747

Robert took the PMDG forums over the weekend to share some new information regarding the DC-6 for Microsoft Flight Simulator, along with the development focus on P3D and Global Flight Ops.

Opening the forum post, Robert took the time to address how development is going on the Prepar3D platform. Since the release of the 777-200ER Expansion Pack, the team has shifted focuses to updating the LNAV mode for their aircraft range. This has been on the cards for some time, but the team is now saying they are “quite happy with the results.” Whilst the team is indeed happy, testing on the new LNAV implementation will take place once testing on the DC-6 for MSFS has wrapped up in June. After this, the 747 will be the first to receive the update. Robert does say that his preference would be for the 737 to receive the update (to help with development efforts with the MSFS version of the aircraft), but as the 777 shares identical behaviour structures, he said it remains to be seen which direction they go. Regardless, he says that these free updates for the product lines will be released during the summer.

Further to the LNAV changes, the team is also working on a new navdata logic process to use a more modern format. Work continues and they’re unsure when it will reach customers at this point.

Another point raised in the P3D development focus is whether the PMDG DC-6 will be updated for P3Dv5. Robert said that the plan is to finish the Microsoft Flight Simulator version and then bring the changes to P3D. He did add that there are certain challenges of bringing development tools from one platform to another, but that the DC-6 will serve as a test-bed for how they achieve this. Something notable in his statement relates to an upcoming 777 update for Prepar3D. It was said that the cockpit update for the 777 on P3D will come after the release of the aircraft in Microsoft Flight Simulator. 

For those looking forward to learning more about PMDG’s Global Flight Ops, then sadly, there isn’t anything new to really confirm at this point. The entire development team shifted over to Microsoft Flight Simulator work and as such GFO is not yet integrated with the PMDG DC-6 for MSFS. Robert said they hope to get the DC-6 working with GFO soon and upon the release of the DC-6, development efforts will get balanced again to put the GFO environment into “release mode.”

Robert confirmed that from the 14th June 2021, products that are not compatible with P3Dv4, P3Dv5 or Microsoft Flight Simulator will no longer be sold on the PMDG website. Customers who already own the products will continue to get support and be able to download the installers, but new customers will not be able to buy them any further. Aerosoft will continue to sell them for a little while after this date.

Finally, the DC-6 continues to progress nicely and Robert reconfirmed a June release. They are currently evaluating two release dates but will announce which one it will be in the “coming days.” In a separate post, Robert also said they do intend on releasing the aircraft through the in-sim Marketplace, but it likely won’t be for “some months” after the release of the product on their own website. Since we last shared the YouTube channel, PMDG has uploaded a number of other aircraft tutorials to their YouTube channel.

Whilst we await the DC-6 on Microsoft Flight Simulator, you can read Daan’s editorial on the three year 777 update and other thoughts on the PMDG development cycle.

Don’t forget, the PMDG 737 is also expected this year, with a chance we’ll also get the PMDG 777 also.

Microsoft has released their weekly update for the new Flight Simulator, and while being a shorter update, there are still some great information to check out.

Deliverables

This week’s update gives us an update on the Feature Discovery Series, and the Partnership Series. Episode 8 of the Feature Discovery Series will be released on May 28th. The Partnership Series is still scheduled for early June.

Alpha

Since last week’s release of Alpha 1.3.9.0, the team has been working on a patch to the current Alpha after community feedback. The patch will include a number of fixes and improvements. The released date and patch notes will be released in next week’s update on May 28th.

If you want to see the patch notes from the release of 1.3.9.0, go and check them out here.

Alpha invitations will start being sent out again tomorrow, so keep and eye on your emails if you have signed up to be selected.

Community Screenshots

With the last week’s release of the 747-8i for the Alpha, it is no surprise that we are getting a large number of 747 screenshots this week. Both the flight deck and exterior get attention. Other screenshots continue to show off amazing landscapes, volumetric grass, and more.

As always, we will be sure to update everyone on any new updates for the simulator once they becomes available.