Game Discussions Microsoft Flight Simulator

[Faded Glory]

Could someone whose never flown before IRL or even played a flight sim of this Magnitude be into this? I would mainly play it in VR.

Side note, could I even run it in VR at beautiful settings?

i5 9600k, RTX 2070, 16gb RAM.

Thanks!

You probably won't be able to run it at beautiful settings with what you say you have. I have an i7 10700k, RTX 3080 and 32GB RAM and I have to have settings at mostly medium or below (using a Reverb G2), but that is still pretty impressive / immersive and I get a relatively smooth experience (at least it feels that way) FPS wise.

But the sim / game is really terrific in VR. I just flew from Bangor in Maine down to Burlington, Vermont in the TBM 930 (I'm doing sort of what Hairychest describes a few posts above - just deciding where to go and plotting a route using Simbrief), using live weather. It was the first leg of a trip that will take me all the way down the eastern seaboard of the USA ending up in Key West. It was heavily overcast, raining quite hard, and as I descended towards the runway at Burlington, suddenly I'd get glimpses of mist enveloped tree covered hills through the clouds, then some roads and buildings, finally getting a sighting of the runway at just over a mile out... I imagine in real life that would have been an aborted landing. But it was great, just like flying.

I am not a real world pilot (I have taken one flying lesson, many years ago and had the opportunity to take the controls in a small bi-plane once), but flying in the sim / game can be made very forgiving with the added benefit that you can walk away from any disaster. Yes, it takes a while to work things out, not just the controls but how to 'fly properly', but as Para says, there's lots of resources online that will help with that, and this guy has a number of videos that will help get started in the Cessna 152, a plane that is great fun to fly in VR.

 

[[VR] optimal_909]

Could someone whose never flown before IRL or even played a flight sim of this Magnitude be into this? I would mainly play it in VR.

Side note, could I even run it in VR at beautiful settings?

i5 9600k, RTX 2070, 16gb RAM.

Thanks!

I was a complete noob to flight sims, but I managed to pick it up fairly quickly, literally on the fly.
For the startup there is a checklist, the air traffic control is easy and you can assign it to the AI, so basically you can get away with a fairly simple knowledge of basic controls, plus flaps brakes and landing gear.

As for actually flying, if you sort of progress from a Cessna 172 (which is very stable and easy to fly) to larger planes gradually, you will be eased into more complex aircrafts. Plus standard in-game planes are simplified, so they never have that much more features than a simple small aircraft.

VR depends on your headset. I have a Reverb G2 and first on a 1080ti it was compromised, now on a 3080 with still a bit of downsampling I can run it at med-high with emphasis on high.
Reprojection in WMR means even at 30 fps it feels OK enough, for comparison 45fps in Elite made me sick.
Actually there is a very detailed thread on VR optimization on the official forums, and that author happens to have a 2070. The bottom line is that if you want it to make it work, you can, but prepare to spend time on tweaking things.

CPU-wise you should be OK, I am running it on a 7700k and it is up to the task.

I also have 16Gb, but at times it even wants more than 32Gb. Set up a generous virtual memory, preferably on a fast SSD, it is a must.

If you live slow paced exploration and travelling, you'll love this. Flying in weather is insanely cool and landings are so much fun too.

In short: absolutely recommended, but be prepared to suffer a bit with the installation and setup.
Take the standard version, it has enough aircraft variety plus those planes are fixed+modded by the community. Payware airports are not worth it IMHO, only for the hardcore or if you roleplay from your home airport and it happens to be available.

 

[[VR] optimal_909]

Bora Bora (sorry for the VR pic)

 

[Faded Glory]

So, for anyone playing in VR - there's a 'thing' whereby if you set render scaling for the monitor (PC settings in graphics as opposed to VR settings) up from 100% to 200%, it seems to make the VR experience better for some folks... Well, I tried it, and while I didn't notice any real difference with the scenery or the plane, the glass cockpit was definitely more readable and it didn't seem to affect performance negatively in any way.

I play in windowed mode in VR, just seems a waste to use full screen, but I might try it, just to see as the resolution even when rendering is set to 200% is dreadful on my monitor in windowed mode, as the following pics will attest.

Spoiler

Approaching San Francisco Intl



And parked up...

Unfortunately MSFS really doesn't make it easy to take pics or videos in VR (as shown above, although @[VR] optimal_909's pic looks much better than mine) due to the window showing the two separate eye views, unlike ED which shows what you are seeing in windowed mode.

 

[[VR] optimal_909]

Anyone here has Thurstmaster T16000m?
I have the Airbus version of it which started doing the rudder drifting. I know this is a common issue, therefore I don't know if it's worth to RMA it over this - or simply live with it and re-map to other controls if it gets worse.

