Captains,
Back in March as we began to introduce you to our new PMDG 737 for MSFS product line, I mentioned that we were going to fundamentally change the way we approach product rollouts by bringing the 737 to you as a rolling development cycle. The idea came about because all of us (well- nearly all of us!) at PMDG are DCS addicts, and DCS has done a very nice job of managing the challenges that come from having to manage multiple project profiles simultaneously. While there are many things to admire about the DCS team, one of their more admirable traits is being candid about the the pieces of things they are working on, the things they have planned, and giving regular progress updates along the way.
Personally one of my favorite Friday morning emails comes from DCS. It has been a regular thing for a long time. Something to emulate.
Starting back in March, we began to communicate to you our intent to take a similar approach and while many of you caputred the spirit of what we are after- some clearly have not. Obviously we need to try and communicate that a bit harder over the background noise. Still others have questioned "can PMDG do it?" The only thing to do is demonstrate by action. So we shall.
The exciting thing about this change in how PMDG operates is that we realized early in our design process that some things in the MSFS world were just going to need to be done differently and that would take some experimentation, some learning and frankly, some mistakes along the way. In P3D world we could assign a single developer to a piece of the project and let him run. In MSFS world, this is highly inefficient, and greater progress is made by multi-disciplinary task teams working on specific threads at one time. It has taken some time to get the mix right- but two years later, we find this gives us the freedom to do things much more quickly. We think you will be interested to see what gets rolled into the entire 737 product line in the weeks ahead. Some things you are expecting, some perhaps you aren't.
We anticipate this period will continue for the 737 product line through, at least October, and likely well into the 777 beta period that will start up after the first four 737 bodies are rolled out. Our plan during this period is to continue packing details and features into the airplane based upon user feedback, our own design goals and of course your comments and suggestions. That work continues apace- and I have a few updates on some of those things when we unveil the 737-600 a bit later on Friday- so check that post for some fun info! (It will go live in a bit)
So lets talk about update cycles! Our original plan calls for bi-weekly updates that will bring in various bug fixes, corrections, improvements and new features as they clear testing and become available for public consumption. (I acknowledge that we are a week behind on that first update cycle, due to illness on the team. Some things just are what they are.) Beginning today, we anticipate some shifting back and forth between weekly and bi-weekly updates as we work through various details that we want to roll out to you. The goal is to give ourselves the flexibility to keep you up to date with the very latest without locking ourselves into a two week cycle "just because we said two weeks."
To kick the process off: Today we have just released Build 3.00.0020 for the PMDG 737-700.
This update comes with a number of changes and improvements, including updated models and associated textures, a significant update to the sound engine and dozens upon dozens of small tweaks, adjustments and improvements. The change list is as follows:
PMDG 737 for MSFS - 3.00.0020
03JUN22
0011282: [General - Documentation] Documentation - Remove mention of Keyboard command option in FMC until function restored. (hvanrensburg)
0011289: [External Model - Liveries] Decal Mapping Error on engine cowlings (jbrown)
0011336: [General - Documentation] Various Corrections in the Tutorial Flight Document (hvanrensburg)
0011360: [External Model - Geometry] Touchdown Landing Gear Effect reversed laterally. (jbrown)
0011327: [Systems - Electrical] External Airstairs should be allowed to receive power from ship batteries. (hvanrensburg)
0011280: [Virtual Cockpit - Geometry/Textures] Various geometry and texture gaps reported by one very eagle-eyed customer. (vscimone)
