18NOV22] PMDG 737 for MSFS Updates & Other News Tidbits

[btacon]

From the PMDG Forum just now.

Captains!

Happy Friday, everybody and welcome to another weekend of fun PMDG flying.

PMDG 737 for Microsoft Flight Simulator: Updates Galore!
Today we have a triplet of updates for you covering the 737 product series. This update series is intended to bring the 737 product line up to date with the MSFS SU11 standard, and using the latest build of the MSFS 20.4 SDK. (Previous builds ran in SU11, but were built with 19.x series SDKs yielding the potential for some inefficiencies.)

The *main* focus has been continued tuning of the control law for the automated flight control system in pitch, roll, yaw and thrust. The previous update had a few scenarios which were still problematic for under-thrust and over-thrust conditions. These conditions come about because the atmospheric stability in MSFS is significantly unrealistic, and we have had to build additional logic into the control law for these channels that is capable of dealing with situations that are thoroughly inconceivable in the real world. We hope that the changes made to the MSFS atmospherics will continue to improve over time, but the good news is that the work that has gone into the 737 control logic thus far is capable of handling a trend toward greater realism in the atmospheric stability without any changes required. Let us hope it doesn't go in the other direction, however.  The SU11 atmospherics have been addressed with this update and should yield greater stability all around on the thrust channel.

We have done a significant amount of work in the background to bring forward some new features that were unlocked in the MSF SU11 updates- but many of these were found to either not work properly (pause behaviors) or remain insufficient to provide accurate results (wx radar, par example) and remain in development.

A number of other updates have been accomplished throughout the 737 series, as well as a few items out of fault tracking as listed below:

0012072: [General - Documentation] Amend Introduction document to remove Wifi Antenna FWD/AFT option (hvanrensburg)
0012051: [Virtual Cockpit - Geometry/Textures] Capt Stab trim clipping (vscimone)
0012052: [Virtual Cockpit - Geometry/Textures] MIssing pixel on Electrical Panel when using New pressurization panel option (vscimone)
0011821: [External Model - Geometry] Negative pressure relief valve text & push panel mis-aligned (jbrown)
0011614: [External Model - Geometry] Paintkit Model Texture Distortion (jbrown)

You can download these updates via the PMDG Operations Center, which was installed with your PMDG 737. Simply run the OC, then select Aircraft/Liveries and Product Updates. The rest is just the click of a button!

PMDG 737-900 Beta Testing Update:
We have been a bit swamped by background work created in the transition to SU11 and the 20.x series SDK updates. Specifically, the need to stabilize the 737 series in response to continued atmospheric changes in MSFS has had us focused on areas other than the 737-900 beta testing process because the atmospheric changes being made in MSFS were disruptive to the proper operation of the 737 and thus made them a higher priority. As I have said in my last few updates, we are hoping to have the 900 series in testing "by next friday." Standard disclaimer still applies- but my confidence in achieving this next week is higher than it has been in some time.

PMDG Universal Flight Tablet Update:
The tablet is well into testing and is progressing well. Our team has provided a robust round of feedback and many changes have been implemented, with a beta update going out to them shortly. We are looking to add more functions to their testing process in the week ahead- and as soon as I can convince the tablet dev team to let me show it to you, I shall!

PMDG 737 for Microsoft Flight Simulator: Marketplace At Last!
Today we are handing off the 737 to marketplace for intake into the MS Marketplace store. We had planned to do this well prior to the arrival of SU11 in the MSFS universe- but those plans got steamrolled by some instability in the SU11 beta/SDK process. In the end the builds going to Marketplace will be more stable so all is well that ends well, as they say. We do not know how long it will take to complete the intake process. The DC-6 a year ago took 6-8 weeks, but the intake process has gotten quite a bit of attention and improvement since then so we expect it to be far faster.

For those interested in seeing the 737 on XBox: We do not yet have the "all-clear!" on creating C++/WASM projects for Xbox compatibility. Once we get that, we will update you on those plans. We don't expect any blockers for Xbox use but there may be some functionality loss in peripheral compatibility such as loss of tablet functions due to the fact that the xbox environment is far more locked-down than PCs. We'll keep you informed as we learn more on this topic, probably after release of SU12?

PMDG DC-6 Cloudmaster Update Coming:
In DC-6 news, we are preparing a new update to hand off to the testing team once a few more corners are tucked in. This pending update will bring the DC-6 up to SU11 standard., include a sweep up of some open items that we have in fault tracking and (we hope) will eliminate some VOR tracking problems reported by some users.

