This is just my 0.02, and of course I’m biased because I work for the company but: version 9 is really cheap – it’s a pretty good value for all of the things it does. Version 10 will be better, but if you think you might get $30 of value out of a complete X-Plane install, go for it.

Hi Chris,

Sorry for the delay in commenting, but I only discovered your blog yesterday. I have been reading A LOT of them since discovery and enjoying every minute! 🙂

I have been a professional programmer since… well…, COBOL, DB2 and CICS. So, I think I am qualified to ask/comment the following. FYI – I may come off sounding like a prosecuting attorney, but my motivation is quite amiable. 🙂

You said… “Date, feature set and quality are the big three. You can’t adjust one without affecting the others.”

Too true! HOWEVER, there is a trap in those words development-wise. When you stated the focus was only on “feature set and quality” leaving “Date” to be free to roam about the calendar, you implied a reciprocal flexibility to “feature set and quality.” As Jimmy pointed out, this *is* “dangerous!” It is so because without the fence of a “Date,” features along with the quality of the product have no “police” to keep them in line. It’s just human nature.

In light of the above, let me provide a litmus test which the LR team can use to determine *if* there is real accountability here…

Q1: Has the “feature set” been finalized, i.e., a checklist of specifically and exhaustively defined features?
Q2: Has the “quality” been quantified for specific parameters, i.e., FPS on ranges of machines, etc.?
Q3: Has the actual metrics been graphed against the slope of “planned” completion?

With the lack of a solid “Date,” the other two *have* to be set in stone; otherwise, you are just kidding yourself. “Scope Creep” can be a development team’s worst nightmare, but in some circumstances, it can also become their best friend as it will allow the innocuous (but deadly), “Oh well, it’ll just take just a little while longer to implement this.” Unless, these “just a little more…” episodes are recorded and tracked a programmer/development team will become immune to their overall effect. They will fade from memory in a fog. Once faded they no longer carry the power to push development, but actually become part of the siren’s song of “everything’s ok.”

The bottom line is if the LR team has indeed established these constraints to “feature set and quality” then kudos to you and all is really well!

If there is no whiteboard, blackboard, “NOTICE” stapled to the bulletin board or some other fixed and tangible “ruler” for completion, well, you guys need to rethink some things. I’m hoping for the former, but reality is reality.

[Disclaimer – Since I am reading your blog chronologically, all the above may be old news, but my comments are based on the *feel* of the tenor and flow of what I have read to this point.]

See, I told you I was friendly! 🙂

Thanks for allowing all of us “inside” and may you and the Laminar Research team be blessed with skill beyond your experience and wisdom beyond your years!

You have a right to your opinion and clearly you’re upset but you’re making a lot of false assumptions here.

As anyone knows who builds anything for a living, it always takes 3 times longer than what most people think it should. Expecting you few guys to crank out an “awesome” v10 in less than a year (I say 2 or 3) is really rather infantile. I have images of little children who have so many toys that they tire of a new one after 15 minutes, and want something “better”. No amount of effort from Laminar can satisfy that mentality. Did version 9 (and all the free addons that noone can keep up with) suddenly become completely unenjoyable and worthless just because a “newer version” is being worked on?

I suggest that the gripers put their misguided energy into building something that actually makes X-plane better for all of us. Pick up the hammer and saw and go to work. Once you see how much effort and strain it takes to be creative in even the small things that you thought were so simple, then you will be able to begin to appreciate the massive effort these few guys at Laminar have been expending. There were hundreds of people involved in making MS2004, and how close to perfection was it? To see the achievement of X-plane from a few talented men is not only commendable, but a marvel. Let’s not expect Divine productions from mere men, but be thankful we have X-plane, with its many enjoyable features, at all.

The natives are restless for new tidbits…. 😉

Sorry…