An interesting opinion from outside the echo chamber

[hs118 708]

https://vr4dcs.com/2020/04/27/microsoft-flight-simulator-2020-isnt-what-you-thought/

"It has become painfully obvious that Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 will not be the beautiful VFR/IFR capable high-fidelity simulator we were hoping for in this massive re-do of the classic Flight Simulator family. In fact, so far, it is not at all displaying what Microsoft touted as being “focused on pilots and long-time flight sim enthusiasts with learning capabilities for those just beginning.”

MSFS 2020 is without a doubt the most visually stunning representation of the land, sea, air and weather ever depicted in a flying simulation. The beautiful part is spot on. The flight fidelity part is so severely lacking as to be virtually unflyable to pilots. The flight model is horrible. There, I said it.

It is also clear from the menu systems, to the controls mapping, all through flight planning and views controls, this product is meant for consoles. The ability to map high fidelity HOTAS, Yoke and Throttle systems with accurate rudder pedals is so degraded by the focus on console controllers as to be an unparalleled frustrating experience. You cannot sort out “Axis” controls for quick mapping in the Control Mapping menus. Instead, you must search for them amongst the trees of unrelated control mappings under many expandable headings.  Once searched and found, you will find the mappings for Elevator Trim UP and Elevator Trim DOWN in separate menu trees. Once mapped you will find that small movements of trim at low speeds in a Cessna 152 yield strong changes in vertical speed. At higher speeds, the same. A constant and light 3kts of quartering wind will weathervane your aircraft as if you were dancing on the rudders. The aircraft reacts as if it is balanced on a stick with bungie cords holding it in place. Springy and completely unrealistic.

The top controllers used in high-fidelity simming such as Virpil, MFG Crosswinds, Thrustmaster HOTAS systems, and even the new Honeycomb Alpha systems must be reduced by 75% or more of their sensitivity to be useful controllers. Using an Xbox controller seems to work fine thank you. Oh.

There are plenty of testers now coming into this suspicion. A recent questionnaire sent to Alpha Testers gives the distinct impression Microsoft believes it is close to being in Beta. I hope the responses from seasoned enthusiasts sets that thought to rest. It has a long way to go to be a true simulation.

It is also clear the sim community is somewhat on hold pending the release of this product. Some, including me, surmised the death of the venerable Prepar3D, X-Plane and their add-on product cousins shortly after this stellar product is to be released. I no longer think this will happen. I think they will be around (perhaps in a consolidated form) for some time to come. Given the gaming focus of MSFS 2020 and the lack of fidelity in the flight model and systems, I don’t see study level simmers leaving their go-to legacy sims anytime soon. The recently released P3D v5 with DX12 support is the smoothest VR experience in my Reverb that I have ever had in a flight sim. It is stunning. It doesn’t have the visuals of MSFS 2020, not yet anyway.

What this exercise in game creation really is, will be the beginning of new technologies and ways to create, update, expand a genre in need of a restart. This technology showcases what is truly possible with today’s technology. The individual Azure Cloud-based tools and engines being brought together to create the visually stunning product will be at the heart of the next generation of study level flight simulation.

No, it won’t be “MSFS 2020 Combat Sim”. It will be the next Eagle Dynamics subscribing to the AI, Graphic Engine, Weather Mapping tools available in the Azure Cloud to create something entirely new. Taking advantage of not needing to create those parts from scratch, adding their own genius in systems design and bringing it all together in ways we hadn’t thought possible.

Subscription is a powerful force in computing. Microsoft stands to make billions of dollars with subscription to the individual technologies by companies creating new products. Far more than the millions they would make selling a high-fidelity flight simulator to a decreasing population of enthusiasts. Well played Microsoft, well played.

Who will be the company that takes that plunge?
It won’t be Microsoft and not with this product."

[Doug47 574]

Ok thanks. I’m going back to FSX. 

[pracines 823]

Not sure who this Thud character is, but is this not just a bunch of conclusions (painfully obvious???) based on opinion (or more so, a love for DCS and a great concern for its future)? 

Thud talks like he is already in the future seeing the post release results. Even the alpha testers are in the dark concerning the final product.

