X-Plane Q&A (November 2019)

[Colonel X 1,430]

They actually responded to the lukewarm reception of the video:

https://developer.x-plane.com/2019/11/live-qa-next-week/#comments

[Paraffin 2,197]

20 hours ago, ArchStanton said:

Most important question: can we have road traffic on the other side of the road in the UK?😥

The traffic direction for the UK is correct in the Orbx TE GB scenery. So it's definitely possible, and it would be nice to see that in the default scenery. 

[Pastaiolo 1,688]

1 hour ago, Colonel X said:

They actually responded to the lukewarm reception of the video:

https://developer.x-plane.com/2019/11/live-qa-next-week/#comments

Well i think they did the right thing by removing the video.. It was too vague and at this point XP users also want to hear something more concrete regarding their plans after Vulkan especially, when it will be really time to make XP shine

[peroni 541]

Also they were getting hammered in the comments of youtube video. 
Some of them really really nasty, some were fun and some were defensive bust mostly negative. 

[Murmur 3,941]

I would wish to remain optimistic.

[Colonel X 1,430]

Yeah, well, it's just a bunch of devs, so I wouldn't expect a show there. I don't know what people were expecting really. I mean the road ahead is pretty clear, get Vulcan stable, then add long wanted changes for atmosphere, later weather ect.  - ATC is being worked on as slow as ever - but in the end, it's a good plan for a small team. Mobile keeps the cash coming and that's why it is a legit part of the plan. Of course FS2020 in a way caught them cold, but I think Laminar has a strong, open platform and need not to be worried at all, really. FS2020 has a few headline features, but X-Plane is in a good place, too.

Edited November 21, 2019 by Colonel X

[CarlosF 1,241]

37 minutes ago, Colonel X said:

FS2020 has a few headline features, but X-Plane is in a good place, too.

I would go as far as to say, that after seeing FS2020 videos, my guess is that the movile app. would be LR flotation/rescue device. So many XP simmers that for years have become so frustrated (including myself, if it wasnt for the Zibo, XP would be collecting dust) with its shortcomings, will only push them/me away towards the new sim.

Edited November 21, 2019 by CarlosF

[jcomm 5,939]

Well, just watch today's FS 2020 ( Episode 3 - Aerodynamics ) video and I think, there's actually not much more to talk about ...

And... at the same time I feel sad for what XP might have been - there's actually so much similar on the way they're modelling the flight dynamics in FS 2020 when I watch that video and clearly identify stuff that has been done since a long time in XP, just probably much more pollished and taken a step ahead with FS 2020, that I believe they really lost the train and were tricked by thinking there was no competition...

I also do feel the "mobile" port looks a lot as their "escape" manouver, and it was rather pattent in the now removed video of the Q&A session 😕

Edited November 21, 2019 by jcomm

[GoranM 3,765]

I must say, I expect X-Plane to be written off by most people (the same way it has been written off in the past with each iteration of MSFS) who boarded the FS2020 hype train when the first video came out, but there are others who I am surprised at.  There's a very good reason they won't talk about future updates for X-Plane.  And it's the same reason some developers are very quiet through the development process until shortly before release.  

[jcomm 5,939]

37 minutes ago, GoranM said:

I must say, I expect X-Plane to be written off by most people (the same way it has been written off in the past with each iteration of MSFS) who boarded the FS2020 hype train when the first video came out, but there are others who I am surprised at.  There's a very good reason they won't talk about future updates for X-Plane.  And it's the same reason some developers are very quiet through the development process until shortly before release.  

I'm perfectly neutral, since I'm no longer interested in either XP or MFS, and rather watch now from the outside.

I'd really like to be surprised by something, some announcement that could bring light again into the XP user community, day after day more tempted to embrace FS 2020...

Let's hope your hint is going to turn into reality real soon.

[Murmur 3,941]

The fact is that, week after week, MS is showing real wonders to the community. Is it all hype? Quite unlikely after all the info and videos we got at this point.

Now, on one hand MS is throwing so much resources at it, that LR couldn't simply have afforded to compete.

On the other hand though, LR is "guilty" of de-prioritizing for a decade multiple features that would have at least allowed XP to arrive in a better position today (possibly even as dominant as MSFS was 10 years ago).

Then of course, judging from our armchairs is very easy to do. After all we must remember that LR had a very good foresight for many things. The revolutionary night lighting (still unsurpassed); the early switch to 64 bits; the OSM/crowdsourced based scenery, an incredibly clever idea that would still be the best possible, were it not for the incredibly powerful Azure AI that only MS could afford to field.

That being said, I wouldn't want to write off XP, nor I wish for it to become irrelevant. I hope they pull of something great for XP 12, there are a lot of areas that could present a good competition: VR, seasons, ATC+AI, performance and smoothness, helicopters, etc.

Realistically though, it's not gonna be easy at all for LR. We all know the financial and human resources fielded by MS compared to LR.

[Bjoern 1,157]

Fun fact 1: Nobody cares which simulator people use. Except ORBX or PMDG maybe.

Fun fact 2: Laminar will do what Laminar thinks is best. No beeching and moaning will influence this.

Fun fact 3: My offer still stands. Anybody moving over to FS20 will get my able help for packing, including distribution of any payware licenses to those in need.

Edited November 22, 2019 by Bjoern

[Paraffin 2,197]

1 hour ago, Murmur said:

Realistically though, it's not gonna be easy at all for LR. We all know the financial and human resources fielded by MS compared to LR.

True, but one thing we can be sure about with Laminar, is that there will be continuing development of XP whether it's profitable or not, until the day that Austin goes to that great cockpit in the sky. He's somewhere in his late 40's, I think? Plenty of time to keep working on his pet project.

Microsoft has said they're making a 10 year commitment to the new MSFS, but the decisions are being made at a level subject to different motivations and constraints, compared to how Austin runs Laminar.

Will the suits at Microsoft still care about continuing developing 5 years from now, or was it just a big splash to get people interested in Azure-based cloud gaming? That's an open question. And unlike XP, the new MSFS will never run on a "black box" dedicated PC if Microsoft pulls the plug, because so much of the sim is server-based. It doesn't matter how much money Microsoft has to throw at their flight sim compared to Laminar, if the long-term commitment isn't there. They still have to prove this. 

[Murmur 3,941]

Well, they stated it's a long term commitment (10 years is not short for a sim), but only time will tell of course.

Certainly LR has the advantage of being a little entity and not a mega-corp, so a lot more freedom and agility in changing course and development priorities, etc. I hope they will make use of this to the best extent possible. Having an alternative choice is always a nice thing. Maybe the increased competition will be a win-win for everyone. I hope.

[Bjoern 1,157]

18 hours ago, Paraffin said:

And unlike XP, the new MSFS will never run on a "black box" dedicated PC

Laminar's online retail release of XP11 occasionally checks license validity online, so you need an internet connection. The DVD release of course doesn't.