Sim Update 8 Beta Preview (Thu Feb 10 at 8:00am PT)

[penta_a 429]

Welcome! This announcement is for those who are interested in participating in the SU8 Public Beta. Our focus in this beta will be:

• Checking stability and performance
• Testing against the release notes to confirm accuracy
• Providing an opportunity for 3rd party developers to test their products in a beta environment

The Sim Update 8 beta will be available to join on Thursday, February 10th starting at 8:00am PT. To join this public test, please see the instructions below for your preferred platform.

https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/sim-update-8-beta-preview/497063

[Drumcode 1,893]

Hard pass for me after the recent fiasco of having to re-install everything, but I am very curious of and hopeful they'll make the release notes public. Very curious what bugs they fixed. 

[Tuskin38 6,491]

I did not expect them do an open beta for a sim update…

I wonder if it’s because it’s just bug fixes instead of new features?

It’s on Steam and MS STORE

Edited February 10, 2022 by Tuskin38

[ca_metal 2,020]

3 minutes ago, Tuskin38 said:

I did not expect them do an open beta for a sim update…

I wonder if it’s because it’s just bug fixes instead of new features?

It’s on Steam and MS STORE

We will probably have the patch notes tomorrow.

[Twenty6 693]

What's the over/under for how many people will fail to read the instructions and have to do a complete reinstall once the beta ends?

[Drumcode 1,893]

2 minutes ago, Twenty6 said:

What's the over/under for how many people will fail to read the instructions and have to do a complete reinstall once the beta ends?

Clarity from my end as the shots were fired. I went on a holiday right before new years, came back towards mid January and bam, I had no way to get out of beta or any other options to opt out before the thing forced itself to re-install. 

[jarmstro 2,402]

Unlike the previous public beta this one could break a number of addon planes as Aosobo has indicated so I will not be participating until there is more information on what works and what doesn't.

Edited February 10, 2022 by jarmstro

[Ricardo41 5,949]

Lol. 

Aren't there at least half a dozen threads about folks clamoring for Asobo to make betas public?

Now Asobo is doing just that, and, well, we have another 6 threads on folks telling us that they are definitely not going to install the beta. 

😏

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

 

What to Know before You Join

MS Store PC Users: There is always a risk that you may have to re-install the sim when joining/leaving a flight, so please keep this in mind before participating. When the flight ends), we ask that you manually remove yourself from the Preview. By doing so, you will get an update to MSFS with the latest public build. If you do not remove yourself from the group, we plan on automatically removing everyone on March 7th. At that point, you will get an update to MSFS with the latest public build.

If you have MSFS content installed completely on a custom path, you will have a much lower chance that a full re-install will be necessary when the update is officially released. However, if your sim content is installed in the default path selected by the in game content manager, you may have to reinstall the whole sim when moving from the test build to the public build. We recommend that those who wish to test with us ensure your sim content is located in a custom path before joining the flight to avoid full reinstallations in the future (Details on how to do this can be found here: [HOW-TO] Change the installation path of installed packages inc community folder 5) . The best set up would be for your store app to live on the default 😄 drive and sim content on a custom drive

Edited February 10, 2022 by Ricardo41

[MrBitstFlyer 3,873]

1 hour ago, Drumcode said:

Hard pass for me after the recent fiasco of having to re-install everything, but I am very curious of and hopeful they'll make the release notes public. Very curious what bugs they fixed. 

I think the main recommendation is not join the beta if MSFS is installed in the default location.  I have the Steam version that is not installed in a default location.  For me joining the beta was a single mouse click to allow the beta, and no action at all to end the beta. 

[irocx 292]

2 hours ago, Tuskin38 said:

I did not expect them do an open beta for a sim update…

I wonder if it’s because it’s just bug fixes instead of new features?

It’s on Steam and MS STORE

I try not to forget that ChaoticBeauty is your TRUSTED source for reliable information on all things MSFS 2020.

Quote

Next on the list for us is Sim Update 8, which focuses on bug fixes in the sim. This update is targeted for release on March 1st. As mentioned on last week’s dev Q&A, we are planning a public beta period for this update, which will include all platforms (that means Steam, too!). Stay tuned for how to join that optional flight soon.

 

[MarcG 2,976]

I just hope they actually try and fix things during the beta and/or release a timely Hotfix after SU8 Public release if New issues are found during the process.

I'm on Steam so it's a doddle to install, I'm mainly interested in the VR fixes the main one of which being the Mouse Over Toolbar bug (and volumetric lighting). Martial said on the Q&A very briefly that he had a list of fixes for VR in SU8....I await the patch notes...

[Riah069 157]

Good stuff!!! Bring the Betas. The last one was great for me.

[pstrub 998]

6 hours ago, Drumcode said:

Hard pass for me after the recent fiasco of having to re-install everything, but I am very curious of and hopeful they'll make the release notes public. Very curious what bugs they fixed. 

Not gonna happen to me - I already made a backup copy of my MSFS install folder. In case it wants to re-install everything, I can just copy the files back. 😉

I'm curious too about what they fixed, but I'll probably wait till after I read the first reports on add-on compatibility

Edited February 10, 2022 by pstrub

[wiler 394]

fool me once shame on you , fool me twice shame on me. Ill pass this time 

[bobcat999 8,477]

I will join.  For the record, I was installed in a non-standard location the last time, and I still lost settings - it wiped my WpSystem folder with custom camera setups and other sim settings in there (the user.config file for one).  So just make sure you back-up this folder as well.  Mine is about 64Mb, so it is easy enough to copy back afterwards if it gets deleted like mine was. 

This was an undocumented 'feature', not in the instructions - but still people like to blame the victim rather than the people responsible!  

Anyway, it's great that they are doing these public betas, and I support it, but relating to a non-standard install...   you will have a much lower chance that a full re-install will be necessary

Come on!  A much lower chance?  How about zero chance of a reinstall - Is it really that hard?
 

Edited February 10, 2022 by bobcat999