Steve Dra

Just a few preview pics of my latest paint and a few others to break up all the text.  Won't be long now guys.

1 hour ago, Abriael said:

absolutely massive work developers

I "develop" liveries...and yes....development at the level we're at these days is a massive undertaking. I've been working non-stop trying to finalize and upload all my liveries.

This is an older spreadsheet I kept track of items completed and new things to get as the beta cycle progressed and changed things for the painters.  The current version of this is much more complete...with new liveries I've done since I started the list.  I don't want to even estimate how much time I've put into this project. 🤔

The big text were the things I was forgetting after a long day of putting a livery(s) together, and came late in the beta cycle, LOL.  Some of the update versions we up to 0.1.5 because I'd miss little things, then had to repackage, upload and mark it ready for the livery manager.

Add to that I had to evacuate to Atlanta right in the middle of my busiest time prepping for release because I live here:  (Sad to see a hurricane in MSFS barreling down on your city. 😞

On 10/7/2024 at 12:12 AM, SN737 said:

 

 

Very nice job indeed, as always. Please consider painting Aerolineas Argentinas. There are 2 cool liveries for the max.

I've already painted Aerolineas Argentinas 🙂

I know there are videos and screenshots of her now everywhere...but not any of this livery (because it's not available just yet to the streamers or beta team) 🙂

She is going to be nice to fly to Cancun.  I've really enjoyed painting her...and she is a blast to fly.  There will be a bunch of liveries included in the livery manager on release * Steve does NOT know the release date, and couldn't say if he did. 😉 

NDA lifted for screenshots....here are a "few" of the paints I've done.  Streamers seem to be very impressed with the plane (I like it too).

"IFly could drop soon"....

Says the title of this thread.   With every tick of the second hand....it is technically sooner than the last time someone uttered this phrase, but let's say that its now "sooner'er"🤣

There has been a limited NDA lift where the beta team can now post screens only on their discord channel, so if you want to see what they are posting, head on over there.

There are also streamers streaming it.

Another great plane by Raul!   Not that he's ever not made a great plane 🙂

1 hour ago, UrgentSiesta said:

No, this is wrong.

Asobo have set out - explicitly - to avoid developers from facing mandatory updates to their addons in v2020 to v2024.

This is especially the case with the flight modeling, where they new features are essentially an extra, and optional, layer that devs can implement as they see fit.

This is simply a continuation of exactly what has been transpiring in v2020 for the last several years (e.g., the intro of CFD, etc.).

The place to watch out, at least using other flight sims as examples, is the new photometric lighting. That caused no end of trouble for 3PDs in X-Plane v12, as well as in P3D v6.

"The place to watch out, at least using other flight sims as examples, is the new photometric lighting. That caused no end of trouble for 3PDs in X-Plane v12, as well as in P3D v6."

This is the area of concern that painters will have to watch for.  I'm assuming they will keep the same basic structure on the composite (COMP) files as they have in MSFS....but as we painfully discovered when we got accustomed to painting these maps in P3d when they switched to PBR materializing...those where not compatible with the method MSFS adapted.

As you can clearly see...in p3D, we customized PBR with maps that looked like this (this is specifically crucial when painting bare metal liveries...as these 2 examples are):

Now in MSFS they look like this:

It is my greatest hope that they don't alter the RGB channel assignments or start using the now-unused alpha channel (by most devs) that will render painter's thousands of liveries incompatible. 😐 

I don't think it will happen....but then again that little sanfu in the transition from P3d to MSFS was an eye-opener. 🙂 

🤐

31 minutes ago, farmer2702 said:

 I have reported to PMDG, but no responded rom them/

Thanks 

PMDG is currently tracking some issues similar to what you're reporting.  When you reported, did you include what version of the 777 you're on?  Also...do you use Navigraph and is its MSFS app installed in your MSFS?  And are you using the Store version, Marketplace or Steam version?

28 minutes ago, rmeier said:

Looking forward to this one Steve...just waiting for my link and key...

Sorry...but you don't need them now....just uploaded it to flightsim.to 🙂  Click the link in my sig to grab her....and I just uploaded BA too

3 minutes ago, JonathanC said:

Thanks! My home base is CYYZ 🙂

Hope you'll like her...she is one of my favorites. 🙂

Good timing....just finished Air Canada Toothpaste....will upload to flightsim.to and should be ready for you guys when you get her installed.  More to follow as I get them done....

4 minutes ago, sniper31 said:

@Steve Dra You know I appreciate your free efforts and time you put in for these awesome paints Steve, and I will be definitely adding many of yours to my livery fleet soon. This will be my first foray into flying the 777 in any sim, so I am looking forward to the new experience and enjoying it with some cool Steve Dra liveries to boot! 😊

Thanks my friend....Like Dave..no excuses except life getting in the way of simming.   Maybe I need to paint you both a 737 and 777 now that I've pushed it back so far?  Well...you know I've been busy.