0011341: [Virtual Cockpit - Geometry/Textures] OFF text on GEN Panel incorrect (vscimone)
0011354: [Virtual Cockpit - Geometry/Textures] Overhead Panel separation lines missing (vscimone)
0011368: [External Model - Geometry] plug door pressure relief flaps appear doubled in some instances. (jbrown)
0011307: [Virtual Cockpit - View Presets] View Preset zooms need adjusting (jbrown)
0011249: [External Model - Geometry] N1 Disk transparent, when Rain/Snow WX (jbrown)
0011292: [Virtual Cockpit - Geometry/Textures] Missing textures along base of windshield frame covers (vscimone)
0011276: [Virtual Cockpit - Geometry/Textures] Triangle punch out in area over master caution creates a light gap in panel (vscimone)
0011251: [General - Ground Operations] Fuel truck connecting function and transparent fuel panel when fueling door is open. (hvanrensburg)
0011227: [AFDS - General] AP constantly micro trimming (emvaos)
0011232: [External Model - Geometry] PIP options incorrectly connected to selection of LED lights option. (jbrown)
0010547: [Sounds - External] External engine start bleed hiss sound loops incorrectly and causes other start sound layers to fail. (acholakian)
0011350: [Virtual Cockpit - Geometry/Textures] VC Yoke clipping and backfacing geometry needs attention (vscimone)
0011283: [General - Suggested/Missing Features] Displays should be able to function as pop-up 2D displays (vscimone)
0011225: [Virtual Cockpit - Geometry/Textures] Trim wheel animation fails under certain circumstances (not related to rotation speed) (vscimone)
0011312: [Virtual Cockpit - Functionality/Click-Spots] Alternate gear extention cords can be pulled throught the closed Alternate Gear door (abashkatov)
0011194: [Main Panel - PFD] "Single CH" indication has green frame instead of yellow (abashkatov)
0011302: [Main Panel - Aural/Visual Warning Systems] A/P disconnect light not operational when disconnection A/P (abashkatov)
0011352: [Virtual Cockpit - Functionality/Click-Spots] LED Landing Lights not turning ON with clickspot (vscimone)
0011325: [Virtual Cockpit - Functionality/Click-Spots] Flickering on various Instruments (vscimone)
0011340: [Virtual Cockpit - Geometry/Textures] Missing Arrows Ovd and CB Light selector (vscimone)
0011339: [Virtual Cockpit - Geometry/Textures] ALT CUTOUT missing part of a letter (vscimone)
0011361: [Virtual Cockpit - Geometry/Textures] Pedestal ADF panel no backlighting. (hvanrensburg)
0011338: [Virtual Cockpit - Geometry/Textures] CVR Light Plate missing text (vscimone)
0011358: [Virtual Cockpit - Geometry/Textures] Screw alignment rudder floor panels (vscimone)
0011367: [Virtual Cockpit - Functionality/Click-Spots] Wrong animation on Captain FMC Key (vscimone)
0011369: [FMS - Route/Legs Pages] RTE page should show in the scratchpad the airport entered in REF page (emvaos)
0011326: [General - Unsure] Loading Approach State on BDSF load the planes with blank screens and yoke hard over (rsrandazzo)
0011366: [Systems - Electrical] Provisiom for APU auto shutdown if loading a panel state with APU online after loading C && D (emvaos)
0011273: [Docs - Other General Observations] Typo in readme included with the Release candidate (rsrandazzo)
0011279: [General - Documentation] Incorrect work folder paths in Intro (hvanrensburg)
0011286: [General - Ground Operations] Air Start Unit is able to be called when Stairs 1L is connected (hvanrensburg)
0011304: [General - Documentation] Introduction document Amendment - TO/GA (hvanrensburg)
0011308: [General - Documentation] Introduction Document references to P3D license (hvanrensburg)
0011319: [General - Unsure] ILS DME readout not correct (emvaos)
0011353: [Docs - Need to Tell Customers This] Introduction refers to cabin light page in FMC. (hvanrensburg)
0011357: [FREEZES - All Types] Sim freeze when using EBBR CIV5C (emvaos)
0011315: [External Model - Geometry] Texture Mapping Issues MSFS 737-700 (jbrown)
0011356: [External Model - Geometry] APU exhaust textures needs touch up (jbrown)
0011363: [External Model - Geometry] Wing gap during flexing (jbrown)
0011364: [External Model - Geometry] FWD Cargo hold gap (jbrown)
0011343: [Systems - Flight Controls] Reduced AoA for stick shaker onset (emvaos)
0011248: [FMS/AFDS - LNAV] Provision for successive DTO's and adding airways to start of STAR after STAR is defined(!!) (emvaos)
