Cessna Citation and other things.

[BlueFinn]

On 27.5.2016 at 5:11 AM, Goran_M said:

In the midst of the C23 upgrade and the Saab update, I've been giving this one a little bit of color.

Does that mean you are working on the 340B now? 

[Goran_M]

Unfortunately, the B is not in our immediate or near future.  For the time being, everything is dedicated to the C23 upgrade, Saab 340A update and Citation.  Once those plates are cleared, then we'll look further ahead.

[john82088]

Has the Citation gone into beta testing yet?

[xplana]

without much doubt: no :-)

[Goran_M]

What he said--^

We're getting there.

[JustinWheat]

I see your Facebook page has been updated with a few WIP shots. I can assume release is getting closer and closer. Any chance of release in 2016? 

[Goran_M]

Always a chance.  We're cramming as much work as we can in as short a period of time as we can. (Saab update, Sundowner update and Citation).  We WANT to get the Citation out ASAP.  Will it be this year?  We certainly hope so.  If I had to give you a percentage chance, I'd say it's about 50/50.

[Tim013]

Do you have a working list of things that will be in the SAAB update you are currently working on? 

[JGregory]

5 hours ago, Tim013 said:

Do you have a working list of things that will be in the SAAB update you are currently working on? 

We have an internal work list but will not be making it public.  A list will be published when the update is ready for download.

[Tim013]

Is this update the final one for the SAAB? 

[JGregory]

41 minutes ago, Tim013 said:

Is this update the final one for the SAAB? 

That depends on a lot of factors, many of which we don't even know at this point. 

[BeachAV8R]

On 4/10/2016 at 2:08 AM, bayareaaviation said:

N205CM?

Yes - sorry in the delayed response.

Interestingly, we just sold that airplane (the Citation V). I was a bit misty eyed to see her go. She has taken me all over North and Central America, the Caribbean, Bermuda..all safely..and all reliably. We sold her with over 15,000 hours on the airframe. Fortunately, we are replacing her with another Citation, which will add a second Ultra to our fleet. It is in Witchita at the moment getting the clamshell door installed.

 

[xplana]

Any news on this?

[Goran_M]

Yeah.  It's looking pretty sweet after being textured in PBR!

Ok, I'll be serious.  Jim has been under some pretty serious deadlines with his work on XP11.  While he's been doing that, I've been texturing the Citation in PBR and non PBR (for XP11 and XP10 respectively), as well as some other things I've been working on in my spare time.  

I WILL post screenshots of the Citation in PBR when I'm satisfied with how it looks.  Obviously not in XP11.  I use an external renderer for those.

 

[dr_nerdrage]

On 11/5/2016 at 11:07 PM, Goran_M said:

Yeah.  It's looking pretty sweet after being textured in PBR!

Ok, I'll be serious.  Jim has been under some pretty serious deadlines with his work on XP11.  While he's been doing that, I've been texturing the Citation in PBR and non PBR (for XP11 and XP10 respectively), as well as some other things I've been working on in my spare time.  

I WILL post screenshots of the Citation in PBR when I'm satisfied with how it looks.  Obviously not in XP11.  I use an external renderer for those.

 

Since you mention XP11 and XP10 respectively.. Any word on whether they will be separate licenses or both covered by one purchase?  

[Goran_M]

Good question.

We've had meetings about this, and there is another factor to consider.  Will the XP10 market still be viable by the time the Citation is finished?  If not, then it will likely be made ONLY for XP11.  And THAT all depends on how many updates Laminar release to the first version of XP11 in the months following.

However, (without committing myself to anything) if we do make it for XP10, and people want to purchase it for XP10, and then later want it for XP11, there is a chance there will be a separate license and a small fee incurred due to the extra work needed for PBR. 

But PLEASE don't hold me to that.  We still need to discuss this internally and take a few more things into consideration. 

Edited November 8, 2016 by Goran_M

[dr_nerdrage]

Thanks for the response, Goran. Appreciate the insight into your thought process on it.

