SEPTEMBER 23RD, 2021 DEVELOPMENT UPDATE

Posted by: Microsoft Flight Simulator Team

Screenshot by ValTrust

 

It’s officially fall in the Northern Hemisphere! Stay tuned for our next live Development Q&A on September 29th at 10:30am PT at twitch.tv/MSFSofficial.

– The MSFS team

 

DEVELOPMENT ROADMAP

Click here for the web-friendly version.

 

FEEDBACK SNAPSHOT

Click here for the web-friendly version. To learn more about Accessibility in Microsoft Flight Simulator, click here.

KEY
SU = Sim Update (6, 7, etc.)	WU = World Update
ASAP = As Soon as Possible	TBD =To Be Determined
Several Releases = Fixes will come over a series of updates
Ongoing Fixes = An item we will continually be working on
Planned = Scheduled to be worked on
Under Investigation = The team is currently looking into this issue
Not Planned = We will likely not work on this
Not Started = We have not begun investigation on this yet
Started = Development work as started on this item

 

COMMUNITY TRIAGE UPDATE

Click here to see our Known Issues list. This week we announced new tags that we’ll start using in the forums to help provide clearer visibility o known issues, workarounds, and logged bugs. To read more about this, click here. 

 

SDK UPDATE

• General
  • As we announced last week, we’ve prepared a list of things you’ll need to check before Sim Update VI if you’ve been creating visual effects with the Visual Effects Editor Beta. They are all listed in a sticky article on top of your DevSupport platform: https://devsupport.flightsimulator.com.

• Dev Mode
  • We added a new feature to the Statistic Profiler, to add new LOD limits related statistics. In a few months, we will communicate the change of behavior related to LODs.
  • We changed the behavior of the DevMode windows. By default, they are transparent when floating and opaque when docked on the sides of the screen. And you can decide via an option in the DevMode menu to have them “Always opaque”, “Always transparent”, or “By default” as described previously described.
  • Project Editor
    • We fixed a crash that could happen when cleaning an already clean package.
    • We added a “Save as” action.
    • We added an auto-save function on project/package/asset group creation.
  • Scenery Editor
    • We added tiling, rotation, coloration, falloff and opacity for materials applied to polygons.
    • We added flipUV and offsetUV for aprons.
    • We added the edition of car parking.
    • We fixed a bug on projected meshes. They can now be selected by clicking on them in the viewport.
    • We fixed the culling of polygons.
    • We fixed a bug which made some items of an airport look pink when far away.
    • We fixed the SimObject bounding box (not 100% perfect yet but better).
    • We fixed the ground merging parameters when the airport is between two tiles.
    • We fixed the runway that didn’t exclude the buildings.
    • We removed the Color Extractor as it didn’t work and we don’t currently have plans to improve it.
  • Script Editor
    • We fixed the SimObject window.
    • We fixed the fact that the editor wouldn’t close when a modification hadn’t been saved.
  • Visual Effects Editor
    • We removed “Data” and “Edition” tabs in the node graph inspector. Instead, we now always display regular data as edition data does not contain anything worth displaying after unused Enabled and Visible options have been removed.
    • We removed “Add…” drag and drop button to create new ObjectReferences in node graphs.
    • We now prevent the creation of links in the node graph from the output of a node to the input of an upstream node.

 

3RD PARTY UPDATE

• As of 09/19, we have now approved 219 (+1) third parties into the in-sim marketplace and – so far 117 (+0) have released 537 products on PC (+32) and 115 on Xbox (+11).
• In total, 1,330 products (+20) have already been released in 3rd party stores and the in-sim marketplace. Beyond that, another 372 products (+5) from 3rd party developers are in production (235 announced, 137 unannounced). In total, over 1,701 3rd party products (+24) are either released or are in development.
• Airports:
  • 1072 airports (+15) are either released or are in various stages of development.
    • 848 airports (+10) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
    • 436 airports (+1) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
    • 111 airports (+3) beyond the released airports have been announced.
    • 113 airports (+2) are not announced, but the dev let us know that an airport is in production.
• Aircraft:
  • 202 aircraft (+1) are either released or are in various stages of development.
    • 69 aircraft (+2) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
    • 42 aircraft (+1) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
    • 110 aircraft (-1) beyond the released aircraft have been announced.
    • 23 aircraft (+0) are not announced, but the dev let us know that an aircraft is in production.
• Scenery:
  • 385 sceneries (+7) are either released or are in various stages of development.
    • 371 sceneries (+7) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
    • 37 sceneries (+0) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
    • 14 sceneries (+0) beyond the released scenery have been announced.
• Mission Packs:
  • 42 mission packs (+1) are either released or are in various stages of development.
    • 42 mission packs (+1) 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 10 new products (1 on PC, 9 on Xbox), and 18 updated products (17 on PC, 1 on Xbox) in the Marketplace today.

