Game Discussions Microsoft Flight Simulator

Hairychest

H
I'm with Revenant69, I plan routes and try certain 'procedures' just for the educational aspects. I also enjoy the Bush Trips as it shows me places other people find interesting (usually). I obtain satisfaction if I fly an airliner between two airports and manage to follow the instructions on approach and get them programmed in so it works.

I wouldn't go as far as a PPL though, I am too old for that and the money to obtain it in the UK is eye watering...
 

PiLhEaD

PiLhEaD
Great - thanks all for the feedback.

Does it make any difference where you buy it from? E.g. does Steam offer better/easier/wider access to (esp) community creations (e.g. planes and paints) - or doesn't it matter?

e. Which version of the game comes with the MS Game Pass? Not that I'm sure I care about the 'extra' planes - or should I? (This may be too subjective for an answer.)

e2. (sorry!) does the ED Tracker work okay with this? I use OpenTrack with it, to enable the yaw axis. Or will I need to get a different device? (I much prefer playing ED or IL-2 with head tracking, it makes the games feel much more alive.)

Hairychest said:
...UK Update due in tomorrow....
Click to expand...

Ooooh okay. Perhaps it's getting close to the 'point of purchse' then.... :)
 
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Para Handy

Para Handy
The UK "world update" was delayed, as confirmed in the Development Update on 28th Jan:

"We now anticipate that the update will be ready for you between February 9th and February 11th"

Sorry to disappoint.

As regards other comments about the sim itself. I am happy to report that CTDs seem to have been generally sorted, well as far as I have encountered anyway.

The remarks about there being no structure - well yeah - it is a sim, not a game. It contains things like challenges and has a logbook for you plus achievements but in the main it is a sim that you use to emulate aircraft operations. In general people either use it for mucking about at their leisure, trying out aircraft and locations as the mood takes them or they use it to operate in some sort of structured (to a greater or lesser extent) fashion with outside resources - like Virtual Airlines etc.

Personally I am awaiting aircraft and scenery which will satisfy my preferred sim experience - short-haul twin turboprops like Dash8-200 and 300, Saab 340 and of course the Twotter which should be along soon - plus scenery which better represents the Scottish and Scandinavian airports and countryside.

Meanwhile - it is jump in from time to time, checking out aircraft and the progress of ASOBO ironing-out the issues.

flight.fandom.com

Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020)/Achievements

Achievements in Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) are optional goals which can be completed to award an achievement on the pilot's profile.
flight.fandom.com flight.fandom.com
 

Hairychest

H
Hairychest said:
I'm still enjoying it.

UK Update due in tomorrow.

In the meantime, one of the first military fighters has been released by DC Designs - F15! I just bought it and it is pretty damn good. Quick taster video I just uploaded to YT...

Click to expand...
In case people aren't seeing the video - my browser is just showing a big blank space - here's the link. Just uploading another now to YT - low altitude through Grand Canyon... Will post link shortly.

Ooh, looks like it has uploaded - be patient it might still be processing!
 

Para Handy

Para Handy
PiLhEaD said:
Just stumbled over this article regarding the UK overhaul.
.............
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The video on there is from the 28 Jan developer update and is well worth watching ( yootoob link Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYsDE-kkwaM ) the whole thing is long, but it is indexed and subtitled (moderately well) and includes a teaser clip showing some of the UK update scenes.

I mentioned above about turboprop aircraft and the whole TP modelling - nice to hear in that video that TP update is well in hand.

I don't think anyone has linked this following video which was released last week so I'll plug it here. It is a more comprehensive exploration and demonstration of the updated aerodynamic modelling in MSFS, a huge step forward in realism from FSX. Well worth a look:



One thing from the developer update that I found very grating was the Orbx "Partnership Series" video, the American-accented commentary just felt really against the grain and reeked of "USA is biggest market" fawning by the Australian company. Made me feel violated. ;)
 

Ralph Vargr

Ralph Vargr
Para Handy said:
The video on there is from the 28 Jan developer update and is well worth watching ( yootoob link Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYsDE-kkwaM ) the whole thing is long, but it is indexed and subtitled (moderately well) and includes a teaser clip showing some of the UK update scenes.

I mentioned above about turboprop aircraft and the whole TP modelling - nice to hear in that video that TP update is well in hand.

I don't think anyone has linked this following video which was released last week so I'll plug it here. It is a more comprehensive exploration and demonstration of the updated aerodynamic modelling in MSFS, a huge step forward in realism from FSX. Well worth a look:



One thing from the developer update that I found very grating was the Orbx "Partnership Series" video, the American-accented commentary just felt really against the grain and reeked of "USA is biggest market" fawning by the Australian company. Made me feel violated. ;)
Click to expand...
It's OK. We are a legitimate target now. :(
 

Hairychest

H
Well I managed to complete a full IFR flight in the Fly By Wire A320neo last night. Las Vegas to San Francisco. Flight management computer all programmed - and at last I managed to get the approach programmed in when given it from ATC! This is bit that always caused issues previously.

ATC sent me around as the plane on the runway hadn't cleared at the destination but again, I re-programmed the FMC with the new approach and landed fine. Really satisfying in fact...
 

Faded Glory

Faded Glory
Don't know how well it'll come out on the picture, but I thought the rainbow was a nice touch...




Finally got my new PC with the much sought after RTX 3080. Massive improvement to the MSFS experience, especially in VR. Have been able to up quite a few of the graphics settings, now have cars and stuff on the roads, can see the glass cockpit instruments way better. Currently running at 80% render scaling both in the game and the OpenXR software, going to try upping it to 90%, and while I'm not really obsessed with fps, I did look at it with the old 1080 and was getting in the teens, now getting mid 30's to 40.

