Stephen Posted September 6 Report Share Posted September 6 X-Plane 12 : State of the Union 2024 I started the "State of the Union" for the X-Plane Simulator last year to keep a record of the progression of the Simulator in development, but also to see where we are standing year upon year. We all know that Simulation in any form is an ongoing development, as simulators never have an end date, they never reach a final completed version. It is a journey, an ongoing story that will never really end. In the last State of the Union (23) we were left in a sort of "Neither here or there" situation. The X-Plane 12 Simulator version was a year out from it's "Beta" release, but still a lot of the early development was still in progress. There as we noted were two separate areas in being developed simultaneously together, first was the left over from X-Plane 11 of the Vulkan/Metal API or Application Programming Interface. A guts disemboweling of the internal core code, this aspect also combined with a lot of that X-Plane 12 actually rode on the new code, but it was a troublesome conversion from the very start, but a badly needed one. Secondly was X-Plane 12 itself. The new version went to cover a lot of missing areas that needed attention, features missing, but to mostly fix too hard problems left over from X-Plane 10 and 11. So one hindered the other, X-Plane 12 needed things fixed in Vulkan/Metal to run the version, but Vulkan/Metal was still an ongoing development with still major refinement issues that never seemed to be solved. In the mean time Microsoft's new 2020 Flight Simulator went from big to huge, and even showed off the coming 2024 version (Due November 2024). We expected by this time of all the X-Plane development to just drag on, and on. A year ago we were at the v12.06 release, it was good release, actually very good (there was no v12.07 release, just a quick fix update)... but we thought at that time we still had a long way to go. But something happened or was stirring at X-Plane's Columbia, South Carolina headquarters. The first release in the second year was X-Plane v12.0.8. This by all respects was not a large or significant update. Focusing mostly on the X-Plane engine with engine model improvements, landing gear physics (Wheel Inertia, Weld Modeling and ABS Revisions), a new fuel temperature model, Graphics bug fixes and ATC bug fixes and tweaks. There was a big focus on Networking and Ex-Visual sync for home build users, the same with Projector warping/blending improvements. The landing gear physics was the biggest feature here, once impossible landings like on ice were now gone, but we always wondered as usual why it had taken so long to fix something so visible. Biggest announcement with v12.08 was that X-Plane was having an increased price of from the 1st of November 2023 to US$79.95, from the US$59.95 price, the first in a decade, and that a new X-Plane version numbering system would be coming (after v12.09) to v12.1.0 adding in an extra digit for more frequent updates. That aspect will and did certainly change the way we resolved issues quicker in 2024. Things are changing at Laminar Research, getting slightly different. The next X-Plane release came very, very early in 2024, 4th January in fact with the release v12.09. This was a small global scenery update. In that the scenery had been re-rendered with slight improvements, but for the users it was a 86Gb download, for what was really a meek change, in fact it was really hard to tell the difference in the sim changes. Also included was a slightly higher and more accurate mesh fidelity, new autogen/forestry updates and in the fixing the flattening issues with some airports. On the 4th of February 2024, there was a Developer's conference in Montreal for X-Plane Simulator platform. Here the best and most prominent developers joined together to work out not only the future of the X-Plane Simulator, but also to share their friendship in meeting their fellow workers together in arms. Laminar Research was at the same conference as well. That should have been a huge advantage in working with the very people that do the core workings of the X-Plane Simulator, the setting was ripe for setting a future roadmap and an agenda for X-Plane from both sides of the Simulator... but the conference didn't end to that satisfaction. At the height of the conference, Laminar Research announced that they were going to create a product store within the X-Plane Simulator, a reflection of the same arrangement that is part of the MSFS 2020 (Microsoft Simulator) platform. This sudden announcement did not at all unite the developers to the Laminar cause, in fact it totally divided the conference, and in itself created a rolling discontent amongst the attendees, certainly when the news hit the forums, then all sorts of comments came out. Initially most users were very supportive of the internal store idea, yes another store, and here one built directly into the Simulator, this aspect is a major plus.... but X-Plane is not at all structured like Microsoft's Simulator, as is that X-Plane is based not on a large single central entity, but a Universe with many different revolving planets, and set at it's centre are two massive Jupiter sized planets called Laminar Research and the X-Plane.Org. Most of the developers issued a Collective Letter a week later, that supported the both Laminar and the X-Plane.Org, but this aspect quickly dissolved into rebellion in that with a meeting with Laminar Research to reach a compromise that was received as lukewarm. All it did now was to create an impasse