Captains,

We have a rare mid-week update for you with a few bits of news to keep you up-to-date on various goings-on around PMDG.

PMDG 737NG for MSFS Updated to 3.00.0108:
As discussed in a previous update, we went through a few build cycles for the 737 at the request of Microsoft's Marketplace Intake team in order to remove some cruft that was determined to be unneeded in the release build of the product. This incremented the build number from 106 to 108, and we have pushed a micro update for the 737 to reflect this change in order to keep the Operations Center version and the Marketplace version in sync.

Further along this update cycle, we were notified on Tuesday night that the 3.00.0108 build uploaded to Marketplace Intake has cleared the intake hurdles. This normally happens on Tuesday nights and while we immediately concurred with their request to release the build to distribution, it is worth reminding everyone that the US Thanksgiving holiday weekend covers Thursday-Sunday this week, and Microsoft has announced that there will not be a normal Marketplace release on Thursday this week as per their usual holiday schedule.

We anticipate Marketplace PC and Xbox users will see the new build one week later, on 05DEC24.

A few folks have been upset by the length of time it has taken to move the last update through the Marketplace Intake process- and while I certainly share your frustration, we chose not to jump up and down to demand special attention from the MS Marketplace team during this period as they have been exceedingly busy with rollout preparations for MSFS24. The transition process between the two platforms requires a significant amount of work on their end. Our update cycles got caught in holding- and there really wasn't much to be done short of waiting. I, too, am a Marketplace user and I certainly appreciate the convenience that Marketplace represents to me as a simmer- but in this case we sort of have to accept the inefficiencies that appear along the way. Ultimately- the update will land on your sim soon- and we will be on to the next update cycle!


PMDG 777F for MSFS 2020 - Release Date:
Over the weekend I mentioned that we were rolling out a few cleanup builds of the 777F to our beta testers and that we would be setting a release date for the 777F "soon." I am happy to let you know that we are planning to release the PMDG 777F for MSFS2020 on 06DEC24 during the evening GMT.

The PMDG 777F is the freighter to beat in real world operations and brings tremendous lifting capability to the airfreight industry. Seen the world over, the 777F is the modern successor to such legendary freight haulers as the DC-3, DC-4 and 747F. With a modern avionics suite, globe-spanning range and large format cargo capability, she is sure to be a favorite of freigh dog simmers as well.

We our airplane comes with a wide range of features unique to the freighter, including accurately modeled supernumary controls and functions, main deck lighting systems, manual or automatic operation of the main deck cargo door to include the door sill mating plate, safety guards and other features. We have increased the connectivity with GSX by adding in automatic and manual control of the door interaction so that your GSX ground team can manage the doors and loading process for you. (Note that the main deck loader won't control the door on it's own... But you'll have fun wandering back to the door control panel do it yourself!)

Pricing will be announced at release for MSFS2020.

The next obvious question in many simmers mind will be: "And what about when I move to MSFS24?" That is covered in the couple of paragraphs.


PMDG 777 for MSFS2020 Customer Expectations for MSFS2024:
Important Summary: Nothing has changed here since our last overview- but I can give you a bit more detail to alleviate some questions that have come up since our last update.

The plan at this juncture is to continue pressing forward to issue an MSFS24 build of the 777 product line that is natively built for MSFS24, using the MSFS24 toolkit so that we can add in many of the new MSFS24 features that bring new gameplay elements in MSFS24. As of this writing, the toolkit for C++/WASM developers does not yet work with the version of MSFS24 that was released last week. The good news is that we know the C++/WASM toolkit was indeed working prior to the RTM release, so it is likely something else got rolled into the sim at the last minute that broke this capability. While frustrating, this gives me hope that the fix to get C++/WASM development rolling will not be a complicated one, and we are optimistic that Asobo will have that avenue unblocked for us sooner than we had feared a few days ago.

We do not yet have a timeline for providing an MSFS24 build of the 777 fleet, as we are unclear on what the actual timeline for MSFS24 activation will be, and of course we are still waiting on that toolkit. Undeterred, we have been implementing as much of this new capability as is possible without actually being able to run the airplane in MSFS24, and we remain optimistic that the build process will not be overly arduous.

