If anyone watched RSR's twitch video, you'll have seen zero doom and gloom. Captain Randazzo was very upbeat and discussed his future products while praising his relationship with ASOBO. It's a stark u-turn from his progress update made hours prior. Consequently I don't know what to think anymore, because I feel as though I'm being told two conflicting facts.

It confounds my confusion because I hear often how the SDK is complete, or how XYZ 3PD is doing this or that, and then I hear how feature ABC isn't possible or that product 123 is further delayed. MSFS development has me outright puzzled.

4 hours ago, odourboy said:

He's such a drama queen. Every time there's a PMDG development hiccup he throws Asobo under the bus. LOL 

Nonsensical statement really. We're all well aware of how troubled the update process is and that things such as the SDK are still being worked on and expanded and both of these aspects are obviously playing the central role in developing a complex aircraft addon for this sim. Even if the update was rather stretched out, he's being honest about what's going on and I for one appreciate that a lot. The alternative would be mostly silence with periodic generic things-are-coming-along updates that don't really tell you anything. Given how close they seem to be with Asobo he's certainly not throwing them under the bus; while I believe the frustration lies more with Microsoft rather than Asobo anyway.

As for being a drama queen - I don't know about others, but I personally do see quite a bit of drama when a major developer pretty much confirms that the troubled nature of the sim updates are driving a wedge between the simulator and addon aircraft development. Hopefully Microsoft - and I say Microsoft, not Asobo - will stick to their promise of prioritizing stability and bug fixes with the next couple of updates.

 

Wind data is not necessary for functioning VNAV in a 737.

Nor does the box assume zero wind if descent forecast winds are not entered.  Nor does it continuously or even semi-regularly re-calculate a VNAV path based on sensed changing winds in the descent.

What it does is calculate an initial VNAV descent path when the route is entered.  It will re-calculate this descent path once near top of climb, and I *believe* once again a certain distance from its original TOD, using present wind and assuming a standard decrease in wind on the way down.  The only other re-calculations of VNAV path occur when a pilot modifies route, perf, or descent forecasts data.

In other words, 737 VNAV is perfectly functional without forecast descent winds being entered, and to this day there are pilots who don't bother (I always do though).  What you're doing by entering descent winds isn't making VNAV basically functional, you're just fine-tuning it to be a little more precise. 

Basically, there would be no reason that an inability to read wind data in the sim would delay VNAV implementation. 

Also, as a point of curiosity, these winds aren't purely based on a forecast model.  A system mounted on more and more airliners called TAPS sends automated wind/temp/turb reports regularly through ACARS, and this data is incorporated in enroute wind uplinks.  It's similar to automated weather- reporting systems that have been on ships for years. So if there's been a recent preceding aircraft descending on your arrival, you'll get winds based more on reported data than model data. 

Edited December 8, 20214 yr by Stearmandriver

I caught most of the stream.  I don't think RSR was being doom and gloom or overly dramatic.  He was just being open and honest.  None of what he said was out of the ordinary for ANY 3rd part project.  These are somewhat normal issues in the 3PD MS relationship even while being critical.

It is however, close to a break glass moment for ASOBO if they want the hard core side of the sim to do well sooner rather then later.  I do think the customers, the 3PDs, and MS/ASOBOs needs/wants are in alignment.  This is why I think ASOBO should make this a Job 1 issue.  

Also, if you noticed in the stream, RSR perfectly justified the benefits and how they apply to all 3PDs and the marketplace in general.  

We are to the point though where these things need to get sorted by ASOBO ASAP.  I do, still think they will.  How soon is the big question.  It needs to happen soon, IMO.  I still think MS (Jorg) and ASOBO really want to make this happen, but they have to fit all that in to the existing dev cycle of the sim itself.  It's this later half leads me to believe that even if it gets sorted today, it could still be several months before it's injected in to the base sim and ready to go.

So why everyone here is going back and forth and wondering why and when, it's the 'when', I think that's causing so much concern and questions.

 

Edited December 8, 20214 yr by Jeff Nielsen

I don’t think he’s being overly-dramatic but I do wonder sometimes if he’s being a bit sly in trying to light a fire under Misobo’s word not allowed by whipping up hysteria on the forums. I’d have thought most of us were long enough in the tooth for delays to PMDG releases to wash off like water off a duck’s back.

