http://store.steampowered.com/app/269950/

Neat. I have XP10 on Steam (although now I guess I have a second copy) and it's absolutely fine for all intents and purposes, other than never getting to test out beta releases.

 

I suspect that with their modern looking UI and lots of screens showing off shiny PBR effects, they'll pick up some more sales there. :smile:

You are a bit late

http://www.avsim.com/topic/500132-xp11-steam-release-in-february/

It says 15 Feb 2017. I hope they get at least better clouds and better performance at Steam launch.

It says 15 Feb 2017. I hope they get at least better clouds and better performance at Steam launch.

 

Better performance almost definitely, better clouds no way.

Better performance almost definitely, better clouds no way.

 

Don't rule it out. I already demonstrated that better (and more performing) clouds are possible, without significant side effects, just by modifying textures and art controls. If they have a good artist working on them, they can _definitely_ improve clouds in 4 weeks from now.

 

But I fear they will not...

Don't rule it out. I already demonstrated that better (and more performing) clouds are possible, without significant side effects, just by modifying textures and art controls. If they have a good artist working on them, they can _definitely_ improve clouds in 4 weeks from now.

 

But I fear they will not...

 

 

Thing is a simple art asset improvement is not the type of solution Austin (or Ben) seem to be after.

Why would anyone buy on steam?  You can't get the beta updates....  

 

Get it on LR's homepage.

Why would anyone buy on steam?  You can't get the beta updates....  

 

Get it on LR's homepage.

 

 

Regional currency seems to be the only advantage. Does adding a non-steam game still track hours played? Anyways most people don't care/ have time to be using beta updates.

Regional currency seems to be the only advantage. Does adding a non-steam game still track hours played? Anyways most people don't care/ have time to be using beta updates.

 

The reason to care about beta updates is that it's an opportunity to help debug new releases and find things Laminar might miss. It helps make X-Plane a better flight sim for everyone. And at the same time, you can add comments and suggestions that might (or might not) make it into the next patch. 

 

If you only use the official releases as they come out on Steam, or buy from Laminar direct and don't opt into the betas, you miss contributing to that process as an end-user. 

 

I understand that not everyone cares about that, and might want just the most stable current version. That's fine. But in my experience with XP9 and XP10, the betas within current product versions (not like this current XP11 pre-release beta) are fairly stable and seldom cause problems. It's a good way to get familiar with new features being introduced.

Remember not everybody is a dedicated flight sim enthusisiast. For a lot of people it is a game like others so Steam is their natural access point.

 

And many people don't understand what beta means.

As I mentioned, I was / am a Steam user for XP10.

 

The reason was simple - it was on a 50% off sale, and at the time although I'd poked around the X-Plane demo, I had never wanted to make the plunge. Plus, at the time, LR had not yet implemented their digital delivery system and activation method, and still required a dongle or a disc. I never really wanted to go that route.

 

It also helps that besides being a 'simmer', I'm a dedicated 'gamer' as well, with a rather extensive Steam library. So I had no qualms about using Steam for that purpose. It's precisely the same way that I own DCS, as well having added FSX Steam on one of those $5 sales (not currently installed).

 

The primary thing I *don't* like about having used Steam for XP10 is that it tracks time played... I'd prefer not to really know that... :smile:  Kind of like when I used to be big into MMO's, in particular World Of Warcraft. You could type in /played on a character and see your playtime. It was always sobering to see the number in the hundreds... of days...   

I learned not to care about the Steam timer for hours played, because with many games I alt-tab out for periods of time when checking hints online, or just doing things I "should" be doing instead of gaming. The timer doesn't stop for that, so it always shows more time than I've actually played. It's still a bit frightening to see the days played with a genuinely long game like Witcher 3, but it helps me ignore the implications.  :smile:

The reason to care about beta updates is that it's an opportunity to help debug new releases and find things Laminar might miss. It helps make X-Plane a better flight sim for everyone. And at the same time, you can add comments and suggestions that might (or might not) make it into the next patch. 

 

If you only use the official releases as they come out on Steam, or buy from Laminar direct and don't opt into the betas, you miss contributing to that process as an end-user. 

 

I understand that not everyone cares about that, and might want just the most stable current version. That's fine. But in my experience with XP9 and XP10, the betas within current product versions (not like this current XP11 pre-release beta) are fairly stable and seldom cause problems. It's a good way to get familiar with new features being introduced.

 

That's completely beside the point. Like I said some people just don't want to be part of the beta process at all and why should they if they don't want to? Still it's good to have multiple ways to buy a product.

Steam is a reliable game platform with a lot of content servers to download updates and games too at maximum speed, something that individual developers sometimes are not able to do. It also let you chat with your friends while being in game, or do other things like streaming and so on.

 

And it also offered in the past discounts on XP10, something i think never happened on the LR site i think?