For those who are concerned about updates to existing add-on airports, check out Flightbeam's update roadmap (no timeframes posted) -- https://www.flightbeam.net/post/what-s-next-for-flightbeam

Quoting from that -- 

"KSFO: Captain's Edition (new product) (P3D / MSFS)

KPHX - P3D Update and Full Remaster (P3D / MSFS)

KMSP - Update (P3D / MSFS)"

Have a great weekend!

16 hours ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

I bought 3 airports for P3Dv5 today. FlyTampa Montreal, JustSim Heraklion and Orbx Vienna. Plenty of life left in a very stable sim for this user.

And seeing all the AIG Ai at each airport just makes it so much better.

I couldn’t contemplate trying to cope with the alternative with all its problems. I’d rather be flying than scratching my head. Stability beats pretty scenery every time for this user.

Ray,

How did you feel about the premium that vendors charge for P3d as opposed to MSFS? 🙂

 

 

16 minutes ago, BlueStar said:

Ray,

How did you feel about the premium that vendors charge for P3d as opposed to MSFS? 🙂

 

Not impressed really. I had no reply from FT but the general consensus seems to be that a far larger market suggests they can lower the price.

 But with more frequent sales the prices aren’t too bad. The GBP Exchange rate is also a factor which I can’t do anything about.

1 hour ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

Have you tried Radar Contact v4? Now free and much loved by many.

https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/547732-radar-contact-and-jdtllc-in-transition/

 

I did Ray, that was the one I used back in fs9 gd'old days... just for trial.

Didn't know it was made free. Have to try it then ! Thx !

All I know as an MSFS user is this - whenever I get tired of some shenanigans with MSFS, I always go back to P3D and XP and they just don't fail to deliver. My P3D 5.2 is ROCK SOLID. I can always rely on it to deliver the same standard on every flight. I never have to deal with excessive BS with it which MSFS sometimes has in spades (usually after certain updates). Right now, after SU7, MSFS is a little too annoying to fly in, so I am flying a bunch in P3D and loving it. I don't see myself abandoning it because I have so many amazing aircraft and scenery packages for it. It... just works. So, a lot is to be said about stability. I enjoy it and I hope P3D continues development and I will continue to enjoy it for the best aspects of flight simulation it has to offer. It's not really something that I have to gamble on with updates - when updates come, they usually don't break much and tend to make things better. MSFS is always a gamble - some updates (SU6) are smooth as butter and make things a lot more enjoyable. SU5 and 7? Frustrating. They are like... Megadeth records - if you have a good one, the next one is probably gonna be stupid. 😉

Again, exactly the same arguments as we still get from the grumpy old FS9 guys - "it's so stable, it just works".

That's fine and all, but just be aware that the rest of the world will be moving on with or without you. This topic was supposed to be about the future. No matter how good you think a software is today, if the developer doesn't care, someone else will happily take their place. And the 3rd party market and the community will follow. And everything will start to degrade.

I know that the intentions are good but I think that the community's defending of LM instead of putting pressure on them to fix things and keep up with the competitors is partly to blame for this situation. If the X-plane or MSFS developer or any other software developer would act the same way as LM, people would be furious. But because of the FS/FSX history, the Prepar3d users have learned that this is considered normal and they tend to think that active development is when you get a tiny hotfix once a year.

 

 

 

Edited November 28, 20214 yr by Multisim

1 hour ago, Multisim said:

"it's so stable, it just works"

Yeah, exactly. That's the single most important thing, especially for a simmer on long hauls.

1 hour ago, Multisim said:

if the developer doesn't care

I think they do care, just not so much about the things you consider important.

1 hour ago, Multisim said:

tiny hotfix once a year

The updates aren't as little as you are trying to make them out to be.

1 hour ago, Multisim said:

This topic was supposed to be about the future.

Nobody here knows what the future will bring, even if some people would like to sell their opinions or hopes as facts.

1 hour ago, Multisim said:

And everything will start to degrade.

Even if - and that's a huge “if“ - progress on P3D should freeze, it would still remain a perfectly capable sim with dozens of great aircraft and hundreds of nice destinations to fly them to, however realistically one wishes to. The sim won't degrade. But I really don't think it will come to that. I expect LM will continue to improve with small to medium steps, to minimize hassle, and a lot of us will appreciate they do it that way.

2 hours ago, Multisim said:

And the 3rd party market and the community will follow. And everything will start to degrade.

But they can’t take away what you already have. v5.2 with my current scenery and aircraft could stay on my system for years. I still have 32-bit P3D purely for Concorde.

