Info from Indiafoxtecho - good and ... bad

[YoYo]

Check this : ((( :

*** IMPORTANT NOTE ON OUR PREPARED PRODUCTS ***While we have been strong supporters of Prepar3D, and while the sim is getting more functionality over time, the sales have been close to 0 recently and, apart from that, it is getting extremely difficult for us to provide support to our products for that platform (we strongly believe that you should not sell a product if you are not able to support it adequately).
In addition, we think that our P3D products are outdated.

Therefore, we have deciced to cease the sales of our P3D products at the end of August - this leaves about 3 weeks for those wanting to purchase them.

Starting from September, our P3D products WILL NOT be available for a while (to grant some exclusivity to those who have purchased them recently) and will be re-released as FREEWARE in 2022.

This was not an easy decision to take as there is a lot to like in P3D, and we will get back to P3D if things will change in future.

Last, we want to say a big THANK YOU to our P3D customers which supported us for all these years.

however the good idea and news is that we will have all his addons for free from 2022.

 

[ZsoltB]

 

[BendyFlyer]

Guess it is yet another example of the elephant in the room - Flight simulation is now well and truly busted in a serious it seems. Gone the way of all the really good developers and modellers who made flight simming a wonder and a joy in the first place, payware and freeware. It really is a seriously shrinking pool now - for aeroplanes - plenty of scenery development not much else. Everybody is now between rock and a hard place.

I well understand commercial reality - no sales no income simple. But I really do not understand the rush away from LM's P3D. It is now a really good computer program, it may not be perfect but for someone like me who has done the sim journey since the time of the Sinclair computeers, it is a wonder. I am afraid there are a lot of expectations for the alternative's that will not be realised either (and this is not a discussion about it v this) . I waited a decade for P3DV5 to come to fruition and another 10 to wait for MS to maybe deliver is I am afraid not on!

Sorry to see Dino go too!

 

[Daube]

The rush out of P3D is quite simple: developers need money, and simmers need to enjoy their addons.

I'll consider three main types of planes:
- the liners and such (including private jets, for example)
- the military planes/jets
- and the GA aircraft.

For the first two categories above, P3D still has its strengths, right ? And currently P3D has the most elaborate addons by far.
However, P3D also has its limitations. People want to fly the FSL A320 in P3D because that's the only place it's available.
But let's imagine that same A320 (well, we will get an even better one from another maker actually) appears on MSFS. Where will you want to fly an A320 the most ? In P3D ? No, of course not.
From my side, decision is not only driven by the graphical environment, but also from the performance perspective. In P3Dv4 any major airport or city simply kills my FPS. I had bought the Aerosoft Airbuses to give a try to serious liners, knowing their performance was notably better than PMDGs or FSL... and nevertheless, it was unflyable on my computer. That same computer however, can handle the Salty 747 or the FBW A320 in a big airport with serious weather quite nicely, with outstanding graphic quality. So MSFS it is. I suspect the situation might be the same for others.

For the last category, I mean, what could P3D bring anyways ? Without addons like OrbX TrueEarth, which have very limited coverage, flying a GA aircraft in P3D (or in XPlane) is just boring, compared to the same experience in MSFS.
Yes, right now the best GAs are still in P3D thanks to A2A, yes. But in a similar way as liners/military addons, if a new A2A aircraft would appear both on P3D and MSFS, where would you want to buy it ? In P3D ? No, of course not What would be the point ?

 

[wombat666]

Agree that MSFS is a pleasant sim to fly sightseeing trips in, but that is the main attraction for me.
Eventually the stampede for MSFS will slow, as it is not a 'game' and the console couch potatoes will drop off with nothing to shoot or bomb.
Of course the realities of 'commerce' are drawing developers away from the other simulations, but it would be wise to not abandon P3D-FSX-X plane, as some of us have long memories.

 

[Priller]

Honestly, MSFS is the future, whether you like it or not. I'm not even mentioning that P3D cannot legally be used for enjoyment/entertainment.

FSX is (commercially) a dead duck. No commercial dev will develop for it anymore. So your best hope (for the fsx crowd anyway) is freeware devs. Call it the CFS2/3 and FS9 way. That is not going to happen with P3D.

