DirectX1 ?

 

We've come a long way! This got me started...

 

 

Ahhhhh the good ol' days. Right there! :smile: Thanks for posting that.

It took Austin something like 6 years to get XP where it is today, and it's not "done" yet!

 

I seem to remember X-Plane as far back as 1994. It was advertised in pilot supply catalog, with pics of lakes, rivers, and snow.

It was also over $200.

 

edit: Looked it up. First released for the Macintosh in 1993.

edit: Looked it up. First released for the Macintosh in 1993.

 

And, one of the reasons why the hair on the back of my neck gets up when someone states that the shortcomings in Xplane are because it's relatively new or the team is small. It's not new at all, and continues to just "plod" along as it has for twenty years, it's been a conscious choice, including the small team. This is also the reason for my scepticism for anything earth shattering happening in it's development cycle "model". Precedence of 20 years shows otherwise, we all can only hope that will change in the NEAR future.

 

Glen

I have no knowledge of any relationship or possible merger between Laminar and any other firm.

 

I'm sorry Robert, I misspoke. I meant to say, is it possible to have a development entity in between giant LM and tiny LR, i.e., one w/ resources less than LM but more than LR. My point is to say it's not just about money and ROI. The role of a passionate developer w/ the right knowledge and thinking outside the box could make something happen. And if done really well (remember, they don't have to do it all, 'just' the core and SDKs), there is potentially a big income there. As I say, look at the other substantial projects like Aerofly FS. A group project with the VISION for what it would take to develop a model of 6+ year core engine cycle and SDK development focusing on the areas I mentioned. One designed from the beginning to become the core model for 3rd party developers of which many already exist.

Has anyone sat down and given some serious thought to why we enjoyed the original Microsoft Flight Simulator? You remember the one, green box, no version number. Probably flown with the keyboard because who had a joystick before flight simulators? It certainly wasn't the scintillating graphics, or the super high frame rates, or the incredibly high fidelity flight model. There wasn't much in the way of system's depth, mostly just starting the engine with a keystroke, but complicated systems would have put everyone off at the time.

 

Agree, with you 100%. FS4 I started out with just had San Fran to fly around in cessna or Chicago field off the shore was not big world at the time. I did not and most did not know ADR or VOR was at the time. I perfer ga planes, simple manual controls and eye candy and could care less about procedures like IFR and FMC. About having fun, and think X-plane is great, but it not for the begineer or causal person at all. They need another flight sim with ga planes and basic flying to get people involved just the approach they took was off.

Just wanted to chime in that I haven't read through the whole thread, but came across a few alarming posts regarding forum moderation at x-plane.org. People being banned for asking questions, and be talked to in a rude way.

 

I hope people at x-plane take this to heart, because this kind of PR will drive potential customers away - me included.

And, one of the reasons why the hair on the back of my neck gets up when someone states that the shortcomings in Xplane are because it's relatively new or the team is small. It's not new at all, and continues to just "plod" along as it has for twenty years, it's been a conscious choice, including the small team. This is also the reason for my scepticism for anything earth shattering happening in it's development cycle "model". Precedence of 20 years shows otherwise, we all can only hope that will change in the NEAR future.

 

Glen

 

I had no idea that XPlane has been worked on for such a lengthy time. If that's the case, then I begin to realize how long it might take for it to climb even higher towards our expectations. Perhaps at my age, I may run out of time before it actually happens. Daunting thought!

Oh and one more thing: The feel of this thread (and almost all threads on avsim) are quite nice and pleasant. So my input was directed at the x-plane forums and some users reporting bad customer handling.

I think AVSIM is by far the friendliest forum I've encountered! Kudos to the AVSIM staff!

I just watched a YouTube X-Plane Video about the 787 Dreamliner. I invite those who are debating the pluses and minuses of XP to watch it. One pretty bird. Note the grading on the runway at KSEA upon landing This fellow has a nice touch with his camera views. It's pretty darn cool!

One pretty bird. Note the grading on the runway at KSEA upon landing

 

Which actually doesn't exist in the real world!! At least not to the extent it is in XP10 which illustrates the problem with slope runways in a flight sim. To do it accurately you really need a high resolution mesh!

 

Nice video.

There seems to be a bug as the 787 nose light stays on with the gear up.

Something I noticed on my own machine.