1 minute ago, scotchegg said:

I don’t think he’s being overly-dramatic but I do wonder sometimes if he’s being a bit sly in trying to light a fire under Misobo’s word not allowed by whipping up hysteria on the forums. I’d have thought most of us were long enough in the tooth for delays to PMDG releases to wash off like water off a duck’s back.

Of course he's being political with ASOBO.  That's his job...lol.  That's exactly what he should be doing.

Now, as to what most other people are seeing in his posts...I kind of agree...quit trying to write a novel when all you have to say is a sentence...ROFL.

9 minutes ago, scotchegg said:

I don’t think he’s being overly-dramatic but I do wonder sometimes if he’s being a bit sly in trying to light a fire under Misobo’s word not allowed by whipping up hysteria on the forums. I’d have thought most of us were long enough in the tooth for delays to PMDG releases to wash off like water off a duck’s back.

It could be bit political to put pressure on Asobo to implement his needed features which I would say very smart lol.

3 hours ago, Republic3D said:

Randazzo just basically confirmed the 757 at Fabio's stream 😃

Any chance someone can point me to the timestamp in the video when he talks about the 757? I skipped through the video as I don't have the time to watch all of the 2+ hours but couldn't find it.

16 minutes ago, threegreen said:

Any chance someone can point me to the timestamp in the video when he talks about the 757? I skipped through the video as I don't have the time to watch all of the 2+ hours but couldn't find it.

Around 04:14:00

6 hours ago, fogboundturtle said:

He does the same with Lockheed Martin too.

 

6 hours ago, fogboundturtle said:

He does the same with Lockheed Martin too.

PMDG have a reputation for excellence above all others. They are simply not going to risk that in simulator that's still in beta form.

2 minutes ago, ailchim said:

 

PMDG have a reputation for excellence above all others. They are simply not going to risk that in simulator that's still in beta form.

So... Who released that amazing DC-6?! Now I'm confused.

2 hours ago, Stearmandriver said:

Also, as a point of curiosity, these winds aren't purely based on a forecast model.  A system mounted on more and more airliners called TAPS sends automated wind/temp/turb reports regularly through ACARS, and this data is incorporated in enroute wind uplinks.  It's similar to automated weather- reporting systems that have been on ships for years. So if there's been a recent preceding aircraft descending on your arrival, you'll get winds based more on reported data than model data. 

Very interesting! I was not aware of TAPS. A good use of modern datalink technology.

 

 

10 hours ago, ryanbatcund said:

Never saw this coming lol.

Neither did I, but in retrospect we should have. 

United001

8 hours ago, odourboy said:

He's such a drama queen. Every time there's a PMDG development hiccup he throws Asobo under the bus. LOL 

I know RSR is viewed as a god around here (and, considering the contributions PMDG has made to flight simming, I can well understand why), but I fail to see how we could go from a confident "end of this year, maybe beginning of the next" to "Asobo needs to implement this (unspecified) additional functionality if we're going to be able to release this product at all, and there's as yet no indication they plan to do so."  Certainly, you'd think PMDG would be perceptive enough to identify the needed functionality a long time ago, possibly even before coding began, and not proceed all the way to beta stage before suddenly discovering these things are needed.  There's a certain air of "I'm shocked - shocked! - to find out gambling is taking place on these premises" about this.

Edited December 8, 20214 yr by JDWalley

8 minutes ago, JDWalley said:

I know RSR is viewed as a god around here (and, considering the contributions PMDG has made to flight simming, I can well understand why), but I fail to see how we could go from a confident "end of this year, maybe beginning of the next" to "Asobo needs to implement this (unspecified) additional functionality if we're going to be able to release this product at all, and there's as yet no indication they plan to do so."  Certainly, you'd think PMDG would be perceptive enough to identify the needed functionality a long time ago, possibly even before coding began, and not proceed all the way to beta stage before suddenly discovering these things are needed.  There's a certain air of "I'm shocked - shocked! - to find out gambling is taking place on these premises" about this.

If he would just specify what exactly Asobo needs to change/implement, I think we'd be a lot better off. The whole "update" strikes me as more of an attempt to rile up the community than to actually inform us about the development of the product. RSR of all people should know that the "hardcore simmers" don't want to beat around the bush.