Hmmm, 747 autopilot was developed 40 years ago, so I highly doubt modern hardwire is lacking in that respect. I am sure a modern ipad in terms of raw computational power will beat it. Problem though, the 747’s computers have dealt with actual sensors data and had dedicated controllers to do preliminary analysis, and we, on our machines, need to simulate all that data in appropriate way which is way more complicated than AP logic itself. Plus, we need some resources for the sim and all that eye-candy visuals 
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yea sure understand that it’s a hell of a job to do a study level plane, all I would say is horses for courses, customers will judge will they want to pay the sum for the plane that they will fly X amount of time. Thing is, beside die hard fans of the MD-11, when there are other addon falling in the similar size and performance capacity of the MD-11, either pricing cheaper (if the PMDG 737 and future 777 is priced according to the DC6) or even free (FBW) you will have a lot of potential customers don’t pull the trigger. the market itself will tell
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yes I hope the price puts off some people buying it… you know the types who complain on these forums ALL THE TIME about EVERYTHING and blame the developers and then go off in a huff declaring they are never going to fly msfs2020 again… I will pay EXTRA for that.
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Also…
Users: Hey MSFS lacks some high-fidelity aircraft!
Developers: Here you go! Even a little cheaper than we did before.
Users: WHAT DO YOU MEAN? It’s $80??? This is a new sim! Outrageous! Things should be cheaper here. It’s cheaper already? Well… it should be EVEN LESS! WE NEED MORE high-fidelity aircraft!!!
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exactly, i call that spoilt kid behaviour
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Guess its a moot point, The plane comes out in 2024. The way inflation is going, a can of Tuna might be the same rate in USA……
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You forgot “Why should we pay when FBW is doing it for free??”
I should add this is not to knock FBW or the people who contribute to the project; by all accounts it’s done wonderful things with the stock plane.
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That’s a classic one.
People think that developers are forced to charge cheaper on addons on MSFS just because it’s a new platform or because it’s more popular than others. From the beginning I knew that former FSX/P3D developers would bring their same pricing practices to MSFS. I even said this here on the forum years ago and people laughed at me, saying that any developer who charges more than $60 for an aircraft on MSFS won’t sell anything.
Also, the argument of ‘Why should I pay if others are doing it for free’ is kind of nonsense. First, there never was and never will be a study-level freeware airliner in any simulator. Freeware projects, even targeting mid-level simulation are struggling just to come out, so imagine those who plan to target study-level or close to that.
Unfortunately, the freeware projects that are eventually released are practically an exception compared to the ones that are announced, but end up running into difficulties and disappearing. The ones that are released are usually of dubious quality, nothing close to study-level.
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Spot on. And I think you speak of those who don’t have that history of the past that would better inform the present. If you’re newer to this slippery slope we call flight simulation, you’re going to be in for a shock when the “heavy iron” of deep simulation developers finally get product here. Don’t expect discounts.
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I don’t think the developers are forced to charge cheaper. They may do whatever they pleased. But some may seize the opportunity and make better profits by selling at cheaper prices to larger crowd of new and popular sim. One has to be really dedicated to spend over $100 for a plane, while buying a $50 one may be just by a spur of the moment. Anyway everybody decide for themselves.
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Great points in your response. I absolutely appreciate the MD-11s advanced flight systems. It is indeed a blend of Boeing and Airbus logic which will give simmers something interesting to learn. It may not have panned out for airliner work for long but it lives on in the cargo world - part of the backbone of FedEx and UPS cargo fleets.
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Dude seriously, calm down, you are being overly aggressive in your posts, no need to get so worked up, you are both making interesting points and I am enjoying the read, but it is causing me anxiety to read this xD
Cheers!
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My posts are days old and I’ve acknowledged and apologized to the person directly affected.
You’re late to the party…relax disconnect and go take a walk bud…like I have obviously😉
Cheers!
I agree with almost everything you said aside from the fact there is one free study level aircraft and that is the Zibo 737 for XP-11. Yes they had a good base to start with but be under no illusions it is study level.
The other issue not aimed at the person I am replying to is this.
If you just want to fly around or don’t have the time or can’t be bothered to learn a study level plane then just don’t buy it. We are not the Devs bean counters, I don’t care how long or much they pour into a plane if the price is right or will make more or less money, that’s not my problem I just want the plane, they will charge for what they think is fair and tbh $100 is fair imho for a study level MD11 it’s a beast and is quirky, but whatever and no I can’t just throw around money like it’s fun coupons but having been in this hobby since the 90’s I have a lot of experience in it.
