the $10 per month situation.

It's $10 now....

[Geofa 108]

I think Microsoft finally figured out where the money in this hobby lies. It's not in the base simulator, so much. It's in the DLC. My guess is they want such a large cut of the pie for addons, that they developers said ,"No thanks". It's like computer printers, HP can sell printers relatively cheap because the money is in selling the ink.

Bingo! I agree 100%.

[CFIJose 5,485]

The pression comes straight by the copies sold. If they are limited the price might go down.Do not forget please that FSX addons development will keep on raising therefore Prepar3D has to lower the price otherwise it will remain a niche market just like right now.

Scarcity causes price to go up, NOT down.

Bingo! I agree 100%.

+1

[Arwen 289]

Good luck with paying on only paying $150 for P3D. If John is right, and he is MOST of the time, P3D is the future for serious Simmers. I doubt that there will be enough pressure to cause a reduction in price.

P3D is not going to be the future, unless they dramatically increase their user base, and that is going to take a single-user retail release (in my opinion). Most simmers are not going to pay $500 for a commercial release, or pay a $10/month user fee.Licensing agreements can be renegotiated.

[Guest]

Scarcity causes price to go up, NOT down.

Yes but the global net worth plays a fundamental role.I mean, if the scarcity leads to increased prices and the total net worth is X , well, if the price is lower and the copies sold are a 500.000 more , well, the total net worth is MUCH higher, here the real deal surfaces.- Edited January 5, 2012 by Mark II

[snwboardn 87]

Thanks for taking the time to stop by and let us know the insides, I think all of us were a little dumbfounded. I have heard much about P3D, like they say in the stock market "follow the money." Hopefully you guys are right and they can actually sell a consumer based product... At this point paying 500 dollars for a GOOD flight sim with some staying power actually doesn't sound all that bad.I think that shows how loyal this community can be when developers are willing to be loyal to us.*Edit* and when I say follow the money, I mean follow the developers... #1 reason I won't buy xplane and #2 reason I won't be spending any money on Flight

Edited January 5, 2012 by snwboardn

[gmohr 0]

Thank you Orbx! I wnt to bed pretty depressed last night, but this news is uplifting.

[Tom Allensworth 1,532]

As for Prepar3D, how long before Microsoft sees it as a threat to Flight and starts tightening the screws on Lockheed Martin's license? They've been thumbing their nose at Microsoft for a while by selling it to consumers for $10/mo, and one wonders how much longer they can get away with that. On that note, I'd like to see Orbx show some love to X-Plane. Now that Microsoft has abandoned the hardcore simulator market, you're going to see X-Plane's market share start to increase.

You don't know Lockheed lawyers like I know the type. If their license from MS does not allow something, LMOC isn't going to violate it. Companies like LMOC, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Boeing, all have more lawyers than business development types. Interestingly enough, second most prevalent employee type are Contract Managers. I bet you don't know for whom the Contract Managers typically work for in these organizations, do you? If you guessed the lawyers, you win the golden ring...