I deeply miss a proper Airbus A330/40/80 on FSX and that is why I was thinking of giving BBS a go. But I am still not sure. I am ready to accept an unfinished product (I know it can't be of PMDG or Aerosoft quality) but I will settle for any airbus that can just do about basic flight functions, not hoping for anything fancy etc.

Anyways... still undecided.

 

I'd say it's still probably better than any other widebody Airbus product out there. It is unfinished right now and the progress has been slow (small development team - just 2 guys) but it isn't that bad a product. Currently SimMarket has 30% off on BlackBox A330 Xtreme which will get you the free A340 as well once SimMarket has updated its store. In fact, I just noticed their own store has a 30% sale too using their holiday coupon code on the home page which still works. At the price of Euros 27, it's not a bad option seeing as Aerosoft is probably still a year or so away with their rendition of the A330. Even then, I'm not sure if they are going to release all variants of the A330 plus the A340 together so you might have to wait another year after the A330 to get the A340 depending on how long development takes.

 

I tried the BBS A330 v0.66 recently on a friends desktop and apart from a few glitches here and there, it's quite okay for my level of understanding about Airbus systems. Going to go purchase the A330/340 from their website now before the sale ends.

I'd say it's still probably better than any other widebody Airbus product out there. It is unfinished right now and the progress has been slow (small development team - just 2 guys) but it isn't that bad a product. Currently SimMarket has 30% off on BlackBox A330 Xtreme which will get you the free A340 as well once SimMarket has updated its store. In fact, I just noticed their own store has a 30% sale too using their holiday coupon code on the home page which still works. At the price of Euros 27, it's not a bad option seeing as Aerosoft is probably still a year or so away with their rendition of the A330. Even then, I'm not sure if they are going to release all variants of the A330 plus the A340 together so you might have to wait another year after the A330 to get the A340 depending on how long development takes.

 

I tried the BBS A330 v0.66 recently on a friends desktop and apart from a few glitches here and there, it's quite okay for my level of understanding about Airbus systems. Going to go purchase the A330/340 from their website now before the sale ends.

 

And the race to the bottom continues...

 

 

it was very difficult to hand fly on final, as it was swerving from left to right even with minimal joystick inputs.

 

This is what I've encountered too. The last version flew like a rock, this one flies like an old rusty 747 that has some serious issues with its hydraulics. Compared to Aerosoft's Airbuses BBS A330/A340 are very unresponsive to control inputs, you can move stick full left / right and for a second or two there's no real effect whatsoever, there's a long delay and the response isn't smooth at all. 

 

Oh well, I guess I need to wait for Aerosoft A330, it's not like I had much hope in this project left anyway. 

I downloaded .80 and tried it. The loader doesn't work and the number 2 engine's throttle doesn't move in both the A330 and the A340. I operated the throttles via the keyboard and took off for a test. I rolled it all the way until I flew upside down, so no FBW protection.

 

The VC is ugly and the text is unreadable unless I turn on HD textures in FSX cfg.

1 and a half year ago I had this crap on my computer. Have they not yet been able to create something that can fly? As a programmer myself I suspect it is the tons of XML code that kills it.

Why? I saw a post on FB about someone from Balckbox that was very tired after typing more then 100 000 lines of XML code. Complete madness XML is very slow and you must have at least 19-20 FPS whole time or the aircraft will go crazy. Aerosofts AB have some XML code but far from 100 000 lines of code. But it goes a little crazy if the FPS drops down to 15-16 for a long time.

XML is for only small routines like adjusting radio or ADF and so on. Not writing whole systems.

 

PMDG is doing everything in C++ and that is the way to go if you creating advanced simulations like they do. So the problem for Blackbox is that they are in to something that looks like Mission

Impossible. Fligtsimlabs are also doing it the right way, I am waiting for their Airbus to be released. They a least talks about the different systems in a Airbus they are simulating on the Forum.

Not like Balckbox that only tries to show off new cool painting and perfect finish on this and that, nothing about the systems in the bus.

 

Why have they not yet done anything that is working. Last I remember from this Airbus crap is that the default MS airbus flew better.

