Orbx recruiting......Xplane developers

[HiFlyer 9,358]

Before things get too far ahead though, people should take onboard JV's clarification that there are no ongoing region projects from orbx. this is apparently all about Airports, so far, assuming I understand correctly.

Quote

 

There are NO active Orbx region projects in place for XP11.

There are some airports being ported (without PeopleFlow and Objectflow which do not work in XP11). That is the extent of our XP activities. 

We are reluctant to spend time and R&D on regions given the availability of freeware tools to create and annotate large areas using photoreal. There is also no native seasons support in XP which again takes away a lot of the attraction of regions. Finally, the landclass based scenery system used in FSX/P3D is very different to the terrain system used by XP. If we did anything at all it would be a photoreal based region with a control panel to allow seasonal switching or a version of ObjectFlow to automate that. This is why I'm asking the question to XP users to see if there is demand. The response thus far leans towards airports which is where we will focus our initial efforts.

Hope this clears up the confusion.

 

@Rob AinscoughAs for the well known personality clash between the companies, in an earlier interview, I remember JV putting that to rest as a corporate hinderance to working on X-plane. Relevant portion/interview starts at 29:05 in the following video.

 

[ziggy 47]

“If it don’t make dollars it don’t make sense” (or cents) 

 -quote from a Rapper I forgot the name of- 

ORBX working with X Plane makes both, Dollars and Sense, this is a good move by both companies. 

And really, who cares if they don’t like each other, I don’t like a lot of people I work with either but we all have a similar goal and make it happen regardless, sometimes it’s better when two sides don’t get along in business and sometimes it’s better if they do, I guess we’ll see.

[N1G 88]

We have so many talented scenery developers, I just hope they stay active and relevant. 

Bob

[jabloomf1230 2,445]

It's clear to me that JV initially embraced Aerofly FS2 and FSW as ORBX's favorite alternatives to P3d. But as time has gone on, the resistance to supporting XP11 has made less and less sense, especially since those two "favorite" alternatives have not had much impact on the overall market.

[ryanbatc 12,833]

More developers are good for X plane.  This is a good thing!  It also means that there is more of a market than big MSFS/ESP devs thought...

Its silly that some people are upset that another developer is coming onboard- no one is forcing you to purchase their upcoming products.

[Jimmy RFR 406]

Oh, how can I resist commenting on this thread...

I've made my dislike known previously regarding FTX regions, but after another year to think about it, my disdain was misplaced - I strongly dislike MSFS scenery in general, all OrbX has done is to put some polish on what was already there and make it look more palatable. That said, I wouldn't really be all that thrilled about FTX regions coming to X-Plane, if that was ever in the works.

But since it sounds like they are simply going to try and bring airports over, now that I can whole-heartedly endorse. I do most of my sim flying in western/northwestern Canada & US, and there are many of their small airports that are really, really nice, spread out for short hops or longer jaunts.

Regardless of the debate between payware/freeware/installers/no installers, however, what the entry of Orbx would bring is more users. It doesn't matter what TYPE of users those may be, more users means more money in the pockets of Laminar, which ultimately gives Laminar more freedom to pursue their vision of X-Plane.

And THAT I can get behind!

[saed45 38]

12 hours ago, Rob Ainscough said:

I'm interested in making XPlane11 better for a wider audience of end users and that can't be done alone with just the LR development team.

How about you go back to FSX P3Dv4"64bit" to make that faster. I heard plenty of your user base was disappointed with your recently updated P3dv4.0000001. 

Xplane has survived and thrived even when you and your co patriots have bashed it from the start. we certainly dont need any of your compassion or advice now. 

Thanks

[Susu986 76]

1 hour ago, Jimmy RFR said:

...It doesn't matter what TYPE of users those may be, more users means more money in the pockets of Laminar, which ultimately gives Laminar more freedom to pursue their vision of X-Plane.

And THAT I can get behind!

I agree, at least that is definetely a good thing. 😃 Austin is really dedicated when it comes to X-plane (wish we could see that more often). And he can probably use any extra dollar visely.

[sparkie66 81]

56 minutes ago, saed45 said:

How about you go back to FSX P3Dv4"64bit" to make that faster. I heard plenty of your user base was disappointed with your recently updated P3dv4.0000001. 

Xplane has survived and thrived even when you and your co patriots have bashed it from the start. we certainly dont need any of your compassion or advice now. 

Thanks

Dudes. Leave this sort of ad hominum stuff for face to face meetings, if at all.

