Question: what other planes (freeware or payware) for MSFS provide this flood lighting function? I honestly don't know, just curious.Also, you say that this product is incomplete because it doesn't include this function. What exactly is the list of items that makes a payware heavy jet for MSFS a "complete" product? Is this list the same for all potential consumers? Knowing PMDG, the focus of their projects is on systems and accurate flight modeling, not on eye candy (though they definitely have this too!)As for PMDG being defensive, while I definitely do not speak for them, I can definitely see when someone says their upcoming product is "incomplete", that could be read as "inferior" or "unprofessional". PMDG definitely can take constructive criticism, but that doesn't mean they have to agree with the criticism. They have their own opinions too, and are within their rights to post such opinions.In the end, the upcoming product will be judged as a complete package. No one package for MSFS can possibly include every wish by every user. The developer has to pick and choose what they believe to be the necessary items to achieve the developer's goal.So get this plane out now, darnit! ;-)Oops, forgot to sign,Ken Salter

Ken-Thanks- you make the point easier to understand....It is unfortunate how easy it is for folks to misunderstand how decisions are made in the development process. There are times when you simply have to decide that certain effects or eye-candy come with too high a price in frame rates or display complexity. You stick to your mission core- and develop a sound airplane simulator and no matter how hard you try- you are going to find somebody who wanted decisions made differently.This is why I encourage anyone to get involved in a development project at some point in their life. The perspective changes quite dramatically when you are suddenly responsible for the resource allocation of memory, frame rates, quality, developer time and plain old research to figure out how things should be done....One of the things that is always frustrating for any development team is the occasional forum poster who insists the "since widget Y isn't included this thing won't live up to my standards and I won't buy it."Those kinds of posts serve no purpose other than to vent the personal opinion of one user to the entire forum. As the developer there is a fine line between someone expressing concern/disappointment over a specific decision we've made- but when they make a whole package value judgement on a large scale product (that they haven't seen) based on the inclusion/exclusion of on particular item- it makes you want to pull the plug on your forum and develop products silently behind walls like most other development companies....Anyway- enough preaching....I have 16 items on my to-do list before we can go beta....so I'd better get back to it! :-cool

I would just like to ask if there will be flood light available at night and if this also will apply to the overhead, throttle quadrant and aft pedestal. I am not asking for any screenshots here as i know that you use your time to finish and test the panel rather than to post screenshots and getting endless discussions about them :D

Robert, I hope you realize that I

>> of course I will think twice about buying a product that isn't quite completeIf I browse through this forum, most likely PMDG wiil release a plane that can be used close to many real world procedures. With a lot of functionality and flight relevant details, that seems to be the primary focus of PMDG. And all this doesn't count, but panel flood lighting does ?Everyone shall have his personal preferences, it would be boring if we all would have the same opinion. But as a flight and sim enthusiast that leaves me really irritated.Michael

Thanks for the reply - I was just curious and I definitely will not go down that road either! :-)[h3]Ken Salter (aka SaltyDog)[/h3]MSFS & Fly! Forum Moderator[link:http://www.grid.org/services/teams/team.htm?id=5E79C613-0A60-4A3B-BDC1-F9EE49F2D4FE]Join the AVSIM Online Cancer Fight!!

Hi guys,With my question, I was not intending to cause such reactions. I was just asking a question, getting the answer, that there will be no panel flood light as in the other commercial add-ons I own (PSS747, PSS 777, PSSA3XX, PSS Dash 8, PIC 767, DF737, Eurowings prof ATR42-/72) I have never seen a negative effect on frame rates when I use their flood light bit maps for night flights. They simply give a certain feeling when night flying. We still sit in front of a monitor and not in the real aircraft :)I am glad to read that you consider to include the feature in your upcoming 800/900 series.I hope, you don

Andreas-Oh- no apology needed.... The flood lighting itself isn't hard on frame rates- but we have quite a few additional goodies packed into this panel- so with every layer of additional complexity to increase the amount of memory required by the user.Thus- if we keep gobbling up memory- you get unusable frame rates...we are trying to avoid that!

>Thus- if we keep gobbling up memory- you get unusable frame>rates...>>we are trying to avoid that! Sounds like a good enough reason to not include the night lighting, expecially when you consider how 'often' it is used.

Hi,I have an idea: You have different customers with different systems. Like AMD 800MHz, 256MB Ram, GF2 GTS, or like me, AMD XP 2400+, 768MB DDR Ram, GF4 4200 550MHz or even some with better hardware than me. So, some may get problems flying a highend airplane with all possible eyecandies and functionalities and other run it just fine even with all sliders maxed out and flying a PIC-A320 without big problems, so would have no problems with a highend aircraft from you. Why dont you make more moduls, like low, middle and highend? Low has just what it needs to fly your plane like a DF737, but without damage and failure simulation enabled and embadded; middle has it like you wand it with all but not with a designer plus like these flood lighting. And the highend customer will get it all whatever you throw at them but you get paid three different classes. For Highend you need more time and effort to design and programm the whole package, so customer who wands all pay more than the others. I like to get the BIG Pack, so I am willing to wait a little longer for it and I would pay more for it. Others wands it so as it could be just as it is now but throu beta-test phase.So, what do you say about that?Greetings from EDDM,Torben Hadler>Andreas->>Oh- no apology needed.... >>The flood lighting itself isn't hard on frame rates- but we>have quite a few additional goodies packed into this panel- so>with every layer of additional complexity to increase the>amount of memory required by the user.>>Thus- if we keep gobbling up memory- you get unusable frame>rates...>>we are trying to avoid that! >>

Torben-Sounds like a good idea in principle- but it gets very complicated for us poor, unsophisticated developers... we wind up having a hard time keeping it all straight!We have some surprises coming for you in the next few days.... stay tuned!

Damn - I will be on holiday the next 11 days :-cool . But I will look at your surprises afterward!