Ideas for a great must have add-on for P3D v4

[captain420 3,099]

With all the great 3rd party apps and add-ons for P3D/FSX out there. Wouldn't it be great to see some of the very best ones come together and become 1 great add-on? Kind of like the iPhone when it 1st came out. It toook the best of the iPod, email, a web-browser and combined it into 1 amazing device that changed the world forever. What about taking that same concept to making 1 useful app or plugin for P3D that would make this a must have app for flying. I will demonstrate what I'm talking about. I have been an avid flight simmer for several years now, and during those times I have used and discovered some great add-ons that makes flying a joy. Some examples:

1. Professional Flight Planner X

2. Topcat

3. PDF Kneeboard

4. Navigraph Charts Beta 

5. Jeppview

I imagined that one day that somehow all these apps could come together and include the best features. I would love to have the powerful flight planner PFPX with a built in PDF reader to view charts, flightplans, while having jeppesen/lido charts that overlays your current planes position over a moving map. Instead of having to run and maintain several different apps. This would make things so much better and more intuitive. One app that communicates with P3D using simconnect or fsuipc tied with a gorgeous and modern, clean and simple interface like ChasePlane would definitely make the flight simming experience that much better.

When flying heavies, I find that I must load up PFPX to plan my flight and then export the PDF. Then using another utility to show a moving map of my plane, and then a PDF viewer to load up my flight plan, and charts... this gets cumbersome and I end up with multiple windows and just very sloppy. I really hope some talented developers can somehow combine all of this in 1 simple and easy to use interface.

I guess it would be an all in 1 flightplanner/efb with built in PDF reader, moving map, etc.

[nealmac 260]

The problem is, everyone's "must have" apps are all different, so the will never be the "perfect" app for everyone.

[zmak 331]

Those add ons are good ones however they are available for different platforms not just v4. 

[Drumcode 1,892]

dude, you're posting more than you're flying

[zmak 331]

2 minutes ago, Drumcode said:

dude, you're posting more than you're flying

Honestly dude , posting while flying is the lowest level of multitasking. 

Sorry your struggling 😁

[DaveCT2003 1,820]

The problem is, when one tries to be or make most anything (including software) that is all things, invariably none of individual items turn out to be as good as they might have been on their own. There are numerous reasons why this occurs.

In the case of software, you may no realize that what you're actually asking for is a menu from which you'd launch separate applications.  You can actually make this menu yourself if you're so inclined.

My very best wishes.

 

 

 

[mtrainer 136]

When I first made the jump from MS FS, I was also hoping to find that Lockheed Martin had re-developed and included some of the must have add-ons in their base product.  Having all the code under one roof should cut down on the number of 3rd party bugs seen every time the base simulation is updated.  The situation as it now stands isn't entirely bad though- the mainline vendors seem to do a pretty good job of changing what is needed to maintain compatibility with newer products.   It also allows folks to simply buy what they feel is needed, and nothing more.

Or, as I have done, slowly build up the add-on collection at a pace that is wallet-friendly.

Mark

 

 

 

[newtie 533]

3 hours ago, Drumcode said:

dude, you're posting more than you're flying

[gtrbarbarian 1]

In software development, it's all about core competencies. For instance, let's say you could build an in house sales and marketing system for your business. That would require subject matter experts in the sales and marketing cycle, they would need to understand the cycle and have a business process nailed down and repeatable. It would then require building that base knowledge in their  engineers. It's cheaper to pay a 3rd party company for their sales/marketing suite, since that it their core competency, and chances are they have more engineers and much much more core knowledge on that specific topic. LM is never going to do airplanes to PMDG quality, nor are they going to do scenery as good as ORBX. Nor do I beleive they would try. It's just not their main competency. If they did, where is the ROI? They would be in direct competition with 3rd parties that have been creating specific products and related code bases for -years-. LM could only win by closing the platform. That obviously would remove much of their user base, who would then move with 3rd part devs to an open platform.