We NEED an Airbus

[Irishcurse 234]

Also, can you guys confirm the J41 has no 2D panel? It's not clear from the descriptions there are (solid confirmation is needed) I don't have it yet because I am waiting for the FS9 release.And don't fight guys, the 2012 will come soon anyway :))))

It has no "2D" panel and there won't be a FS9 version ( from what I have read )Regards Richie

[Guest alexzar14]

B707...the Princess.DC-8...the Princess wannabe.The DC 6-7Lockheed L1011

Victor, with these we must rather bug the team that made the RFP 747, let PMDG concentrate on the sixth version of A320 :)I too lack those aircraft, but for PMDG to make one, is like for you to start talking in japanese rather then english :)RFP is dead I think, the only other oportunity is in pushing on the CLS to do it at the DC-10's level of complexity.

It has no "2D" panel and there won't be a FS9 version ( from what I have read )Regards Richie

thanks Richie.

[andysim 0]

What ever PMDG make will be awsome. I just bought the MD 11 after years flying the 744 and am taken back by the quality of all thier products. I would like another old aircraft. Im not really fussed by the airbus A320 family as they are just a bit to automatic for me but again if PMDG made it I would buy it. Maybe a BusyJet there seem to be a lot of them around and all made in diffrent ways.

[Rickie Welsh 27]

hi, for those in this post referring to the 777, ive just bought and watched the JP air canada 777-300ER and what an awesome video this is. at each end of the MCP is the electronic flight bag another window on top of the ND displays an outside view of the front wheel with the ground crew attaching electric power and push back tugs and between the pilots ND is all the data check lists for before and after start up and everything else in relation to profiling the aircraft ready for departure. if this is the 777 you are looking for i strongly feel this would be an enormous task for pmdg good as they are. i would say " have a heart" and give the guys a break. richard welsh

[JC75 22]

To be honest whatever we think we need, or even what we get, to keep the hobby alive and to keep these developers in business we need it quicker than the current roll out that we are seeing from all developers. Back in the good old days, your credit card wouldnt be able to keep up with the amount of aircraft/sceneries etc that would be released for FS. Now we are talking years and years from first thought to the aircraft making it onto our harddrives. Now dont get me wrong, I am making no alegations or slurs against the fine people and companies that produce this software, I more than understand the amount of work, difficulty and time that is needed to put into the great products that we see. However, FS9 is pretty much dead to buy(yes I know someone will send me a link) but your average shop or someone who maybe thinking of getting into the hobby will not find that. FSX yes that can be brought still but again isnt appearing on the main shelves, and with all the Talk on forums of MS dumping it, and then talk on Forums of people or claim nothing will run it etc...it doesnt bode well to continue to bring new people into the hobby. Those who are present users, say maybe those that have yet to upgrade to FSX, who slowly see over the next few years no other aircraft for their platform, also dont see any new aircraft for FSX, so see little point upgrading their system to run it, may loose interest in FSimming a drift away from the community, a miss any new releases. Likewise for those that dont have major investment in FSX again may grow tired of the hobby when there is nothing new for it.Meanwhile developers are still taking their years to produce the next XXXXXX (please enter Preferenece here) and aersosoft, or the newely formed aces comes along with a new sim, only to find that it has a different(If not better) approach to addons and the addon the developer as spent the last 3, 4 , 5, 6 years working on wont work on anything but this new sim, and of course, as this new sim is going to be on the shelves, all new users will be buying that, hardcore users will want that also as they always want the best, meanwhile said developer goes quickly out of business due to lack of sales of their 6 year old aircraft, or they survive but then spend 3 years developing for new platform!People keep spouting off (creeping) How they will buy whatever PMDG releases whenever they release it....but can you really say you will hold yourself to that promise? How many of you have said that who are still users of FS9? Only now to find that the last product out of the PMDG stable was FSX only? How about when the next one out is for FS2012 and you are now only on FSX? or even worse you have jumped to FS2012 and they now only support FSX?Now this post may sound like I am have a dig at people, but it really isnt, I just feel that some injection is needed into the Hobby to keep it alive, whether thats through better support for hardware etc to make the hobby more interesting for all, and people come to the hobby because that it becomes something more than a game because of the bigger involvement they can now have with it. Or that there is an increased amount of software always being released for it, and the average newbie that wanders into PC world, Best buy or whatever keeps seeing FS products on the shelves and sees how good it looks and through that we get another memeber into our community and hence some more cash for the developers to keep making us great products.I dont know the answer, the business models of these developers, etc, but I feel that they need to look to someway of having the ability to develop faster to keep this hobby going. I've been FSimming for 20 years, but thats partly becasue I work in the industry, but also because there was always something new to keep me interested. If we look at the present situation, Airsimmer FSX bus? how long away? years maybe based on time to get FS9 version out? LevelD 757, well one screen shot has appeared in 2 years, so again maybe another year maybe? NGX already pretty much confirmed not until next year some point. But as this is a discussion about future products, then personally I feel a business jet, DH8D400 would be good, although my stand on a 777 or A320 still stands purely for the hardware reasons, to make up for the lack of support that the MD11 and 747 provide with this.RegardsJames Carr

