Thanks for the update Robert.  No need to explain the delays.  PMDG's reputation for quality speaks for itself.  That high standard of quality is based on your attention to detail, and making absolute sure a project is ready before it is released. B)

 

This 777 will be awesome no matter what day it is released.  Folks just need to relax, just keep flying your NGX, MD, or whatever until 777 is ready.  It will be done when it is done.

 

Cheers

TJ

Thank's but the PMDG cant release the ngx sp2 until the release of 777?

 

Good weekend for all

 

Fred Matias.

Its the replies in this thread that will show the level of maturity of some of the people waiting for this aircraft.

 

Nice work PMDG, stay true to quality and don't release it until you're sure.

 

Sean

I am with you on This Robert, I know how hard everyone has worked on this and well sometimes things don't go as planned. One week is not going to kill me. I, however did spend the last 15 minutes in the middle of the living room kicking, and screaming, throwing a temper tantrum. The Gf thought I was nuts, but I am better now and can't wait( actually I guess I can) for next week.

I deal with big companies - many of which you've heard of - and rarely see this level of commitment to quality.  It's becoming a lost art: "The shareholders don't care, the shareholders don't want to pay, we need to keep costs down, who's going to notice?"  

 

Thanks for one of the few establishments to stick to high standards.  Keep at it - even if it seems lonely up there at the top.

Just sit tight - this will be MORE than worth the weight. 

 

Said the one whos flying it already...lol. Its good for me as I am out till next week anyway. Kudos to the team...get it right the first time!!!!!

Well I'm currently flyin the baby brother from CYVR to KSFO. Definitely plenty of destinations to keep me flyin! After leaving a regional airline for ATC after furloughs and displacements your product NGX has filled that void. Thanks for all you do to make FSX as real as possible.

 

 

 

 

 

-P50&Pilot

It's great you guys take extreme pride and enthusiasm in making the product perfect, but as all pilots say, there's no such thing as a perfectly good airplane. I think it frustrates a lot of people because, although you didn't give a specific date, you gave the "release week" thing on Facebook, and plenty of people followed. So after waiting for years for this thing, people got their hopes up to have them crushed by this. But glad it's fixed and hopefully we can move on. The only thing that will ABSOLUTELY ###### everyone off is if the price is set at a ridiculous price (higher than or equal to the MD11). Just a heads up on that,

 

Daether

Thanks for the update Rob. It is what it is, looking forward to next weekend. I for for one support a delayed release if it means correcting any issues, will be better for us in the and PMDG in the longer run.

This works out good, need time to get PFPX figured out with the NGX.

 

Thanks for putting so much effort into your products, you guys consistently set the bar and I really appreciate it.

 

Thanks for the update.

Hey, now I'll actually have time to read the FCTM.

better this than silence Thanks 

 

Please Keep Updating !!!

Great News!!!. I'm glad to hear that PMDG strives for perfection. Keep up the great work!!!!! We're so excited, we're all going bonkers!!!!!

Captains-

 

(I've been trying to post this since this morning...  Couldn't get the forum to respond...  Sorry for the delay!)

Sometimes, the worst part about being an airline pilot is when you hear ATC call you on the frequency and say, "We have holding instructions for you, advise me when you are ready to copy..."

 

I will keep this short and sweet- but I wanted to let you know that we currently have had the 777 release in holding for a few days while we tried to sort out a problem that we felt was capable of putting the release "At Risk."  (You will recall I mentioned this in my post from Monday morning...)

 

The problem turned out to be a bit more complex than we expected, and the fix was not confirmed until our staff meeting this morning at 1300Z.  

 

The good news, is that the problem has been identified, a fix was found and it was implemented overnight last night.

 

There really isn't any "bad" news per-se, but we have decided to reset the clock on final testing of the release-build, which puts our release window out into the Monday-Thursday time-frame of next week.

