Is it time (and safe) to get MSFS?

[Glenn Fitzpatrick 3,798]

If you wear a mask while flying it should be safe.

[Jetman67 517]

Yes absolutely

[Virtual-Chris 682]

10 hours ago, Ricardo41 said:

The G1000 Nxi is on its way. 

Can you elaborate on this? What is going on with the G1000?

[jcomm 5,939]

I actually had made a hiatus since some months, but a promotional sale at an online store, and the help of a friend which happens to be in the MFS beta, encouraged me to build a new rig, the only port from the old one being the GPU which is just too expensive, and I'll wait for the prices to get down to more reasonable values.

My main intention is using MFS for very specific and carefully chosen add-ons. When gliders start to make part of the fleet, officially and with all of the required support, I intend to use them and the excellent scenery around the areas I fly for real. It is actually being considered as a familiarization simulator at my airclub, to give student SPL /  LAPL pilots a very good idea of the area and, for glider training teach them good alternatives to "land outside".

I've heard the upcoming patch makes m investment in 32 GB RAM almost useless. Well... at least Windows loads faster tha ever now :-)

The 1 TB disk was also bought thinking about profiting from scenery cache and photogrammetry. Before I had those disabled, and wasn't really profiting for some of the benefits of using MFS, scenery-wise.

MFS is a great VFR simulator, and it will surely get better in other areas not yet fully addressed.

[pstrub 998]

17 hours ago, ArkRoyal said:

I have resisted buying MSFS.  I've seen so many new programs have so many problems for months after launch that I decided to sit back and watch the ensuing mayhem - of which there appears to have been much.

However, things seemed to have settled now and with the much-heralded performance improvement coming at the end of the month, will it be time to take the plunge?

It's certainly been safe for the better part of this year already, problems have been getting less, and I've been flying quite happily with it. Keep in mind though that it depends a lot on your style of flying. If you're into realistic flying of modern airliners, there's still very little to choose from, other than the FlyByWire A320NX. 

There's probably no reason to wait for the update, the performance of MSFS is pretty decent already on modern and slightly older hardware, at least by flight simming standards. That means, you can already fly at around 30-40fps on high to ultra settings - 60fps apparently are within reach after the upcoming sim update 5. What are the specs of your simming rig?

Experience has shown that with the high frequency of updates the quality of testing suffered. Asobo often fixed 3 issues and created 2 new ones. I have the feeling this has improved now - the past 1-2 sim updates introduced very few regressions, and they now provide hotfixes for serious issues. Apparently the code is complex, and they added complexity to the development process by working on too many different branches at a time, but it seems they're getting it under control now. I wouldn't place my bet on SU5 to be without regressions, as this is a pretty large update unifying the codebase for Xbox and PC, but even if they create new issues, I'm sure they're going to get fixed in due time. 

 

[pstrub 998]

2 hours ago, jcomm said:

I've heard the upcoming patch makes m investment in 32 GB RAM almost useless. Well... at least Windows loads faster tha ever now 🙂

That's what I heard too... but there's a possibility they might be useful in the future. Seb said they're planning to add beyond-ulltra graphics settings, and more complex add-ons may make good use of it. Besides, if you're running more software in the background, the extra RAM ensures it's not competing with MSFS.

Edited July 9, 2021 by pstrub

[Dominique_K 10,149]

Everybody knows the saying about the three most useless things to a pilot, altitude above the aircraft, runway behind it and fuel on the ground. Add for a simmer, the RAM you left at the electronics shop.

[Reader 2,021]

17 hours ago, ArkRoyal said:

I decided to sit back and watch the ensuing mayhem - of which there appears to have been much.

You should not confuse the complaints of a few with "mayhem". For a user who does not visit forums and read the louder complainants, this simulator has performed reasonably well since its release. There have been no gremlins that have prevented its use and the way that it represents the world is unprecedented.

There are two extremes, those who just get on with it and enjoy what they have and those who cannot stop themselves from complaining about every tiny detail and nuance that they can find. Most are somewhere in between and many, including myself, have enjoyed this since release day. There has been nothing to justify the description of mayhem, though there has been much to justify the description of hysteria.

 

[Ricardo41 5,949]

3 hours ago, Virtual-Chris said:

Can you elaborate on this? What is going on with the G1000?

