Here is what we know:

They messed with the lighting.
They altered the LOD system.
They added some LODs (which i agree isn't bad to do, but with the above is a change)

Game FPS improved quite a bit. The MSFS engine is mostly from the Forza-Tech engine, it was written in coordination with the guys that wrote the DirectX libraries themselves. This isn't some rookie game engine where by some oversight you can magically gain a 20% increase in FPS without some fairly major adjustments. It isn't a coincidence they found a way to improve performance just now after 1 year later, they modded the renderer.

Now some are trying to say there is no change in visuals or in the renderer (even though we know they changed the renderer), I'm not sure what that even means. As far as lighting being subjective, only to a degree, but I digress.

I am not sure what else to say unless I go to a Ted conference and try to demonstrate the visual difference side-by-side to a live audience with one screen being SU 4 and one being SU 5.

No, the difference isn't usually dramatic, but there is a difference and it can be more noticeable in some cases than others.

8 minutes ago, Alpine Scenery said:

The MSFS engine is mostly from the Forza-Tech engine

huh? it was built on top of the FSX engine.

Did a dev confirm there was a Forza-tech in the sim, or are you just guessing?

4 minutes ago, Tuskin38 said:

huh? it was built on top of the FSX engine.

Did a dev confirm there was a Forza-tech in the sim, or are you just guessing?

Incorrect sir, the renderer is from Forza-Tech, the XML and SimConnect and a lot of the underlying engine is from FSX. Two separate things they had to separate or deal with, the graphics engine and the back-end processing engine.

Do you honestly believe that the FSX engine alone was capable of what we see today?

I had posted a picture of where the original game engine was developed before in one of these threads. And yes, it's not a secret that it was a ported version of F-tech.

 

Edited August 2, 20214 yr by Alpine Scenery

20 minutes ago, Alpine Scenery said:

Incorrect sir, the renderer is from Forza-Tech

This is categorically not true at all. The engine was developed for MSFS but took some technologies from previous Asobo open world racing sims. There is no Forza Tech code in the sim nor does the engine have any lineage to Forza Tech.

-Matt

Edited August 2, 20214 yr by MattNischan

8 minutes ago, MattNischan said:

This is categorically not true at all. The engine was developed for MSFS but took some technologies from previous Asobo open world racing sims. There is no Forza Tech code in the sim nor does the engine have any lineage to Forza Tech.

-Matt | Working Title

https://forum.xboxera.com/t/asobo-interview-fs-uses-forza-tech-engine-ms-investing-in-asobo/4054

Edit:

I can find the original article I saw it in, but don't have it on hand atm. I will look later.

"Then, we had the great support of Turn 10 during all the years of development of the simulator to learn all the physics, photo-realism, density and base structure of the FTech Engine, which in the version we used, was slightly modified to support the large load of data. "

Edited August 2, 20214 yr by Alpine Scenery

6 minutes ago, MattNischan said:

This is categorically not true at all. The engine was developed for MSFS but took some technologies from previous Asobo open world racing sims. There is no Forza Tech code in the sim nor does the engine have any lineage to Forza Tech.

-Matt

Well I don't have access to the code, but Asobo has themselves stated "they used the Forza Engine" and I've read that at least on 4 different web sites. So if I'm wrong, then someone misinterviewed or misquoted the Asobo CEO or someone high up at Asobo.

The exact quote I remember used the words "slightly modified F-Tech". Asobo did not say we looked at the F-Tech code and referred to it, they literally said we used it directly with minor changes.

Edited August 2, 20214 yr by Alpine Scenery

Anyways, I would like to say that, what's changed for me at least and what I've noticed in my situation, is that the graphic settings do not stick for me. I use a custom ultra graphic preset and find it resets to low-med as always in SU5. Which can explain why some users are seeing a degradation in graphics overall.

What's changed from previous builds for sure is lighting. Increased exposure and decreased saturation, and lack of of volumetric lighting. And of course, certain areas where your settings aren't being saved.

Edited August 2, 20214 yr by captain420

6 minutes ago, Alpine Scenery said:

Well I don't have access to the code, but Asobo has themselves stated "they used the Forza Engine" and I've read that at least on 4 different web sites. So if I'm wrong, then someone misinterviewed or misquoted the Asobo CEO or someone high up at Asobo.

I don't know where that was sourced from, but I _do_ have access to the code, and the developers. 🙂 Definitely zero F-Tech here.

-Matt

OK, now I think that is indeed what's happening.  On my last flight (only the 2nd I've been even able to make successfully) I first reset all of the graphics to my original higher settings (they had been reduced and my graphics were really poor in appearance in my first flight).

In this flight they were better overall, though the trees seemed to be "soft-focused".  The clouds were much better (they had been pixelated in the first flight) though they didn't have much in mid-tones.  Also, the buildings over which I passed in the approach seemed to be white-washed and lacking the detail they used to have (as if someone stuck a bulb inside and over-exposed the image).

This is going to be a real pain if every time we start the sim we have to reset the graphics (but it's better than nothing).

11 minutes ago, MattNischan said:

I don't know where that was sourced from, but I _do_ have access to the code, and the developers. 🙂 Definitely zero F-Tech here.

-Matt

It came from FlightSimulator.com

Then, the company's CEO shared the main technical challenges to successfully overcome and complete the Microsoft Flight Simulator, having to master the FTech Engine, graphics engine of the Forza franchise, used in Flight Simulator, and Azure, provided by the Microsoft Cloud.

It's not in one place, there are bigger sites and gaming sites I saw the quotes posted. It was all over the place.
 

Edited August 2, 20214 yr by Alpine Scenery

Let's put this to rest right now...

https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/some-new-very-interesting-info/293587

 

The original interview with Sebastian is in French. It's behind a paywall though.

https://objectifaquitaine.latribune.fr/business/l-actu-de-la-french-tech-bordeaux/2020-09-17/avec-microsoft-flight-simulator-asobo-studio-s-envole-pour-au-moins-dix-ans-856752.html

Maybe what he actually said was something along the lines of "we received assistance from Turn 10 who are experienced with their own ForzaTech engine", and then things got mixed in translation? Have to say that's an interesting twist though. These news have been reproduced a lot so it might be worth investigating this.

Now people that work from Asobo are trying to convince me that they didn't use the engine they actually used 🙂

Look guys, I never said the difference in visuals was huge, I just said there is a small difference. I'm not the ultimate authority in the end, but I do find the drama kind of funny...

 

Guys, this is crazy. I don't want to derail this, but this is definitely the twilight zone. I'm talking to the very people that are quoted. And the article in French that was sourced doesn't say anything about F-Tech.

I mean, come on. Being stubborn is one thing, but this is another level. Somebody copypasta'd something and it becomes "truth". F-Tech was never a part of MSFS.

-Matt

16 minutes ago, Alpine Scenery said:

Let's put this to rest right now...

https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/some-new-very-interesting-info/293587

 

That article link was posted by me. The link was also shared by someone else on official xbox reddit. It's a pretty wide known fact that MSFS uses a heavily modified FTech engine. Not sure why Matt thinks otherwise. But again, he is like literally on the dev team and surely knows better.

@MattNischan

If it's not FTech, then is it an in house engine ? The same one they used in Plague Tale Innocence? 

Edited August 2, 20214 yr by Baber20