PMDG 777, MAX and 747:
Yup. Hard at work. Nope. Possibly. Of course. Later. When we are ready. Yes. Very much so.

Robert S. Randazzo 
PMDG Simulations
http://www.pmdg.com

[thepilot]

Interesting he's mentioning the MAX now that the IFly is getting close (in P3D at least)...

[Swe_Richard]

Are Ifly (serious question, I have no idea) going to release for MSFS because I could not care less for P3D tbh.. ?

[Andrew2448]

I've been willing to defend them for a long time but the EFB timeline is simply ridiculous at this point. Show us a freaking picture at least holy mother of god.

[F737MAX]

18 minutes ago, Swe_Richard said:

Are Ifly (serious question, I have no idea) going to release for MSFS because I could not care less for P3D tbh.. ?

The iFly team have commercial buyers of their 737 add-ons for the P3D platform.

Nevertheless, as described here, there is a desire to bring their 737 product line to MSFS.

[JRBarrett]

26 minutes ago, Andrew2448 said:

I've been willing to defend them for a long time but the EFB timeline is simply ridiculous at this point. Show us a freaking picture at least holy mother of god.

Why show of a picture of what it looks like “now” when it might look completely different on release? It’s still under development and has not been finalized. I don’t understand the angst about the EFB. It’s in the “nice to have” category but by no means essential. The aircraft flies perfectly well without it.

[Andrew2448]

Just now, JRBarrett said:

Why show of a picture of what it looks like “now” when it might look completely different on release? It’s still under development and has not been finalized. I don’t understand the angst about the EFB. It’s in the “nice to have” category but by no means essential. The aircraft flies perfectly well without it.

I was fine without it too for a while like I said, I have been willing to defend them. However, 4 months of teasing and "oh we're almost there" and "we will probably share a photo next week" (two months ago) is extremely frustrating as a consumer/customer. Not to mention the fact that they have (maybe had now, I haven't checked) it listed as "coming in Summer" on the product page. It's the setting of expectations and then completely destroying them that is very frustrating to me.

[Drumcode]

so no tablet this year then? lol

[Maxis]

9 minutes ago, Andrew2448 said:

I was fine without it too for a while like I said, I have been willing to defend them. However, 4 months of teasing and "oh we're almost there" and "we will probably share a photo next week" (two months ago) is extremely frustrating as a consumer/customer. Not to mention the fact that they have (maybe had now, I haven't checked) it listed as "coming in Summer" on the product page. It's the setting of expectations and then completely destroying them that is very frustrating to me.

I agree with JR about the EFB being nice to have especially since  i discovered VAS Airplane Toolbox and that program seems to be very decent n calculating the V Speeds and Landing variables  but you bring a fair counter. 

I myself just read anything  EFB+PMDG related with a sense of bemused nonchalance considering their track record for being always delayed with the goods anyway.  

[Andrew2448]

9 minutes ago, Maxis said:

I agree with JR about the EFB being nice to have especially since  i discovered VAS Airplane Toolbox and that program seems to be very decent n calculating the V Speeds and Landing variables  but you bring a fair counter. 

I myself just read anything  EFB+PMDG related with a sense of bemused nonchalance considering their track record for being always delayed with the goods anyway.  

I completely agree the plane is perfectly flyable without it - and I have been flying the word not allowed out of it. I have also started to use VAS because of the lack official performance calculations.

Just getting more frustrating every time one of these updates is posted and the words coming out of Randazzo are virtually the same as what he said in the last one which just gives the impression of absolutely no progress. I have no doubt that what they eventually release will be good but man they would have just been better off doing it in secret and dropping it unexpectedly than the mess this has been.

[G550flyer]

33 minutes ago, Andrew2448 said:

I was fine without it too for a while like I said, I have been willing to defend them. However, 4 months of teasing and "oh we're almost there" and "we will probably share a photo next week" (two months ago) is extremely frustrating as a consumer/customer. Not to mention the fact that they have (maybe had now, I haven't checked) it listed as "coming in Summer" on the product page. It's the setting of expectations and then completely destroying them that is very frustrating to me.