 

10 NEW PRODUCTS: 1 ON PC, 9 ON XBOX
New on Xbox ✅ Already on PC	New on Xbox ✅ Already on PC	New on Xbox ✅ Already on PC
New on Xbox ✅ Already on PC	New on Xbox ✅ Already on PC	New on Xbox ✅ Already on PC
New on Xbox ✅ Already on PC	New on PC and Xbox ✅	New on Xbox ✅ Already on PC

18 UPDATED PRODUCTS: 17 ON PC, 1 ON XBOX
Updated on PC and Xbox ✅ Available on PC and Xbox	Updated on PC ✅ Available on PC	Updated on PC ✅ Available on PC
Updated on PC ✅ Available on PC	Updated on PC ✅ Available on PC	Updated on PC ✅ Available on PC
Updated on PC ✅ Available on PC	Updated on PC ✅ Available on PC	Updated on PC ✅ Available on PC
Updated on PC ✅ Available on PC	Updated on PC ✅ Available on PC	Updated on PC ✅ Available on PC
Updated on PC ✅ Available on PC	Updated on PC ✅ Available on PC	Updated on PC ✅ Available on PC
Updated on PC ✅ Available on PC		Updated on PC ✅ Available on PC

 

TWITCH UPDATE

We stream weekly on Twitch.tv/MSFSOfficial!

Join us next Wednesday, September 29th for our Dev Q&A at 10:30 am PT (1730Z), followed by Flying Lessons on the C172 with ForderLearnToFly at 2pm PT (2100Z).

 

COMMUNITY VIDEO

In last week’s Development Update, we showed you the new freeware Brisbane River Run aerial race course from Orbx. In this video, YouTuber Into The Blue Simulations showcases his attempt to clear the course in an Extra 330 LT.

 

FEATURED FREEWARE MOD

From 3rd Party Developer NZA Simulations, here’s a freeware release of New Zealand’s Raglan Aerodrom (NZRA) and the surrounding area. This mod contains over 3,800 hand-placed objects and more than 50 unique art assets. Located on New Zealand’s North Island, Raglan is a picturesque getaway town popular with surfers, boaters, and pilots of amphibious airplanes. You can find more details about this mod, including a link containing download and installation instructions, at this thread in the MSFS forums. The developers have also released a video trailer for their addon you can watch at the following link:

 

SCREENSHOT CHALLENGE

You can now submit your screenshot via Twitter with #MSFSchallenge or the Weekly Forum Post! This week’s screenshot challenge: Germany, Austria, Switzerland.

This past week our Screenshot Challenge was Ecosystems – Temperate Forests! Here are our runner ups this week:

Screenshot by ArcanePython93

 

Screenshot by FrostyMcRockin

 

Screenshot by Paddock720

 

Screenshot by zkdos

 

Screenshot by MiniGolf3388757

 

Screenshot by Quaarli

 

Screenshot by SnagglePss68

 

Screenshot by BritishAvgeek

 

Screenshot by UNCS_frostbite

 

Screenshot by Filippo20032222

 

NEXT DEVELOPMENT UPDATE BLOG – September 30th, 2021

Sincerely,

Microsoft Flight Simulator Team

Edited September 23, 20214 yr by ChaoticBeauty

Quick and reliable as usual. Thx for posting

1 Xbox update. Sheesh. 

I've been toying with getting one but if I'm going to be tied to something like that then I expect them to operate it properly. 

Odd... how can the mirrored livery textures (e.g. reversed names) be 'not planned'?  After a year? I don't get it.  It must be something magical.

Poor ai traffic. 

one year with no realist ai model and airlines.

why did the sold us something that is not true?

some users say: "i have real ai traffic". (generic ai model, that dont take off, move like turtles. zombie planes)

It is like the fable of the emperor's new suit: sycophants keep telling him that he is dressed. but we all know that he is naked. whoever claims msfs have real air traffic, they've been misled.

now there is a mod that consists of filling everything with airbus 320 neo. . all is neo. the clouds are shaped like 320 neo. my name is neo:)

I cannot be so self-centered as to think in a simulator that I must be alone.

not fair, asobo. 

poor ai traffic.

and..(of course) that is the reason of the "good performance". 

