Right off, I'll tell you this post is not asking for an estimated release date or even a progress report. I "know better" than to do that, unfortunately (please read down). What I do want to convey is that I hope that the 737-200 has not been moved to the back burner as a result of other recent 737 releases by other developers. The Milviz 737-200 has very important features (gravel kit especially, but also functionality) that the others don't, as well as Milviz aircraft being very considerably better built and more functional than other models out there in its class. The quality and features of the Milviz version are key to our operation and in fact that machine will become the core aircraft for us. That's not a suck-up comment; just fact as I have aircraft from all of the developers in question.

 

Now, please allow me to explain my comment above about "knowing better" than to ask questions about progress on an aircraft. This is not unique to Milviz for the most part, but there is a "bee in my bonnet" as it were that does relate to a couple of postings' replies here and at SOH (I'm not reposting this at SOH - once is sufficient). Several people have, over time, asked about the progress of this aircraft. One of those was my friend. He didn't ask for a release date, but instead wanted to make sure the aircraft was still in development and hadn't been shelved. His concerns were the same as mine - other developers had announced the imminent release of similar aircraft types. As well, nothing had been heard regarding the 737 in some months, which fueled speculation that perhaps it had been moved to the back burner. A second poster reiterated my friend's comments and was looking for some assurance. They both received a very short, and rather "curt" reply of, "When it's ready, it will be released. It's not ready yet." That was it. This was from "Krazy Kolin". Rather an odd (but again, not uncommon) way to treat someone who is paying to have this aircraft. And, it wasn't a poorly worded question on behalf of the poster. As potential customers, we often feel like we are walking on eggshells at times. If we ask, we get anything from nothing to a rather curt reply, making us wishing we hadn't asked at all. If we don't ask, we feel like there is greater potential for the developer to put a project on the back burner because of a "lack of interest" in the project. We are damned if we do, and damned if we don't. In one case, "Krazy Kolin" did give one poster a reply that stated he was juggling familial responsibilities along with a very large number of projects on the go at one time. OK, that I can buy and feel for him. As a result, I didn't post an answer to "KK's" (my contraction) answer and felt that he really didn't need yet one more poster on his case about an airplane. But now what do I see? Yet another project being started in the form of a King Air? OK, so where's the 737 stand? Is it being slowed up more still by this new project? I don't know that to be the case, but if things are moving somewhat slowly because of a large number of projects on the go at once, why add yet another when there are already bottlenecks with what's on the plate already? Now, it's quite possible that the people doing the early stages of a project are not those who work a later stage, in which case, fair enough. One isn't affecting the other. But, we don't know that because nobody is communicating with us. There are no regular (or at least reasonably frequent) updates that lets us know that the project we are waiting on hasn't fallen off the face of the earth - which has happened in the past (not necessarily with Milviz though, to be clear).

 

I find it strange that a developer will announce, and give all kinds of screenshots very early on in a development (such as we are now seeing with the King Air) presumably to promote the product and get people excited, then get upset by questions on said project 6 months down the road when not a thing has been said about it in 4 months. I respectfully suggest you can't have it both ways. You either announce the beginning of a new project and be willing to answer questions about it while it's in production (or provide regular updates/screenshots while it's in development), or hold off announcing it until it's going to beta and the release date is only a couple or 3 months off.

 

Now there is a flip side to all this. Customers who ask every couple of days after the original announcement where an airplane is at. This gets ridiculous and some of the customers are equally as rude, or more so, than the answers I've seen come from the developer. A developer won't release a product until it's done (hopefully, although there is one that does and it's extremely frustrating). Live with it. There are other airplanes to fly until it is done. However, this is where regular updates do help relieve the developer of this kind of harassment and is another good reason to consider offering these, even if they are only a couple of screenshots to let us know the airplane is still in the forefront.

 

Now, before coming on here, I did search several forums and postings to see if I could find info about the 737. In one location (but it took some searching) I read where it was expected to go into beta within 12 to 14 weeks. That was at the end of August, so I presume that's still the situation. At least it's still on the go and hasn't been shelved or stuck in the back room for "further consideration at a later date." It would be nice to know that this is the case, or it's been held up a bit and is now estimated to be in beta by November (or December, or whatever). Every developer runs into unexpected snags and issues, and there are few customers out there who would not realize that. A little PR and info can go a very long way to maintaining good relations and to keeping the harassing comments and questions about "when" to a minimum.

 

Thank you for reading. I wish you all success in the 737 project and look forward to hearing/seeing more about it in the coming months.

Hi.

 

You've raised some valid points that we will look at in the future.

 

Thanks for the feedback.

 

(Milviz aka Krazycolin aka KK aka KC aka Colin)

This aircraft has been in my "development hanger" for the past few months and is being worked on as both my health and time allows, Glenn. Fortunately, my health seems to have stabilized now, and being fully retired I am able to invest the majority of my time to sim work.

 

It may come as a surprise, but quite honestly there are surprisingly few folks anymore who are actively modeling and coding for flight simulation. As a result, I am actually working on several projects concurrently, and have to adjust project priorities based on other team member's completion schedules.