In other news, I am absolutely thrilled by the upcoming Sim Update 5.

They are bringing the CPU and RAM (especially the latter!) bottlenecks down, and further on DX12 will bring ray tracing and -hopefully- DLSS. All of these are quantum leaps and will improve the experience a lot. I do really love this sim, it is just such a great experience overall, even with its current issues.

It is really nice to experience a game where the devs absolutely nail the development direction. I hate to add this comment, but this is a stark contrast to Elite and basically gave up on it as well as on FDev - their only decent product is this very forum.

 

[Hairychest]

I am loving the sim too. I don't use VR, just an ultrawide monitor.

Bush trips are fine but I do think a method for incorporating missions/tasks would be good too.

 

[Juniper]

In other news, I am absolutely thrilled by the upcoming Sim Update 5.

They are bringing the CPU and RAM (especially the latter!) bottlenecks down, and further on DX12 will bring ray tracing and -hopefully- DLSS. All of these are quantum leaps and will improve the experience a lot. I do really love this sim, it is just such a great experience overall, even with its current issues.

Yes, I just watched Ant's video on this, and it looks really impressive. From 40fps at 4K to 60fps with no drop in quality or changes in settings. For my system, that will be a massive improvement... and that's without the DX12 additions.

MSFS is one of my favourite games, and it often gets fired up just on autopilot mode (when I can't be bothered re-arranging my desk to set the HOTAS up to do actual flight). Autopilot can be comical at times, because I think it gets confused about altitude on higher ground - meaning it often tries to land somewhere in a forest about 10 miles from the airport. Leave it running, and it does eventually get there and taxi around the runway. Gives me amusement anyway, and I'll be a little sad when they fix that.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ygn27O82q_Y

It is really nice to experience a game where the devs absolutely nail the development direction. I hate to add this comment, but this is a stark contrast to Elite and basically gave up on it as well as on FDev - their only decent product is this very forum.

Indeed. I stopped playing Elite some time ago, and Odyssey simply does not appeal (even though my LEP means I have it) with the current implementation of a crap FPS, but I come here most days because the forum software is nice.

 

[askavir]

Anyone here has Thurstmaster T16000m?
I have the Airbus version of it which started doing the rudder drifting. I know this is a common issue, therefore I don't know if it's worth to RMA it over this - or simply live with it and re-map to other controls if it gets worse.

I had 2 T16000M (the regular version, not the airbus but it's the same joystick underneath), the first one failed after a short while precisely in the joystick twist axis. The 2nd one I didn't use long enough to figure out if it would last longer than my first (I got a X56 shortly after).. Reading around what people say of different HOTAS models, the twist axis on the joystick seems to be the weak link in almost all.

My suggestion is either upgrade to a more robust joystick, or if you don't mind the extra clutter on the floor, use a set of pedals for yaw. There are thrustmaster pedals for the T16000M set for "just" 99$. https://shop.thrustmaster.com/pt_pt/products-joysticks/t-flight-rudder-pedals.html

Whatever you end up doing, good luck!

 

[askavir]

Could someone whose never flown before IRL or even played a flight sim of this Magnitude be into this? I would mainly play it in VR.

The game provides difficulty / assist settings so that it can cater to pretty much everyone, from the hardcore airline hotshot pilot to the guy (or gal) who just wants to relax and enjoy the scenery. So whatever the kind of experience you're looking for, the game most likely has you covered.

 

[Faded Glory]

Indeed. I stopped playing Elite some time ago, and Odyssey simply does not appeal (even though my LEP means I have it) with the current implementation of a crap FPS, but I come here most days because the forum software is nice.

I haven't quite given up on ED, still fire up Horizons from time to time - like you I have the LEP, but have zero interest in FPS games - unfortunately it's just dull to keep playing the same old missions in Horizons over and over. There's a point when killing another pirate lord or terrorist seems less like fun and more like work... So sessions that used to be hours long are now usually no more than 20 minutes, and getting more infrequent all the time.

I'm definitely still having lots of fun with MSFS 2020. I may be a bit weird, but I'm so enjoying the CJ4 with the working title mod enabling VNAV (and I very much hope that now they are part of the team we'll get VNAV in more planes). Looking forward to any and all optimizations, but even now in VR it's really quite acceptable, just a bit fuzzy when landing.

Anyone here has Thurstmaster T16000m?
I have the Airbus version of it which started doing the rudder drifting. I know this is a common issue, therefore I don't know if it's worth to RMA it over this - or simply live with it and re-map to other controls if it gets worse.

