First off I'll admit I'm an X-Plane GA type pilot. But I am certainly not going to dump on MSFS. I do think that MSFS has brought, for the most part, some what better graphics. I also think that the flight model appears to be better than PD3 and the former MSFS and nearly as good as X-Plane. I know there are a lot of negative comments going around about MSFS and a good number of those comments are justified. But lets not forget, this is, for the most part, a totally new flight sim. It's still a baby. We have to let it crawl a bit before it gets up and walks or should I say flies. It will eventually get there. As flight simmers we are lucky that we have the choices we have.   

6 hours ago, ThomseN_inc said:

But I do because we all know how good MSFS looks. No need to discuss the visual quality here.

You asked exactly what is MSFS doing better than its predecessors. The killer improvement is the environment. Everything else past, present and future will build upon that. I would also add...

1. The UI is really slick. I love seeing the world with the real-time weather overlay. It is very good and very accessible.

2. The marketplace is really well done. Still has some growing pains, but this is a far better way to buy add-ons. 

3. The visual benefits of your hangar. Such a great way to present your planes.

4. All the extra challenges you can try from the UI. It really makes you want to try them out. 

5. The way that you can tweak weather and the depiction is fantastic. 

These are core elements that MSFS gets almost perfect. Throw in the world scenery is amazing detail and I would say they did almost everything right with the vision. In time they (and 3rd party devs) will deliver the study level planes and polish. 

 

7 hours ago, desbean said:

Calling an accurate depiction of the entire worlds surface

This, for me, is at the best, problematic.  I believe, depending on where you fly, accuracy is a non starter.

Apart from a couple of add-ons, if you are flying in Australia, accuracy is the last thing you get.  Even YSSY (the only featured airport for default MSFS) is vastly different from a recent add-on. If satellite imagery is used here, it is very old and there is a HUGE amount of generic buildings. YBWW (Toowoomba Queensland) which takes a Boeing 747, is a grass paddock, ie does not exist in MSFS.

The scenery is incredibly pretty but it is NOT totally accurate, in Australia. Denpasar, in Bali, Indonesia, is unrecognisable as well. I am talking about the buildings here, and the surrounding scenery bears little resemblance to the real thing.

Again the scenery is brilliant and it MAY well be accurate where others fly.  I am not here to dispute that.

MSFS default aircraft and the default scenery, is the best by a long margin, in comparison to both P3D and XPlane,

As far as flight dynamics are concerned, I actually prefer flying (non-default) P3D aircraft, despite the inherent "flying on rails" syndrome, and I think, bearing in mind that I am not a real world pilot, XPlane is the leader here. The broken bits (ie Autopilot) in MSFS I think and hope is a temporary aberration which will be fixed.  I consider it past due, but only because it was close to "very good" before MS/Asobo broke it again.

In answer to the OP, I would have to say that scenery and default aircraft is where MSFS is in front. P3D is in front in the area of Addons and XPlane in front with flight dynamics, and, that, is precisely why, I fly all three on an almost daily basis and thoroughly enjoy each for very different aspects of flight simming.

There is NO right or wrong response to the OPs question as every one has a different opinion, experience and preference.  None of these platforms are perfect and none will EVER be. Nor do any of these platforms deserve to die a slow or painful demise as they all have potential to be vastly better in the long term.

How is that for sitting on a fence LOL

Regards

Tony

 

2 hours ago, leprechaunlive said:

oops. Same question applies tho 🙂

 

Didn't get interrupted...

 

Edited November 27, 20205 yr by fppilot

5 hours ago, ThomseN_inc said:

Why do people insist to implement the graphics here.

Again and again and again: My aim is to elaborate things BEYOND the outstanding visuals of MSFS. Is this so hard to get a head around? Obviously some people are able to give a decent feedback and some are not or not willing.

Gosh....

Perhaps because I felt that you implied that the graphics alone is not enough.  Though seriously nothing was wrong about your question.

4 hours ago, Adrian123 said:

So flying a King Air 350 GTN 750 in either XP or P3D is a click a to b. For me it is FIDELITY.

I appreciate what it means for anyone to fly a complex airliner.  Problem is usually the reverse where often many  diehard procedural simmers don't understand the rest of us, who love the "magic of flight".  I dare say that to most, the magic of flight is not procedures and complexity . 

 In fact, I bet majority of new simmers  went to look for an aerial view of their home in MSFS. Why? A view from above. Nothing less. Nothing more. 

That joy of perspective is lost on many procedural simmers who do not understand the rest of us and often are dismissive of "eye candy". 

