I’ve had a couple of emails since KPDX launched (literally, two emails), both of which were pretty aggressive in tone, and informed me that I was losing out big time by making scenery only for P3Dv4.

And no, these weren’t X-Plane lovers, although I’ve heard from them as well. These rants were courtesy of the ranks of FSX pilots, and went something along the lines of “the vast majority of flight sim users still fly the 32-bit sims. Why would you want to miss out on all those sales by only developing for P3Dv4?” Why, indeed.

I’ll address that question directly just this once: without sugarcoating it, these people are simply wrong. They’re assuming that because they still have an investment in FSX and don’t want to upgrade, “most” people are like them, ergo I’m somehow willfully depriving myself of large numbers of sales for some unknown reason.

What they don’t have access to are the actual raw numbers that I saw before making the decision, numbers that are taken directly from years of sales trends to hundreds of thousands of add-on customers. Those stats paint a picture of the 64-bit sims (P3Dv4 and XP11) very much in their ascendancy. They have basically left the 32-bit platforms in the dust.

Knowing that, coupled with the knowledge of how much effort it would take to downgrade the scenery without too much loss of visual fidelity, I had to make a choice: was it worth it to spend a few extra weeks on a port to FSX and P3D v1-3 for a single-digit percentage of extra sales? In the end, the numbers just couldn’t support it.

Folks, this ain’t no anti-FSX tirade. I loved that sim, flew it for years, and devoted countless hours to building add-ons for it. If people want to stick with it and forgo the advantages of 64-bit, I say have at it and enjoy what you’ve got! But please, do so with the understanding that time has marched on and taken a great many developers with it.

And if you decide some day to go whole-hog 64-bit, we’ll be there with some really cool add-ons, and maybe a tray of cookies.

Peace, y’all.
-Bill

Back in the day, many trades had a tradition of apprenticeship. Those with a desire to learn a skill were paired with experienced craftspeople. The apprentice got to learn a trade first-hand, and the person they were apprenticed to got an eager helper to speed along projects in return. For the right kind of learner, it was an ideal system.

These days, apprenticeships are rare, but I got to thinking recently about how much I’d like to have a personally-trained assistant or three who would trade their work for learning the ins and outs of scenery design first-hand. Why not give it a go?

How it Would Work

Ideally, you (an inexperienced but enthusiastic scenery developer in training) would work with me (someone with over 16 years of working in the sim scenery arena) in a mutually beneficial arrangement. I would provide you with one-on-one training in all aspects of creating scenery, and in return you would work with me on projects where you get to put each skill to use as they’re learned.

Eventually, the goal would be for you to become a full-fledged developer, capable of creating top-notch work, unassisted. At that point, you’d graduate to being more of a protégé than a student, and I would provide the necessary technology and connections to enable you to sell your work – hopefully for a tidy profit.

Who am I?

My name is Bill Womack. You probably know at least some of the projects I’ve worked on. Having started in 2002, I’ve built scenery for companies such as the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum, FS Addon, RealAir, Aerosoft, JustFlight, and my own iBlueYonder brand. I’m currently a senior developer with Orbx Simulation Systems. Without undue modesty, I know a thing or two about sim scenery, and I’ve got the forehead-shaped dents in my desk to prove it.

Who are You?

Ideally, you’d have at least a little knowledge of 3D design, but it doesn’t need to be anything more than cursory at the beginning. I’ll be training you in specific software anyway, so you’d probably have to toss out what you already know.

What you should have in abundance is a fascination with modeling and texturing, and a desire to become a professional developer. The other thing needed is time to learn and produce. This probably means that you would need to be at one end or the other of your primary earning years; either a student or a retiree. That said, if you’ve got a job that currently pays the bills but leaves you plenty of time for other pursuits, that could work as well. Oh, and you’ll need to have at least some aptitude for learning new things, because those new things will be flying right and left at you!

So, in short, you’ll need three things: desire, time, and ability.

Interested? Get in Touch.

If you read this notice and started hopping up and down in your chair, please don’t hesitate to drop me an email at apprentice@iblueyonder.com and let me know you’re interested. I’ve got plenty of work to be done, so if you are chosen don’t be surprised if you get tossed into the deep end quickly. Don’t worry, I’ll be at the ready with a life preserver.

We have to say, the combination of this airport with X-Planes beautiful graphics makes a stunning pairing indeed! Here’s the current state of Minute Man (6B6)…

The big news is that we’re nearly ready to release our first scenery for X-Plane 11! The Heron’s Nest is getting the full XP treatment, and should be entering beta testing soon. Just a couple more kinks to work out first and we’re off to the races.

How about some shots, you say? Don’t mind if we do…

If you’re already a Minute Man – Plum Island owner, log into the My Account page on our site and click the link to your purchase. The new blending file will be available in your list of downloads. If you’re not a customer yet… hey, here’s another reason to give it a try.

Enjoy!

Well sim folks, the food is not just good, it’s great at Nancy’s Airfield Cafe. Want to find out how good? We’ve just released a new scenery package that might help. Welcome to the Hundred Dollar Burger: Minute Man – Plum Island.

You get not one, but two classic New England airports. Minute Man Field in Newburyport, Mass. (2B2), a reworking of our classic and popular scenery, coupled with Minute Man in Stow (6B6). Both are designed for Microsoft Flight Simulator X, FSX:Steam Edition, and Lockheed Martin Prepar3D v3 and v4.

Both fields come with the standard features you expect from us – 3D vegetation, high-quality models, large, well-blended photoreal areas around each airport, etc. Plus, at Minute Man we’ve added a couple of new tricks you might not have seen: proximity-triggered animated hangar doors that open when you approach them, and pilot-controlled runway lighting at night!

Trot on over to the product page and check it out!

Other Changes in version 1.02:

• New grass textures for better realism
• Enhanced ground poly textures
• Lots more static planes – both GA and bizjets
• Added detail in open hangar
• Dynamic apron night lighting (P3Dv4 only)

These changes are planned as an update to the FSX version as well. Details will be announced once a release date has been set.

If you already own Nantucket for FSX and P3D3, download version 1.02 by logging into http://iblueyonder.com/my-account/ and click on the link to your Nantucket purchase. The 1.02 installer will be available in your list of downloads. Your registration number will work for this version as well. If you purchased through another store, your version should be available to you where you bought the original very soon.

If you haven’t gotten it yet, now is a great time to pick up your own copy!