Another noticeable improvement is the SSD storage. The game now starts up and loads really quite quickly. :)
 

Faded Glory

Faded Glory
That is nice. (y)

I could see the rainbow out of the sides of the cockpit too, at the time thought it may be the cockpit windshield effect setting which until now I'd disabled. Maybe they make the rainbows round. :)

But yes, I've been using live weather exclusively for a while now and have to agree with others on here that it tends to give much better / more interesting effects, especially clouds. That said, I did a quick flight out my local airport yesterday to see how the local scenery looks with the new setup, and while it was sort of accurate, the snow that covered everything, including the runway was probably a bit excessive (there was a lot of snow, but they always clear the runway), and the lake had icebergs in it! Now, that never happens, no matter how cold it gets - and it does get cold - as it's way too deep.

Still, it is / was reflective of the winter storm that we had at the end of last week (seven days ago), so I'll still give it a thumbs up.
 

AkenBosch

AkenBosch
Para Handy said:
I made this back in August whilst playing with settings - flight in real weather out of Hobart - showing full circle rainbow in the rain - I was quite impressed:
Click to expand...

I did post here some pics a few months ago of a rainbow I met while flying with live weather toward a rainy Florence, and I was most impressed as well to see even a secondary rainbow and a slight hint of a tertiary, with correct inversion of the diffraction spectra between each arc.

Microsoft_Flight_Simulator_Screenshot_2020.10.26_-_23.02.59.61.png


And I agree completely that live weather makes cloud formations a lot more interesting, here some bits from my latest stops in my roundtrip of Italy:

The skies of central Umbria
Microsoft_Flight_Simulator_Screenshot_2021.01.26_-_00.00.21.92.png


Getting progressively worse...
Microsoft_Flight_Simulator_Screenshot_2021.01.26_-_00.02.28.17.png


Microsoft_Flight_Simulator_Screenshot_2021.01.26_-_00.06.19.24.png


...up to an almost blind emergency landing at Terni airport (LIAA).
vlcsnap-2021-01-26-11h49m02s956.jpg

(Don't blame me, it was the crosswinds! 🙃)
Source: https://youtu.be/rHQTGHzlj_E


The following leg from Terni, past Orvieto and to lake of Bolsena)
Source: https://youtu.be/mtwdNqnlGuw


And a bonus unrelated flight from RAF Chivenor to the extremely interesting strip of Lundy Island
Source: https://youtu.be/QxTrWZICuoE


Sorry for the very bad framerate, thick low clouds and my poor PC really don't mix well. Also, the low clouds forced me to a low and shallow approach with a long-ish landing, definitely trying to shorten my approach with a bit of forward slip next time.
 

JonnyC0mbat

JonnyC0mbat
All these updates just push my chance to play it further and further backwards. My copy of Flight Sim just won't update, it's stuck in a weird loop and won't do anything. Out of 53 hours "playtime" I've actually played it for less than 2 hours.

Been back in DCS instead as despite all its issues, it does let me play it.
 

Mole HD

Mole HD
I played for a few hours...but MSFS came under the heading of 'Not enough Messerschmitts' for my personal taste. I may re-download it once the UK scenery has had a revamp, the image of the kaleidoscopic Orkney islands in the release build will scar my views on MSFS for a long time :)
 

Revenant69

Revenant69
Man, I've heard some pretty sad stories about people having problems with the patches and updates, that really sucks. I was lucky (so far) that my computer and internet situation has been up to the challenge of running it smoothly. I can see @Mole HD's point, though; gotta have the dakka. I'm still waiting on my Virpil HOTAS setup (making due with a very worn-out Saitek x52 throttle and t16000 stick that none of the axis seem accurate and all the buttons are gummed up and mostly non-functioning) and thinking that I'll finally have to give DCS World is all about.
 

Juniper

Juniper
JonnyC0mbat said:
My copy of Flight Sim just won't update, it's stuck in a weird loop and won't do anything. Out of 53 hours "playtime" I've actually played it for less than 2 hours.
Click to expand...

If you have anything in your Community folder, move it out to another folder somewhere else, re-run the game, and then it should work. Once it's updated, you can move it back and it'll still work.

If not, there are plenty of guides online as this is a fairly common problem. For me, moving the Community folder always worked. 🤷‍♀️
 

Deleted member 182079

D
Revenant69 said:
Man, I've heard some pretty sad stories about people having problems with the patches and updates, that really sucks. I was lucky (so far) that my computer and internet situation has been up to the challenge of running it smoothly. I can see @Mole HD's point, though; gotta have the dakka. I'm still waiting on my Virpil HOTAS setup (making due with a very worn-out Saitek x52 throttle and t16000 stick that none of the axis seem accurate and all the buttons are gummed up and mostly non-functioning) and thinking that I'll finally have to give DCS World is all about.
Click to expand...
Had a very exciting/nerve wrecking experience last night, no bullets necessary really - wanted to practice VOR radio navigation (it's deeply satisfying to learn something new and 'real' like this, even though I will never really use it IRL as I won't ever get a pilot's licence), so set up a 30 minute flight into FRA in the Cessna 152.

Initially the live weather didn't load, with temperatures above 10 degress I decided to head off, and it was a rare full night flight, so I couldn't as easily cheat by flight VFR only.

But then the live weather did load, and I ended up flying through a cloud (which I didn't see as it was pitch black) and the entire canopy of course frosted up. Still managed to land at FRA though! Very satisfying and I want to practice VOR navigation more. It's just a pity you can't get the frequencies within the game once you started your flight... been using Skyscanner instead which is very useful though for this.
 
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