So, What is P3D ? (Current Release)

[FSMP]

Having installed and run the current version of P3D, I am left wondering what it is I am really running ? ( Never got to see ESP )



Maybe Lockheed would like to inform us, in a little more detail.



A few questions, whose answers are not obvious to me.

While it may be that Lockheed chose not to answer some of these questions, one never knows till one asks



(1) Is P3D just the Last version of ESP (1.0) with a Lockheed GUI, and compiled by Lockheed, ( probably no minor achievement ! )



(2) Or, is P3D what would have been the next version of ESP ?



(3) Did Lockheed buy the License for ESP 1.0, or a license for whatever stage of developement ESP was in when Aces closed. (ie Does the Lockheed development of P3D start from ESP 1.0, or what might be a significantly more advanced and feature full, unreleased version.) ?



(4) Did Lockheed get any of the development work associated with FS11, or TrainSim. ie Interactive Human Objects, or better tracking of Ground Object with Terrain, as must have been necessary with Train-Sim, keeping wheels Round, and on Tracks. ? etc etc



The answers to the above, and any other relevent information, would probably give us all a much better idea or how quicky P3D is likely to evolve past ESP 1.0, and some of the feature we might see relatively soon ?



Geoff

[beatle]

Hey Geoff,



P3D is mostly ESP v1 with some additions. Lockheed Martin also has access to the ESP v2 source tree, but that tree was not in a stable state, a lot of things were in a state of change, very few of them were finished (the entire shadow system had been ripped out, but no new system had been added back yet, etc). Some of the additions came from the v2 tree (like support for Multichannel) but a lot more were added from scratch (support for Bathymetry data, support for DirectX based gauges, replacement of the UI, etc) and some were tweaks to existing code (like changes to the existing shaders). There were other changes, but I don't have a complete list of them handy in front of me :->



Some of the new stuff you mention, like Interactive Human Objects, were based on internal MS IP from groups outside ACES, and those had to be removed from the code tree before it was licensed to LM.



The TrainSim code didn't actually add better tracking of ground objects with terrain, the train tracks were defined as splines and the train engines/cars only interacted with those splines (except when you derailed a train, then the engines/cars interacted with the terrain but the same way that current aircraft do).



Tim

[Legacy Support]

Geoff,



Good questions! The community holds us to high standards and you are our customers. We continue to work on the core product and we will be releasing new features and functions regularly. These will be announced as we work through the extensive list of priorities. While we cannot discuss specifics at this time due to competitive reasons that I am sure you will understand, rest assured that it isn't just a rebranded ESP, although obviously this is the core of the product. It is evolving into a product that expands from that baseline to meet the needs of ground, maritime and air environment customers around the world. Tim has mentioned some of the changes, which alone were major additions (like bathymetry). Others include sensor implementation, world-wide landclass improvement, increase in global texture resolution and a few bug fixes. We will endeavor to get the list up in the coming couple of weeks.



Regards,

John

[FSMP]

Quote:
Quote from beatle on November 22, 2010, 20:49

Hey Geoff,



<

Some of the additions came from the v2 tree (like support for Multichannel) but a lot more were added from scratch (support for Bathymetry data, support for DirectX based gauges, replacement of the UI, etc) and some were tweaks to existing code (like changes to the existing shaders).

>



Tim



New Shaders are magnificent ... amazing the difference better shaders have made.



"Replacement UI" - Not been able to test it yet, but this "SOUNDS" interesting ( I hope.) The old UI had major issues of starving the sound card of updates, during some UI functions (like getting display of Aircraft), resulting in an annoying 1 second repeating of what was in the un-updated sound card buffer.??

At the time, I was told this was "unavoidable", due to some excuse about a limitation placed on the UI by Gamespy .. but now, without Gamespy, one hopes that the "Replacement UI", no longer has to starve the sound buffer ???





While I know you will soon be "officially" taking requests and suggestions for updates, let me sneak one in at the start of the list.



Restore, or at least give the option, to have Autogen FADE IN, as it used to way back in early SP1 days, (Or was it late Beta). Processors have come a long way since then, and with Multi Cores, it would be nice to see that autogen FADE in, discreetly, rather than POPING IN, as it does at the moment.



Geoff

[Legacy Support]

Hi Geoff,



It is the Autogen LOD blending, or lack of it, that is causing the popping. It is on the list! This is one of those things that does take away a lot of the realism and I couldn't agree more that it needs to be addressed.



Regards,

John