JorgD
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Aug 28, 2017 4:04 am

Any chance of a version 4.2 release?

Hi there,

I am fully aware of your ambitious efforts towards a 5.0 release, but as this is already years behind the announced release dates, with no real end in sight, would it be possible to add some already developed features for 5.0 that are working into version 4 and calling it 4.2? This would be much appreciated. It doesn't have to be a release with 70+ new features, but just a few, much needed features that would put the product less behind the competition.

Just a thought,

Jorg.
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3DWP
Posts: 41
Joined: Sun Apr 16, 2017 1:18 pm
Contact: Website

Re: Any chance of a version 4.2 release?

Yes, that would be nice.

That was also mentioned to be happening right? Next to V5 the users would get some minor updates and bugfixes for V4.
https://www.instagram.com/3dwp/
https://www.3dwp.nl
3DNichtVersteher
Posts: 12
Joined: Wed Oct 14, 2020 4:16 am

Re: Any chance of a version 4.2 release?

JorgD wrote: Mon Mar 29, 2021 11:59 pm Hi there,

I am fully aware of your ambitious efforts towards a 5.0 release, but as this is already years behind the announced release dates, with no real end in sight, would it be possible to add some already developed features for 5.0 that are working into version 4 and calling it 4.2? This would be much appreciated. It doesn't have to be a release with 70+ new features, but just a few, much needed features that would put the product less behind the competition.

Just a thought,

Jorg.
I agree with that.

Greeting
leopshef
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Jul 08, 2020 3:03 pm

Re: Any chance of a version 4.2 release?

I second this. Version 4.2 would be nice.
JorgD
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Aug 28, 2017 4:04 am

Re: Any chance of a version 4.2 release?

3DWP wrote: Yes, that would be nice.

That was also mentioned to be happening right? Next to V5 the users would get some minor updates and bugfixes for V4.
I was hoping for something well before V5, as in like right now.
rlb408
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2018 9:57 pm

Re: Any chance of a version 4.2 release?

Concerning a 4.2, I wouldn't hold my breath. I've been a software development manager/director/executive in Silicon Valley big companies and start-ups for more decades than I'm willing to admit, and know the coded messages. The phrase "as well as a platform for future innovation" usually means that they scrapped their existing code base and are starting from scratch, probably even using a different language and app platform. There are several things that can trigger this kind of action. I know because I've been in this situation a few times.

One possibility is that the old platform just ran out of gas, and the effort to adapt the old architecture to support new features is just way too high. Could be the programming language, what libraries & packages are available, or something as mundane as the ability to handle internationalization or accessibility.

Another reason is that the original developers of the application are all gone, and none of the current employees can unravel the source code (or they lost it?) to the point of being able to make enhancements to it. Trying to do so can put a dev team into a "whack a mole" situation because the code is so twisty (and no one around knows the twists), that a seemingly straightforward change in one place breaks something elsewhere. That's a nightmare for any dev manager or product manager.

In any event, I'm willing to bet that the developers are unwilling to go back to the old code base, or they can't, and so the likelihood of a 4.2 release it slim to none.

But for these folks, time is slipping away. Cura keeps getting better and better and has a huge following. It's going to be tough for Simplify3D to release an application that attracts market share from Cura. Or maybe they're shifting markets and will leave hobbyists orphaned. I'm prepared to be impressed, however, and I hope they've done a lot of market validation and user testing.
stefi01
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2021 3:00 pm

Re: Any chance of a version 4.2 release?

it is a shame that the developer of s3d never coment to update users, if they want to keep a good reputaion and customer base then they should NOT keep customers (us) in the dark, also false claims come in to that which have been made several times. some times i wonder if there any staff left.
billyd
Posts: 272
Joined: Mon Jan 19, 2015 12:13 pm

Re: Any chance of a version 4.2 release?

Does S3D even deserve the benefit of the doubt anymore? They could ship tomorrow, I have no idea. But my guess is S3D will never ship another version. I hope to be proven wrong.
arhi
Posts: 483
Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2016 5:13 pm

Re: Any chance of a version 4.2 release?

rlb408 wrote: Sun Apr 04, 2021 11:57 pm Concerning a 4.2, I wouldn't hold my breath. I've been a software development manager/director/executive in Silicon Valley big companies and start-ups for more decades than I'm willing to admit, and know the coded messages. The phrase "as well as a platform for future innovation" usually means that they scrapped their existing code base and are starting from scratch, probably even using a different language and app platform. There are several things that can trigger this kind of action. I know because I've been in this situation a few times.
can confirm
rlb408 wrote: Sun Apr 04, 2021 11:57 pm Another reason is that the original developers of the application are all gone, and none of the current employees can unravel the source code (or they lost it?) to the point of being able to make enhancements to it
according to internet (glassdoor, reddit etc etc) there is only one main developer (the owner) so it can be also that he now likes another language...
Issue here is that S3D exist on all three major platform (Linux, MacOS, Win) and there are not many easy options for writing code that compile on all three so I doubt he's switching language as the major advantage of S3D is the speed, if he moves from C++ to some interpreter language (as I doubt he'd move to FreePascal :D that's the only other option that generates native code for all three platforms) he will lose the speed as no way c#/java/perl/python/javascript can come close to native code no matter how fast current computers are ...
rlb408 wrote: Sun Apr 04, 2021 11:57 pm But for these folks, time is slipping away. Cura keeps getting better and better and has a huge following. It's going to be tough for Simplify3D to release an application that attracts market share from Cura. Or maybe they're shifting markets and will leave hobbyists orphaned. I'm prepared to be impressed, however, and I hope they've done a lot of market validation and user testing.
IMHO this is the real problem. If they release something that needs to be competitive, it is less problematic to not release anything (there are no serious issues with 4.1) than to do a release after 2 years that brings less than what you can get from cura/ps/im give already for free ... it is less of a news that they did not release anything than that after 2+ years they released few new translations, few new printer default settings and no new features, so this "keep quiet" approach is maybe the best (I noticed they stopped sending emails about how 5.0 is near )
gcodestat integrates with Simplify3D and allow you to
Calculate print time accurately (acceleration, max speed, junction deviation all taken into consideration)
Embed M117 codes into G-Code
Upload your G-Code directly to Octoprint
open source and unlicence
tenaja
Posts: 157
Joined: Wed Dec 17, 2014 5:16 pm

Re: Any chance of a version 4.2 release?

I hope so, too, but even if they do, we probably won't get to use it. They are headed down the saas rabbit hole targeting monthly fees from farms. There's no incentive to cater to us, since they already got our money.

Just look at the number of new forum users per month from, arbitrarily, 2017, vs now. Worse, and more telling, is the number of posts--we are switching to Cura.
They clearly screwed up in not collecting at least a coffee or two from us every year. So, now, they are scrambling to keep their code producing revenue.

As others have said, in some ways, Cura had surpassed s3d... But there's still a few areas that s3d is better, and still that minute chance that we won't be abandoned...

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