FS9 Engravity CDU and GoFlight Interfaces (Where?)

[Guest Cris B]

I just bought and received a Goflight MCP Pro and an Engravity CDU just for my FS9 PMDG 737 & 747 and when I went to your eCommerce shop I was unable to find the GoFlight MCP Pro Software Interface or the CDU Software Interface. Have you stopped selling them? You can imagine my disappointment over not being able to use these very expensive pieces of kit. Without the interfaces all I can do is watch my toys collect dust! P.S. Lefteris Kalamaras doesn

[Tabs 2,790]

We are no longer selling these products, sorry.

[Guest Cris B]

So I just spent over $2000.00 for equipment I can't use?:-8Do you know where I can get the interfaces?Flightsimlabs doesn't sell them either.This puts me in quite a bind as I purchaced all of this with FS9 in mind.:-newburn

[flightsimmer747 0]

Post removed by moderator. You're absolutely out of line trying to justify piracy.

[Tabs 2,790]

We are looking into the feasibility of a new no-cost solution for Engravity and GoFlight users, details will be made available in the future. No ETA, sorry.

[flightsimmer747 0]

Sorry about my last post but really there is no indication anywhere. I understand the no cost solution but shouldn't that have been implemented before removing it.

[Guest Cris B]

>We are looking into the feasibility of a new no-cost solution>for Engravity and GoFlight users, details will be made>available in the future. No ETA, sorry.Robert, Ryan, & the rest of the PMDG team,Now I can appreciate that you

[vonmar 122]

>We are no longer selling these products, sorry.Glad I checked (searched) the posts here first!I was just looking into purchasing the 737-600 ... -900 software.But I also have a lot of GoFlight hardware.I will wait for further information in this forum.Was the older GoFlight (GF-MCP) autopilot previously supported by your software?

[Guest thewoodshopguy]

Ryan,I am extremely frustrated by this move. I literally just received my GoFLight MCP-Pro yesterday and got the S/N so I could get the interface today - only to find out I can't and just threw away 600$!. How can you do this without an alternative in place? This seems like such poor customer service for those that have been with you so long. I have been researching PMDG 737-NG and GoFlight for MONTHS! Even 2 weeks ago I could still buy the interface - but now I can't?! Please help me and your fellow simmers. We respectfully can't sit around and wait for months for a new product - especially when we know in the back of our heads that a perfectly good one was there and has just disappeared for no apparent reason.Can you please help us out here? I am "virtually" begging, I have a lot invested in PMDG and GOFlight and I don't want to get another aircraft just because of this - I love my PMDG 737!Anything you can do? I was fully prepared to pay - money was not then nor is it now the issue. I just need the interface so I don't have a $600 gray coke can in my sim pit! Please help.JoshTheWoodShopGuy

[Guest captdave]

I have now the same issue.Today my fmc arrived.Now i'm very sad after i saw that my hundrets of Euros was for nothing.At no point stands anything that pmdg do not sell the drivers anymore.I appeal to you to make the drivers availiable for us. PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!We are your customers and like your software.So help us please!!

[FleaJump 7]

Thanks for sharing this horror story, Capt. Blackburn, as I have for a while been contemplating the purchase of an Engravity CDU, seeing as it is the only stand-alone CDU available for flight simmers.If interface tools do materialize sometime, please let us hear about it, though in your shoes I would be thinking about requesting a refund from Engravity, since their CDU simply cannot be used as advertised.Tony

[JC75 22]

