FSX/P3D just have that many more professional developers making high quality add ons

 

They also can use more professional and better tools and can be much more creative easily (They can model the entire airport as a single model including the mesh), so it certainly does require much more effort. Anyone who has tried to create large terminals as a single model can tell you how much of a pain it is to get around floating buildings when the mesh is bumpy and it becomes a nightmare when you want to bake in AO to your textures and have everything line up in the sim. Professionalism in any sim comes from experience, and it's also taken FSX a very long time to get to the quality of addons we see today. It is happening in XP also, and we will eventually get better tools.

 

I just hope XP doesn't lose its freeware spirit like FSX has.

I can't reply to each separate post, but thanks everyone for all the information and advice, it's very much appreciated. 

Let's also see what Laminar Research will announce at the Meeting ... It should be xp11, and I am really looking forward for any news regarding that upcoming platform.

 

Presently and for me, apart from a couple of sims I am using for very specific flight simulation stuff, the future is between xp11, p3d and AEFS2. Of the 3 I am really much more interested in xp11 and AEFS2 than in any other platform.

 

With time more developers will start comming to XP's World and bringing their creativity in. Just now we had access to a very good "weather and overall landscape and atmosphere visuals enhancer", still in beta, requiring a couple of payware products to work properly and another GREAT freeware addon ( NOAA plugin ) but giving it's users very promissing results.

 

IMO only chance for P3D to compete will be to get 64 bit, and updated World database of airports and navaids. DTG Flightschool just did that a few months ago, and I was surprised to find out that even the agricultural airfield I use for soaring is there!!!  In XP10 we have a very good coverage by default and a very innexpensive way of getting good airfields all around the World, and we have more or less up2date navaids too!

 

I think xp11 will show xp10 users good reasons to keep supporting this sim and even transitioning to it, slowly but positively, as new good add-ons keep being made available almost every week, being it scenery, weather, generic plugins, aircraft...

They also can use more professional and better tools and can be much more creative easily (They can model the entire airport as a single model including the mesh), so it certainly does require much more effort. Anyone who has tried to create large terminals as a single model can tell you how much of a pain it is to get around floating buildings when the mesh is bumpy and it becomes a nightmare when you want to bake in AO to your textures and have everything line up in the sim. Professionalism in any sim comes from experience, and it's also taken FSX a very long time to get to the quality of addons we see today. It is happening in XP also, and we will eventually get better tools.

 

I just hope XP doesn't lose its freeware spirit like FSX has.

 

Yeah I've only realized recently the challenges facing scenery developers for XP, For e.g I've followed your thread on the XP Org forums regarding improving Norway scenery where you started studying the FSX scenery system and trying to implement it in XP, which comes to my next point

 

I also sincerely hope XP doesn't loose its freeware spirit, I feel that's a very strong aspect of XP, is it's community and the contributions made by it, from folks such as yourself (love the w2xp tool and the pro series add ons), MisterX6 and his amazing freeware airports, MaxWaldorf and XFMC, etc, just to name some high quality freeware

This 'freeware spirit' is, to some extent, supported by how X-Plane handles its add-ons (plugins, aircraft, scenery). It'll be very hard to maintain if we go the 'hold-your-hand' installer route (hello, PMDG and X-Aviation...).

 

I hope XP11 brings some advanced graphical rendering technology, and a better AA solution like SMAA. The current AA options are waaay too hard on some PCs.

 

Not to mention better weather...

This 'freeware spirit' is, to some extent, supported by how X-Plane handles its add-ons (plugins, aircraft, scenery). It'll be very hard to maintain if we go the 'hold-your-hand' installer route (hello, PMDG and X-Aviation...).

 

I hope XP11 brings some advanced graphical rendering technology, and a better AA solution like SMAA. The current AA options are waaay too hard on some PCs.

 

Not to mention better weather...

 

I think that t the "hold your hand" installer route will continue to be more common. The simple reason is that X-Plane as a victim of it's own success will attract more and more pirating. The major devs have right to protect their work and their livelihoods. That said, though the beauty of the plugin system is that it is open for both freeware devs to add non DRM plugins and payware devs to add DRM plugins. The biggest issue I see is as more and more of these plugins get more complex, there will be a problem of one plugin causing crashes for another

I think that t the "hold your hand" installer route will continue to be more common. The simple reason is that X-Plane as a victim of it's own success will attract more and more pirating. The major devs have right to protect their work and their livelihoods. That said, though the beauty of the plugin system is that it is open for both freeware devs to add non DRM plugins and payware devs to add DRM plugins. The biggest issue I see is as more and more of these plugins get more complex, there will be a problem of one plugin causing crashes for another

I think FlightFactor uses .zip files, but the DRM plugin (SASL, instead of Gizmo64) is bundled with the plane, and works quite well.

 

Even then, I think X-Plane can be a little smarter in managing its plugins. Making every add-on rely on one version of a plugin located at /X-Plane/plugins is a little too idealistic, given that newer versions may not have backward-compatibility with older plugins.

 

Right now, X-Plane scans for plugins in every folder, and loads all of them. For example, I'm not at KLAX, or anywhere even remotely near America, but I have Ground Traffic from MisterX6's airport add-on loaded. In fact, I have several instances of that loaded. Each from a different airport, each serving the same purpose. I'm flying the IXEG, but SASL loads.

 

X-Plane has to have a system where it can detect which plugins are actively working, instead of just which are enabled and disabled. For example, the plugin can be linked to the scenery or airport. If the latter two aren't loaded into memory, the plugin is completely removed from the list. Makes things much easier. If an aircraft .acf file isn't being flown by the player, the relevant plugins also ought not to load.

 

 

Each from a different airport, each serving the same purpose. I'm flying the IXEG, but SASL loads.

 

While you're correct with GroundTraffic, SASL does not load when you don't use a SASL-equipped aircraft (except you have installed SASL globally, which you should never do).

I've tried X-Plane and I keep trying. Always, though, I go back to FSX. It has a better AI engine than XP, and I find it much easier to set up and use. I've a lot of very good FSX sceneries and aircraft too.

 

Running a triple monitor set up, when using XP I miss being able to undock 2D panels and drag these to a separate monitor. This is always what swings it for me. I hate when the XP FMC blocks off a third of my view out the front! 

 

John

Who is attending the XP seminar at Cosford?

I plan to be there and I'm dragging my poor girlfriend along with me :-)

I'll be there too.  Looking forward to it.

 I miss being able to undock 2D panels and drag these to a separate monitor. T

 

John

Ah, another thing I will miss if I left FSX!

Who is attending the XP seminar at Cosford?

 

I was thinking of going here this year. Is it really worth the trip?

 

 

I was thinking of going here this year. Is it really worth the trip?

 

I'd say it is (It's cost me a fair bit to fly over and get accommodation etc). As well as the XP11 announcement and a Q/A session, DTG will also be there, so I'm going out of pure interest to the future of flight-simulation. Also, there will of course be a chance to meet many simmers in the flesh :-)

 

 

I was thinking of going here this year. Is it really worth the trip?

 

I drive up from London and return the same day.  It is interesting, but better to get there earlier than later as the hangar can get quite full and stuffy later in the day.  

 

It's also much better if you are able to meet up with some people.