0011196: [Main Panel - Aural/Visual Warning Systems] Below G/S warning should be inhibited below 200ft RA (abashkatov)
0011051: [General - Unsure] Pane state save - When master lights switch is saved in DIM, lights still load BRT (abashkatov)
0011337: [General - Documentation] Erroneous reference to 2D popup in tutorial (hvanrensburg)
0011313: [External Model - Geometry] Need thumbnail for MSFS "content manager" screen (cbpowell)
0011301: [External Model - Geometry] BBJ SSW - Missing tailpipe component R ENG (jbrown)
0011291: [External Model - Geometry] Texture gaps engines (jbrown)
0011266: [External Model - Liveries] negative pressure relief valve cut (jbrown)
0011267: [External Model - Liveries] Strange texture on the left MLG door. (jbrown)
0011076: [External Model - Liveries] Engine Texture Mapping Anomaly (jbrown)
0011274: [AFDS - Roll Modes] Disable mouse wheel scrolling for HDG SEL Bank Angle limiter (hvanrensburg)
0011277: [General - Documentation] Sound settings - Default volume levels and Active Spatial Sound should be set to NO in the documentation (hvanrensburg)
0011270: [FMS - Setup/Options Pages] DISPLAY Options page 9/9 FUEL/CTRLS empty (abashkatov)
0011263: [FMS - Setup/Options Pages] Change display order to options back to original (hvanrensburg)
0011252: [General - Ground Operations] Air Start Unit colliding with Airstairs (hvanrensburg)
0010749: [Sounds - Internal/Cockpit] Trim sound keeps getting triggered inflight (emvaos)
0010840: [General - Engines] FS Engine takes way too long to start at high altitude (emvaos)
0011216: [External Model - Liveries] Delta Livery Blue is too light (psterling)
0011228: [External Model - Liveries] Fuse3 Mapping Anomaly (jbrown)
0011180: [Sounds - External] Hydraulic Pump sound missing (acholakian)
0011328: [Virtual Cockpit - Functionality/Click-Spots] Clickspots on FMC do not align correctly after change to PMDG mouse logic (hvanrensburg)
0010678: [General - Engines] MSFS side - Engines take too long to stabilise to idle after engine start (emvaos)
69 issues
HOW TO UPDATE YOUR PMDG 737: The update is available via the PMDG Operations Center on the AIRCRAFT AND LIVERIES//PRODUCT UPDATES page. Click the update button and it will pull the update down and install it for you locally.
IMPORTANT NOTAMS: There are two things we want you to know: First, this is a big update. Run it when you have a few moments to let it do it's thing. Second, our beta team found that for a few of them, the first time they ran the 737 after installing the update, the aircraft sounds did not play properly. We have traced this to the manner in which the sim caches sounds, and it can be easily corrected by simply running the airplane, then exiting back to the world menu and launching the aircraft a second time. For reasons we don't yet understand, the sim does not update the cache on the first run, but it does on the second launch and from then on you will be fine without further need to tinker. (We'll bring this up with Asobo to see if they have ideas to mitigate that problem in the future. It is a very minor nuisance but we'd still like to avoid it if that is possible on the developer end.)
IMPORTANT NOTAM 2: The update is truly huge. It is out on a wide distribution cloud network and should give good speed to most users, no matter where you are geographically. If you find it gives you trouble, sit and watch it a bit. A few of the files are huge. If that doesn't work, you can always grab the installer from your account again. Not that updating via the Operations Center will normally be faster, but obviously internet connections around the globe vary quite dramatically- so we wanted to be sure you had options available to suit your needs.
IMPORTANT NOTAM 3: One of our testers reminded me (in thread below) to remind you: The first time you run a C++/WASM project in MSFS, the sim goes through a ton of compilation process that takes some time. Not all updates will trigger this recompilation, but this one certainly will. Don't think that the sim failed, just let it do it's thing- and you'll be rewarded with a nice, optimized refresh on your 737. (Thanks, Steve- I owe you a bonus cookie at FSExpo...)
Okay- that is all for this update... Time to build the next beta for the test team to look at so that we can hand it to you next week. And so the journey begins!
