https://forum.pmdg.com/forum/main-forum/general-discussion-news-and-announcements/336001-16nov24-msfs2024-release-week-what-to-expect-from-pmdg

Edited November 17, 20241 yr by Tuskin38

Some bits that stood out to me:

Our products will fall into three categories:
- MSFS2020 Only: Products in this category are ONLY compatible with MSFS2020 and cannot be loaded in MSFS2024. We do not have any products that we feel will wind up in this category as of today's evaluation.
- MSFS2020/24 Compatible: These are products built in MSFS2020, but that happen to run just fine in MSFS2024 without changes. We feel that all of our existing MSFS2020 products will fit into this category as of today's evaluation.
- MSFS2024 Only: These will be products that are developed and released specifically using the MSFS2024 SDK and are only compatible with MSFS2024. Currently the 747-400 and 747 Classic Whale are in this category.

Re-reading his whole post I guess the bolded part means that with further fixes on the Asobo side for the sim platform, then all current PMDG aircraft for MSFS 2020 will work unchanged in 2024? Or does he mean they're already working fine with the current 2024 drivers they are using?

.....

Will PMDG Upgrade Existing Products to Include New MSFS 2024 Features?:
Short answer: Yes, we intend to.
Long answer: There are many new features in MSFS2024 that we think will really make our products even mroe fun. We have spent the past few weeks evaluating how to implement these changes into our products and work has already begun on the first full implementation using our 777F. Some of these changes will be easy, but some will be hard. We have only had access to the platform for a very brief period, and we are still evaluating the SDK and creating a plan to address the changes we would like to implement. I am going to refrain from giving too much detail here as we are still in evaluation and work has only just begin, so I must be careful so as not to set expectations irrationally. (Rephrasing it: We will not be answering questions about "will you do X? Will you do Y? because we are still evaluating all of the changes... please understand there is a lot of information to evaluate!)

.....

Will PMDG Charge for Upgrades?:
This is a tricky area- and we have not set a firm policy because we are still evaluating the change and upgrade process. I'm offering this information based upon our view from the current moment- and it may change going forward:

• PMDG 747-400 & PMDG 747 Classic Whale & PMDG 737MAX: These products will be MSFS2024 only, and thus not subject to any upgrade implementation.
• PMDG 777-200ER, PMDG 777-200LR: These products will be MSFS2024 only, and thus not subject to any upgrade implementation.
• PMDG 777-300ER: This product will be upgraded with an MSFS2024 version made available. We do not yet know if there will be a charge for the upgrade, but if there is it will be quite small. (My preference is no-charge, but the work load must still be evaluated.)
• PMDG 737NG Series: This product line is receiving a significant upgrade for MSFS2024. We do anticipate that an upgrade charge will apply for customers who want access to the new MSFS2024 features. The charge will be modest for the upgrade, but it will not be a "new version purchase" if you already own the 2020 version.
   

Edited November 17, 20241 yr by lwt1971

Another statement of note:

MSFS24 is Going to Be Magnificent: But Patience May is a Word to the Wise:
The dev team at PMDG has been fortunate to be working with MSFS24 these past few weeks, and there is no doubt that it is a spectacular platform. I cannot say enough nice things about the work done by the MS/Asobo team in creating a world environment in which you can truly build up a sense of flying. The visual quality of this sim is bar-none the finest ever created and even with 42 years of simming and 30+ years of flying under my belt, I get excited about the prospects of being able to fly products on this new platform.
 

“We already know that we are going to rebuild the 777F using the MSFS2024 SDK and features, so we thought it best to just sit on our hands until we know whether the 777F is compatible with MSFS2020/24 and how much effort will be required to make a fully realized 2024 version”

Lol, you all aren’t seeing this until at least summer 2025. 

This part was interesting as well, so Asobo is also testing Marketplace products on their own not just waiting for the devs to do it themselves.

 

"Beyond our own testing, there has been quite a bit of work taking place behind the scenes at MS when it comes to evaluating all the myriad products in Marketplace to assure their compatibility with the new platform. We don't know much about this effort other than to report that we have responded to a number of queries from MS related to small issues in the 737 line that they asked us to address. We presume that these requests came out of their testing effort- and meeting those requests was given full priority and and all of the requests have now been closed out."