I appreciate the mention and hope you enjoy my paints.

Now you guys stop interrupting me with all these nice comments...you know...ones I feel motivated to reply to...not most of the posts PMDG threads seem to attract.  I have 10 doors to re-do...among other touchups!

Just kidding....reply away...but if I don't reply in a timely manner, you know what I'm doing (what else would I be doing?, LOL)

1 minute ago, rmeier said:

Hey Steve!

Looking forward to your liveries...I had my eye on this one...glad to see that you picked it up!

Best regards, Rob

Thanks my friend.

Long time Rob....no excuses except life outside simming/painting always gets in the way...you ALL know what I mean.

Hope you pick up some paints with her....there are a LOT out there. 😉

2 hours ago, regis9 said:

Thanks for your contributions @Steve Dra !

No worries Mate.   Been doing it a while...and you've been supporting me from the beginning, and I honestly appreciate folks like you who take a few secs to acknowledge us freeware painters who give our creations to the community without cost. 😉   Plus I like painting when I know like-minded folks will get enjoyment out of them.

And don't think I forgot about your crazy Canuks....This one is being updated right now and roll out to flightsim.to next.  I just hope I can get it done today (I think I will...had to update the doors, all TEN of them!)

And this one is in the hopper....but a ways back because it has gold replication issues (its HARD to create that gold effect, and get it close, trust me)

Check you PM Dave. 😉😉 

Not sure when you guys will get her....but this one is already on flightsim.to for your downloading pleasure (click the link in my sig to get to my flightsim.to page).  More to follow when I get time.  Unfortunately this release came at a bad time in my life, so I can't focus on push out the liveries as quickly as I had hoped, but they are coming!

Here are the liveries I have just about done....All I need is time. 

Taver's WIP paint...

40 minutes ago, Maxis said:

Oh well.. cant please everyone.

After seeing a the system depth on offer this is a day one purchase for me.

And thanks @Steve Dra for the previews .. Please keep em coming !

Thanks...and I agree.   You can't please everyone, and you never will.  And since you asked....

Have many more...but don't want to flood the post.  I'll will have all these paints completed and uploaded as soon as I can.  Some will be ready on release, others as soon as I can get them finalized and uploaded.

17 minutes ago, ryanbatc said:

we also did a LOT of post release liveries.... flightsim.to has a limit (GRRRR) of 3 per several hour, so we might have them finished uploading within the next day.

That's also going to be my challenge when the 777 releases.   Can't stand that flightsim.to does not give established contributors a faster way to upload content.

I think there used to be a ways to pre-load them and unlink the "on-line" option so you could upload them prior to a release then just activate them when the release happens.

27 minutes ago, JustFlightScott said:

Quick one - a news item here that we have published this morning. This just serves to clarify a few things about the Duke/SU14/SU15 situation upon release.  Worth a quick read folks...

https://www.justflight.com/articles/black-square-msfs-dukes-important-notes-about-the-aircraft

Here is a kind suggestion:

If you're the spokesperson for a major publisher that is very close to a major release that simmers are crazy for...it is not wise to post the word "published" (or any form of the word) in any of your comms until that word is directly referring to the airplane. 🙂

I bet if you look at your web stats....there was a huge spike from thousands of IPs shortly after your post here.   Sure...we "read" the post....but mostly up to that word...then ALT-Tab'd to a new window and hit the Duke site. 😁

Simmers.....we're an impatient bunch (and interpret what we want from official posts....just ask anyone who's been in a PMDG thread here)🤔.

13 minutes ago, Treetops45 said:

Could someone list the major differences between the Piston & Turbo versions, apart from the engines?

T45

The fuel type for one thing. 😉 

2 minutes ago, Ojisan_alpha said:

I know - let's face it, beta testing needs a certain amount of masochism.

The problem to me is that Microsoft/Asobo beta testing is completely screwed up and always has been.
We don't get information about what has changed, no test scenarios, nothing. Systematic beta testing and bug-hunting could be so much more efficient...
 

Very true.

The issue with MS/Asobo's "Beta" where they invite the entire community to opt-in to get a beta copy of the current beta build... is anything but an actual beta program.

They certainly have an actual beta team (let's hope so anyway) where testers are methodically testing issues using both industry-accepted workflows and dedicated bug-tracking software to properly inform the development team of verified, validated and actual bugs.

The public beta we all refer to is just a marketing ploy mostly to push out a pre-release to the masses and let sheer numbers determine if a bug, that only manifests in such conditions (thousands of simmers all hitting it at once)..will pop up so they can pull it back and say "Oopsi...we made a boo boo, we're delaying it now until xx/xx/xxxx."  It is not an end-to-end beta program by any means...just one component of it (the last one as it were).

Generally speaking this is actually a good thing, with the sheer size of the whole simming environment...to have as your final pre-release "beta test" before actually putting it out, and discovering that you royally messed up afterwards.