That's right and another thing is that a person can go get different real world pics of the MD-11 cockpit and some will look flat and others will look glossy......so I think it's one of those cases where you're "darned if you do, darned if you don't".Same with the VC window reflection. Darned if you do, darned if you don't. VC window refl might be nice option for the user to play with, though...if it were an option. (hint hint) However I have found that many times, VC reflection is way overdone. And that's bad too. I'd rather have none than have it be overdone.RhettFS box: E8500 (@ 3.80 ghz), AC Freezer 7 Pro, ASUS P5E3 Premium, BFG 8800GTX 756 (nVidia 169 WHQL), 4gb DDR3 1600 Patriot Cas7 7-7-7-20 (2T), PC Power 750, WD 150gb 10000rpm Raptor, Seagate 500gb, Silverstone TJ09 case, Vista Ultimate 64ASX Client: AMD 3700+ (@ 2.6 ghz), 7800GT

If you are seeing blurry textures in the VC and square windows on the fuselage, you are having serious display issues. I recommend making sure your global texture setting within FSX is set to the highest, that you use anistrophic filtering on your video card (as high as your card will allow), and that you run at a reasonably high resolution if possible. Also make sure "high resolution virtual cockpit" is checked in your display options, or the glass displays will appear only 25% of their intended resolution.Best,http://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/for...er_MD11_Vin.jpg

>Hi>>I am with Pod all the way, I have not taken to the sky yet>waiting for the fuel level sliding selector problem to be>solved. But when I sit on the VC flight deck, it looks poor,>not nearly as good as the 747x. It just does not give the>feeling of a PMDG product. For me. I think there is a good>possibility it will stay in the hanger.>>BobThat only affects your ability to set fuel through the Load Manager app - you can still set it just fine through the PMDG menu or through the MCDU's FS actions menu.

Gents-I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry reading this thread.This VC is probably the most detailed ever produced for flight simulator. It is 10,000 some-on polies more complex than the 400. Unlike the 400, all bottons and knobs are correctly scaled to size and range of motion. The texturing was done by photo-survey of an actual MD-11 (hence the paint chips and wearing) and the lighting has been worked in such a way to provide a true lighting ambiance to match the cockpit of the airplane.Now- I realize that my opinion probable is a bit biased (:-)) and keep in mind that i've spent a few thousand hours on airplane flight decks, so i'm probably less qualified than just about anyone to comment... but....I think some of you folks may have display, driver or settings issues because I'm just not seeing what the kvetching is about.Compared to this cockpit, the 400/400X looks old and dated. I think the MD does to the 400 what the 400 did to the NG.Just my opinion...

Hi,I completely disagree with the negative comments in here. I've got the 744 for FS9, and this is far and beyond that in terms of look/feel, not to mention systems-wise, too (differences between FS9/FSX aside...).I can make the VC look real blocky and poor if I turn down all the display options to their lowest levels. As it is I'm running it at 1600x1200x32 at maximum detail, ad it looks fantastic. I'm not one to fly from the VC, but this has changed that for me! :DIf you're seeing default windows fonts, you obviously have an install issue.Best regards,Robin.

I haven't been able to comment on the MD-11 to much since buying it release day because it wasn't usable on my lap top so I had to order a 2GB card on Toshiba so I could have the maximum 3GB for windows vista. After getting the upgrade this morning, and currently halfway through flying from Long Beach to Jacksonville I will say this. I own many add ons from various companies, and a lot of different types of aircraft not just commercial jets. I had the fuzzy texture problem at first but that was because my computer was maxing out them memory. With the 3GB all the cockpit textures are crisp, and after spending many hours on md11.org and airliners.net the aircraft definately matches the real deal as far as the VC look/feel, and the external model. Out of my many add-on's this is the only aircraft that makes me feel like I am a pilot. It has the longest checklist I have ever seen but everytime I do it I get better and now that I can do more than just run up engines on the ramp it is a lot more fun. I do not own the 747, it is not my type of aircraft. Looking at pictures and seeing videos on web sites it looks to me the 747 and MD-11 have about the same look and feel to the cockpits. I think the aircraft are to vastly different to say one is better than the other. It all comes down to quality and I think this company definately put the priorities in the right places. The only thing that I have noticed is from certain angles on the outside the textures are a little blurred, but it is nothing I can't live with since I stay in the VC almost the entire time anyway. I would have to say $276 later that this is the closest I will ever get to flying a tri-jet, and it definately satisfies my procedure simulation wants and I think it looks good. Like with everything else it is up to the individual to decide if something is worth their money or not. I would say that for $81US I am very pleased cause after the length of time they spent developing the plane I expected easily twice that. I just wanted to put my story out there so people can see that there are some who do not have issues. I do not know how people clock their frame rates in FSX, but after the RAM upgrade I no longer experience the OOM, or have textures reload everytime I go to the external view. My specs are as follows:Toshiba X205-9359 17" widescreen latopIntel Core 2 Duo T72003GB DDR2 PC2-5300 8700MGT320GB 5400RPM

