1 hour ago, Cognita said:

I will say that on the whole PMDG releases very well tested and stable aircraft to it's sims. Yes, they need updates, but nothing near what iniBuilds has gone through in the last month, and as someone pointed out it still has bugs and inaccuracies and its system depth is nowhere near that of the 777, despite it being the most expensive aircraft in 2024.  For that depth and stability I am more than happy to wait a few months -- after all that A350 is just sitting in my hanger waiting for the time when it will be ready for me to use--if that ever happens.

 

Personally I am more interested in getting a proper high-fidelity long haul aircraft into 2024 than another single aisle short to medium haul. So I am pleased the 777 is coming first.

You have a high-fidelity aircraft sitting in your hanger. If you choose not to use it then that's on you. I've taken it out many times on flights over 6 hours and system wise haven't ran into any issues. I've watched many UT videos, folks flying it who know more about its actual systems than I do, and they said it performs as should. Are there some lingering bugs? Yes, but nothing to park and not use unless you choose to. This past weekend I took the 2020 777F out for a spin it took at least 25 minutes for the sim to boot to airport. I was exhausted just wait for the sim to boot into airport, my point is I can't wait to get PMDG into 2024. I can start flying a few flights a day.

On 4/12/2025 at 7:27 PM, Mace said:

I think it'll be more than 5/10/15 USD for the 737.   But they have surprised me before.

Hopefully, they'll follow the iniBuilds model at $10 for the Premium upgrade.

On 4/12/2025 at 7:41 PM, JBDB-MD80 said:

If I were betting I would say more in the 25$-30$ US range for an upgrade fee. I am sure some people do not want to hear this but that is just my opinion if they have to do substantial upgrade work (and time invested) for 2024. PMDG do not work for free (and have to pay coders in the meantime)  for a cheap tipping market who expect everything for free or minimum fee. Can't say I blame them as they still have bills to pay.

IMHO it depends entirely on the relative benefits of whatever upgrades they end up offering.

Otherwise it's really just the cost of doing business...

And yeah, this is coming not from some noob gamer who expects every update to be free, but from a guy who paid for nearly everything they sold for Prepar3D, including the $215 747-8i, as well as the 737-7 and DC-6 for v2020.

If they were to follow the conventions established by other high end devs, there would be a free Compatibility update, and a nominal fee for whatever NEW or improved features they're adding as a result of v2024s new features set. E.g., iniBuilds A300.

Now, of they're going to add or improve things substantially beyond that, I'm certainly willing to consider a higher fee.

But if it's really just window dressing (like their EFB) - well, there's LOTS of other high quality addons to fly.

And at $25 or more, it really starts to make more sense to abandon the 737 and consider the 777F for $50.

5 hours ago, Bigmack said:

You have a high-fidelity aircraft sitting in your hanger.

Maybe, but I am not yet convinced, but this comes down to what I am looking for. It seems that the 350 works basically ok for point to point standard operations, but even here with the caveat that the systems appear to be basically scripted and not dynamically modeled.  For me, an aircraft at that price and marketed the way it was I would expect dynamically modelled systems and for it to handle properly non-standard operations.  I don't think it is there yet. I think Into the Blue did a fair assessment of it in his recent video.  I am still hopefully they will continue to build the aircraft out, it has a lot of potential

2 hours ago, Cognita said:

I think Into the Blue did a fair assessment of it in his recent video.  I am still hopefully they will continue to build the aircraft out, it has a lot of potential

Sorry I didn't know that you and Into the Blue were professional pilots.

23 minutes ago, Bigmack said:

Sorry I didn't know that you and Into the Blue were professional pilots.

He is a professional pilot, rated on the 320 I believe. But, regardless, you do not need to be a pilot to assess system depth and accuracy. Don't misunderstand, the 350 is a great addon, it gets a lot of things right and in some ways pushes the envelope forward, but the system simulation is not high fidelity and there are mixed reports on its flight model. They are working on it and I am hopeful it will advance.

Edited April 15, 20251 yr by Cognita

12 hours ago, fluffyflops said:

its still riddled with bugs after 7 patches.

What aircraft breaking bugs are left? I fly it all the time, no WASM crashes, no CTDs, nothing causing me to end a flight early.

Even at launch I wasn't having any serious issues, did a couple 10+ hour night flights on the first two patches alone. I know a lot of people were getting WASM crashes. I don't know what I was doing differently not to get a single one.

I am getting worse FPS in it in SU2 compared to SU1 though

Edited April 15, 20251 yr by Tuskin38

Who would have thought a PMDG thread would have turned into a discussion about cost, the ini A-350, and how much people dislike PMDG?

Rarely is there any factual, useful, and helpful information in these threads - so here, I'll help.  While you wait for the -200ER, drop some cash on the MD-11 and screw the A-350.

I'm not sure either how this thread turned into a A350, PMDG bashing. I've always enjoyed flying 737's and 777. If they decide to charge for a 2024 upgrade, I won't have a problem with it. I'll be one of the first to add it to my hanger. Just as I have the A350 and the MD11.

PMDG, Fenix, FS Labs and Leonardo are light years above Inibuilds in quality and systems depth (airliners for MSFS). Nothing else to say.

Edit: iFly Max is up there too and Just Flight takes the crown for legacy airlines.

 

Edited April 15, 20251 yr by JBDB-MD80

7 hours ago, Cognita said:

Maybe, but I am not yet convinced, but this comes down to what I am looking for. It seems that the 350 works basically ok for point to point standard operations, but even here with the caveat that the systems appear to be basically scripted and not dynamically modeled.  For me, an aircraft at that price and marketed the way it was I would expect dynamically modelled systems and for it to handle properly non-standard operations.  I don't think it is there yet. I think Into the Blue did a fair assessment of it in his recent video.  I am still hopefully they will continue to build the aircraft out, it has a lot of potential

Just curious.  I fly the A350 in the Vatsim environment both long and medium haul with no issues.  Very solid performer.

What is it that is missing for you?  Just trying to understand what you mean by "basically ok for point to point standard operations"?

Jase

7 hours ago, Tuskin38 said:

What aircraft breaking bugs are left?

 

the fps drop issue noted both on here and their forumns

Edited April 15, 20251 yr by fluffyflops

On 4/13/2025 at 6:19 PM, Tuskin38 said:

I think it's time for you to expand your fleet then

  

And yet, ini was able to push out 2024 native version of their A300 with in the first 2 months of release, and Fenix was able to release a 2024 compatibility patch for their 2020 A320 family.

Heck the FBW A380 works, and apparently their A320Neo works too. Not native 2024 builds, but work just the same.

Yeah, thankfully the 737 series are not my top priority as I already have the Fenix, Avro RJ, F28 and a ton of GA planes to keep me busy. The 777 is coming on over for free so that would be great to have a Boeing again.

Yeah, I think PMDG's methods and development could be different from others.

Just wish everyone was less negative and more patient. Most of these developers have full time jobs before making planes..