A2A Licensing with FSX and P3D

[Scott - A2A]

NOTE:
While we are developing commercial software using P3D, we fully embrace FSX and see no end in sight to it's development. The following information is mainly for Lockheed Martin P3D licensing in regards to both student and professional pilots.

As we are nearing the release of our next product, the Accu-Sim Piper Cherokee 180 and the next global Accu-Sim Core Update v.2.0, we wanted to take this opportunity to let our customers know how we will be proceeding with licensing for both Microsoft Flight Simulator X and Lockheed Martin’s Prepar3D in 2014.

Microsoft Flight Simulator X is an entertainment product, while Lockheed Martin’s Prepare3D is a commercial product for professional use only. Our most recent release the Accu-sim C172-Trainer has attracted a wide range of customers from casual home users to pilot's training with commercial full motion simulations. This has been our mission at A2A Simulations, to give all people around the world the experience of flying uncompromisingly realistic aircraft.

Having succeeded in this mission and on the advice of our legal team and business partners, we have to structure our licensing so it matches the requirements laid out by Lockheed Martin and Microsoft for use of the relevant software.

So in the coming days, we will be releasing native installers for both Microsoft Flight Simulator X and Lockheed Martin’s Prepar3Dv2 for our up and coming Piper Cherokee 180 and our existing C172 Trainer (we’re still discussing options for our entire library). This is how our licensing and pricing structure will be moving forward, post Accu-Sim core v.2,0, using the C172 Trainer as an example:

Platform................License...............................Cost
FSX......................Entertainment.......................$49.99
P3D......................Academic............................$49.99
P3D......................Professional.........................$79.99
P3D......................Commercial / Flight Schools......$199.99 + $99 per yr
FSX/P3D (Bundle)......Entertainment/Academic..........$69.99
FSX/P3D (Bundle)......Entertainment/Professional.......$99.99

Lockheed Martin's licensing structure can be found here: http://www.prepar3d.com/product-overvie ... omparison/

For 30 days after launch, existing C172 Trainer customers can take advantage of the $30 bundle discount and P3D-only customers can opt for a one time option to relinquish their FSX license and apply its full purchase price towards a P3D only license. Keep in mind, these deals are only for a small percentage of professionals using P3D; they are not incentives to move customers into P3D. FSX continues to grow and we're very happy with it.

We hope all the above seems clear and above all caters to existing customers. Please, as always, let us know your thoughts as we continue to do our best serving you and the flight simulation and aviation communities together.



- A2A Simulations Development Team

[ak416]

I am not sure I understand the disparity in pricing between licenses. Will the package differ between platforms and licenses?

[Jigsaw]

I haven't been on top of the whole Flight Simulator market for a few months and I'm not up to speed about the developments that happened in the meantime, but isn't the only major difference between Prepar3D and FSX the folder structure? That's why many developers provided dual installers in the past that could be used on both FSX and Prepar3D. if that's still the case it would be a curious decision to basically charge twice for what is exaclty the same product that could be used on both programs, just because these two incarnations of Flight Simulator have a different name. Or is Prepar3D v2 so different now that this no longer applies?

From what I've seen in the past you would be (one of) the first developer(s) to do that, while others even stepped back from requesting a small compatibility fee to making the dual use free of additional charge altogether.

[JoeS475]

That's my question too. When I get my personal FSX entertainment copy, will the functionality differ in any way from the P3D professional products?

Joe

[taildraggin68]

As is my understanding, it is P3D that is the culprit, having many different fees for amounts of licenses being purchased(used). The bottom price being academic and going up dramatically from there. The fee that is shown above is the same for the FSX and P3D if bought separately but a savings if bought as a bundle. Milviz also uses separate pricing for bundle packages that will work in both platforms. The main rub being that P3D has the disclaimer on their site saying not for personal computer entertainment. In our world of legaleeze crud, that means they can charge more because it is Professional vs entertainment. A2A is in line with their pricing as going by the prices listed from P3D. I will gladly pay $50 for a great product and a little more if I used both systems but I have seen little justification to move to P3D especially with the implications of their disclaimer that their product is too professional for me to use on my home computer and have to pay to use simulators at a flight school to get professional results.(ok off my soapbox now)

[issgazer]

Yep, that's clear (and imo fair), but prepare for the inevitable barrage of questions ....

