Game Discussions Microsoft Flight Simulator

[Faded Glory]

Questions regarding realism in the simulation: I grew up in the bush of the far north, quite a bit of Yukon Territory and interior Alaska, and back in the day everyone and their uncle had a tail dragger bush plane with floats or skis and landing on lakes, rivers and sandbars was a major aspect of "bush flying." Is that provided for in the simulation, in the sense that you can land on random stretches of ground or water provided you have the correct type of plane & landing gear equipped?

Also, I've been hearing that the real time weather is very hit and miss in terms of accurately depicting proper real world conditions: how are you all finding it?

Yes, there is a seaplane (although it's not in the standard version), and I've landed a Cessna 172 on a spit of land (somewhere in Alaska). I'm actually flying up there a lot at the moment, even with my lowly GPU the scenery is terrific - I started off in Port Alsworth and am making my way down the Aleutian Islands manually one stop at a time. Strangely I find that fun...

I'm not using live weather for this little trip as it would mean a lot of darkness at this time of year, that said, I have used live weather quite a bit now, and have not had any issues. Obviously, if you aren't using it where you actually are then you won't necessarily know how accurate it is, but I did a flight over southern England a while back that was very English like weather. I certainly haven't had any issues with thunder / lightning where it shouldn't be, but did one flight along the eastern Australian coast in what live weather said would be an electrical storm, and indeed that was what I got.

 

[Juniper]

Questions regarding realism in the simulation: I grew up in the bush of the far north, quite a bit of Yukon Territory and interior Alaska, and back in the day everyone and their uncle had a tail dragger bush plane with floats or skis and landing on lakes, rivers and sandbars was a major aspect of "bush flying." Is that provided for in the simulation, in the sense that you can land on random stretches of ground or water provided you have the correct type of plane & landing gear equipped?

Yep. There's several 'bush' planes, and at least one aqua plane.

Also, I've been hearing that the real time weather is very hit and miss in terms of accurately depicting proper real world conditions: how are you all finding it?

Personally, I think it's pretty good. But there are third parties that claim to be better that you can integrate (for a price). I treat it basically as "pseudo random but realistic weather".

 

[Revenant69]

Thanks for the info! I'm sooo darned excited to start playing, just haven't quite had time yet; the game is all loaded on my SSD and ready to go, but I'm still balancing my work load unfortunately. Also, I'm limited to controller or mouse/keyboard use only as my fancy schmancy Virpil HOTAS is still a few months (at least) away.

Has the simulation evolved to the point where the seasons of the year are depicted accurately in any given region? Frozen lakes and snow covered land in the winter, leafy foliage and running water in the summer, etc?

 

[Faded Glory]

Thanks for the info! I'm sooo darned excited to start playing, just haven't quite had time yet; the game is all loaded on my SSD and ready to go, but I'm still balancing my work load unfortunately. Also, I'm limited to controller or mouse/keyboard use only as my fancy schmancy Virpil HOTAS is still a few months (at least) away.

Has the simulation evolved to the point where the seasons of the year are depicted accurately in any given region? Frozen lakes and snow covered land in the winter, leafy foliage and running water in the summer, etc?

I imagine you'll enjoy it, and it will only be better with your Virpil kit! And yes, I've been seeing a lot of snow around where it should be, although the other day I took a quick flight in my own neighborhood (where it has snowed) and there was snow on the runway - except they always clear it, and none on the local ski mountain runs where I know it is, so a bit hit and miss I suspect. (Lots of snow capped peaks in Alaska right now.)

 

[AvonNZ]

Yep, got it thanks. Tweaked the graphics settings a little, and allowed a bit of airport traffic and also a small amount of air traffic (around the 10% mark) and now it's not quite so deserted, didn't enable cars or boats as they're extraneous as of now, and it's running pretty well, but the G2 would indeed like something beefier graphics wise.