within the Simulator. Since that time the situation has gone quiet. Laminar has however gone on to promote the internal store several times, but with no answers to address the situation has since then has been forth coming. The Store is expected to be launched late this September, and after this SoftheU address, so it's effects or the changes the internal store creates won't be felt until late 2024 and into 2025. The X-Plane reset continued with the release of the new numbering system release of v12.1.0 in mid-May. It came with a fancy introduction page of new features, including a focus on Graphics with; Cloud shadows on water, Bloom lighting effects and finally RCAS (Robust Contrast Adaptive Sharpening), more changes included Multi-Sample Anti-Aliasing (MSAA) Improvements for the badly needed anti-aliasing improvements, and the MSAA resolution is now photometrically correct. The results were sensational. Initially X-Plane 12 was to balance more of the rendering between both the CPU and the GPU (that Vulkan/Metal installation), but when X-Plane 12 was released it was still extremely GPU heavy (So you needed a bigger GPU card or you were hit with "Vulkan Device Loss Errors"), a reverse of the original announcement and it was expensive to fix in having to quickly upgrade Graphic Cards. But in v12.1.0 the CPU performance was now more balanced thanks to the new “modern collector” were a piece of code is used to decide what scenery the sim needs to draw at any given moment, moving samples of processing off the GPU and now actually using the CPU as part of the rendering, this will allow for the coming Multi-Threading in the future as well, finally there was a big improvement in the water opacity and turbidity. A new Screenshot Utility to control Depth of Field and Exposure in real time is a brilliant tool, a nice addition after many years of not much being added to the Simulator in this sort of capacity. A Physics-based Camera was also announced, but it didn't arrive in the update or in any other releases to date either, but included were better particle FX effects, and a major focus on systems included with a great update to the default G1000 system, that included; DS-B Simulation, a Stormscope page, traffic Map page, Airport METAR flags, NDB + VOR pages and a new flashy boot up overlay. STEC ST-360 Autopilot was also added. In the Flight Model you now had a Manual flap system and dial-a-flap functionality, Electric clutches for helicopters (a big yes here) and Single-lever control for turboprops (if equipped). Originally the X-Plane weather data was only provided by the US NOAA system. But the service was notoriously unpredictable, with the service going off line repeatably, mostly over the U.S. holidays when there was no one was left to run the service, it all usually even laughably came back online on the Monday. There was however now a patch provided in the v12.1.0 to use different sources of data, and the weather system has been since very stable. Better METAR parsing improvements also fixed the consistent rain and there was bug fixes for the odd-looking Real Weather data in finally fixing the minecraft and waterfall clouds, in fact all the weather clouds were finally realistic with the upper cirrus clouds also now visible (working) and looking very nice, thank you very much. v12.1.0 was an outstanding update. Yes even a new reset, but a very worthy one in that finally we had left behind the Vulkan/Metal transformation era, and gave the X-Plane Simulator not only a far more stable platform, but also a better overall quality gloss as well. Noted was that 480 bugs were resolved and 326 pull requests were covered since the start of the X-Plane 12 beta release, and the Simulator felt all the better for it. It was no accident that the reset for X-Plane 12.1.0 came out in mid May (15th), as the June 21-23, FlightExpo 2024 in Las Vegas was only a few weeks later... there was a spring in the Laminar Research step, but the seminar was only 14 min long, not the usual hour or so. But they did produce a worthy presentation with both Austin and Ben (Supnic) both in attendance this year. The X-Plane 12 "Dark Cockpit" controversy was addressed with fixes coming, and a "Graphic Road Map" that covered "Tile-Based Lighting" will keep the processing more local, meaning in higher density areas, you will get better performance by saving GPU power, same with Static Descriptor Sets, which bind into specific “slots” on a Vulkan pipeline. The biggest announcement was that Ben Supnic was now working on new Terrain rendering, including new tiles that are "high Performance without limits", and in being "Streaming Friendly". So finally overall the Simulator is getting a terrain and tile overhaul, and if you want to compete with Microsoft's 2020/2024, then this most glaring of mediocre visual aspects of the X-Plane Simulator would need to be addressed. Finally again Laminar showed it had bitten the biggest MS bullet and is putting most of it's resources into fixing it. The next update released 18th July was a minor one in v12.1.1. Basically it was a revision of the Graphics Core Engine to improve stability, or to give you a better performance, this was a big focus of all the v12.1.x releases, in just getting the CPU and GPU to render better together. The replay mode had attention as well (it needed to with it's consistent CTDs). But the main reason of the update was to include a build-in web server that provides a way for applications to communicate with the simulator instance on your machine via the http protocol, using a REST and the Websockets API as