Here you go guys.  Hopefully I did a good enough job of copying from their Discord.  A wonderful update to start the new year!  Great job to the FNX team!  They are really doing a magnificent job.

"Happy New Year @everyone! We were really hoping to be pushing something else in an update to you around about now, but for the moment, good news will have to suffice. We do have a rather long list to take to Microsoft of things they might want to resolve for anyone crazy enough to pursue this level of detail in the future - but all in, we have finally cleared the scariest issues and worked around it all, and are moving onto the 'wrapping up' phase. This phase is measured in weeks, not months. We'll have a full report for you soon, but for now, here's 11 screenshots for the 11 weeks of overrun, including - finally, your first look at the IAEs. I don't actually know if I'm allowed to post these, but Aamir is away right now so what's he going to do about it?
[6:15 PM]

[6:15 PM]
Starting in the cockpit, daytime - I may have fibbed a little when I said don't expect much too change in the cockpit in Block 2. From this angle, you can see the new, thinner, centre window pillar, side windows, and of course a couple of new cockpit configuration options, such as the blanked off DCDUs. The entire cockpit has been remapped to more efficiently utilise texture memory; as it stands, the entire texture set is floating just below the 1GB mark, which is less than half the memory of Block 1.
[6:15 PM]

[6:15 PM]


Popping outside before the sun goes down, we see something new slung under the wings. Looking further, you'll see the new wing, wingtip fence, nose, and landing gear - if you think you can see the tyres compressing under the weight of the aircraft, you're not imagining it: we spent quite some time building a soft-body physics system for the tyres. They will deform under load, including sidewall deformation on the nose wheel tyres if you make a tight turn at a speed that make even Max Verstappen would wince. We'll have some videos of this coming I'm sure.
[6:15 PM]

[6:15 PM]

[6:15 PM]
A couple of close ups showing the engine in detail; everything from subtle panel deformation due to the heat cycling of the engine, to the dirt being pushed out of the panel seams by the air-stream in flight. You'll see this a lot around the new exterior in Block 2: physically accurate, physics-driven weathering. The dirt accumulates in the panel seams usually due to rain and water droplets capturing dust and dirt on the aircraft, and drawing it down with gravity until it reaches a seam. This dirt-filled-water is then pushed out of the seams by the high speed airflow in flight, leaving a streak in it's wake. Depending on where the dirt has accumulated, it may contain dust particles or even oil, which will leave a different surface deposit, with oil being a little more reflective and viscous, affecting how it streaks across the surface of the aircraft.
[6:15 PM]

[6:15 PM]
Having spent 45 minutes explaining how dirt works, the sun has gone down, which brings us onto the the night environment. Under airport lighting, we start to see a lot more surface imperfections. Mmmm. Tasty. You can also see into the new cabin. Are those new seats?
[6:16 PM]

[6:16 PM]
Boarding the aircraft again, we can see the winglight not just illuminating the mighty/mini V2500, but also correctly casting shadows on the intake and the ground. This is part of the new shadow-casting lights in Block 2, a first in MSFS.
[6:16 PM]

[6:16 PM]
Diving into the cockpit we start to see some of the new night environment improves. A better dome light, new LCD simulation that makes flying at night a LOT nicer, and some subtle improvements across the materials.
[6:16 PM]

[6:16 PM]
Despite being called a dome on a daily basis (Thanks Aamir), I prefer flying with it off, leaving just the integrals to illuminate the way. In Block 1, this isn't really possible as the integrals don't bleed any light into the rest of the flightdeck, leaving you to 'guess' your way around. With Block 2, the integral lighting reflect off of and bounce around various cockpit surfaces, switches, and panels, to give you just enough light to fly with.
[6:16 PM]

[6:16 PM]
And finally, a proper close up of the night experience in Block 2. The combination of shadow-casting lights, new integral lighting system, and LCD simulation makes it feel like a whole new aircraft at night. Seriously cozy.

Anyway, that's all from this loud-mouth for a while, if visuals aren't your thing, I know Aamir is already planning a deep-dive on the new systems and simulation aspects. Again, I wish we were pushing more than just screenshots to you today, but as you can see we are committed to delivering something that you will enjoy flying for the next 5 years and beyond.
[6:17 PM]
oh wait... I promised 11 screenshots didn't I? Fine
[6:17 PM]

[6:21 PM]

[6:22 PM]
(no one saw anything I swear I can count"

Edited January 1, 20242 yr by Jeff Nielsen

Ta Jeff!