It's probably worth going for the RMA if you're under warranty, although it's likely the replacement will develop the same fault. I went through three or four of them until I finally gave up and went for a VKB Gunfighter. Shame really as the T16000M is such an accurate stick for the price. It is possible to take the stick apart and clean the potentiometer, but it was a very fiddly exercise (at least for me) and still the fault reappeared just a few months later.

Bush trips are fine but I do think a method for incorporating missions/tasks would be good too.

Yes, missions or tasks would be a solid addition. I did try one of the more recent bush trips, but it wasn't actually very good, just fly at this heading until you get to this landmark, none of the 'you will see this lake on your left, that landmark on your right'.

Still, I have had some success creating my own motivations. Have flown around Alaska in a Cessna 172, across the USA in the TBM 930, and now flying around Australia, primarily in the TBM 930, but occasionally substituting the CJ4 - Australia's big, and I just figured out that the CJ4's FMS will plot a route into almost any airport / runway even if it has no official instrument or RNAV approach. Will have to see whether the same is possible in the TBM.

And now I've just got Train Simulator 2 in the Steam sale lol. It's actually rather fun, in a very slow and laid back way...

 

[Para Handy]

........
And now I've just got Train Simulator 2 in the Steam sale lol. It's actually rather fun, in a very slow and laid back way...

Isle of Wight, Falmouth Branch Line and West Highland Line (both) are my favourites - still have trouble keeping steam on some engines / routes though, need to practise more I suppose.

EDIT: I just realised you were talking about train sim 2 - I don't think they have that able to work with steam yet. I was referring to TS 2021 - I'll have to have a look at train sim 2 if it is in a sale offering - see what they have done down at Dovetail....

Second Edit: I might have to try to get a refund from Steam - I will give it another hour of play to see if it becomes at all usable - so far the controls seem nonsensical and no sign of steam-engine operations or of my 2021 DLC being usable. I would honestly recommend TS2021 the Deluxe or UK edition (good engines and routes included) instead of this so far cartoonish effort. (Put up posters, repair fences, service ticket machines, etc. - really not my idea of activities in a railway driving simulator. )

 

[Faded Glory]

Isle of Wight, Falmouth Branch Line and West Highland Line (both) are my favourites - still have trouble keeping steam on some engines / routes though, need to practise more I suppose.

EDIT: I just realised you were talking about train sim 2 - I don't think they have that able to work with steam yet. I was referring to TS 2021 - I'll have to have a look at train sim 2 if it is in a sale offering - see what they have done down at Dovetail....

Second Edit: I might have to try to get a refund from Steam - I will give it another hour of play to see if it becomes at all usable - so far the controls seem nonsensical and no sign of steam-engine operations or of my 2021 DLC being usable. I would honestly recommend TS2021 the Deluxe or UK edition (good engines and routes included) instead of this so far cartoonish effort. (Put up posters, repair fences, service ticket machines, etc. - really not my idea of activities in a railway driving simulator. )

I tried TS 2021, but it kept crashing on my machine, so I refunded that and decided to try Train Sim World 2 (named it wrong in the first post). Not sure whether they have any steam engines, don't think so, but they do have quite an array of other locomotives.

On the plus side the graphics on Train Sim World 2 are very good, but my understanding (from the Internet) is that it is more of a game than TS 2021, primarily I think because all the driving is task based, you can't just roam around at will. I haven't as yet had anything that wasn't driving a train (or uncoupling wagons), and I find the controls to be OK, but it's still early days, I've currently only played with the diesel locomotives from the Sand Patch DLC which are the AC4400CW, the CSX GP38-2 and the CSX SD40-2. Been doing a lot of yard work moving wagons around. I can't tell how realistic (sim like) it is as I've never driven a train (and this is the first time I've tried any kind of driving simulator), but it seems reasonable.

One of the things that I like about it (and MSFS) is that even doing the same activity over and over again, there's still a need to concentrate, to think about what you're doing, needing to keep to speed limits, to respect signals, be aware of other traffic and so on. And of course, different trains and wagon loadouts (and different planes) all have different handling characteristics.

 

[[VR] optimal_909]

I had 2 T16000M (the regular version, not the airbus but it's the same joystick underneath), the first one failed after a short while precisely in the joystick twist axis. The 2nd one I didn't use long enough to figure out if it would last longer than my first (I got a X56 shortly after).. Reading around what people say of different HOTAS models, the twist axis on the joystick seems to be the weak link in almost all.

