I have been a flight simmer most of my life. After transitioning to Xplane11 from Microsoft. I had stayed put. I even ignored all the hype behind Microsoft flight sim 2020 until just this week (The reason I didn't being, so many sims have fallen short) But after watching numerous videos and screenshots I can't help but think this could actually happen and be the future of flight simulation! Providing, that the actual flight model is of course up to the challenge? My questions are these, if anyone has any information/facts, or if there are any alpha testers here I'd love to know....

A - What will the sounds be like? Will we hear the wind? Sounds in general, I'm hoping for TOTAL immersion. I was so so shocked to experience my first CAT III landing all those years ago in Xplane and (not) hear that the rain has no sound? Let alone visuals on the screen. Has any alpha testers hears waves near the sea, river over rocks, tree's? Birds? Will they be local and accurate to region specific areas? Will we hear the rain? I'd LOVE to be able to just go around the hills of the Black Forest in Germany and watch the weather roll in. There is SO much potential. I am a VA 737 pilot, I'd love to fly to Rome and actually spend the day looking around photo imaging of the area.

B - I am also curious about the price... For a simulator this advanced with streaming map data there is a large part of me that feels we may be charged monthly for streaming data?! I hope I'm wrong in that aspect. 

C - Realistic systems. Will the aircraft be maintainable? Will be experience real issues? 

I know it's mostly hype right now and I did refuse to get "too" excited but recently, after seeing that many of the respected YouTubers I watch are now testing it in alpha and there seems to be overwhelmingly positive feedback coming back from them that everything is looking, FEELING and sounding great. I wonder how much the alpha testers are able to reveal? I just can't help but feel that inner younger teen jump up and down with excitement like I did all those years ago when the "next big game" was to be released. 

Anyway, I'm sorry if Im all caught up in the hype.... I promised I wouldn't be... but perhaps it's too late now?!?! 

All the best

Kirk

 

Your questions regarding the sound are answered in this Feature Discovery series episode. There are seven of them that showcase many of the improvements made to the simulator as well as the development process.

The pricing model is not finalised, but it has been said that a subscription will not be required to stream the online data. Even if plans change, there will be an offline mode with less detailed scenery, but still a massive improvement over the default scenery we've had until now.

We don't know a lot about the system complexity and this is something that might be answered with the upcoming Feature Discovery series episode which will be talking about IFR, but there are already two episodes talking about the flight dynamics and the cockpits that you can find in the same YouTube channel as the video above. You can also check out the recent Alpha build notes regarding the addition of the A320neo to the simulator.

Here is the Official Microsoft Flight Simulator YouTube channel. You might want to give it a look, as all the Discovery Episodes are there, and trailers, etc...

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqONzeACDBaF6FfKjh7ndAQ/videos

 

10 hours ago, Kgbow said:

but perhaps it's too late now?!?! 

Yes, it is too late, unfortunately. If you didn´t get hyped up enough in time, you will not be able to fly the new simulator. Sorry. 🤣

Ordering a new PC next month. 



Thank you for all the help guys, I've now turned 14 again. 

41 minutes ago, Kgbow said:

Ordering a new PC next month.

Do you need a new PC for any reason other than the simulator? If no, then I suggest you wait because it is very likely we will have lots of new hardware in the September-October timeframe, and it is doubtful that the simulator will be out until then.

Good suggestion. I DO have to upgrade my PC. It's coming on 3 years old now. So it was due, however seeing MSFS made me decide it's time. I can just get about 30fps on Xplane with all my addons. 

You're right about the new hardware. I will only wait if it's due (hardware wise) in Sep or Oct. I've done this in the past waiting for new hardware and ended up waiting for months and months for not much of an fps improvement. It's like children.... If you wait for the right time you'll never have one! hahah. 

But, I shall heed this advice and await for the end of the year. Do you think it's looking like a Christmas release? 

I can relate to your story. I've never been a real "gamer". The only thing that kept me interested for a prolonged period of time are flight simulators. In 2014 I got a new PC for X-Plane and used it a lot. Then X-Plane 11 got released but something went wrong and it messed up all my customization... also performance in the Details I desired was problematic so I haven't done any flight simming for a while. I was kind of frustrated, that there is no flight simulator that uses all the feature new generation hardware provides.

Then I learned about MSFS2020. Wow... I also ignored hardware development and progress since 2014 because it is also kind of frustrating how fast your rig gets out of date.

Anyway, since I learnt about the MSFS2020 I started getting up to date regarding new hardware again. When the game is released I'll buy high end new stuff. But I'll wait... until other figure out  and benchmark Intel vs AMD vs Nvidia etc.

There is no gain buying hardware now. Who knows. Maybe because of Corona the sim won't be released at all this year. Then the current generation will be out of date before the game is out.