I invite those who are debating the pluses and minuses of XP to watch it. One pretty bird.

 

Robert, and the rest for that matter. Nobody is debating how "pretty" XPX looks. There's no doubt it looks (most aspects) and performs, better than what the competition has to offer. That's not where the glaring flaws with Xplane lie, and they can't be hidden by looks.

 

The lack of functionality in key areas of flight simulation are what detract a lot from accepting Xplane as their daily flier. We all know what they are, we all know what needs to be done, outside development, and or outside help. Whether it be ATC, AI traffic, Weather System, RW Landmarks / Landclass, and the most important for the real world fliers, the flight model (this is beyond my scope, not a rw flier), XPX is lacking. As for the other stuff, all I have to do is look towards FSX which does have all those things through addons. Not only are they poor in XPX, their not available for purchase either, is that point clear? As was pointed out earlier, Laminar Research / Austin have been at this for 20 years, and it's still painfully deficient in those key areas. We can sit here and debate, marvel, look at in awe, it does not change the facts.

 

You "Invite those who are debating the pluses and minus of XP to watch it". You say that as if it's going to change / sway some minds? I hope you don't think that's the case. Honestly, those of us that "debate" the pluses and minuses don't need to watch any video. It's no different than another member here who got upset or put off because I wouldn't watch a video of him flying his plane level in flight. I know the default aircraft roll side to side more than they should, it's been substantiated by too many real pilots to ignore or dismiss. Just the same, I don't need to watch some ones videos of how pretty the clouds are in Xplane, they don't look great, and that too has been negatively discussed at length by many more than the few here, and at other forum groups as well.

 

Just as the video posted here, all it shows is how "pretty" XPX is, who cares, really. A flight simulator has to be far more that pretty, and XPX continues to fall far too short, we know why, we know in what areas, it really shouldn't be up for debate any more at this point. As has happened in the past, new people are coming for a look, and they do like what they "see", but it doesn't take too long for the glaring deficiencies to rear their ugly heads. These issues are what need to be addressed / discussed, not how pretty it looks.

 

It's like that great looking girl / guy that you meet, all you want to do is be with them. Then, the opportunity presents itself, and in a short time you come to realize they can't add 2+2. At that point, if this is someone you thought you might like to spend a lot of time with, you have to realize that it's not going to work. Well, Xplane is very similar. It looks pretty, but falls short in so many areas. It doesn't have to, for reasons that are discussed here every day, but continues to do so. Again, hopefully the future will tell a different story, but it won't without change, change from within the minds at Laminar Research.

 

 

Glen

 

Edit: Until the day comes, that a "press release" is announced stating that Laminar Research is changing the way it has done business in the past, and "we" are now going to stop development (what ever needs to be done) for (? time), thus facilitating 3rd party development to better improve the overall functionality of Xplane, I won't be happy, nor will I give up with my "fight". There's no other "general" flight simulator with a future as far as I'm concerned, Xplane is it. But it needs a lot more than "good looks" to have a bright future.

 

We all acknowledge the good in Xplane, let's have an open / less defensive mind, and acknowledge / discuss the not so good, in hopes that it gets addressed and resolved, once and for all (that seems to actually be happening as of late, some "level headed / new" folks are joining in the discussions with strong valid points that need to be addressed). There's no disputing the deficiencies, if were talking about a total and complete package / flight simulator.

 

Heck, for all we know Austin would be quite happy to keep Xplane in it's current state, a flight engineering "tool", I hope it can be a lot more than that, and be a complete flight simulator, something it isn't yet, and one I continue to fight for.

It's like that great looking girl that you meet, all you want to do is be with them. Then, the opportunity presents itself, and in a short time you come to realize they can't add 2+2.

 

Um... I'm not with her because of her mathematical abilities.

 

I know the default aircraft roll side to side more than they should,

 

Looks like TomK has some fixes in the pipeline.

 

Hook

I just watched a YouTube X-Plane Video about the 787 Dreamliner. I invite those who are debating the pluses and minuses of XP to watch it. One pretty bird. Note the grading on the runway at KSEA upon landing This fellow has a nice touch with his camera views. It's pretty darn cool!

 

Robert, if XPlane & FSX stayed exactly the same going forward, i.e., no further development internally or from 3PDs, and you could only own one sim forever, which one would it be?