Good news – it seems like the Q400 Training edition (“Cockpit Builders edition”) is still in development and will be released sometime later this year.

On Majestic’s Facebook page:

Majestic Software’s Q400 TRAINING Edition and Prepar3D v4 Update

As we get close to the end of August many of you are wondering where The MJC group stand regarding the upcoming release of the Q400 for both the TRAINING Edition and the Q400 for the Prepar3D v4 platform. Back in May when the initial announcement was made we hinted to the fact that we would be putting the TRAINING Edition out first and continue work on the Prepar3D v4 Q400 as there was quite a bit of work required with us having to rewrite a majority of the code. We had to revisit our business plan regarding the TRAINING Edition release and realized that it was necessary to focus on the imperative changes for making the Q400 Prepar3D v4 compatible first.

The TRAINING Edition, in a nutshell, was just about complete and could have been pushed out for final testing, which would have allowed for users of FSX, FSX:SE and P3Dv3 to be able to utilize the add-on, however, it was determined during a dissection of the P3Dv4 platform that we would have to revamp just about everything that we already have in place, and we had to do just that for the instructor station and its interaction with the Q400 flight controls for P3Dv4. Since we have done some testing internally of the TRAINING Edition I’ve decided to share a few pics (will not go into specifics of each page) of what can be expected – most of which is only noticeable from the Instructor Station and aircraft functionality.

The Q400 Prepar3D v4 (PILOT, PRO & TRAINING Editions):
While it is not necessary to go into the details as to how we are making the transition possible, it is at least feasible to let you know that “much” of the code has had to have been rewritten. The present state of the Q400 is that we now have the basics working in Prepar3D v4, but we still need to write new assembler routines, change the database engine, along with several other critical improvements, not forgetting to get the performance synced. Also, the 2d panel rendering engine was completely rewritten and augmented with extra performance features available within the 64-bit system. That being said, the new P3Dv4 platform as many have seen with many of the updated or new add-on releases offers several enhancements which allow developers to improve the immersion factor of add-ons. We have not gotten to that stage yet but, hopefully, we are able to add some additional features that were feasible but not practical with the 32-bit platforms.

So the big question – WHEN is the Q400 going to be released?
With all that is going on under the hood, it is not possible to provide an accurate timeline. The best we can do at this time is provide updates as we see fit, which will be posted here on the Facebook Page along with the Majestic Software Forum. Constant emails or private messages may very likely not get answered, as we simply do not have the time to repeat the same information over and over. We appreciate your support, but more so your patience.

Cheers

The Majestic Software Team
(kroswynd)
170830 – UFN
MJC 08/02