Decided to try a free flight in Alaska, not using the world map, but getting airport info from Skyvector and inputting it manually into the Garmin 3000 in the Cessna 172. A bit fiddly in VR, but absolutely workable, and my goodness do you (well I do) feel like you're actually there doing it. I did a four airport trip, manually plotting and re-fueling all the way. Really cannot say how much better the experience is for me in VR, even with the compromised graphics, and at least in virtually uninhabited Alaska the scenery still looks very good. Now just got to wait on Nvidia...

Where did you get a Cessna 172 with a Garmin 3000? I can only find a Garmin 1000 ?

 

[Revenant69]

Does the simulation automatically stream data according to my Internet capabilities or do I have to enable that in some menu?

 

[Faded Glory]

Where did you get a Cessna 172 with a Garmin 3000? I can only find a Garmin 1000 ?

I'm rarely good with numbers

 

[Faded Glory]

Does the simulation automatically stream data according to my Internet capabilities or do I have to enable that in some menu?

Have a look in General options under Data. You can enable / disable Bing maps data and photogrammetry and put limits on how much data is downloaded. But basically, if you have the Internet bandwidth, it'll just keep streaming.

 

[AvonNZ]

Does the simulation automatically stream data according to my Internet capabilities or do I have to enable that in some menu?

Should do automatically, but you might want to check what county server you are on for ping ?

 

[askavir]

Even more, getting into this now, need better video recording, doesn't do the VR experience justice (even at 32fps).

My second video in my new series on checking out plane cockpits and flying in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 in VR. This time a small Turbo Prop, the Daher TBM 930 (silly name for a plane).

Subscribe to see more videos in VR on cockpits in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 plus lots more !
Check it out at -

Source: https://youtu.be/-LAVZ8adxBs

The TBM has the most beautiful cockpit IMO. Especially terrific at night. My current favorite aircraft.

The King Air is also beautiful inside and classy, but being a 2-engine it ends up having poorer view to the ground. Also it's engine sound is slightly annoying for some reason.

I wish there were more turboprops.

 

[EDanaII]

Alright, had the sim for a week now. VR's been mostly good, only a few issues here and there, but definitely needs some polishing. Unfortunately, my favorite aircraft for "local touring" crashes VR, so I can only use it in pancake mode. It's an FSX plane, so I'm guessing it's just missing some required VR stuff.

I've actually spent more time trying to figure out how to get my version of the Deenethorpe airbase from WWII into the game than flying. But, when I have flown, it's been more comparing the sim to reality. By far more fun for me.

For example, since I live in the Sonoran Desert, I had to go check out the saguaro cactus and... not one in sight. Not that I expected otherwise, but it would have been awesome to see.

https://imgur.com/xUP7O6b

This is the house I grew up in. It's a bit run down...

https://imgur.com/z2FQvNm

I also noticed those spiky structures in the background. They were all over Phoenix. Turns out, they're palm trees.

https://imgur.com/l492F3j

 

[EDanaII]

Hey? Can I beg a favor from someone? Can someone try flying out of Deenethorpe (EG07) and take a picture of the runway there looking to the North? I started work on the airfield there and when I started, the original airfield looked very different from the one I have now. Not sure if it's something I did or if something just changed. If it's something different for someone else, then I'll know it's not me.

 

[Revenant69]

Yes the Virpil requires a base, sorry forgot to mention it, that's why it goes in total well over 500€ (more like 700). I admit I'm madly in love with it, but at the same time I feel a bit guilty for wanting it as in total it's very expensive for a, ahem, "entertainment item", so deep down I hope my current X56 lasts a long time because in practice is still more than enough for me

Looks like Virpil has two bases to choose from. I don't have the experience to make an informed decision here. Which of them would you pick? I want a good "jack of all trades" setup as I'll be doing everything from flying in MFS to PvPing in ED.

 

[askavir]

Looks like Virpil has two bases to choose from. I don't have the experience to make an informed decision here. Which of them would you pick? I want a good "jack of all trades" setup as I'll be doing everything from flying in MFS to PvPing in ED.

I think the only real difference is that this one seems more appropriate for placing the Joystick on top of a desk (or mounting it over a flat surface). Would be my choice as I use the joystick and the throttle on top of the desk, with a tenkeyless keyboard nicely fitted between them. The other one seems more apporpriate to mount on the arm of a seat, like some people prefer.

