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Just getting into the sim world with MSFS but looking to pick up X-Plane as well. I see this is about X-Plane 12, but it's not for sale yet. Anyone know how the

Just getting into the sim world with MSFS but looking to pick up X-Plane as well. I see this is about X-Plane 12, but it's not for sale yet. Anyone know how their release schedule works? Are there upgrade paths if I buy X-Plane 11 now?

complex1314 4y ago
There's no upgrade path. But if you wait until the early access of X-plane 12 you will get v11 free while it is in pre-release. It seems early access is just around the corner, I've seen late July mentioned.
Alupis 4y ago
I don't know about an upgrade path - it was too long ago for me to recall. For what it's worth, I bought X-Plane 11 on Steam, and X-Plane 10 stand-alone - so perhaps I didn't have many options. However, something to keep in mind for someone newerish to siming in general - not just flight sims: Whatever payware you purchase now (aircraft models, plugins, scenery, airports, etc) will almost certainly (with a few exceptions) not port over to the new sim version... meaning you'll have to buy them again unfortunately. This is part of the reason you still see people flying older sims - they put a lot of money into it, and/or their favorite model isn't available yet or something. So anything you bought today for X-Plane 11 might not port to X-Plane 12 when it comes out, depending on what engine changes have happened under the hood to X-Plane. It's not a hard rule, but something to keep in mind.
- Stevvo 4y ago
  Laminar go to great lengths to keep aircraft from the previous version compatible. Only occasionally developers with DRM try to scam people to buy the same plane again.
  - Alupis 4y ago
    That's really great to know. Although I wouldn't necessarily classify having to purchase the same model again as a scam - depending what's changed in the engine, it may require a lot of work to update the model to fully take advantage of everything X-Plane 12 (for instance) offers. If there's a substantial update for the model, I would personally feel fine buying a new version. However, really nice to see Austin and Laminar have thought of this - some of us have waaaay too much invested into models and plugins!
Stevvo 4y ago
X-Plane 11 has been out for 5 years now, with regular free updates bringing meaningful improvements. X-Plane 12 is a separate product, but any add-on aircraft you have from v11 will continue to work.
mastazi 4y ago
At some point X-Plane 12 will go on sale in early access, and Laminar said it will include an X-Plane 11 license (because 12 might be still pretty broken while in EA, so in the meantime you can enjoy 11) - source https://developer.x-plane.com/2022/05/x-plane-12-development-update-may-19-2022/ https://developer.x-plane.com/2022/05/x-plane-12-development... So if you wait for Early Access you will get both 12 and 11 for the price of one. After that, all minor 12.x updates will be free (they always have been) which means free updates for years to come (XP 11 was out for about 5 years for example)

complex1314 4y ago

There's no upgrade path. But if you wait until the early access of X-plane 12 you will get v11 free while it is in pre-release. It seems early access is just around the corner, I've seen late July mentioned.

Alupis 4y ago

I don't know about an upgrade path - it was too long ago for me to recall. For what it's worth, I bought X-Plane 11 on Steam, and X-Plane 10 stand-alone - so perhaps I didn't have many options. However, something to keep in mind for someone newerish to siming in general - not just flight sims: Whatever payware you purchase now (aircraft models, plugins, scenery, airports, etc) will almost certainly (with a few exceptions) not port over to the new sim version... meaning you'll have to buy them again unfortunately. This is part of the reason you still see people flying older sims - they put a lot of money into it, and/or their favorite model isn't available yet or something. So anything you bought today for X-Plane 11 might not port to X-Plane 12 when it comes out, depending on what engine changes have happened under the hood to X-Plane. It's not a hard rule, but something to keep in mind.

Stevvo 4y ago
Laminar go to great lengths to keep aircraft from the previous version compatible. Only occasionally developers with DRM try to scam people to buy the same plane again.
- Alupis 4y ago
  That's really great to know. Although I wouldn't necessarily classify having to purchase the same model again as a scam - depending what's changed in the engine, it may require a lot of work to update the model to fully take advantage of everything X-Plane 12 (for instance) offers. If there's a substantial update for the model, I would personally feel fine buying a new version. However, really nice to see Austin and Laminar have thought of this - some of us have waaaay too much invested into models and plugins!

Stevvo 4y ago

X-Plane 11 has been out for 5 years now, with regular free updates bringing meaningful improvements. X-Plane 12 is a separate product, but any add-on aircraft you have from v11 will continue to work.

mastazi 4y ago

At some point X-Plane 12 will go on sale in early access, and Laminar said it will include an X-Plane 11 license (because 12 might be still pretty broken while in EA, so in the meantime you can enjoy 11) - source https://developer.x-plane.com/2022/05/x-plane-12-development-update-may-19-2022/ https://developer.x-plane.com/2022/05/x-plane-12-development... So if you wait for Early Access you will get both 12 and 11 for the price of one. After that, all minor 12.x updates will be free (they always have been) which means free updates for years to come (XP 11 was out for about 5 years for example)