As long as XP has those awful clouds I will stick with FSX!

As long as XP has those awful clouds I will stick with FSX!

Agreed, the clouds in XPX Are my least favourite feature. They're far to heavy on my system, and I really hate the sudden visibility loss when you enter the clouds.

 

It's a shame as I really like XPX in so many ways.

For a platform which has long considered scenery to play second fiddle to a nuanced flight model, they certainly spend an awful lot of time looking at the visuals... be it of the ground, of the roads, or of external shots of airplanes. All things which the purists of X-Plane tend to dismiss as irrelevant are showcased here. Hmm. I also find it interesting that many of the clips used were twilight/nighttime, and daytime shots were primarily tighter shots as opposed to overviews. The video is very much a "Marketing 101" exercise - show your strengths, hide your weaknesses - no fault in that.... but....

 

If this video was all I had to go on to make my purchase, I'd certainly be banging down the door to make my purchase. After seeing the "bigger picture" in the full simulation, I might feel far less enthusiastic (borderline betrayed?) by how the simulation portrays the wider scenery world above and beyond those choice video clips.

 

The demo continues to be the most important evaluation of the product. I cannot stress it enough. A user will see all that was demonstrated in the video with hands-on capabilities, and should then be able to make a more educated decision as they prepare for their purchase.

 

 

For a platform which has long considered scenery to play second fiddle to a nuanced flight model, they certainly spend an awful lot of time looking at the visuals...

What I would say is that X-plane is not marketed correctly or to it's full potential. No disrespect to whomever made the video, it is good but it does not come close to many of the great videos third parties make for FSX or indeed in some cases X-plane. Orbx and Aerosoft use videos created by fans to showcase their products and they do a wonderful job in most cases (I once made one for Orbx ).

One example I can think for X-plane is a person who goes by the username 'redpiper' on youtube. He/she presents X-plane in a fantastic manner. This is what Laminar should be doing more of. Okay, this particular video isn't so bad but some of the earlier ones really lacked creativity or showed off the positives. I will also refer again to the importance of landmarks. Imagine a video that showed even a few landmarks, and showed them well in the context of the sim. This would be great marketing for the product.

Or why not make a cool promo video on the flight dyamics. Heck, why not build a detailed, fancy website showcasing only X-plane 10 with a dedicated forum. Laminar, really need to put themselves out there more and I think they could do this with the mininum of time and resources. Believe me, I, like many others want them to succeed badly.