Now ask yourself this: how many payware things are being developed for P3D? And how many freeware devs are investing their time in the fairly complex development of new aircraft for that sim?

There is this thing called progress, and even though many will think of it as a setback, you might just want to get over your resistance to progress.

This is of course just MHO.

Take care,

Priller

 

[Navy Chief]

I will continue to enjoy P3DV4.5, V5 because I have a LOT of awesome addons for it, and I enjoy USN Cold War era aircraft and carrier ops! Until I am no longer able to use the program, I will keep it running!

But I also have MSFS, and it is amazing. I have a lot of freeware scenery, aircraft installed and having fun flying. Also have DCS, but have no clue how to use it. I even have the Heat Blur Tomcat (scratch that, I don't have it installed currently, as my download link has expired. Still waiting to hear from Heat Blur about it.). NC

 

[Scorch00]

I can understand this really. But at the same time most hardcore military guys aren't using P3D anymore either, they've moved onto DCS. I'm one of them, so that probably has a lot to do with that sale's downturn. In my experience doing the limited freeware stuff I have, a TON of people still primarily fly their old sims despite having MSFS2020. The updates breaking stuff and a lot of the other gripes people have with it make it more enjoyable apparently to fly their old sims rather than deal with the new one's issues. MSFS might be the future, but it's got a long way to go to dethrone the genre as the dominantly used sim. The content pool has to come up significantly too I think. It's why I personally have stayed developing firefighting stuff for FSX/P3D. Most people are still flying those sims due to lack of content or problems with MSFS2020. I don't even own the new sim yet. But anyway, not going to far off topic. If/when firefighting stuff moves over to MSFS then I might shift focus, but I don't see it being any time soon.

 

[gray eagle]

My Life And Other Sims

I enjoyed this Op-Ed by Nick Garlic which sorta relates to sim preference mentioned here, a good read

https://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/content.php?22966-My-Life-And-Other-Sims



In particular. I like how his succinctly describes all the sims:

"I pretty much enjoy all aspects of flight simulation, and most importantly of all (for myself anyway), I don't take things too seriously in any of my flight simulation worlds.
Why? Well, for me it's all just a game, whatever guise it happens to be in.
It doesn't matter if it's FSX, X-Plane or DCS, at the end of the day, you're just sitting on your bottom pushing pixels around a screen in a highly enjoyable way."


Pretty much sums it all up.......

 

[gastonj]

Hi,
He does what he thinks is good for his business, but that's not what will influence my decision whether or not to switch to MSFS. It is not because the market is under MSFS or that the future is under MSFS that I will change my habits while I have fun on P3D !
I model more or less well the planes that interest me and I am satisfied to see them fly on P3D.
JMC

 

[Manschy]

I am happy to get the IFE stuff for free!

Regarding MSFS, call it progress, but for sure not at any cost!
If you like progress by losing control of your sim by updates and patches you can't operate, whatever.
If you call it progress when a sim is no longer a reliable sim, whatever.
If you like progress by a sim which ride roughshot over third-party-developers, whatever.
If you call it progress when this sim will primarily proceed to only perform on XBox near future....anyway.

Whatever, in this case I am happy to stick in the mud and happy to be able to fly around whenever I want - not when Microsoft does. I am not hooked on weekly updates unable to uphold my version which I like contrary to all other sims.

Waiting maybe for 2 years or more to - maybe!!! - get a finished simulator which runs without any mistakes, stable and almost no more updates, with a ready SDK for 3rd-party-developers and being able to fly roughly the same variety of aircraft - THIS is the correct progress to go.

Meanwhile, I am happy for sure about any great and formerly expensive stuff which will be for free like IFE - thanks in advance for all offers which will come!

 

[CIMOGT]

I am happy to get the IFE stuff for free!

Regarding MSFS, call it progress, but for sure not at any cost!
If you like progress by losing control of your sim by updates and patches you can't operate, whatever.
If you call it progress when a sim is no longer a reliable sim, whatever.
If you like progress by a sim which ride roughshot over third-party-developers, whatever.
If you call it progress when this sim will primarily proceed to only perform on XBox near future....anyway.