The rob ainscoughs of this world are people, just like you. 

Breathe. 

 

[Desaix 235]

And to be honest Rob's words sounded wise and correct. I think that many believe flight sim have the same arena of WOW or Heartstone, well let me assure that numbers are not even 1% of that so we need new people everyday to make this niche "game" to prosper. Let's face that Xp until version 11 was not the best attractive sim out there, I would not start a crusade against those who still like other platforms.

[MarioDonick 752]

10 hours ago, Rob Ainscough said:

But if the objective is to NOT reach more users and be "exclusive"

The objective should be to have responsible computer users who understand what all the shiny colorful user interfaces they are touching all day are actually doing for them (and in a wider context, what algorithms are doing to their data), and that it is GOOD to have manual access and control over computers they are using.

I also prefer a simple GUI, but thankfully I also know how to get along without one, and I am also thankful that my PC still ALLOWS me to do so. I have already nightmares of a future where this access is not permitted anymore.

[tonywob 4,768]

It was ORBX that convinced me to switch from XP9 back to FSX a few years ago. I remember watching the AngleOfAttack videos and thinking "Man, my scenery in XP9 looks horrible compared to that". Used FSX for a while and wasn't even impressed by the early versions of XP10. It was only when I discovered how easy it was to make my own scenery that FSX was pushed to one side.

I honestly never thought I'd see the day that ORBX, PMDG and others would make products for X-Plane. Despite everything, X-Plane 11 still lacks features that other sims have had for years, but it also makes up for that in many other areas. People predict the FF A320 will change things again for X-Plane, but I don't believe it will.

ORBX, and the other big players will attract users, there is no doubt. They'll attract their existing very large FSX/P3D fanbase to give the sim a try, just as many are with AFS. However, I suspect that we all greatly overestimate just how big the FSX/P3D crowd really is (and that's easy to do when you read through posts an Avsim or the ORBX forum). I think the majority of the new users for X-Plane are appearing quietly, and the real numbers are probably much higher than it would seem. Either way, exciting times ahead for both X-Plane and AFS.

 

[Murmur 3,941]

Personally, I think the more people buy and use X-Plane, the better it is for everyone. IMO more casual users mean more realism, not less. First of all, more users mean more resources for LR to expand and improve features.

Secondly, to attract casual users you have to bring better visuals, better performance, better usability. And all of them will improve realism and benefit "serious" simmers as well.

Infact it's already been happening, most of the improvements in the last couple of major X-Plane versions would not have been possible if it wouldn't have expanded its user base (even thanks to the mobile version). Something similar is also true for example for Flight Sim World, where many of the new features that are of interest to the casual user (realistic clouds and rain, Accufeel aircrafts, interactive checklists) do benefit the more traditional simmer as well.

I think many of us know the people at Laminar good enough to know that they're not gonna compromise the traditional focus on realism of X-Plane, even should it expand to a more casual user base.

 

[fta2017 160]

Developing for Orbx is very lucrative actually. I listened to a podcast a few years ago where JV mentioned his top airport developers earning over $100k per year. He’s a savvy businessman who has built a product delivery system that other vendors are now rushing to copy, except he’s 2-3 years ahead of the curve with a massive customer base on OrbxDirect now. So even if you baulk at having to pay the Orbx “tax” of say 50%, the reality is you’d sell far more copies through OrbxDirect than almost any other sales channel, and earn a lot more in the end. Combine that with having multiple products on their store and it has a cumulative effect.

I use P3D and AeroflyFS2 but not XP11. However, if Orbx started selling their airports (and new airports) for XP I’d buy a copy of that sim in a heartbeat. That is the true influence of Orbx on the XP community, and Austin and Laminar know that.

[Ebs 114]

No doubt he's a savvy businessman, but as much as I love Orbx, let's not forget some of the absolute clangers JV has dropped in recent years. First we have 'X-Plane has no future', then 2 years ago he stated LM have "absolutely no plans to go to 64Bit" for P3D and referring to Avsim users as 'Keyboard Warriors" then recently posting X-Plane screenshots as P3D screenshots (I'm hoping that last one was a PR stunt though, I find it hard to believe JV cant tell the difference between the two sims) I always read what he says with a pinch of salt.

@HiFlyer thanks for the clarification. Really looking forward to Orbx Airports in X-Plane. I have a couple for P3D and LOWI is arguably one of the best payware airport/scenery addons available for the platform.