MSFS2020 - A Year on in review

[MarcG 3,035]

Posted this on the Official forum and it sunk faster than Arsenal in the Premier League (lolz), posting here 'cos I wanna;

Initially I had no desire to purchase MSFS2020 due to the naivety surrounding the lack of VR support from a couple years prior, but upon watching the pre-release videos it became apparent that this was something I would like, even on a flat screen. So I bought the Standard version via Steam and was immediately blown away, aside a few first release issues it was essentially everything I've ever wanted from a Flight Sim - the Whole World at my fingertips and no need to purchase Regions or Countries on top of the initial Sims purchase (ergo cheaper!).

Having come from a predominately Racing Sim background for the past 15years I was fairly new to Flight Sims, I had dabbled over the years but nothing really grabbed my attention since F-19 Stealth Fighter on the Amiga back in the 90s, more recently War Thunder (VR) was just great fun but nothing I could really sink my teeth into. So this simulation was all relatively new to me, learning how to fly a plane properly from Cold and taxiing to take off, flight and landings with a finger switch for a rudder and all that (I soon got Rudder Pedals off a mate), so I was almost properly flying, aside the flat screen hell but thoroughly enjoying the learning curve in the C152.

But looking back on those first few months it wasn't all that pretty from a development angle, for sure the technological genius of rendering an entire planet whilst streaming data with awesome looking weather was (and is) an absolute marvel to behold - but the flaws of Asobo/MS started to peak through in abundance. It's all generally schoolboy stuff and unfortunately still is to this day; Releasing an Update whereby the Sensitivity Page is completely missing (how in Gods name did that get through QA!!?), Live Weather not working on second load of a flight let alone not working at all, the fiasco around the "what lightning in clear skies bug?" during the Live Q&A with the Devs baffled faces, "Spikes" on the terrain, the Flaps issue and next to no communication until 10 days later (something they've still not learnt from), the weird Beta Test Team inclusion of which should've been there from the very start not 6months later...the list goes on.

Ultimately their genius on one hand was being let down by silly schoolboy errors on the other, how could a Dev studio be so great and yet so poor at the same time?! It baffled the mind then and unfortunately still does today.

Anyway cast your minds back to July 2020 and information regarding VR (which they had now backtracked on), it was as traditional as Asobo/MS themselves would later become with communication being very poor by initially stating it was for the Reverb G2 but not confirming anything else, anyone with WMR would be fine but then what about SteamVR & Oculus?! It was a mess of epic proportions, eventually though when the Testing began and they released the update it was for all and not one sole HMD so at least every VR user was happy.

Alas this was only just the beginning for VR though, on one hand it was good to finally have it, but it was full of issues and quite clearly a rushed "just to get it out there and we'll come back to it eventually" inclusion. All this after their naivety of not including VR from the very start then back peddling when they realised they'd made a mistake, it screamed (and still screams to this day) of an uncaring attitude, a half-baked cake brought out the oven too early but at least it can feed those that are starving - at least we have their word that they'll revisit VR later in the year eh?! we'll see I guess.

In the meantime, issues or no issues, flying in VR was and is epic at times. I've enjoyed hundreds of hours in the skies, continuing my learnings, enjoying the experiences, loving the VFR around the planet we call home. The very fact I can go anywhere at anytime and experience it all in VR in total immersion is just fantastic, when it all fits & works well there really is no beating MSFS2020 for me - I love it and cannot get enough, to the point my trusty steering wheel & pedals have gradually gathered more and more dust as the months roll by.

But what have we learnt & received from the Sim and Asobo/MS this past year? That's the main question I asked myself and if SU5 is anything to go by then it kinda tells me everything I need to know - They've not learnt much....
The backward degradation of the graphics, the continuous issues, random CTDs, constantly new bugs breaking something that worked fine previously, the degradation of the VR experience, the poor communication thereafter.....need I go on?!

Now don't get me wrong, I fully understand what a "continuously developed title" is all about, I come from Racing Sims remember where every single Studio works to that way of a Development Plan. This Sim has a 10 year plan as laid out in an interview or Q&A last year, that's fantastic it really is. It should mean that things can only get better, but in my own personal opinion this first year has not gone forward, it's gone sideways at best and even backwards to some degree. The Xbox release and SU5 is something of great debate but just the poor PC side of the update, I mean do the Devs even play their own game? are they actually proud of releasing updates riddled with bugs & issues like this? Or should all fingers point to the Overlords at MS for pushing the Xbox release to a specific date, even when the PC Update clearly was rushed out the door?