[Molly - A2A]

Yep, that's clear (and imo fair), but prepare for the inevitable barrage of questions ....

lol, I was just thinking that same thing. There are going to be endless questions about this, even though in reality it's very simple.

Do you have P3D and only intend to use it with P3D in a home-use/entertainment environment? Buy the P3D license.

Do you have FSX and only intend to use it with FSX in a home-use/entertainment environment? Buy the FSX license.

Do you have both FSX and P3D and intend to install it into both simulators? Buy the "combo" license.

A2A would never "cripple" any of their products. The "entertainment" license will be the same products we know and love from A2A for the last several years.

/thread (even though this will hit many many pages before it's through )

[Fabo]

allright, so, I own the trainer... aand I only use it in P3D. Where do I stand on this?

[Molly - A2A]

--- sorry double post.

[Molly - A2A]

allright, so, I own the trainer... aand I only use it in P3D. Where do I stand on this?

In the original post from Scott:

For our existing C172 Trainer customers who wish to take advantage of the bundle discount, we will honor the $30 rebate for the next 30 days after launch of the 2.0 core update.

In other words you can buy the FSX/P3D license combo deal for $69.99, minus a $30 rebate A2A will be offering, so that's $40 for the proper Prepar3D license for 30 days after the release of the core update. For future purchases, you would just buy the P3D license for $49.99 and get a P3D installer - in other words exactly what you've been doing for years, except for P3D now instead of FSX.

[Scott - A2A]

I am not sure I understand the disparity in pricing between licenses. Will the package differ between platforms and licenses?

It’s not just the product, it’s the license of how it can be used. Look at the Lockheed Martin website here:
http://www.prepar3d.com/product-overvie ... omparison/

The difference between the $60 Academic and $200 Professional is how it is being used. A casual user who flies FSX twice a week is very different to flight school that runs all day, seven days a week.

Also, I just want to put into clear perspective how below the norm our commercial pricing is. As a rule, you can add a “0” at the end of a price for a commercial client, and the reason is the demands from a commercial client are much higher. We priced our commercial licenses this low because we’re looking for volume.

The additional business has allowed us to invest more into the product, as seen with our up and coming Cherokee and new v.2.0 core update. And all that comes at no extra cost to our core community that stays on the low end of the fee schedule and only those using the professional end of the fee schedule will be paying hard money for that fee.

This is all good stuff,
Scott.

[Hawker32]

This might very well be a stupid question now, but no matter what the price you pay for the A2A Aircraft / Product (e.g. FSX License vs P3D License) you still get the Exact same aircraft, which has the exact systems to the exact detail?

[Molly - A2A]

This might very well be a stupid question now, but no matter what the price you pay for the A2A Aircraft / Product (e.g. FSX License vs P3D License) you still get the Exact same aircraft, which has the exact systems to the exact detail?

Absolutely yes. Adding or removing features for the different licenses would only add greatly to A2A's development time and support issues.

[Hawker32]

Absolutely yes. Adding or removing features for the different licenses would only add greatly to A2A's development time and support issues.

Thank you for clearing that up

[robnewman]

Ok... Let me start by saying that I am more than happy to pay for separate license for FSX and P3D.

However, I just want someone to review my logic here regarding the rebate for existing 172 owners... Of which I am one.

Point one: I already have a FSX license after I purchased the 172 initially.

Point two: Once the core update is released, I will need to purchase the additional P3D should I wish to use the 172 in P3D.

Point three: I will receive a $30 rebate on the additional license for a limited time.

So here is my question... The rebate applies to the individual P3D only licenses, correct?

A previous poster made mention that the rebate was for the bundle deal, but should I buy the 172 bundle, this would still total more than $69.99 and I would then have 2 FSX licenses, correct?

Just want to be sure I fully understand the situation...