I have a desk! I have a computer! I have an internet connection faster than a stream of carrier pigeons, each with a single data packet!
I have… no idea what to do next. No idea at all.
Earlier today I fired up Prepar3d v4 and went for a flight around Essex and Sussex in the Aeroplane Heaven P-47D Thunderbolt, starting from and ending at my WiP Boxted airfield, but visiting a bunch of others including Raydon, Leiston and a couple of USAAF bomber stations. It brought about the question, though, whether anyone was actually still using this sim or not?
All the way through my time without access to do anything, I’ve been paying Lockheed-Martin a monthly subscription for Prepar3D v4, even though I couldn’t use it. Why? Because I forgot about it completely, which was a bit silly. At some point during that time, v5 was released and everyone I know seemed to jump up and move to that. Speaking to people who pay attention to these things (or sell things), it seems FSX is being used less and less. Now we have a release date for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 as well, which is very pretty, but that pretty scenery is made up of, or sitting on, Bing maps imagery. Outside of the development team and the small number of developers who are testing it, we have no idea at all what the SDK will allow or otherwise. We do know that it will include an in-sim storefront, but that you will also be allowed to distribute add-ons outside that as well.
So where does that leave me and the stuff I produce here, using the FSX (and more recently P3d v4) SDK tools? It’s a question I was asking before MSFS2020 was announced, but with release supposedly in August (so a usable update some time next year then? 😉 ) it’s become more pertinent very quickly.
Will users switch from FSX and P3D to MSFS2020? How quickly? How long will it take for tools to be updated to allow me to develop for MSFS2020 without spending days hand-coding XML and compiling it from the Command Prompt?
What will Laminar Research do with XPlane to respond to the new sim? Does anyone actually want what I produce in X-Plane? How the heck do I get my models to work in X-Plane without looking like they are made out of very polished glass whenever the sun shines on them?
What the heck am I supposed to be developing for now? I have no flipping idea whatsoever and it’s very annoying.
I am presently using Prepar3D v4 exclusively. Whether or not I go to Prepar3D v5 is unknown to me as of yet. MSFS2020 is more of an unknown. My computer and graphics card are good enough and I have enough SSD disk space, but my internet connection is marginal and I’m really too cheap to upgrade. I really love the scenery you have developed. I am a WWII Warbird fan and fly with the 91st Bombardment Group. It would be really nice if A2A would upgrade their B-17 to Prepar3D v4. They said it would be soon but soon is such a very non-specific term.
Regarding A2A, given that their civilian aircraft sales massively dwarf any of the warbirds, I expect them to be bottom of the list, unfortunately.
I have and am enjoying MSFS2020, but my concern with putting WW2 airfields into very modern photoscenery is twofold: I either have to create fake photoscenery, or use a plain “grass green” base polygon, which will then be surrounded by the (fairly – some of it is 10 years or so old now!) modern Bing maps scenery and buildings. The former is currently above my skillset (check the Hamble scenery for evidence…) and the latter is not going to be acceptable to most people. We also have no warbirds at all for MSFS2020 at present.
V4 versus V5 of P3D is a more interesting conundrum. It seems from what I’ve read and been told that it’s about a 50/50 split between the two. A lot of people have invested heavily in V4 and don’t want to lose it, but there are enough differences between the two that I’m not sure whether scenery is cross-compatible. Bumpy runways in V5 implies not. Additionally to that, in order to support both, I’d have to have subscriptions to the dev licence for both and that’s starting to get expensive, as well as heavy on hard drive space!
Any chance of developing for MSFS2020? Would be great to have the airfields there too
Hi Ian, I’ve been “playing” with the scenery tools in the MSFS2020 SDK and trying to convert my Thurleigh models, with some success and some issues. I think everyone is in the same boat at the moment in that we need some more from the SDK. Am I still interested in WW2 airfields… oh yes. I have FS9, FSX, P3D4, M3D5 and MSFS2020 all on this machine atm. The problem with the latest one is that I’ve no real aircraft I’m into to fly in it. For this reason I’ve been trying to busy myself with scenery and enjoying it if I’ honest. Its interesting trying to learn something new.