I'm sure that as with previous versions, people will wait until their favorite add-ons are updated (if necessary).

[Goran_M]

You're welcome.  

Of course, we will continue to keep our current and future customers in the loop when our decisions become final on any particular topic.  

[pacefast]

Goran 

hi let me introduce myself as I have some History with me } Firstly I am a real world Citation 550 Captain having flown the 500 550 560 and am currently rated and flying on a very nice 1992 550.

I have been flying the Citation 500 series since 1998 

Back then I was heavily involved in the famous Seneca five released for FS and then with Rob Young in Real Air Simulations flying the real Marchetti and working with Rob on the flight dynamics trying to get the aircraft to spin in FS 

I have been out of flight simulations for some time but has just added X-PLANE 11 beta on my MAC 

I was looking for a good flight model Citation 2 as thats what I fly real world 

When will yours be ready ?

Pacefast 

[Goran_M]

No accurate estimates on when it will be done.  We have to get our previous aircraft working in XP11, first.  (A few things have changed regarding plug ins).  

For the Citation, if all goes well, we're looking at next year, hopefully, the first half.  

Edited December 9, 2016 by Goran_M

[dgall]

Thanks for the updates on this Goran.

Out of curiosity, how difficult is it from a development perspective to make an aircraft that's cross compatible with both XP10 and 11?  Also, what are some of the challenges you run into during the process of porting an aircraft to XP 11?

[Goran_M]

My brain getting picked?   

I don't think it's even possible to make an aircraft that's cross compatible without some major changes.  There's always changes that have to be made in the code.  It happened with the Saab.  When we started making it, it was intended to be for XP9 and 10.  Then 10 came, and we saw a few major changes happened.  The weather radar being one of them.  So we dumped XP9 development and went strictly for 10 only.  It would have been way too much work with a very low ROI.  XP9 was pretty much dead by the time we finished the Saab.  So it wouldn't make sense to make it for both platforms.
If it's an aircraft with no plug ins, you can simply move the aircraft over from 1 platform to the next with no issues.  If there are issues, opening the aircraft in the new version Planemaker, then saving it, usually fixes them.  Some datarefs may be made inactive (which actually happened for the Saab in XP11), but it's not always a major problem.  There's a new PT6 engine model in XP11, and that's thrown a bit of a spanner in the works for the Saab, so that's the thing we're working on now.  
The other big change now is PBR in XP11.  

Then to get the code right for the new version of X Plane...that could take a few weeks or a few months.  It's kind of a shame that this happens, because it puts everything else on hold, but it's just part of the process and we have to get it done.  

Edited January 2, 2017 by Goran_M

[ironjoey124]

Hi there guys. I'm a big fan of your work and have a questions regarding the citation.

I'm going to be staying on X-plane 10 so will there be a version that is compatible?

Also I will be hopefully purchasing the Saab in the next few months. Will there always be a version of the Saab that supports xplane 10?

I hope you can answer my questions. Thanks for your products.

ironjoey124

[Tim013]

As I understand it when it comes to the SAAB, the coming update will make it version 1.4, and it will be the final update for X-Plane 10.  After 1.4 is released, the next version will be version 2.0, and will be exclusive to X-Plane 11, and will not be backward compatible to X-Plane 10.

Apparently X-Aviation has had the update 1.4 for a while now, but it's still hasn't been released.  I too am waiting to buy the SAAB for XP10, but I want to see what the final update will address.  So, my credit card will come out, once the update is out, and I see the user response to it.

Regards,

Tim

[Goran_M]

Upcoming Saab versions.  

1.4 --- Fixes bugs in the Saab for XP10 only.  (Free update)

1.5 --- Compatibility patch for XP11.  This brings V1.4 into XP11  (Free update)

2.0 --- Saab upgrade.  New features.  New mesh.  New code.  PBR textures.  (Paid upgrade)

We're still not 100% decided on the Citation, whether it's going to be for XP10 and XP11 or just for XP11.