I can't see how they can break backward compatibility because the sim is meant as a training tool where there is already a lot of investment that that cannot be rendered obsolete - think military and commercial. P3D is actually not competing with XP.

Best I can see is:

• a better engine all round
• more third party features
• professional grade VR
• more work on the SDK
• and backward compatibility with v4 but not v3.

11 hours ago, ErichB said:

The irony of all of the new enhancements LM has already added to P3D4 is that developers are not utilising the full capabilities of the P3D SDK's.  Instead, many continue to take the easy route by wedging 15 year old FSX developments into new versions of P3D. 

 

Can’t say that about FSDT. Umberto has posted about all the stuff in the SDK that they are utilizing in GSX and their upcoming new airports. Aside from them, I don’t think many other scenery designers are really take a deep dive to take advantage of the newer SDK. 

I LOL every time I read that what we need is a new engine for P3D.

How is X-Plane doing? Oh, it's moving forward at lightning speed.

While the x-plane remarks are all valid, I don't think LM cares or is in the competition game with Laminar. 

Custom control over airport movements (gate assignment, ramp, runways) 

Realistic and interactive atmosphere (i.e. flying can be sped up if entering a jet stream or head winds etc..)

Additional cpu core utilization

Improved/customizable atc

 

 

Better autogen handling.

1 hour ago, madhouse1616 said:

Custom control over airport movements (gate assignment, ramp, runways)

+ custom control of "assigned runways" which mirrors real world directions at different times of the day & allows stronger (tail)winds ..... though I suspect there's a "SODE like" idea possible with v4 to adjust the resultant of the current scoring formulae assigning runways that for example could fake closing a runway or  an ILS is not operating at night / in certain winds etc. 

Custom control assignment per aircraft.

Better night lighting. Better AA i.e no distant shimmering. Contoured runways. Overhaul of default airports.

 

Essentially everything x plane does well which P3D doesn't!!!

19 hours ago, patrice_bambou said:

Better loading time (Initial sim loading , scenery loading)

No more scenery blurries

No more stutters.

Better frame rates.

Use of latest graphic techs like Vulkan.

Patrice.

You've just described Xplane there!

Nah, but seriously I'd love to see v5 COMPLETELY leave the ESP/FSX environment; yes we'd lose all backward compatibility with addons - but it has to happen eventually. Just look at XP11 compared to v4.4, or what Aerofly FS2 is capable of...really does make v4 look like old tech.

LM have certainly done wonders with the creaky old ESP engine but I think we've reached the limit of what it can do, and be reasonably adapted to do (gfx/performance/etc etc).

P.s. I've also invested £100's, possibly £1000's into FSX/P3D addons over the last 8 years or so - so I don't make statements about losing backward compatibility lightly. Needs to happen though.

 

Edited March 9, 20197 yr by Gordon Hutchison
edit

I wish a better handling of AI traffic.

Updated Airports and sloped runways.

I understand the sentiment behind a new engine (i.e. leaving fsx behind) but not in saying no backward compatibility (except pre 64bit). If we (I) have to start afresh then surely what you are asking for is already there in x-plane.

19 minutes ago, antonvs said:

I understand the sentiment behind a new engine (i.e. leaving fsx behind) but not in saying no backward compatibility (except pre 64bit). If we (I) have to start afresh then surely what you are asking for is already there in x-plane.

What if I want seasons .... ?

I am not very fond of TerraMax ...

Edited March 11, 20197 yr by GSalden

I don’t see the need for a brand new core engine for P3D. The biggest improvement came with 64-bit. How soon we accept that as the norm and continue to demand more.

Many of us have invested serious money in 3rd party addons. Are you seriously wanting all those to be junked and purchased again? And what of the developers who try to sell these new versions? How great would the uptake be? It could mean some of them don’t make a profit and fold.

What I would like to see are the flaws in the core ESP code corrected. Ai have very little intelligence. That needs improving so they don’t taxi straight into you or line up on the runway when you’re about to land.

Stars appearing with the sun above the horizon should be an easy one to correct so why has it been ignored for so long?

Does L-M Have authority to change this code? Perhaps not which is why the flaws remain.

Speaking personally I’m more than happy with how P3D has evolved since L-M took over. They saved flight sim for many of us and I’m eternally grateful for that. Without them we’d still be flying FSX which is a truly horrifying thought.