Anyone who knows Austin's opinions of old will also know that if there is one thing he will always do, it is to stay on message where X Plane is concerned. There was plenty of evidence of that in the TH meeting of course; he believes in his product and that's why he is the way he is on the subject.

 

Having said that, I thought he was very restrained when the subject of MS came up a few times. It would have been very easy for him to gloat and score a few cheap goals at the expense of MS abandoning FS and going with Flight, and there cannot be many who would not have blamed him if he had done so. So all credit to him for being more gentlemanly on that matter than many might have expected.

 

I think it was important for people to be there at the TH meeting, and especially Avsim staff, which is why I was there and also why I pinged the first question, so as to try and set the tone and get people chipping in using the preferred protocol of typing a question mark into the chat box and then awaiting the nod to pipe up, although I was glad to be able to address the issue of needing the disk in to get it working, which is something I am not a fan of with XP.

 

As others have noted, if you missed the explanatory preamble at the meeting, or even the entire meeting, FS Break were recording the thing and will be chopping it down to tidy things up a bit and then making a webcast available (there was a Digital Theme Park TS server reset during the meeting where it went haywire for a minute or so, so presumably that is the stuff they will tidy up on the audio).

 

It was a good meeting, nice to see (and hear) so many there (about 60 people by my reckoning, possibly more since people were joinng and leaving as it progressed), and there is no denying that it was ballsy of Austin Meyer to open himself up to the lion's den of demanding simmers and their questions where literally anything could be asked of him with no preparation. He gained a lot of respect from many, including me, for doing that.

 

After Austin departed, there was a really interesting discussion with one or two developers as well, and that was pretty cool too, so if you get the chance to attend any other such TS meetings or social gatherings, I'd recommend you do so.

 

Credit must also go to Tom Allensworth for setting it up, and Stephen (SpiritFlyer) for MC'ing the thing so well and keeping order.

 

Al

I think Austin has spent too much time around elitist apple users and has lost touch with the actual sim crowd. How can you make a product that competes with any other without knowing what another company does, right or wrong? If they do something right, you implement your own idea that fills the missing feature. If they do something wrong, you don't waste money copying their mistake. That is why competition breeds better quality products.

 

To leave out AI aircraft with realistic volumes or at least the ability to allow someone else to tap into the AI tables or make a VoxATC like external AI program that utilizes the XP10 or an external ATC system would be folly. Then again, so would to take a simulator and turn it into a game.

 

If Austin wants XP to simulate flight, how can he leave out one of the important facets of aviation? To me, these are:

Flight Model

---Aerodynamics

---Ground Handling including icy/wet conditions

---Systems

Weather

Navigation

Communication (ATC)

Scenery/Environment immersiveness

Traffic Avoidance

Emergencies

 

20 aircraft allow you to have other aircraft in the vicinity, but flying into KLAX with 20 aircraft within so many miles would never crowd the airport to the point where you are issued a hold at the outer marker or a 360 for spacing as traffic couldn't be intense enough. The rush to the active and the conga line are all valuable as when the airspace gets busy, the radio gets busy too and listening for and following the directions is imperitive when it gets busy. Without the accurate amount and variety of traffic, you can't get the experience you should. When you see a Cessna 172 next to a 747 at a gate, it spoils the reality of it all. Seeing a civilian aircraft at a military base or a 747 at a grass strip.

 

It seems more and more like the elitist Apple mentality that keeps me away from the crowd: this is the way it is, take it or leave it. If you want something different, make it yourself.