The future of MSFS 2020

[FrankPilot 124]

I am absolutely loving MSFS, from Day 1, warts and all, and hardly been back to my beloved XP at all.  MSFS is still experiencing significant “growing pains” but I believe the Developers are very dedicated and committed for the long term to this “state-of-the-art” technological marvel.  I do all types of flying, but mainly VFR.  It runs very well on my medium rig and I normally have MSFS set at High End and often Ultra.  I think many people with the popular, and understandable, mentality of “I want it, and I want it now” have been disappointed with MSFS because of the many bugs, lack of features, etc. But at my age, patience has become a virtue, and so I am happy to wait for the promised bug-fixes and new features.  Cheers.

[Stoopy 1,571]

1 hour ago, fppilot said:

Where did he go?

 

Maybe it was a Popcorn Post... 

[cesdash8 4]

I have been a flight simmer for well over 25 years, starting with the original MSFS, ATP, P3D v.4, and X Plane since v. 5. 

I believe that MSFS has a very long way to go for a number of reasons:

• no integration with RXP Garmin devices, e.g. GTN 530 or GTN 750 - sure, you can go out and get the other package, but why leave RXP out in the cold?
• Poor controller setup - I had to spend WAY too much time trying to set up my yoke and other equipment - fortunately, there are folks out there who post videos on how to tweak the settings.  The developers should have programmed the setup similar to what it is in XP11 so that the button assignment would visually trigger the appropriate key on the controller itself for a true confirmation.
• Of all the devices, I believe the radio is one of the most used.  I can't stand using a mouse or keyboard.  Fortunately once again, 3rd party developer(s) wrote a driver so that my avionics panel could easily 'tune and switch'.  But I have to start two other add-ons. And I still can't use my GTN 750 touch screen (see first bullet).
• Lack of triple monitor support - sure it may eventually be supported - 2023?  Stretching a 'windowed' version to a modest size works somewhat.
• I'm in no rush to embrace the MS 'game'.  A2A, PMDG, Air Foil Labs and Majestic (Dash 8) have done a marvelous job of writing code for their aircraft in the other simulators.  Perhaps by 2024 MS and Asobo will reach the other major sims in their current iteration.

[Tom Wright 438]

I've been using flight sims since FS2000, then FS2004, FSX, Flight (those were dark days), P3Dv4 and now MSFS. Also dabbled a bit with X-Plane 10 but could never really get to grips with it and never bothered with 11.

I've never had so much enjoyment out of a flight sim than I've had out of MSFS. It does have its bugs and issues like anything new, but it seems to have a very dedicated team of people behind it and personally, I think its future is incredibly bright and it's the first time in years where I feel I can rightfully feel excited for what may come. 

[Dominique_K 10,149]

1 hour ago, cesdash8 said:

I have been a flight simmer for well over 25 years,  

 

I've been simming for 40 years, I win 😁  ! Now don't take badly the following, no offence intended.

You are almost entirely right, item per item.

Then again I have just flown along the coast of Southern Thailand in real weather (partially cloudy, strong wind from the East...) with the excellent Milviz Porter equipped with the NXi, driven by my Warthog HOTAS and my MFG pedals. A big smile on my face.

So my conclusion, looking at the big picture, is that you are entirely wrong 😉 😄. I am not known here to be specially lenient with this sim but the bottom line is that it brings you, in spite of all the real flaws, a great simming experience.  

Now why did I say 'almost' entirely right at the start ?

- PMDG has already released a remarkable DC-6 and has announced a 737 soon. A2A has recently confirmed working on the Comanche .  Maddog will release soon their bird.Majestic is more a long shot, they don't seem so interested. But Milviz should release an ATR maybe in 22Q1

- there is a G750 available but the integrated G1000 NXi starts to be  quite good.  

-setting the controllers is a pain in the behind all right... as it was in P3D. 

Edited November 30, 2021 by Dominique_K

[raymar 969]

On 10/14/2021 at 7:57 AM, atlflyer said:

I take the new JPL C152 because its been modded with AP, better radios, DME measuring, instrument feedback like the VSI not moving automatically which always irked me with most other planes. I have flown IRL and the VSI is not that responsive. Anywho, even the circuit breakers are functional in it. Great little plane and for VFR, cant beat it. Its amazing. how far its come. 

I would definitely recommend it if you are interested in some fun scenery. 

I agree. This is about as good as it gets for small planes for just puttering around enjoying the sights and sounds.  I grew up with my own Cessna 150 and probably put close to 5,000 hours on the original one and a 2nd one I bought a few years later.  My memory is not as good as it once was but the JPL 152 brings back a lot of good memories for me. I still enjoy practicing the commercial maneuvers - chandelles, lazy eights, steep turns and S-turns across a road.

I recently went overboard buying small Orbx airports in the PNW specifically so I can fly the C152 in that area and just enjoy being in the air and making good landings.  I added the free PMS 750 last week and I am now venturing out to Alaska.  Enjoyment meter is pegged out.

I even found a paint job that is close enough to my original C150 to fool most folks, especially with my reg number on the sides. 