My suggestion is either upgrade to a more robust joystick, or if you don't mind the extra clutter on the floor, use a set of pedals for yaw. There are thrustmaster pedals for the T16000M set for "just" 99$. https://shop.thrustmaster.com/pt_pt/products-joysticks/t-flight-rudder-pedals.html

Whatever you end up doing, good luck!

Yeah, you nailed my thoughts. On one I hand I love that the Airbus stick itself has so small footprint and it is easy to get into flying. And I certainly realized is that separate throttle is not needed at all as even during manual flight a rarely touch it - perhaps worth it on (turbo)props to adjust fuel mix and RPM.
On the other hand finer rudder control would be very much welcome as twisting is anything but precise.

Plus pedals are really giant dust collectors with loads of opening. First I should have our dryer upgraded as it spews copious amount of dust, it makes keeping my PC clean difficult.
But at the end I'll probably go for the pedals if those are reliable. I remember I suffered a lot of drifting on my previous (driving) pedals.

 

[Deleted member 182079]

Yes, I just watched Ant's video on this, and it looks really impressive. From 40fps at 4K to 60fps with no drop in quality or changes in settings. For my system, that will be a massive improvement... and that's without the DX12 additions.

MSFS is one of my favourite games, and it often gets fired up just on autopilot mode (when I can't be bothered re-arranging my desk to set the HOTAS up to do actual flight). Autopilot can be comical at times, because I think it gets confused about altitude on higher ground - meaning it often tries to land somewhere in a forest about 10 miles from the airport. Leave it running, and it does eventually get there and taxi around the runway. Gives me amusement anyway, and I'll be a little sad when they fix that.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ygn27O82q_Y




Indeed. I stopped playing Elite some time ago, and Odyssey simply does not appeal (even though my LEP means I have it) with the current implementation of a crap FPS, but I come here most days because the forum software is nice.

Literally just watched OA's video and the news is fantastic... what's even better is the spec Asobo used in their showcase video for the performance improvement is almost identical to mine

Am well chuffed and it's just such a day/night difference between Asobo and FDev these days. In one game framerates go up by 20, in the other they go down by 20 (or rather twice that) with each update.

I'm still playing Elite but it's more out of habit, and hope that it'll perform better... those hopes have been thoroughly dashed last night, patch 5 is worse than 4 for me in specific areas (mainly settlements) and those are the USP of the DLC Thankfully with this and X4 (god forbid, even NMS looks more appealing these days) I have something to fall back on, even though none of these games can quite scratch that Elite itch. So annoying.

 

[Faded Glory]

(Put up posters, repair fences, service ticket machines, etc. - really not my idea of activities in a railway driving simulator. )

Haha... Ok, I just did one of the 'training' things, so I see what you are referring to. Pretty sure it's totally optional, as with the three actual scenarios that I've done so far it's all been about driving trains. The game seems to give you points for completing objectives, but I don't have any interest in points and trophies, so I think I can safely ignore stuff like that.

What I am more interested in is the summary at the end of a scenario that shows your speeds alongside the speed limits, and where applicable the time you took compared to the timetable timings.

 

[Deleted member 182079]

Literally just watched OA's video and the news is fantastic... what's even better is the spec Asobo used in their showcase video for the performance improvement is almost identical to mine

Am well chuffed and it's just such a day/night difference between Asobo and FDev these days. In one game framerates go up by 20, in the other they go down by 20 (or rather twice that) with each update.

I'm still playing Elite but it's more out of habit, and hope that it'll perform better... those hopes have been thoroughly dashed last night, patch 5 is worse than 4 for me in specific areas (mainly settlements) and those are the USP of the DLC Thankfully with this and X4 (god forbid, even NMS looks more appealing these days) I have something to fall back on, even though none of these games can quite scratch that Elite itch. So annoying.

Well this post didn't age particularly well... seems like huge LoD downgrades (check out OA's latest video on the topic) that may or may not be due to the Xbox release (I still hope it's a bug) - first I thought it was my internet connection but it's not the issue. There's also other areas where the sim got dumbed down for the console release (such as UI - while there's a legacy mode, using your mouse over instruments no longer displays certain bits of information, such as throttle % etc.).

After Elite this is now the second time this happens this year. You gotta love 21st century gaming where the next update has the potential to completely wreck a game going forward. Just glad I didn't spend more money on 3rd party add-ons - and I really hope us PC players can get the visual quality pre-SU5 back, when it comes to flight sims I prefer lower but steady frame rates as long as the visuals deliver (and they used to until last week).

Massive sigh.

