I think the unfortunate symptom of these old-school devs from P3D/FSX is that they keep relying on old market standards and old communication/marketing methods and as a result (sometimes) end up losing out. PMDG has managed to not lose out on market share thus far because they had the only 737NG worth buying, but it's not shaping up this way with the MAX, so we will see. PMDG has also not looked as good in terms of their communication strategy/forums etiquette etc compared to the "new wave" like Fenix. FSL has point blank missed the ...bus and it will be a tall order for them to compete with Fenix, those are just facts. Fenix is a high-fidelity simulation and it will be tough to convince people to buy yet another A32x simulation if they are happy. I am the prime example of that - I own everything FSL has done for P3D except the Concorde. I am PROBABLY not buying FSL for MSFS unless there is something there I can't live without and I am having trouble figuring out what that may even be - I can't think of anything I'd want that I don't have with Fenix. There was that push to develop a Concorde for P3D v5 - a version behind of a simulator that has the number of add-ons specifically compatible with v6 that can be counted on one hand - a dead platform for all intents and purposes. Why they spent all that time on a P3D v5 Concorde, I will never understand. In the meantime, Fenix has pushed out 319 and 321 out for MSFS - further marketshare losses for them. There is a business lesson in all this - be in touch with the market, don't let it pass you by. Only time can tell how FSL will fare in all this. I do wish them the best as they are a developer with a worthy product, but things aren't looking well from my seat right now. If I were them, I'd be having some serious discussions on pivoting for the future and how to recover from this corner they put themselves into. 

My guess is that FSL is like a lot of these developers where it’s just a shop of one to three programmers with an idea and vision who manage a bunch of contractors and do most of the work on their own.  The first plane is a labor of love and commitment.  After that growing into a real business that can find a sustainable business plan to support growth or to level up is a coin toss. FSL probably got close to moving up bc of their success but never pushed to actually grow and likely mismanaged it. Eventually they regress back to three or four core programmers who finished out the Concorde but no real desire or acumen to manage growth so you get these slow two people not even full time development updates over years. 

40 minutes ago, BostonJeremy77 said:

There was that push to develop a Concorde for P3D v5 - a version behind of a simulator that has the number of add-ons specifically compatible with v6 that can be counted on one hand - a dead platform for all intents and purposes. Why they spent all that time on a P3D v5 Concorde, I will never understand.

Because the developers love the aircraft as many of us do. Not everything is done for profit. The same people programmed the simulator at Brooklands so that’s testimony to their skill.

P3D is not dead simply because lots of you have abandoned it for a shiny new sim that is not without its own problems. For those of us who love Concorde it’s a wonderful aircraft.

3 minutes ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

Because the developers love the aircraft as many of us do. Not everything is done for profit.

I think this is a really good point.  Nick at Blacksquare is developing the Starship because it’s a passion project.  It’s an aircraft that I’m sure a lot of people never heard of and would likely sell far less than if he did a bespoke King Air or Bonanza.  Raul with FSR is making products that he dreamed about owning/flying, and not necessarily what would be a top seller.  Plus, not all programmers work full time on flight sim, and many have “real” jobs which is why products can take a long time to develop.  

1 hour ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

Because the developers love the aircraft as many of us do. Not everything is done for profit. The same people programmed the simulator at Brooklands so that’s testimony to their skill.

P3D is not dead simply because lots of you have abandoned it for a shiny new sim that is not without its own problems. For those of us who love Concorde it’s a wonderful aircraft.

That first part is definitely something I agree with, but I am still flabbergasted why it wasn't done for v6. I own v6 and had it on my system up until this spring. It's not really about "lots of us" who abandoned it - it's about "lots of them" who have - meaning developers. I didn't abandon P3D for the "shiny new sim" - I came to P3D and XP AFTER owning MSFS. And I kept all 3 sims on my system... I still have XP12 and continue purchasing aircraft for it - as late as last week. I like the Concorde too and wish FSL was available on V6 - it's the best iteration of the Concorde on any sim. But I am one of the people who need to have the latest and the greatest, which in LM's world is P3D v6. Unfortunately, 95% of devs abandoned it, including FSL. So there really was no motivation to keep it around. I have the Dash 8 Q400 on XP12 and TFDI MD-11 on MSFS. The Concorde would have kept v6 on my system, but it's only available on v5 and I am just not interested in keeping an old version of a sim that's made some progress since then. So, with the lack of aircraft comes the lack of those of us who supported the platform. Releasing the Concorde as a v5 product on a platform that's already losing home users en masse is a misstep, in my eyes. So, given that v5 is not really something I want to keep around because it's outdated (yes, still works, but NOT the latest from LM), tell me, Ray, why would I keep v6? So I can fly default aircraft? Maybe... but the last update to P3D v6 was in February and it's been tumbleweeds since then, including what the plans for the platform are. Not particularly encouraging, wouldn't you agree. Hope you are well, friend. Cheers! 