Just keep waiting... and when it is released wait 4 weeks more until it is benchmarked with all kinds of platforms. After these few more weeks of patience you can buy the proper hardware according to your (maybe financial) capabilities. 

PS: You won't find any real leaked info from the Alpha people. I'm stunned by that somehow. I'm sure some random information (without screenshots etc.) wouldn't be traceable. But still... you'll find nothing. At least I've found nothing.

Edited May 1, 20206 yr by Wanderkroete

34 minutes ago, Kgbow said:

You're right about the new hardware. I will only wait if it's due (hardware wise) in Sep or Oct. I've done this in the past waiting for new hardware and ended up waiting for months and months for not much of an fps improvement. It's like children.... If you wait for the right time you'll never have one! hahah.

I know the feeling, and the latest generation of GPUs has been quite a disappointment. But now we've got the new consoles coming and AMD striking back with what looks like a very strong GPU architecture, which will hopefully put things in place again. If your PC is three years old, then I imagine you have a Pascal card? If it's a high-end model, then there's even less reason to upgrade to what is now on the market.

38 minutes ago, Kgbow said:

But, I shall heed this advice and await for the end of the year. Do you think it's looking like a Christmas release?

Unfortunately all we know is that it's still on track for release in 2020, but also that development has been stalled somewhat due to the pandemic. It is now in alpha stage, there will probably be a beta stage as well, and then the final release depends on whether they want to do an early access programme or not. My guess is that it will be out sometime in autumn. But still, you'll probably want to test the simulator on your current hardware and have a good look at how it is performing on newer systems to make your final decisions, unless the cost is a non-factor.

Well, I currently run an 1050ti and an I7. With 16 gig of ram. I don't think that will cope much with the new MSFS. Hence why I was thinking of upgrading.

It's kind of crazy to think the release date of this product is so soon.... (perhaps not? as I kept my head in the sand on purpose) I was entirely doubtful that this game would be possible but knowing it has Alpha testers and I can "see" that its actually a working product without lagging or blowing up computers I'm just blown away that I have seen that in my lifetime? I'm only 27 but I'm still amazed at how advanced this simulator is in terms of realism.... 

Think of the possibilities?! I could literally, land my VA 737 in Rome from London. Hop out and find a beach and just listen and watch the waves. Perhaps even take a "free cam" around the sights of Rome? All with REAL imaging... weather...... and immersive sounds. Thats a huge leap in my opinion. Is it not? We are lucky to be alive in this era of simulation and I'm feeling like a child again when they announced COD and GTA haha. Amazing times indeed. 

Thanks for the suggestions Chaotic, I will definitely keep it all in mind and keep my hand on my wallet till then 🙂  

10 hours ago, Kgbow said:

Well, I currently run an 1050ti and an I7. With 16 gig of ram. I don't think that will cope much with the new MSFS. Hence why I was thinking of upgrading.

It's kind of crazy to think the release date of this product is so soon.... (perhaps not? as I kept my head in the sand on purpose) I was entirely doubtful that this game would be possible but knowing it has Alpha testers and I can "see" that its actually a working product without lagging or blowing up computers I'm just blown away that I have seen that in my lifetime? I'm only 27 but I'm still amazed at how advanced this simulator is in terms of realism....

It seems like you have combined a high-end CPU with a low-end GPU, which was probably appropriate back then, but Microsoft Flight Simulator is looking to be a lot more GPU-bound. I presume you have a 4C/8T Skylake processor, with your 16GB RAM (which can be upgraded since Skylake is a DDR4 platform) you are actually in line with the recommended specification. I think that the best approach would be to get a new GPU once the next generation is released, and then assess whether the rest of your system needs replacement or not. You might find it will work quite well with only a new GPU, depending on your preferred settings and frame rate, but we'll know for sure when the simulator is released and benchmarked.

12 hours ago, ChaoticBeauty said:

It seems like you have combined a high-end CPU with a low-end GPU, which was probably appropriate back then, but Microsoft Flight Simulator is looking to be a lot more GPU-bound. I presume you have a 4C/8T Skylake processor, with your 16GB RAM (which can be upgraded since Skylake is a DDR4 platform) you are actually in line with the recommended specification. I think that the best approach would be to get a new GPU once the next generation is released, and then assess whether the rest of your system needs replacement or not. You might find it will work quite well with only a new GPU, depending on your preferred settings and frame rate, but we'll know for sure when the simulator is released and benchmarked.

I'll take this advice. Thank you so much for an honest opinion for a change as opposed to "get a new PC" I've seen that plastered all over the web in the last few days regarding MSFS. I was prepared to just buy a whole new set up. Blow the 2K on the top of the range. But perhaps nows the time to wait. Thank you 🙂

Imagine going multiplayer and touring the world?!?! Sorry, I'm excited now!