WT are working on a G1000 NXI.
Get the info - to avoid spreading half truths or misinformation - from their Discord channel. 

https://discord.com/invite/Fa6w2xK

 

Edited July 9, 2021 by Ricardo41

[Dominique_K 10,149]

3 hours ago, Reader said:

You should not confuse the complaints of a few with "mayhem". 

 

Agreed the term mayhem is excessive, a forum is always a magnifying glass of sort. There have been and there still are frustrating issues but they do not prevent me like you  to enjoy great flights. Actually waiting for July 27th is not necessary. The sim works well as it is.

Now do not be too harsh with all those who complained. Microsoft gave  the user community a stick to be beaten with. They have had a massive hype campaign for 14 months and released not only an unfinished product but also bugged updates. Sometimes to be loud is to be heard.

Edited July 9, 2021 by Dominique_K

[Gazzareth 808]

Has been fine for me since day 1, probably had 4-5 CTDs in that time and no other significant issues.

Honestly I have spent far more time troubleshooting p3d over the same time period (even though I've flown it far less).

The WT CJ4 is what keeps me going, at least until we get more decent complex aircraft...

G

[bobcat999 8,483]

I am not sure I agree with the OP's phrasing of the question, including terms like 'mayhem', not sure where that came from , but my advice would be: -

1.  Buy it now while the server load is light - not on update day (27th).  Don't forget the Xbox version will be downloading on this day as well!  There is no good reason not to buy it now.

2.  In the meantime, get used to MSFS, and set up your controls etc.  You can also experiment getting somewhere near your smooth performance rate for you by adjusting the settings and detail levels.

3.  On the 27th, get the smaller download of the update, and enjoy your performance increase!  You will notice the difference this way.

4.  After the performance increase, tweak it in a bit more to your liking - there will also be some new / improved features.  Look forward to DX12 and other included content coming quite soon afterwards.

As a flight simmer, even if you enjoy P3D, Xplane, Aerofly 2, and DCS, I can't see any reason not to buy MSFS as well.  I have bought them all in the past.  The only difference now is that I only spend my addon money in MSFS and nothing else, that's all.

I must admit, I have 'archived' my P3D, FSX, and Xplane folders to a backup hard disk to save space, as I find it difficult to go back to them afterwards.  It will always be this way. 
Maybe one day MSFS will become surpassed by something else.  That would have to be one hell of a product though! 

Edited July 9, 2021 by bobcat999

[Bobsk8 12,735]

2 hours ago, Dominique_K said:

Everybody knows the saying about the three most useless things to a pilot, altitude above the aircraft, runway behind it and fuel on the ground. Add for a simmer, the RAM you left at the electronics shop.

I have 16 GB now in my rig and zero downsides. No stutters, FPS locked to 30 and never move, sliders one notch from Ultra. Can't see one sensible reason to get  32 GB of ram other than to make the ram manufacturers richer. It will most likely be less necessary to add ram after the update the end of this month. 

Edited July 9, 2021 by Bobsk8

[Nemo 1,305]

50 minutes ago, Bobsk8 said:

I have 16 GB now in my rig and zero downsides. No stutters, FPS locked to 30 and never move, sliders one notch from Ultra. Can't see one sensible reason to get  32 GB of ram other than to make the ram manufacturers richer. It will most likely be less necessary to add ram after the update the end of this month. 

I'm reaching 20-24 GB RAM usage easily on normal flights. Sim settings are mostly ultra, though. Maybe 16 GB is enough for now and the next update. But who knows what the future will bring. It is always good to have some overhead for future add-ons like PMDG a/c, AI Traffic, ATC and a more professional weather engine like Active Sky. They all will eat up quite some RAM too.

[Tierborn 188]

21 hours ago, ArkRoyal said:

I have resisted buying MSFS.  I've seen so many new programs have so many problems for months after launch that I decided to sit back and watch the ensuing mayhem - of which there appears to have been much.

However, things seemed to have settled now and with the much-heralded performance improvement coming at the end of the month, will it be time to take the plunge?

An additional question: if I purchased MSFS after this update, would the download come with this update included along with all the previous updates - or will they all have to bee downloaded separately?

Very little mayhem from my perspective.  Your waiting has only caused you to lose months of enjoyment.