Back in March as we began to introduce you to our new PMDG 737 for MSFS product line, I mentioned that we were going to fundamentally change the way we approach product rollouts by bringing the 737 to you as a rolling development cycle. The idea came about because all of us (well- nearly all of us!) at PMDG are DCS addicts, and DCS has done a very nice job of managing the challenges that come from having to manage multiple project profiles simultaneously. While there are many things to admire about the DCS team, one of their more admirable traits is being candid about the the pieces of things they are working on, the things they have planned, and giving regular progress updates along the way.
Personally one of my favorite Friday morning emails comes from DCS. It has been a regular thing for a long time. Something to emulate.
Starting back in March, we began to communicate to you our intent to take a similar approach and while many of you caputred the spirit of what we are after- some clearly have not. Obviously we need to try and communicate that a bit harder over the background noise. Still others have questioned "can PMDG do it?" The only thing to do is demonstrate by action. So we shall.
The exciting thing about this change in how PMDG operates is that we realized early in our design process that some things in the MSFS world were just going to need to be done differently and that would take some experimentation, some learning and frankly, some mistakes along the way. In P3D world we could assign a single developer to a piece of the project and let him run. In MSFS world, this is highly inefficient, and greater progress is made by multi-disciplinary task teams working on specific threads at one time. It has taken some time to get the mix right- but two years later, we find this gives us the freedom to do things much more quickly. We think you will be interested to see what gets rolled into the entire 737 product line in the weeks ahead. Some things you are expecting, some perhaps you aren't.
We anticipate this period will continue for the 737 product line through, at least October, and likely well into the 777 beta period that will start up after the first four 737 bodies are rolled out. Our plan during this period is to continue packing details and features into the airplane based upon user feedback, our own design goals and of course your comments and suggestions. That work continues apace- and I have a few updates on some of those things when we unveil the 737-600 a bit later on Friday- so check that post for some fun info! (It will go live in a bit)
So lets talk about update cycles! Our original plan calls for bi-weekly updates that will bring in various bug fixes, corrections, improvements and new features as they clear testing and become available for public consumption. (I acknowledge that we are a week behind on that first update cycle, due to illness on the team. Some things just are what they are.) Beginning today, we anticipate some shifting back and forth between weekly and bi-weekly updates as we work through various details that we want to roll out to you. The goal is to give ourselves the flexibility to keep you up to date with the very latest without locking ourselves into a two week cycle "just because we said two weeks."
To kick the process off: Today we have just released Build 3.00.0020 for the PMDG 737-700.
This update comes with a number of changes and improvements, including updated models and associated textures, a significant update to the sound engine and dozens upon dozens of small tweaks, adjustments and improvements. The change list is as follows:
PMDG 737 for MSFS - 3.00.0020
03JUN22
0011282: [General - Documentation] Documentation - Remove mention of Keyboard command option in FMC until function restored. (hvanrensburg)
0011289: [External Model - Liveries] Decal Mapping Error on engine cowlings (jbrown)
0011336: [General - Documentation] Various Corrections in the Tutorial Flight Document (hvanrensburg)
0011360: [External Model - Geometry] Touchdown Landing Gear Effect reversed laterally. (jbrown)
0011327: [Systems - Electrical] External Airstairs should be allowed to receive power from ship batteries. (hvanrensburg)
0011280: [Virtual Cockpit - Geometry/Textures] Various geometry and texture gaps reported by one very eagle-eyed customer. (vscimone)