 

theatre scene:

hello asobo team, i have problem with ai traffic. atc terrible and they dont take off.

answer: please, turn off ai traffic and you will not have the problem. 

 

 

 

Edited September 23, 20214 yr by abranpuko

🌲🌲

6 minutes ago, cmpbellsjc said:

🌲🌲

Location:
From Tucson, AZ residing in University Park, TX

Would administrators please delete this offensive post?  The post is only intended to start a fight!

Everyone knows that University Park is in Maryland!  Just look at the Google search results!

Oh S!!!!  He IS an administrator!

 

Edited September 24, 20214 yr by fppilot

6 hours ago, abranpuko said:

Poor ai traffic. 

one year with no realist ai model and airlines.

why did the sold us something that is not true?

some users say: "i have real ai traffic". (generic ai model, that dont take off, move like turtles. zombie planes)

It is like the fable of the emperor's new suit: sycophants keep telling him that he is dressed. but we all know that he is naked. whoever claims msfs have real air traffic, they've been misled.

now there is a mod that consists of filling everything with airbus 320 neo. . all is neo. the clouds are shaped like 320 neo. my name is neo:)

I cannot be so self-centered as to think in a simulator that I must be alone.

not fair, asobo. 

poor ai traffic.

and..(of course) that is the reason of the "good performance". 

 

theatre scene:

hello asobo team, i have problem with ai traffic. atc terrible and they dont take off.

answer: please, turn off ai traffic and you will not have the problem. 

 

 

 

The problem is AIG claiming all the freeware AI models ever made are theirs. We would have all the AI you could wish for half year ago if they weren't egocentric and stubborn as they are. I'm not making this up, I'm a dev of a AI traffic addon, bullied by AIG.

I don't think the authors of the existing models wouldn't want their models out there in MSFS. It has nothing to do with protecting copyright. Most of them seen to have disappeared from the planet anyway.

Edited September 24, 20214 yr by MaVe64

19 minutes ago, MaVe64 said:

The problem is AIG claiming all the freeware AI models ever made are theirs. We would have all the AI you could wish for half year ago if they weren't egocentric and stubborn as they are. I'm not making this up, I'm a dev of a AI traffic addon, bullied by AIG.

I don't think the authors of the existing models wouldn't want their models out there in MSFS. It has nothing to do with protecting copyright. Most of them seen to have disappeared from the planet anyway.

Interesting.  I wasn't aware of this. 

2 hours ago, F1Fan said:

Interesting.  I wasn't aware of this. 

This may be a bit tongue-in-cheek. However, effectively, any competing attempts on AI traffic have been cancelled at this time. It's rarely that such a monopoly is conductive to success and innovation.

Kind regards, Michael 

4 hours ago, MaVe64 said:

The problem is AIG claiming all the freeware AI models ever made are theirs. We would have all the AI you could wish for half year ago if they weren't egocentric and stubborn as they are. I'm not making this up, I'm a dev of a AI traffic addon, bullied by AIG.

I don't think the authors of the existing models wouldn't want their models out there in MSFS. It has nothing to do with protecting copyright. Most of them seen to have disappeared from the planet anyway.

Thats pretty sad really, considering its a few toy planes on a screen. 

Those New Zealand scenery guys sure know how to raise the bar!

The freeware is amazing, and the payware preview video looks even better!

1 hour ago, robcap said:

Those New Zealand scenery guys sure know how to raise the bar!

The freeware is amazing, and the payware preview video looks even better!

Great stuff - amazing !!

cheers 😉

12 hours ago, superspud said:

1 Xbox update. Sheesh. 

I've been toying with getting one but if I'm going to be tied to something like that then I expect them to operate it properly. 

I feel a kind of chill on the spine when I see talks about Xbox for MSFS. Just see what happened with SU5.

13 hours ago, Mike S KPDX said:

Odd... how can the mirrored livery textures (e.g. reversed names) be 'not planned'?  After a year? I don't get it.  It must be something magical.

Isn't this moot? I thought there was an alternative way up make them that avoids the mirroring issue.

Eg - https://flightsim.to/file/20882/asobo-747-8-bcf-kam-air-cargo-no-mirroring

Or is that only true of certain aircraft?