Hi Robert-Your baby is our baby too :) You guys have done amazing things, and I'm sure you'll wow us all. I just happen to be passionate about this plane (and I'm certainly not the only one!) To clear up any vague remarks, I am referring to things FS really can't do, or I should say- probably isn't time well spent trying to "wrench them in". Things like volcanic ash, fuel leaks, NAI overheating, blown tires, great circle navigation, the fact that you can load a situation anywhere, in mid-flight and resume exactly where you left off is a HUGE bonus in my mind. If I only have a half-hour to fly and want to practice an approach that I've saved, I can just load and go. To look at it from both sides- How important is being able to blow the tires on a rough landing? Not very, but it's a nice touch. Some people would prefer there be no VC in your bird to save framerates. Personally, I can't wait to "sit" in the plane that I've been coping with in stunning 640x480 DOS graphics, and get the experience from a whole new perspective.What your plane will have: Great visuals, complex normal and some abnormal systems, GDI+ displays, stunning sound effects- and of course a "you are there" feeling that PS1 could only dream of (unless you're Matt Sheil :) Based on your track record, this plane is already a legend- probably 6 months before you release it. PS1 is a legend because of what it did several years ago, and still does- but it is inevitable that somebody will eventually make a ***** sim.(better, more realistic, more fun- insert word here)My only real concern is that you have enough bandwidth to support us all when you release it.And here's something you might want to look at- In PS1, if you flip the Flight Director switch on before the batteries, the PFD turns on without the FD symbology- You have to flip it off, and on again. Bug? Probably. These are things I notice, but hey, I've been programming for 15 years and I'm a bit "retentive". We're a tough crowd to be sure, but nonetheless we give all the praise in the world to any developer that "steps up and swings". And I thinkin' Johnny Damon baby!

>In PS1, if you flip the Flight Director switch on before the >batteries, the PFD turns on without the FD symbology- You have to >flip it off, and on again. Bug? Probably. Yep... and it happens on the real airplane sometimes, too. And you can't always fix it by cycling the switch either. Sometimes you have to reset circuit breakers.Whether it was intentionally programmed in PS1 that way, I don't know.Also, I was in a multi-million dollar Level D big sim (767) today... and the FD bars didn't work correctly on that either. You don't always get what you pay for ;-)Cheers.Ian R>

Hi Michael,> Did they update relatively dated graphics of PS1? When I went> to their website I still see the same jagged-lines in AI -> there is really no excuse for a simulator priced that high> (and free of any MSFS 'limitations') to have graphics from 10> years ago. (if I just have the freedom to answer that question here in the PMDG forum ) there are a lot of setups based on PS1.3 which have more advanced graphics than native PS1.3 offers. The external view can be replaced by using the FS2004 scenery running on a second computer which is linked to the PS1.3 machine. There are also replacements for the PFD and ND. This is still work in progress but basically the software works just like Project Magenta. So you can, in fact, have a real world size, smooth looking high-resolution PFD and ND. As long as you have more than one computer available, you are no longer limited by the old PS1.3 graphics (which are still nice, btw, because they are very well designed for smooth reading).Markus

Hi Markus,You beat me by a minute or so. I was writing a similar reply to the graphic comment when I saw your message. Let me add one thing which is the B 747-400 dedicated flight planners and take-off data calculator which I already pointed to in this forum a few weeks ago. Here is the link: http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...ing_type=searchI personally think that whatever the preferences of the user will be PS1 or PMDG the planners and dispatchers are great tools which anyone interested in the complexity of a B 747-400 should investigate.Michael

>Excelent post, exactly what I was after on the original>querey. It seems that the PMDG 744 will be a fantastic model.>I think the ability to expand the PFD and ND to a viewable>sive is just the bees knees.>>Here's to hoping it is released soon and that I can get a>system grunty enough to run it on.>>On another unrelated question...>>Does anyone run FS9 on a widescreen monitor? I'm assuming that>with the constraints of a cockpit surrounding you would have>to run the sim in a window on the desktop to keep it with the>correct perspective?>>CheersYes I run fs9 at 1368x768 via dvi from my ati radeon pro 9700 to a Sony VPL-HS10 projector. I have to say that the cockpit, outside views etc. are all unaffected by the widescreen aspect ratio - at least in my opinion they are. The only criticism I have of the pmdg 737ng is when I bring up the fmc at this resolution, and I suspect it is because of the resolution - I find that entering numbers is not always possible because I'm unable to find a click spot for the "0" for example and a 7 becomes a 4 for example so what I have to do is find the edge of the fmc when the mouse becomes a diagonal line and then resize the fmc down which then allows me to input all the information it needs, but is a bit of pain in the a*** as the display on the fmc becomes blurry.CheersRick

Cheers RickI'm guessing that you can run the sim in a window and have it display normally. Although I'm also guessing that this would cause lower frame rates.Cheers

Sorry mate don't know the answer to that one as I always run it in fullscreen - 8ft. diagonal picture is amazing!All I can say is that I've run it at 1024x768 before and never had any problems with the fmc size as I suppose that is how it was programmed i.e. in 4:3 resolution as opposed to 16:9.Rick

We have a number of folks consulting to the team who work with this airplane every day, and subtleties like the amount of time a "VALVE" light remains illuminated to how long it takes for the hydraulics to depressurize when the pumps are selected off... They are all accurately modeled. Well, that's really nothing revolutionary but should be self confident for such project. RFP features that since the day it was released.___________________________Best Regards,Bodo M

>>>>The only criticism I have of the pmdg 737ng is when I bring up the fmc at this resolution, and I suspect it is because of the resolution - I find that entering numbers is not always possible because I'm unable to find a click spot for the "0" for example and a 7 becomes a 4 for example so what I have to do is find the edge of the fmc when the mouse becomes a diagonal line and then resize the fmc down which then allows me to input all the information it needs, but is a bit of pain in the a*** as the display on the fmc becomes blurry<<<

Mr M

Yeah, I can only agree with you here.Robert's post in this thread really raised my expectations on the upcoming 744 once more (if that's even possible). To say that these efforts are all self-evident is nothing less than blasphemy ;-)RFP and PMDG744 are/will be exceptional add-ons and we can be happy to have this level of detail.Holger.

Mats, I think what Bodo was trying to say was that PMDG's 747 will be excepionally great, like the RFP747-200, but I think he was trying to say maybe you guys need to think of some more points other than that to revolutionise the product. Saying that, from whats listen on the website you already have, plus I'm sure theres going to be a lot more in the product than what we have been told!Don't take this the wrong way or anything. I can't wait for the 747!!!

"You don't always get what you pay for :-)"bet you a thousand bucks you didn't pay for it :(