Hey All,

A while ago I posted my optimism for the X-Plane community with the amazing advancements you have seen in recent years with addon's and 3pd's supporting the platform. I have been contemplating giving it a go over the last few months, but after seeing the new developments at FSCon '16, I saw a bunch of improvements (namely the GUI and control menu) that gave me a moment of pause. I dont know if you all know of when it will be coming, but from the looks of it and the speed at which LR works, I would expect the new sim to come in months, not years.

 

So on to my question, Do you all think it would be worth it just to wait it out? Does LR usually offer an upgrade discount/path? From XP9 to 10, was addon functionality broken? Just wondering what the ramifications could be by jumping in too early.

 

Thanks and look forward to seeing your community grow! 

Just a couple thoughts...

 

First, we don't know what X-Plane 11's timeline is. If X-Plane 10 is our guide, there will probably be a protracted period of time between when Laminar Research starts making blog postings about XP11 and its eventual release - and they haven't even started the blogging about it yet.

 

Second, the first 6-18+ months of a major X-Plane version's life is usually a little shaky. Drawing again on my experience with X-Plane 10, there is a substantial teething period for X-Plane after a major version is first released... not only ironing out some unavoidable bugs, but continuing to build in features which were planned or expected for the version but hadn't yet been finished. With history as our guide, I would expect XP11 to also undergo a longer-than-you'd-expect maturing process. Along the same lines, over the past several years X-Plane 10 has had a chance to mature - it's still being built out with improvements and fixes, but it's far better than it was during its younger years.

 

If you're interested in X-Plane, I'd recommend downloading the free XP10 demo today. If you like what you see and experience, jump in and make the purchase! If you don't, then you have a more concrete reason for sticking it out until XP11 rolls around and matures a bit.

 

Good luck!

-Greg

Greg, from your experience, would you expect some open beta for XP11 (say, for XP10 users), like it's done with dot releases? 

 

Thanks and kind regards, Michael

there is no timeline for xp 11 and as per developers comments here and there we are at least 2 year away.

 

no, there would not be public beta for a major release. competitors, bad intentioned people could use it to harm a new launch, miss using it, miss advertising it, miss publishing it, etc. etc. etc. etc.

 

if you are interested in xp just jump in.

Thanks for the reply, Manuel, I just didn't know.

 

BTW, I jumped in. Not as my main simulator which still is Prepar3d, but with some addons and learning about settings, X-Plane 10 runs pretty well, at least what I would expect w.r.t. my system.

 

Kind regards, Michael

It will be your main sim! I've been on MSFS since 98 and though it took some time to get used to, it definitely beats FSX by a mile. The milestone for me was 10.50. The visuals, especially at night are amazing!

 

 

Second, the first 6-18+ months of a major X-Plane version's life is usually a little shaky.

 

In the case of XPX, the teething problems you mention were more related to the fact we moved from a 32 bit sim to 64 bits after launch. As for X-Plane 11, I believe we are much closer than some think. Last time they showed progress of an X-Plane version at flightsimcon, they released it in the fall. That was X-Plane 10.

Night lighting is amazing in X-Plane 10, but I hope they fix the LOD with it. It's an eyesore seeing where it abruptly ends looks very bad. I hope they can extend it further out into the horizon or somehow fade it to make it a bit more subtle looking.

I will stay with XP 10 until 11 is out for a while and patched up to, let's say 11.4. I left XP 9 to early for a buggy 10. No more payed beta versions for me. XP at 10.5 RC is a good sim and fun and I want to keep the fun with all the great add ons working.

Night lighting is amazing in X-Plane 10, but I hope they fix the LOD with it. It's an eyesore seeing where it abruptly ends looks very bad. I hope they can extend it further out into the horizon or somehow fade it to make it a bit more subtle looking.

Ironically, I find P3D to be 10x worse in this department. So much so I can't bother to fly at night in it.

The initial release of XP10 was very shaky, in fact I remember I removed it after a few days and went back to FSX. It was only until around 10.20 that it started to become a contender and I eventually removed XP9 and stopped using FSX completely. I can imagine XP11 will be similar, and initial versions will be buggy and laggy. One saving grace I found was that all my scenery and planes I bought for XP9 continued to work in XP10

 

I wouldn't wait, you'll be waiting a while and you'll be missing out on the solid release that is XP10

Hmmm, leaving FSX right now that we're two days from the release of that FSLabs A320 ???? Really ?

 

Even worst... waiting for XP11 when you can profit from what XP10 already offers ?  And, usually XP deals acceptably with porting aircraft from version to version, with minor adjustments required - sometimes only oppening them in Plane-Maker to save in a new format...

 

I don't think either FSX, P3D or XP offer each one a full coverage of the civil sim spectrum... There's no weather in XP like there is weather in FSX and P3D, no ATC, no good airliners other than the iXEG 737, and even this one can't compare in terms of systems modeling with PMDG stuff, and certainly no Airbus either...

 

And in FSX / P3D no 3d scenery, night lighting, gauge fluidity, rotary like in XP....

 

Keep them all, enjoy them all ( or, just like me - UNINSTALL them all... hihihihi... )

I have been an early bird ever. Bugs wan't kill me, thus I certainly will get XP11 (as well as P3D4) pretty soon after release just to judge them, keeping my stable versions for fun flying. I do very well with AeroflyFS2 even though it's Early Access.

 

Kind regards, Michael

NO :smile: 

 

 

I wouldn't wait, you'll be waiting a while and you'll be missing out on the solid release that is XP10

I agree with Tony.  Why deprive yourself of what has evolved to be (in my mind) the best simulator currently available?

 

 

or, just like me - UNINSTALL them all...

I never understood that Jose, but at least you are consistent!

 

 

I have been an early bird ever.

I suffer from this malady as well!

 

John