Is it not possible that FSL could have had lots of lucrative commercial contracts that we know nothing about?

8 minutes ago, BostonJeremy77 said:

but I am still flabbergasted why it wasn't done for v6.

Probably because they started work when v4 was current. Yes, it was that long ago. Then v5 came along and they decided that would be the version they’d build it for. Developers were supporting that version en masse.

When v6 arrived I looked at the new features and nothing excited me. Seems FSL thought the same plus developers had switched away from P3D.

You’re in a small group who have v6 and nothing earlier. If you still have your v5 licence it would be easy to install it and fly the most realistic Concorde ever made.

Alternatively wait for the MSFS version but you could still be waiting a long time.

7 minutes ago, Christopher Low said:

Is it not possible that FSL could have had lots of lucrative commercial contracts that we know nothing about?

I suspect that is the case given the lead programmer gave up his job a few years ago and works for FSL full-time.

Follow the money. Devs dropped P3D faster than a hot rock and FSL seemed to think that releasing a product for an outdated version of a defunct platform was a good idea. We’ve also seen devs that toyed with X-Plane for a short time (PMDG, Flytampa etc) abandon that too. 
It’s pretty clear where the future lies. For sure it ain’t perfect but MSFS even in its current form, let alone 2024, is the stellar leap we never got from FS2004 onwards. 

P3D may not be dead in that people still use it, and it clearly still has a huge role in professional training, but it’s clearly commercially dead for home simmers…follow the money (devs) as a previous poster mentioned. 

Hopefully FSL can release something to maintain their relevance in MSFS.

On 8/20/2024 at 1:15 PM, Ray Proudfoot said:

@UrgentSiesta, during discussions regarding the P3D version I mentioned a version that might be created for Xbox.

Andrew replied saying the INS requires Lat / Lon entries and that wasn’t possible with the Xbox version. So there wouldn’t be one.

Now things may have changed since then so I’ll tag @MachTwoand if he so desires he can tell you what the plan is.

I owned the Concorde back in P3D V4 and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was disappointed to hear that later versions do not allow things like full management of fuel transfers - leaving that to the only to the control of the Virtual FE.

The FSL Concorde always used the freeware CIVA INS add-on developed by Simufly, which was also available for other classic airliners in FSX and P3D.

If they are going to continue using it in MSFS that would preclude bringing the Concorde to X-Box, because the CIVA INS runs as a separate program. It would be permissible to do that in the PC version of MSFS but not in the XB version.

I suppose FSL could re-code the INS emulation themselves to run fully within the Concorde process, but they would probably be loathe to do that when the Simufly unit is bug-free and thoroughly optimized for use in the Concorde.

Edited August 22, 20241 yr by JRBarrett

Can someone change the title? I am always tempted clicking on it for new tidbits, but they are not discussed here anymore.

33 minutes ago, 737_800 said:

Can someone change the title? I am always tempted clicking on it for new tidbits, but they are not discussed here anymore.

Motion seconded. 

46 minutes ago, JRBarrett said:

The FSL Concorde always used the freeware CIVA INS add-on developed by Simufly, which was also available for other classic airliners in FSX and P3D.

The latest Concorde doesn't use the freeware INS!

1 hour ago, JRBarrett said:

I owned the Concorde back in P3D V4 and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was disappointed to hear that later versions do not allow things like full management of fuel transfers - leaving that to the only to the control of the Virtual FE.

That would be the v3 one. The last 32-bit version of P3D. It is disappointing so much is locked out. Not completely as I can operate some switches to move fuel further forward on descent.

Everything is controlled by Checklists that are initiated by various trigger points. The Virtual Crew read out checklists and most are controlled by the PNF and VFE. You as captain have a few to do.

As to how much they’ll unlock things allowing greater user control is unknown. Andrew has been tagged but hasn’t responded. They keep their cards close to their chest.

As mentioned the freeware INS is no longer used.