PMDG has shared on their forums a Christmas 2020 development update that will wrap it up for 2020. Several points were raised by Robert S. Randazzo, the PMDG CEO.
Aircraft Micro Updates
The PMDG 747 QOTS II as well as the 747-8 expansion have received a micro update on December 18th, where a few structural changes were made in order to have the aircraft ready for PMDG Global Flight Operations. A few bug fixes were included as well. The 737 NGXu has also received an update for the same reasons, although this time only the base package needs to be updated. The update is found through the PMDG Operations Center.
Boeing 777 Progress
Randazzo reiterates again that the current Boeing 777 line of product is in beta test for Prepar3D V5. However, progress is not as smooth as expected, and the expected major overhaul will come in two phases. The first batch of update will focus on bringing the plane “as is” to Prepar3D V5. This basically means changing the core structure to accommodate GFO and the upcoming 777-200ER expansion, as well usual required porting work. The second batch of update will bring a flight deck overhaul, the addition of PMDG Rainmaker, and will be made in parallel with the port of the 777 to Microsoft Flight Simulator.
Regarding the 777-200ER, the team is facing delays for various reasons. One of them is that the correct integration of all engine variants took longer than expected, and as a result the 777-200ER has not moved to beta when it was supposed to on December 14th.
DC-6 Port to Prepar3D V5
The DC-6 is currently being converted to PBR materials for use in Prepar3D V5. It is progressing well though proving challenging to Jason, the main developer of the aircraft. The good news is that core coding did not appear to need much work. Current release target is for Q1 2021.
PMDG NG3 and Microsoft Flight Simulator
As stated in previous reports, the NG3 development has been scaled back in order to wait for a more stable platform. PMDG reiterates their intention of developing the product, but are unable to give any specific timeframe, and we might see the NG3 in MSFS in ” still about a year out.. possibly more… possibly less… “.
PMDG Global Flight Operations
GFO is currently being wrapped up for release. It will only be compatible with the 737, 747 and 777 products and maybe the DC-6 also. The team is currently writing the documentation to enable other developers to connect to the network. PMDG is aware they are very late on their initial release target which was over 2 years ago, but seems to be in hope to be able to release the product in 2021.
Navigation Data handling, LNAV and Flight Director
One of the biggest cross-aircraft structural change PMDG has been working on the overhaul of the aforementioned inner works. The logic behind the system has been something on which the PMDG team has been focused on for more than a year now, as its core was outdated and needed replacement. The first product to receive this structural change will be the 747, and the beta team will receive it as soon as the 777-200ER is out.
This wraps up the extensive Randazzo post. No visual preview of any of these announcement has been shared, which leaves us a bit dissatisfied. It appears that nothing is to be expected for release in the upcoming days or weeks (although we’d love to be proven wrong), and the whole PMDG team sends their best wishes to all their customers after this difficult year for everyone.
