[Simulator News] PMDG Weekend Development Update /19.12

PMDG’s Robert Randazzo has recently taken to their forums to share a rather extensive development update addressing micro updates for the PMDG fleet as well as the upcoming PMDG 777 major update, development of 777-200ER expansion, DC-6 product line for Prepar3D, 737NG3 for MSFS, and Global Flight Operations.

First of all, it was mentioned that on December 18th, micro-updates were released for both PMDG’s 737 and 747 product line. The updates do not consist of any major changes rather than just bringing the products into compliance with the structure of PMDG’s Global Flight Operations software. Minor code issues have been fixed as well.

Following that, an update was given on the upcoming major update for the PMDG’s 777 product line. Based on the post, the major update for the aircraft, which should unify the general structure of the products as well as bring a new sound engine and performance optimization, has been in beta testing for a few weeks now.

It was furthermore said on that note:

Testing has been going “okay-ish.” Not as well as we had hoped, but not badly either. Some of the issues being identified are simply taking a long time to resolve but we are making reasonably decent progress with it.

It was further mentioned in the post, that the developers are working on a product-wide update in conjunction with a full-product rebuild that is required for the Microsoft Flight Simulator version of the Boeing 777 rendition.

An update was given as well on the status of the PMDG’s 777-200ER expansion. It was said, that the development is taking longer than expected. It was explained to be because of the difference between the engines on the aircraft types. We were, however, reassured that the progress on the 200ER modification is not impeded by the slower progress of the 777 product line update mentioned earlier in the article.

Furthermore, as mentioned in the article introduction, an update was given on the DC-6 product line for Prepar3D. PMDG developer, Jason, is currently making progress on a full PBR rebuild of the aircraft for Prepar3D v5. No previews were shared, however, it was mentioned, that PMDG is looking into releasing the update in Q1 2021. The update should as well fix minor code issues.

Continuing reading through the post, the upcoming 737NG3 for Microsoft Flight Simulator has been addressed. It was made clear by Robert, that PMDG has seen “pretty nice advancement” of the state of the 737NG3 for MSFS. It was mentioned, that the release is currently expected to happen in about a year, but could be more/less. Once the developers think they are ready to share progress, they will. 

There are some monumentally large hurdles that the platform needs to clear- and I don’t want to talk about them here (or anywhere else, for that matter, except in private conversation with Asobo) because I want to be absolutely certain that nothing I might say would be misconstrued as negative (..)

At last, before summarizing the whole post, the status of the Global Flight Operations software was addressed. Based on what Robert Randazzo wrote, PMDG is in process of moving this product from development to production and preparing its release. When released, it is expected the software to work with the PMDG 747, 737, and 777. The release date is however still unknown. The original release date set by the PMDG was Q4 2018.

There is more PMDG’s Robert Randazzo would like to tell, but it would be impossible to tell us everything. He summarized the post that it should give us a good idea on how hard the PMDG team works to keep their products updated. 

We hope all of you have a very nice weekend, and a very nice version of whatever holiday you are celebrating over the next couple of weeks. On behalf of all of us at PMDG, we very much hope that all of you have a safe, healthy 2021- and that we can all support one another through the end of this pandemic.