0011341: [Virtual Cockpit - Geometry/Textures] OFF text on GEN Panel incorrect (vscimone)
0011354: [Virtual Cockpit - Geometry/Textures] Overhead Panel separation lines missing (vscimone)
0011368: [External Model - Geometry] plug door pressure relief flaps appear doubled in some instances. (jbrown)
0011307: [Virtual Cockpit - View Presets] View Preset zooms need adjusting (jbrown)
0011249: [External Model - Geometry] N1 Disk transparent, when Rain/Snow WX (jbrown)
0011292: [Virtual Cockpit - Geometry/Textures] Missing textures along base of windshield frame covers (vscimone)
0011276: [Virtual Cockpit - Geometry/Textures] Triangle punch out in area over master caution creates a light gap in panel (vscimone)
0011251: [General - Ground Operations] Fuel truck connecting function and transparent fuel panel when fueling door is open. (hvanrensburg)
0011227: [AFDS - General] AP constantly micro trimming (emvaos)
0011232: [External Model - Geometry] PIP options incorrectly connected to selection of LED lights option. (jbrown)
0010547: [Sounds - External] External engine start bleed hiss sound loops incorrectly and causes other start sound layers to fail. (acholakian)
0011350: [Virtual Cockpit - Geometry/Textures] VC Yoke clipping and backfacing geometry needs attention (vscimone)
0011283: [General - Suggested/Missing Features] Displays should be able to function as pop-up 2D displays (vscimone)
0011225: [Virtual Cockpit - Geometry/Textures] Trim wheel animation fails under certain circumstances (not related to rotation speed) (vscimone)
0011312: [Virtual Cockpit - Functionality/Click-Spots] Alternate gear extention cords can be pulled throught the closed Alternate Gear door (abashkatov)
0011194: [Main Panel - PFD] "Single CH" indication has green frame instead of yellow (abashkatov)
0011302: [Main Panel - Aural/Visual Warning Systems] A/P disconnect light not operational when disconnection A/P (abashkatov)
0011352: [Virtual Cockpit - Functionality/Click-Spots] LED Landing Lights not turning ON with clickspot (vscimone)
0011325: [Virtual Cockpit - Functionality/Click-Spots] Flickering on various Instruments (vscimone)
0011340: [Virtual Cockpit - Geometry/Textures] Missing Arrows Ovd and CB Light selector (vscimone)
0011339: [Virtual Cockpit - Geometry/Textures] ALT CUTOUT missing part of a letter (vscimone)
0011361: [Virtual Cockpit - Geometry/Textures] Pedestal ADF panel no backlighting. (hvanrensburg)
0011338: [Virtual Cockpit - Geometry/Textures] CVR Light Plate missing text (vscimone)
0011358: [Virtual Cockpit - Geometry/Textures] Screw alignment rudder floor panels (vscimone)
0011367: [Virtual Cockpit - Functionality/Click-Spots] Wrong animation on Captain FMC Key (vscimone)
0011369: [FMS - Route/Legs Pages] RTE page should show in the scratchpad the airport entered in REF page (emvaos)
0011326: [General - Unsure] Loading Approach State on BDSF load the planes with blank screens and yoke hard over (rsrandazzo)
0011366: [Systems - Electrical] Provisiom for APU auto shutdown if loading a panel state with APU online after loading C && D (emvaos)
0011273: [Docs - Other General Observations] Typo in readme included with the Release candidate (rsrandazzo)
0011279: [General - Documentation] Incorrect work folder paths in Intro (hvanrensburg)
0011286: [General - Ground Operations] Air Start Unit is able to be called when Stairs 1L is connected (hvanrensburg)
0011304: [General - Documentation] Introduction document Amendment - TO/GA (hvanrensburg)
0011308: [General - Documentation] Introduction Document references to P3D license (hvanrensburg)
0011319: [General - Unsure] ILS DME readout not correct (emvaos)
0011353: [Docs - Need to Tell Customers This] Introduction refers to cabin light page in FMC. (hvanrensburg)
0011357: [FREEZES - All Types] Sim freeze when using EBBR CIV5C (emvaos)
0011315: [External Model - Geometry] Texture Mapping Issues MSFS 737-700 (jbrown)
0011356: [External Model - Geometry] APU exhaust textures needs touch up (jbrown)
0011363: [External Model - Geometry] Wing gap during flexing (jbrown)
0011364: [External Model - Geometry] FWD Cargo hold gap (jbrown)
0011343: [Systems - Flight Controls] Reduced AoA for stick shaker onset (emvaos)
0011248: [FMS/AFDS - LNAV] Provision for successive DTO's and adding airways to start of STAR after STAR is defined(!!) (emvaos)