announced at the Las Vegas Expo. The last major update to the end of the second year of X-Plane 12 was v12.2.0. Here was the latest in the "Caribbean Update"... I mean that is an almost direct ripoff of MSFS "World Updates", which showed us again of where now the mindset of Laminar Research is going and to what market the X-Plane Simulator is in wanting to being pitched to. Like v12.1.0 it was a very substantial update. Including four lovely heavy ships, and five leisure watercraft, including Austin Meyer being chased by sharks... to highlight the Caribbean release, three airports and destinations were also included; Princess Juliana International Airport at Sint Maarten, Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport on the island of Saba and the famous short sloping runway at Gustaf II Airport on the island of Saint Barthélemy, or St. Barth’s. Important was the water fix between the tropical waters and standard deeper water, so there are now no visible hulls in the water, but the colourful coral reefs can still shine through. There is no doubt that the Microsoft launch of FlightSimulator 2024 had hit with a major impact within Laminar Research, it needed to as Laminar was looking in the wrong direction of where the growth is in Simulation. We do like to see ourselves as core Simulator users, but that is not where the money is, as Flight Simulator 2020 showed... they want experiences and showtime, and are willing to pay for it, so there has been a significant footfall away from X-Plane, if Laminar hadn't responded to that fact of life, then X-Plane would and could have (and could still) dissolve into a minority player in the Simulation world, as the core and valuable developers shift markets. But to their credit, it has been a bumper year, the forceful gesture of the dwindling numbers, or even MSFS screaming upwards and X-Plane staying static. Finally this made Laminar to get serious on fixing the Vulkan/Metal barrier quickly, by even by getting it done in a few months, then even doing a spectacular reset with not only a higher price, new numbering system and a controversial store to boot. All focused on the feature elements of Microsoft. But the reset and the excellent updates of the new era has certainly regenerated the Simulator. Flying in X-Plane currently is a brilliant experience compared to the situation of last years "State of the Union", there is a lot of very good factors that makes X-Plane a very good and it is now actually a very stable Simulation. The quality of pure X-Plane 12 aircraft are outstanding in design and detail, they have a real world shine that is photographic, experience the X-Crafts E-Jets, X-Trident AW109SP, any ToliSS or Rotate aircraft, with the class leading FlightFactor Aero Boeing 777v2, and your are flying world class standard if not leading Simulation. X-Plane in it's features is in a very good place at the end of it's second year of release, but and here is the big "but" as we go into the third year. The controversial store could wreak all the good if brilliant work done, and the focus on the visuals, even a total rethink on the "look" of X-Plane in textures and scenery are the two areas that are the significant aspects of this coming year. The basics are already well in place and we are using them now... and they say that Simulation is boring. It is not, but X-Plane still needs to thrive to survive... It will be an interesting place to be this time next year of the State of the Union. __________________ Review System Specifications Windows - 12th Gen IS1700 Core i7 12700K 12 Core 3.60 GHz CPU - 64bit -32 Gb single 1067 Mhz DDR4 2133 - PNY GeForce RTX 3080 10GB XLR8 - Samsung 970 EVO+ 2TB SSD Software: - Windows 11 Pro - X-Plane 12.2.0. Plugins: Traffic Global - JustFlight-Traffic (X-Plane.OrgStore) US$52.99 : Global SFD plugin US$30.00 State of the Union by Stephen Dutton 6th September 2024 Copyright©2024: X-Plane Reviews (Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions) RobdeVries, rparson99 and flightwusel 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medellinexpat Posted September 6 Report Share Posted September 6 Very interesting and well written. On the plans for an internal store it might be worth mentioning that this site does have links to the existing Org.Store. Nothing wrong in that but worth mentioning out of fairness. I use the Org.store extensively and will always buy from it if it has the product I want. My opinion is that we worry about Laminar’s ability to compete against MSFS and then accept the fact that the only revenue they can get is from the initial product sale. The reality is that some add ons now cost more than XP12 itself. While I understand that the org.store does far more for XP than just sell stuff equally how do we buttress Laminar financially? Blueb and rparson99 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveswing Posted September 7 Report Share Posted September 7 Very interesting and an effective insight into an area of XPlane that is at best hidden from the average user, and at worst irrelevant. But we should be concerned. It is clear that further development costs money. For my part, I can say that it makes no difference to me where I can buy XP add-ons, what is more important is THAT I can buy them. Price is also not an important factor, but availability and quality. XP 12.1 is actually a big leap forward. After I got rid of the OS problem (from Catalina to Sonoma on Mac) I was amazed at the new and excellent quality of the simulator. And from the looks of things, I will probably always be an XPlaner. Whatever needs to be