Our goal with this transition period is to build a pathway for existing MSFS2020 to move their 777 flying to MSFS24 in a clean, simple way without requiring repurchase or some big up-charge. We do not yet have enough information from MS to be able to define precisely what the transition and upgrade policies look like, so I am intentionally refraining from making any suggestions on the topic because I don't want to make promises I then must break. (Everyone remember what happened when we tried to upload liveries to marketplace with a $0 price tag? Yeah- we want to avoid that sort of thing happening again, so I am waiting until we are fully informed before we make any statements to set expectations.)

What I can tell you is that at least as far as 77W/777F are concerned, the upgrade path will not be expensive nor will it require a full-price repurchase of the entire airplane on the new platform.) I am calling this out specifically because there is quite a bit of misinformation running around- and our goal is to open up MSFS24 for PMDG 777 pilots as simply as possible.


What About my Other PMDG Stuff and MSFS24 Backward Compatibility?:
I spoke to this topic in detail in my earlier update on Saturday- please read here if you are just tuning in and wondering where we are with it!


So What Do We Think of MSFS24?
I have been asked this a number of times over the past week, and my answer remains optimistic. I have been exploring the new sim while flying the PMDG DC-6 which is not yet fully compatible, but overlooking the dim displays and some font issues, gives a very good representation of what it will be like once we get the fleet compatible with the new platform.

I've been a simmer since about 1980, (I think) and I've been flying a broad range of General/Business/Commercial types for 30+ years. MSFS24 is to my eye more convincing visually than any simulation platform we have ever seen. Full Stop. It offers more opportunity to engage in interesting flying, varied degrees of flying, community participation and engaged learning than any simulation platform we have had access to in the short 40+ years I've called myself a simmer.

My view of MSFS24 is informed by what I have come to expect from the development team at Asobo and the leadership/investment of Microsoft. These folks have built two generations of simulation that is ambitious, capable, broadly appealing, and spectacularly beautiful. There has been no shortage of expert opinions offering criticism for things that didn't go smoothly, but I am not going to add a voice to those because I am not in the habit of offering criticism of operations in which I am not involved. I have run very complex organizations large and small, and what might appear obvious or simple from the outside might actually be wildly complex on the inside.

I prefer to let the experts handle it, while I continue to explore the areas of the world over which I have flown for real, peering out from the window of our DC-6, imagining just how hard it must be to build such a platform for me to use while I wonder what it would be like if I had the opportunity to do it from an actual DC-6.

While all of us at PMDG are chomping at the bit to get our products working in MSFS24, I am confident that the long term enjoyment we all will gain from this platform will far exceed the tempestuous short term. While I cannot wait to have our 777 and eventually our 747 to fly in this new world, I am thankful that the platform is here and I appreciate the hard work it took to make this platform for me to enjoy.

Thus, on this flight, I am going to leave the radios turned down so I only need to listen to the hum of the motors, and not the cacophony of short term negativism.

Thank you for all of the support and enthusiasm you show for our products. All of us at PMDG appreciate your participation here- so in the spirit of Thanksgiving here in the USA: Thank you, all. We appreciate it very much.
 

Edited November 28, 20241 yr by Alaska738

Thanks for posting this.

As I was reading along, it struck me that what I'd say to Robert, if we were on speaking terms, would be "no prob, bro". I have too many aircraft as it is. Remember back in the old days? When you'd get a new, good aircraft once or twice a year, if it was a good year? No? Well, I do.

4 minutes ago, RichieFly said:

Thanks for posting this.

As I was reading along, it struck me that what I'd say to Robert, if we were on speaking terms, would be "no prob, bro". I have too many aircraft as it is. Remember back in the old days? When you'd get a new, good aircraft once or twice a year, if it was a good year? No? Well, I do.

No problem! anyway, i'm excited for the release!!

“I’m not gonna say anything negative while still seemingly say something negative”. 

