Gotta love that they feature Dino's F-35, and a few more high quality aircraft. Probably the best default aircraft ever to be features in a sim as far as I'm concerned.

 

Pricing is still a bit expensive, but the dollar is weak, so us foreigners are at least getting a rebate - kind of ironic considering the US tax money being spent over at LM.

 

Promotion from beta testers have been really abysmal, and LM has linked to the few screenshots out there - and most of them aren't very good. Few beta testers, or is interest among simmers really that low?

 

I am looking forward to monday. Let's hope their servers don't break down!

 

 

I agree that the amount of quality screen shots and videos has not been of a particularly high standard, but I think it speaks volumes that they have involved their testers in this way.

 

We are so used to the glitter type marketing that having something that is a bit more down to earth (so to speak) is sheer genius.

ive been trying to find youtube 1st impressions vids but cannot.

Now that there is an official announcement, I would think that the NDA would be lifted and discussion by the beta testers will provide additional information.

 

Vic

It's not spectacular but it's what the community needs. A platform that isn't dead.

They upgraded the core engine, put in modern features (lighting, shadows, HRD, bloom, etc.), fixed some annoying issues (autogen popup, volumetric fog, etc.) and added some really good addon planes to the base product to sweeten the deal.

 
It's important that people remember that this is now a platform being actively developed. It doesn't stop with this release. There's already a laundry list of things they've said will be worked on for v2.1 per their forums.

 

I fully expect some to latch onto every little flaw (ignoring that fact that any flaw found also exists in FSX but you get none of the new P3Dv2 stuff) but those that keep a level head and are willing to grow with the platform just like we did with FSX will be rewarded.

A lot of the BETA folks are FSX developers, with little time to spare. This explains the lack of many videos and screenshots... and definitely doesn't reflect the quality of the product. It's fantastic.

 

We've released several screens and one demo video, check them out on our facebook page if you haven't already done so: http://www.facebook.com/FlightbeamStudios

Ill be waiting with anticipation for Froogle to make a vid or stream.

I am impressed with how LM has reached out to developers, not only including them in the beta, but also including addons under the devs brand in the sim, even a freeware dev!

Great aircrafts included. But the scenery still looks ugly unless you pay hundreds of $ for ORBX scenery...

I think it would have been better if they did it the other way round. Better scenery and graphics and the aircrafts as add-on payware...

I think it was very smart of them to have, from what it seems, mostly professional development houses as beta testers.  They can be very reliable to stick to provide deeper feedback to the beta process that your average sim enthusiast or even just a random selection of people, which has been done in the past by some companies. 

I am impressed with how LM has reached out to developers, not only including them in the beta, but also including addons under the devs brand in the sim, even a freeware dev!

+1

If I may add. To me it shows the level of commitment LM has towards the Flight Simulator community.

IMHO this new simulator is here to stay!

 

On the freeware dev side, Dino's development is on par with most payware add-ons. His Tomcat is just magnificent.

I'm eager to try out his new F-35A.

 

Cheers.

I am loving the fact that I will now get 3 new payware quality aircrafts (that I don't have)...but will come with Prepar3d V2

 

I was sold the minute they said that they were working on V2.

 

Release date is awesome.  Close to thanksgiving, and I am thankful that I will finally be able to utilize my DX11 6970 to its potential on 3 screens.

 

Did anyone see the Flightbeam's Shadow video - super sweet

+1

If I may add. To me it shows the level of commitment LM has towards the Flight Simulator community.

IMHO this new simulator is here to stay!

 

On the freeware dev side, Dino's development is on par with most payware add-ons. His Tomcat is just magnificent.

I'm eager to try out his new F-35A.

 

Cheers.

You can try the F35 in fsx now. He released it as freeware.

I'm fairly impressed thus far - but it'll likely be a few weeks before I hop in; I'd like to see what the community impressions are first.  If I can run at my current level of visuals in FSX and get better performance, I'll likely be all in, and keeping my eye on video card prices.

 

The only mild disappointment I have is them creating a native weapons interface, then tying it all up in that $2300 Professional Plus license. Now that multiple devs are releasing planes compatible with VRS's TacPack which isn't useable in P3D (nor is the Superbug), it'll be interesting to see what happens.

You can try the F35 in fsx now. He released it as freeware.

Thanks Glenn. I haven't tried version 2.30.