I would love fenix PMDG etc to sell for $19.99 but that’s not going happen.
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Whoa! I’m slacking! Had no idea this was even available. I have the Hot Start TBM and love it.
I’ll add to the price discussion. Looking at the details on this, I’ll be grabbing this. I love X-Plane but really wish it was on MSFS. The fact it isn’t says something as well. As MSFS matures though, we will see more of this. And let’s not kid ourselves thinking quality like this should be priced under $100. 
Incidentally, I would hope no one here concerned over the one-time cost of a quality aircraft is paying a subscription fee for something like Navigraph. You pay more for that than any aircraft. Just keeping it in perspective.
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Until titles like these are in MSFS, it’s all speculation. Freeware will satisfy many, but not all. There is a market for >$50 aircraft, however large or small. There will be great aircraft available at all price points to support all interests, eventually.
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This topic on pricing, ‘study-levelness’ and system fidelity of complex aircraft got me really curious. Of course ideally most of us want as authentic and deep modelling as possible. Obviously this come with hefty price tag. But how many of you, hard-core simmers, actually use this depth and fidelity in your flights? This is, again, just my general curiosity, not to bash anybody. Like, probably 80% of what constitutes the modern complex aircraft systems is there for redundancies and emergency handling. Modelling all these very deeply and accurately is justified if you really use that for training such abnormal situations. But how many of you and how often actually simulate abnormal handling in the sim? I recon that preparing and conducting the flight following normal checklists does not imply super-deep system modelling. Of course it is nice when all the buttons and switches are working and doing something, but does the complex and expensive modelling of underlying systems worth it?
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Well Study level takes many forms.
Average GA
Lets take an average $30-$50 GA plane in X-Plane made by a decent dev, in general I am not sure if you can call it study level or that really applies here but for example.
You cant just start it with the fuel pumps off by turning the key or pressing start, if you have not done all the correct things.
You may have to prime the engine/s and it wont work if you do it wrong.
If you run the boost pumps too long the engine floods and you have to fix it in the maintenance manager. No big deal, but it is sort of like a little RPG game where you are trying to run the aircraft safely and cost effectively, you can just fix it not bother or disable it some times.
You cant fly around with the engines firewalled the whole flight without consequences usually engine fire/failure.
All basic systems work and are correct.
If you let your ITT temps get to high on engine start, bye bye engine and you got to start again or you guessed it, back to the maintenance manager to fix it (Most good dev’s provide one with every plane)
Basically its not just easy mode all the time, like IRL you have to do things correctly, or just as you can in MSFS you press “Set Engines to running”
For Airliners, it is important that all Auto flight systems work, SIDS & STARS work the FMC works and the engine start procedure is accurate as everyone will use these.
After that, and usually as a knock on from that, you will need hydraulics and Air systems, again all have to be modelled correctly or you cant start the plane e.g. Packs and Bleed Air for the 737 or A320. Batteries should discharge hence the need for a GPU unit to be connected, hydraulics then need to be pressurised and this needs to be modelled correctly or what is the point of all the other stuff?
Failures just come about form the fact everything is modelled so it can be failed. Even FBW if you turn of the hydraulics switches mid flight you will see the back up systems Blue or Green take over, this is not because they want to cater to people who want failures specifically, but because in order to do something such as a realistic engine start all of that has to be modelled anyway or how will it work? there will be massive unrealistic gaps and it will be trash.
at a basic level you could just assume fuel pumps are always on, ok then why bother having the buttons to turn them on or off, then why bother with engine start procedures, then why bother with packs and bleed air, just make it look good, and have a big fat button that says start.
Failures are just a by product of the systems that are being modelled in the first place I feel. You could just say they never fail, but the work still has to be done. This is what you pay for at this level.
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My opinion is yes, it is worth it. However, It’s a really interesting question. And I think it again depends on the user. Like everything else, some will love it, myself included, and others may place value on something else.
As an example, while some quality paware aircraft have failure simulation - The X-Plane Challenger is a crazy example, I’m just not into it. I’ve never even turned on time-based failures but of course, others might. I do however want the flight dynamics, automation systems, SOUNDS, and aircraft primary systems to operate as close to their counterparts in the real aircraft as the developers and simulator will enable. I will pay top dollar for that.
I also like aircraft that have a persistent state so they remember how you left them when you last shutdown and left the sim. That is just a total immersion play and just like it would be in the real world, bar an airliner.
Is it correct the release is in 2024?