Five years ago, the official team of Infinite Flight announced the launch of Project Metal. However, this project has a relatively low profile in the community, so many people are not familiar with it. I am very concerned about any news about Project Metal, but there is still very little information available to me.
I understand that this is a very arduous task, which has brought a lot of pressure to the development team. I also know that part of Project Metal may have already been launched in the game (as stated in the official announcement, this is a new engine project, so we won’t feel its updates directly). But over the past five years, the news about this project has been pitifully scarce.
I am expressing my doubts here not to urge the development team. On the contrary, I very much hope that the development team can polish every detail carefully. Time is not a problem, as good things require patience.
However, could the development team create a dedicated post to report the progress of Project Metal? I understand that the development team has many replies about Project Metal, but most of them are hidden and it is difficult for us to find this information. Just tell us the general progress to make players feel expectant. Aimless waiting in silence will wear down everyone’s patience. Just like the aircraft updates, release some results stage by stage to let everyone know that the project is progressing in an orderly manner. (The replies in the posts are not visible to most people, and a dedicated post will help most players understand this project.)
I think this will play a big role in promoting the new engine. I understand that Project Metal is almost complete, but the scarcity of news does look frustrating.
I’m really looking forward to the project itself, and according to the developers, there’s hope that it will be launched within this year.
Hope everything goes smoothly!
Project Metal has already started lol. See 3D buildings and clouds? Yeah, that’s already Project Metal. I can assure you many people know about this, and the team have indeed been informative. Project Metal is an ongoing project, not a singular update. Also, this AI generated content is getting out of hand
yeah i know that.
I know it’s almost finished, so I’m really looking forward to it. It’s just that some people in the community are still unaware of the project.
I think the main reason why there isn’t a lot of updates on the information for Project Metal is because of the community response. If they could tell us without consequences, they would. However, if they start giving deadlines, updates, and predictions, those become entitled expectations. Even in my relatively short time on the forum, I’ve seen this happen. Our own community has forced them to keep quiet about things because if they start talking and complications come up, everyone and their brother starts to complain about it. It’s simply become IF’s style to not release much information ahead of time, and while that could hopefully change, I doubt it will.
It’s hard to say, and there might be impacts. I don’t think the team working on the new engine is the same as the one making aircraft models, but this will definitely affect the project.
I had a conversation with Jason on Discord regarding the staff communication over the A320neo/A321neo project. However I think his response also applies to communication from the staff over Project Metal:
“Keep in mind that with software dev the goalposts keep moving. And it’s not always in our best interest to communicate every change exactly when it happens.”
Sure, having regular updates would be nice. However, then the community would likely start assuming deadlines, etc. which would then lead to potential disappointment. I think it’s in the overall best interest of both the staff and the community for it to stay mostly under wraps and the staff communicate updates when they feel like it’s the right time to share something.
To give an example, let’s go back to the A380 development. It took over a year in the end, sure. However, the community went absolutely off the rails (if you were in the Discord Server at the time, you would know) when the update was delayed by a single week. Now imagine that sort of response on a regular basis and I think it becomes clear why the staff do tend to stay on the quieter side.
Laura said in the AMA back in March that the base work was 90% done - but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s “almost done”. As is often the case, the final stretch to the finish can take the longest amount of time. As the saying goes, “10% of the work takes 90% of the time” and while I don’t think that exact proportion would be the case with Project Metal, I don’t think we should assume that its “almost done”.
That’s right
To be honest, although I’m really looking forward to this project, I still hope the development team can take their time — it requires a lot of time and I can understand that.
But I do wish there would be more updates about the project.
This is definitely not a conspiracy theory. Have you seen the 3D buildings and clouds in the game? This is part of the plan, and it has already started to have an impact on IF.
I believe there’s a middle ground that could bridge the gap between the community’s desire for information and the developers’ need for flexibility. The current lack of updates on long-term initiatives like Project Metal leads to a lot of speculation and can be disappointing for subscribers who are deeply invested in the simulator’s future.
Instead of asking for strict deadlines or revealing unfinished features, what if there was an official, roadmap? This could be a simple, dedicated thread or a space on the website that outlines what the team has done, and has put on the game already, without committing to when or how it will be released.
This “what, not when” approach could manage community expectations, reduce the constant questions about future updates of this type of projects, and foster a greater sense of partnership for infinite flight users. It would assure us that our subscriptions are funding progress, even if the details are only revealed when the update is out.
Yes, you’ve hit the nail on the head. I think this is the right approach—just sharing some basic updates without making any commitments. This way, the community can reduce speculation about the project and avoid any anxious feelings.