Having been around games development since the 1990s I can unfortunately say that this has been the worst First year for any game/simulation I've been involved with. Yes the technological feat is probably the greatest of any Game/Sim I've ever known, but that does not excuse the very poor mistakes that are continuously being made Update after Update after Update. Asobo clearly have no history in Flight Sims, their back catalogue reads like a Disney Game Franchise just looking at it. I've long thought that they're out of their depth with certain aspects of the Simulation itself and I still think that today. But at least they're learning something in the background, even if we don't actually reap the rewards of it just yet I think we will eventually but they do need to learn fast.

If anything the inclusion of the Working Title team is testament to Asobo holding their hands up and saying “we need help in this area”, so I hope there's more to come with that regard, more experienced and knowledgable folk to come onboard and help them achieve their goal is a must in my eyes with a Simulation with this much complexity. I believe they need all the help they can get, as again – in my opinion – in certain areas they are well out of their depth.

Overall it's been a frustrating experience this past year, it's had it's Highs & countless Lows but I for one am determined to carry on supporting (and chastising!) where required as under the skin MSFS2020 has all the makings of what could well become the greatest Flight Sim ever. I still thoroughly enjoy those Flights where no issues pop up, I'm still loving the (albeit numb) VR experience and I'm also loving the group flights with mates when time allows. So in my eyes yes it's been a rocky first year, but I do have some hope that it'll only improve from now on.....I mean it can't get any worse than SU5 can it?!

P.S. A quick note to say Thank You to all the 3^rd Party Paid/Free Modders & Developers out there, this first year in terms of Mods released has been utterly incredible. The work you all do does not go unnoticed and quite frankly if it wasn't for you this Sim would've died months ago, so from the bottom of my heart Thank You x

[romanus 28]

Well done! And I like the F19 reference. If I could transfer those hours to a VA I would be running it. What a great game.

[neil0311 366]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, and that’s what that are…your individual experience and thoughts. Not right or wrong, just yours.

My version of that story doesn’t include Steam, or VR, or much of the other evident frustration. My version is about someone who’s been using Flight Sim in many iterations since the late 1980s, and who never thought we’d ever see a new, fresh version again.

With Internet cloud based data streamed in real time, now the sim can provide a true facsimile of the real world. While not perfect, photogrammetry is leaps and bounds ahead of the static and generic scenery from FSX and P3D. No more expensive add ons to buy that become obsolete or dated when changes happen.

While early performance was a bit rough, I’ve never had the crashes or other problems. The planes I fly are simple general aviation planes. Real time live traffic has been a disappointment, but my hours of fun and immersion have been great. P3D was really losing its appeal, and I was tired of the manual remove/reinstall dance every time they released an update.

So for me…this last year was great. Some minor disappointments but more fun and some real amazement at the strides made in 10-15 years in this technology.

[Ricardo41 5,959]

25 minutes ago, MarcG said:

If anything the inclusion of the Working Title team is testament to Asobo holding their hands up and saying “we need help in this area”

Wrong. 

It's evidcence that a) the WT guys are an extremely talented and dedicated bunch of developers and b) that Asobo/Micrsoft know talent when they see it. 

The rest of your stuff is just a stale rehash of stuff we rehashed three months ago when we reshashed this stuff. 

I, for one, am extremely pleased with how MSFS is shaping up, yeah it's often 2 steps forward 1 step back, but what triple A title isn't?

[MarcG 3,035]

2 minutes ago, Ricardo41 said:

Wrong. 

It's evidcence that a) the WT guys are an extremely talented and dedicated bunch of developers and b) that Asobo/Micrsoft know talent when they see it. 

The rest of your stuff is just a stale rehash of stuff we rehashed three months ago when we reshashed this stuff. 

I, for one, am extremely pleased with how MSFS is shaping up, yeah it's often 2 steps forward 1 step back, but what triple A title isn't?

Wrong in your opinion but like mine your opinion is not fact either 😉
 

[steve310002 1,198]

29 minutes ago, MarcG said:

Wrong in your opinion but like mine your opinion is not fact either 😉

Certain people on this forum can't stand others having an opinion different from their own in a very word not allowed-esque kind of way, and some other's appear to like winding people up. Best just to ignore them.  

