SEPTEMBER 2ND, 2021 DEVELOPMENT UPDATE

Posted by: Microsoft Flight Simulator Team

Screenshot by Sottomayor3823

 

As previously announced, next week World Update VI: Austria, Germany & Switzerland will release September 7th, with our Local Legends Plane Junkers JU-52 releasing subsequently on September 9th. In addition to these exciting updates, we are also celebrating our 1-Year Anniversary with several Twitch stream takeovers, social giveaways, and our monthly Developer Q&A! Scroll down to our community section for our upcoming Twitch schedule and keep an eye out on our socials for some incredible giveaways throughout the week!

– The MSFS team

 

DEVELOPMENT ROADMAP

We are pushing our Development Roadmap update to next Thursday which will show September-November plans. We apologize for the delay.

 

FEEDBACK SNAPSHOT

To learn more about Accessibility in Microsoft Flight Simulator, click here. We will return to normal weekly Feedback Snapshot updates next week, in the meantime, click here for last week’s Feedback Snapshot.

 

SDK UPDATE

• General:

• • We made some optimisations on hardware setup, so if you own a home cockpit, the sim may take a shorter time to launch.

• DevMode:

• • We added a new option in the DevMode’s menu to display the collisions draw debug.
  • We made the Scenery Editor & the Material Editor-windows opaque.
  • We fixed the VFX template.
• Scenery Editor:
• • We are currently investigating the disappearing jetways issue.
  • We improved the existing hide/lock feature which allows you to hide and/or lock an object, a group of objects, or an entire type of objects.
  • You can also filter the objects treeview to display only the object types you want to work on (ie. taxiways, aprons…)

 

3RD PARTY UPDATE

As of 08/29, we have now approved 215 (+0) third parties into the in-sim marketplace and – so far 115 (+0) have released 520 products on PC (+0) and 73 on Xbox (+0).

•  In total, 1,277 products (+15) have already been released in 3rd party stores and the in-sim marketplace.Beyond that, another 363 products (+0) from 3rd party developers are in production (229 announced, 134 unannounced). In total, over 1,640 3rd party products (+15) are either released or are in development.
  •  Airports:
    • 1033 airports (+11) are either released or are in various stages of development.
    • 816 airports (+11) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
    • 426 airports (+0) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
    • 106 airports (+0) beyond the released airports have been announced.
    • 111 airports (+0) are not announced, but the dev let us know that an airport is in production.
  •  Aircraft:
    • 196 aircraft (+1) are either released or are in various stages of development.
    • 63 aircraft (+1) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
    • 37 aircraft (+0) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
    • 109 aircraft (+0) beyond the released aircrafthave been announced.
    • 23 aircraft (+0) are not announced, but the dev let us know that an aircraft is in production.
  • Scenery:
    • 371 sceneries (+3) are either released or are in various stages of development.
    • 357 sceneries (+3) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
    • 35 sceneries (+0) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
    • 14 sceneries (+0) beyond the released sceneryhave been announced.
  •  Mission Packs:
    • 40 mission packs (+0) are either released or are in various stages of development.
    • 40 mission packs (+0) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
    • 4 mission packs (+0) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
    • 0 mission packs (+0) beyond the released missions have been announced.

 

MARKETPLACE UPDATES

There are 12 new products (8 on PC, 4 on Xbox), and 8 updated products (6 on PC, 2 on Xbox) in the Marketplace today.

12 NEW PRODUCTS: 8 ON PC, 4 ON XBOX
Already on PC ✅ Xbox ❌ New on PC ❌ Xbox ✅	Already on PC ❌ Xbox ❌ New on PC ✅ Xbox ✅	Already on PC ❌ Xbox ❌ New on PC ✅ Xbox ❌
Already on PC ❌ Xbox ❌ New on PC ✅ Xbox ✅	Already on PC ❌ Xbox ❌ New on PC ✅ Xbox ✅	Already on PC ❌ Xbox ❌ New on PC ✅ Xbox ❌
Already on PC ❌ Xbox ❌ New on PC ✅ Xbox ❌	Already on PC ❌ Xbox ❌ New on PC ✅ Xbox ❌	Already on PC ❌ Xbox ❌ New on PC ✅ Xbox ❌

8 UPDATED PRODUCTS: 6 ON PC, 2 ON XBOX
Available on PC  ✅ Xbox ❌ Updated on PC ✅ Xbox ❌	Available on PC  ✅ Xbox ❌ Updated on PC ✅ Xbox ❌	Available on PC ✅ Xbox ✅ Updated on PC ✅ Xbox ✅
Available on PC  ✅ Xbox ❌ Updated on PC ✅ Xbox ❌	Available on PC  ✅ Xbox ✅ Updated on PC ✅ Xbox ❌	Available on PC  ✅ Xbox ❌ Updated on PC ✅ Xbox ❌

 

TWITCH UPDATE

We stream weekly on Twitch.tv/MSFSOfficial!