 

[Old Duck]

Well this post didn't age particularly well... seems like huge LoD downgrades (check out OA's latest video on the topic) that may or may not be due to the Xbox release (I still hope it's a bug) - first I thought it was my internet connection but it's not the issue. There's also other areas where the sim got dumbed down for the console release (such as UI - while there's a legacy mode, using your mouse over instruments no longer displays certain bits of information, such as throttle % etc.).

After Elite this is now the second time this happens this year. You gotta love 21st century gaming where the next update has the potential to completely wreck a game going forward. Just glad I didn't spend more money on 3rd party add-ons - and I really hope us PC players can get the visual quality pre-SU5 back, when it comes to flight sims I prefer lower but steady frame rates as long as the visuals deliver (and they used to until last week).

Massive sigh.

I've been raging more about MSFS these days than I have Odyssey (considering I paid for the one and not the other), just not in this forum.

 

[Faded Glory]

Yep, the SU5 update was very disappointing. From having pretty acceptable performance I couldn't even get into a flight before it CTD'd (something that had rarely happened before). Ended up having to re-install the whole thing (five hours) which at least did get me back flying and with the few mods I use and live weather and AI traffic.

I agree about the UI update, not quite as horrible as ED : O (in my opinion, obviously) but does nothing to enhance the game. I've managed to figure out a way to use the new UI that isn't totally offensive, but it sure doesn't feel like a step forward. (I fly the TBM 930 a lot, and I don't think it's possible to get that plane started up now in legacy mode.)

As to graphics and performance... Well, I don't obsessively monitor FPS, but the game feels pretty smooth, but then it did before, clarity doesn't seem noticeably improved, maybe just a tiny bit inside the cockpit... maybe. But the world graphics seem worse, very washed out colors, strange reflection behavior, much less detail with regards buildings and structures, nowhere near as crisp and in places almost photorealistic (and yes, I checked that I still have Bing data and photogrammetry turned on). I hope this is a temporary setback, but it's a bit sad making really coming right on the heels of Elite's updates that has pretty much killed my desire to fire it up.

 

[Deleted member 182079]

I've been raging more about MSFS these days than I have Odyssey (considering I paid for the one and not the other), just not in this forum.

I only really found out today - performance seemed great but the textures... oh boy. I've exhausted myself moaning about Odyssey, after resetting my main account (yes, I actually went through with it - with little regrets so far I have to say... I don't really care that I lost everything and that probably says a lot about 'my' future with the game) ..... I binge-played through the early game over the past two days to see if there's anything to be salvaged Elite-mojo wise, but honestly the visual and performance issues are very hard to get past, much more so than with FS.

And then there's the game-play - after getting into X4 and the possibilities it offers to your average space pilot, I struggle to see "the point" when doing anything in Elite other than "because reasons" and sightseeing. I can see myself uninstalling the game sooner than later, with MSFS I have hope that the current issues get sorted in a future patch.

Yep, the SU5 update was very disappointing. From having pretty acceptable performance I couldn't even get into a flight before it CTD'd (something that had rarely happened before). Ended up having to re-install the whole thing (five hours) which at least did get me back flying and with the few mods I use and live weather and AI traffic.

I agree about the UI update, not quite as horrible as ED : O (in my opinion, obviously) but does nothing to enhance the game. I've managed to figure out a way to use the new UI that isn't totally offensive, but it sure doesn't feel like a step forward. (I fly the TBM 930 a lot, and I don't think it's possible to get that plane started up now in legacy mode.)

As to graphics and performance... Well, I don't obsessively monitor FPS, but the game feels pretty smooth, but then it did before, clarity doesn't seem noticeably improved, maybe just a tiny bit inside the cockpit... maybe. But the world graphics seem worse, very washed out colors, strange reflection behavior, much less detail with regards buildings and structures, nowhere near as crisp and in places almost photorealistic (and yes, I checked that I still have Bing data and photogrammetry turned on). I hope this is a temporary setback, but it's a bit sad making really coming right on the heels of Elite's updates that has pretty much killed my desire to fire it up.

I played on mostly Ultra settings at 1440p, and locked my framerate at 35fps - this felt pretty good to me as I was able to achieve that framerate pretty much everywhere, even busy cities, and only large airports made things drop below 30fps occasionally, this was before update 5.

In turn though the game looked as close to photo-real as anything (as you say yourself), I was surprised that I could actually run it on my PC like that. Unfortunately while the smoothness improved (somewhat), the price of the visual downgrade was 100% not worth it for me.

Together with Odyssey it's quite the double whammy and I've been thinking I should just steer clear of this games-as-a-service malarkey - unfortunately most modern titles are operated like that, and patches can really make a pig's ear of things from one day to another.

 

[Gully Foyle]

Installed MSFS yesterday, having an awesome time.
.