Future of P3D

[tjf4375]

I for one am furious with Microsoft for doing this. Back in 2009 they abandoned development and any further work on the franchise, leaving a huge gap, and a whole load of chaos for developers.

Since then Lockheed Martin and Laminar have done a brilliant job in filling the gap and invested heavily in developing great looking sims that are now really well supported by all the major developers. The wealth of scenery and aircraft available for both platforms makes them both equally good investments. Or so I thought. All of a sudden, 10 years later, MS decide they want to come back to the party. So they turn everything upside down and once again leave us in a position where our chosen platform may become obsolete and de-supported.

Wowing everyone with spectacular screenshots and videos is easy enough to do. Following through with those promises in a marketable product that runs on most decent PCs is another matter. But in the meantime, I feel like the customer is losing out while developers are in a state of flux, wondering whether it's worth starting anything new, or waiting for a sim that may never come into fruition, at least in the form we'd like it to. The adage "if it looks too good to be true, it probably is" definitely applies here.

[JorgenSA]

+1!

I definitely want to see something real.... all we have now is wishful thinking from potential users and vaporware from Microsoft.

Jorgen

[KevinKaessmann]

Calm down - just a kind of Tamagotchi, a hyped must-have.
After the money has changed his owner and some days, maybe weeks, flying around one's hometown, it becomes forgotten...

[miraclemax]

I stick w/P3d. MS is a software company; Lockheed Martin is an airplane company.
max

[keenrw]

I for one am furious with Microsoft for doing this. Back in 2009 they abandoned development and any further work on the franchise, leaving a huge gap, and a whole load of chaos for developers.

Since then Lockheed Martin and Laminar have done a brilliant job in filling the gap and invested heavily in developing great looking sims that are now really well supported by all the major developers. The wealth of scenery and aircraft available for both platforms makes them both equally good investments. Or so I thought. All of a sudden, 10 years later, MS decide they want to come back to the party. So they turn everything upside down and once again leave us in a position where our chosen platform may become obsolete and de-supported.

Wowing everyone with spectacular screenshots and videos is easy enough to do. Following through with those promises in a marketable product that runs on most decent PCs is another matter. But in the meantime, I feel like the customer is losing out while developers are in a state of flux, wondering whether it's worth starting anything new, or waiting for a sim that may never come into fruition, at least in the form we'd like it to. The adage "if it looks too good to be true, it probably is" definitely applies here.

+1 They abandoned FS and then thanks likes of LM and Xplane they got into the market, so we were able to continue simming and because they started making money Microsoft now what to get back in on the action after seeing this....I have spent loads on add-ons and don't really have the cash to do it over again,.. and as it is some of these add-ons are starting to go over 100 quid now and its silly how much these add-ons are starting to cost, imagine how much they will be with the new sim then add into the cost of new hardware and net speeds that will be needed , P3D4.5 and Xplane 11 will be my last flight SIMs I think, I'm more than happy with them at the moment.

[Martyson]

I for one am furious with Microsoft for doing this. Back in 2009 they abandoned development and any further work on the franchise, leaving a huge gap, and a whole load of chaos for developers.

Since then Lockheed Martin and Laminar have done a brilliant job in filling the gap and invested heavily in developing great looking sims that are now really well supported by all the major developers. The wealth of scenery and aircraft available for both platforms makes them both equally good investments. Or so I thought. All of a sudden, 10 years later, MS decide they want to come back to the party. So they turn everything upside down and once again leave us in a position where our chosen platform may become obsolete and de-supported.

Wowing everyone with spectacular screenshots and videos is easy enough to do. Following through with those promises in a marketable product that runs on most decent PCs is another matter. But in the meantime, I feel like the customer is losing out while developers are in a state of flux, wondering whether it's worth starting anything new, or waiting for a sim that may never come into fruition, at least in the form we'd like it to. The adage "if it looks too good to be true, it probably is" definitely applies here.

+1 They abandoned FS and then thanks likes of LM and Xplane they got into the market, so we were able to continue simming and because they started making money Microsoft now what to get back in on the action after seeing this....I have spent loads on add-ons and don't really have the cash to do it over again,.. and as it is some of these add-ons are starting to go over 100 quid now and its silly how much these add-ons are starting to cost, imagine how much they will be with the new sim then add into the cost of new hardware and net speeds that will be needed , P3D4.5 and Xplane 11 will be my last flight SIMs I think, I'm more than happy with them at the moment.

Now that I have WIN10 installed on my second PC (another investment) ...
I am ready to install my previous investments in FS9 and FSX on it if I still can ... and use aircraft / scenery / hardware I purchased for it.