>but I find the 2D panels of the plane a>complete disappointment. ???Do they look the same as those previews photos by Carl:http://picasaweb.google.com/cavaricooper(watch them at the highest resolution)these are supposed to be inferior 2D panels?I guess then we have different eyes ...Michael J.

>Visually, it also a complete backward step from the PMDG 747,>whether FS2004 or FSX.I can't speak for the FSX version as I don't have it, but it's interesting you say that about the FS9 version.Crazy as this might sound...I installed FS9 and The Queen a few days ago just to see how I felt about FS9 after spending so much time with FSX, and to see how the 747 compared to the MD-11 I'm so used to. Here's the crazy part. The first time I loaded the 747 up, I thought I was in the default plane. If it wasn't for the black panel switcher, I probably would have reinstalled everything to see what I was doing wrong.Like I said, I know the story sounds crazy, but the look of the 2-D panel in the MD-11 blows the FS9 version of the 747 away in my opinion. We're all entitled to our opinions of course, so I respect yours. That's just something I never thought I would read in a comparison. :)

Hi all,I bought the MD-11 because it was announced as being the new benchmark for flying heavies in FSX and I can confirm that I'm still amazed by what the PMDG team has accomplished. To me, this MD-11 is a dream come true. I don't agree with the negative comments regarding the VC but at each and every-one his/her opinion.Kind regards and lots of respect to the PMDG team and also to the beta testers who did an exellent job :-beerchug JosEBBR

Agreed - I don't know what you expect from a sim, if "immersion" is what you're seeking, try a full flight simulator flight for about

I'm not experiencing anything like the kinds of issues mentioned here. The VC is the best I've seen in any flight simulator period.I did notice on my machine that the VC displays improved very slightly after turning off and back on again the anti-aliasing check box in the display settings in FSX. This is almost certainly an Nvidia/FSX issue with my machine, but I wonder if it might be worth trying for those experiencing problems. The other thing to try for Vista users might be the Windows experience default anti-aliasing settings - I have mine turned off, and it doesn't make any difference to FSX except in the menus, but worth a try.-Tim

I'm very surprised to hear this!A Wilco-esque product? Trying to not disparage Wilco here, but Wilco has not produced anything on the calibre of a PMDG product.I think the MD-11 is stunning! Virtual Cockpit, 2D panel, and external included. There are noticeable improvements in the VC of the MD-11 over the 744X. Just look at the curvature of the throttle quadrant /pedestal and you will see what I mean.The text is perfectly readable on mine unless I zoom out all the way --- but how is that different than any other aircraft? The issue here is one of screen resolution and/or anti aliasing, not the aircraft quality.Anyway, I consider the MD-11 to be above and beyond the 744x. There have been a few sacrifices in visual quality with textures, but the 744X is a framerate hog and I welcome the performance increases in the MD-11. Cartoonish? I'm not sure what to say to that... The aircraft does lack super crisp textures in places that the 744X had, but again I welcome the better performance. Cartoonish to me is the stock FSX aircraft and Wilco and CLS stuff.That's my take on this anyway,Thanks to PMDG for (what I consider to be) a spectacular product. The only issue I have now is that I can't fly the thing: it's too different from the 744X! Time to get out the manual I guess ;)Regards,Andrew Noble

It is imposable to make a product that will run on a wide spectrum of machines without some compromises, we lower powered armchair captains are grateful just to run the sim.

I'm happy with the VC. I can understand the complaint about the fonts, since as one pulls back the letters do break down more noticeably than with e.g. the 747. But that is more than made up for, imho, by the generally more realistic VC, the smoothness of panning, the detail of the displays - all of which we can crisp up to undeniably fine levels with either Track IR's head-in movement, or just a little key'd zoom.

Also check your screen and in-game resolution. The higher you can go without dragging FPS down too much, the better. If you have a low resolution, that may explain the blocky text, etc.