Buy addons? Or stand pat?

[Flybynumbers 42]

16 minutes ago, Baber20 said:

You should read some posts over at the xplane org. Will find some absolutely hilarious stuff.

Lol yes! Found this article:

"In the hours after the announcement, friends, family members and customers bombarded Meyer with text messages, emails and voicemails, some suggesting that it was over for his X-Plane. He watched the trailer of the forthcoming Flight Simulator release, and said he was amazed.

But as he looked more carefully at what Microsoft showed, he felt more at ease. The buildings, cars, trees and shadows didn’t look perfectly realistic to him.

“All the things that are necessary to build a truly dynamic, ever-changing, living, breathing city are literally engineered out of the system, is what it looked like,” Meyer said. And it appeared to him as if the new version would not have a way to design and use a custom airplane, a feature that X-Plane offers."

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/23/microsoft-flight-simulator-2020-announcement-surprised-fanatics.html

Edited October 6, 2019 by Flybynumbers

[Flic1 998]

Each will be different in the case of buying an addon for something that might be nearly obsolete in a year.  I have been simming for 31 years and have used every iteration of MS Flight Sim with some breaks along the way.  I switched to P3D at V3 a few years ago and have a huge library of addons for it, many of which I have only used once or twice.  I have to keep them on a spreadsheet mostly for re-installation purposes.  I have actually moved away from the sim over the last few months for several different reasons but the announcement of the new MSFS probably put me over the edge.  I have been using some other more modern sims/games in my spare time lately and have realized how far behind the times we are in the current day flight sims.  It is time for a major overhaul/shakeup in the fightsim space if we want to move forward.  We cannot continue using what we currently have for the next 10 years....the industry will die off like it nearly has a few times in the past.  We can't have TrueEarth covering the planet in an old stuttery sim with our 1TB SSD's.  We can't keep coming up a with and charging for a newer, prettier sky texture or a slightly different 2D cloud texture etc, etc. when the core program is outdated and broken.

I find many comments about the new MSFS quite silly and it seems many developers are the ones criticizing it.  Many of the flightsim devs have had a nice run, lets face it.  Like any other business in the world, you have to adapt and change.  Companies are also not charities so I do not buy into the "buy stuff just to help them out" fallacy.  If you make a good product and there is a market (and it is priced correctly) it will sell regardless of a new sim on the horizon.  I own a business and did not take pay for the first year and I didn't ask for nor get any charity donations. I have also had to quickly adapt to changes as needed to survive.  Devs will need to do the same thing.  The bad ones will get shaken out just like they do every day in other business sectors. The good ones will survive and possibly be even much better off. Some will have to completely change their business model. The one guy that charges over $15 for better shadows in the VC (a simple .cfg edit) .....well, he may not be around any longer.  I also find the comments about MSFS being the same FSX engine quite hilarious.  You guys may want to re-watch the interviews with Asobo a few more times. Coming into the forums criticizing and stating mistruths is not the way to move forward.  If you are a developer for P3d/XP/etc feeling threatened then your time needs to be spent coming up a with a plan to succeed if MSFS becomes the main go-to sim. I am personally ready for a change and can say that although I have stopped buying P3D addons I WILL be buying every quality 3rd party-product that comes out for MSFS......buuuuut maybe not the one that makes better VC shadows..😄

 

6 hours ago, Rob_Ainscough said:

These threads always seem really "odd" to me ... if someone really enjoys flight simulation why would they change their buying habits?  I like Indian food, there is a new Indian restaurant being built just down the street that will open January 2020 ... so I'll stop eating until it opens???  Although I could do with some weight loss, but in the mean time there are plenty of other Indian restaurants I can enjoy.

😄 But Rob, this might be more analogous to.....why would I buy all these cassette tapes when that new thing called a CD player is coming out next year! 

 

 

 

Edited October 6, 2019 by Flic1

[zmak 331]

54 minutes ago, Flybynumbers said:

Lol yes! Found this article:

"In the hours after the announcement, friends, family members and customers bombarded Meyer with text messages, emails and voicemails, some suggesting that it was over for his X-Plane. He watched the trailer of the forthcoming Flight Simulator release, and said he was amazed.

But as he looked more carefully at what Microsoft showed, he felt more at ease. The buildings, cars, trees and shadows didn’t look perfectly realistic to him.

“All the things that are necessary to build a truly dynamic, ever-changing, living, breathing city are literally engineered out of the system, is what it looked like,” Meyer said. And it appeared to him as if the new version would not have a way to design and use a custom airplane, a feature that X-Plane offers."

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/23/microsoft-flight-simulator-2020-announcement-surprised-fanatics.html

Funny how Ferraro from PC aviator replied to CNBC about going broke but never replied to mine or many others many support emails lol

I stopped buying stuff a year ago and won't be until weighed all my options and so far DCS is miles ahead especially with VR optimization

[stephenbgs 169]

I will buy a few more p3d items such as aerosoft A330 just because it's been such a long wait, and MK studios EIDW for obvious reasons, but after that I'm stopping my impulse purchasing on the P3d platform. there is no product currently being teased or previewed that has me excited. Impulse purchases will be saved for x-plane and any disposable time will be spent discovering DCS which I have neglected since last winter.

