SUBSIM Radio Room Forums - Microsoft Flight Simulator Is Alive!

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August 18th will be the day of days!

No subscription model, but three versions, costing 60, 90 and 120 US dollars.

I read on a German site it comes on 10 DVDs. Installation will take 150 GB (that amazes me a bit, since even already Dirt Rally 2.0 takes far over 100 GB, and that are just rally stages and some cars).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_c...ature=emb_logo

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kptlt. Neuerburg (Post 2649194)

I'm curious to know how many Gigs it will end up being? I know that some recently released gaming titles like Red Dead Redemption 2 and Train Sim World take up around 100GB of space. Maybe this will push the limits?

Will be available on 10 dual layer DVD's, coming in at about 90GB for those without the bandwidth to download.

Am i wrong or do you need a Microsoft Shop account or something like that...?! :stare:

I was wondering how installation and operaiton actually work, and found this great explanation by Aerosoft'S Mathijs Kok.
https://forum.aerosoft.com/index.php...comment-990011

Quote:

Friends, there have been a lot of questions about how the DVD versions exactly work during installation and how the boxed sim differs from the download version. Here is the low-down. Do not worry about it. Insert the first DVD, click okay and follow instructions on the screen. Get a drink as it will take a while.

The DVDs contain only the installer and the content (aircraft, world etc). The actual simulator software is downloaded during installation. That way you always have the latest version. For this the installer will guide you through the creation of an Xbox account (if you do not have one) etc. That means you need an active internet connection during installation. You also need a connection to run the simulator (it updates itself at every start when needed). But to be frank, it makes very little sense to run this offline.
After you ran the DVD installation, you will be asked to re-insert DVD 1. This will be checked during the activation.
At the first start the sim will check all files and update everything that is needed. As time progresses this will be a larger download.
From the users perspective you will end up with exactly the same version as somebody who bought it at the Microsoft Store.

Keep in mind that the sim consists of four parts:

The simulator itself, obviously mandatory.
The default content (basic world, aircraft etc). This default world is on it's own far better then FSX could ever deliver. This is a mandatory part, always part of the simulator..
The downloaded content (more details for the world, better ground imagery, far more correctly placed trees etc etc). This comes in 'blocks' that can be buffered on your system so if you always fly from Detroit it will not have to be loaded every time). Contrary to what some less informed sources say there is absolutely NOTHING indicating this is paid content or will be paid content. We do not sell a time limited simulator. This is an optional part, you do not have to stream any scenery, weather or traffic.
Third party content that can buy from the build in store or from external shops. Obviously optional, it is a super sim without add-ons.

If you buy and install the boxed version with DVDs, you will need to have DVD1 in the machine everytime you launch the sim. You can run the sim offline (and it then will not stream scenewry but will sitll look so much better by HD-inbstalled content than 14 year o9ld FSX), but for launching it at the start, you need to be online it seems, once, with DVD in the player.

Whether it makes sense to need to enter the DVD for authentification, can be argued, we have Stesam as an exmaple, it is the year 2020, I think Microsoft has not slept well before making this decision. Makes the download version of the game most likely the way to go, since you seem to need an XBox account anyway, DVD and download version alike.

The sim has no VR at start, and while they said they will look at it later, I doubt that it will get it any time soon. The sim is hardware heavy, its a flight sim, and to put another ressource killer on top of it like VR, is an idea that proibabyl doe snot work out too well. I will not miss it regarding airliners, since all that button pushing and flight comouter propgramming in VR in XPlane 11 I found to be not working too well. VR is nice in light, easy, uncomplicate dplanes wher enot many buttons need to be pressed. But button heavy cockpit environment in VR? No, thanks. Also, the resolution of VR and depth of view is still not where it should be for beautiful stuff like this.

If I interprete it correctly what I read in a forum, then PMDG is already doing the Boeing 737 NG3 for the new sim. Thats great news, for it shows two things: first the heavy wieght sin addon develöopümnent are in the boat, second there can and will be addon cockpits of complexity and sim weight possible and available for the new sim.

To get PMDG planes is pripority for me, PMDG simply are the best of the best.

Old addons cannot be carried over to the new sim. And after 14 years, that should not surprise anyone.

These developers have been confirmed to have gotten the SDK developer tool kit early and beign engaged in development for addons. There might be more, but these are confirmed.

