2023-11-15 07:01 PM
Can someone from Graphisoft please step up and own the current abject failure to deliver the renewed MEP Modeller?
Today I joined the many others who have had to return to using AC26 in order to deliver on our MEP commitments.
We all pay out for GS to deliver improvements to AC, yet here we are 7 months later with a key feature broken & software we can't use. Can someone at least tell us what we can expect in terms of delivery of fixing this MEP debacle and when?
It's bad enough struggling with the 3D screen "grey outs", and the disappointment of new features that suddenly became experimental, but finding a fundamental tool is no longer useable... 🙄
Solved! Go to Solution.
2023-12-17 07:35 PM
The dissatisfaction level of Archicad users definitely seems like at an all time high. I hope GRAPHISOFT is taking seriously how many users are seriously investigating other programs.
2023-12-17 07:43 PM
Unfortunately, based on the experience of the past years, I have to say that they are not interested, especially since GS is no longer the real decision maker in the future expansion of ArchiCAD.
2023-12-18 10:31 AM
I was involved in commercial software development for over 10 years (I designed most of the SUPodium render engine for SketchUp) so I do have a little insight into how this stuff works.
There is a priority list, and there are teams of people that do stuff, and there is a roadmap. Stuff to do gets prioritised, and although it will often seem like it's not fixed for a long time (sometimes far too long) it's on a list.
There are lots of entirely fair reasons why stuff doesn't get done. Sometimes it just gets overlooked because someone thought someone else had done it.
It's tempting to look at software developers as a huge army of very clever and dedicated people that are spectacularly organised and experienced who work like a well-oiled machine 😊
Well, the reality is actually a lot less flattering!
There are separate teams of people responsible for different things. They are often specialists and don't tend to switch roles that often. When you have a complex object (cabinets are way more complex than they were) that needs to be modified, it's much, much quicker and easier to get the actual person that made it, to fix an issue. I designed the SUPodium Library and built most of the objects in it initially, so I know how that works too...
Typically it's one specific person, and like any other business, we get ill, go on holiday, and have relatives that have difficulties that take us out of the office or cause us to work less efficiently.
I identified some issues with the photovoltaic panel object, they ought to be a very quick fix, but it will (I hope) be on a priority list somewhere. Just because I feel it's urgent and quick, doesn't mean to say GS will 😊
It's easy to criticise (I often do) but with things like the kitchen units, the best thing to do is just keep reminding GS.
The biggest issues I think GS have for us, is a roadmap which doesn't seem to be going where we want, and stopping off at the places we want en route.
That's a whole series of management decisions that we, as customers can take issue with.
This it least the third time I've criticised the AI visualisation tool. No practising architect would have proposed wasting time and money adding that. It was pure marketing theatre to say something like 'Archicad now leverages AI'.
It's purely a front end and some connections for a text to image generator with some loaded prompts.
For me, fixing the photovoltaic panel object parameters, and making it able to calculate the approximate output from the size of the object, and making it schedulable is far, far more valuable in terms of helping sustainable design at an early stage, and it should take half a day to fix. It actually adds new functionality in an increasingly valuable area.
I fixed (botched - because I'm a GDL idiot) it in around a day, so it's not hard. It's not a substitute for a competent fix, but I think it's a constructive point to make.
2023-12-18 10:35 AM - edited 2023-12-18 10:45 AM
Come on, no-one deliberately screws up part of a flagship product!
The issue is clearly going to be caused by a lack of understanding about what customers really want and how they use the software.
Obviously no-one understands the M&E discipline properly, or maybe they do but the GS management has said, "No, this is how it must be done".
The strategic direction is our biggest worry.
2023-12-18 10:42 AM
Design options is getting use in my workflow as well - but I do feel that it is hazardous to call it a phenomenal, although it might be so relative to the recent releases. Given GS posture and the constantly increasing cost for users - shouldn't we have higher expectations, even for features that has been asked for?
Design options would simply have had a much greater impact if it was an enhancement of layers (they are nothing more than that). Instead we have an ad hoc and limited solution to an issue (change and alternative designs) that is becoming increasingly important with increased focus on sustainable design and productivity. Based on GS development we will be stuck duplicating elements across layers and trying to keep track of it all for the coming 5 years while other applications are free to move to a history based approach. Where's the innovation they like to boast about?
2023-12-18 10:44 AM
It very much looks like that the acquisition of DDSCad is the reason behind the changes in AC27 MEP ? When you read the RM about what GS are doing with MEP in AC28, it all should be working properly again for all we can hope ?
2023-12-18 11:04 AM
@mthd wrote:
It very much looks like that the acquisition of DDSCad is the reason behind the changes in AC27 MEP ? When you read the RM about what GS are doing with MEP in AC28, it all should be working properly again for all we can hope ?
But there remains that fundamental question raised earlier and never satisfactorily answered what happens to the pre AC27 MEP designs and documenting?
2024-01-13 10:05 PM
How about the inability to schedule MEP objects such as ductwork. You know, utilizing the "I" in BIM.
Joe A.
ArchiCAD since 8.0
2024-01-13 10:08 PM
MEP objects are not recognized by the scheduler.
Joe A.
(ArchiCAD since 8.0)
2024-01-13 10:18 PM
Along with providing a fully functioning product in Q1/24, it would only be proper for Graphisoft to waive the ArchiPlus / SSA fee for 2024 since the loyal customer base did not receive a usable product. (The abject failure of delivering a usable producrt as advertised could possibly lead to a class-action lawsuit...)
Joe A.
(ArchiCAD since 8.0)