done to move XPlane forward - and encourage the developers to create more scenery again, for example - should be done. rparson99 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGreyfeather Posted September 10 Report Share Posted September 10 I really, really, really want to stay with X-Plane, but as a consumer it's getting harder to do so. I don't mind purchasing a new version every few years (have been since version 9) but having to repurchase the same aircraft, IF the developer decides to update them, is getting old. It seems that MSFS has it much easier for developers than X-Plane. And while I prefer X-Plane's flight model fidelity, engine modeling, etc., it's hard to look at all of the aircraft MSFS has and not want to sacrifice some of that fidelity for a broader aircraft selection. This will likely be the last version of X-Plane I purchase. I still have XP11 installed so I can fly the bulk of the aircraft I have purchased. Heck, I'd prefer going to a subscription model if I knew it wasn't going to be breaking my planes with every new release. I'm sure MSFS has issues with this too, but it doesn't appear to the extent it does in X-Plane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medellinexpat Posted September 10 Report Share Posted September 10 While understanding your point FSX aircraft were not compatible with MSFS and until MSFS 2024 is released in December we won’t see whether developers look for ‘upgrade’ fees for existing MSFS content. MS does seem to have said that existing content bought from their shop will work in MSFS2024, but work and having full functionality are two different things - as you know from XP11 to XP12. It is also worth remembering that each new version of Xplane has come with new features so to take advantage of those features work is needed. Your comment about MSFS being easier for developers is interesting and perhaps worthy of an article from a developer on the subject. Moving to MSFS makes little sense at the moment with MSFS 2024 on the horizon. One thing to look for there will be whether MSFS2024 is heavier again on hardware. Personally I am happy with XP12 but each month Stephen and his articles are seeding my mind with doubt about the gap to MS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGreyfeather Posted September 10 Report Share Posted September 10 Very true on the FSX to 2020. I wouldn't expect them due to the time between versions just as I do not expect XP9 planes to work in XP 11 or XP-12. There were a lot of changes - and time - between those versions. It will be interesting to see how the change to 2024 rolls out for aircraft compatibility. I won't be switching until 2024 rolls out - if I do at all - and how that happens will have a great impact on my decision. I too am happy with XP-12 but I would be even happier if there were more aircraft to choose from. We are a few years in now and some developers are still working on updates or have decided it's not financially viable for them to do so. I don't blame them. It's a tough market to begin with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archangel Posted September 27 Report Share Posted September 27 On 9/5/2024 at 7:16 PM, Stephen said:-Plane 12 : State of the Union 2024 There is no doubt that the Microsoft launch of FlightSimulator 2024 had hit with a major impact within Laminar Research, it needed to as Laminar was looking in the wrong direction of where the growth is in Simulation… if Laminar hadn't responded to that fact of life, then X-Plane would and could have (and could still) dissolve into a minority player in the Simulation world, as the core and valuable developers shift markets. There is plenty of doubt. It may have been the wrong direction *in your opinion*, but I, for one, do not agree with that. Flight simulation is a $7.4 billion market, expected to grow to $10.3 billion by 2027. Microsoft is simply, to use your phrase, “a minority player” in that market. A company does not need to be the majority player in a market in order to survive. Apple still sells computers, quite profitably, even though PCs have a larger market share. Videogamers have made MSFS a success, but that does not mean gaming is the only legitimate market for flight-simulation products. Flight simulators are still used every day for training, research and development, accident investigation, historical recreations, etc. Those segments have not vanished simply because the gaming segment has grown. Laminar used to say “X-Plane is not a game but an engineering tool that can be used to predict the flying qualities of fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft.” It’s frustrating that those of us who’ve used X-Plane as a tool for many years are now told that we’re the wrong direction and our needs are unimportant because Laminar wants to woo the gamers away from MSFS. It’s not surprising that Laminar looks on Microsoft’s flight-simulator revenues with envy, but it isn’t obvious to me that X-Plane will ever beat MSFS at its own game. Microsoft and Asobo have over 200 FTEs working on MSFS. How many does Laminar have? Which is easier, trying to compete head on with the largest software corporation in the world or focusing on market niches where they don’t currently dominate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Posted September 28 Author Report Share Posted September 28 19 hours ago, Archangel said: There is plenty of doubt. It may have been the wrong direction *in your opinion*, but I, for one, do not agree with that. Flight simulation is a $7.4 billion market, expected to grow to $10.3 billion