Hi all you hard working guys at PMDG.Great news about the beta testing and shortly to be announced release of the NGX.This has really spurred me into asking a question which I have not yet found on your forum.I have for the last 2 years, been constructing a full size 737 800 cockpit in readiness for the NGX. I have already purchased the MCP, EFIS, FMC, transponder, VNAV and COMM radios from Open Cockpits. They all run off of their own SIOC software.My question is this. Will all my Open Cockpit modules work with NGX.Keep up the good work.Gary

Great you're going to build your own simulator! There's another 737 simulator project on the road, called "Norwegian737Project." Do definitely a search at YouTube, it looks amazing.

I any of PMDGs competitors work then I don't see why the NGX wouldn't. This is hyped up to be the pinnacle of FSX add on aircraft.

There's some misconceptions going on here with respect to what the SDK is:The SDK does not allow X piece of home cockpit hardware to magically work with the airplane right out of the box. That is impossible. The hardware needs to have drivers written that allow it to interface with the NGX - that's what the SDK is, it explains to the makers of the hardware drivers how they can read from and talk to to the airplane. We can't code drivers ourselves because 1. in most cases we don't have any of this very expensive hardware to test with, and 2. it would be incredibly time consuming to do and we need to keep developing new airplanes after this releases. What we're doing is giving the people who write these drivers the information and software framework they need - it is 100% up to them whether or not they choose to write drivers. What you need to do is contact these manufacturers and ask them to develop compatibility for the NGX using our SDK once it's all released.

There's some misconceptions going on here with respect to what the SDK is:The SDK does not allow X piece of home cockpit hardware to magically work with the airplane right out of the box. That is impossible. The hardware needs to have drivers written that allow it to interface with the NGX - that's what the SDK is, it explains to the makers of the hardware drivers how they can read from and talk to to the airplane. We can't code drivers ourselves because 1. in most cases we don't have any of this very expensive hardware to test with, and 2. it would be incredibly time consuming to do and we need to keep developing new airplanes after this releases. What we're doing is giving the people who write these drivers the information and software framework they need - it is 100% up to them whether or not they choose to write drivers. What you need to do is contact these manufacturers and ask them to develop compatibility for the NGX using our SDK once it's all released.

Supposing someone were to build a panel, to keep it simple let's say the overhead switches & knobs, no indicators of any kind & the IO card(s) mapped each button/switch throw to a keystroke, there'd be no need for any sort of driver, correct? One could simply handle that with fsuipc and/or PMDG keyboard mappings?

Supposing someone were to build a panel, to keep it simple let's say the overhead switches & knobs, no indicators of any kind & the IO card(s) mapped each button/switch throw to a keystroke, there'd be no need for any sort of driver, correct? One could simply handle that with fsuipc and/or PMDG keyboard mappings?

There still needs to be a way to intarface with the airplane. What will you assign a button or switch to in FSUIPC if there's no key assignment? Yeah, there are workarounds like LVars or Mouse macros, but it's not guaranteed to work for every switch: it's time consuming and sometimes doesn't work properly or not at all. A complete SDK should make things much easier apart of allowing to read variables from the A/C

There still needs to be a way to intarface with the airplane. What will you assign a button or switch to in FSUIPC if there's no key assignment? Yeah, there are workarounds like LVars or Mouse macros, but it's not guaranteed to work for every switch: it's time consuming and sometimes doesn't work properly or not at all. A complete SDK should make things much easier apart of allowing to read variables from the A/C

Something tells me I should have payed closer attention when I was taking c++, pascal & cobol 15 years ago...Oh well, I'm one of those guys who wants to build a cockpit but probably never will. Working 80-90 hrs a week, trying to buy a ranch & newly married with plans for kiddies soon, I'll likely never have the time for it.

Something tells me I should have payed closer attention when I was taking c++, pascal & cobol 15 years ago...Oh well, I'm one of those guys who wants to build a cockpit but probably never will. Working 80-90 hrs a week, trying to buy a ranch & newly married with plans for kiddies soon, I'll likely never have the time for it.

You can't build a home cockpit if your not a geek. It's in the EULA... married?, kids?!?!? you don't even qualify if you have a girldfriend! :(

You can't build a home cockpit if your not a geek. It's in the EULA... married?, kids?!?!? you don't even qualify if you have a girldfriend! :(

hmm, divorced and a cockpit or married with a king size bed. Tough call....On second thought I think I'll stay married. The in-flight entertainment is top notch.My apologies if this post was a bit too risque...

Ryan, thankyou for your comments. I will contact the manufacturer and see what happens.I do run FSUIPC which speaks to FSX and not directly to the aircraft but the FSUIPC software will I am sure need to be updated with the extra functions of the NGX.O'h, and Dario, I don't consider myself to be a 'geek'. I am married and have 4 grown up kids and I have worked hard for my retirement and now it is time to relax and enjoy the pastime of flight simulation, which by the way, being on this forum, you would appear to enjoy too !!!

Ryan, thankyou for your comments. I will contact the manufacturer and see what happens.I do run FSUIPC which speaks to FSX and not directly to the aircraft but the FSUIPC software will I am sure need to be updated with the extra functions of the NGX.O'h, and Dario, I don't consider myself to be a 'geek'. I am married and have 4 grown up kids and I have worked hard for my retirement and now it is time to relax and enjoy the pastime of flight simulation, which by the way, being on this forum, you would appear to enjoy too !!!

I was kidding Gary. I apologise if I offended anyone, never meant it that way. I absolutely enjoy this hobby and I'm into custom panel building as well, I'm far from being an expert on the matter but demeaning the hobby would be insulting myself

Must be the Spanish air Dario. No offence taken. :( I just like to immerse myself into this hobby. It is not everyones cup of tea to go that extra length but I do have more time now and of course an empty wallet.

So you are using the opencockpits stuff for your home cockpit right? (I guess it must be so since you mentioned SIOC) Any chance we can see some pics? :(

Dario.I still have much work to do yet regarding the outer framework so I can get the overhead mounted and the throttle quadrant needs to be sourced. Apart from the bought panels and modules, I have made everything myself.

Great stuff Gary, it looks terrific!