[cparrott73 24]

You want a REAL challenge? Make a DC-8. Not that slop we have for freeware, but a REAL DC-8.

+1

We are always asking for the "latest" aircraft...I would spend money on a DC-8 or 707. I know...CS did the 707...it sucks.

Have you seen the CS 727 remake that was released earlier this year? It's actually pretty nice. A few minor flaws here and there, but virtually every addon has some.Anyway, CS has announced that they are redoing the 707 in a similar fashion. If it's as nice as their new 727, I will be pretty pleased.To get this back on topic for PMDG, I would love to see PMDG do either a BAe 146/AvroRJ or a CRJ. We haven't seen PMDG do a nice RJ yet, and I think the CRJ would be an excellent candidate for a high-quality PMDG treatment -- especially since Wilco just released a nice refresh of the ERJ. I wouldn't mind PMDG taking on a unique, older aircraft such as an L1011, either.

[anthonyrees 0]

James Carr encapsulates exactly what I've been pondering too.At the slow rate of development of quality add-ons, and the impending death of the sim itself, we have a problem.A big one!The influx of new FSim customers is on the decline. The retention of old clients is on a decline.Is this hobby sustainable?Anthony ReesCape TownSouth Africa

[Guest BionicCrab]

We have a perfectly fine simulator in X-plane folks... if it was financially feasible I'm sure PMDG would be willing to move to that platform in an instant. But as of date the ROI would be significantly less than even FS9 so it's probably out of the question. I'm sure most X-plane users know that and don't even ask for ports. I think the main thing to remember here is the products are made in C++ and 3dsmax is capable of exporting to any container format available. Obviously there are benefits to development the Win32/FSX platform provides but at a level these products are made in such away that they are almost platform independent. It would just be nice if PMDG were able to allow for an independent/outside developer to port these things over, like they do in the rest of the industry. Most games see a PC version developed in house, and the xbox360 PS3 and Wii versions are ported by another company entirely.Erhan Atesoglu

[Tabs 2,790]

We have a perfectly fine simulator in X-plane folks... if it was financially feasible I'm sure PMDG would be willing to move to that platform in an instant. But as of date the ROI would be significantly less than even FS9 so it's probably out of the question. I'm sure most X-plane users know that and don't even ask for ports. I think the main thing to remember here is the products are made in C++ and 3dsmax is capable of exporting to any container format available. Obviously there are benefits to development the Win32/FSX platform provides but at a level these products are made in such away that they are almost platform independent. It would just be nice if PMDG were able to allow for an independent/outside developer to port these things over, like they do in the rest of the industry. Most games see a PC version developed in house, and the xbox360 PS3 and Wii versions are ported by another company entirely.Erhan Atesoglu

There has to be money to pay for someone to do the porting Erhan... You're vastly overestimating the number of sales we'd get on an X-Plane version. The sim itself is not "perfectly fine" from our perspective either - the way it calculates flight dynamics based on the shape of the model essentially railroads addon devs into accepting whatever output it gives us. We'd prefer more flexibility that that, the FS airfile system certainly isn't perfect, but it allows us to do a lot of things we'd never be able to with X-Plane.