– PMDG
– A2A Simulations
– Aeroplane Heaven
– DC Designs
– Just Flight
– Carenado
– CGN Dev
– Aerosoft

– ORBX
– FSimStudios
– Flightbeam
– Gaya Simulations
– Imaginesim
– Pilot Experience Sim
– UK2000 Scenery
– Verticalsim
– JustSim
– TDM Scenery Design
– MK-Studios
– Vidan Designs
– Pacific Island Simulations
– LatinVFR
– FlyTampa

– REX Simulations
– FS2Crew
– OnAir Company
– VATSIM
– PILOTEDGE

No doubt, the new title is going "all in".

From their Q&A:

Q: Is Microsoft Flight Simulator going to be released on Steam or the Epic Store?
A: Microsoft Flight Simulator is available on Steam. We have no news to share regarding additional versions, but our goal is to have Microsoft Flight Simulator available on as many platforms as possible.
Q: Is there any differences between the Steam and Microsoft Store version?
A: There is no difference. The sim shares the same multiplayer world and services.
Q: Will people that have the sim on Steam be able to play together with people from Microsoft Store?
A: Yes, the sim shares the same multiplayer world, content and services. However, if you purchase through steam, you will not be able to use the Xbox Play Anywhere functionality (PC Windows 10 and Console).
Q: Are achievements cross-platform?
A: Achievements are not cross-platform. If you unlock achievements on Xbox Live, they won't unlock on steam and vice-versa.
Q: Will people that have the sim on Steam be able to play together with people from Microsoft Store?
A: Yes, the sim shares the same multiplayer world, content and services. However, if you purchase through steam, you will not be able to use the Xbox Play Anywhere functionality (PC Windows 10 and Console).
Q: Is license sharing allowed on PC?
A: No, there is no license sharing. It requires explicit authentication per session.

Today's the day. And it does not happen often that the BBC covers a game.

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/technology-53811956

It is reported that the Microsoft server currently takes a very serious battering. :D Some poeple end up with endlessly frozen downloading attempts for that reason.

I also read that the download from Steam is a loader that downlaods the needed I think ~ 100GB from Micriosioft. However, that main download seems to count as gaming time, so it counts against the Steam limit for game time spent in case somebody wants to refund.

Feedback by those who played already, reports some crashes, quite some report very low frame rates 20-25 even on higher end rigs, but also many overwhelmed customers.

I will join the party, but probably not already this week. Lets see how the birthing issues level out.

Oh-oh, this turned ugly so soon! Plenty and plenty of complaints about broken download procedures, needs for redownloading (100GB we talk of), CTDs, and those who managed to get started report mostly terrible performance.

I am not yet out, but I have definitely stepped back two or three steps, and watch the bigger picture. Currently its not looking too nice. They need to get plenty of homework done, it seems. No way I spend 70, 90 or 120 coins on something triggering feedback reports like these.

I just completed my first brief flight from EDDG to Atterheide near Osnabrück.

Yeah, i know what Ii said yesterday. Don't ask me, I wont comment. :D
I run an i7 8700K, 32 GB RAM, 1080 TI overclocked and 13 GB RAM. No, i mdid not update the graohcis driver which is two years old or so. No, I am not on the latest built version of Windown 10. Still, it runs, I havbe no frames number, but the game autodected me for "ultra" settings, and in a Diamond Katana and in that region of Germany, the grpoahcis were smooth as silk at a sunny day (live weather). I left the options at what the sim had thrown at me, just overlooked them, and yes, pretty much all was on ultra.

However. My system was throttled down by temperature alarm (room temperature 26°C). Three cores reported maximum values of 99°C, two 97°C, one 95°C.

Not even Assetto Corsa Competizione manages that, not even on a hotter day with room temp at 28°C.

Visually, the beast is a feast. This is VFR sim flying from another star. The system of combining Bing maps with autogen (in this part of the world they did not care to hand-craft buildings and towns) creastes stunnign results. Even with autogen buildings repalcing the look of the rela ones, you can easily maintain VFR orientation by eye. Roads, rivers, woods, railtracks, autobahns (with moving traffic) - it looks splendig. add ot this live eeather, the sky, ther sun, clouds, dynamic time of day.

This sim is made for VFR exploration.

And that is good, because about IFR I have my doubts, currently. The planes are what was to be expected: the defualt planes are a bit toyish. Not what I consider to be sim-heavy, which is especially true for the airliner cockpits that i just briefly checked, it does not compare to PMDG's functionality, but then i did not expect that, of course. Sounds and looks however are top class. I doubt my system would take ti well if I put a PMDG 737 on top of what it already had to move in work and heat digestion.

