7 hours ago, DAD said:

I was literally about to buy the -700 just to get that enhanced visual update, put it in the cart for 30 bucks since I owned it in FS2020 but then decided to skip since I got the -800 at the same discount (despite not being originally eligible what PMDG messed up and never dared to confirm) and one 737 is enough, so also patiently waiting until the -800 update comes out. too many other nice planes to fly until then

Hahahahaha. I did the same but in PMDGs world that never happened and we are so called trolls 😄 I can live with that for sure... Otherwise you can still not walk the stairs or enter the plane in avatar mode or walk the cabin. Immersion and innovation is something that they honestly seem not to be even able to spell at PMDG anymore. On initial load walking around the plane you still get parts of model missing like the engine interior in parts and severe lookthroughs. So you have to enter cockpit for plane init first and then go out again. The official updated liveries have issues also. I don't get the hype about this anymore to be honest. 

36 minutes ago, Torsen said:

I don't get the hype about this anymore to be honest.

And they still command top dollar for their planes, too! I recently broke down and bought their 777F. The wife and kid went to Grandma and Grandpas in Florida and I needed a new project. While it’s good, it’s not great. PMDG products used to be great. I don’t know why they got lazy, maybe they grew complacent being “the best”, but when you compare their planes to the Fenix A32X’s — it’s not even close. For example, just go look at the texturing right above the mode control panel on their 777. Like…what is that?! You really nailed it on the head by saying they don’t innovate anymore because they used to be top dog on innovation but now most of their products just feel like port overs with slightly enhanced textures — not to even mention they haven’t released a NEW plane in over — what? 10 years now? 

Anyone have some images to compare the 700 High Detail vs. 900 ?  I’ve taken screenshots of both and I can’t see any difference, they both look and work great.  Is there some FMC PMDG setup menu option I need to enable?

3 hours ago, Torsen said:

On initial load walking around the plane you still get parts of model missing like the engine interior in parts and severe lookthroughs.

Can I see some screenshot of this?  How are you seeing the engine interior?

Feel free to ignore the wall of text.

Not that I really venture outside of the flight deck or have a keen eye to notice, or care about, these visual quality things, but I have already come to grips with the fact that whatever decisions they made with texture quality, they decided to do due to performance optimizations, especially considering that these need to function well enough on older console platforms. You can see this in regards to that initial scan quality photo that was shown earlier and what MK stated after the fact. I think I remember Robert even saying that he doesn't really consider PMDG the top in terms of innovation anymore, so I stopped coming at it from that expectation. In terms of price, I'm not as sensitive to this as others so I'm ok with dropping money down for this as I genuinely enjoy flying them and find that it's worth it even if it's not as accurate FM/systems wise as it could be (ignorance is bliss). It's still a high fidelity aircraft in my, and I would gather the vast majority of others, view. Still hope they end up listening to the valid criticisms and improve. If a better fidelity 737/777 comes along, then I'll gladly move over. New plane or not, they still have one of the more expansive fleets given the quality, especially considering the constantly evolving changes to the sim platform. At least they are actively working on new planes.

It might ease the mind of those of you who are having to wait (to get your favourite variant with the high detail update) to say that - all things considered - you're not missing much in terms of the cockpit re-texture. There are some nice touches on the external model.   The cockpit re-texture is a little different and is probably 4k instead of 2k (or 8k instead of 4k, based on the increased VRAM usage).

It doesn't effect the flying and operating of the plane at all.   In fact, I flew a leg with the -700 (with high detail update), then straight into the -800 (original textures) and the only thing that really struck me, was that the -800 was lighter on VRAM.

I do really enjoy PMDG's planes, but this High Detail Update ™️ is mostly a case of marketing people over-promising.

Edited April 16Apr 16 by JYW

7 hours ago, SayAgain said:

Can I see some screenshot of this?  How are you seeing the engine interior?

The windscreen window fit/alignment is terrible on the -700. Also on the pillar exteriors between the glass there are remnants of low-res screws. Has to be one of the laziest efforts at high detail I can imagine - what a joke.

I bought it since I owned the 2020 ver. and it was only 30 bucks - good thing I had no expectation regarding the "high detail".

The downside is that it is less performant on my rudimentary system. I get great performance with the -800 and -900 and would GLADLY trade their definition of "high detail" for that performance.

2 hours ago, somiller said:

The downside is that it is less performant on my rudimentary system.

TFDi Design MD-11 comes in two in the Sim selectable Versions. One has the addition "Low-Poly". It has no Passenger or Freight Interior. This MD-11 runs perfect on my 2022 PC. PMDG often stutter.

Achim

11 hours ago, SayAgain said:

Can I see some screenshot of this?  How are you seeing the engine interior?

Sure. On initial load outside of the plane you will see first screenshot with seethrough for example on engine, gear bay and even on some parts of fuselage. You see at the engine that even parts of the model aren't loaded at all. After entering the cockpit, the plane initialises and then going out again (except having this pita external equipment loaded that I do not want) all fine. I know other planes take some time to initialise on first loadup like fenix and some others like the JF have some lights on until you enter cockpit but pmdg is the only one for me that is actually doing this thing. At least for me.

 

I just updated the 700 and my saved panel state on start no longer works, get taken immediately to a failure 1/4 page?

Thanks for the pictures/info.

On 4/15/2026 at 8:57 PM, DAD said:

I was literally about to buy the -700 just to get that enhanced visual update, put it in the cart for 30 bucks since I owned it in FS2020 but then decided to skip since I got the -800 at the same discount (despite not being originally eligible what PMDG messed up and never dared to confirm) and one 737 is enough, so also patiently waiting until the -800 update comes out. too many other nice planes to fly until then

You’re a stronger Dad than I 😁

On 4/16/2026 at 8:12 AM, SayAgain said:

Anyone have some images to compare the 700 High Detail vs. 900 ?  I’ve taken screenshots of both and I can’t see any difference, they both look and work great.  Is there some FMC PMDG setup menu option I need to enable?

IMHO the cockpit is very much the same, at least in my mid-range PC. 

AFAIK, these newest graphics upgrades were mainly for areas of the aircraft OTHER than the cockpit. 

10 hours ago, SayAgain said:

I just updated the 700 and my saved panel state on start no longer works, get taken immediately to a failure 1/4 page?

Thanks for the pictures/info.

Good to know - I'll make sure to kill my saved panel states and recreate them. As a matter of fact, did that just now, and in options.ini I replaced my custom startup state with COLDDARKGPU which is a PMDG installed state.

OH ! Wow I have the 600 but missed this ! I really enjoy flying the little 737 downloading now !

Bloody superb ! Just done a before and after walk round in the Boeing Livery very happy with that thanks PMDG hope you read these forums !