Prepar3d Next FSX?

[hychewright 46]

I'm hope that LM discount V2 when it comes out, kind of like a grand opening discount. If they do it will be great and if not I'll still purchase it anyway. I'm hoping a lot more 3rd party companies come on board when V2 comes out as they probably will just like they for FSX.

[Guest]

I've noticed lately that I am the last person to post in a thread so often that I was thinking of changing my handle to "Thread Killer". Lets hope it works!

[HighTowers 1,434]

If V2 makes enough significant changes, with remarkable improvement over FSX, with smoothness similar to MS flight, then Im pretty sure that a good majority would transition even if it was $200. There is demand for all these FSX woes and bugs to be gone, and when there is demand, prices go up. 

 

Of course there is lots of variables like licenses, backwards compatibility etc, but if it all comes together, as is being described by the P3D team, then it should be great. Cant wait for a preview video.

[hychewright 46]

High Towers I agree. I would pay that to if P3D is of high quality and you don't have to do thousands of tweaks just to get it to fly right. I'm sure LM will have P3D v2 ready to fly when released. I will support it !

[vgbaron 3,627]

It will have some bugs, just like any other software but, if the initial release of P3D 1.x was an example, they are quick to respond to bug reports and legitimate suggestions.

 

I think we are in for a treat.

 

Vic

[jabloomf1230 2,445]

As someone with all three sims (although I will admit that I don't have the necessary 3rd party add-ons to make XP10 competitive, strictly because of the cost involved), I would say that the main improvement that P3D 2.0 will bring is a modernized UI. In fact I would suspect that the UI will look an awful lot like XP10's UI. There are also rumors (confirmed by LM staff online) that there may be an LM co-authored combat add-on, although that could raise the total cost of the package substantially. Like XP10, I would speculate that P3D 2.0 will utilize a balance of all your CPU cores and everything your GPU can handle (as opposed to FSX which uses some of the CPU's multi threading capabilities and a small fraction of what a high end video card can do). LM has already said that P3D 2.0 will be DX11 compliant.

 

The two areas that could happen (but I think won't happen) are P3D offering a 64 bit version at the 2.0 offering and a EULA with less restrictions on "entertainment" use. I do see LM gradually moving P3D from solely 32 bit to a 32 bit/64 bit hybrid and then finally to 64 bit (ala what Adobe did with it's CS Creative Suite software). Whether the EULA changes in the future is more up to Microsoft, which I saw today was completely reorganized. If Microsoft decides to get back into flight simming, either with Flight or on the new XBox, then P3D will remain in its present niche.

[Guest]

Well, P3D is obviously going to be FS11. I would gladly swap all of the preceding HS for a real release date fact.

[HighTowers 1,434]

So this is a good thing for us. If LM pushes out great improvements for P3D and there is significant intrest from the simulator community, especially us hardcore hobbyists, and the grey area of EULA, I would bet that MS will want to jump right back in with two feet eagerly to get a piece of this pie. Money talks. 

 

I still think that somehow, if LM makes the V2 more restricitve in use, MS will buy back or lease whatever it may be the right to distribute the same product as an entertainment product. They may even call it FS11. Or Prepar3D sold and supported by Microsoft. Like Aerosoft does as a distributor with others as the actual developers. 

 

Well thats the high hopes anyhow. 

[TheGrunt 44]

I would bet that MS will want to jump right back in with two feet eagerly to get a piece of this pie. Money talks.

That is why MS won't jump back, because money talks. This sort of simulator market is so small and insignificant compared to sales the top AAA game titles are pulling in rather short time versus several years of sales for FSX-like simulator. No matter how enthusiastic you are, these sims are too peanuts for a big corporation. For smaller companies, like Eagle Dynamics, Laminar Research or 777 Studios they may offer nice enough income especially if they have have some business for professional users too. Because flight enthusiasts on the helm of the Microsoft are pretty much gone there is no interest anymore to continue simulator developement and the reason is just because there is no money in it. If you have read anything about MS strategy plans, you can see at the first glance, that some FS developement doesn't fit anywhere in those plans. And just look at the MS Flight. MS watched few months if it will bring some money in the house and then abruptly just shut it down. How on earth they would return to sim market after that experience?

 

I still think that somehow, if LM makes the V2 more restricitve in use, MS will buy back or lease whatever it may be the right to distribute the same product as an entertainment product. They may even call it FS11. Or Prepar3D sold and supported by Microsoft. Like Aerosoft does as a distributor with others as the actual developers. 

 

Well thats the high hopes anyhow.

Not going to happen. Besides, MS hasn't sold away rights to FSX. They just licensed ESP code to LM probably on the condition, that LM product too is aimed to professional and educational markets. If MS wants to develop entertainment sim on the basis of FSX they may do it. I also don't see any reason why MS would just be some entertainment distributor for "Prepar3D Home Edition". There is no significant money in there as said and they would have to create support for the product. And I don't see a reason why LM would even want that, because there are practically no consumer business for the whole LM. Even more unlikely is the option that MS would license back the code from LM, as that would mean even bigger investment from their part.

 

There is no harm in some speculation and hopes, but I am pretty much 110% confident, that MS is out of simulator software business if not for good, then at least for the foreseeable future.