Possibility of new front page for FTX

[Spacey]

Hi Orbx,

I am just wondering about the possibility of considering a kind of urgent rethink/revamp to the front page of FTX itself, not due to Orbx's fault, but to the confusion developing in the Flight Sim Market with 5 platforms Orbx is now servicing.

At present, there is one page for all purchasable FTX products, and one page for FTX Freebies. But now we have 5 versions of Flight Sim which must be a nightmare for Orbx, but it is also getting confusing for consumers, especially those new to Flight Sim, unsure which way to go.

So I am wondering if the following changes could be taken under consideration:

The front page be changed to a more introductory page with links to important FTX issues and areas. Each topic only a couple of lines long and then a link to a more detailed page on each topic. Topics could include,

1. Who FTX (Orbx) is (then link to Orbx Page)

2. Type of product FTX is, then link to detailed info including the FTX users manual

3. The forms use by customer and then link to the forums

4. Rules of using the site including forum rules and copyright, then links to each of thes pages

5. And this is the big one ... List of which versions of flight sim supports and then a direct link to each of the platform products. The reason for this is it is getting very hard to remember what product is compatible with what platform. This way, customers ca go straight to the FSX - steam edition and see what is officially available. And the same for FSX - Boxed, P3d v1, P3D v2, P3D v3. And as a product is updated for another platform, it is simply added. Each of these individual platform/product pages, will allow for statements such as no dates given for next released product, or other important information can be given

6. Which platforms FTX doesn't support and why (to stop any begging for that platform to be Serviced)

7. Links to Maps of the world - one for regions and the othe for airports

8. Links to enhance the Orbx flight Sim world, (eg OZx, hardware manufacturers, FSS, supporting software such as REX, ASN, VoxATC)

9. Designers of Orbx productsdkb

10. Hardware recommendations and why.

11. Platform comparison chart

12. Anything else Orbx thinks wil help the customer

In this way, many questions that arise in the forums are immediately addressed on page 1, saving valuable developer time.

But more importantly, with the introduction of P3D v3, the developing confusion over so many products and so many platorms would be immediately resolved. I know it is not not Orbx's fault about all the platforms out there, and it is great to see Orbx supporting so many of them, but Orbx has expanded so well with so many product (100+), not to mention the Freeware, that individual platorm pages would now be a great help. And allow Orbx to discuss any important issues on the page .

Most of the info is already done and available, but the forum now is so massive, it's not always easy to.find things (and really hard for newbies). This would just make it easier for people coming into Orbx find things faster, and help us Oldies who can't remember where things are

[PeterSuranyi86]

Just one point here: all products are compatible with all the sim platforms. I mean sure, P3D V3 installers are not out yet, but they will and in the meantime people can use various migration tools or just simply point the installer to a different location. Since all these sims are very similar, I personally don't think there are confusion out there regarding compatibility. The case would be different if ORBX would develop for X-Plane, however this is not the case.

[John Venema]

Thanks for your feedback, I'll pass it onto Ben who has been working on our new website for some months now and it's currently in testing.

Keep in mind that all our payware and freeware products will support all sim platforms soon so there will be less confusion for customers. You will notice we are aggressively rolling out V3 installers as we speak and the last of the airports will soon have triple installers, closely followed by the new installers.

Orbx has grown rapidly over the past few years and has over 120 products and hundreds of freeware addons, so it's never a trivial task to keep updating our offerings particularly when there is continual platform version changes. Also keep in mind that to date we have never charged customers for this not insubstantial amount of work.

Finally, most of the go-to information is present in pinned topics on the support forums, and we'll take on board the suggestion to create a consolidated FAQ page on the website to make it easier for newcomers.

[77west]

It is this attitude of support from ORBX that makes you guys a cut above the rest. Please continue to provide us with the most awesome scenery and continue to support the latest platforms available to maximise the enjoyment of these products.

[Richard McDonald Woods]

Here, here!