In 2009, 2010 Lockheed Martin announced that they had negotiated with Microsoft to purchase the intellectual property (including source code) for the Microsoft ESP product. Microsoft ESP is the commercial-use version of "Flight Simulator X SP2". On May 17, 2010, Lockheed announced that the new product based upon the ESP source code would be called "Prepar3D" (pronounced "Prepared"). Lockheed hired members of the original Microsoft ACES Studio team to continue development of the product. Version 1.1 was released in April 2011, with a retail license cost of $US499.00. A developer license is also available for a monthly fee of $US9.95. In March 2012, along with the release of version 1.3, the pricing strategy was revised. The Professional edition is now available for $US199, with an Academic License available for $US49.95. Prepar3D furthers the development of Microsoft® ESP™ while maintaining compatibility with Microsoft Flight Simulator X, allowing many thousands of add-ons to be used within Prepar3D. Click link to learn more and tell us what you think of this Simulator! Prepar3D
John Baymore says...
For the serious simmer (as in home cockpit builders)... this is looking like a significant possibility. At about $200 the professional version is NOT all that expensive, particularly when you compare to the other expenses involved in a simpit. This has me seriously thinking.
Even for a desktop sim...... if this is truly a "professional' level product (flight schools!)...... when you compare it to a more "game" level sim like FSX the price difference for the better product is NOT all that much.
I'm really looking forward to seeing what our members do with this.
best,
.......................john
Pete the Master of all Webmasters proclaims...
From the Prepar3D website
Pete said in a recent interview with Flight Sim Global Networks that... It will be interesting to hear from people who use it.... or intend to use it.Training meets reality with Lockheed Martin’s Prepar3D® simulation software. Private pilots, commercial organizations, militaries and academia rely on Prepar3D for immersive, experiential learning.
Prepar3D (pronounced “prepared”) is a visual simulation platform that allows users to create training scenarios across aviation, maritime and ground domains. Users can train anywhere in the virtual world, from underwater to sub orbital space.
Prepar3D furthers the development of Microsoft® ESP™ while maintaining compatibility with Microsoft Flight Simulator X, allowing many thousands of add-ons to be used within Prepar3D.
Pete has purchased the 'Academic license' ( $49.95) but hasn't got around to trying it yet ..... He will keep you posted!