[MMartinov 48]

I stongly dissagree that FSX is(or would be) on decline any time soon.That is what we have now and the platform is open for improvements - you name it - weather - photo real scenery - terrain mesh - aircraft - whatever - every single add on is making FSX more and more beautiful. Now I fly Orbx Australia and FSAddon Alaska plus ASA weather with REX textures with my J41. Can you imagine what is the drastic difference between what I see now and what i got the first time I took off FSX... So bottom line - FSX will be alive until there are some great ideas to be developed and delivered to us (and for us to have money to buy it).Meanwhile I pretty much enjoy what I see >>> I'm on the top of the hardware line currently available worlwide and there is lots of room for improvement until FSX+addon needs are satisfied to "all sliders RIGHT" state...I believe 5 years down the line there will be a new FSX - something that we are not even able to imagine.And I hope developers like PMDG will be there ready to make their imput.Finaly to the question for PMDG - to Airbus or not to Airbus - well, I just don't really care. I know that whaever it is I'll buy it and study my manuals and fly it in the worst weather i can ever imagine...

[Guy014 9]

I stongly dissagree that FSX is(or would be) on decline any time soon.That is what we have now and the platform is open for improvements - you name it - weather - photo real scenery - terrain mesh - aircraft - whatever - every single add on is making FSX more and more beautiful. Now I fly Orbx Australia and FSAddon Alaska plus ASA weather with REX textures with my J41. Can you imagine what is the drastic difference between what I see now and what i got the first time I took off FSX... So bottom line - FSX will be alive until there are some great ideas to be developed and delivered to us (and for us to have money to buy it).Meanwhile I pretty much enjoy what I see >>> I'm on the top of the hardware line currently available worlwide and there is lots of room for improvement until FSX+addon needs are satisfied to "all sliders RIGHT" state...I believe 5 years down the line there will be a new FSX - something that we are not even able to imagine.And I hope developers like PMDG will be there ready to make their imput.Finaly to the question for PMDG - to Airbus or not to Airbus - well, I just don't really care. I know that whaever it is I'll buy it and study my manuals and fly it in the worst weather i can ever imagine...

You're absolutely right, Martin. Until something more capable than FSX arrives, we'll still be buying its addons. There's new scenery, aircraft, environment addons released nearly every day by small-time and well known developers. We certainly won't see a decline in FSX sales in a long while. I mean, FS2004 is still selling. Maybe not as much as FSX, but people like me like to enjoy both great visuals in one sim and great performance in the other. Completely irrelevant, but in my opinion the compromise between visuals and performance isn't in the sim itself, but in the different sims that are available.Anyway, whether or not PMDG should develop an Airbus now doesn't really matter. There is so much demand on developers these days that you wonder why we see 2 of the same aircraft from different companies. Ex: Level-D 767 and CS 767. Some people like the great visuals the CS model offers whereas others enjoy flying with maximum realism in the systems. To all: If you're looking for a PMDG quality Airbus, now, check out the AirSimmer A320.

[Guest BionicCrab]

There has to be money to pay for someone to do the porting Erhan... You're vastly overestimating the number of sales we'd get on an X-Plane version. The sim itself is not "perfectly fine" from our perspective either - the way it calculates flight dynamics based on the shape of the model essentially railroads addon devs into accepting whatever output it gives us. We'd prefer more flexibility that that, the FS airfile system certainly isn't perfect, but it allows us to do a lot of things we'd never be able to with X-Plane.

Oh I'm not disagreeing. In fact if you read my post this is all just a "hypothetical" situation in the event there were ever large enough demand. And if there was such demand, I'm just merely stating it probably wouldn't even be worth your efforts when you could be working on a whole new other aircraft. And just so you know, X-planes flight dynamics can be turned off and be replaced by your own physics engine. And I believe that's totally something you guys would be capable of no? :)Erhan Atesoglu

[kiwikat 529]

And just so you know, X-planes flight dynamics can be turned off and be replaced by your own physics engine. And I believe that's totally something you guys would be capable of no? :)

That would lead to even more development costs that would never be made back. FSX is here to stay for the forseeable future. It is nice to have a stable platform to sim on. We don't have to worry about switching to anything new anytime soon.

[Turbine777 13]

Ok, slam me all you want for this, but even though I loves me the heavies, I would pay bucko bucks for a PMDG C172 :(Haha, can you imagine? That IMHO would be truly epic :(

[kiwikat 529]

Ok, slam me all you want for this, but even though I loves me the heavies, I would pay bucko bucks for a PMDG C172 :(Haha, can you imagine? That IMHO would be truly epic :(

I'd totally buy that. PMDG could make a paper airplane and I'd buy it. :(