Quo vadis, FS2Crew: FSLabs?

[disco79stu 15]

Hi there,

for some time now I am wondering if there is any future for FS2Crew for the FSLabs.

With the apparent (but I guess quite obvious) focus solely on MSFS products, I get the feeling that development for any P3D based products has seized.
A lot of requested features, improvements and even smaller bugs have been acknowledged, agreed to and -quote- "added to the update list" in statements by the devs months ago without any update being released.

I would love to see further improvements and additions to this great product, which I use on a daily basis and enjoy very much.
So is this still getting any attention at all or did you guys just drop all non-MSFS stuff due to financial or economical (or other) reasons?

Are there any further plans for this product,  is there still an "update list"?

I'd really appreciate any statement regarding the future of P3D development. 

Thanks,

Stu

 

Edited December 22, 2021 by disco79stu

[byork 2,258]

Hi Stu,

Good question.

With the exception of a few hold outs, the market has entirely shifted to to MSFS more or less.

I know someone will say "well, I use P3D everyday", but they're a tiny, tiny minority.

Our resources are now focused on MSFS because that's where 99 percent of users are.

Looking at the Change Log for the FSLabs version of FS2Crew, we've already released a very large number updates for this product and free support for all the various new FS Labs models.

 

 

[disco79stu 15]

Hi Bryan,

thanks for the quick response! 

Don't get me wrong, I'm totally happy with the product and the amount of free updates you gave us along the way was great (btw. I would totally pay for a major update, so that's not what I'm talking about) 🙂

But yeah, it seems MSFS is the general direction all developers are heading now, hence my suspicion. When people mention that 99% of users switched to MSFS, I can't even begin to understand how much revenue this new platform must generate for developers. No wonder everyone is dropping P3D, and to be fair, it is an outdated platform that will eventually run out.

At the same time, inside my personal bubble of friends and fellow simmers, 99% stay away from MSFS for dozens of reasons like the quirky physics, the overall arcady style, over the top look, X-Box user interface etc etc, not to mention the lack of any high level airliner. It just feels so "gamey".....  So I'm always a bit baffled to learn that so many users are flying MSFS now and that apparently P3D is just not profitable for developers anymore. But that seems to be the case. For me, MSFS is Google-Earth with prop sounds, but okay 😄 ... 

Anyway, thanks again for your statement, I think my question has been answered.

See you on MSFS in a couple of years, when they managed to put the simulation back into "Flight Simulator". 😄

Cheers
Stu

[byork 2,258]

45 minutes ago, disco79stu said:

Hi Bryan,

thanks for the quick response! 

Don't get me wrong, I'm totally happy with the product and the amount of free updates you gave us along the way was great (btw. I would totally pay for a major update, so that's not what I'm talking about) 🙂

But yeah, it seems MSFS is the general direction all developers are heading now, hence my suspicion. When people mention that 99% of users switched to MSFS, I can't even begin to understand how much revenue this new platform must generate for developers. No wonder everyone is dropping P3D, and to be fair, it is an outdated platform that will eventually run out.

At the same time, inside my personal bubble of friends and fellow simmers, 99% stay away from MSFS for dozens of reasons like the quirky physics, the overall arcady style, over the top look, X-Box user interface etc etc, not to mention the lack of any high level airliner. It just feels so "gamey".....  So I'm always a bit baffled to learn that so many users are flying MSFS now and that apparently P3D is just not profitable for developers anymore. But that seems to be the case. For me, MSFS is Google-Earth with prop sounds, but okay 😄 ... 

Anyway, thanks again for your statement, I think my question has been answered.

See you on MSFS in a couple of years, when they managed to put the simulation back into "Flight Simulator". 😄

Cheers
Stu

No worries.

We'd like to do more updates, but we're indie developers.  We could hire 20 programmers, but then we'd go bankrupt the following week.  We're niche of the nice stuff.

The number of people interested in crew simulations isn't that big.

I personally remove the 'gamey' elements in MSFS.  A lot of that stuff can be hidden away.

FS Labs and PMDG will be releasing MSFS products no doubt.  737 maybe sooner than later.

I reckon the PMDG 737 for MSFS will mark the complete end for P3D/FSX.

But that's just my 2 cents 🙂

[disco79stu 15]

20 minutes ago, byork said:

No worries.

We'd like to do more updates, but we're indie developers.  We could hire 20 programmers, but then we'd go bankrupt the following week.  We're niche of the nice stuff.

The number of people interested in crew simulations isn't that big.

I personally remove the 'gamey' elements in MSFS.  A lot of that stuff can be hidden away.

FS Labs and PMDG will be releasing MSFS products no doubt.  737 maybe sooner than later.

I reckon the PMDG 737 for MSFS will mark the complete end for P3D/FSX.

But that's just my 2 cents 🙂

Yeah, I can see that. 

I'm an Airbus guy to the core, so until Fenix or FSLabs release a proper 320 for MSFS, I'm "stuck" with P3D. But there are lots of other things still missing in MSFS, like a better weather engine, view system (OMG how I hate their current system) and realistic AI traffic and gates. So I can wait. But it's all coming eventually, no doubt. 

Thanks again & 
Merry Christmas to you and your cool indie team 🙂