What's going on with P3D

[n4gix 4,947]

so if Laminar can come out with a 64 bit in not too long a time, why cannot LM ?

We have no way of knowing just how long it took Laminar to re-code XP to 64-bits. For all we know it might have been six years...

[louisdecoolste 12]

I think it's great we can have this conversation about P3D and L-M's future plans.  :rolleyes:

 

We certainly couldn't have the same conversation about FSX. Not any more. Steam isn't next-gen FSX and never will be. :(

 

V3 can be a paid upgrade and can invalidate all previous addons as far as I'm concerned. It's the price of progress.

Only a Luddite will resist, and it won't change anything so save your energy for something important. You WILL upgrade or you WILL get left behind.

 

Must go now, need to put the Model T back in the garage, light the gas lamps and wind the clocks.

[AlphaInfinity 13]

Most of us will keep paying LM for new versions as long as the application moves forward. I am more than willing to pay for a new Academic license every year or two especially if the development effort towards a 64bit version moves forward.  I am looking forward to the day when we have a 64bit version of P3d that uses DX12. 

[alulekk 3]

Agree with others. 

 

Keep the platform moving forward and charge me baby!

 

The old versions and old Add ons will keep working just fine for those who choose to stay put. 

[Guest]

Can't have progress without change.  P3D and FSX is going to continue to diverge (even more so with DX12 and 64bit).

 

I think 3rd party contention seems to be around having to produce two different file sets ... one for P3D and one for FSX.  It's not really double the work, but it does require effort to understand the differences and what to do in one product vs. another product.  The more 3rd party understand those difference early on, the faster/easier it will be to provide FSX and P3D support.

 

I doubt any existing P3D conversion work required a product "re-write" and/or product "re-design", it's just work 3rd party would rather NOT do because they feel that can't recover the costs of that work.

 

Are some 3rd party vendors cashing in, sure they are ... but not all .... for how long is entirely up to those producing the content and what they build into existing product costs for future commissioning of products/projects.  P3D V2.x wasn't or shouldn't have been a "big" surprise to 3rd party ... I think perhaps the surprise is from how quickly P3D V2.x user base grew.  For the most part I think many 3rd party developers are coming to grips with P3D and producing some great content for P3D ... just a natural learning curve of what adjustments to make and how to make them.

 

Cheers, Rob.

[AviatorMoser 353]

Hopefully, LM is busy making that technological leap from the FSX code of old. I'll be waiting here patiently until then.

[bonchie 2,305]

I hope V3 corrects some things we now have to use addons for. This could also make the break with backwards compatibilty much less painful. 

For example, simply updating texture sets (scenery tiles, runways, etc.) to something more modern and higher resolution, updated landclass, a new navaid database, and weather improvements would get rid of a lot of the addons we now rely on and streamline things.

 

It's almost 2016. Is it really too much to ask for a simluator that is as good out of the box as the combination of FSX/Opus/REX/FTXGlobal gives you now? Being able to do one, single unified install with that kind of quality would be so refreshing. 

 

I'd love to get to a place one day in simming where things are "good enough" to only have to add 3rd party airplanes, addon airprots, and Orbx region level detail if you feel like you need it. 

 

Instead, we now need an addon for freaking everything. Shaders, ground tiles, weather, clouds, runway textures, autogen trees, sky textures, night lighting, etc.

 

Our FSX/P3D installs are so bloated at this point, it's a wonder they even run.

[kevinfirth 1,392]

I hope LM continue with their strategy of updating the core sim, not stuff like navdata. What they could do though is organise it better to allow the community to mod it. Navdata now is an absolute minefield, esp airways info for example. Even if it was structured simply by country area it would be a whole lot easier to update in sections.

 

I love it when Rob talks about DX12 and 64bit, he's clearly in the know and I cant help feel that he wouldnt say that in the way he does unless it really is coming We prob shouldnt treat it like an unofficial LM leak though, but I do hope he's right and once win10 and DX12 ships RTM, that LM get on with a bit of compatibility testing then spring it on us...christmas would be a good time K

[Bobsk8 12,536]

I think folks that think there will be any compatibility between 32 bit and 64 bit content are going to be very disappointed. Programming for backward compatibility is putting hard constraints  on the programmers.  If it is going to be new, then forget the legacy content. You either move forward or get out of the way. And being LM is in the simulation game I wouldn't think the new version will be loaded with eye candy either. 

[pmb 5,137]

Now you make me think: Shouldn't I stop buying any new addons immediately...?

 

Kind regards, Michael

[MartinRex007 390]

Now you make me think: Shouldn't I stop buying any new addons immediately...?

 

Kind regards, Michael

No, the reason being if we stop buying news addons there be fewer developers to make new addons for a 64bit P3D because they might go out of business. Carry on as usual and give your old system to your grandson when you upgrade to 64bit, he'll love it :rolleyes:

[bonchie 2,305]

 And being LM is in the simulation game I wouldn't think the new version will be loaded with eye candy either. 

 

Considering V2 is pretty much all eye candy improvements, I'm not sure why you'd think that.

[pmb 5,137]

No, the reason being if we stop buying news addons there be fewer developers to make new addons for a 64bit P3D because they might go out of business.

Exactly. This was the very reason for my posting.

 

Kind regards,. Michael

[Jude Bradley 659]

Let's hope they can sort out the transparent ATC menu. 

[Bobsk8 12,536]

They are currently having  this same discussion in the Train Sim world with TS 2015. They are going to be launching a new engine UE4 which is probably equivalent to going from 32 bit to 64 bit in the P3D world. It is already accepted that the new version will be much much better than the current version, but it won't be backwards compatible at all. The company, Dovetail Games, says they will continue to support the current version even after the new versions is released. Some users of the  current version have thousands of dollars worth of DLC content that will only work with the current version. Some people will probably jump on the new version, and start buying suitable content for it, and some will hang onto the current version which works reasonably well and stick with it for a few more years, just like all the people that still run FS9. I personally feel that if P3D goes to 64 bit, and all the content that users have today will not work with the newer version, many people will just keep flying the current version.