Do we Love X-Plane? Don't we?

[greggerm 312]

Do we love X-Plane? Don't we?

 

If you have to ask a question like this, you usually already know the answer....

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

I haven't written off X-Plane 10 entirely, but it no longer occupies any storage on my computer and needs some significant and continued work before it will give me any sort of long-lasting enjoyment. I tried, but it's just not there.

 

I'll probably spin it up again when Andras' highdef mesh releases in a few months time considering the amount of OpenStreetMap improvements I made, but even then it'll be nothing more than a toy considering its shortcomings which affect me.

 

It's also quite disappointing to have spent a healthy amount of time improving and submitting  X-Plane airports per their not-so-new-anymore crowdsourcing initiative, only to have (none) of them actually get released in an update yet. I was gung-ho on getting people onboard with that program, but the fruits of our labor still sit somewhere out there waiting to see the light of day. Someday... someday.

 

I'm honestly starting to hope that a totally new player enters the frey - if ever there was a time for "Fly!3", it's now.

[jcomm 5,890]

 

 

I'm honestly starting to hope that a totally new player enters the frey - if ever there was a time for "Fly!3", it's now.

 

Id vote for some kind of PropilotFlyFLIGHT2014

[Alan_A 1,650]

I'll chime in here as someone who spent an extensive amount of time (and more than a few dollars) trying to work my way into XP10.  I'm now getting ready to copy my install over to a storage disk.  I may get back to it at some point, but right now, FSX, with all the recent payware arrivals and the DX10 fix (which I'm working my way through) is giving me a more complete experience.  Yes, there are things I liked better in XP10 - in particular the lighting system - but that's not enough by itself to compensate for the more polished overall feel of FSX in its current form.  And as for the things that are still missing in XP10, like seasonal textures and airport buildings - sorry, I was willing to go along with the whole "this is our way/crowdsourced/it's a beta/Grateful Dead" XP way of doing things.  But we're now nearly two years since the initial release, and to me at least, that's way past time for some of these basic features to get attention.  

 

I'm guardedly optimistic that P3D 2.0 will feature expanded licensing (a big consumer base would be good PR for a company that depends on taxpayer funds to purchase its big hardware), happy with what FSX is giving me, and doubtful that XP10, for all its virtues, is ever going to be anything more than a cottage-industry effort.  I'm sorry to reach that conclusion and I'd love to be persuaded otherwise, but until I am, I'm reluctant to commit more of my scarce resources (money and time) to X-Plane.

 

My $.02.

[uwespeed 497]

This is a kind of "strange" :lol:: no X-Plane update for around 3 months and people get nervous and/or anxious that development has slowed down/stopped/...

 

What did they do between the release of FS9 and FSX (3 years !!!)? Were they also this nervous? And as the PMDG 777 wasn't released within a few months, but also needed years to develop, were people nervous/anxious that development has slowed down/stopped/...?

 

As some people may have noticed :smile:, I like to do comparisons with other situations from real life: if e.g. Audi doesn't release some words/pictures/... about the development of their new A4 every few weeks or months, I don't care - I know they are working on it as ever before, I am absolutely sure about this.

 

But it seems to be a phenomenon these days - I need my news every day, every hour, every second. On the other hand, when getting news within a few days, hours, seconds and there isn't a huge step forward during this time, people are disappointed why development is this slow. Guys ... good work needs time - think about your own job.

 

EDIT: the longer you hear nothing, the bigger the step will be compared to the previous release, as LR is working at the same pace as always. It was this way ever since I'm using X-Plane (over 6 years).

Updates within a short time = smaller steps. Updates within a longer time = bigger steps. That's what common sense tells me, isn't it? So, calm down and FLY :p0504: .

[CarlosF 1,236]

geez Louise, I sense lots of frustration around here.

 

Whether is XPX or FSX or P3D or DCS or Elite or whatever else is out there, none will EVER satisfy our needs 100%, period! Its been 30+ years of flight simulation with today's 3+ fantastic simulators and we are still complaining. Does't that tell you something? 

This is a virtual simulation, developed by humans, mother nature nor perfection are involved in the design and/or development. So lets stop searching for perfection and instead just get on your preferred wings and fly virtual blue skies.

Have you ever sat down and realize how hard is to please thousands of people each one with their own needs? Geez!!! Give XPX (Ben, Austin, Chris, alpilotx and whoever else is working on it) a break. Lets encourage them instead.  Most of us knew what we were getting into when we bought XPX so stop complaining about the same things.

 

Beating on the dead horse over and over is a waste of time!!

 

And no, XPX is NOT stuck, LR & others are in fact working on improvements as we speak our minds.

 

just my two cents

 

Carlos

[horani 43]

geez Louise, I sense lots of frustration around here.

 

Whether is XPX or FSX or P3D or DCS or Elite or whatever else is out there, none will EVER satisfy our needs 100%, period! Its been 30+ years of flight simulation with today's 3+ fantastic simulators and we are still complaining. Does't that tell you something? 