Edited November 28, 20241 yr by Bdub22

I like the idea of a 777 freighter. I can’t stand long boring flights and it’s silly to me to fly a 777 or 747 short to medium distances. The freighter makes it easier to convince myself that it isn’t as silly to fly a 777 a shorter distance, whether realistic or not.

29 minutes ago, desbean said:

I like the idea of a 777 freighter. I can’t stand long boring flights and it’s silly to me to fly a 777 or 747 short to medium distances. The freighter makes it easier to convince myself that it isn’t as silly to fly a 777 a shorter distance, whether realistic or not.

In the sim you do what you want 🙂 

Release of the B777F to MSFS 2020 is fantastic. I could never understand why after building the model for 2020 and initially claiming they would release it 2020, PMDG then suggested they might only release it in 2024. That caused some considerable angst amongst those of us who for technical reasons remain 2020 bound and had no interest in the ER. Anyway, just glad circumstances changed fortuitously. I made need to install a defibrillator prior to seeing the price though!! 

3 hours ago, desbean said:

I like the idea of a 777 freighter. I can’t stand long boring flights and it’s silly to me to fly a 777 or 747 short to medium distances. The freighter makes it easier to convince myself that it isn’t as silly to fly a 777 a shorter distance, whether realistic or not.

 Quite agree although not the long boring flight part. I'll do those when I have the time and the short ones too. But the freighter gives the ability to make up your own challenges when you decide the reason for the flight eg heavy engineering spare parts for the oil industry, disaster relief supplies, military contract, Formula One racing cars to the next GP venue, spare engine for another u/s aircraft etc etc....almost anything and anywhere you can imagine and no two flights are the same, rarely to the same airport and certainly anything but just another scheduled bus run full of pax. Part of the satisfaction is selecting the nearest airfield that can take the B777 at its predicted landing weight, planning the alternate and familiarising yourself with both airfields and their procedures neither of which you have seen before let alone landed at.   Of course you can do scheduled freight flying too. I sometimes do FedEx 75 from Oakland, CA to Honolulu, HI to Auckland, NZ to Sydney, AU and finally to GuangZhou, CN and a few of their other B777 routes as well.

If I had another life, I'd come back as a Freight Dog, a midnight prowler type who utilises the unglamorous parts of airports that most never get to see!!

 

Cheers

Terry

Edited November 28, 20241 yr by Lord Farringdon

Hum, so the path to update the 777 to msfs24 MIGHT BE LESS complicated than expected, so not so far away.

Anyway, there will be a update fee, even if it will be at a minimum, but no price tag released yet. Could also be completely free but unlikely.

So, personnaly, even if I would like to have this 777F in my hangar next week, I think I'm going to wait for the release of the native msfs24 version as msfs24 will be the future anyway once the first hurdles will be cleared. In fact, it is unclear is the native msfs24 version will be more expensive than the msfs version.

Edited November 28, 20241 yr by sdirand

6 hours ago, Alaska738 said:

In the sim you do what you want 🙂 

Every single one of my flights in the P3Dv4 version of the 777F were done with an empty cargo hold

1 minute ago, Christopher Low said:

Every single one of my flights in the P3Dv4 version of the 777F were done with an empty cargo hold

Yes, it's because you are flying Low.

I can’t see myself spending money on the 777F at this point without a guarantee that the FS2024 version will be a free upgrade.

6 hours ago, sdirand said:

So, personnaly, even if I would like to have this 777F in my hangar next week, I think I'm going to wait for the release of the native msfs24 version as msfs24 will be the future anyway once the first hurdles will be cleared. In fact, it is unclear is the native msfs24 version will be more expensive than the msfs version.

I believe their first milestone on the move to 2024 are "compatible" versions of the 777 and 737, and then later the "native" versions which take advantage of 2024 specific features.. unless I'm not parsing all what RSR has said so far correctly 😅
 

13 hours ago, Alaska738 said:

Pricing will be announced at release for MSFS2020.

Obviously it will be $77.72, one cent less than the 77W😂

2 hours ago, Luis Hernandez said:

Obviously it will be $77.72, one cent less than the 77W😂

I remember Robert saying it would cost less than the 77W. But he may have changed his mind. We'll see next week.