Development Team for X-Plane

1. nilsh32 11.17.08 / 10pm

   Personally, i think this is well deserved. This T7 looks amazing, and you guys should get some compensation for all the work you’ve put into this bird. What is the price range you think you’ll set? I’m sure your price will be more than fair for this work of art.

   Also, do you think you could do a Delta livery in the new colors? Good Luck!

   Nils
2. dan 11.17.08 / 11pm

   I’ve been encouraging you guys on a number of occasions to charge for your work, not because I’m terrible keen for shareware, but as a compensation for the incredible amount of work you put into each and every project, and the quality you stand for. If a small compensation is what it takes to encourage further development, then I’m more than happy to contribute.

   In the end, we all stand to benefit from a greater selection of quality freeware and shareware aircrafts.

   BTW, love the screenshot. It looks incredible real - such a beautiful bird… No wonder it’s my favorite airliner!
3. exposian 11.18.08 / 12am

   Guys.. If you can deliver an A320 to the quality I see you developing the 777, I am ready to pay whatever it cost. In a nutshell, work like that should be rewarded and if charging for these amazing planes means for us to get better and better experience then it is definitely worth it. All my best wishes.. waiting and hoping for a preview of the A320 soon..
4. chrisj 11.18.08 / 12am

   Sounds fair enough to me. I so appreciate all that people like you do to improve our X-plane experience. I have benefited from a lot of free stuff and have also bought planes and scenery. I’m really grateful to those who do what I have neither the time nor the ability to do, so that I can just boot up X-plane and fly! Seems to me that when people invest a lot of time and effort, as well as expertise, in producing quality planes such as this sounds and looks, they deserve some reward for it. Can’t wait to get my hands on the plane. You have my vote and you’ll get my order.
5. icarus5401 11.18.08 / 2am

   All I can add to what’s already been said is..ditto!
6. Cj27 11.18.08 / 8am

   Well deserved in my opinion. Have you considered say putting it up for beer-ware? Send you the price of well 3 beers for your aircraft. Or you could say, pay as much as you think it is worth, obviously with a low minimum to stop idiots.
7. hahaha 11.18.08 / 10am

   ADIRU? SAARU? Realistic A/P? Overhead panel? full 3D model with animations?
8. elizabeth 11.18.08 / 2pm

   Is there going to be wingflex? I’ll even pay as much as 30$ for a 777 with wingflex.

   Also, keep in mind that if we’re going to be paying for a product, there must be adherence to an actual timeline when developing and releasing products. Up until now, the X-Plane community–for the most part–hasn’t complained about the endless delays in releasing this aircraft, mostly because we were under the assumption that you were doing this for free.

   Now that the plane is payware, you have certain duties to paying customers.

   Eizabeth
9. six7 11.18.08 / 7pm

   Every facet of this aircraft screams payware. I’d happily give up a lunch or movie ticket in exchange for this work of art. Sure would make a nice Christmas gift
10. six7 11.18.08 / 7pm

    BTW, great job on the bare metal texture Dhruv… best I’ve seen yet.
11. Dhruv 11.18.08 / 8pm

    elizabeth,

    We understand your concerns. That being said, I think you’ll find that next to no commercial add-ons ever get release dates listed until they’re very close to release, even those made for MSFS. Not to mention that they don’t have a simulator that’s constantly evolving to worry about ;). As of right now, the plane, regardless of what the screenshots may indicate, is in a near-infant stage of development. Yes, the large obstacles are mostly overcome (namely, the 3D model), but the hard work is yet to come. Right now, we’re speaking in very broad terms with the release date. At the moment, barring any unexpected developments with the sim, we don’t expect the plane to be ready for public consumption until at least next summer. As it evolves, we’ll be able to narrow that target, and what we might do is start putting together a progress diagram that breaks the project down into its component parts.

    Thanks again for your support!
12. Ribs 11.19.08 / 9am

    ^Well, I completely understand your “compromise.” It’s only fair - for the gainsayers, I’d ask them to try building themselves then they’d have no more questions or objections left - guaranteed.

