I am writing this to say, which developers will go the Netflix route with P3D and which will go the Blockbuster route? I remember when Netflix first started and everyone thought it was a terrible idea. I mean, who is actually going to wait for movies to come in the mail? Are you kidding? Blockbuster swore that it would not work. People would rather come into our stores and pay high prices for a video/dvd and return it the next day or pay a high late fee. And to top it off, when a really good movie comes out, we'll get 3 copies!

 

Along comes Netflix offers the same thing essentially, but with a little upgrade. Lo and behold, the idea starts to take form and now we can't find a Blockbuster anywhere.

 

So which developer is going to be the first to really embrace P3D, so that we may finally move on? I mean some developers get downright angry when you ask for a P3D installer. I know change is slow, but progress is inevitable. If it wasn't, we would still be listening to 8 track tapes.

 

Thanks

 

 

Not even close to being a fair comparison.  There's very few developers that are doing this for anything other than a love of the hobby.  It's not a matter of 'if you build it they will come', it's a matter of being as careful as possible with limited resources. 

 

As it is, I would imagine that the fact that P3Dv2 has split an already small user base (and potential market) into separate groups is likely causing developers enough stress.  Much as it would of back with FS9 / FSX, except now users expectations are far higher and the amount of work that goes into the majority of addons is far greater.

 

Also, there are indeed developers who are actively working on and releasing native addons for P3Dv2.  It's not like a simple matter of a installer is the only thing they need to do, and if you've detected any hostility when such things are asked for, it's likely from developers who fully realize that fact and are getting frustrated by users who don't.

To be honest - and don't hate me for saying this - I think X-Plane is on the verge of really taking off soon (no pun intended!). I don't know if P3dDv2 will really be the way to go in the next year or so, but I may be totally incorrect. XP10 is new and young, and looks much better than FSX did when it was this new. P3D looks very nice and is apparently more fluid, but it's really got an old core and I don't think optimizing code from 2005/2006 is the way to go, especially considering how far computers  and technology have advanced in the past 8/9 years. 

 

I think the accurate comparison (Blockbuster vs. Netflix) would be X-plane vs. P3Dv2, not which devs will come to P3d first (to stay on topic). Now even though I said XP will do well, I don't see P3D going down the drain in the near future either. I could possibly see both sims becoming the Netflixes of the FS world. 

 

Now let's see what controversy I've sparked....I rarely post on AVSIM (I just usually read) but here's to hoping the following arguments don't get too intense!

:blink: :blink: :blink:

Spirit

I don't think you will see any developer fully move to P3D (Not for entertainment).  The user base is too small and FSX still has quite a few years life in it if not more.

People still use FS9 even now which shows that platform is not dead.

 

I fly both FSX and P3D each with their own strengths and weaknesses. 

 

P3d is not for entertainment so there will never be a full fledged move to that platform.  Licensing costs will cause developers to give up on it.  Just read what RSR wrote in his latest post about having to eventually write a large check for P3d usage.

 

FSX will remain for quite awhile but developers will continue to develop for P3d alongside if your willing to pay the price; which most people will not.

The P3D user base is not as small as you think. Orbx just ran a poll and, while not scientific, P3D users make up about 40% of simmers on their forums. To me, that's pretty significant given P3D2 was released less than a year ago.

The P3D user base is not as small as you think. Orbx just ran a poll and, while not scientific, P3D users make up about 40% of simmers on their forums. To me, that's pretty significant given P3D2 was released less than a year ago.

The founder of Orbx is really hoping P3D will take off. He really believes it will allow him to do many new things. This was mentioned in his interview on "AviatorCast" podcast.

Blockbuster and Netflix, you gotta be kidding me.  Remember that Lockheed Martin is selling a simulator not a GAME and they will never let grubby movie sellers get their hands on it.  Blockbuster in our city and maybe the whole country has gone under and won't be selling beans to anyone.

The P3D user base is not as small as you think. Orbx just ran a poll and, while not scientific, P3D users make up about 40% of simmers on their forums. To me, that's pretty significant given P3D2 was released less than a year ago.

 

While a 40% statistic is great, there are several aspects that skew the polled demographic a bit.

 

• First of all, the poll was on their forums, which is mainly comprised of their customers.  Since Orbx is one of the developers who is actively investing resources in converting / porting their current library of addon's to P3Dv2, they have a reason to promote P3Dv2 to their customers, so it's not surprising that a decent percentage of their customers have shifted platforms, or are starting to shift.
• Orbx scenery (at least in terms of addon airports) tend to be very performance hungry.  Any potential benefit in performance offered by P3Dv2 is likely to be eagerly anticipated by Orbx customers, thus helping to encourage a transition.
• Orbx scenery caters primarily to GA aircraft, which has had quite a few options available for porting straight from FSX to P3Dv2 with minimal issues, and quite a few natively compiled options either available or in the works.  If you're primarily a GA flier, P3Dv2 is very attractive, unlike if your thing is airliners or, ironically enough, military.

Just a hunch, but I would suspect that 40% of PMDG users haven't transitioned, nor 40% of VRS / Tacpack users.

 

Also worth noting is that it's 40% of a fixed number.  100% of that number used to be FSX, now 60% are FSX and 40% are P3Dv2.  That still equates to only the same number of overall customers, it just now costs that developer more money since they have to support both.

 

Edit:  I don't want to come across as combative and non-supportive of the potential changes coming about due to P3Dv2.  I'd be happy enough if we could completely replace one platform with the other (sadly, not yet for me).  It's just since this thread is about developers needing to embrace P3Dv2, it's important to highlight the fact that many developers have reason to be very cautious.

The founder of Orbx is really hoping P3D will take off. He really believes it will allow him to do many new things. This was mentioned in his interview on "AviatorCast" podcast.

If it's anything like their CYSE Squamish scenery for P3D2 and all the new stuff thats been added creating a living world, this cool for the GA guys like me.  

 

 

 

To be honest - and don't hate me for saying this - I think X-Plane is on the verge of really taking off soon (no pun intended!)

 

Except they keep shooting themselves in the foot! The high altitude visibility fix that is so important to Heavy Metal flyers (which according to the AVSIM Demographic survey makes up the largest sim group), and was promised for the 10.30 release currently in Beta, has now been postponed until 10.35! More reason for simmers to choose to go with P3D instead of X-Plane!

 

 

I think X-Plane is on the verge of really taking off soon (no pun intended!).

 

Oh I think you intended to make that pun :) I agree, I think xplane is my future anyways.

Except they keep shooting themselves in the foot! The high altitude visibility fix that is so important to Heavy Metal flyers (which according to the AVSIM Demographic survey makes up the largest sim group), and was promised for the 10.30 release currently in Beta, has now been postponed until 10.35! More reason for simmers to choose to go with P3D instead of X-Plane!

 

Yeah, I didn't really think of that too much, but I still think that once those major fixes are complete (I don't think it'll take more than a year) X-Plane will become ever more popular. Still, I think there will be a large user-base for P3Dv2 no matter what happens to XP10, but that number may decrease once (if) XP is fixed. 

 

 

Oh I think you intended to make that pun :) I agree, I think xplane is my future anyways.

 

Agree (Note how we're slowly bringing the rating system back here!!) 

Well.. If there is a way to deduct from the fsx count, then count me in! P3D 100%! FSX 0.

Blockbuster and Netflix, you gotta be kidding me.  Remember that Lockheed Martin is selling a simulator not a GAME and they will never let grubby movie sellers get their hands on it.  Blockbuster in our city and maybe the whole country has gone under and won't be selling beans to anyone.

That was my point. :rolleyes: