TFDi Design, developer of the MD-11 for MSFS 2020, has taken to its website to provide a development update for the MD-11 to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the aircraft’s launch. The blog post discussed a soon-to-be-released free art update, an upcoming paid MSFS 2024 compatibility upgrade, and news about P3D support.
Art Update
The quality of the MD-11’s exterior model has been a point of criticism for some, as you can read more about in our review here. This area of the aircraft has been receiving major attention from TFDi, as the team has been working on an art update with “meticulous refinement of the model and updated textures.” Users of the MD-11 will be pleased to know that this art update will be available for free, and is expected to launch ‘within the next 60 days’ (before August 31st, 2025, from the date of the post).
MSFS 2024 Paid Upgrade
TFDi Design has been working on updating the MD-11 to be MSFS 2024-compatible, which will take advantage of some of the new simulator’s native features, such as texture streaming and optimizing the interior model for the new LOD (Level-of-Detail) system to improve performance. Thanks to these optimizations, the team has been able to add some extra details to the cabin, such as movable overhead cabins and window shades, which would not have been worth the performance hit in MSFS 2020.
Due to the amount of work that TFDi has put into this upgrade, the developer has made the decision to charge $5 USD for existing owners of the MD-11 to upgrade their aircraft to be MSFS 2024 compatible. This also comes with a price increase of the base aircraft for the same amount, bringing the price up to $74.99 USD; the increased price will already include the MSFS 2024 compatibility package. Owners of the Collector’s Edition of the MD-11 will be able to obtain this upgrade for free.
Prepar3D Support
The last topic of the post had to do with Prepar3D support. TFDi mentioned that due to most of its customers having abandoned the platform, the developer will end support for the P3D version of the MD-11 once all major bug fixes are completed. The P3D version of the MD-11 will also not be receiving the previously mentioned art update or the Pratt & Whitney engine variants; however, the Extended Simulation Package, which includes extra failures and some functional circuit breakers, will be available for P3D.
If you’d like to read the original announcement post, you can do so at TFDi’s website here. Stay tuned to FSNews for the eventual release of this art update, and in the meantime, check out the latest news for another trijet, the 727, here.
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