Game Discussions Microsoft Flight Simulator

When you factor in the real time weather, seasons and VFR, it's stunning to think what a learning tool this will be, besides just a fun and diverting game. Imagine being able to fly over parts of the world you've been in your life, or more importantly places you'll never get a chance to go, and not only see what they look like from the air but also experience their weather in real time? Setting aside my criticisms of video gaming and children earlier, this is one piece of software that I think is going to be crucial to get in the hands of our kids as a educational opportunity.

The fidelity is so good if they add depth they will have Sky Citizen.
 
Looks like anyone with less than 32 gigs of ram isn't getting into the tech alphas.
I upgraded my system awhile back specifically for this game, but I only picked up 16 gigs. Cruel, cruel universe....

Blimey....I'm presuming this is just for the alpha? Can't see how they are going to sell many copies if they require 32gb ram...or how it will play on consoles...
 

Jenner

I wish I was English like my hero Tj.
Blimey....I'm presuming this is just for the alpha? Can't see how they are going to sell many copies if they require 32gb ram...or how it will play on consoles...

I was thinking the same. We just don't know yet. They have not specifically said what the requirements are yet. Maybe tech alpha 2 will have a lower threshold?

Maybe I won't be participating in the alphas after all. I'll just have to wait until required specs are released before I think about upgrading. Again. Lol.

Edit:
Looking at the Steam hardware survey from December, those with more than 16 gigs of ram are only 5% of the total. That confirms my suspicion that we'll most likely see that 32 gig requirement drop at release or even at a future tech alpha release. I can't imagine that Microsoft are dumping cash into this, resuscitating a decades-long dormant franchise, only to chase the top 5% of PC owners. I know that simmers are known to spend ungodly amounts on hardware and add-ons, but even so that's leaving a lot of potential sales on the table. (Not even mentioning their plans to take this to consoles).

 
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I was thinking the same. We just don't know yet. They have not specifically said what the requirements are yet. Maybe tech alpha 2 will have a lower threshold?

Maybe I won't be participating in the alphas after all. I'll just have to wait until required specs are released before I think about upgrading. Again. Lol.

Edit:
Looking at the Steam hardware survey from December, those with more than 16 gigs of ram are only 5% of the total. That confirms my suspicion that we'll most likely see that 32 gig requirement drop at release or even at a future tech alpha release. I can't imagine that Microsoft are dumping cash into this, resuscitating a decades-long dormant franchise, only to chase the top 5% of PC owners. I know that simmers are known to spend ungodly amounts on hardware and add-ons, but even so that's leaving a lot of potential sales on the table. (Not even mentioning their plans to take this to consoles).

Steam Numbers Don't Count! :)
 

Jenner

I wish I was English like my hero Tj.
Steam Numbers Don't Count! :)

Lol. Yeah, I get ya but in this case I think their hardware survery is probably a fairly good indicator of where the majority of the PC gaming hardware landscape is at. Steam has a huge market share and install base, so their survey can't be that far off the mark.
 
Lol. Yeah, I get ya but in this case I think their hardware survery is probably a fairly good indicator of where the majority of the PC gaming hardware landscape is at. Steam has a huge market share and install base, so their survey can't be that far off the mark.
Heresy! Steam can never be representative of anything (especially Elite). :)
 
Lol. Yeah, I get ya but in this case I think their hardware survery is probably a fairly good indicator of where the majority of the PC gaming hardware landscape is at. Steam has a huge market share and install base, so their survey can't be that far off the mark.
I think you're absolutely dead on with your prediction. The current alpha requirements should not be overly concerning to the average Joe gamer with a more reasonable 16 gigs or less RAM. Much more likely it's due to the severely un-optimized state of the game architecture at this point.
 

Jenner

I wish I was English like my hero Tj.
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I was thinking the same. We just don't know yet. They have not specifically said what the requirements are yet. Maybe tech alpha 2 will have a lower threshold?

Maybe I won't be participating in the alphas after all. I'll just have to wait until required specs are released before I think about upgrading. Again. Lol.