    About deadlines…just take a look at the Vista release, and in fact, most other pay-ware releases. Hence, Dhruv’s move not to specify an exact time at this point, but rather give the general idea and later get more specific to avoid more complaints about deadlines. When it’s done though, I expect some great results!

    All the best for the future of this bird - outstanding work so far.

    ~ReubenM
13. bokepacha 11.19.08 / 5pm

    +1 to everyone. You deserve it guys!!!
14. PRZEMKO 11.20.08 / 3am

    yes, this is a GREAT idea. There arent many payware airliners out there for xp. You really deserve the money for all this hard work. I my self have tried to make a couple of planes, and I can’t imagine how hard making a beauty like this would be. I will certainly purchase this when it comes out. Could you maybe give us a vague time frame for the release?
    Thanks!
    Chris
15. Bonnington 11.21.08 / 9am

    I also think that your great work deserves a compensation. I also think that we, xplane users, deserve a good product. A lot of payware models fly very well but aren’t so good in details and artwork. I am willing to pay for a whole good model.
    Anyway, when thinking on the price take a note that some of us have a different value of the money, and what is affordable for Europeans and North Americans is somewhat expensive for others, like South Americans like myself.

    Thanks and congrats for your effort and good job.
16. Dhruv 11.21.08 / 12pm

    Bonnington,

    I think you’ll find that very few things are affordable for North Americans anymore :p.

    Honestly, we’re not out to rob people with the plane. The major motivation for charging for the work is the simple fact that we feel we’ve accomplished some things that are unparalleled in X-Plane with the visual model. Of course, the visual model is just the start, and we hope to be equally detailed in terms of the flight model and cockpit. Those of you hoping for x737 level systems simulation may be disappointed, as unfortunately none of us at XPJ have the programming knowledge required to pull that off, but I suspect we can get within a reasonable level of fidelity with the systems using only the tools available within X-Plane itself.

    As for price, rest assured that the plane will likely cost you less than a tank of gas at current prices, at least for most of the planet :P!
17. Bonnington 11.21.08 / 1pm

    Thanks Dhruv, I enjoy your planes everyday.
18. scmjohns 11.21.08 / 6pm

    So you still are not releasing this plane and are reneging on your word to release this as freeware?

    Awesome.
19. almik 11.21.08 / 8pm

    I have many payware models, 80% are not cost that money! But for your models I am ready to pay and is assured I will not regret
20. Dhruv 11.22.08 / 7am

    scmjohns,

    I suspect your disappointment is in line with several other less outspoken of the X-Plane masses, and I do sympathize with you. I never like seeing developers break their promises, and I certainly don’t like being in the position of having to renege on any statements that we have made in the past. With that in mind, however, believe me when I say that the final product you will be getting will contain features that we hadn’t planned on putting into the plane while we were anticipating it being freeware. The biggest change that will be immediately noticeable is that we will be adding a fully functional 3D cockpit, which on its own is hundreds of hours of work. Couple that with the fact that the 2D panel will be re-done to X-Plane 9 standards, the textures on the exterior will now be double the resolution of earlier internal builds (and a good four-fold increase over our current public release), and you get the results of almost two years of solid development.

    I see by your profile link that you’re a professional designer by trade. Surely you see the hesitance on our part of letting two years worth of work on a plane that we initially had no plans to revisit this soon out for a song. Not to mention that this project has effectively moved our much-bemoaned 757 to the back burner, which if I recall you were in favor of us doing!

    I understand your position, and I agree that it’s hardly the most scrupulous move on our part. Surely, however, you can understand and appreciate that circumstances change, and sometimes we must revisit past promises as a result.

    Once again, thanks for your support over the past months, and our apologies if you feel directly slighted by our decision.
21. raymondbonilla 3.6.09 / 3am

    My kid and I have been checking this website waiting for the new 777… payware or not!

    This 12 year old will not leave me alone until I ask you: any idea when it will be available?

    He loves the eye candy that will be available.. he is a great pilot already, has already flown C172s a few times (has landed at least three times, with instructor of course!!)

    So please let me know so I can get him off my back! and I can fly XP9 alone!!

    Thank you.