 

Just to provide some perspective, it took nearly two full months of full-time work just to complete the overhead panel's animation, mouse controls and logic. Remaining work includes the lower console and the two overhead oxygen regulators (pilot and copilot). Following that the remaining logic needs to be completed, and a round of testing, refinement and so forth must be conducted.

 

We must have multiple projects going on simultaneously, otherwise many team members would be sitting around twiddling their thumbs and/or biting their nails waiting for their turn at bat.

 

Finally, please understand that having to take the time for extensive replies to questions about WIP actually slows down the development process, which hopefully explains why some replies might appear to be short and terse. This reply has already "cost" about fifteen minutes... B)

Thank you Fr. Bill. That explanation made the most sense of anything ive seen lately. King Air please!

Hey Bill,

Many thanks for this. Please understand, my "bee" has nothing to do with the length of time it takes to get a product to completion. The miracles you work (and other developers) is nothing short of amazing. That takes time and I'm of the persuasion that it's better to do it right (as much as is possible) the first time than to have to revisit things. That, of course, doesn't mean you can foresee all the potential issues prior to release, and I doubt anyone expects it to be perfect out of the box. So please don't anyone read my post as being a "hurry up" sort of thing :smile:. Nothing could be further from the truth.

 

You did confirm one thing I suspected, and that's that one team member may be working on the "nose" of a project while another only works on the "tail". So, understood, and that makes a lot of sense. Thanks for that.

 

Your point about replying to these sorts of post is well taken. I'm thinking that if you have someone who might be willing to do a couple of screen grabs every month or so and post them, would probably be enough to keep customers in the loop without expending more time than necessary and thus taking time away from the project. In as far as further, repeated posts by customers who can't go more than 8 hours without an update, well maybe simply ignoring those might be the best policy I suppose. As I stated, the customer is as much, or more an issue with repeated and frequent requests for info, and thus the reason i suggest an update or two a month. If that's not sufficient for them, well, that can't be your problem.

 

Thank you for your time Bill. I didn't know about any health issues. I hope things settle quickly for you. I very much appreciate your time to explain things :smile:. The best to you and your team, and I'll look forward to the 737, whether it's next week or next year. Either will be fine!

 

Glenn

I made the mistake of politely asking about a Milviz project update on another forum and was told "it will be ready when it's ready" or words to that effect. What struck me as odd in this particular instance is that this update question was posted on a thread started by Milviz to advertise an upcoming Milviz model. So I guess they want to generate interest, they just don't want to answer questions about it. It would have taken no additional effort to respond "we can't ballpark a release date yet, but progress continues" or something along those lines.

 

No problem though, developers can answer questions in any manner they want or not answer them at all. But I can also spend my money where I want, or not at all. I never responded to that answer. Instead I returned the Baron for a refund and bought the PMDG 737. Poor customer service can have consequences.

I'm sorry you feel that I was "rude" to you. Truly. That was never my intent. However, you did get great customer service didn't you? In the end, you were able to return the product, get your money back and buy something else all without even interfacing with us at all. Now, if that's not GREAT customer service offered by a very few and select dev's, I'm not sure what is. We CHOOSE to offer that service.

 

Add to that, we always respond to ALL issues and the people who have them and try very hard to fix all of them... This is one of the reasons we have so many SP's. Not because our products are any more (or less) buggy than anyone else's... It's because we stand behind them and want them to be as good as they can be.

 

So... if all this is about my saying "we can't ballpark a release date yet, but progress continues" rather than "it will be ready when it's ready".... Ok, I will say the former from now on.

 

(I'm pretty sure you will find this all rude too so I guess I'm blowing in the wind..)

 

As well, the very fact that your posts aren't just deleted should say something about our customer service... We are responding to you and your "feelings" about us... Not sure that everyone would.

I'm sorry you feel that I was "rude" to you. Truly. That was never my intent. However, you did get great customer service didn't you? In the end, you were able to return the product, get your money back and buy something else all without even interfacing with us at all. Now, if that's not GREAT customer service offered by a very few and select dev's, I'm not sure what is. We CHOOSE to offer that service.

 

Add to that, we always respond to ALL issues and the people who have them and try very hard to fix all of them... This is one of the reasons we have so many SP's. Not because our products are any more (or less) buggy than anyone else's... It's because we stand behind them and want them to be as good as they can be.

 

So... if all this is about my saying "we can't ballpark a release date yet, but progress continues" rather than "it will be ready when it's ready".... Ok, I will say the former from now on.

 

(I'm pretty sure you will find this all rude too so I guess I'm blowing in the wind..)

 

As well, the very fact that your posts aren't just deleted should say something about our customer service... We are responding to you and your "feelings" about us... Not sure that everyone would.

 

I never used the word "rude" anywhere in my comment. I was simply disappointed in the lack of information provided.

 

The question I posted concerned the 737-200 and it wasn't posted on the Milviz forum. The particular thread was well over a month old when I asked.

 

My "feeling" is that if a business wants to make more money then providing updated information on products YOU ARE ADVERTISING on numerous sites would be helpful. Just my 2 cents.

 

All in perspective though, it's only a game. :smile: