This will be an exciting spring for us short haul airline sim-ers. We’ll be getting PMDG’s 737NG and hopefully Leonardo’s MD80. I say hopefully because Leonardo hasn’t said much recently, but there are quite a few YT vids from BETA testers showing that it’s nearing the end of development. Which one are you folks most excited about? I’m hoping that the stars align, and we get the MD80 soon, spending the next 3 months flying it, then get the -800 from PMDG in the summer.
I’m all about the Maddog, but they are known for taking their time with development so we’ll see how far out it is. It may not be first, but it’s the one I’m more excited about.
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Maddog all the way for me. Bae146 after that (tight race though) and certainly looking forward to the A320 and B737 as well as products to enjoy. However, the first two are airplanes to love and that’s just different… 
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Md80 forever! Can’t wait to fly it again
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Of course the PMDG737. 
After having seen that the MD80 is using some lowest polygon elements stuck in 2008 and has not remodelled the cockpit but is just porting an old release to the new flight sim, it is not interesting anymore. (For example look at the feathers of the window opening mechanism - it is so low polygon that it is pentagon shaped instead of a round high polygon element.)
PMDG has remade all ugly immersion-breaking low polygon elements in the 737 cockpit from scratch and brought all low polygon elements (like for example hexagonal fire extinguishers) to the next level - everything in the 737 cockpit is high poly 100% round shapes.
If I pay high prices for add-on DLC´s - well sorry I don´t buy year 2008-2010 graphics quality with angular low polygon meshes.
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If it ain’t Boeing, I ain’t going…
I hadn’t noticed the low graphic quality. That’s a good nugget to watch out for as more screen shots are released.
I fully agree with you. Low polygon textures is not what MSFS is about. The Concord and other DC/SC design planes are examples of poor textures. I hate seeing square circles and low-res textures. There is no need for it in MSFS.
We can be assured that PMDG and Just Flight textures will be top-notch and exploit the virtues of the amazing graphics in MSFS. I’m expecting Fenix to also have an amazing model/textures.
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Oh yeah, forgot about the 146. Another one to pine for.
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Even tho I agree with you. I think this summarize what is all about MSFS2020 Community, worried more about graphics than realism itself.
Maddog back in the day was wayyyy ahead of PMDG about realism/systems/handling/Failure Simulation, etc. Hope they could keep continue their tradition.
That’s quite a generalization. Wanting a plane to meet modern graphical standards doesn’t mean people are “more worried about graphics than realism”. Why not both?
That being said, I haven’t seen anything yet on the MD that turns me off their graphics. Looks pretty solid to my eyes, but we haven’t seen much of it yet.
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There appears to be more developer activity from PMDG, so my guess will be the 737, but, I’m holding off for the Maddog. Over the years this aircraft brought me many hours of pleasure (FSX&P3D).
Leonardo is a wonderful and skilled team, it would be easy for them to bring a few very low polygon objects like the long steel spring on the side window opening mechanism to the next level - the MadDog could become one of the coolest eighties plane for the Flight Sim 20 
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I’ve got a different take on the polygon count issue: I’m not sure the PMDG 737 will in fact run smoothly enough in VR (in P3D it was one of the only planes I couldn’t get to run well in VR), so having a plane with not too high a polygon count might help here.
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I guess I’m in the minority, but I don’t like using the VR headset for airliners. I prefer to use it in smaller planes, and for hand flying. I’ll usually have something on TV for the long AP flights. Time will tell on the performance comparisons.
But you can put on the VR as soon as the autopilot is programmed and the plane is wonderfully following the route to enjoy the awesome inside-a-cozy-cockpit feeling.
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I’m more excited for Leonardo’s MD80 since it has a classic hybrid-cockpit and I know it won’t be a frame-rate killer too.
As high quality as PMDG’s aircraft are, I’m no longer willing to trade-off a smooth flying experience in favor of a system-heavy add-on (and theirs tend to be the ‘heaviest’). I did it for many years in older flight sims and I’ve found that on reflection, I didn’t enjoy their products as much as others due to this reason alone.
I’ll be keenly checking here for performance-related reviews once it comes out 
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I’m sure this is not a fair assessment and missing the mark by alot. I think more accurate representation would be to make an addon that AT LEAST meets the minimum quality met by Asobo default aircraft especially when that is usually the sole product focus of the developer. It’s not an OH I LOVE THE GRAPHICS, how WONDERFUL that the flight model is terrible. It’s the quality is good, the flight model is good, they have Wwise 3D audio and the extras they included is a bonus! Not hard to understand, and not sure why this has to even be a thing to understand.
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are you sure those are low poly problem? I own the DC design Concorde and F14, and will get the MD-80 also, to my eyes the F14 is a bit rough here and there, especially in the thrust levers but acceptable, the Concorde actually looked pretty good to my eyes, getting used to the A32NX will be a bit harsh to the eye of that era of instruments I would say