[01OCT16] PMDG 747-400 Queen of the Skies II is moving to beta testing!

[Steve Dra 7,588]

We were taxiing around SeaTac the other night and I happened to notice the taxi light sort of fading in and out as you turn it on and off. FS doesn't model this very well, at least not as a default. If there's a program that handles this, then disregard, but I think it would be cool to add this as an effect. Turning the lights on and off in the sim seem to give you an instant all or nothing effect, not a fade in/out like real lamps do when they're turned on and off. It's a very minor thing but I think it's kind of a cool effect. Anyway, just food for thought but I'm very much looking forward to this release.

 

 

Hey Sean,

Not sure if you have Xplane (XP) or this is common knowledge, but it has that effect by default and you're right, it looks so cool when you see it  for the 1st time in a flight sim (I'm just getting into XP  but its fascinating departure from FSX/P3D which I've been simming in for years).

As others have said between the 2 (3) platforms...XP is vastly superior in the night lighting arena, and I actually bought it (and a few very good aircraft add-ons) just to see for myself.  After years of taxiing under the sodium vapor lights at various airports in FSX and just accepting that they are static and don't interact with the sim at all...the 1st time doing that in XP and seeing parts of the aircraft illuminate under the cone of light the lamps were projecting was almost a religious experience!

Not to mention landing/taxi, turn-off lights splashing off buildings, vehicles and everything else its supposed to in the real world, it makes you want to ditch FSX/P3D altogether.  Next is the support vehicles that pull up to your plane to service her...all their lights bounce off the fuse (and ground) just like in real life.  It's quite the experience.  Hehe.

 

Perhaps one of the coolest things you can do is whisk through the 24 hours with a few key commands and set exactly what time you want on the fly without going to a dialog box and waiting for textures to load.  Landing at LAX at noon on the SEAVU arrival and want to quickly set it to dusk and see the lovely effects of the shadows when you go thru the mountain pass, plus the sun setting on the Pacific?  I press and hold SHIFT+L and in a moment I'm there.  P3D has a similar option, but its really a "time preview" slider and while you can fly without accepting the values, you lose many custom lighting effects until you accept the slider value, then of course the sim pauses and loads all the textures.

 

Anyway, I quickly digressed when I saw your request I just had to bring these tidbits to your attention if you were not aware.  Not meant to be a "My sim can beat up your Sim" post, but I'm very excited that PMDG has at least dipped its toes into the XP water, and maybe that fact bodes well for maybe sometime in the future seeing some Boeing heavy metal from them on that platform.

[swood721 28]

Hey Sean,

Not sure if you have Xplane (XP) or this is common knowledge, but it has that effect by default and you're right, it looks so cool when you see it  for the 1st time in a flight sim (I'm just getting into XP  but its fascinating departure from FSX/P3D which I've been simming in for years).

As others have said between the 2 (3) platforms...XP is vastly superior in the night lighting arena, and I actually bought it (and a few very good aircraft add-ons) just to see for myself.  After years of taxiing under the sodium vapor lights at various airports in FSX and just accepting that they are static and don't interact with the sim at all...the 1st time doing that in XP and seeing parts of the aircraft illuminate under the cone of light the lamps were projecting was almost a religious experience!

Not to mention landing/taxi, turn-off lights splashing off buildings, vehicles and everything else its supposed to in the real world, it makes you want to ditch FSX/P3D altogether.  Next is the support vehicles that pull up to your plane to service her...all their lights bounce off the fuse (and ground) just like in real life.  It's quite the experience.  Hehe.

 

Perhaps one of the coolest things you can do is whisk through the 24 hours with a few key commands and set exactly what time you want on the fly without going to a dialog box and waiting for textures to load.  Landing at LAX at noon on the SEAVU arrival and want to quickly set it to dusk and see the lovely effects of the shadows when you go thru the mountain pass, plus the sun setting on the Pacific?  I press and hold SHIFT+L and in a moment I'm there.  P3D has a similar option, but its really a "time preview" slider and while you can fly without accepting the values, you lose many custom lighting effects until you accept the slider value, then of course the sim pauses and loads all the textures.

 

Anyway, I quickly digressed when I saw your request I just had to bring these tidbits to your attention if you were not aware.  Not meant to be a "My sim can beat up your Sim" post, but I'm very excited that PMDG has at least dipped its toes into the XP water, and maybe that fact bodes well for maybe sometime in the future seeing some Boeing heavy metal from them on that platform.

