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openLC EU final pricing


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Hello all,


 


By now it is apparent to most of you we are spending a significantly longer amount of time and development on openLC EU, and the reasons are quite simple to explain:


 


1. We ran into a lot of bad data issues trying to translate public data into LC format. There were a LOT of issues with land use classifications that have required re-tooling the conversion methods and thousands of hours of manual intervention and tweaking.


 


2. The original project scope has vastly increased from FTXG + 1kmx1km LC + some new textures , to over 42! new sets of unique textures, autogen, five seasons, night lighting etc, all indigenous and  relevant to the vast diversity of countries all across Europe


 


3. The change of scope means the project will take 7 months longer than expected and therefore much more expensive to produce.


 


If you think of openLC EU as an UBER FTX Region of 10,176,246 km², then you need to appreciate the R&D/development costs versus value given to customers.


 


So we're going to price it between a payware airport (AU$32.95) and a full-fat region (AU$40.95) and set the price to a level that directly proportional to the time/money spent and the value given to the customer.


 


This means it will be priced at AU$38.95 (US$32, Euro 25, £20)


 


Of course, this will make some of you unhappy but the reality is we're running a business and all our projects need to turn a profit at the end of the day. 


 


Think again of openLC EU as an uber-region (without POIs, photoreal areas, upgraded airports and poly LC) over 10million km² and you can see that it still represents excellent value for money when you experience just what a transformation it gives to Europe.


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It seems a reasonable price bearing in mind that it covers the entire Europe. Of course not including UK islands. From all the preview shots , I can say that it is money for value.


 


Good job John and your team, this changes a lot for FSX, making it more realistic and enjoyable. I like the graphic very much.


 


Terry


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10,176,246 km² =  $.0000031 per km²   


       $32.00


 


All in all a very fair value, such that there should not be one single complaint....If there is I will personally book a ticket and visit you for your economics lesson. :ph34r:


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Is that all?  ;D  I was honestly expecting it to cost more than a normal region based on the scope and amount of work put into it. As an end user, having all of Europe upgraded with a single product provides far more value than a payware airport, as I will be using it almost everywhere I fly. This same will apply when I get my hands on OpenLC NA.


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No it means that we originally wanted to release it in Oct/Nov 2013.


 


Also I cannot justify a higher price than a full-fat region because they cost much more money to produce with a larger development team and have much more content in them.


 


Also openLC includes the UK and Ireland; last time I checked they were still in the EU (UKIP hasn't had their way quite yet :) ) However you would be better served with the full-fat regions for that part of the EU, as will FTX Norway.


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We are still planning to release openLC NA before year's end. The delay with EU has given us the benefit of R&D time and fine-tuning LC creation processes. The slowest part of the openLC development cycle now is the creation of new textures and autogen.


 


Also note that we are releasing a LOT of free FTX Global/Vector/openLC-ready airport upgrades for EU, the third pack is in final testing already.


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Holy crap, you are joking right?


John, reading your post, I was expecting something like the cost of or around global. I think that less that $40 is pretty cheap compared to other addons that don't offer the quality of what is seen in the previews. I think that is more than fair, and honestly, I had not seen the initial price quotes from Orbx on this, but I am pleasantly surprised at how CHEAP it is.


 


Thanks....too bad about the wait for 7 more months, but I know it will be worth it.


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Great news John!

Let's see, if I give up 2 bottles of wine or three 6 packs of GOOD micro-brews..... Hmm that's about US $30. And your team is impressing the wife enough that she asks which areas/airports I'd like for birthdays, anniversaries итд. ;)

Respectfully,

Brian

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To put this in perspective: That's the price I had to pay for transferring my A2A C172 FSX license into a Prepar3d2 Pro license.


 


Kind regards, Michael


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