Plus the recent rash of updates with more to come can't be very attractive as a business proposition.  It may be alright for a dedicated hobbyist to fix their code every time asobo change something, but there's no way a commercial entity is going to throw money at that black hole.

Rather than having the SDK documented, I'd say the first requirement is to get it frozen - and that means getting all the bugs in the core code fixed.

Those cabin interiors in the BBJ will be giving Abacus a run for their money lol 🤪

All of the talk from Asobo and some add-ons devs before MSFS' release was about how they were working hand-in-hand together in a way that was unprecedented with FSX or P3D. That glimmer of hope has fizzled out and nothing has changed. 

1 hour ago, honanhal said:

From a July post of RSR's (https://forum.pmdg.com/forum/main-forum/general-discussion-news-and-announcements/73673-30jul20-pending-updates-update-and-pmdg-737ng3-for-microsoft-flight-simulator-first-look)

Currently we are looking at a beta testing horizon well into 4Q20, and a release event currently sometime out in late 1Q21. These times could shift forward depending a number of factors and they could slide further out also. Right now it is really hard to tell.

In fairness, he said right there the dates could shift. But there absolutely has been a shift. RSR is very careful with his words (this is kind of my point!) so you're never going to find him contradicting himself directly.

Also, 12+ months from now is Q4 2021, not Q3.

James

I recall a subsequent announcement to the one you quoted, where the timeline was pushed back, citing that there was something MS/Asobo had to do before release.  Anyhow, not an issue but in my mind it was a Q4 2021 release for some reason

49 minutes ago, omarsmak30 said:

I have heard, however, that pretty much every 3rd party developer apart from Aerosoft is getting almost no communication or coordination from Asobo. This can't be helping their development, either.

This is really disappointing. I'm trying to stay under the impression that MS/Asobo is hard at work building a sim for simmers and that they're very cooperative with 3rd part devs, but so far, the major focus on everything non-simulation and lack of honest comms say otherwise.

1 hour ago, omarsmak30 said:

I have heard, however, that pretty much every 3rd party developer apart from Aerosoft is getting almost no communication or coordination from Asobo. This can't be helping their development, either

Uh oh, choose wisely Asobo!

Bummer! But with improvements rolling out furiously for the A320neo, I can wait. I can't imagine many simmers are investing significantly in P3D add-ons at the moment now that we've had a taste of the potential of MSFS, so I hope PMDG can weather their self-imposed 12+ month delay.

1 hour ago, Chapstick said:

All of the talk from Asobo and some add-ons devs before MSFS' release was about how they were working hand-in-hand together in a way that was unprecedented with FSX or P3D. That glimmer of hope has fizzled out and nothing has changed. 

At first, Developers talk about MONEY, and if they succeed, continue to talk about SDK. Now imagine, what does it mean to "talk" to Microsoft! 😄

 

Edited October 19, 20205 yr by OSM

1 hour ago, regis9 said:

Uh oh, choose wisely Asobo!

If Asobe choosed to rely on Aerosoft expertise regarding the content of the "advanced" SDK i see clearly the outcome:

Edited October 19, 20205 yr by JoeFackel

Considering the information shared above here by Iceman, that the SDK is not as utterly broken as some might suggest, another thought comes to mind - the early bird catches the worm. I have nothing but respect for PMDG's study level simulators (and I am a customer of theirs) but if they wait too long, the MSFS sim world may move on. Another "PMDG" will rise and take the opportunity. Already we are seeing almost daily updates to the A320 Neo, taking it a massive leap forwards. By this time next year, Asobo and/or the mod team will have surely fixed the flight model and other quirks.  Imagine even in the next few months where this aircraft might be given it's almost daily updates. And that's just one aircraft! So many aircraft are being worked on by the community right now. With that in mind, by this time next year, people may well be asking, "why do I need PMDG at these Dollars $$$ when I already have this amazing line up of 95% study-level Airbus, Boeing, Beechcraft and Cessna aircraft in my hanger. To say that can't happen is a little naïve.

With each upgrade to the sim's default aircraft, the likes of PMDG are potentially losing another handful of customers. PMDG should be pressing Asobo to fix what has to be fixed (their livelihoods to an extent depend on it) and work with what they have in the interim, as time waits for no study level simulation, especially when you have the incredibly talented Iceman and his Fly by Wire team, Kaosfere and the Working Title team, DRF30q, Robert Young and many others taking the default aircraft to levels never seen before in a "default".

1 hour ago, odourboy said:

Bummer! But with improvements rolling out furiously for the A320neo, I can wait. I can't imagine many simmers are investing significantly in P3D add-ons at the moment now that we've had a taste of the potential of MSFS, so I hope PMDG can weather their self-imposed 12+ month delay.

I'm very reluctant to to buy any more add ons for other sims, unfortunately I'm finding that I'm not really flying the other sims at the moment even though I've spent thousands of Pounds on them over the years, infact I've flown Xplane11 about 4 times, and P3D v5 once since MSFS's release, I must of been flying MSFS that much that when I booted up the other sims they felt strange. My current order of preference is MSFS, Xplane 11, P3D 4.5/5, the order might change a bit after P3D 5.1 released, over to you LM.

3 hours ago, regis9 said:

Uh oh, choose wisely Asobo!

 

3 hours ago, FAZZ3 said:

This is really disappointing. I'm trying to stay under the impression that MS/Asobo is hard at work building a sim for simmers and that they're very cooperative with 3rd part devs, but so far, the major focus on everything non-simulation and lack of honest comms say otherwise.

And this is where the tin hat conspiracy theories get their origins.

One person posts that 'they have heard' that the developer is not communicating with anyone and then we get people who quote THAT quote, and it's off to the races with allegations that the Dev's are not cooperative with 3 party devs, focus only on non-simulation aspects and are dishonest in terms of communications.

Let's try to stick to actual facts instead of conjecture and rumor.  

The A 320 NX team is currently our best bet for a working airliner for MSFS 2020 in the near future. The team is very knowledgeable and dedicated, and they're not asking for too much. They've actually accomplished quite a lot already.

One true "study level" B787 from another developer will kill entire PMDG "fleet", and kick them from FS2020 sky. Actually not many customers will pay twice for the same "study level" airplane from FSX/P3D. Humans constantly looking for something new!

Edited October 19, 20205 yr by OSM

The cynical part of me suspects the now ongoing reminders that it will be 12 to 18 months before PMDG aircraft reach MSFS has much to do with PMDG driving sales of their P3D products. We figure since we will be a year to two from having a complex aircraft in MSFS we may as well purchase this 30 dollar add on and enjoy it for a year, well worth the money we will say.  Hopefully, it keeps cash flowing. But for someone like me there is a problem in that thinking.

I still have P3D installed, just a smaller installation footprint, and while from time to time I miss complex aircraft -- and more the kinds of missions I could complete with them and the satisfaction of doing so - I find going back difficult, and 9 times out of 10 I abandon the flight. I can make a pretty good effort to ignore the scenery and to a certain extent the visual weather depiction, but recently it has just been performance issues. For some reason framerate spikes have returned, and that means painstakingly going back and making adjustments to try to sort it and I just don't have the heart for it any longer.  And because of that I am not thinking to purchase any more products for that platform, because I just won't use them. The thing is, I have really appreciated what P3D could do, which is why I keep going back and giving it a try, but it is getting harder and harder to do. So, I hope PMDG will focus on working with ABOSO and try to have even an initial offering of a product in MSFS sooner than later, even one that requires ongoing development for a period of time; but if not, I am actually learning to be happy flying different kinds of missions and I agree that others will fill the space.

Edited October 19, 20205 yr by Cognita