0011196: [Main Panel - Aural/Visual Warning Systems] Below G/S warning should be inhibited below 200ft RA (abashkatov)
0011051: [General - Unsure] Pane state save - When master lights switch is saved in DIM, lights still load BRT (abashkatov)
0011337: [General - Documentation] Erroneous reference to 2D popup in tutorial (hvanrensburg)
0011313: [External Model - Geometry] Need thumbnail for MSFS "content manager" screen (cbpowell)
0011301: [External Model - Geometry] BBJ SSW - Missing tailpipe component R ENG (jbrown)
0011291: [External Model - Geometry] Texture gaps engines (jbrown)
0011266: [External Model - Liveries] negative pressure relief valve cut (jbrown)
0011267: [External Model - Liveries] Strange texture on the left MLG door. (jbrown)
0011076: [External Model - Liveries] Engine Texture Mapping Anomaly (jbrown)
0011274: [AFDS - Roll Modes] Disable mouse wheel scrolling for HDG SEL Bank Angle limiter (hvanrensburg)
0011277: [General - Documentation] Sound settings - Default volume levels and Active Spatial Sound should be set to NO in the documentation (hvanrensburg)
0011270: [FMS - Setup/Options Pages] DISPLAY Options page 9/9 FUEL/CTRLS empty (abashkatov)
0011263: [FMS - Setup/Options Pages] Change display order to options back to original (hvanrensburg)
0011252: [General - Ground Operations] Air Start Unit colliding with Airstairs (hvanrensburg)
0010749: [Sounds - Internal/Cockpit] Trim sound keeps getting triggered inflight (emvaos)
0010840: [General - Engines] FS Engine takes way too long to start at high altitude (emvaos)
0011216: [External Model - Liveries] Delta Livery Blue is too light (psterling)
0011228: [External Model - Liveries] Fuse3 Mapping Anomaly (jbrown)
0011180: [Sounds - External] Hydraulic Pump sound missing (acholakian)
0011328: [Virtual Cockpit - Functionality/Click-Spots] Clickspots on FMC do not align correctly after change to PMDG mouse logic (hvanrensburg)
0010678: [General - Engines] MSFS side - Engines take too long to stabilise to idle after engine start (emvaos)
69 issues
HOW TO UPDATE YOUR PMDG 737: The update is available via the PMDG Operations Center on the AIRCRAFT AND LIVERIES//PRODUCT UPDATES page. Click the update button and it will pull the update down and install it for you locally.
IMPORTANT NOTAMS: There are two things we want you to know: First, this is a big update. Run it when you have a few moments to let it do it's thing. Second, our beta team found that for a few of them, the first time they ran the 737 after installing the update, the aircraft sounds did not play properly. We have traced this to the manner in which the sim caches sounds, and it can be easily corrected by simply running the airplane, then exiting back to the world menu and launching the aircraft a second time. For reasons we don't yet understand, the sim does not update the cache on the first run, but it does on the second launch and from then on you will be fine without further need to tinker. (We'll bring this up with Asobo to see if they have ideas to mitigate that problem in the future. It is a very minor nuisance but we'd still like to avoid it if that is possible on the developer end.)
IMPORTANT NOTAM 2: The update is truly huge. It is out on a wide distribution cloud network and should give good speed to most users, no matter where you are geographically. If you find it gives you trouble, sit and watch it a bit. A few of the files are huge. If that doesn't work, you can always grab the installer from your account again. Not that updating via the Operations Center will normally be faster, but obviously internet connections around the globe vary quite dramatically- so we wanted to be sure you had options available to suit your needs.
IMPORTANT NOTAM 3: One of our testers reminded me (in thread below) to remind you: The first time you run a C++/WASM project in MSFS, the sim goes through a ton of compilation process that takes some time. Not all updates will trigger this recompilation, but this one certainly will. Don't think that the sim failed, just let it do it's thing- and you'll be rewarded with a nice, optimized refresh on your 737. (Thanks, Steve- I owe you a bonus cookie at FSExpo...)
Okay- that is all for this update... Time to build the next beta for the test team to look at so that we can hand it to you next week. And so the journey begins!
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