Join us for a community fly-in to around Vancouver Island! All PC and Xbox players of every skill level is welcome to participate. Click here for more details.

And next week, we have non-stop flight simming coming to your screen every day of the week, and we are giving away a TON of great flight sim products! Click here to read more about our Anniversary week or check out the schedule below:

• Monday, September 6th – 1900Z: TheFlyingFabio
• Tuesday, September 7th – 1900Z: Jayne and SeedyL
• Wednesday, September 8th – 1730Z: Live Developer Q&A with Jorg, Seb, and Martial
• Thursday, September 9th, – 1900Z: ForderLearnToFly
• Friday, September 10th – 1900Z: TwoToneMurphy and the Thunderflys

 

COMMUNITY VIDEO

Your final approaches are always flawless and you butter the landing every time, right? Right…? Of course not. Even the best pilots know sometimes it’s better to abort an approach and make a second attempt than to try to force the plane down. Learning how to properly go around is an important skill every pilot should master. Watch this short tutorial video from YouTuber P Gatcomb for a demonstration on how to perform a go around.

 

FEATURED FREEWARE MOD

Hong Kong’s legendary Kai Tak Airport closed in 1998 after it was replaced by the current Hong Kong International Airport (VHHH). The site of the former airport has now been converted into a cruise ship terminal which you can visit in Microsoft Flight Simulator using the default scenery. When the old airport was still operational, its infamous Checkerboard Approach — nicknamed the “Kai Tak Heart Attack” by airline pilots — was considered one of the most challenging landings in the world. If you want to put your Boeing 747 landing skills to the ultimate test, you can restore Kai Tak Airport to its former glory using this mod available at flightsim.to from community creator ali501.

 

COMMUNITY CHARITY EVENT

This weekend, SeedyL is leading a charity group flight with over 60 other MSFS pilots flying small GA planes half-way across Canada from St. John’s, Newfoundland to Thunder Bay, Ontario. This event is inspired by Terry Fox, a Canadian hero who attempted to run across the country in 1980 to raise money for cancer research. You can read all about the event in this topic from the forums. The race starts at 1100Z on Saturday, September 4, and you can follow the action, fly along with the racers, and cheer on the competitors by watching SeedyL’s Twitch stream for the entire duration of the flight. On behalf of the Microsoft Flight Simulator player community, we are trying to collectively raise CAD $10,000 for cancer research. Anyone wishing to support this great cause by making a donation to the Terry Fox Foundation can do so by clicking this link to our fundraising campaign.

 

SCREENSHOT CHALLENGE

This week, we’re trying something a little different for submissions. You can now submit your screenshot via Twitter with #MSFSchallenge or the Weekly Forum Post! This week’s screenshot challenge: Final Approach.

This past week our Screenshot Challenge was Color Series – Blue! Here are our runner ups this week:

 Screenshot by Maniek87PL

 

Screenshot by Haviland6656

 

Screenshot by Foughtzombie

 

Screenshot by SeaNNyT

 

Screenshot by FogoWar

 

Screenshot by HeKa48

 

Screenshot by Nerbulus

 

Screenshot by Filippo20032222

 

 Screenshot by avaritiax4034

 

Screenshot by ValTrust

 

NEXT DEVELOPMENT UPDATE BLOG – September 9th, 2021

Sincerely,

Microsoft Flight Simulator Team

Edited September 2, 20214 yr by ChaoticBeauty

The team seems to be a bit busy right now... but that's okay, as long as we will be given a quality WU VI.

As always thanks for posting and kind regards, Michael

🌲🌲

There was also a new WT NXi update if people are following that....and I recommend everyone use the g1000 NXi free in the marketplace - it is working far better than the default or old WT ever was.

No Carenado Mooney update yet... 🙄

18 minutes ago, Alvega said:

No Carenado Mooney update yet... 🙄

Carenado has just recently stated they are working on updates to several models but provided little else to boost expectations other than saying a few days.  Has to be costing them sales.  I for one am certainly holding off on the Seneca just for spite!  And perhaps waiting instead for the Milviz 310.