Wow that's great info! Thank you, Steve. Funny you should mention it though because I was just looking at XP the other day. I had it back when I was junior high, around 2000/2001 timeframe but it wasn't getting as much support as it is now. Maybe it's time to revisit that platform. At the very least I'll be able to get my hands on the DC-6 a lot sooner.

[jadt 4]

There is a feature in the 747 FMC (KLM has it I think): If you start typing the STAR or SID name in the scratchpad on the DEP/ARR page, the list gets shortened to all STARs or SIDs which begin with named letter. Makes scrolling through endless pages at big airports much easier.

 

Is this something only KLM uses and/or can this be modelled?

[swood721 28]

There is a feature in the 747 FMC (KLM has it I think): If you start typing the STAR or SID name in the scratchpad on the DEP/ARR page, the list gets shortened to all STARs or SIDs which begin with named letter. Makes scrolling through endless pages at big airports much easier.

 

Is this something only KLM uses and/or can this be modelled?

I just tried it in the 757 and ours won't do it. It's the same box as the 747, but we're flying a legacy box with the PIP package, not the newer Pegasus box. Could be a blanket Pegasus feature or an option KLM ordered, but it doesn't appear that all 747 boxes will do it. Sure would be nice though! That's a terrific feature.

[Boeing or not going 578]

I thought I had read about beta testers being free to make videos and show pictures is that still the case? Can't wait to base myself at ANC and fly all the freighter routes from there. - David Lee

[swiesma 625]

.XP is vastly superior in the night lighting arena, and...

 

... vastly inferior in almost all other areas.

 

SCNR

[Werner747 107]

... vastly inferior in almost all other areas.

 

SCNR

Not all that bad.   I really like it but for me to spend the time in getting to know it like I do FSX and getting around setting everything up...  I rather just want to sit down and fly when I get the time, not tinker too much.

 

I think the biggest drawback for me is the way the setup integrates with the controls and the interface itself, but the rest of it is pretty darn good.

 

Regards

[Boomer 1,619]

... vastly inferior in almost all other areas.

 

SCNR

Correct. But then P3D trumps FSX.

[Werner747 107]

I thought I had read about beta testers being free to make videos and show pictures is that still the case? Can't wait to base myself at ANC and fly all the freighter routes from there. - David Lee

They are, I am anxiously anticipating these videos as well!

 

Regards

[swiesma 625]

Correct. But then P3D trumps FSX.

 

Give me: PMDG airplanes, all other P3D addons with XP10 engine... not asking more

 

So, I am still looking forward to the 747! Will be another great addon for P3D.

[anden145 2,285]

DELETED

[DeltaMikeKilo 19]

Still hoping for some amount of backwards compatibility in P3D. I know the T7 added new features with P3D V3 but it'd be nice to not have to upgrade and keep my particular flavour of V2.4 for the 747.

 

*fingers crossed*

[downscc 1,327]

 

 

I know the T7 added new features with P3D V3 but it'd be nice to not have to upgrade and keep my particular flavour of V2.4 for the 747.

 

No it didn't.  The changes were in P3D, which are so significant that I am surprised anyone is still in V2.4.  Regardless, the NGX and 777 were released for v2.4 and no updates were required to the PMDG product to work with later versions.  There were some issues such as landing lights splashes but these were fixed by LM and not PMDG.

[scandinavian13 5,192]

No it didn't.  The changes were in P3D, which are so significant that I am surprised anyone is still in V2.4.  Regardless, the NGX and 777 were released for v2.4 and no updates were required to the PMDG product to work with later versions.  There were some issues such as landing lights splashes but these were fixed by LM and not PMDG.

 

If I recall correctly, v3 brought the ability to have the GMCS not as a pop-up. That was something we took advantage of on our end of the code (of course, in response to their code changes). Still, distinctly different from the landing light issue fixes that were all on LM's side.

[DeltaMikeKilo 19]

Dan, miscommunication. I was referring to the taxi cams being no longer pop up in P3D V3 as Kyle pointed out. Last I checked they were completely disabled in my 77W on P3D 2.4. Or maybe I accidentally disabled pop out windows. Either way I don't use them.

 

As to why I'm still on 2.4 it's mostly a financial/laziness issue. Not getting into EULA stuff (I'm familiar with the rules here) I run the pro version of P3D and don't feel the advancements in V3 justify the cost of upgrading. V2.5 came with some VAS issues amongst the fellow simmers I regularly chat with so I held off on that one as well. I've got it dialed in exactly where I want it, and if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

One day I'll upgrade. Just holding out until something I want is finally no longer backwards compatible.