Regards,

Ray

[Starlifter60 83]

I was at first reluctant to let go of P3D with my 8.7 million dollars worth of add ons <sarcasm added for effect> especially since I was giving up the technical immersion of my PMDG fleet, etc... But once it was gone, I jumped in with both feet, stuck with the updates, the hot fixes after the updates and have really not regretted doing so. Working Title, Salty, PMS50 and others have stepped up in a huge way to nudge the technical aspect up to an enjoyable level with more advancements coming on a regular basis. The visual aspect of MSFS is a huge step up from P3D and that's hard to ignore. The add ons are coming -very excited about the arrival of AIG- and it seems as though the progress is steady on most fronts. PMDG 737 by 2022 Q1 hopefully, maybe the Mad Dog in the not too distant future.

Edited November 30, 2021 by Starlifter60

[RXP 2,338]

2 hours ago, cesdash8 said:

I believe that MSFS has a very long way to go for a number of reasons:

• no integration with RXP Garmin devices, e.g. GTN 530 or GTN 750 - sure, you can go out and get the other package, but why leave RXP out in the cold?

Thank you for your warm support!

 

2 hours ago, cesdash8 said:

I believe that MSFS has a very long way to go for a number of reasons:

• I'm in no rush to embrace the MS 'game'.  [...] Perhaps by 2024 MS and Asobo will reach the other major sims in their current iteration.

You might be right, maybe sometime in the future during the next remaining 9 years of product shelf life, there will be enough reasons to use it. Please note if past releases pace is any indication, during that time you'll also get at least:

- 2 or 3 major X-Plane releases in the next 9 years.
- 2 or 3 major Prepar3D release in the next 9 years.

To put this in perspective, each of these could also break free from their past legacy and bring novel and fresh perspective to the genre, with every future major releases...

 

 

[virtualstuff 758]

56 minutes ago, RXP said:

Thank you for your warm support!

 

You might be right, maybe sometime in the future during the next remaining 9 years of product shelf life, there will be enough reasons to use it. Please note if past releases pace is any indication, during that time you'll also get at least:

- 2 or 3 major X-Plane releases in the next 9 years.
- 2 or 3 major Prepar3D release in the next 9 years.

To put this in perspective, each of these could also break free from their past legacy and bring novel and fresh perspective to the genre, with every future major releases...

 

 

Ps Voted Jean-Luc

[cesdash8 4]

3 hours ago, RXP said:

Thank you for your warm support!

 

You might be right, maybe sometime in the future during the next remaining 9 years of product shelf life, there will be enough reasons to use it. Please note if past releases pace is any indication, during that time you'll also get at least:

- 2 or 3 major X-Plane releases in the next 9 years.
- 2 or 3 major Prepar3D release in the next 9 years.

To put this in perspective, each of these could also break free from their past legacy and bring novel and fresh perspective to the genre, with every future major releases...

 

 

The RXP software is a fantastic piece of work!  Does that take the support from 'warm' to 'hot'?  Hehe

The software allowing integration to the RealSimGear GTN 750 brings both platforms to another level.

Very good points regarding XP and P3D.

[cesdash8 4]

5 hours ago, Dominique_K said:

I've been simming for 40 years, I win 😁  ! Now don't take badly the following, no offence intended.

You are almost entirely right, item per item.

Then again I have just flown along the coast of Southern Thailand in real weather (partially cloudy, strong wind from the East...) with the excellent Milviz Porter equipped with the NXi, driven by my Warthog HOTAS and my MFG pedals. A big smile on my face.

So my conclusion, looking at the big picture, is that you are entirely wrong 😉 😄. I am not known here to be specially lenient with this sim but the bottom line is that it brings you, in spite of all the real flaws, a great simming experience.  

Now why did I say 'almost' entirely right at the start ?

- PMDG has already released a remarkable DC-6 and has announced a 737 soon. A2A has recently confirmed working on the Comanche .  Maddog will release soon their bird.Majestic is more a long shot, they don't seem so interested. But Milviz should release an ATR maybe in 22Q1

- there is a G750 available but the integrated G1000 NXi starts to be  quite good.  

-setting the controllers is a pain in the behind all right... as it was in P3D. 

Dominique,

You make some excellent points.  I did enjoy brief pattern work at KHYA in the MSFS / Carenado Seminole the other day and the scenery was very good.

The aircraft developers you mention are excellent.  However, IMHO if you have excellent aircraft in a simulator that is 'very rough around the edges' to put it nicely, it's kinda like driving a Ferrari on a rocky beach in Maine - not much fun.

Oh, BTW, we're practically tied - I've had a flight sim since 1983 on a PC Jr. with 5 1/4 disks (remember those?)

Charlie

[Konterhalbe 295]

On 10/13/2021 at 8:45 PM, Texaspilot48 said:

I would love to hear what the community has to say about MSFS 2020 and its future.

IMHO, MSFS is the new standard sim in our hobby.

I'm not a 100% satisfied with it right now but we're getting there 😉

I'm not the guy jumping new sims too quick (games in general) as I really like to have most bugs sorted out before I invest a sheetload of money in a new sim.

Before MSFS, I still used P3D 4.5 (not V5.x) and before P3D I was an FSX user until P3D V3 was released.

