Is XP still worth mantaining in 2023

[MalcolmDaFoxtrot 2]

9 minutes ago, Franz007 said:

Great way trying to save your face. But thanks and have a nice day 😉

I actually only deinstalled 11,Theirs one A/C on XP12 by aerobask I love (The DA42) fun! 

[GoranM 3,772]

10 hours ago, brinx said:

The fact that Austin/Dev team didn't show up to meet the community at the biggest and first Flight Sim Expo in 2 years after just releasing xplane led to a lot of questions from me as well.

Considering you only just joined these forums last year, it's not surprising you're asking this question.  Developers are not obligated to attend expo's.  Personally, in the 14 years I've been doing this, I've only attended 2 of them.  

However, Laminar did attend.  And IIRC, they have attended every single expo over the last 2-3 decades.  They just didn't have a speaking slot this year.  Mainly because there was nothing major to speak about.  There was a stream done with FSElite.  Maybe you missed it.

Something to take note of.  Laminar are listed as a Diamond Sponsor of the event.  And, from what I can see, they did have a booth manned by some of the Laminar staff.

What a shame the developers of the biggest flight sim in the community couldn't even be a Gold Sponsor.  Maybe next year.  

X-Plane 12 wasn't just released.  It was released almost a year ago.  

The same question you asked could also be asked of Asobo and the Orlando Expo.  Where were they?  They weren't "meeting the community" at an Expo of only 2000 people.  They were at E3 making their announcement, in front of an audience of over 60 000.  I suppose the FS Expo just wasn't appealing enough with the 2000 people in attendance.  Coincidentally, there were roughly the same number of people at this years expo, with Asobo there.  So they didn't really pull much more of an audience than Orlando.

10 hours ago, brinx said:

led to a lot of questions from me as well.

What other questions did you have about Laminar?

Edited July 14, 2023 by GoranM

[brinx 276]

I've been flight simming since 1998, I'm not new to this either.

6 hours ago, GoranM said:

Considering you only just joined these forums last year, it's not surprising you're asking this question.

And why does it matter when I joined? I joined the forums 6-7 years ago if you must know. I became active again on here about a year ago and had to recreate my account. But I don't see the relevance to the discussion.

6 hours ago, GoranM said:

Developers are not obligated to attend expo's.  Personally, in the 14 years I've been doing this, I've only attended 2 of them.  

1. You didn't develop xplane so I wasn't expecting you to be there.
2. I'm very aware that the xplane developers or any other developers were not obligated to be there. Many showed up there anyway to showcase/promote their products and software.  Laminar is a small company with Austin being the face of it, why not show up and promote Xplane 12. Or at least say I can't make it and send some of the guys working on it. Yes, I know they had the marketing guy there. Many were disappointed in Laminar's presence at the event.

It could be part of the reason why we see questions like that of the OP. There is Oshkosh I suppose.

6 hours ago, GoranM said:

 They just didn't have a speaking slot this year.  Mainly because there was nothing major to speak about.

Um, your link to the roadmap is pinned to the top of this forum. What about 12.06? What about 12.07? What about VRAM updates coming up? What about VR updates? Plenty to talk about. Anything would have been better than nothing.

6 hours ago, GoranM said:

The same question you asked could also be asked of Asobo and the Orlando Expo.  Where were they?

I was talking about xplane at this expo, not about MSFS/Asobo. Every single conversation does not lead back to MSFS/Asobo.

6 hours ago, GoranM said:

In saying this, X-Plane 12 wasn't just released.  It was released almost a year ago.  

xplane 12 was released 6 months ago and the expo was 2 weeks ago. I would say it was just released. Of course, you are free to define "JUST" however you want. 

6 hours ago, GoranM said:

 Laminar are listed as a Diamond Sponsor of the event. 

I applaud Laminar for being one of the sponsors. I just hope the expo continues to receive sponsorship and support. It is great for flight sim.

Edited July 14, 2023 by brinx

[GoranM 3,772]

30 minutes ago, brinx said:

And why does it matter when I joined? I joined the forums 6-7 years ago if you must know. I became active again on here about a year ago and had to recreate my account. But I don't see the relevance to the discussion.

Someone new likely doesn't know how this stuff works.

30 minutes ago, brinx said:

1. You didn't develop xplane so I wasn't expecting you to be there.

No, but I know several developers who work for Laminar. One of which worked with me on a payware add on.  I am in regular contact with most of the Laminar contractors and employees.  Sometimes all of Laminar go to the expo.  Sometimes a small number of them go.  I was also invited to speak at the expo.  