by 2027. Microsoft is simply, to use your phrase, “a minority player” in that market. A company does not need to be the majority player in a market in order to survive. Apple still sells computers, quite profitably, even though PCs have a larger market share. Videogamers have made MSFS a success, but that does not mean gaming is the only legitimate market for flight-simulation products. Flight simulators are still used every day for training, research and development, accident investigation, historical recreations, etc. Those segments have not vanished simply because the gaming segment has grown. Laminar used to say “X-Plane is not a game but an engineering tool that can be used to predict the flying qualities of fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft.” It’s frustrating that those of us who’ve used X-Plane as a tool for many years are now told that we’re the wrong direction and our needs are unimportant because Laminar wants to woo the gamers away from MSFS. It’s not surprising that Laminar looks on Microsoft’s flight-simulator revenues with envy, but it isn’t obvious to me that X-Plane will ever beat MSFS at its own game. Microsoft and Asobo have over 200 FTEs working on MSFS. How many does Laminar have? Which is easier, trying to compete head on with the largest software corporation in the world or focusing on market niches where they don’t currently dominate? The problem is that X-Plane is treading water, even losing users to the mega industry instead of benefiting from the explosion of simulation newcomers. There is a huge market out there as MSFS 2020 has shown, so why isn't X-Plane even getting a small minority of that? I will note that however Laminar Research have done a lot right this year, so the future numbers will be interesting. As a point Apple is not doing well out of it's "minority" computers either, the "27 inch is gone, and the awful "24 inch is a commercial failure, that will be gone soon as well, sadly. Medellinexpat 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medellinexpat Posted September 28 Report Share Posted September 28 But is the growth in simulation games in PC based flight games? MS are very shy about releasing usage numbers but have said that flight simulation is a niche interest. Now the Steam numbers miss a whole lot of stuff but MSFS usage from there is pretty flat line these days, suggesting despite the millions of units sold the actual user community is pretty static. A lot of growth in simulation games is likely to come from the mobile sector as well rather than PC based activity. Personally I believe the flight simulation market is pretty saturated. How sales go with the new MSFS2024 will be interesting, but they are unlikely to mimic the 2020 release. But a new MS release will once again impact Xplane. If nothing else MS advertising, both paid for and unpaid media articles together of course with the online vloggers, will swamp anything Laminar does. Does Laminar do any useful publicity? MS also reads that wider sim player market better than Laminar. Much of the new audience is younger and the idea of a multi player 20 minute ‘challenge’ is more appealing than a recreating a transatlantic commercial flight. That market share isn’t interested in Austin wobbling on about the physics behind the latest tweak in the flight model. The answer for Laminar isn’t simple. In some ways MS failing with 2024 might be the best hope. It needs very high spec hardware, so expect a lot of negative user feedback on release plus the unit sales will likely be a fraction of 2020. How MS beancounters react to the sales that might be Laminar's best hope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archangel Posted September 28 Report Share Posted September 28 21 hours ago, Stephen said: The problem is that X-Plane is treading water, even losing users to the mega industry instead of benefiting from the explosion of simulation newcomers. I doubt that. Laminar has been adding employees at a steady pace, which is hard to do when revenues are declining. Looking at sales figures from Steam, I see that X-Plane 12 has had gross revenues of $9.2 million since 2002. X-Plane 11 has had gross revenues of $12.3 million since 2017 (a much longer period). X-Plane 12 appears to be selling about twice as fast as X-Plane 11 did, at least on Steam. X-Plane sales not growing as fast as MSFS, certainly, but that doesn’t mean they’re declining. 21 hours ago, Stephen said: There is a huge market out there as MSFS 2020 has shown, so why isn't X-Plane even getting a small minority of that? So, on the one hand, you think that X-Plane has failed to attract gamers. But, on the other hand, you think X-Plane should continue to focus on gamers? The segment where you think it has failed? Are you sure that’s the best strategy? 21 hours ago, Stephen said: I will note that however Laminar Research have done a lot right this year, so the future numbers will be interesting. If I were a gamer, I’d probably agree with that. But I’m not. I can’t agree with removing features I need because gamers aren’t interested in them, ignoring bug reports, removing the feedback page and replacing it with a chat on the Discord game site, and postponing any work on the flight model until 12.2, which is who knows how far away? (One year? Two?) But judging by what I see in the online discussion groups, gamers don’t seem to think Laminar has done a lot right, either. Despite everything Laminar has done for them in the recent updates, their posts are angrier than ever. It’s as if they see Laminar caving in to their demands and decide now is the time to increase the rate of fire and finish them off. If I had my druthers, Laminar would create a separate version of X-Plane that focuses on the flight model and engineering, rather than eye candy and gamer features. But that does not seem to be in the cards. 