It took me even longer to make the transition from FS2004 to FSX. If I had to guess, I'd say it took me at least a couple years when I moved from FS9 to FSX.

 

How I use flightsims?
I'm doing 100% of my flights online at VATSIM and 99% of them are under IFR and the rest is VFR flying at ATC trainings to assist the trainee.
After the release of Alpha India Group's AIGAIM one-click-installer, I knew it was time to say goodbye to P3D.

 

Why did it take me 15 months after MSFS release to switch over from P3D?

At first, I wanted to stand by for a major airliner to be release for MSFS to switch over (yes, I'm flirting with you, iniBuilds A310 😉), but I've read so many positive things and found out that so many people are exited about the Working Title CJ4, that I just had to give it a shot and what can I say? I'm having the time of my life flying the Cessna Citation! It's fast as an airliner (M0.77), not very complex and easy to get started with. It needs 1000m of RWY lenght and since there's an unbelieveable amount of really really good freeware airports at flightsim.to, I have already couple dozens of airports to fly to and from! It's just exciting to not only fly Frankfurt - Vienna all day long in a 737, but flying legs like Sylt to Klagenfurt or Kirkwall to Samedan.

 

What protects me from using all of my paid off-days now at once and be simming from 0600-2100lcl instead of working?

I've completed a total of eleven flights since 21NOV21 an I've come across some bugs still persistent:

Altitude bug: When flying FL450, temperatures rise instant from -50°C to +200° and back. Temp workaround for me: Max. FL for the CJ4 in simbrief is set to FL430 manually once.
https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/working-title-cj4-aircraft-limits-throttle/425723

Lightning bug: Runway lights and partially taxiway lights appear to be missing when arriving an airport at night., Temp workaround for me: departing all day but arriving at an airport only during daytime.

https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/flickering-and-partially-disappearing-airport-runway-lights/466358/96

Online flying altitude bug (IVAO, Pilotedge, VATSIM): Ross Carlson provided a lenghty explanation of what's going on in the linked thread below. No workaround for me atm but Ross is working on it 👍👍👍

https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/vatsim-ivao-pilotedge-users-be-aware-of-an-important-bug/426142/344

Out of 13 flights I've started, 11 reached their destination, two CTDd. I'm trying out a couple things people are suggesting here on the AVSIM forums and over at the fs.com forums.

 

I've never been the "donating guy" but as MSFS saves me a lot of money by not requiring me to buy FSGRW, ORBX Landclass, ORBX Global and the likes, quite a few fine folks will receive a 5€ or 10€ donation, 'cause they did a great job and I want them to give another reason to do so! 😉

 

How's MSFS doing compared to P3D, performance wise?
My System is fairly old, I'm running MSFS on medium settings with stable 30FPS and no stutters at all.

I've got an ancient i7-3820, a medieval GTX 780 Ti and just 16 GB of RAM (and this won't change given the exorbitant hardware pricing these days).

I could switch to high settings too I guess, but med settings are in terms of graphics still far better than what P3D could have delivered to me at ultra settings.
A really smooth experience I've reached with P3D V4.5 only after an eternity of tweaking and fiddling around (25-30 FPS in P3D V4.5 and with PMDGs 737 and 747).

P3D was really annoying in the last couple months before I switched over: I found out that P3D and FSGRW had really strong and immediate windshifts at high altitude, which was a show stoppper for me and I wasn't willing to buy V5.x just for that reason. Would have needed to spend another 100+ € for addons for a sim I knew I wasn't using in the long term. This wind bug is most likely why 1/3 of my long range flights in the 747 didn't reach their destination since your aircraft just stalls midflight, when it suddenly has 200kts less airspeed streaming around its wing. 🤷‍♀️

 

EDIT: P3D isn't using all of my CPU and GPU, but MSFS is. Finally, my graphics card is reaching temps which it was designed for while it remained quite cool using P3D.

 

Long story short...
I don't regret making the transition from P3D to MSFS, despite MSFS still got some bugs but no significant show stoppers.
And the best thing is: Asobo has got a dedicated team of talented people who are further developing the sim and I'm sure those bugs will be adressed in the near future 😉

Edited November 30, 2021 by Konterhalbe

[Dominique_K 10,149]

 

7 minutes ago, cesdash8 said:

5 1/4 disks (remember those?)

I do. I still have some  for the Apple 2 I think  ! 

[cesdash8 4]

9 minutes ago, Dominique_K said:

 

I do. I still have some  for the Apple 2 I think  ! 

I still have the PCJr.  If I only had the video cable I could hook up the original monitor and some 5 1/4s I could be off and 'flying'.

[Dominique_K 10,149]

Just now, cesdash8 said:

I still have the PCJr.  If I only had the video cable I could hook up the original monitor and some 5 1/4s I could be off and 'flying'.

I recently threw out the A2 monitor which I think was now  a fire hazard after all these years (and was on US standards too). 

I say keep the good memories and never revisit an old love 😉. Also getting back to MSFS, it is the sim we were dreaming of, when flying its early version in the 80’s, you on PCJr, me on the Apple, isn’t it ?