Author: Thomson Meeks

X-Plane 12 Development Update – May 19, 2022

Status Update

Our next milestone is the Early Access release of X-Plane 12. As we get closer to this public stage, we wanted to share a quick look into where we are in the development process, what’s being worked on currently, and what else needs to be completed before we release.

During Early Access:

  • Everyone will be able to purchase X-Plane 12.
  • X-Plane 12 will be available for purchase as a digital key for $59.99, just like always.
    • During Early Access, X-Plane 12 digital keys will include access to X-Plane 11 as well.
    • DVD copies of X-Plane 12 will be available later on, once X-Plane 12 is out of Early Access. These will be available from X-Plane.com in North America and by Aerosoft in Europe.
    • Early Access will also be available on Steam.

Flight Model

  • In Final Testing
  • Austin is working on a blog post now to provide an overview of the changes that have been made for X-Plane 12.

World Features/Global Scenery

  • Completed
    • Rain/Snow shaders for airports and global scenery
  • In Progress
    • Complete data import/finish scenery tile generation.
      • We import piles and piles of data and then use it to create our global scenery. Due to the sheer size of this data, the import process alone takes several days .
    • Improve performance of 3D trees.
    • Tune coastlines/beaches embedded new scenery tiles.
    • Boat/Seaplane 3D wake drawing.
    • Complete ortho photo compatibility.
      • We know that users have all sorts of ortho photo packs that they are using currently in X-Plane 11. Our goal is to maintain compatibility as much as possible.
  • To-Do
    • Finish implementing geographically-aware water colors.

Airport Features

  • Complete
    • Fully animated jetways.
    • Modular tower building kit for Gateway artists.
    • New ground vehicles with updated driving logic.
    • FMOD sounds for ground vehicles.
    • Dozens of new static aircraft + new airline/airport based logic for livery selection.
  • In Progress
    • New (all electric ⚡️) passenger buses

Fleet

  • Completed
    • SR22
    • R22 (skids/mariner versions)
    • Citation X
    • RV-10
    • PA-18
  • In Progress
    • A330
      • While this aircraft is ready for an initial release, there are some additional features that we are still working on – specifically a custom Airbus FMS.
    • F-14
      • To-Do: Finish liveries and finalize autopilot behavior/cockpit details.

Weather Engine

  • Largely complete – including fresh data sources for real weather, new logic, new rain/snow accumulation/windshield effects, new volumetric 3D clouds, etc.
  • To-Do
    • Fix a handful of bugs in the volumetric cloud system.
    • Ensure weather continuity between networked simulators.
    • Performance Tuning
    • Third Party API

ATC

  • Complete
    • Updated UI
    • VR/Mouse Free support
    • VFR Operations (in testing)
  • To-Do
    • Final review

Rendering

  • Complete
    • Improve anti-aliasing performance and results
    • Re-implement projection warping
  • In Progress
    • Ambient occlusion final tuning.
  • To-Do
    • Improve global performance.
    • Fix Screen Space Reflection (SSR) bugs.

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We’re hiring…for support!

We’re looking to add a part-time technical support team member. This person will share the workload of customer support and have the opportunity to interact with customers to further positive relationships with X-Plane.

Daily Activities

Your day will include:

  • External communication – using email tools to answer customer requests for help
  • Internal communication – collaborating with team members to facilitate customer service
  • Taking opportunities to improve documentation as needed
  • Reporting and documenting technical issues for resolution
  • Building positive customer relationships

Some relevant experience for these tasks are:

  • Excellent written communication in English
  • Familiarity with both Mac and Windows
  • Passion for assisting people
  • Ability to self-manage

Bonus points for experience in:

  • Using X-Plane
  • Technical writing
  • WordPress, JIRA, and / or HelpScout systems

Why work for us?

As a member of our team, you would:

  • Work on stuff that matters. Real pilots fly safer because of training in X-Plane, and real aerospace organizations (like Boeing, Cessna, and NASA, to name just a few) prototype aircraft in X-Plane before they build them in the real world. Working in customer support is a great opportunity to empower our users to unlock the full potential of X-Plane.
  • Work remotely. No commute, no cubicles, nothing to impede you from doing great work. (But the rest of the team is just a Slack call away!)
  • Have the opportunity to follow your interests into other aspects of the business.

How to apply

If this sounds like a good fit for you – we’d love to hear from you! You can submit this form to apply.

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