30 minutes ago, brinx said:

2. I'm very aware that the xplane developers or any other developers were not obligated to be there. Many showed up there anyway to showcase/promote their products and software.  Laminar is a small company with Austin being the face of it, why not show up and promote Xplane 12. Or at least say I can't make it and send some of the guys working on it. Yes, I know they had the marketing guy there. Many were disappointed in Laminar's presence at the event.

There was a booth.  Questions were asked and answered by an authorized spokesperson who works for Laminar.  Maybe Austin was busy.  Maybe he had other obligations that took precedence...like family matters.  You're the first one making a big deal out of it.  The rest of us simply understand that things can come up, and we're happy that X-Plane had a booth.  I really don't know what else to say on it.  There simply wasn't anything major to announce.  These updates, like the pinned post, are all in a days work for Laminar.  They get feedback, and they work on it. 

30 minutes ago, brinx said:

Um, your link to the roadmap is pinned to the top of this forum. What about 12.06? What about 12.07? What about VRAM updates coming up? What about VR updates? Plenty to talk about. Anything would have been better than nothing.

Yes...and that's why they had a booth there.  Ask questions about all that you mentioned, and you will receive answers.  

30 minutes ago, brinx said:

I was talking about xplane at this expo, not about MSFS/Asobo. Every single conversation does not lead back to MSFS/Asobo.

I'm bringing up a double standard.  Asobo didn't show up at the Orlando expo, the last one prior to a global pandemic,  to discuss a major release which as of today, has 12 million "pilots".  They decided to go to E3.  Laminar have been at EVERY expo, with a paid for booth, as well as being a major sponsor at every expo.  You claimed Laminar did NOT show up.  I'm saying, not only did Laminar show up, they are also a major sponsor.  

30 minutes ago, brinx said:

xplane 12 was released 6 months ago and the expo was 2 weeks ago. I would say it was just released. Of course, you are free to define "JUST" however you want. 

X-Plane (Public Early Access) was released in September of 2022.

https://www.x-plane.com/kb/x-plane-12-00-release-notes/

Alpha testing began on December 3, 2021. (Release notes from Alpha can be accessed here.) Early Access began on September 5, 2022.

 

Early Access was available to the public.  It was not a closed Early Access.

 

Edited July 14, 2023 by GoranM

[mSparks 2,086]

10 hours ago, GoranM said:

They were at E3 making their announcement, in front of an audience of over 60 000.  I suppose the FS Expo just wasn't appealing enough with the 2000 people in attendance

2,000 people entirely specialised in a very niche market with very high barriers to entry is in many ways a bigger crowd than 60,000 randoms that like computer games.

I think it was more that they were so inexperienced at that time they didnt even really know it existed.

but also, E3 is dead now, FS Expo was basically their only option this year..

3 hours ago, GoranM said:

There simply wasn't anything major to announce.

Well, I dont think that is true, LR clearly have a lot, lot more to announce, discuss and report progress on than anyone else did.

Is it not more that doing so, and doing so well is a lot of work and time - and at the moment they are throwing 100% into the sim itself.

The way we generally handle it is to get guest speakers to talk on our behalf....

3 hours ago, GoranM said:

 I was also invited to speak at the expo.  

You really should have..:( 

[JRMurray 214]

On 7/11/2023 at 7:41 AM, mwilk said:

I don't know if it's because I have the Steam version but I have a lot of crashing issues especially on initial loading.

I bought the Steam version of X-Plane 12 a week ago and I've had no issues with the sim crashing at all.

[MrBitstFlyer 3,875]

On 7/10/2023 at 7:46 PM, MalcolmDaFoxtrot said:

is mantaining XP as a sim (buying addons etc) worth it?

Only you can answer that question.  MSFS and XP12 are excellent simulations, even though they out do each other in different areas.  I have both and enjoy both.  They each need a certain level of 'tinkering' from the base product, depending how real you want to get.  XP12 does not come with satelite imagery - MSFS does but colours can look appalling in certain areas.

XP12 looks good out the box, but adding GlobalForest, SimHeaven and AutoOrtho really brings it alive.  Add something like Reshade to MSFS and a Shader file like FinalLight.fx fixes the problems MSFS has with light and colours (putrid green textures and green roads).

Is XP12 worth buying & maintaining - 100% yes, as is MSFS.  I just purchased P3dv6 because I'm a flight sim enthusiast - they all do different things well.