Whatever, in this case I am happy to stick in the mud and happy to be able to fly around whenever I want - not when Microsoft does. I am not hooked on weekly updates unable to uphold my version which I like contrary to all other sims.

Waiting maybe for 2 years or more to - maybe!!! - get a finished simulator which runs without any mistakes, stable and almost no more updates, with a ready SDK for 3rd-party-developers and being able to fly roughly the same variety of aircraft - THIS is the correct progress to go.

Meanwhile, I am happy for sure about any great and formerly expensive stuff which will be for free like IFE - thanks in advance for all offers which will come!

I understand the problem of having to develop a project alone, for several platforms, without the help of a support group that distributes responsibilities, it is an exhausting and long job, I already have MSFS 2020 but I agree that the constant and long Updates make it a viable platform for a couple of years probably, I love P3D, it is a platform that I feel very comfortable with.

 

[expat]

I love P3D, it is a platform that I feel very comfortable with.

I second that and it sums it up nicely. It is the most stable and versatile flightsim I have experienced. I am staying with P3D 4.5 as I am not convinced the improvements of v5 vs. v4.5 is worth the niggles. More so with MS2020. Very open to being persuaded otherwise!

 

[scotth6]

I'm mostly sticking to P3Dv4.5, as I am also the most comfortable with that, and I have spent so much time, money and effort in to getting that set up the way I like it. That being said, the visuals and performance have been improved in P3DV5. I only recently installed P3DV5, and I am impressed with what I have seen. All that being said (again!) I also fly in XP11 quite a bit, as I really like the night time lighting and ambience, and also get really good performance with some excellent addon aircraft in VR. I also enjoy MSFS, but mostly for VFR at the moment, and I'm not doing any long flights yet. VR in MSFS is also excellent though, and of course you have the benefit of some amazing graphics, ground imagery and photogrammetry, weather, all with pretty good performance, especially for what you are experiencing. I am not a fan of the flight model(s) overall in MSFS yet. It could be as simple as not having my controls calibrated right I supppose, but something just feels a bit off, especially flying airliners, even the FBW A320.

 

[udidwht]

I'll be waiting for....

https://www.vrsimulations.com/rhino.php

Then Tacpack...

It will happen. It is inevitable.

 

[delta_lima]

Re Dino's F-35. Running v4.5.

Where can this be purchased from? Only found the MSFS version on simMarket.

Thanks for the help.

dl

 

[RobM]

Re Dino's F-35. Running v4.5.

Where can this be purchased from? Only found the MSFS version on simMarket.

Thanks for the help.

dl

You can still get P3d version 3.5 at PC Aviator:

https://www.pcaviator.com/store/product.php?productid=20887&cat=0&page=1

..but you then have to go to the Indiafoxtecho website to get the free update(s) to version 3.65.2, required for P3D4.5's PBR
textures to display correctly:

http://indiafoxtecho.blogspot.com/2013/12/t-45c-goshawk-project-release-250.html

The updates are in the right-hand green column, you have to page down to get to them. I can't recall now if you need both
updates shown (overwriting in turn), or just the last one. If the updates don't download anymore, you may have to contact
Dino on Indiafoxtecho's Facebook page.

I hope that helps - Rob

 

[delta_lima]

You can still get P3d version 3.5 at PC Aviator:

https://www.pcaviator.com/store/product.php?productid=20887&cat=0&page=1

..but you then have to go to the Indiafoxtecho website to get the free update(s) to version 3.65.2, required for P3D4.5's PBR
textures to display correctly:

http://indiafoxtecho.blogspot.com/2013/12/t-45c-goshawk-project-release-250.html

The updates are in the right-hand green column, you have to page down to get to them. I can't recall now if you need both
updates shown (overwriting in turn), or just the last one. If the updates don't download anymore, you may have to contact
Dino on Indiafoxtecho's Facebook page.

I hope that helps - Rob

Thanks Rob - the link to the update is broken, at least as far as I could tell. https://drive.google.com/open?id=1wDGTe8DyQuwGGP_FFW6P1f8DGlEgOkiE

I might stay with the freeware version, as in reading the warning on the pcaviator site, it may be hard on frames on my pc.

Regards,

dl