01APR14 - Quick PMDG 777 SP1 Update

[Christopher Low 5,353]

 

There's a distinct lack of participation from anyone from PMDG's team and beta testers in this thread... Ryan, Kyle, AJ.... :huh:

 

They're all working hard on SP1. Weather radars are probably tough to code.....

[Kailiang Seah 44]

APFL 

[Kilo60 660]

How is it that the Majestic Q 400 has a working weather radar and one doesn't have to have ASN for it to work.

 

Are the Devs at Majestic better than the devas at PMDG...?

[KriVa 307]

That's exactly it... the Q400 does not have a working weather radar. it has a cloud map. And while those two things may look the same, they are very, very different.

In an airplane, you don't care about where the clouds are, you care about where the precipitation is.

So no, the devs at Majestic aren't better than the devs at PMDG per se. They "just" took the "easy" way out, by using the weather available within FSX.

(Note: Please take the word "easy" in the former sentence as a generalisation. I know the guys at Majestic have worked, and are working, very hard at their products.)

Also, I don't think either dev is better than the other, really. Both have their strong points, both have their "weaknesses".

[NGXfanatic 85]

That's exactly it... the Q400 does not have a working weather radar. it has a cloud map. And while those two things may look the same, they are very, very different.

In an airplane, you don't care about where the clouds are, you care about where the precipitation is.

So no, the devs at Majestic aren't better than the devs at PMDG per se. They "just" took the "easy" way out, by using the weather available within FSX.

(Note: Please take the word "easy" in the former sentence as a generalisation. I know the guys at Majestic have worked, and are working, very hard at their products.)

Also, I don't think either dev is better than the other, really. Both have their strong points, both have their "weaknesses".

Excellent point.  PMDG refused to offer a wx radar prior to ASN because they were based on a faulty assumption about cloud/precipitation data, as the clouds in FSX were really just eye candy, there in visual form without offering any substantive behavior that you would factor into your operation of the aircraft, like turbulence, icing or precipitation.  Now that ASN offers clouds with realistic properties, and are less likely to just disappear instantly because the user's weather station has changed, PMDG has rightfully changed their stance to offer this functionality.  

 

I don't know how Majestic specifically models their wx data, but I don't see how any wx radar heretherefore offered a plausible readout of the clouds in the sim if there was no real cloud data to read.   But one has to believe Majestic was guessing cloud position, and what is the point of that?   To have "real" clouds, you must own ASN, it's a prerequisite for what PMDG is trying to achieve with the new radar.   It doesn't mean PMDG is better than Majestic, from what I have heard, they are the closest other addon maker to PMDG quality and technical ability.   PMDG is really just interfacing with the game changing ASN tech, and if Majestic is willing, they can choose to work with ASN as well to have a real working wx radar.  

Let's not forget, Majestic was not the only aircraft addon developer to offer wx radar functionality.   The science behind this functionality was always questionable, so for all intents and purposes, wx radars in MSFS was really just eye candy. 

[dho112 17]

If it were me, I think I would have gone the April Fools route by saying that 3d modelled flight attendants were being added to the aircraft and that we could choose their measurements and hair and eye color via a new LSK choice on the FMC, and have the drill down choices like

Flight Attendant 1:               1/12
 

 <-- Female

 <-- Male

 <-- Single

 <-- Married

 <-- 35

 <-- 24

 <-- 33

[hopskip 253]

The funny thing is, Majestic Software's Q400 doesn't have a properly working weather radar which shows reflections from precipitation, but it DOES have a working terrain reflections/masking on it's cloud radar.

 

Something that PMDG is still working on apparently.

 

Almost like if we joined the good bits from both, we'd have a perfect weather radar  :lol:

 

Bring on 777SP1, 737SP2 and Q400 Pro I say!

I'm glad I'll be working Good Friday and Easter Monday, gonna need that extra $$$ for flightsim stuff again lol

[SolRayz 392]

I'll try asking again, but will the data uplink to the fmc be the real world equivalent to direct syncing\downlinking of flightplans directly to the fmc via an outside source.

 

Maybe this capability already exists, I am anticipating purchasing the 777 very soon.

[learn-by-flying 37]

I'll try asking again, but will the data uplink to the fmc be the real world equivalent to direct syncing\downlinking of flightplans directly to the fmc via an outside source.

 

Maybe this capability already exists, I am anticipating purchasing the 777 very soon.

Ooooooh, that'd be cool if you could send it from a VA site or from PPFX or SimBrief.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2

[kevinh 409]

I don't know how Majestic specifically models their wx data, but I don't see how any wx radar heretherefore offered a plausible readout of the clouds in the sim if there was no real cloud data to read. But one has to believe Majestic was guessing cloud position, and what is the point of that? To have "real" clouds, you must own ASN, it's a prerequisite for what PMDG is trying to achieve with the new radar

Developers have always been able to determine cloud type and position from FSX. So they never needed to guess where the clouds were or what type of clouds were being presented. The only guesswork was in which potential rain bearing clouds actually had precipitation in them, and so should show up on radar. ASN knows what weather it is generating so can fill in the gaps in a realistic way allowing developers like iFly and PMDG to present more realistic WXR.

 

Aerosoft are taking a different approach, having developed a way to link the rain information already in FSX to this cloud information. If that turns out to be a viable method then they could present realistic WXR regardless of which weather engine was being used.

[worker@CGN 24]

It is really quite, it seems that there are some bugs on beta testing. :unsure: Release maybe on christmas 2014 :lol: I hope not!!!

[Falconfly 61]

It is really quite, it seems that there are some bugs on beta testing. :unsure: Release maybe on christmas 2014 :lol: I hope not!!!

I do hope that if they have run into any bugs they are taken care of quickly.

 

Although a small update would not hurt....  :rolleyes:

[jgoggi 65]

 

 

Although a small update would not hurt.... 

 

Yes, almost a month since Robert said SP1 was quite finished and since he said "We'll be able to give you some release information a bit later in April, too!"

[Falconfly 61]

Yes, almost a month since Robert said SP1 was quite finished and since he said "We'll be able to give you some release information a bit later in April, too!"

Well we did get an update today..so I am a happy camper...

[pete_auau 1,158]

Just asking is  there any reason to keep this thread open now since  there  another thread now  on the update on the sp1