X-Plane 9 Developed in Only 14 Days

Laminar research has recently posted a dedicated page about X-Plane 9 for iPhone on their site.

The basics are covered at the top of the page, with some screenshots and a link to the App Store.

Next, is the announcement that X-Plane 9.0.1 should be out shortly, bringing enhanced frame rates (25% improvement!) and some more detailed settings.

The best part, however, is towards the bottom of the page, where Austin Meyer, chief developer at Laminar tells the development story behind X-Plane 9. In it, he tells how X-Plane 9 for the iPhone went from idle speculation to release in less than a month.

Further, we learn that the development of X-Plane was directly aided by Apple, that Austin and one of his coders went to the Apple campus where they were "cranking away madly on X-Plane for about 12 hours a day" for nearly a week to do the bulk of the development. Apple had initially planned to feature X-Plane in the Let's Rock event, but decided that the sim "is not fast-paced enough for a keynote demo."

It doesn't look like the game has suffered from lack of exposure, as it climbs the charts and "selling like hotcakes" according to Austin.