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ca_metal

Winds of change? - Small developer fully focusing on the new sim

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One of the X-plane's developers (Aiworthy Designs) I've been following because of their good quality sceneries just announced they won't be developing for X-Plane any longer. Do you think those kind of announcements are just the beginning? 
 

Quote

UPDATE NEWS

In the last few months I have been offerend a right seat position in a Q400 and the focus
has been on revalidating and obtaining the licenses and required type ratings to perform the job

Unfortunately due to this scenery development has been in a complete hold, once the evaluations are over
development will continue.

Due to MSFS being announced recently we will be moving production entirely to this new platform.
the new simulator from Microsoft seems to be the next big thing and starting a year long develpment cycle
for xplane it just does not make sense

That being said with what Microsoft has shown us it dosent seem that there will be room for 3rd party scenery products,
of course we will take a look at the state of things and make an assessment on what projects to pursue

If scenery development seems like a bad idea we will start a transition to high quality aircraft development

Thankfully we have been given access to the Beta program (phase 1) so we will be taking a deep look at how things work inside this new simulator
and what kind of technology is required to develop for it

If it turns out there is a chance to develop sceneries we will bring all our producs developed from the ground up , new and improved to match the standard set up by MS
More news about this once the beta drops

As of today all our xplane producs will receive a permanent 60% discount, we thank you for your continued support

Blue side up!

Source: 


I think the winds are changing faster than I anticipated (the sim isn't out yet, neither the SDK AFAIK).

 

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I didn't know them to be honest, and from what i saw i can only find one scenery on the .org

So you know, they didn't invest much in XP in the first place so i think it's much easier for them to move elsewhere as well. I think the other XP developers will continue to develop for XP (at least partially) because they are known, already released more addons for it and no where is XP going to die like P3D is, since it's a different platform and has always been compared to the ESP platforms and the ones developed by Microsoft too.

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Chock 1.1: "The only thing that whines louder than a jet engine is a flight simmer."

 

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4 minutes ago, NotASenator said:

As a small developer, I'm also focusing entirely on MSFS.

 

What kind of add-on? I'm intrigued why devs (even the smaller ones) are jumping the boat so early on the development. 

I'm fully interested on the new sim and kind of stopped using the current sims, but I would like to understand the business side (way of thinking) of this hobby.

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MSFS is going through the flight sim world like a freight train. If reports are correct it will continue to do so for at least 10 years. Developers will follow the money. 

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Specs: 11900K (5ghz), 64GB ram 3600mhz, RTX 3080 ti

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6 minutes ago, france89 said:

I didn't know them to be honest, and from what i saw i can only find one scenery on the .org

So you know, they didn't invest much in XP in the first place so i think it's much easier for them to move elsewhere as well. I think the other XP developers will continue to develop for XP (at least partially) because they are known, already released more addons for it and no where is XP going to die like P3D is, since it's a different platform and has always been compared to the ESP platforms and the ones developed by Microsoft too.

They have 3 (really good) sceneries, hence why I said they were a smaller one and I have to agree with that they probably aren't that invested on the platform like for example Orbx. But I'm curious how things will develop from now on. 

PMDG are also focusing their NG3 development on the new platform. 

P.S.:If you are curious, their sceneries are those:

https://store.x-plane.org/TFFJ--Princess-of-the-Caribbean--Part-2-Saba-St-Barts_p_983.html

https://store.x-plane.org/TNCM--Princess-of-the-Caribbean--Part-1-SXM_p_796.html

https://store.x-plane.org/SPSO--Pisco-International-Airport_p_513.html

Edited by ca_metal
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It took us a year of R&D + 2 more years of production to create our freeware VFR scenery for X-Plane 11 the way we like it to be.

Most of the work was creating the basics in the terrain and then build the whole custom area there...

I see MSFS removing a huge load of burden from our shoulders if the new simulator happens to be the way it is promoted.

In other words, having the basics set (Bing ortho imagery + AI driven procedural autogen) we can finetune and focus on the Airport, landmarks.

What we know so far about MSFS, scenery wise and technically speaking, make me want to put all the effort and energy to create the next version of our scenery for MSFS.

