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.

Hello Stephen.   Thanks for your detailed review. My favourite state of an airplane is absolutely cold and dark. But if i am asking for the connection of the APUs, my FO tells me , i have to communicate with the ground crew. But i can't without electricity... . Do you have an advice?

Yes...  FlightFactor Aero have noted that all variants -200ER, -200LR, -300ER, and the -200F (Freighter) versions will be later available, like with the B777v1. But there is no timetable yet set for those releases.

One thing I use is XOrganizer that allow you to choose which sceneries and plugs ins get loaded or do not. Therefore in the New York are I will select the add on airport I am flying to/from and disable any other add on sceneries in the area. Available from the Org store and for me a critical part of my flight planning.   As for the rest of your comments I agree. Adding MSFS eye candy scenery would likely lead to more people leaving as you would need a heavy duty rig. That may change in time of course but reading the forums decent performance is an issue for many people as it is.

Interesting comment(s) discussion One thing that was not brought up is,... a sim w/ highly detailed "eye candy" is going to come at a co$t (of a loss FPS) LR does not have the budget of Micro$oft, so IMHO they should keep on focusing on their core strengths focusing on building a stand alone professional sim that does not need a web connection for graphics Mention this specifically because (in my own use case of XP) I first purchased XP11 in the spring of 2020 AND since that time I have spent over 3k at the ORG store AND at Orbx buying add-on aircraft/scenery (AND this does include $$$ upgrading from a MacMini to a MacStudio to take advantage of XP12) Point being over time I've learned that "eye candy" is going to come at a co$t (of a loss FPS) and I'll give an example,...  Basically I live in CA so the marketplace has offered lots of third party scenery AND FYI I've purchased them all,... BUT (for example) in the Los Angeles geographic basin two scenic add-in (have IMHO declined in quality going from the XP11 to XP12 version,... so these are not worth it in terms of a very high FPS loss rate) http://store.x-plane.org/KSNA--John-Wayne-International-XP12_p_1799.html http://store.x-plane.org/KLGB--Long-Beach-Airport-XP12_p_1759.html Also worth mentioning is LAX itself,... https://store.x-plane.org/KLAX--Los-Angeles-International-HD_p_836.html Basically this add-on has an old XP11 mesh that does look very natural in XP12, so I've opted to not use this one in day-to-day XP sim use Since "Behind the Screen" specifically wrote about... "if you want Cityscapes, the churches and cathedrals that dot the world? well they are not in your vision either, then your flying in the wrong Simulator." What I'd like to see is LR specifically add-in is VFR landmarks (for example) as it has been done in the geographic region of France (which really adds to the realism of the sim,... but does not really case a noticeable FPS loss) http://store.x-plane.org/Obstacles-et-Reperes-VFR-FRANCE_p_1010.html This would especially be useful in the ZLA coverage area for the "pilotedge" service http://www.pilotedge.net/pages/operating-hours-and-service-area Since "cityscape" was mentioned in "Behind the Screen" should mention yet another example where "eye candy" results in a loss of FPS https://inibuilds.com/products/inibuilds-hooper-heliport-58ca-xp Basically enjoy flying the default XP12 R22 (using the PumpX which are full size helicopter controls) BUT with all the "eye candy" at this specific heliport the flight model in XP does not work very well < 35 FPS,... essentially I've learned there is a very real trade off in terms a FPS loss rate when the sim flight is in a dense urban area w/ an add-in scenery that has "eye candy"

Hello, I've been closely following the updates and reviews of your product, particularly the recent model you’ve released. I’m really impressed with the attention to detail and the fidelity you’ve achieved with this aircraft. However, I’m curious to know if you are considering developing or adding additional variants of the same model in the future, specifically the -200ER, -200LR, -300ER, and the -200F (Freighter) versions.   I understand that these variants have unique features that could offer distinct experiences to users, whether it’s due to extended range, cargo capacity, or performance on long-haul flights. Personally, I find these versions fascinating given their significance in commercial and cargo aviation, and I believe they would make a great addition to your catalog.   Could you share if there are any plans to include these variants in your development roadmap, or if it’s something you're considering for the future? I’d appreciate any additional information you could provide.   Thank you for your time, and for continuing to enhance the simulation experience for all of us!

Would it be possible to add the panel for the G500?

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? 

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)

I will add, I know you guys spend way more time and energy on XPlane than I do (I am a committed casual user) and you likely have much deeper insight into the flight sim “industry” than most of your readers  - I respect that and accept that you know more in this area than I.  My comments are based on my own priorities and use of the sim and that’s about it, for whatever little that is worth.

To a degree true but   - plenty of people get involved with a game like Xplane and never buy an add on. There is a group that spends lots on the game, the type of people who follow this site. Lots of people, perhaps more people, like the fact that there’s lots of free content and make use of that - the market adjusts. Noticeably there’s a lot less new content being released but equally there’s always been a huge amount of low quality, extremely niche stuff out there. I buy anything that looks as if it is worthwhile or comes from a fairly small set of developers who do a good job (Toliss, Thranda, FlightFactor, Mister X, Aerobask etc.) but there is a lot of $15 barely if better than the stock on the Org Store. That’s why I buy more of items reviewed on here. You get a better view of whether they are worth your money.   Losing the good developers would be a problem. But who are we shedding tears over? Carenado?    To some extent X-Plane has been left behind and will stay behind because of Microsoft’s heft. But it depends what you want. In terms of a simulator where else can MSFS go and where Simmers (not game players) want to go? Now if you want to rescue the neighbors digital  cat from next door’s  digital tree with your Mil Mi-26 while your digital flight attendant serves you digital sandwiches as you hover then yes, X-Plane is going to be left behind.