However, like in VR I have formed a taste for discovering the world in Google Earth and Streetview in VR, I feel tempted to repeat anm experinece I had in FSX so many years ago. bck then, I made a world travel in short hopping planes, once aroudn the whole globe, in around 40 individual flights. I think I will do that again. And stray much further off my original plans. This FS world looks gorgous, no doubt. Maybe I sholuld say farewell to my demand for complex airliner cockpits and IFR, and instead take it as what it is: an expert for VFR fun air hopping.

On the installation, I downloaded a 500MB installer from Steam, which then downloaded 95 GB (!) froim Microsoft. That went smooth, the download took 2 hours, 40 minutes. After that, installation, which took another 25 minutes, and then defragmentation (I have only system and windows on an SSD, ym work horse still is a HD), another hour, almost. When you then launch the game for the first time and have to file a Microsoft account, there comes a time when you get a screen with a blue bar at the bottom that appears to be a progress bar, many people get that, so did I. Just that it never progresses for many, and so not for me. In that case, leave the process via Task manager, and launch the sim new (no worries, the download already has been done at that time). On that new start, the sim then should start normally.

The game is not without issues, apparently, some are bugs, others are questionable desing decisons. (edited, deleted).

Teethign issues aside, this could be the beginning of a years-long new journey into flight simming. And I think I will enjoy it the better the lighter and less hardcore-demanding I take it. So far its not FSX plus PMDG plus Aerosoft Airport Sceneries. Maybe it will never get there, could be. But for what it is, it is stunning, and that already is an awesome looking lot.

And to admit that: I am not really hungry for doing all that modules-installing dance again. After all, I am ten years older than back then.

50 German cities in 10 Minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_c...ature=emb_logo

It's been a while since I upgraded my pc (the last monitor I bought was a crt monitor...) and while I'm very much on the fence when it comes to MSFS2020, I do keep an eye on reports on bug fixes and further progress. However, since it's been eons since I looked at getting a new computer, what do the more computer savvy among you think of this setup
https://www.komplett.no/configure/11...epic-gaming-pc

(The site is in Norwegian but the parts, bits and bobs have proper names and shouldn't be an obstacle)

Anything there you would recommend me to change? Looks good? Looks like a no-joy? Any input appreciated here.

I only say you need a damn good cooling. Its like with every FS incarnation before: the thing is ahead of the tech around the date when it was first released. And even the fastest system today is probably not fast enough for this. So far I have not tried the Airbus or the Boeings at one of the specially covered places and major hubs, and I think with my CPU almost smoking,. I must not even try.

Remarkably, I can run the thing at ultra settings around German places (just ahd two more flights in Cessnas), its just that everythign is at the very safety limit, temperature wise, and I am certainly well advised to not do this too often and too long. I therefore have started to lower settings, and I will also loose 5 degrees in room temperature soon. But even with "High" and "Medium" settings the thing still is a piece of beauty, and I cannot really identify where the visual losses are when reducing settings. Still, its all too hot.

But I found TrackIR working very well. And the controller setup that I complained about, was my mistake - I overlooked the wanted option that made me complaining (you can let the sim map the button you press on hardware to the function you marked before, I did not realise this before).

VR and complex cockpit modules are no option on my system, not with these superhot temperatures already. Not that I miss VR in this case.

Cannot comment on your hardware question, sorry.

Thanks, skybird! Yeah we have the heat properly cranked up here as well now and cooling is something I didn't even think of!! Never ran anything that threatened to burn down the town but things could change if I find the right setup, and beside, I still have the dcs module I haven't properly tested yet!

I said "cooler", but indeed I mean: cooling solution. It smore than just a CPU and GFX cooler, its also about fans gettign the warm air out of the tower, and new, cooler air in. I have two fans air-in, one fan air-out, which probably is too little.

I was not aware of it: that it was not just being looked into whether they add VR later or not, but that it is already announced to come for sure: this autumn already. The G2 Reverb is comign first, I reead, Rift and other headset later.

I keep my hopes low, so that I must not cry when it comes and people find that it works good - and my system cannot cook it without setting the room ablaze.

If it works good, this could become THE killer application for VR. I know how well VR works for google Earth already, and in VTOL VR. Even if only small planes like the S-300 or so can be managed by systems in VR, it would be a killer app-hardware-combo.