But let's see how the SDK will be and how much flexibility we will have to retouch and adjust what is already set there.

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________________________________
LEBOR SIMULATIONS

Scenery for Flight Simulators since 1998

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So they are moving production to MSFS but then go on to say it appears there will be no room for 3rd party scenery.  If that is the case they will just switch to making high quality aircraft...??

Sounds easy enough...


Eric

i9-12900k, RTX 3080ti FTW, 32GB ddr5 5600 RAM, 2TB 980 Pro SSD, H100i AIO, Samsung CRG90 49", Win 11

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1 minute ago, Claviateur said:

It took us a year of R&D + 2 more years of production to create our freeware VFR scenery for X-Plane 11 the way we like it to be.

Most of the work was creating the basics in the terrain and then build the whole custom area there...

I see MSFS removing a huge load of burden from our shoulders if the new simulator happens to be the way it is promoted.

In other words, having the basics set (Bing ortho imagery + AI driven procedural autogen) we can finetune and focus on the Airport, landmarks.

What we know so far about MSFS, scenery wise and technically speaking, make me want to put all the effort and energy to create the next version of our scenery for MSFS.

But let's see how the SDK will be and how much flexibility we will have to retouch and adjust what is already set there.

I can understand that, seems logical.

By the way, your Beirut Scenery is really amazing, would love to see it on the new sim.

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2 hours ago, ca_metal said:

One of the X-plane's developers (Aiworthy Designs) I've been following because of their good quality sceneries just announced they won't be developing for X-Plane any longer. Do you think those kind of announcements are just the beginning? 

Smart move!

I had XP in my Steam wish list, waiting for it to go on sale. When I saw the FS2020 announcement I deleted XP from my wish list, just not interested in XP or P3D any longer.

Those XP or P3D developers who think it's "business as usual" will soon discover their XP/P3D sales drop instantly to 5%-10% of previous levels the moment FS2020 is released.

I suspect also they are seeing a drop in sales already, as many people (including myself), choose to not waste money purchasing add-ons for a sim (XP/P3D) that they will not be using in 6 months time.

Maybe XP is/will be slightly less affected than P3D.

All IMHO of course.

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Matthew S

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2 hours ago, Flic1 said:

So they are moving production to MSFS but then go on to say it appears there will be no room for 3rd party scenery.  If that is the case they will just switch to making high quality aircraft...??

High quality airports.


Matthew S

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6 minutes ago, MatthewS said:

High quality airports.

They actually say they will switch to aircraft if the scenery thing doesn't work out.  Their announcement just seemed odd although I don't blame them at all for shifting focus to MSFS.

Their quote;

"If scenery development seems like a bad idea we will start a transition to high quality aircraft development"


 


Eric

i9-12900k, RTX 3080ti FTW, 32GB ddr5 5600 RAM, 2TB 980 Pro SSD, H100i AIO, Samsung CRG90 49", Win 11

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23 minutes ago, MatthewS said:

I suspect also they are seeing a drop in sales already, as many people (including myself), choose to not waste money purchasing add-ons for a sim (XP/P3D) that they will not be using in 6 months time.

I was going to purchase the Hot Start TBM for X-Plane. I decided not to after the E3 trailer. Count me as another Simmer that has chose to not spend anymore money on the current Simulations. This does not include DCS, as that is combat AC.

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1 hour ago, MatthewS said:

...that they will not be using in 6 months time.

I strongly suspect it will be more like 13 months before MSFS goes "Gold"...

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Fr. Bill    

AOPA Member: 07141481 AARP Member: 3209010556


     Avsim Board of Directors | Avsim Forums Moderator

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1 hour ago, Flic1 said:

They actually say they will switch to aircraft if the scenery thing doesn't work out.  Their announcement just seemed odd although I don't blame them at all for shifting focus to MSFS.

Their quote;

"If scenery development seems like a bad idea we will start a transition to high quality aircraft development"


 

This developer was part of the team behind one of the best payware planes for X-plane, the ASDG SuperCub. He knows a thing or two.



 

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