The question has to be what features does it take to sufficiently distinguish xplane 11 from xplane 10?

 

The difference between versions 9 and 10 was rather large.  Not least the adoption of open streetmap data, HDR and a lot of underlying code that re-wrote the way scenery objects were rendered (particularly roads and polygons).

 

The difference between 10 and 11 has to also be sufficiently large, both in terms of underlying code and visual features. 

 

Here's my list of what would be an improvement in V10, vs a new feature in V11.

v10 Improvement:  More scenery tiles loaded, visibility increased.  It's essentially the same engine - everything exists on a 2 dimensional plane (I think) that is 6degrees x 6 degrees (up from 3x3 degrees, which explains why there's no scenery at extreme latittudes.  And it explains those sudden VOR course corrections that happen when I cross a tile boundary.

 

v11 brand new feature:  Scenery engine completely re-written where the entire world is rendered in 3 dimensional space.  Some sort of fractal algorithm ensures that distant objects are loaded and visible, becoming progressively detailed as you move nearer.  Think of the Outerra scenery engine for an example.

 

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v10 Improvement:  More Artwork to give a bigger variety of scenery objects.

 

v11 brand new feature:  Code completely re-written for how that arkwork is rendered - making rendering more efficient, somewhat similar to the feature mentioned above.

 

Generally speaking, I would be disappointed if version 11 was just an expanded version 10 with a few improvements.

 

So we have another 2 years with xp10.

 

If the past is any indication, then I would say we are probably nearing the middle of XP10's release cycle (XP9 had a 5 year run).

 

Maybe this year the Autogen might finally get some generic skyscrapers? ... They have had 2 years to work on it.

 

Generally speaking, I would be disappointed if version 11 was just an expanded version 10 with a few improvements.

I would say: lower your expectations a little. I expect that parts of the rendering engine will be rewritten but I don't think that will really drop the dsf files as you expect., I wouldn't bet that you see it at once you might see the real differences between XP 10 and XP 11 only at the end of its lifetime.

I think the real differences might be more and better functioning standard instruments, more and more efficient graphical effects due to use of higher OpenGL functions. Better preload of more dsf files that allow priority access (bigger objcts will be seen first and so on).

The big reason for this approach: Maintain full compatibility to X-Plane 10. You don't want to reinvent the whole concept (this was more or less done for X-Plane 10 but continue and improve your features.

If the past is any indication, then I would say we are probably nearing the middle of XP10's release cycle (XP9 had a 5 year run).

 

Maybe this year the Autogen might finally get some generic skyscrapers? ... They have had 2 years to work on it.

 

Uh? First X-Plane 9 beta were out end November 2007, first X-P 10 betas were out end November 2011, so that is actually 4 years.

Already 2011...I thought fall 2012...how time goes by. Apart the 64bit build I only remember that I needed a new multicore pc. Going from xp9 - 10 was only marginal...except for my hardware. No, I won't update again, not before another 5 years.

Already 2011...I thought fall 2012...how time goes by. Apart the 64bit build I only remember that I needed a new multicore pc. Going from xp9 - 10 was only marginal...except for my hardware. No, I won't update again, not before another 5 years.

I don't think that this is the big problem. X-Plane 10 was a rather radical step from X-Plane 9 and they underestimated the needed power dramatically. Nothing uncommon. This always happens if you want to do something dramatically different.

That is one of the reasons why I don't expect that X-Plane 11 will be so dramatically different. If I understand it correctly there are still a lot of compromises and functions from X-Plane 9 or earlier inside and they have to be replaced. So I think that X-Plane 11 will be more focussed on the inside, than on the outside. Things have to work more efficiently , not necessarily better.

I think X-Plane 10 is gonna have a 5 years run:

 

X-Plane 9.22-RC: released after 12 months;

X-Plane 9.30 Beta1: released after 14 months;

 

X-Plane 10.22-RC: released after 19 months (+7 months);

X-Plane 10.30: to be released after more than 22 months (+8 months and still not released).

 

So, given the schedule of current releases compared to previous ones (X-Plane usually ends around the x.70 release), I'd say a 5 year run is probable.