 

I was also promised to get all versions from .54 or something when I was stupid to buy it up to 0.99 for free. The last one I had did not run on WinXP as

I had at that time. When I open a ticket the only reply I got was that MS does not support WinXP any more so nothing they could do. What!! Why did

the previous verson work?? Now I an on Win7 i5 but I will not install this crap if I get it.

 

Stay away as far as possible. Only nice to look at but the rest is crap.

Are they not releasing 0.8 for free?? I was promised that!

1 and a half year ago I had this crap on my computer. Have they not yet been able to create something that can fly? As a programmer myself I suspect it is the tons of XML code that kills it.

Why? I saw a post on FB about someone from Balckbox that was very tired after typing more then 100 000 lines of XML code. Complete madness XML is very slow and you must have at least 19-20 FPS whole time or the aircraft will go crazy. Aerosofts AB have some XML code but far from 100 000 lines of code. But it goes a little crazy if the FPS drops down to 15-16 for a long time.

XML is for only small routines like adjusting radio or ADF and so on. Not writing whole systems.

 

PMDG is doing everything in C++ and that is the way to go if you creating advanced simulations like they do. So the problem for Blackbox is that they are in to something that looks like Mission

Impossible. Fligtsimlabs are also doing it the right way, I am waiting for their Airbus to be released. They a least talks about the different systems in a Airbus they are simulating on the Forum.

Not like Balckbox that only tries to show off new cool painting and perfect finish on this and that, nothing about the systems in the bus.

 

Why have they not yet done anything that is working. Last I remember from this Airbus crap is that the default MS airbus flew better.

 

I was also promised to get all versions from .54 or something when I was stupid to buy it up to 0.99 for free. The last one I had did not run on WinXP as

I had at that time. When I open a ticket the only reply I got was that MS does not support WinXP any more so nothing they could do. What!! Why did

the previous verson work?? Now I an on Win7 i5 but I will not install this crap if I get it.

 

Stay away as far as possible. Only nice to look at but the rest is crap.

Are they not releasing 0.8 for free?? I was promised that!

It is free for whoever bought an earlier version.

Well, personaly, I believe that it's better to get a fully functional a330 with serious support and many other new aerosoft features in a medium sized price rather then buy BBS A330/40 with low frames and a nightmare to hand-fly. But if you are in a hurry and someone's chasing you, than go and buy it and try to enjoy. However if you are patient enough and trust aerosoft wait -there is a pmdg + quality product in the prouction line-!

wow !!!

I am getting good frame rates. Hand flying is ok. I just did one pattern around Munich.

As said before, i´m out of this developer since their 737-200. Too much bugs and horrible support (Better say NO support at all). I hope you guys sort out your bugs with this addon but,  you should listen (or read) more before buying things.

Installed v.080 test it for one leg and kick it away from my pc.

I don't know how long we have to wait for this update from v0.60 to 0.80.

Nearly two years of development and what you get is more than crap.

They advertise with phrases like "The very best Airbus Simulation..."

That's not marketing, that's a lie.

Stay away from this product.

Even if there will be a v.1.0 this will be not as good as thing we expect.

 

 

And the race to the bottom continues...

 

Thank you but I think I should be left to judge my decisions and purchases.

Installed v.080 test it for one leg and kick it away from my pc.

I don't know how long we have to wait for this update from v0.60 to 0.80.

Nearly two years of development and what you get is more than crap.

They advertise with phrases like "The very best Airbus Simulation..."

That's not marketing, that's a lie.

Stay away from this product.

Even if there will be a v.1.0 this will be not as good as thing we expect.

agree!!

I hate to ask, but hows the exterior model (polygons/texture res) and VC?

I think the exterior modeling is one of the best features. The VC, not so much. I'm thinking of compiling a list of bugs (after only an hour with one of the aircraft last night, I've found a bunch) and giving it to BBS.

 

We can all whine about how bad the product is or we can help the developer. And yes, I know the customer shouldn't have to be put in the position of helpeing the folks that created the faulty product that has been purchased but, the way I see it, it is exactly that: already paid for. Thus, I can help make my purchase better or just whine about it...