Got to hop to if you wish to stay ahead.

Edited September 3, 20214 yr by fppilot

10 minutes ago, fppilot said:

Carenado has just recently stated they are working on updates to several models but provided little else to boost expectations other than saying a few days.  Has to be costing them sales.  I for one am certainly holding off on the Seneca just for spite!  And perhaps waiting instead for the Milviz 310.

Got to hop to if you wish to stay ahead.

The Seneca was updated last week.

1 minute ago, Alvega said:

The Seneca was updated last week.

But my Mooney has not been updated. It is a purchase/trust issue,  Got to hop to if you wish to stay ahead.  Not spending again unless what I purchased has been updated.

So it'll now be mid-September before we see the official roadmap for September - I shouldn't be surprised and yet....

I'm presuming that the delay to the Top Gun movie is (part of ?) the reason for the lack of a roadmap but why is it so hard for companies to honest and open when something goes wrong even when it isn't their fault ?

Edited September 3, 20214 yr by Matchstick

Ju-52 9th of September? Not 7th like it was before in the news : ((((((( Pity!

 

1 minute ago, YoYo said:

Ju-52 9th of September? Not 7th like it was before in the news : ((((((( Pity!

 

Thursdays are MS/Asobo's Marketplace update day (who needs updates more than once a week) so that make sense.

43 minutes ago, Matchstick said:

I'm presuming that the delay to the Top Gun movie is (part of ?) the reason for the lack of a roadmap but why is it so hard for companies to honest and open when something goes wrong even when it isn't their fault ?

This is almost certainly why indeed, my guess is that it was too late to update the image since the delay was so recent. If they had just gone ahead with the inaccurate roadmap they would probably be bombarded with questions, other sites would pick up on that and so on.

Which makes me wonder why that can't just say that now - I could understand any restrictions imposed on them before the news of the movies delay was officially announced but that cat is well and truely out of the bag, why do they still seem to be pretending nothing had happened ? (to the extent of shutting down discussion of delay on the official forum with instructions to raise a Xendesk call to ask about delays to the DLC - who says MS has no sense of humour)

If they don't know the full details of what will happen yet, then at least a holding statement saying something along the lines of "the delay to the movie will result in delay to the DLC, we are as disappointed as you but we are working with our partners to deliver the content as soon as we can" would seem a good move.

Edited September 3, 20214 yr by Matchstick

28 minutes ago, Matchstick said:

If they don't know the full details of what will happen yet, then at least a holding statement saying something along the lines of "the delay to the movie will result in delay to the DLC, we are as disappointed as you but we are working with our partners to deliver the content as soon as we can" would seem a good move.

Perhaps they just didn't have time to communicate this internally. Looking at news posts, the delay seems to have been announced less than 36 hours ago (making this less than 24 hours from the development blog's release). Since Microsoft are bound to an agreement with Paramount, delaying the DLC is likely not something they can do by themselves (the hold-up could be on the latter as well, I doubt DLC for a game is a big priority for a film studio), and the community managers can't make a statement on their own (after all, they did upload an outdated roadmap just hours before the update was made public). If they could have made a statement in time, I'm sure they would.

2 hours ago, Matchstick said:

Thursdays are MS/Asobo's Marketplace update day (who needs updates more than once a week) so that make sense.

Perhaps, but it also means that they are either late because they have issues with the model or they wrote with an error earlier:

Quote

The team is also proud to announce a new series of releases called “Local Legends” that will frequently coincide with World Updates. These aircrafts are famous in the region of the world update, but often are not as well known to a worldwide audience. For World Update VI, we chose a famous German plane from 1930 called the Junkers JU-52.
In Germany, the Junkers JU-52 is lovingly called “Tante JU” or “Aunt JU.” The team has gone to great lengths to recreate the plane as authentically and accurately as possible. We scanned the entire plane with a high-resolution digital scanner to achieve an extremely high level of detail and accuracy. We were fortunate to have the support of Bernd Junkers, the grandson of the original designer, Hugo Junkers, and also worked with an organization that preserves one of the last surviving examples of this famous plane. To ensure complete accuracy, we consulted with one of the few pilots who flew one of the last Junkers JU-52. The Junkers JU-52 will be available in the simulator on September 7th for $14.99.