Another lump of coal: PMDG Update [24DEC22]

[petz_e 76]

19 minutes ago, bendead said:

Of course you can fly without them, but for a flightsim plane, it's a massive quality of life improvement and expected on a high-end addon, you just need to have a look at FBW or Fenix.

It really is a big quality of life improvement and an essential feature of every so called study level airliner, especially one where every variant costs like $70. Given that PMDG only ported over their 737s from other platforms, it still puzzles me why they are taking so long. They probably have only one developper working part time on the EFB.

[thepilot 573]

I think I like this update. The 737 seems to fly smoother, with even less ”wobbling”. EFB would be great for performance numbers, but TOPCAT comes to the rescue here in the interim. I hope they do it well, and include engine failure procedures.

Internal testing my guess is 737 MAX.

 

[ThomseN_inc 1,128]

10 minutes ago, thepilot said:

I think I like this update. The 737 seems to fly smoother, with even less ”wobbling”. EFB would be great for performance numbers, but TOPCAT comes to the rescue here in the interim. I hope they do it well, and include engine failure procedures.

Internal testing my guess is 737 MAX.

 

If you fly the 700 there is a neat little app in the appstore called TOPER 737 free. It works very well!

[regis9 4,012]

I would guess the extended timelines on the EFB is a combination of it having lower internal priority than other projects and PMDG embodying the saying that “perfection is the enemy of excellent”.

TBH I’d prefer that they focus on new aircraft over EFB development but I guess I’m in the minority for that.

[Ricardo41 5,948]

3 minutes ago, regis9 said:

PMDG embodying the saying that “perfection is the enemy of excellent”.

If that's the case then why did PMDG release the 737 series with key functionality and features missing that freeware developers and developers that haven't been developing for over 20 years seem to have little trouble providing?

[regis9 4,012]

I’d guess because they don’t see it as a priority.  Just a guess though 🤷‍♂️

[jrw4 624]

10 minutes ago, petz_e said:

Given that PMDG only ported over their 737s from other platforms,

Please define "ported over". The 737 alone was reported to have taken 6000 hours of coding effort. By that definition, the outstanding team at FBW have just done a "mod" of the A320neo, and Fenix just laid a graphics veneer over the work of a previous developer's A320ceo. All of those seem inaccurate.

And in the lump of coal department, PMDG has delivered three airliners, the B736, B737, and B738. The B739 is well into beta testing. Where are the A319, A321, etc., from any developer? Has any other developer created more than one airliner for MSFS? If creating these add-ons involves just a porting over from P3D or XP, how hard could it be? My guess is that it's very hard, indeed, and these developers deserve full credit for the enormous effort required to successfully bring their products to market.

Happy Holidays to all.

[highflyer2020 607]

I wish they would just stop improving the 737 for a year and maybe pause the release of the 737-900 and just focus on rolling out the EFB and 777.

They are just polishing something that is already shiny at this point and to be honest the kind of improvements to the LNAV and autoflight they talk about only a Boeing pilot would notice.

[Greggy_D 935]

52 minutes ago, highflyer2020 said:

They are just polishing something that is already shiny at this point

Literally all of their patches have been mostly comprised of cosmetic graphical changes. 

[Dillon 2,197]

I haven't really touched PMDG birds much since I bought them solely based on the lack of an EFB. After seeing the advantages of it in birds like the Fenix/FBW A320's I can't go back.  Having all features shoved into the FMC is clunky and FS9/FSX'ish to say the least.  So just like the -600, I'll be skipping the -900 and any other PMDG purchases until the EFB is completed.😏

PMDG keeps kicking the tablet to the back of the bus when it should be in the front.  Advanced Garmin's, EFB Tablet's, IPAD's in GA aircraft, seem all but the standard in MSFS aircraft these days and to have an advanced product without it feels off in some way unless your modeling older aircraft and even then many of them have some sort of modern technology included (P-40F has a tablet, Flying Iron aircraft have tablets, Carenado birds have tablets, even the DC3 has a mod for an IPad in the cockpit, etc).

Edited December 24, 2022 by Dillon

[Pilot53 544]

1 hour ago, highflyer2020 said:

I wish they would just stop improving the 737 for a year and maybe pause the release of the 737-900 and just focus on rolling out the EFB and 777.

They are just polishing something that is already shiny at this point and to be honest the kind of improvements to the LNAV and autoflight they talk about only a Boeing pilot would notice.

Im glad you dont make decisions for them because that would be a bummer.  I love all the updates we've been getting, its puts the airplane in class ahead of everything else with all of the minor details simulated to such accuracy.  The casual simmer doesnt care but for those of us who know the difference its really nice to see things like the stall speeds being fixed, the autopilot being tuned etc.  

[40track 80]

EFB isn't a real issue and it'll come when it does. Also, Offline 700 .53 and 800 .54 files up on the PMDG website.

Edited December 24, 2022 by 40track

[MDFlier 2,031]

9 minutes ago, 40track said:

EFB isn't a real issue and it'll come when it does. Also, Offline 700 .53 and 800 .54 files up on the PMDG website.

I agree. I have a 2nd monitor. I keep the OFP open in a browser, I have the Navigraph charts active, and I have the flight manuals and QRH ready to go as well. The only thing I really miss is the TO performance calculator and I have one for the 737. 

I love that they keep polishing it. I was a bit frustrated in P3D over some minor issues that seemed easy to fix yet ignored. They've cleaned up several of them, and I like seeing the continued improvements and fixes. I guess I'm in the minority now, but overall I'm pretty happy with what PMDG has been doing. The products are substantially better than they were in P3D and they keep getting better. I find it difficult to be unhappy with that. 

[40track 80]

18 minutes ago, MDFlier said:

I agree. I have a 2nd monitor. I keep the OFP open in a browser, I have the Navigraph charts active, and I have the flight manuals and QRH ready to go as well. The only thing I really miss is the TO performance calculator and I have one for the 737. 

I love that they keep polishing it. I was a bit frustrated in P3D over some minor issues that seemed easy to fix yet ignored. They've cleaned up several of them, and I like seeing the continued improvements and fixes. I guess I'm in the minority now, but overall I'm pretty happy with what PMDG has been doing. The products are substantially better than they were in P3D and they keep getting better. I find it difficult to be unhappy with that. 

As you said there are better alternatives to it. However, it's now becoming a growing frustration to others and understandable too. Lol yeah keep the polish up and hopefully soon we see what's been happening in the background.

Edited December 24, 2022 by 40track

[jrw4 624]

2 minutes ago, MDFlier said:

I guess I'm in the minority now,

I doubt it. The fidelity of the model is the highest priority. IMO, EFBs are one notch above idealized wing flex on my list of priorities.