Stefano from Leonardo has posted an update within their Facebook group of what they are currently working on. This includes some important fixes as well as some exciting new features.
To start off with, Stefano mentioned that they are currently working on fixing the cabin lights at night whilst using PBR as well as working on a fix for crashes which have occurred when pressing DEP/ARR on the FMC. He anticipates that this update will hopefully be released next week.
The main new feature that will be coming is a PBR virtual cockpit. Stefano mentions that this is not something to worry about if you are performance sceptic as, like the external PBR, it will be optional. However, he does mention that the performance impact from the VC PBR is minimal. Following on from this Stefano stated that due to them using PBR in the cockpit, they have moved away from TFDI’s RealLight and have implemented their own native lighting. This has allowed them to overcome some issues faced with RealLight such as missing TRP buttons. This new lighting system has also reduced the Maddog’s RAM footprint which has in-turn improved performance.
Also in the Facebook post, Stefano announced that the upcoming update (SP1b352) will be the last update for FSX through to P3D v4.3 for both the MD82 and MD83/88 expansion. The loss of development for 32bit and older versions of P3D v4 will open up various doors for Leonardo with their ‘active development project’ for 2019.
