(...)Asobo and Microsoft are indeed very much involved. I know we have discussed that a few times but let me go over it one more time.
As you all know we were in many ways involved with the release of MFS. We did the boxed version, have been one of the first add-on developers to see it and we have been able to give some advice based on our nearly 30 years of experience with flightsim. After the release we had access to the first versions of the SDK (together with some other selected partners). This allowed us to have add-ons like OnAir ready on release.
We very early decided that we would use the CRJ made by Hans Hartmann as our first aircraft. It has just the right complexity to really task the developing SDK. The Airbusses would be too complex, the Twin Otter too easy. As Asobo had zero experience with running the far more complex code in their simulator, it was rather easy to set up a system where Hans would show them what was needed and Asobo basically would try to get the code running. Of course knowledge flows both ways. We learned a lot about the sim, how to use it efficiently. Of course the comment will be that the SDK and the sim will be made to get the CRJ running. And yes, to some degree that is true. Hans and Asobo worked together every day, often until very late in the evening. There was a huge investment from both parties. But the CRJ is a very 'standard' airliner. An 737 might be a bit more complex in the Flight Guidance Systems, but most of the other systems are comparable. If lateral guidance works, vertical guidance is just modestly more complex. AutoThrottle, that the CRJ misses, and an aircraft like the 737 has, is a very basic system. You need some tables to manage climbs and descends but that is something add-on devs dealt with for over a decade. Does not make it easy, but doable.
We are not the only company who has access like we have btw, we are bit surprised other companies do not use it as much as we do. Perhaps it is because you need to invest many many months of work without any payment. With the seriously reduced income from P3D add-ons some smaller companies might be low on cash. There are a lot of commercial elements that are not obvious to most people. If you want to read my rantings about that, check this:
https://forum.aerosoft.com/index.php...ve-ponderings/
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So what does that mean for the CRJ? Are we close to release? What is included? What is the price?
It means that we are gearing up for a release. File are being tested, marketing is being done. BUT, we really need a a few bits to work that do not work right now. We can't release without those bits and we can't include them because the sim does not play ball. But as said, coms with Asobo are very good and every day things are solved. We still do not know when we can release, but we have made some decisions.
The goal of this release was to match the P3D V5 version. Apart from some aspects, like the option to show charts in the EFB and a real weather radar (so not one that only shows weather a weather engine made) that matched to the weather that is shown in the sim, we can basically deliver. The current version of the sim simply does not allow that. Our code is ready and when the sim is we can include it. We do not believe those are show stoppers. Many P3D add-ons do not have it now, heck, apart from our Airbusses no add-on is capable of showing weather that is read from the sim itself. The release will not be stopped because of these things.
Price will be modest. We believe prices for MFS add-ons will be lower than for P3D add-ons because we simply have a lot more customers. No discount for existing customers. The investment done is just to massive.
Early next week we'll know more and will show more.