Randazzo has a reputation among the community, a famous reputation I should say, for writing long winded updates.  To be honest, his long updates have never bothered me much in the past.  But this time, I had to skim through a lot of information until I got to the part where he mentioned whether we would be charged for the upgrade or not 🤣

1 minute ago, Tuskin38 said:

This part was interesting as well, so Asobo is also testing Marketplace products on their own not just waiting for the devs to do it themselves.

Probably because Microsoft is also part liable if the product simply doesn't work. If an add-on is completely broken and doesn't work, and people buy it, that's a lot of work and time spent on refunding each customer.  It saves Microsoft a lot of manpower and time, if they remove a specific add-on from the marketplace if it's simply broken and doesn't work in MSFS 2024 yet.

  

2 minutes ago, abrams_tank said:

Probably because Microsoft is also part liable if the product simply doesn't work. If an add-on is completely broken and doesn't work, and people buy it, that's a lot of work and time spent on refunding each customer.  It saves Microsoft a lot of manpower and time, if they remove a specific add-on from the marketplace if it's simply broken and doesn't work in MSFS 2024 yet.

it's up to the devs of the addon to sign off if an aircraft shows up in the 2024 Marketplace for purchase or not. So no, it's not that.

Edited November 17, 20241 yr by Tuskin38

Ya the long-windedness was a special one this time 😅 ... so did anyone conclude that the current PMDG fleet is good to go with MSFS 2024 on day 1 or no?

Edited November 17, 20241 yr by lwt1971

4 minutes ago, Tuskin38 said:

  

it's up to the devs of the addon to sign off if an aircraft shows up in the 2024 Marketplace for purchase or not. So no, it's not that.

But I think Microsoft has always done testing on a new add-on before it's released to the marketplace for the first time? Maybe they want to be pro active this time and pre test the add-ons for MSFS 2024. 

I would also be curious if this is why add-ons take such a long time to be updated in the marketplace, because updates to add-ons have to undergo testing my the MSFS testing team behind the scenes.

I am really, really angry at their 747 & 777 FS2024 only policy.  I miss the 747 sooo much.  I knew they were going to do this though and made such comment on a different thread with different subject not long ago.  This is exactly what they did to the 777-200ER.  Released it and didn't do a word not allowed thing after.  Pathetic a dominate DEV like PMDG could only release 3 products in the life span of FS2020.  Less talk about how much you're doing PMDG and start showing it.  

43 minutes ago, Tuskin38 said:

This part was interesting as well, so Asobo is also testing Marketplace products on their own not just waiting for the devs to do it themselves.

 

"Beyond our own testing, there has been quite a bit of work taking place behind the scenes at MS when it comes to evaluating all the myriad products in Marketplace to assure their compatibility with the new platform. We don't know much about this effort other than to report that we have responded to a number of queries from MS related to small issues in the 737 line that they asked us to address. We presume that these requests came out of their testing effort- and meeting those requests was given full priority and and all of the requests have now been closed out."

Seb said a few times he was testing the add-ons himself, and that was a priority for them (legacy support).

1 hour ago, lwt1971 said:

so did anyone conclude that the current PMDG fleet is good to go with MSFS 2024 on day 1 or no?

I own the PMDG BBJ, and I can assure you I'm never going to install this visual abomination into MSFS 2024

1 hour ago, Dreamflight767 said:

I am really, really angry at their 747 & 777 FS2024 only policy.  I miss the 747 sooo much.  I knew they were going to do this though and made such comment on a different thread with different subject not long ago.  This is exactly what they did to the 777-200ER.  Released it and didn't do a word not allowed thing after.  Pathetic a dominate DEV like PMDG could only release 3 products in the life span of FS2020.  Less talk about how much you're doing PMDG and start showing it.  

Couldn't agree LESS...

8 minutes ago, Ricardo41 said:

I own the PMDG BBJ, and I can assure you I'm never going to install this visual abomination into MSFS 2024

Really...?

I quite like it, though I'm interested to see how Asobo's MAX measures up.

What do you fonde abominable about the NG?