Software development status ?

[glx51mm]

Anyone knows of the development status of the Simplify3d software ? I have noticed that there are lots of feature requests on the forum lately (some of them being much needed optimizations) plus quite a few reported bugs so I think there should be a newer version pretty much soon.

[andre]

Last communication with Clayton was that a new version was to be released with additional features and bug fixes. When and what is beyond my knowledge, but they are "working on it" if that helps...

[Garyhlucas]

I bought Simplify3D in the hopes that someone that is actually making money will stay at it. The developer of kisslicer went awol, it seems like slic3r is starting to have the bandaids fall off. As software gets more and more features it becomes more and more difficult to maintain. Considering I've $20K in my 'hobby' CNC machine and thousands in other software it seems reasonable for what S3D costs. So far I really like what I see.

[jimc]

ive been using it for probably 8 mos now and really like it. there will always be a couple little minor issues with everything but nothing big and it always gets fixed eventually. i do think that there should be more of a developer presence on this forum but i can see why clayton stays off here too. he would just get overwhelmed with questions then many people get down right nasty if one little thing isn't perfect. i guess we just have to trust that the developers are in the background listening and working on improvements everyday. just a once a week hello or "whats happening at s3d this week" thread would be nice.

[glx51mm]

Don't get me wrong, I really love Simplify3d. I just thought it is a good time to get a newer version out with some bug fixes. That is just my opinion so I asked if someone has a clue on the development roadmap. I like what Jimc has mentioned though, a bit more of development presence at least for keeping everyone up to date. Even though I consider Simplify3d the best slicer/controller so far, I think the lack of documentation scared some people away in the first place and the absence of the development team from the forum prevented even more people from buying. I know there is immediate support over email but a potential customer might not know that.

[jimc]

yes there are a ton of people that come here for answers and some of them just go unanswered because no one really has an answer. past few weeks hasnt been bad but before that it seems like if me or a few others didnt have and answer then the person would just get irritated that they spent the money on the software and couldnt get an answer thinking that the forum is s3d support or the dev didnt jump in to answer.

im sure there will be an update sooner or later. seems like the feature request and bug reports have been coming in faster the past few weeks than others so i bet they cant even keep up.

[joesoap583]

I would also like to see an improvement in the general support activity.

One thing I did notice from the Simplify3D web site is that there is no information about who the authors are, nor how they came to be producing the software. Judging by the technical functionality of the software it seems to me that the author(s) must have valid experience. I've always found that sort of information useful when buying software, because if someone is that committed to doing a good job then I will do what I can to support the effort. I think there's an opportunity there for the authors to give themselves a decent appraisal.

[Garyhlucas]

So you want the author to not only be great at coding the software, and marketing too? Lots of people who are great at making things are not very good at presenting or selling them. On the other hand I've met a few too many great salesmen, with crap for sale. Be careful what you wish for!

[joesoap583]

So you want the author to not only be great at coding the software, and marketing too? Lots of people who are great at making things are not very good at presenting or selling them. On the other hand I've met a few too many great salesmen, with crap for sale. Be careful what you wish for!

Many a true word therein.

In fact, I recall one of the early lessons taught to me as a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals was that I spent 95% of the time writing/supporting software, and 5% marketing. And the only way to success was to make that 50/50. I never did make it big in the shareware world

[glx51mm]

Noone asked the author do any other job than what he wants/is supposed to do. When a software company needs to grow it doesn't mean that the author has to learn new tricks. It means that the team behind the software needs to expand.
Whether that is website maintenance, marketing, social networks, technical documents, user interfaces, graphics design, video presentations or any of those "other than pure software development" things, I do not know. As I can not know what the company's priorities are. I can however express my opinion.
A product's sales can be affected by additional aspects other than technical excellence. Since I consider that the S3D is technically the best (for the price) on the market at the moment, it wouldn't be a bad timing to start ironing out/improving the product in sections that customers complain about (such as documentation and support). This would make some not so competent potential customers feel safer into purchasing the product thus giving a boost to the company and the community.