Edit:
Looking at the Steam hardware survey from December, those with more than 16 gigs of ram are only 5% of the total. That confirms my suspicion that we'll most likely see that 32 gig requirement drop at release or even at a future tech alpha release. I can't imagine that Microsoft are dumping cash into this, resuscitating a decades-long dormant franchise, only to chase the top 5% of PC owners. I know that simmers are known to spend ungodly amounts on hardware and add-ons, but even so that's leaving a lot of potential sales on the table. (Not even mentioning their plans to take this to consoles).

Honestly, sims are a niche and sim enthusiasts tend to have better than average machinery. It was the same with FSX. "Normal" people back in a day couldn't run it on higher quality settings. It was the sim buffs who had the machines for it.
Your numbers may be representative of a gamers as a whole, but gamers as a whole don't represent REAL gamers. And those 5% who have more than 16GB of RAM could be exactly the people MS is targeting. :LOL:
What I'm trying to say is that I don't find an idea that the new MFS will require 32GB RAM for ultra quality and pre-load sliders at a max in any way ridiculous. I mean it will surely run on older PCs with less RAM, but that's probably not what they are trying to test right now.
The "most people don't have a PC this strong so it would be suicide to release the game with such requirements" doesn't apply outside the AAA mainstream.
 
Honestly, sims are a niche and sim enthusiasts tend to have better than average machinery. It was the same with FSX. "Normal" people back in a day couldn't run it on higher quality settings. It was the sim buffs who had the machines for it.
Your numbers may be representative of a gamers as a whole, but gamers as a whole don't represent REAL gamers. And those 5% who have more than 16GB of RAM could be exactly the people MS is targeting. :LOL:
What I'm trying to say is that I don't find an idea that the new MFS will require 32GB RAM for ultra quality and pre-load sliders at a max in any way ridiculous. I mean it will surely run on older PCs with less RAM, but that's probably not what they are trying to test right now.
The "most people don't have a PC this strong so it would be suicide to release the game with such requirements" doesn't apply outside the AAA mainstream.
I don't think he was suggesting that Microsoft wouldn't take advantage of higher volumes of RAM, but rather addressing the concern that 32gb would be min spec. Personally, I hope they do make use of it as I am running 32 gigs, but no way on God's green Earth is that going to be a requirement to run the game. Bandwidth bandwidth and more bandwidth will be the rule of the day I think.
 

Jenner

I wish I was English like my hero Tj.
Even if 32 is the price of admission, I'll do it. Heck I would've put 32 in my new rig had I thought anything would really need it. (I probably should have anyway, just to future-proof it, but oh well). So.... worst case is I just don't get to mess with their buggy alphas. I'm miffed a bout that just because I'm excited for the game and want it now now now now, of course.
 
Setting aside the worry I have about my future Internet (I have a site surveyor for a local provider coming out next week to given an evaluation of possible up/down speeds, so I'll know the answer pretty soon for better or worse), I'm hoarding my "upgrade pennies" for controls. If it turns out that I can actually run this thing the way it deserves, then it's finally time for that top of the line HOTAS and peddles.
 
I'm hoping Elon Musk's Starlink becomes available later this year. It's my one best shot at having a modern fast internet connection. My current 7Mbit DSL is the best available for me, and it sucks.
 
Microsoft must get some fee from memory manufacturers as im guessing that people are now panicking to the memory stores to buy some more.. :D

Didnt get invite to alpha either with my mediocre 16gb.. :(
 
Microsoft must get some fee from memory manufacturers as im guessing that people are now panicking to the memory stores to buy some more.. :D

Didnt get invite to alpha either with my mediocre 16gb.. :(

I highly doubt 32 will be required for the final build. My 16gb was never close to being full, while most games use 5gb out of 11gb VRAM I have, actually I think Elite used the most in VR at 8gb.

BTW, any educated guess when will the PC industry switch from DDR4 to DDR5 on the motherboard?
 
I highly doubt 32 will be required for the final build. My 16gb was never close to being full, while most games use 5gb out of 11gb VRAM I have, actually I think Elite used the most in VR at 8gb.

BTW, any educated guess when will the PC industry switch from DDR4 to DDR5 on the motherboard?
That's another variable. We don't know what architectures the game will have to adapt to, after release.
 
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