That lack of understanding and dismissiveness is betrayed in the way OPs question is worded and causes him to get frustrated by push back he gets for that dismissiveness.

Edited November 28, 20205 yr by frankla

7 minutes ago, frankla said:

I appreciate what it means for anyone to fly a complex airliner.  Problem is usually the reverse where often many  diehard procedural simmers don't understand the rest of us, who love the "magic of flight".  I dare say that to most, the magic of flight is not procedures and complexity . 

 In fact, I bet majority of new simmers  went to look for an aerial view of their home in MSFS. Why? A view from above. Nothing less. Nothing more. 

That joy of perspective is lost on many procedural simmers who do not understand the rest of us and often are dismissive of "eye candy". 

That lack of understanding and dismissiveness is betrayed in the way OPs question is worded and causes him to get frustrated by push back he gets for that dismissiveness.

Thank you. The problem some have is realising that there has been a shift in the user base, what was a niche hobby filled with very involved and "hardcore" people, has been blown up by MSFS. 

Guys, WE are the niche now. 

Eventually everything

11 minutes ago, leprechaunlive said:

Guys, WE are the niche now. 

True!  And in the world of where most statements are relative, "niche" has its relativity as well.

In our "niche"....the initials PMDG, FSL, FSDT, FB, F1, AS, REX, ASN, A2A, BBS, @RXP....all have a meaning we clearly understand.  Say them outside our niche, you'll be greeted with puzzled looks as the person tries to associate the initials in their world.  And insofar as we're a micro-niche within a niche...not every "simmer" could rattle off the full names of those companies, much less give a detailed history of what they do and their significance in the hobby.

Then, outside of that niche, most likely only those who are spouses or really good friends of "hard core" simmers have ever heard those initials in relation to flight simulation...even "hard core" gamers who understand the initials  GTA, COD, PVP, GG, FTW, PUG, Smurf, LFG...ad infinitium... don't have a clue of our niche and micro-niche. 🙂 

Its pretty crazy when you think about it. 😉

 

Making more money? Or getting more attention. Definitely more hate

Edited November 28, 20205 yr by jbdbow1970

What is MSFS doing better than the others? MSFS makes me want to use it and that's enough for me! I've spent thousands chasing a flight simming experience and despite its early shortcomings, MSFS is the simulation I now use. I've tried going back to the others but find it difficult to complete a flight... but that's just me. I would bet there are others that feel the same.

Take a realistic look at the value per dollar spent right now and it's not even close imho. If MSFS never got any better I would still get an enormous amount of enjoyment from using it. But I trust that it will get better over time which is enough for me. I can't imagine how much better the experience will become once VR is implemented... but again, that's just me.

 

4 minutes ago, BigG433 said:

... but again, that's just me.

It's not just you...!

Anyone that has actually flown a plane, or flown *in* a plane would not ask this question.  It presents the entire globe in more detail than any default sim has ever achieved, by an order of magnitude.  It has a ton of faults, but there is a lot of hope these will be corrected.  I hold a commercial, instrument, multi-engine license, and am a former flight instructor and retired air traffic controller.  I am frustrated beyond belief by the limitations on proper IFR flight in this sim, but never questioned for a second what it brings to the table.  It is an exceptional VFR sim right now, and brings the promise of so much more, through the work of so many people, including, and well beyond Asobo.  This is a platform, and is the best hope for future development, and likely will be for quite some time.

1. Graphics. Nuff said.

2. Weather depictions. Not only the visuals but how wind interacts with flight dynamics. The bumps, downdrafts and up drafts are superbly convincing.

3. UI and setting up a new flight from scratch. The marketplace is promising and also smooth to use, I've found.

4. Using multi threaded CPUs and modern graphics cards to their full potential. No more do you need overclocked chips to fly over major cities in bad weather.

 

I do worry that the premature release of the game in an unfinished and unstable state may kill off some addon developers who cannot afford to wait a year or more for the core simulation and SDK to mature. We've seen core updates break payware aircraft addons and degrade the experience with default aircraft. That should not be happening.

Flight physics also need overhauling, especially the interface from ground to air, and the core engine clearly doesn't handle inertia very well at the moment. There are other niggles with mixture and so on.

I'm hopeful for the future, on balance. 🙂

It gave us another choice for flight simulation. You can like it, hate it, buy it or not. But another choice is available now that wasn't there before it was announced on June 9,2019, and released on August 18.2020. In ten years people will still be arguing about flight simulators, and beyond.

Enjoy, your flight simulator(s), which ever you choose, and have FUN! I don't have to explain what I like or dislike about any flight simulator I fly! I simply have to use the product(s) I bought..