Edit: Jeez, word not allowed was inserted because I wrote an absolutely non rude word that according to the internet superhighway describes in a non rude way 'an extreme fan or follower of a particular medium or concept, whether it be sports, television, film directors, video games (the most common usage), etc'. 

I honestly do not think this to be an impolite word or particularly inflammatory certainly in the context of the some very rude replies seen on here lately by the same few people. It only summarises 'unobjective fans'.

I also think 'word not allowed' is a lot worse than the word intended as it insinuates I could be meaning something much stronger that what I actually wanted to say, which I clearly am not. I am quite surprised at that level of censorship. I understand now why I keep seeing 'word not allowed' popping up everywhere on these forums lately.

Edited August 23, 2021 by steve310002

[neil0311 366]

7 minutes ago, steve310002 said:

Certain people on this forum can't stand others having an opinion different from their own in a very word not allowed-esque kind of way, and some other's appear to like winding people up. Best just to ignore them.  

Edit: Jeez, word not allowed was inserted because I wrote 'fan--boy'. I honestly didn't know that was a bad word or that inflammatory considering the behaviour of some people on here since SU5 was released. I think 'word not allowed' is a lot worse as I could be meaning something much stronger which I clearly am not. 'Word not allowed' can actually make things sound a lot worse, the opposite of what I am supposing is intended by it.

And others seem have nothing to add so they stir the pot that wasn’t boiling, and they call other people fan—young male people.

How about commenting on your experience over the last year, and tell us what you liked or disliked, rather than calling others names?

[steve310002 1,198]

38 minutes ago, neil0311 said:

How about commenting on your experience over the last year, and tell us what you liked or disliked, rather than calling others names?

You seem easliy offended and a wee bit presumptive in what you are assuming I meant. It seems some can go around these forums being rude to other people's opinions for whatever reason, such as that particular post I replied to. I believe writing 'wrong' in bold and underlined is considered rude and dismissive in internet terms, as the reply of that person did. Sorry but the attitude is tiring as it has been happening on here a lot lately, to myself included.

And for your information, I have been posting a lot actually, as others have over our thoughts on SU5 and have at times, received what most would consider rather rude replies. As have many others. Is that fine then becauase they have a differing opinion to your own? Rather unobjective I would say.

Oh well, I guess it's a sign of the times where some folk can treat others expressing factually based opinions over a simple hobby with rudely written responses, and then if someone uses a word indicating they are unobjective and being unfair, they are told they are wrong and bad and to stop talking. Hmm...that doesn't seem like stirring to me. Quite the opposite. I was sticking up for the person's right to an opinion.

Edited August 23, 2021 by steve310002

[bean_sprout 1,201]

To the OP:  Sorry no time to read your little note because I'm too busy flying MSFS. 😪

bs

[steve310002 1,198]

1 minute ago, bean_sprout said:

To the OP:  Sorry no time to read your little note because I'm too busy flying MSFS. 😪

bs

Case and point

[MarcG 3,035]

2 minutes ago, bean_sprout said:

To the OP:  Sorry no time to read your little note because I'm too busy flying MSFS. 😪

bs

Maybe if you read it you'd see I'm doing the same 😋

[bean_sprout 1,201]

18 minutes ago, MarcG said:

Maybe if you read it you'd see I'm doing the same 😋

I have poor eyesight, am a slow reader and have a weak bladder.  Definitely not worth it to me.

Regards

bs

[MarcG 3,035]

20 minutes ago, bean_sprout said:

I have poor eyesight, am a slow reader and have a weak bladder.  Definitely not worth it to me.

Regards

bs

kinda ironic that you've wasted your time posting here twice then eh? lol

[Silicus 889]

2 hours ago, MarcG said:

2 hours ago, MarcG said:

Ultimately their genius on one hand was being let down by silly schoolboy errors on the other

 

I feel the same way about Asobo. I can not understand why quality control is so bad. Genius on the one side, amateurs on the other.....

But:

We are spoiled! How long did it take for FSX after release to have a FIRST update? A year or so and no communication? Asobo is trying, they are passionate about their product and they have archived the greatest flight sim of our time plus they listen to the users to some degree.

I think our impatient minds want everything NOW and perfect.

I still feel MSFS is in beta, but hey, I enjoy it everyday with warts and all. No other $160 Canadian have given me close to 600 hours of enjoyment so far and I have the feeling it will only get better from here!

 

 

[Romeo_Tango 143]

Hey, Don't you all know that in this world, no one has a right to express an opinion....unless its in line with my own.