It all depends what’s important to you. If flying a route, keeping Radar Contact happy and greasing your landing is paramount what the ground looks like is of secondary importance but with addon airports v5.2 is certainly no slouch.

I still use Ultimate Terrain X for Europe, North America and the Caribbean / Central America (designed for FSX) and from 6 miles up is more than adequate. In fact it’s a great improvement over the default.

And I feel in control of my setup rather than a developer deciding what version I’m allowed to use. As long as LM keep the current structure I’m happy.

4 hours ago, Multisim said:

I know that the intentions are good but I think that the community's defending of LM instead of putting pressure on them to fix things and keep up with the competitors is partly to blame for this situation.

After posting several times about things that are wrong with the v5.2 and getting no response it's like banging your head against a brick wall. One-way dialogue is not a conversation. How else do we pressurise them to fix things that have been carried forward from FSX and are still broken. I really don't know.

I'm told they read all the posts on their forum but rarely respond. But the things that are broken don't impact on me that much so I just live with them.

3 hours ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

But they can’t take away what you already have. v5.2 with my current scenery and aircraft could stay on my system for years. I still have 32-bit P3D purely for Concorde.

It all depends what’s important to you. If flying a route, keeping Radar Contact happy and greasing your landing is paramount what the ground looks like is of secondary importance but with addon airports v5.2 is certainly no slouch.

I still use Ultimate Terrain X for Europe, North America and the Caribbean / Central America (designed for FSX) and from 6 miles up is more than adequate. In fact it’s a great improvement over the default.

And I feel in control of my setup rather than a developer deciding what version I’m allowed to use. As long as LM keep the current structure I’m happy.

I agree Ray. P3DV5.2 is my simulator for the foreseeable future. I have all the aircraft and scenery that I need, yet I seem to buy more every month.

Greg

 

7 minutes ago, gregmorin said:

I agree Ray. P3DV5.2 is my simulator for the foreseeable future. I have all the aircraft and scenery that I need, yet I seem to buy more every month.

Greg

The frequent sales help. But buying blind from SimMarket from developers you've never heard of and with no reviews is something I avoid. The filtering system there is also frustrating. Show me only products that have 4* or better reviews. It can't do it. Pity.

1 hour ago, gregmorin said:

I agree Ray. P3DV5.2 is my simulator for the foreseeable future. I have all the aircraft and scenery that I need, yet I seem to buy more every month.

Greg

I'm not adverse to buying MSFS but I'll only consider it when it's stabilised. I can't imagine anything more frustrating than looking forward to a flight, planning it and then launching the sim only to be greeted with the "update required" message. That is so off-putting.

Sounds like you're similar to me although I only have a handful of aircraft. Left sunny Athens this morning and just landed in snowy Vienna. I should include Cheshire in that as we have our first snow of the year. Brgghh! 😱

2 hours ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

I'm not adverse to buying MSFS but I'll only consider it when it's stabilised. I can't imagine anything more frustrating than looking forward to a flight, planning it and then launching the sim only to be greeted with the "update required" message. That is so off-putting.

Sounds like you're similar to me although I only have a handful of aircraft. Left sunny Athens this morning and just landed in snowy Vienna. I should include Cheshire in that as we have our first snow of the year. Brgghh! 😱

Same here, as said earlier i need p3dv5.2 because it is the only software that will  run my dove sim correctly and i am very happy with the way it works right now. I use ms2020 with vr goggles which is fun but still having a lot of issues and it is no substitute for my cockpit.

I also need p3d to remain compatible with my add ons in the future because it is the only sim that has a good de-havilland dove for it...  

While I honestly spend almost all my sim time still in p3dv5. I think it’s notable how many past p3d diehards have moved on. It’s been crazy to see the list of p3d loyalists Shrink. Will be interesting to see the results of the in process sim survey 

45 minutes ago, micstatic said:

While I honestly spend almost all my sim time still in p3dv5. I think it’s notable how many past p3d diehards have moved on. It’s been crazy to see the list of p3d loyalists Shrink. Will be interesting to see the results of the in process sim survey 

I believe (including myself) that many still use multiple sims...depending on what you want to do...or just for a mix up....  Many a day, I will either start with P3D v5.2 or MSFS.  XP11 usually takes the back seat, if only because I have more content (paid for) in P3D, and both P3D and XP11 can't give me the immersion level I can obtain in MSFS. So...for me...I use them all, Mostly two per day...or even three,  for kicks.