But best wait for others to pitch in, they might know something I don't

 

[Revenant69]

I think the only real difference is that this one seems more appropriate for placing the Joystick on top of a desk (or mounting it over a flat surface). Would be my choice as I use the joystick and the throttle on top of the desk, with a tenkeyless keyboard nicely fitted between them. The other one seems more apporpriate to mount on the arm of a seat, like some people prefer.

But best wait for others to pitch in, they might know something I don't

Looks like there are some differences between cam profiles and available cams for each base. Such as atmospheric flight soft/hard and space flight soft/hard, each one being a different cam, for instance. I had no idea what a "cam profile" even was before digging into their website lolol.

 

[Faded Glory]

Looks like there are some differences between cam profiles and available cams for each base. Such as atmospheric flight soft/hard and space flight soft/hard, each one being a different cam, for instance. I had no idea what a "cam profile" even was before digging into their website lolol.

I would suggest getting the additional 'space' cams with the 'desktop' base - that is if you are going to be playing Elite as well, and presuming you want to put your stick on a desk rather than mounted somewhere. Again, going from my experience with VKB products, I went from the standard hard avia cams which have a center indent and require more force the further you get from center to the soft space cams, no center indent and linear, and it made a big difference for me in Elite.

I have changed to the hard space cams since I started playing MSFS as the center indent was helpful for me with landings, not as good in Elite, but playable since I still have the linear feel which I definitely prefer in space. Since going VR I might be able to change back to the soft space cams as I find landings much easier to control in VR.

 

[Mole HD]

I think the only real difference is that this one seems more appropriate for placing the Joystick on top of a desk (or mounting it over a flat surface). Would be my choice as I use the joystick and the throttle on top of the desk, with a tenkeyless keyboard nicely fitted between them. The other one seems more apporpriate to mount on the arm of a seat, like some people prefer.

But best wait for others to pitch in, they might know something I don't

Now if I were truly rich...I'd have me some of that Virpil stuff...but my tractors need tyres or my wife demands a new Land Rover every time I think about it

 

[EDanaII]

Questions regarding realism in the simulation: I grew up in the bush of the far north, quite a bit of Yukon Territory and interior Alaska, and back in the day everyone and their uncle had a tail dragger bush plane with floats or skis and landing on lakes, rivers and sandbars was a major aspect of "bush flying." Is that provided for in the simulation, in the sense that you can land on random stretches of ground or water provided you have the correct type of plane & landing gear equipped?

Also, I've been hearing that the real time weather is very hit and miss in terms of accurately depicting proper real world conditions: how are you all finding it?

I actually meant to do this sooner, but have been letting a lot of other things distract me. One of the things I was doing for giggles was trying to land the Icon A5 on water here in Phoenix. One of my targets was an area called "Tempe Town Lake" although I prefer to call it "Tempe Town Fake" because... this is the desert. Anyway, my first attempt went pretty smooth. Since you were asking, I decided to record one of my attempts. This one wasn't quite as smooth. Maybe I'll do a video of a canal landing later...

 

[Revenant69]

I actually meant to do this sooner, but have been letting a lot of other things distract me. One of the things I was doing for giggles was trying to land the Icon A5 on water here in Phoenix. One of my targets was an area called "Tempe Town Lake" although I prefer to call it "Tempe Town Fake" because... this is the desert. Anyway, my first attempt went pretty smooth. Since you were asking, I decided to record one of my attempts. This one wasn't quite as smooth. Maybe I'll do a video of a canal landing later...

Awesome! Looks like my fantasy of getting some real bush flying is going to be a reality. Are the water physics turned down or is that just the way they look in MFS?

 

[askavir]

Has the simulation evolved to the point where the seasons of the year are depicted accurately in any given region? Frozen lakes and snow covered land in the winter, leafy foliage and running water in the summer, etc?

There is a "real weather" option that will mimic the current weather of the location you're flying in (sometimes with truly amazing results, it's a killer feature IMO), but the world textures and objects are static (except traffic - if you enable it). You can see how they'll look in Bing Maps.