Originally Posted by
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I've finally been able to download V4.4. When it snows here we go to smoke signal speed, so I had to download in chunks...took three days, but V4.4 is installed and all the bits are updated and working as expected. That said, one or two observations.
From the end user standpoint:
Yay...the new sim is installed, things look great...which models are PBR? Are all of the models PBR, and if not...why not? I'm totally confused as to which developer will upgrade to PBR, how long will it take and what will it cost me?
From the Developer standpoint:
Yay...PBR is here...more or less...kind of...but not entirely...WTF do I do now?
Step one, study the new SDK...again...hours and hours of head scratching and pondering as to exactly how the alchemy is going to help me achieve my goals.
Step two, look at my existing inventory and calculate how long it will take to convert all of those models to PBR.
Step three, try to explain to my customer the intricacies of the process and why I can't swallow those costs every time we get an incremental build that requires massive re-tooling at the developer level.
I have had a product line of four airport sceneries, two aircraft, a large vegetation and autogen library ready to market...for three years. I have been watching other developers endure massive costs to keep their inventory current, some absorbing the cost and some making decisions that incur the wrath of the consumers. As a result, I've taken the position that I will not release my scenery or aircraft until we reach a plateau where I am not required to spend all of my time modifying hundreds of scenery models to accommodate the most current builds.
At the moment, I'm evaluating the new SDK and my current inventory which has been largely converted to PBR. For the most part things look fantastic, but now there is room to enhance those models...again...to reflect current state-of-the-art PBR rendering in V4.4. Of course, this is not a plateau but another step in a process that may lead to full PBR integration and eventually...drum roll...ray tracing.
I'm lucky, because I don't need to keep anyone happy, except my wife who has followed the process for nearly six years now.
I'm wondering...would it be beneficial for someone like myself to do a video that illustrates the process of actually setting up a mesh for PBR production and illustrate how different it is from previous methods? The consumer has very little understanding of exactly what is required to convert an existing model, the costs involved and why developers cannot simply flip a magic switch to convert. A video that outlines the complexity of the process may be of educational value...or maybe not. lol
This whole conversation around PBR is going to become a focus, and demarcation point for flight sim development moving forward. At some point the hard reality that cross compatibility is simply unrealistic. It's going to be like moving into an entirely new sim. I've recently installed DCS World, and while I love the benefits of the platform, I realize that I much prefer the ability to build an IFR or VFR flight plan in a tube or old radial and just fly anywhere and any way I please. If that becomes available in Prepar3D, in full 64bit PBR integrated, ray tracing glorious techno bliss, I'll be quite satisfied.
Thoughts appreciated.
BTW Dino...that F-35 does look absolutely fantastic!
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