This is a virtual simulation, developed by humans, mother nature nor perfection are involved in the design and/or development. So lets stop searching for perfection and instead just get on your preferred wings and fly virtual blue skies.

Have you ever sat down and realize how hard is to please thousands of people each one with their own needs? Geez!!! Give XPX (Ben, Austin, Chris, alpilotx and whoever else is working on it) a break. Lets encourage them instead.  Most of us knew what we were getting into when we bought XPX so stop complaining about the same things.

 

Beating on the dead horse over and over is a waste of time!!

 

just my two cents

 

Carlos

 

+1, well said Carlos.

[Alan_A 1,650]

Not searching for perfection - just satisfaction.

 

Right now, finding more of it with FSX.

 

If XP10 delivers more of it, I'll be back.

 

No agonies, just a statement of preference and mood.

 

As for the rest - it depends on what LR wants out of XP.  If the goal was to bring it along in its own time, they're doing fine.  If their goal was to grow fast and supplant the MSFS franchise as the prime  consumer flight simulator, then they're not quite there yet.  Might get there over time - but equally, if consumers who were interested and sympathetic are beginning to drift back toward FSX/P3D for lack of interest, engagement, a sense of momentum on basic features, then from a business standpoint, that might be cause for concern.

 

I can't speak for LR.  If they're happy with where they are and where they're going, and if users agree, then that's great.  We need (or at least, we'd really like) these platforms to do well.

[BrianKoehler99 13]

This is a kind of "strange" :lol:: no X-Plane update for around 3 months and people get nervous and/or anxious that development has slowed down/stopped/...

 

What did they do between the release of FS9 and FSX (3 years !!!)? Were they also this nervous? And as the PMDG 777 wasn't released within a few months, but also needed years to develop, were people nervous/anxious that development has slowed down/stopped/...?

 

As some people may have noticed :smile:, I like to do comparisons with other situations from real life: if e.g. Audi doesn't release some words/pictures/... about the development of their new A4 every few weeks or months, I don't care - I know they are working on it as ever before, I am absolutely sure about this.

 

But it seems to be a phenomenon these days - I need my news every day, every hour, every second. On the other hand, when getting news within a few days, hours, seconds and there isn't a huge step forward during this time, people are disappointed why development is this slow. Guys ... good work needs time - think about your own job.

 

EDIT: the longer you hear nothing, the bigger the step will be compared to the previous release, as LR is working at the same pace as always. It was this way ever since I'm using X-Plane (over 6 years).

Updates within a short time = smaller steps. Updates within a longer time = bigger steps. That's what common sense tells me, isn't it? So, calm down and FLY :p0504: .

I agree.......also your videos are awesome Mr. Piper :lol:  :drinks:

[jcomm 5,890]

Hmmm! So... uwespeed is Red Piper... ok, now it starts to make sense :-)

 

But, why haven't we seen a Red Piper video at Santorini :Thinking:

 

Right now I just would be happy if I could sort out what makes my LES dc3 and the X-Aviation MU2j incompatible :-( I can't fly both :-( (not at the same time, of course...)

[Jessica Bannister-Pearce 120]

When I say XPX is "stuck" I'm don't mean that LR is stuck. My main concern is that the promise of two years ago, a flood of developers all coming to XPX hasn't really happened. At its core XPX is ok, moving along at a pace that is expected. It's the lack of real 'must have' addons that demand to be bought. Scenery is certainly lacking. We have no orbx like regions, no UTX like products or no real choice of products to choose from. That's where the frustration comes from. Let's be honest, some of the best scenery we have is freeware. That's what needs to change.

[BrianKoehler99 13]

 

But, why haven't we seen a Red Piper video at Santorini :Thinking:

 

 

probably after release we'll see a video

my only issue with xp10 since I bought:

 

-we have snowfalls but no snow ground textures

 

-the visibility bug

 

both these issues are being worked on but LR should have included them :(

[uwespeed 497]

No, I'm not Mr. (Red) Piper :lol:.

[Jessica Bannister-Pearce 120]

No, I'm not Mr. (Red) Piper :lol:.

great. No 3pd and now this. Sigh.

[alpilotx 505]

That's where the frustration comes from. Let's be honest, some of the best scenery we have is freeware. That's what needs to change.

So you mean I should sell it??? (no, my "businessmodel" won't change B) ).

And hey! Don't be unfair to TruScenery and others!

 

But seriously .... so many are complaining, but so few dare to start doing "something" (as there is still a lot that can be achieved outside the platform itself - which of course only LR can improve ... mostly ...).

[Jessica Bannister-Pearce 120]

Andras, the last thing I want to be is unfair to you or the developers who are making products for XPX. But the fact is that the ecosystem that enables people to get the best add ons for XPX isn't really there. It's fragmented. If I want an addon for fsx for example, there are a plethora of shops that I can choose from. The same shops however may only cover a fraction of XPX add ons. The .org holds the monopoly for most add ons with a. Few scattered between the odd online shop. What we really need is coverage, so people can see what's on offer and then purchase. We just don't have that. That's what's missing. That's what's stalled.