P3D future development

[skywreck]

I have been a user of P3D since its release an currently on version 5.1+ hotfix. Since MSFS was announced and released many developers have ceased updating their scenery and abandoned P3D users. It seems that the new world in MSFS has been the main attraction, despite the simulator not being complete and the overall interfaces/menus leaving much to be desired and a lack of jet study level jet aircraft.

Is LM considering improving the P3D world so that developers will consider updating and developing more scenery? I'm not concerned about the number of people switching over to other sims but rather the likelihood that if the present trend continues we will face a situation where we will not be able to buy new airports or obtain updates in view of the fact that each version of Prepard3D ofter requires updating scenery, aircraft, etc.

Best regards

Joaquin Blanco

[AhunterG]

It's a confusing state of affairs... I'm reasonably young at 26 years of age and honestly don't know what to do, to the point where I'm not using any simulator at present!

I still have P3D V4.5+ study level add-ons installed... I gave MSFS a go but quickly realised just how unstable it was, the frequency of updates is really offputting but the scenery is out of this world!

So I'm caught between the two, to the point where it's easier to not use either or invest in either platform.

I sadly don't know what the answer is. If LM could somehow rework the scenery side of things to the point of cross-compatibility, P3D could take advantage of all the add-on scenery going into MSFS?

With all the work that has gone into FSX and P3D, it feels like the presence of MSFS is seeing decades of work is go down the drain in terms of study level aircraft that essentially have to be rebuilt.

I love P3D and I really hope and want LM to keep Prepar3D relevant to Aircraft and Scenery developers and us users!

Andrew

[choppa]

I believe the problem is Dollars (income potential)...not sure how accurate these figures are..but I understand that MSFS2020 has eclipsed over 2 Million users...LM P3D has, reportedly, just over 30,000 users.. I stumbled on these stats from the internet, so I am unsure of their accuracy, 30,000 for LM, does seem very low.
Needless to say, developers want to produce a product that offers the greatest return for their efforts....so, MSFS is a very attractive market place.
I use both MSFS and P3D, however without wishing to get into a "mines bigger than yours" dialogue, I find that MSFS is more of a scenery simulator/game (at this stage of its development), than a hard core Flight Sim.
With the plethora of systems aircraft available for P3D, it is definitely my go to sim when I want to do "accurate" flying, eg when I haven't had the opportunity to fly in the real skies. I just feel more comfortable when using P3D...this is just a personal preference.
Competition is good for our hobby, so I just hope that LM P3D (and for that matter Xplane), haven't raised the white flag!

[Blaunarwal]

There are still new products coming to the market for P3D5 every week, i feel an increasing tendency after a short stop after MSFS had arrived. There are countless products already available for P3D5. A lot of products once made for former versions of P3D and FSX are still usable today.

So to my opinion, the only problem we have at the moment, is to cope with a little less realistic look of P3D5 compared with MSFS but with fantastic addons. Both systems are simulations, not the reality. Only reality is better. I can live with P3D5.1 and I look forward to the developments coming in future. I hope, the P3D plattform will remain compatible to all the addons I have, since this is my sim environment I aquired over years.