Hmmm seems PMDG really are falling behind the drag curve when it comes to supporting hardware.Time after time people are requesting that they release an SDK like Level D have with their software in order for people to interface their hardware with the PMDG software.PMDG keep hammering on how realistic their software is, how it replicates so many systems, yet how real is something that has to be controlled by a mouse?There are multiple choices of hardware out there for FMC, MCP etc, but they all fall down when being used with FSX because of driver issues, having to buy a driver for each aircraft is just down right stupid. I personally use Opencockpits hardware, owning their FMC, MCP, and shortly hopefully their EFIS. This hardware is brilliant, as it doesnt need drivers as such, it comes with its own software, that enables you to configure the hardware however you like it, so even buying a 737MCP, you can make it operate a 767. It can be done in various ways, from using FSUPIC offsets, to using keycommands, or interfacing with a SDK.So quite simply all it needs is the aircraft manufacturer to release either the SDK, or FSPUIC offsets which then allows the user to decide how the hardware works with the software.Level D did just this, a brilliant SDK, that LEEKSEECON(freeware) interfaces directly with the 767 enabling you to use the hardware fully with the 767 and control nearly every button and switch, the best bit about opencockpits, is that aside from their Modules, you can buy addon cards, to then build your own switches and displays as you want, not just having to purchase expensive modules from other developers. In fact their FMC is a fraction of the cost of the likes of engravity, and in sense is better as it far easier to make it work with any aircraft.PMDG need to do something to support the ever increasing demand to build either full or mini home cockpits. They need to release an SDK for their whole range of products, 747, md11 and upcoming 737, or where not possible release FSPUIC offsets. IF they choose to charge for the SDK then fine, they are running a business, but level D seem to manange to realease a product just as good, if not better than PMDG and still make a profit without charging for an SDK.In fact PMDG, need to look at everything with their products, from supporting widescreen monitors, Tripplehead systems, better undockable panels, etc. Because I feel that once FS11 is out, and they hopefully fix the difficulties that developers have had making a/c for FSX, we will see a lot more a/c out on the market again like we did with fs9, and PMDG will be nothing more than very nice games, rather than proper simulators like the rest are releasing.James

[jimimac 19]

i purchased the interface about six weeks ago, was wondering if i ever lost the serial key if pmdg would offer support and provide a new key if i was able to supply details of the purchase.

[FleaJump 7]

Thanks for that passing mention of the OpenCockpits CDU, James. Never heard of that outfit before and holy smokes, their CDU does cost a mere fraction of the Engravity model. Gotta have one, even if I can only use it with the LevelD767 for now... hint hint.Tony

[rsrandazzo 6,353]

James-Sometimes when I read "speeches" such as yours in the forum, the temptation is to simply ignore and move on- because it is obvious that you haven't much familiarity with PMDG or how we operate.We prefer that you do not give us a directive in the third person and tell us what we "need to do" and "what simply needs to be done." We much prefer you tell us the kinds of things that would make your simming better, and ask us if they are possible.Ask any of the those who remember how limited the original 737NG was- and compare it to the MD-11, and I think you'll discover that we do a very good job of listening to customer input and adapting our products accordingly over time.The normal process is that we are constantly taking customer feedback from the forum by reading discussions and measuring what our customers really want vs. what is feasible in the development constraints of any specific product line.That being said, occasionally we have to re-align our strategic objectives- and even more frequently we have to evaluate the ECONOMIC value of the requests that we receive.Keeping in mind that PMDG's primary business model is the production of high fidelity desktop simulations, and that 95%+ of our customers do not purchase hardware beyond a throttle and joystick- we have not been aggressive in our efforts to interface with hardware devices available on the market simply because of the economics.Our products are significantly more complex than most users are even aware, so producing an SDK is not a "simple" process as you suggest above, especially when the initial development plan did not include a process for such an SDK.One of our former developers elected to produce a few interface devices for the Engravity and GoFlight MCP hardware- and these were modestly popular, but they were produced in-between projects and "instead of" focusing on an SDK that we agree would ultimately have been more valuable to our customers.We are deep into the NG2.0 development cycle, and one the agenda items being included currently involves having the NG2.0 integrate directly into a few of the common hardware consoles that are currently on the market. We are also evaluating an SDK that will allow inspired hardware developers to produce interfaces to connect their own present/future devices directly to the NG2.0 without the need for PMDG to sell interface devices. Such an SDK will be available to developers at no cost if it comes to pass.(Note here for future readers: At this time we do not see any obstacles to such an SDK- but we aren't finished yet- so this is not a promise to deliver- it is merely an observation of the fact that at this time such an SDK is on our wish-list too!)This new direction comes out of the normal evaluative phase that we entered upon launching development of the NG2.0- and it will carry forward to future projects as they come down the line.(For reasons of our need to remain forward-looking, we will not be going backward to previous products with this strategy, however- as it is not logistically supportable...)At any rate- I hope this alleviates some of the concerns you relay in your post- and I also hope that you'll please refrain from telling us what is "easy." If it was easy- it would have been done already.