I have seen the complaints about EFBs before and heard people say they will not purchase an aircraft without it. I have a EFB real world, but don't use it much inflight. Yea, it has flight manuals,  charts,AIRINCEDirect and other apps on it, but I don't use it in flight unless I'm looking at flight documents. The jet has jepp charts built inside of planeview so I'm good there. The EFB does come in handy at the hotel because I can plan, file and review documents. I use navigraph charts for the sim so I don't need them in the EFB. The FMS provides performance numbers, so that's covered. When flying the 737 in sim, I never think of an EFB. Too bad it's extremely frustrating for you. When I hop in and fly the 737, I get frustrated waiting on them to bring over the 777 and 747😁. I need a solid 757/767/777/787.

[Ianrivaldosmith]

More waffle; anyone with a good abbreviation of this yet? 

[Andrew2448]

9 minutes ago, G550flyer said:

I have seen the complaints about EFBs before and heard people say they will not purchase an aircraft without it. I have a EFB real world, but don't use it much inflight. Yea, it has flight manuals,  charts,AIRINCEDirect and other apps on it, but I don't use it in flight unless I'm looking at flight documents. The jet has jepp charts built inside of planeview so I'm good there. The EFB does come in handy at the hotel because I can plan, file and review documents. I use navigraph charts for the sim so I don't need them in the EFB. The FMS provides performance numbers, so that's covered. When flying the 737 in sim, I never think of an EFB. Too bad it's extremely frustrating for you. When I hop in and fly the 737, I get frustrated waiting on them to bring over the 777 and 747😁. I need a solid 757/767/777/787.

I'm not sure if you've understood my point at all. The plane is excellent - it is my favorite in the sim and I fly it the most - and it will only get better when the EFB comes. However, regarding your point that the FMC provides performance calculations I would disagree. The FMC will give you V speeds yes but it will not give you METAR, flap settings, derates, landing distances, etc which to me is the biggest feature missing. However I have these features covered by using external tools not so it's not the end of the world, would just be nice if they would implement them.

 

I am frustrated with their handling of the EFB from a development perspective and the expectations that they have put on their customers while not even coming close to meeting them. It's poor business and they are getting rightfully hit for it on various flight sim communities.

 

1 minute ago, Ianrivaldosmith said:

More waffle; anyone with a good abbreviation of this yet?

New update released today to fix the mess that was autothrottle in the last update. 737 finally submitted to the marketplace, timeline for release unknown. Everything else is essentially the usual "yeah we're working on the same stuff we said last time" with no actual update.

[sidfadc]

1 hour ago, Andrew2448 said:

I was fine without it too for a while like I said, I have been willing to defend them. However, 4 months of teasing and "oh we're almost there" and "we will probably share a photo next week" (two months ago) is extremely frustrating as a consumer/customer. Not to mention the fact that they have (maybe had now, I haven't checked) it listed as "coming in Summer" on the product page. It's the setting of expectations and then completely destroying them that is very frustrating to me.

My gas bill going up 200% is what frustrates me.......not a missing EFB which isn't even needed anyway lol.  Its all about perspective people.

[G550flyer]

16 minutes ago, Andrew2448 said:

I'm not sure if you've understood my point at all. The plane is excellent - it is my favorite in the sim and I fly it the most - and it will only get better when the EFB comes. However, regarding your point that the FMC provides performance calculations I would disagree. The FMC will give you V speeds yes but it will not give you METAR, flap settings, derates, landing distances, etc which to me is the biggest feature missing. However I have these features covered by using external tools not so it's not the end of the world, would just be nice if they would implement them.

 

I am frustrated with their handling of the EFB from a development perspective and the expectations that they have put on their customers while not even coming close to meeting them. It's poor business and they are getting rightfully hit for it on various flight sim communities.

Maybe I missed your point. I hear what you are saying, but don't see it as a need or great improvement. Now for the performance items you listed. Yea, METAR is key and I have those ahead of the sim and can pull it from within the sim. Flap settings, derates, landing distances, etc, now you are talking my language because I am a performance guru and been that way from the beginning up to flight test flights. Nothing excites me more than talking aircraft performance. For the jets I flew and fly now, I can look at the ATIS, runway length, departure gradient/obstacles and tell you what the aircraft will do. I can visualize it. But, back in flight sim, we have a lot missing. I have been pushing and advocating for real world conditions in sim that force me to consider the options you mentioned. Derates come when there is an abundance of unneeded performance. But climb requirements and conditions should force you to consider them. Flaps are driven by a compromise of weight, climb gradients and runway length. We need realistic braking coefficients and obstruction data that will drive your decisions and force to consider performance. When I go in and out of KASE real world I'm light due to go around capability. At times, I depart with just enough fuel to hop to another location to fill up. That's what we need!