 

[ChaoticBeauty 6,692]

"Dressed-up FSX/Flight"? Is everyone in here looking at the same footage? If anything this is a perfect description of Prepar3D.

[Baber20 1,461]

Give them a finger and they'll take the whole hand. Same is the case for all these xp and p3d fanatics waiting for a slight misstep from FS2020 devs or God forbid you mention a slight imperfection in the sim and they'll grab that chance to puke on it in any way they can. Disgusting behaviour honestly.

[FS++ 712]

We have made a statement regarding our product and MSFS 2020.

https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/559689-are-there-any-plans-to-support-microsofts-upcoming-flight-sim/

 

 

[LHookins 3,111]

8 hours ago, cmpbellsjc said:

I wonder why they would make an F-104 and F-4 for military training purposes considering they’ve both been out of service for a long time, especially the F-104? What military is going to train on those?

An excellent question but I didn't ask.  

According to wikipedia the F-104 is still in limited use: "Status:  Retired from military service; in use with civilian operators as warbirds" and the Boeing 377 Stratrocruiser was developed as a training aid.  The F-104 was in development about the same time and may have had the same purpose.

Hook

[n4gix 4,955]

12 hours ago, Greazer said:

Let's be real, truth be told here.... most flight sim developers are moon lighting second jobs on the side, it's a hobby, not their main source of income. If they make some money it's a bonus. 

That truly wasn't the main point of my comments. The major point is this: what happens to the current talent pool in the interim? I've spent the better part of the last two decades honing my skills, and continue to learn and/or invent new and fresher ways to achieve my intentions.

BTW, there are quite a few people for whom FS development is their primary source of income, and not simply a source of beer money...

[Dominique_K 10,152]

8 minutes ago, LHookins said:

An excellent question but I didn't ask.  

According to wikipedia the F-104 is still in limited use: "Status:  Retired from military service; in use with civilian operators as warbirds" and the Boeing 377 Stratrocruiser was developed as a training aid.  The F-104 was in development about the same time and may have had the same purpose.

Hook

What I thought is that A2A tried to develop the two jets years ago but gave up as they couldn't do some something like accusim for the jet engine then. 

The F104 would be still interesting now as it has the reputation to have a very delicate AoA to manage including at take off. Hence the numerous fatal accidents.

[dave2013 1,147]

I don't know what to make of some of the hyper negative comments regarding the new MSFS.  A large group of folks just left a presentation of the new sim where they actually got to fly it and all were very impressed.  As for me, I think it will be a game changer and I can't wait to fly around the world with it.

Having said that, I don't plan on buying it until it's been out for at least a year.  It will take at least this long for payware airliners to be developed for it, plus I'm sure there will be bugs that will need to be addressed as well as feature improvements over time.

I'm currently looking forward to ORBX's openLC Africa and Asia, as well as Aerosoft's A330(if they ever release it).

Dave

[irrics 1,517]

13 hours ago, Noodle said:

I don't agree with the sentiment that users are responsible for keeping developers afloat while they decide what to do

Hear hear!

 

Edited October 6, 2019 by irrics

[Lorby_SI 2,068]

16 hours ago, n4gix said:

I don't want to come off sounding "self-serving" but consider this my friends and fellow simmers...

If everyone "holds off" for the next year (or more) many - if not most! - developers will be out of business. After all, developers and their team members have to eat and pay bills too!

This is just how any market works, and IMHO it is no reason for people to buy things that they don't want or need. The reason why they don't want them is irrelevant. And when exactly they stop buying them is not relevant either. In the short-lived software business you have to be prepared for the worst at all times. You never know if the skills that you are currently acquiring will still be relevant in two years' time. Or if a hyped product will still be en vogue next month.

There are so many examples of companies going under because a change came at the wrong time. And not only the obvious ones, video recorders, lightbulbs, analog photography, airlines. A myriad of small and large tech companies are gone that were based on software/hardware platforms, frameworks and operating systems, that were the thing in their time - until suddenly they weren't. As a developer I have to think really hard if it is warranted to invest major effort into a product for the current end user platforms. I suspect that with the release of MSFS, sales of FSX/P3D addons will almost cease for a while. Maybe for a few weeks, while everybody is checking out the new sim, maybe for a few months, maybe forever. Depends on how "good" the new sim really is. 

In time there will be new developers and new businesses.

Best regards

[n4gix 4,955]

14 minutes ago, dave2013 said:

I don't know what to make of some of the hyper negative comments regarding the new MSFS. 

I'm quite honestly looking forward anxiously for the SDK and access to the new and/or improved development pipeline. I just hope to keep my head above water during the transition...

[Dominique_K 10,152]

12 minutes ago, n4gix said:

I'm quite honestly looking forward anxiously for the SDK and access to the new and/or improved development pipeline. I just hope to keep my head above water during the transition...

Is it definition 1 or 2  😉 ?

Definition of anxious

- characterized by extreme uneasiness of mind or brooding fear about some contingency : WORRIEDanxious parents

- ardently or earnestly wishingShe was anxious to learn more.