 

We do not currently have any major items we are working with, and as long as the Tech and Beta teams don't pop up with some new, unseen critical problem, you will be flying the airplane at some point before next weekend!

 

So here are a few questions some might ask:

 

1) If we are so confident that product is ready- why not just release now?:  We are absolutely committed to making certain that we have fixed the problem without breaking anything further.  The only way to do this is to take the time to test the product properly.  We have a responsibility to our customers, our testers and our development team to make sure we don't rush this out the door just because everyone is excited to fly...  Just like when flying a real airplane, we want to make sure the fix is correct- and THEN we'll go fly.

 

2) So what was it that you were looking for and why was it considered "High Risk?":   Late in beta testing, we got a couple of passing reports from one or two members of our testing teams that "occasionally the switches in the cockpit cease being clickable."  They reported to us that it was usually transient... for a few seconds...  We started digging around and found nothing, and decided it was one of those odd "sim'isms" that seem to plague any complex software that runs with FSX.  At PMDG we use many of the same techniques that are used on the flight deck- and our normal process of polling members of the team for "reservations/concerns" caused us to decide that we needed to take one good, long serious look at this little item.  We established a team to dig into the matter, and found that we could replicate it on only one machine, and that replication was random...  Our risk analysis on the item told us that, based on the intermittent nature of the problem it wouldn't necessarily prevent us from releasing- but we were worried because we could not predict the failure, nor could we identify what was causing it or give you instructions on how to avoid it...   That put it into a very serious risk category...  We don't like to have unknowns buried in a release.

 

3) So did you solve it?:  Yes, Yes we did.      It took four days...  or- 72hrs, depending on how you want to measure it.  Alex, Henning, Michael and Vin worked about 18hrs a day for four straight days to find the problem.  They identified a mistake we made, corrected the mistake, and then spent another 10 hours verifying that the fix cured the condition that we could replicate.   We have now pushed the fix out to our testing team, and we have heard back from one of the four people able to replicate the problem that it has fixed the issue for him.  The other three are testing now... and we anticipate hearing the same from them.

 

4) So why make us wait until next week? We want it NOOOOOW!  (And you said August!):  Yes, Yes we did.      This is a classic example of the reason we never give release dates.  You guys know the product is about to release and you are excited about it.  We WANT you to be out flying the airplane...   But we want to make sure we are really and truly finished before we release her to you.  That means giving the testing process time to percolate out to a natural conclusion.  I expect you will be flying her by next weekend.

 

5) Could this happen again next week?  With another delay?:  I do not expect it will.  BUT:  If we find something that will prevent some users from being able to enjoy the product- we will keep holding it until we have that issue resolved.  That is because we care about product quality- and we have made mistakes in the past that we don't think any of us want to repeat.  I recognize that our decision to HOLD until we have the problems fixed is a bit unusual in the modern marketplace, but it is how PMDG operates.

 

6) Pricing?:  All release details will be published next week!

 

Okay- so...  

 

Enjoy your weekend-  we will keep you posted on the testing progress during the weekend with comments (most likely in this thread) and we will see you for the release sometime between Monday and Thursday!

 

You are really really going to love this airplane...  I promise!

 

 

Not a big deal. We can wait! Thanks for making quality products!

 

 Michael Lovetto

Thanks for the update Robert and for having the cahoonies to come here with the update.

 

I appreciate your team's attention to quality and detail.

 

On the other hand I also have this thought.

 

I am not a software developer and of course this is not my product nor my call, but:

 

could this minor problem not have been left for the enevitable service pack? Because no matter how close to perfection this is within the relatively sterile beta tester group, once widley released, we all know problems will be uncovered that will need patching, ie a service pack. Reason I mention this is, what's to say yet another gripe doesnt turn up before next week, and on and on...for example, IIRC, the MD-11 needed 2 service packs.

 

Well anyhow, looking forward to this at some point. For now I will spin up your outstanding MD-11, got a FEDEX run to make.

 

Cheers.