announcement What we are working on - 2022

[makapala]

Great to hear about GB North. Please can you ensure that all of the major landmarks between Newcastle and the Scottish Border.. including Berwick upon Tweed and Bamburgh Castle are included and not fall between the joins of the existing "Central" product.

[Lt.Bran]

Orbx please can we have an update and eta on the fixes for Brisbane cityscape and Sydney cityscape. It's been nearly a month and I'm starting to want my money back on the two products I can no longer use. Second I don't think it's right to continue selling the product while people can't even use it.

Edited March 1, 2022 by Lt.Bran

[Holger Sandmann]

Hi Lt. Bran,

 

working on it as quickly as we can. Adjusting hundreds of objects and polygons to match the new photogrammetry content is a major undertaking. Landmarks Adelaide was rather straightforward by comparison 

 

Cheers, Holger

 

 

[Lt.Bran]

Thanks for letting us know, can't wait.

[Vee One]

On 2/10/2022 at 3:21 PM, Anna Cicognani said:

 

It is still on our mind, but it is on ice for the moment.

We made a few city packs a bit "out of context," like Cape Town, Dubai and Mumbai, and despite being great executions, with lots of research done and great POIs, they do not seem to be very popular so it is a hard decision for us to keep doing loss-makers.
If we do too many of those, we won't be making anything any more soon ;-)

Hi Anna,

 

As you know, Flight simulator is about planes and airports. Cities are important as well. I myself have some cityscapes. I can imagine you know about our community and the fact that a lot of people have asked for Dubai International airport to be made. Fly Tampa made the FSX and P3D versions of it (now very outdated) and we (the community) have asked them to do the MSFS version of it. Our many petitions to Fly Tampa has landed on deaf ears. Now we want to ask Orbx if they have any plans to do it. There is a whole lot of us waiting for that airport to be done (Asobo’s rendition is not a good one as you know). I am more than certain that if you’d do it, sales of Dubai cityscape would explode, apart from the fact that Dubai’s airport would sell very well.

 

Again, your beautiful Dubai cityscape has a problem. There is no airport to land at or take off from.

I hope this post will make Orbx see that Dubai is a much sought-for airport. Then we can all get the cityscape and enjoy the approaches and departures from this beautiful city. I have been there twice myself in real life.

 

But as of now, for many of us, it’s pointless to buy a cityscape in a Flight Simulator without a proper airport. Because flight simulation is all about planes and airports.

 

Thanks for listening, Anna.

Edited March 2, 2022 by Vee One

[ftwd]

Would so love to see Dubai City converted for X-Plane, it would be absolutely gorgeous.

[wombat]

Hi Anna,

do you know when Jandakot will be made for MSF2020 ?

Ron

[flybius]

So, it is clear that you have abandoned X-Plane!  I can accept that and move on... But why?   

 

The usage data (that can be easily seen in the flight sim community) suggests a different metric than the amount of new X-Plane titles that you release or plan to release...

 

I have to ask, is this simply because it is much cheaper and simpler to develop MSFS titles?   Will the proportion adjust to the usage once X-Plane 12 has been released?

Edited March 18, 2022 by flybius
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[Seanmo]

The "who is purchasing new scenery" metric is more important. And every scenery maker who has developed for all three platforms report the same thing. It has nothing to do with cost, but rather opportunity cost. The (FS) world has moved on....

Edited March 18, 2022 by Seanmo

[flybius]

So isn't this a chicken/egg kind of thing?  You cannot expect to sell as much of the impoverished number of titles available to one sim, as you can of the abundant number of titles for the other sim, can you?

 

To me, it seems like it must be a lot more difficult to develop X-Plane scenery, which would make it more costly to produce.

 

I have been a good customer to Orbx over the years and I feel like I should be able to ask this question... A company that I have supported has suddenly stopped producing the very products that I have purchased over the years... I would like to know why!

Edited March 18, 2022 by flybius

[John Dow]

25 minutes ago, flybius said:

So isn't this a chicken/egg kind of thing?  You cannot expect to sell as much of the impoverished number of titles available to one sim, as you can of the abundant number of titles for the other sim, can you?

 

To me, it seems like it must be a lot more difficult to develop X-Plane scenery, which would make it more costly to produce.

 

I have been a good customer to Orbx over the years and I feel like I should be able to ask this question... A company that I have supported has suddenly stopped producing the very products that I have purchased over the years... I would like to know why!

I guess one analogy that is relevant is the fate of the fax machine. Somewhere in the back of my shed is a perfectly serviceable fax machine, but for some reason I can't buy any of the rolls of thermal paper it uses. The reason is the population stopped supporting the technology. There were many many people who had supported the industry, but in the end the companies producing the machines and the paper rolls found it uneconomic to continue as demand fell away. 

[flybius]

I agree with this concept, and would certainly understand this to be the case if we were talking about an abandoned sim. There are still a substantially large number of X-Plane pilots.

 

It's all good. I guess I am a bit disappointed that my hope for more US TE scenery has now vanished 

 

Time to move on...  There are much more important things happening in the world right now!

[John Heaton]

4 hours ago, flybius said:

I agree with this concept, and would certainly understand this to be the case if we were talking about an abandoned sim. There are still a substantially large number of X-Plane pilots.

 

It's all good. I guess I am a bit disappointed that my hope for more US TE scenery has now vanished 

 

Time to move on...  There are much more important things happening in the world right now!

Very probably - the navigraph poll showed us that

 

However - if you were Orbx - and had been fed piecemeal tit bits about the new X Plane sim XP 12 - constantly

over the past 6 months  - and still no release date - just how would be using your staff to create new product for

something as complicated as a Flight sim - not yet on the market ??

 

Not forgetting the impossibility of confirming your original question relative to a virtually guaranteed conformity

for addons made for XP 11 to work in XP 12 ---  History shows the pitfalls in this when a new /upgraded sim is

released to an eager market

 

" Time to move on" -- absolutely - with the patience the rest of XP 11 pilots  - and developers -  have to have

[DFWSupertrooper]

Exciting stuff, @Anna Cicognani!  Especially looking forward to ESSA, ENGM and the US regionals!  Would love for you guys to tackle KAUS/Austin as well somewhere down the road.  Would be simply beautiful and you guys have never touched Texas. 

 

Thanks for everything and for keeping us all slobbering over previews!!

[mattius]

A decent Dubrovnik, (LDDU),  for MSFS would be most welcome!

 

[Socata]

Good morning, is there the possibility of new Spanish airports for MSFS as well as airport updates such as LEAS LEBB?
Have you ever thought of taking a tour of the Caribbean for small, medium and large airports?
Thanks

[explain]

I just got my 1st Orbx for X-Plane. A Bundle pack for Northern California, Southern California, Oregon, Washington and Florida. Nice. And my frame rates stay up. For Northern California, do you plan on an update. I noticed flying over the peninsula below the city of San Francisco, Candlestick Park is still there. Candlestick used to be the baseball park for the San Francisco Giants and the Football stadium for the San Francisco 49ers. The new Giants is now Pac Bell Park located by the piers and the Bay Bridge in view. I noticed it is not there.    

[keino333]

Wow..looking forward to all of this....Can we include and update / rework of EGLC all platforms   

[Er!k]

1 hour ago, keino333 said:

Wow..looking forward to all of this....Can we include and update / rework of EGLC all platforms   

I hope so... But I do not think they will update EGLC. Contacted support a while ago about some issues and they stated EGLC will not be updated...

[Flyer2022]

Wonder, if there by any chance plans to at least update Göteborg-Landvetter? Right now the new terminal and Scandic hotel are still under construction in the current version.

[TheLimbix]

Hi Anna and Team,

 

I see that @Tim Harrisis working on NZNV. This is my home airport and was wondering if there is any help I can provide with this?

 

Cheers,

TheLimbix

[Lucidus]

On 3/18/2022 at 1:41 AM, flybius said:

So, it is clear that you have abandoned X-Plane!  I can accept that and move on... But why?   

 

The usage data (that can be easily seen in the flight sim community) suggests a different metric than the amount of new X-Plane titles that you release or plan to release...

 

I have to ask, is this simply because it is much cheaper and simpler to develop MSFS titles?   Will the proportion adjust to the usage once X-Plane 12 has been released?

Hope that they return when XP12 comes. Now it may be wise to postpone development until that. Maybe they wait how many will buy XP12.

[sun_king_135]

I'd like to throw in the idea for a Kuala Lumpur Cityscape and Kuala Lumpur International Airport scenery in the hope for it to be considered by Orbx. If they're like Singapore it'd be awesome! 

 

Thanks so much for your constant support and updates for the MSFS2020 simulator which has become my sole program. 

 

Kind regards. 

 

PS. A Pripyat 1986 Cityscape would be really awesome! 

Edited April 19, 2022 by sun_king_135

[vanislepilot]

I hope you guys will consider bringing NSTU over MSFS as well. As a bit of a flight sim "purist", I stick to study level aircraft, so the only way I can hop across the Pacific is relying on something like an NSTU fuel stop for the PMDG 737, Fenix A320 etc...

 

Thanks

[md500f]

Yep Pago in MSFS is a +1 for me too. 

[Gstove]

Just bought GB north and it’s great. There’s a real lack of this kind of VFR scenery on the Xbox as we’re limited to the marketplace.

 

Was hoping the canaries and Scotland (or even gb south) region packs would be coming too. Perhaps if GB north sells well then we’ll see it? 

I think seafront sims and the guy that makes the birds packs are doing well on the Xbox providing more VFR content for exploring. We’re also getting more France VFR products and packs appearing too. 
 

My view is the Scotland and Canaries both have great alrports now and have been featured in world updates so people will be drawn to these areas more. They’re also appearing in more third party add ons like the FS academy missions etc, 
 

City packs like Dubai or cape town look great and I bought Dubai on Xbox day 1 but the surrounding areas aren’t that great for flying and exploring. I expect after future WUs cover S Africa people will pile in and buy more content in those areas. 
 

Thanks for keeping us up to date Anna, Orbx products are always a marketplace purchase for me. 

Edited April 23, 2022 by Gstove

[Jetpilot82]

Hello Team,

 

is Orbx going to adopt all its P3d Airport into MSFS in a reasonable time?

 

I'm especially looking for California Airports (San Carlos, Sonoma, Agua Dulce, Kern Valley)

Are there other Cali Airports planned for the future?

 

There are some important small fields missing (even in P3D), for example Torrence (KTOA) Palo Alto, (KPAO), Santa Monica and Napa Valley, I would really appreciate to see those fields. 

 

Best

 

[carlosqr]

On 3/1/2022 at 9:37 PM, Holger Sandmann said:

Hi Lt. Bran,

 

working on it as quickly as we can. Adjusting hundreds of objects and polygons to match the new photogrammetry content is a major undertaking. Landmarks Adelaide was rather straightforward by comparison 

 

Cheers, Holger

 

 

Wow a hell of job....

Just to get a new MS update on the area

I can't believe the headache these updates cause

Thank you Olger!!

Cheers

Carlos

[Jack Sawyer]

Thanks Anna!  It's nice to see so many P3D Orbx airports in MSFS.  Do you happen to have a list of just Orbx in-house produced airports and areas and not third party?  I like Orbx's touch and charm.

 

Thanks.

[Johan Visser]

Anna

 

When can we expect the Landmarks Cape Town City Pack for the XBox?

 

Thanks

[Woogey]

@Anna CicognaniI guess my post will have two parts to it.  I was wondering if Jarrad  Marshall was still around?   From the OG team,  he was one of my favorite artists.  His products are very nice indeed, especially Felts Field.  My second question, relates to your city sceneries and the recent release of X-plane 12.  Do you see or have a plan to convert the city sceneries over, as they are actually MORE in need for XP than any other platform?  
 

Sincerely, Preston 

[Anna Cicognani]

2 hours ago, Woogey said:

@Anna CicognaniI guess my post will have two parts to it.  I was wondering if Jarrad  Marshall was still around?   From the OG team,  he was one of my favorite artists.  His products are very nice indeed, especially Felts Field.  My second question, relates to your city sceneries and the recent release of X-plane 12.  Do you see or have a plan to convert the city sceneries over, as they are actually MORE in need for XP than any other platform?  
 

Sincerely, Preston 

 

Hi Preston

 

Jarrad is taking extended leave (I am sure we mentioned this in a previous post). At this stage, I/we do not know when he will be back. One of the best, hands down. We hope to see him back soon.

 

On the XP12 question - we are looking at the new platform and the compatibility with our products plus some new content, so stay tuned for more as we work through this testing period. Many of our airports are already XP12 compatible, but the base imagery has changed and we need to test and make changes so we don't have floating (or buried) buildings. 

 

Cheers!

[John Heaton]

1 hour ago, Anna Cicognani said:

 

Hi Preston

 

Jarrad is taking extended leave (I am sure we mentioned this in a previous post). At this stage, I/we do not know when he will be back. One of the best, hands down. We hope to see him back soon.

 

On the XP12 question - we are looking at the new platform and the compatibility with our products plus some new content, so stay tuned for more as we work through this testing period. Many of our airports are already XP12 compatible, but the base imagery has changed and we need to test and make changes so we don't have floating (or buried) buildings. 

 

Cheers!

If I may Anna - does the above include the 2 T/Earth  softwares - for UK and US

[Anna Cicognani]

1 hour ago, John Heaton said:

If I may Anna - does the above include the 2 T/Earth  softwares - for UK and US

 

High on the priority list! 

[John Heaton]

Good news - I wouldn't fly XP without it - so I will wait a while until the day - and save my pension

pennies up by that time - I hope !!

[wain71]

that's good, default is better, but Orbx is best...

[cbcdesign]

10 hours ago, Anna Cicognani said:

 

High on the priority list! 

 

Thats good to hear. I noticed some areas in London looking blue, as if they were not loading properly in XP12. But I have to say the textures looked really crisp none the less, much nicer than what I see streamed in MSFS which I also use. 

 

Will you also be looking at tree improvements in TEUK so we can take advantage of the new 3D moving trees the sim has?   

[cbcdesign]

I fail to see what's funny about my question. Care to elaborate Seanmo?

[Anna Cicognani]

13 hours ago, cbcdesign said:

 

Thats good to hear. I noticed some areas in London looking blue, as if they were not loading properly in XP12. But I have to say the textures looked really crisp none the less, much nicer than what I see streamed in MSFS which I also use. 

 

Will you also be looking at tree improvements in TEUK so we can take advantage of the new 3D moving trees the sim has?   

 

Yes re trees. We are looking at all aspects of the regions. 

[wolfko]

12 hours ago, cbcdesign said:

I fail to see what's funny about my question. Care to elaborate Seanmo?

 

I guess, he is amused that you find XP textures much nicer than MSFS textures. I was also a bit confused after reading you post.