Currently I use XP11 (from XP10 $$) and P3D (all versions $$ upgrades) and enjoy all that I have purchased for them .. much $$.

Is there any doubt that I will not test MSFS's new product when it comes out?

Has there been any polls showing how many current simmers will welcome (spend $ ) the new version of MSFS on the very first day it is available?



Like you said "P3D4.5 and Xplane 11 will be my last flight SIMs I think"

I think you are already wavering/heavily towards at least testing (minimum initial investment) the new version of MSFS.

[seattleman66]

In my opinion the reason existing simulation platforms have so many add-ons is that their developers are not going to invest the time and effort to produce that 'study level' aircraft (and upgrade it), or that super-detailed airport (and update it). Will Microsoft produce aircraft and airports that match existing high quality products? I don't think they will. Existing P3DV4 default aircraft are fine but I never fly them and I avoid going to any airport without add-on scenery. 

I believe Microsoft has said they will welcome third-party developers, we will see. I would be very surprised if PMDG etc. produce a MSFS version of their products if they do not have a good business deal first. PMDG certainly declined to get involved with Flight. No add-on aircraft and no add-on airports in MSFS equals a problem for me. Even then there is the oft mentioned expense of doing everything all over again, even if one can afford it. 

I don't have an opinion about XPlane, but I don't think P3D is threatened in the short to medium term unless MSFS is an immediate winner regarding weather, peripheral support, pricing, performance, and third-party support. A tall order. Long term, who knows? 

Regards

Steve Dwyer

[XCLTM3]

I thought I'd chime in on this topic as there has not been any information (at least I'm aware of) directly from LM regarding the future of P3D.

I'd like to know what LM are planning specifically for P3D in terms of improvements etc in the immediate future ie 12 - 24 months.

Unlike some other P3D users, it seems blatantly clear to me that MSFS 2020 is going to redefine flight simming just from the footage and feedback provided thus far. It is also seems that some top tier 3rd party devs are also working with MSFS 2020.

We've all invested in P3D ergo, at a minimum, some pertinent and clear information regarding the future road map of P3D should be broadcast to the consumer base as a professional courtesy.

[JorgenSA]

You are asking a company to reveal their marketing strategy.

Not going to happen.

Jorgen

[Daube]

The reactions here are understandable.
It's a bit like when FSX arrived. FS9 users said they would keep with FS9, because they invested too much... then they saw the quality of the FSX addons and they jumped to the new sim.
Same with FSX -> P3D, especially when P3D became 64 bits. Many FSX users announced they didn't want to buy their addons again, saying they would keep with FSX forever... we know how that ended.

When MSFS becomes available, and people experiment the new flight models and the new sceneries, they won't really be able to keep with FSX or P3D for much longer... Now that I have taken the time to looking closely at the presentation videos of MSDS, each time I launch my P3Dv4, I cringe when looking at the sim... and that's in VR with orthos and autogen, I'm not talking about a raw P3Dv4 here (oh, the horror :( )...

PMDG and other addon makers are already moving toward MSFS and some even made announcements regarding their future strategies (i.e: no more FSX addons, only P3Dv4...). And let's not forget Asobo's explanations about the "legacy" flight model still supported in MSFS, which greatly facilitates porting-over FSX planes to MSFS. In reality, it won't take long before we get both payware and freeware addons for MSFS.

[JorgenSA]

"When MSFS becomes available" - it should be IF!

Remember, all we have seen so far from Microsoft is... wishful thinking, not an iota of anything concrete.

And Microsoft was far along with MSFS 2010, when that project was cancelled without warning. That may happen again.

So, let's see the product come to market......

Jorgen

[Daube]

It's a valid remark. However, as far as I remember, Flight was not advertised much in advance, and was very soon criticized by literally everybody for its absolutely terrible marketing strategy.
At no point in time Flight was ever popular, for anybody.
Their first plane addon, the Mustang, was a total joke and the complete community rejected the sim at once. It became pretty clear for MS that no money at all could be earned from that sim ever. Thus they cancelled it.

With Flight, things are looking much better, for absolutely all aspects.

[Blaunarwal]

I think Lockheed Martin should make a statement to their community here. It is not contemporary to just sit this out in silence. At the moment, it looks, like they gave up after the first announcement of MSFS.

[Daube]

Or maybe their are evaluating the possibility to create a new P3D version based on the new "ESP" base of MSFS, as mentioned by somebody else earlier in this thread ?

[JorgenSA]

Blaunarwal, I will take the liberty of repeating a statement I made earlier:

"You are asking a company to reveal their marketing strategy.

Not going to happen."

And I will add: especially not in this situation.

Jorgen