This is one of the few rigid rules that we enforce regularly. You took the time to be here, we want to get to know you. We do this in order to keep conversations personal and familiar. Since 1997, we have asked users to sign their real name, first and last, to all posts in the PMDG forum. If the knob can be smoothly turned – it can be smoothly turned in this cockpit (that is very important when the lights are set).1) SIGN YOUR POSTS. It often happens (even in payware aircraft) that regulator knobs can be only turned on or off – with no positions in the middle – not in this case. I have never found a switch or a knob in this cockpit that would work differently from it’s real world counterpart. I assume that this has something to do with FSX limiting the number of animations. There is only one exception – CDU buttons are not animated. I like how they look and how they are animated! When I press the button – it moves as it should. I actually prefer using mouse wheel instead of clicking. That is a sound reason, but it does not explain why overhead selectors and knobs can not be turned with the mouse wheel.
This is (the only so far) inconsistency in PMDG programming – there are some selectors that you can move with the mouse wheel and there are some that you can not move… I found an explanation that several selectors can not be turned with the mouse wheel to protect the user from turning other selectors by mistake when they are located nearby (like heading selector and bank angle selector). There is a tooltip provided – it explains that if you hold mouse button down and move the mouse – the values will change faster. You need to press the mouse button and hold it until the appropriate indicator shows desired value. There is some confusion on flight sim related forums about several knobs that you should turn and hold – like BARO and rudder trim knobs. Selector knobs work just like switches – right click – turn right, left click – turn left (counterclockwise). Three position switches change position to the right (or up) with the right click and to the left (or down) when clicked with left mouse button. Two position switches can be thrown with a single click of the left or right mouse button. MCP can be shown as 2d panel with the keyboard shortcut or a hidden button (under DATA button on MCP). Even with TrackIR it is not easy to work with CDU in VC. I do not use this feature often – PFD and ND are clear enough to watch them in Virtual Cockpit. Click again in the middle of the screen (or the panel) and it closes. If you do not want to remember the shortcuts for displays – you can open these panels clicking in the middle of the screen you want to enlarge. Shift+2 to Shift+9 keyboard shortcuts open eight panels (there are additional available under clickspots in the cockpit). When flying advanced airliners I like to be able to open some screens or panels in form of two dimensional panels. The cursor changes shape when I point to the SEL button on top of this knob. Thanks to cursor color I can distinguish which part of the selector I am turning (white cursor for primary selector, gray for secondary). In some cases it is an overkill – I do not need a special cursor shape to know that the Flight Director switch moves down – it’s obvious. On the other hand – advanced cursor is invaluable when I use double selectors with a built in button – like the heading selector.
The cursor changes it’s shape and color depending on what the switch does – it’s helpful feature and simplifies operations. Also the clickspots are large enough to to be easily targeted by EZDOK users when the camera shakes. What I noticed in 777 is that I never had to wander where should I click to get the expected result.
Usability is very important for me, especially since I bought EZDOK camera and dynamic cameras make clicking in cockpit a little harder. A heavy and large wipers knob makes a louder and “harder” noise than radio frequency selector that just clicks quietly. The sound is related to how the switch or knob is build and how it works. There are even slight differences between switches of the same type – like in case of two Auto-Throttle switches. Here not only the switches make a sound but they also make different sounds depending on the knob, switch or button type and construction. Almost – I still find recently published payware planes that have silent switches… This is not the case of PMDG 777. Switches and buttons making sound when they are pushed of flipped is almost a standard feature in payware aircraft. One of the best impressions from this cockpit is how authentic the buttons and switches sound. Trim knob is the worst – I think it should be replaced soon. The closer look at the grooved knobs shows how difficult it is to keep these parts clean.