21 hours ago, Stephen said: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Posted September 30 Author Report Share Posted September 30 No, Gamers will churn through everything, but what you want is those you seek something more significant in wanting to be a Simulation user, in other words recruit the newer users with something that will satisfy their inquisitive needs, once hooked as you know Simulation can deliver a very personal experiance... start the journey. I don't want X-Plane to go the way of missions and experiences just to capture users, but show the technical side, but you also need the visuals to compliment the tech and physics, this is the core of the sim. In lots of ways X-Plane is doing everything right in that aspect, but you still have balance it with better world visuals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archangel Posted September 30 Report Share Posted September 30 20 hours ago, Stephen said: No, Gamers will churn through everything, but what you want is those you seek something more significant in wanting to be a Simulation user, in other words recruit the newer users with something that will satisfy their inquisitive needs, Laminar is not doing that, though. X-Plane 12 removed features like mid-air refueling and air drop. It removed the SR-71, the X-15, even the Space Shuttle. What did it replace them with? Another Airbus. The X-Plane Communications Toolkit is now broken. I could go on. One Laminar employee told me that the “new concept” is not to add new features, or support old features, unless they help the majority of X-Plane users. That would mean videogamers and all those new student pilots who are flooding flight schools right now. Everyone else is “a tiny, tiny niche” as I was told. Austin Meyer recently said, “I would love to have an X-43 in X-Plane, but I’m probably the only person who would give up a Boeing or Airbus to get it.” I sent an email telling him he isn’t the only one. He didn’t bother to respond. 20 hours ago, Stephen said: I don't want X-Plane to go the way of missions and experiences just to capture users, but show the technical side, but you also need the visuals to compliment the tech and physics, this is the core of the sim. In lots of ways X-Plane is doing everything right in that aspect, but you still have balance it with better world visuals. None of the engineers, test pilots, or astronauts I’ve worked with ever said they need sailboat regattas to complement the simulation. Or airline catering trucks or houses and clouds that are a work of art. A balanced approach would be fine if Laminar could afford it, but they can’t. That’s why they’ve postponed any physics enhancements until 12.2.0 (which is who knows how far in the future). Why they’ve been cutting features to pay for work on eye candy. Why they have an entire team working on graphics and only one person working (part time) on the flight model. At the same time, other simulators are not standing still. They now have features like soft-body dynamics, realistic thermals based on terrain and weather, mountain waves, control-surface flutter, and the ability to the import wind-tunnel data to the flight model, which X-Plane lacks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medellinexpat Posted October 1 Report Share Posted October 1 Yesterday I was watching a Youtube video about the state of the hardware issue and it did make me wonder how much of an issue that was in people not moving from XP11 to XP12, as that may require an upgrade in hardware. I myself upgraded my PC in anticipation of XP12, not a cheap or easy thing to do where I live. The argument in the video was that the hardware market is a mess. Effectively you have Nvidia dominating the market and for pricing their high end cards being very expensive. Their current competition is losing ground and in some case suggesting that they will not be competing at the higher end of the market. Current stocks of the existing Nvidia cards are becoming difficult to source as Nvidia moves towards the new 5000 series. What the pricing is going to be on those is not yet known, and remember the issues with the 4090 on release? The one thing you can still find is scalpers believing that their trove of 4090s are still worth a kings ransom. Then there is the processor market with the leader, Intel, in the middle of huge reliability issues with their product - a story where motherboard manufacturers hardly come out well either - and a new chip range on the horizon. Will people eagerly open their wallets to Intel? Will the existing generation be fixed? Will the next generation sell? Add in that some of the water cooler manufacturers are struggling to stay afloat (no pun intended) and of course the constant demand for high end components from AI developers all looking to try to perfect the alchemy of turning base metals into gold. Bottom line to move to XP12 you may well need better hardware and the current market with lack of competition, high prices and new products on the horizon hardly make this the perfect time to upgrade. MS may run into this problem when they release 2024. Their 2020 product may seem just fine for those who want to avoid the $3-4,000 upgrade their new game needs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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