Leonardo Software House took to their forums earlier today to release a major, 20th Anniversary Update for their rendition of the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 series for Microsoft Flight Simulator. The “Fly the Maddog – 20th Anniversary Edition” is not a brand-new product but a major evolution of Fly the Maddog X.
New Manager, Who Dis?
The 20th Anniversary Edition of Fly the Maddog brings plenty of new improvements and changes. The first and foremost mentioned by the Leonardo dev team is the new, more modern Manager. Gone is the old Load Manager, replaced by the new one, which features a sleeker UI and the ability to download and manage additional liveries directly from Leonardo’s servers.
New Models and Textures
The MD-80 series now features all-new interior and exterior 3D models, along with new high-resolution texture work built to current flight simulator standards. The overall visual fidelity and material rendering have been improved considerably. The aircraft renditions also feature new animations and enhanced interactions, such as the ability to operate the sunshades and switch PAX lights in the passenger cabin directly from relevant view points.
Improved Sounds
The team then mentions that they have done some work on refining the soundset of the aircraft, specifically the external engine sounds. That said, the team explicitly mentions to expect anything drastic or miraculous, as according to them, sound design has never been the Maddog’s strongest suit. Since MD-80s have effectively disappeared from European skies, it is practically impossible to capture fresh sounds, as access to an aircraft is extremely difficult.
The developer does mention the less-than-ideal availability of third-party sound packs, as they prefer to set realistic expectations and not overpromise. The codebase has also seen optimizations for smoother performance as well as further refinements to flight dynamics and overall flight dynamics.
All-in-one Package
Unlike Fly the Maddog X, where only the MD-80 variant was included, and the MD-83 and MD-88 were sold as a separate expansion, the new 20th Anniversary Edition now includes all three variants, namely the MD-80, MD-83, and MD-88, as part of one single package. Additional features and improvements will be introduced after release and will be free of charge.
Speaking about their features projects, the team made it clear that community requests for the MD-81, MD-87, MD-90, and a fully analog cockpit variant are not part of their development pipeline. The current Maddog is already demanding, and development resources are limited. Rather than stretch resources thin, the team will continue to focus efforts on delivering a product that meets a level of quality that users expect.
That said, the team’s next planned step for the Fly the Maddog – 20th Anniversary Edition will be a dedicated freighter version. This variant will be a paid expansion. More details will be shared once development has progressed enough for a presentation.
Closing Notes
Under the previous pricing model, the MD-82 cost EUR75 + VAT, while the MD-83/MD-88 expansion cost a further EUR25 + VAT, bringing the total price for all three variants to EUR100 + VAT. With this expansion, Leonardo has revealed a new pricing model.
The full package with the MD-82, MD-83, and MD-88 will now cost EUR69.99 + VAT, while upgrading from the Fly the Maddog X edition to the 20th Anniversary Edition will cost EUR24.99 + VAT. For a limited time, however, the full package costs EUR64.99 + VAT, while the upgrade price is EUR22.50 + VAT; the limited-time pricing is available only till the 31st of December 2025.
The aircraft are compatible with both Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and 2024 versions. A single purchase grants access to both the MSFS2020 and MSFS2024 versions. The team deliberately chose not to release a fully native MSFS2024 version, as this would have excluded the MSFS2020 version from further development. The MD-80 series is available for purchase on the simMarket Store.
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