SSG 747-8i....or FF 757?

[FlyBoyMike 38]

I'm a bit unsure whether to get this 747, been reading up on their support forum and notice there are quite a few bugs particularly to do with FMC programming but the dev team seems to be working quickly to resolve these. The screenshots I've seen don't look too bad, the external model looks quite good, however the VC could probably look a bit better. Also haven't really seen any reviews or feedback about this aircraft other than the one on ASN (which doesn't really convince me).

 

Would really like to get a decently modeled 747 for X-Plane as their one of my favourite tubes around so am wondering if anyone has actually purchased it yet?

 

On the other hand, I've also been eyeing the FF 757. I have their 777 and feel the 757 is probably a bit of a step up from that in terms of visual quality and systems detail. I also have a feeling that from what I've seen for the $60 price even the FF 777 might be better than this 747-8i.

[Anxu00 176]

The 747 oddly enough is not my tube, so I am biased toward the FF 757, on my to get list.

[Slayer 190]

The 757 is as good as it gets in XP.  You won't be disappointed. 

[BleedAir 28]

get the 757, the 747 is crap.

[Baylorguy 39]

The FF 757 is hands down my best aircraft for XPX.  It is PMDG quality and has a very complex FMC which is great for realism.  I won't be getting the 777 though as I am holding out for PMDG to port their aircraft over (I know their aircraft well since I am also a FSX guy).

 

Keep an eye on the IXEG 737.  Still in development but it will probably set the new benchmark.  It looks to be as good or better than the PMDG NGX (gasp).

[FlyBoyMike 38]

Thanks for all the feedback. I'll definitely be looking into the 757 then, never tried one before but panel layout looks very similar to a 767 and I used to fly the Level-D one in FSX.

 

 

 

Keep an eye on the IXEG 737.  Still in development but it will probably set the new benchmark.  It looks to be as good or better than the PMDG NGX (gasp).

 

Yes been keeping close watch on this one as well. Those cockpit prep videos are amazing! Love the NGX as well but feel I've really kind of flown it to death now, flying something like a 737CL series would be good for something a bit different, a lot of airlines in Eastern Europe still seem to fly them today.

 

 

The 747 oddly enough is not my tube

 

I think it's the unique shape that I've always liked about them. SSG seem to have done a really good job on the external model, but aside from that there isn't much else that stands out about it when you compare to all the other tubes on offer at the moment. 

[MdMax 233]

The 757 is as good as it gets in XP.  You won't be disappointed. 

 

+1

[anthony_d 32]

I concur with comments about the 757.  There's lots of small details that you don't see in the previous 777.  Example, when your air conditioning packs are running at the desired cabin temperature, dial the temperature up or down and hear the packs growl louder to cope with the extra heating / cooling load.

 

You can drive the Chief Flight Attendant beyond madness in various different ways :ph34r:

 

FMC is good, but still some issues when it comes to VNAV descent.  There's more fidelity when it comes to VNAV descent profiles in the Level-D 767 (which has an almost identical cockpit to the 757).

 

Flight director:  Doesn't appear.  Until you check the manual - you need flight director and auto-pilot to be engaged on different air data computers for the director to appear on the PFD.  Details Details Details.....

 

She flies nice, but in terms of frame rate - it exerts a heavier load compared to the 777.  Not that I notice much on my rig - it's the difference between 50fps and 60fps.  Fuel consumption is very close to amounts obtained from fuelplanner.com.  High altitude climb rates with a heavy plane can be painfully slow above FL320

 

Engine sounds are convincing, sounds nice at low / moderate thrust, sounds like a growling vacuum cleaner at high thrust - just like real life.

 

There's no TCAS - no Traffic Traffic, monitor vertical speed, climb - climb NOW, descend.  Nope, nothing but the usual X-Plane "BurpBeeeep TCAS Alert".  Things I miss from the Level D 767.

 

Auxiliary menus include options for maintenance (you need to top up fluids etc...), and checklists are interactive which saves needing to print paper.    I do however think the menu accessibility was somewhat quicker to grab and nicer on their previous 777.  Also, it's not possible to turn off failures altogether - so overnight flights while I'm in bed often end up in calamity!

 

Some simulator crashes.  Low Engine Oil Pressure --> High Engine Temp after a few moments --> Engine Fire and simultaneous plane / simulator crash.  Not good.  But I'm sure they'll fix it.

 

747 I'm not going to buy.  Cockpit looks underwhelming in the screenshots.  If they can't be bothered with textures, it makes me wonder how well screwed together the rest of the package is.

[FlyBoyMike 38]

 

 

She flies nice, but in terms of frame rate - it exerts a heavier load compared to the 777.

 

This is one thing I'm a little concerned about as well since I notice the system requirements are higher than for the 777. I currently use a GTX 560ti and 8GB system RAM so hopefully that's OK.