Not to worry, if MSFS gets released as essentially a game as suggested, it will fail. But what is being forgotten by Thud is that MS/Asobo said in the very beginning that they realize the failure of MS Flight, and they will not make the same mistake/error. I think we can all agree that MS and Asobo realize also they will not be able to fool this community into saying one thing and doing another. 

 

Edited April 27, 2020 by pracines

[pracines 823]

1 minute ago, Doug47 said:

Ok thanks. I’m going back to FSX. 

😂🤣 

[Chock 17,769]

Given that the person who wrote this, commented the following: 'Some, including me, surmised the death of the venerable Prepar3D, X-Plane and their add-on product cousins shortly after this stellar product is to be released. I no longer think this will happen. I think they will be around (perhaps in a consolidated form) for some time to come.' we can surmise that their educated guess as to what the future holds is neither educated, nor especially well thought out either, in addition to being subject to the whims of whatever happens to be current, i.e. it is no kind of useful speculation at all and as such, is about as worthy of taking notice of, as any other half-@rsed opinion.

Are we supposed to regard it as some kind of genius revelation that a company which makes a console is aiming to have some software they are developing work well on a console? What's next, is he going to reveal to us that the sky is blue?

So what if it takes you a while to get the mapping sorted out on your fancy joystick. Show me another flight sim where this isn't the case.

Edited April 27, 2020 by Chock

[jlund 380]

Is he an alpha tester who is breaking the NDA? I mean how does he know about the menu systems and mapping of controls?

[Baber20 1,438]

We wont know the complete truth until the NDA is lifted. Take what you hear right now with a grain of salt. Although the patch notes should give you some idea on what kind of fidelity they are going for. Regarding the flight model, again only an alpha tester can tell whats what. 

[G-RFRY 1,712]

He`s a character for Call of Duty Yurei Who the Bloody hells Yurei , well he`s moonlighting on Avsim forums.😀 

[hs118 708]

3 minutes ago, G-RFRY said:

He`s a character for Call of Duty Yurei Who the Bloody hells Yurei , well he`s moonlighting on Avsim forums.😀 

This "yurei" (note the lower case) and that "Thud" are not the same person. Most folks know who I am in the meat world from my scenery projects, cockpit project and participation in the military flightsim community. But, of course, most of that was outside the echo chamber.

Edited April 27, 2020 by yurei

[Baber20 1,438]

Someone on the facebook who is an alpha tester and also a real world pilot confirms that the article is pretty spot on. His exact words "I'm in alpha and I'm also a real world pilot. The flight model is terrible. The instrument realism is also terrible. The scenery is indeed very good."

[G-RFRY 1,712]

1 minute ago, yurei said:

This "yurei" (note the lower case) and that "Thud" are not the same person. Most folks know who I am in the meat world from my scenery projects. 

You will see it`s joke not against you, but this forum is mostly speculation after all MSFS is the sim that will see of all other sims and no need for third party addons, all for a one of price.

[Krakin 5,810]

5 minutes ago, Baber20 said:

Someone on the facebook who is an alpha tester and also a real world pilot confirms that the article is pretty spot on. His exact words "I'm in alpha and I'm also a real world pilot. The flight model is terrible. The instrument realism is also terrible. The scenery is indeed very good."

Well yes that's what he replied to me but there's no way for me to know what he claims is true. I'd be more inclined to trust the words of someone like Simtom.

[hs118 708]

2 minutes ago, G-RFRY said:

You will see it`s joke not against you, but this forum is mostly speculation after all MSFS is the sim that will see of all other sims and no need for third party addons, all for a one of price.

Thank you, sir. Sometimes difficult to get the joke in writing.

[tronied 30]

I must admit, it's very disheartening to hear such things if true. I haven't lost hope that it's the sim we're all hoping for. Since FS2020 sounds like it's been written in a modular fashion, it's definitely within the realms of possibility to make changes or replace the model entirely at a later stage without affecting everything else. They did say they actually included the original FSX model as a fallback, though I was hoping I'd never have to use it.

[Chock 17,769]

Let's be honest here, anyone who imagines the new MS flight sim is going to be the be all and end all solution to all flight simming needs, and who is surprised by the idea that Microsoft want to leverage new technology and (shock horror) actually make money out of their endeavour and have it suit their own hardware products and infrastructure, is not exactly the sharpest tool in the box.

Edited April 27, 2020 by Chock