A321 when

57 minutes ago, Jeff Nielsen said:

"This phase is measured in weeks, not months. We'll have a full report for you soon"

I'm am optimistic but maybe they should be a little more careful how they post this?

Edited January 1, 20242 yr by JBDB-MD80

17 minutes ago, MikeH99 said:

A321 when

When it's ready.

 

6 minutes ago, JBDB-MD80 said:

I'm am optimistic but maybe they should be a little more careful how they post this?

I winced reading that. I sure hope they’re still being conservative. 

42 minutes ago, JBDB-MD80 said:

I'm am optimistic but maybe they should be a little more careful how they post this?

You know, honestly, if people take that as the gospel, that's on them, not FNX.  Just because it's the internet, doesn't mean that every post is the ONLY and LAST word on something.

I'd rather them make 'target dates' and NOT hit them, then at least we can get some insight in to what issues developers might be facing.  That's 10X more honest and transparent than not having any information and not knowing if ASOBO even knows what issues they might need to address are (if said issue is a FS issue for the purposes of this post).

Another thing we need to stop doing is telling developers that they "promised" something when they didn't.  That's especially true when devs give an update and things don't work out for whatever reason.  People go nuts and flame them and the result is developers go quiet for the rest of their time on earth.  

People need to stop going to one extreme or another in the literal sense and try and be more balanced and see things from other perspectives even if it sucks.

For instance, I would have loved to have the PMDG EFB years earlier along with being RNP capable, but it didn't happen.  It sucks, but at the same time I can understand why.

I would have loved to have had a hi fi wide body for FS2020 some 3 years in, but we don't, and there's a strong possibility we may not have one before 2024 hits, but what can you do?  Same could be said for a number of other issues.

Look, there are times when memes are justified (ala PMDG EFB), but when it turns in to actual hate, that's where I draw the line.  In the end we should be encouraging them.  The difference is when there's a mutual love and respect versus when there's not.  That's hard to get across in writing.

Sorry to use your reply as a rant for wider issues.  I'm not targeting you by any means, but hopefully others can read this and chill out a bit in the future.

Edited January 1, 20242 yr by Jeff Nielsen

1 hour ago, Jeff Nielsen said:

  I'm not targeting you by any means, but hopefully others can read this and chill out a bit in the future.

Well said but alas people are just so entitled and have no understanding how things work.

2 hours ago, chapstick said:

I winced reading that. I sure hope they’re still being conservative. 

My hope, and dare I say expection, is they learned hard from the last two missed guidances, They have resolved all the show stopping issues preventing them from launching two months ago and they are truly confident this will release at the latest mid-Feb.

Since the exterior model has changed, all the liveries need to be updated, and new ones created for the IAE operators. This can take a couple of weeks, as well as just giving everything the final polish pass.

If anything on that show stopping list was still an open item, we might, might, have gotten an IAE pic and that woiuld be it.

10 minutes ago, BrammyH said:

My hope, and dare I say expection, is they learned hard from the last two missed guidances, They have resolved all the show stopping issues preventing them from launching two months ago and they are truly confident this will release at the latest mid-Feb.

Since the exterior model has changed, all the liveries need to be updated, and new ones created for the IAE operators. This can take a couple of weeks, as well as just giving everything the final polish pass.

If anything on that show stopping list was still an open item, we might, might, have gotten an IAE pic and that woiuld be it.

Yeah, I'm wondering if it's going to be a complete re-install.  I have a feeling it might be given all the work that went into it.  Not a big deal, it's easy enough.

I think they ended up working their own solution on the mapping issue or whatever it was that cost them the extra few months, IRRC.  I'm sure that scared the hell out of them...lol.  I think it might have caught them by surprise.  When they gave the initial update, they sounded really confident, then all the sudden they had to go back.  Stuff happens though.

Sounds like they're back on the downhill.  That's good news.  Hopefully the 319 and 321 will come very soon after.

Edited January 1, 20242 yr by Jeff Nielsen

1 minute ago, Jeff Nielsen said:

Yeah, I'm wondering if it's going to be a complete re-install.

Yeah. The release day will be a day of reckoning for my Addon Lonker folder for sure.

Very exciting!  😃

1 hour ago, carlanthony24 said:

Well said but alas people are just so entitled and have no understanding how things work.

This is flight simulation not real life something Fenix is trying to replicate on a desktop just stop it. It is not that serious.

Edited January 1, 20242 yr by JBDB-MD80

Is that 11 weeks at the latest that it will be released?

In terms of flight physics and on the ground, how is the aircraft? I remember it had some problems especially with landing and not dropping like a stone and with the autopilot and turbulence. ....