another MSFS quality not often discussed

[767lover 285]

What I thought was always lacking in older versions of flightsimulator and perhaps also XP11 is a sense of depth and height. I do not know how they have achieved this, possibly a combination of scenery rendering and dynamic lighting, but I find the sense of depth and height very very well done in this sim. This alone make this sim such an amazing joy for me and I cannot wait to use it on a bigger monitor or VR.

Thanks again Asobo-MS to nail this very important feature of the flightsim experience. 

[leprechaunlive 1,852]

1 minute ago, 767lover said:

What I thought was always lacking in older versions of flightsimulator and perhaps also XP11 is a sense of depth and height. I do not know how they have achieved this, possibly a combination of scenery rendering and dynamic lighting, but I find the sense of depth and height very very well done in this sim. This alone make this sim such an amazing joy for me and I cannot wait to use it on a bigger monitor or VR.

Thanks again Asobo-MS to nail this very important feature of the flightsim experience. 

Agreed. And the sense of speed too, flying over the threshold is a lot more nerve racking now. 

[fppilot 4,350]

6 minutes ago, 767lover said:

What I thought was always lacking in older versions of flightsimulator and perhaps also XP11 is a sense of depth and height. I do not know how they have achieved this, possibly a combination of scenery rendering and dynamic lighting, but I find the sense of depth and height very very well done in this sim. This alone make this sim such an amazing joy for me and I cannot wait to use it on a bigger monitor or VR.

While I do not disagree with the fact that it is very well done in this sim, to me the difference is produced by the improved use of satellite imagery and  photogrammetry.  But the effect of depth and height for me started in about 1998 with Pro Pilot, which was the first simulator to effectively use terrain mesh. 

One of my first posts here on Avsim was back then after I flew the Columbia River gorge along the Oregon-Washington border in Pro Pilot, and then later flew from Fresno, California, to Big Bear, Ca, and was wowed when after turning south from Big Bear I cleared the San Bernardino Mountains and the San Bernardino/Riverside valley floor opened up below.  So that sense has been around for quite some time now.

[Armchair Pilot 261]

Only other sim i got that feeling from was xplane. That moment on rotation where the ground starts leaving your reach. Its a weird sensation to grasp or even describe. This sim does it so well.

[cercata 22]

1 hour ago, 767lover said:

 but I find the sense of depth and height very very well done in this sim.

Yes, I play the rest of sims on VR, and on VR that is improved, but on MSFS on monitor it's better than other sims on VR ... eager to try MSFS on VR.

[dobee51 346]

After watching Squirrel's latest video, a real-life flight in a cross-wind in a C172, I couldn't help being amazed that his plane stayed up in the air. Especially when the video would move to the GoPro on his wing. Suspense is the only thing missing from MSFS.

[sanh 823]

Indeed. The feeling of speed when flying near clouds is so realistic. Also the feeling of height when you look down on those clouds so far below you realise how high you are. Superb.

[Desaix 235]

The feeling of depth is completely destroyed by the blurs at even medium range. XP more realistic in this sense. FS2020 superb at close range but terrain further  is so confused...I hope they will fix this

[CFIJose 5,485]

Even taxiing up or down feels different. They nailed the immersion factor.

[Baber20 1,438]

Completely agree. It's mostly down to the graphics this sim has. That is why I have always said that visuals are a VERY important part of any flight sim. Great visuals always tend to bring in that immersion factor. Also this is the first time in my flight sim career that I am scared to fly into storms in msfs. They look genuinely scary !

Edited October 25, 2020 by Baber20

[HiFlyer 9,343]

I suspect it has a lot to do with a better representation of light and especially shadow. I've noted for a long time that while our legacy sims have settings for shadows, they tend to be either too performance intensive (this also goes for lighting) or they are very short range, which ends up in shadows noticeably popping into existence and disappearing in close proximity to your aircraft.

This also goes for cloud shadows and cloud viewing distance.

I think the overall combined effects in MSFS comport well to our real life visual experience of the world.

[FlyIce 354]

We really need to give MS/Asobo enough credits for the graphics in MSFS. It's simply super. There sure many things that can and need to be improved, but at its current status MSFS beats any other sims in any graphics category by 5000 miles.

[jimcarrel 688]

My latest "thrill" I've run into is this; I watch that "abandoned" show. I see some ruins in a country and most give you enough info to find it on a "map". So I hit the internet to confirm area, then find nearest airports, then plan out which way to head out to look for it. Only trouble is if ruins are in the scenery, it's not depicted as such the ai goes ahead an fills it in with a generic building. Still it's fun to go see if you can locate it. I can't do that in those other sims. 

[Glenn Fitzpatrick 3,798]

8 hours ago, fppilot said:

While I do not disagree with the fact that it is very well done in this sim, to me the difference is produced by the improved use of satellite imagery and  photogrammetry.  But the effect of depth and height for me started in about 1998 with Pro Pilot, which was the first simulator to effectively use terrain mesh. 

One of my first posts here on Avsim was back then after I flew the Columbia River gorge along the Oregon-Washington border in Pro Pilot, and then later flew from Fresno, California, to Big Bear, Ca, and was wowed when after turning south from Big Bear I cleared the San Bernardino Mountains and the San Bernardino/Riverside valley floor opened up below.  So that sense has been around for quite some time now.

Depth and height have always been reasonable at altitude, especially with scenery addons.

Where this sim has taken a big step forward is the sense of depth when the scenery is up close and personal and in your face so to speak.

I am expecting RT in 3D cities to be even better once we get it.

[Steve Dra 7,574]

21 hours ago, 767lover said:

What I thought was always lacking in older versions of flightsimulator and perhaps also XP11 is a sense of depth and height. I do not know how they have achieved this, possibly a combination of scenery rendering and dynamic lighting, but I find the sense of depth and height very very well done in this sim. This alone make this sim such an amazing joy for me and I cannot wait to use it on a bigger monitor or VR.

Thanks again Asobo-MS to nail this very important feature of the flightsim experience. 

...."sense of depth and height"....Totally agree....in fact just took a group flight to the new freeware Catalina scenery and experienced this same thing....

When @cavaricooper and I landed, I went to external view, and the sense of that cliff right off the end of the runway was VERY convincing. 🙂   The fact the runway is elevated at that end and as you approach it in cockpit view, you can eerily sense the doom looming at the end if you misjudged your landing speed and conditions of your brakes 🙂 

Another unusual phenomenon is your instinctive urge to squint when you view shots like these (or see them in the sim)....when the brightnees of the virtual sun is no brighter than ambient white stuff that may also be on your screen (I usually have websites up in a corner of my monitor (55" TV) and the white background is no brighter than the sun MSFS).

This was a sunrise flight this morning to go see John Travolta's house. 🙂