 

 

 

747 I'm not going to buy.  Cockpit looks underwhelming in the screenshots.  If they can't be bothered with textures, it makes me wonder how well screwed together the rest of the package is.

 

That's a really good point. Seems like they only really focused on the external model as that's what stands out the most.

 

Also just checked their support forum and saw the following post from one of the devs.

 

1. There is no load editor at this time, just the standard X-Plane menus

2. For pushback you need an external plug-in. There are several on the ORG for download. I have "cheated" in the past by using reverse thrust, which is illegal and dangerous but this is a sim! Of course that means you have to start the engines at the gate. 

 

For $60 I don't think that's acceptable at all considering all the custom menus for loading, push-back and ground ops you get with the 757. Definitely staying away from this one!

[stekeller 7]

As a member of the SSG development team I was interested to see this thread.

 

First of all, I don't feel comfortable criticizing any other developer. I have personally met at least one of the members of FlightFactor and they seem like a nice group of guys. They do great work and are obviously very dedicated. So I encourage everyone to try their products. I have the 777 but have not tried the 757 myself yet.

 

As for the 747-8 Advanced, it has been quite well received, but the comments here are noted and I will bring them to the team's attention. About the lack of a load editor, frankly we did not feel it was necessary because the default X-Plane 10 menus are quite adequate in terms of selecting the weight you want and the fuel amount. However, we are now considering adding this feature. Same with the pushback truck. My comment was quoted here and I hope you realize I was trying to be funny. The reality is that there are some good freeware plug-ins for pushing back your aircraft in X-Plane, so again we did not feel one was necessary. But based on some of these comments, we are also considering adding one to the package. We have heard the criticisms of the cockpit textures, but honestly they have largely come from people who have not flown the add-on in the sim. Yes, they do seem a bit plain, but we focused on legibility, easy of use and functionality. However, updated textures are another item we will be working on.

 

As developers (and avid simmers ourselves) we focused most of our energies on getting the airplane to fly correctly and exhibit proper performance. The dedicated and integrated FMC/ND/autoflight functionality and the systems have been complex and challenging - so we will always try to smooth out any kinks and make the experience as realistic and accurate as possible. Above all, we wanted the airplane to be fun to fly, and I feel we have succeeded there. Personally, flying the aircraft in mountainous terrain with the Vertical Situation Display "painting" the terrain ahead (a first for X-Plane as far as we know) is almost like science fiction. As a pilot, I would love to have such a display when flying around certain challenging airports - especially at night and in bad weather. It is an amazing tool Boeing has developed that I never quite appreciated until I saw it in action.

 

You may be familiar with our freeware versions of the 747-8 and they have been quite popular. The SSG 747-8 Advanced is a quantum leap beyond those releases and we are very proud of it. So while some of the criticism here stings a bit, we will entertain all suggestions to improve the product and incorporate additional features into our future releases. I am happy to answer any questions and would like to wish everyone here at AVSIM Happy Holidays!

 

Sincerely,

 

- Stekeller

SSG

[jcomm 5,930]

Well,

 

judging from the videos ( even if just a few, and recorded by users that were not trying to fly the aircraft by the book...) I can say that I was very well impressed by the  748!

 

The graphics aren't really my main focus. I can't tell how it feels before trying it myself, so, I consider it, for the time being, as a must have. Also, i believe that just as with other add-ons

it is in constant development, so, we can expect updates / bug fixes in the future.

[horani 43]

I really appreciate ANY effort of the XPX developers to bring us a quality add on as it is exactly what XPX needs. However I would not even compare SSG 748 to FF 757 right now. Just a different league...

 

I do not care so much about visuals, where the 748 apparently lacks. I can also live without the load manager, pushback, checklists, announcements, etc. The biggest issue of the 748 for me is the FMS integration. I am not sure choosing Javier's UFMC was the right choice. It already had many problems as a standalone add on and the same issues are present in 748. Most of the arrivals are missing approaches, incorrect transitions, messed up VNAV and so on.

Therefore the price of the 748 is not justified in my opinion.

[stekeller 7]

horani:

 

About the FMS problems you are having. We know that some people had such issues when their X-Plane nav databases were not up to date but that seemed to fix the problem. You are correct that proper FMS functioning is crucial - so if there is a problem it will be fixed. Please let us know what the issues are on our support forum (I don't know if this is the right place for that).

 

Also, this is not the UFMC, it is completely different and updated. Sure Javier is the author of both, but this is a custom plug-in specifically for the SSG 747-8 Advanced.

 

You are entitled to your opinion about the price of the add-on, but we would never have released a non-functioning product. It worked for us in our testing, but items may have cropped up for users in ways we did not anticipate. That is the challenge of testing. So I am personally sorry you had a bad experience, but we aim to resolve all such issues and move forward with adding features and further enhancements as the product evolves.

 

Sincerely,

 

- Stekeller

SSG