2nd anniversary of MSFS, a look back at memory lane

[espent 1,397]

And today we will pass 400.000 posts in the forum 🍻

[cobalt 798]

I said at the start 2 years ago, that despite many issues that needed fixing, MSFS would revolutionize flightsimming. And it has. Moreover, we ain't seen nothing yet -- just wait!

[MrFuzzy 2,118]

14 hours ago, Garys said:

Yes, but they need to do something about the edges of clouds. They are still pixelated for some crazy reason. It may not look too bad on small desktop monitors for the desktop simmers but when you have a full size cockpit and the 3 projectors are being displayed @ over 100" each it becomes an extremely pixelated eyesore. 

100 inches?? Good luck with that... to have a decent pixel density at 100" you will have to wait for GPUs 10-15 times more powerful than now.

Edited August 20, 2022 by MrFuzzy

[Garys 209]

6 hours ago, MrFuzzy said:

100 inches?? Good luck with that... to have a decent pixel density at 100" you will have to wait for GPUs 10-15 times more powerful than now.

For comparison, clouds in Prepar3d are splendid. Its a known issue on the bug list and nothing to do with gpu power.

[Gilandred 690]

I think Microsoft has much, much bigger plans in store than “just” flight simulation.  Think about it - they have managed to simulate the entire earth.  This is an amazing technological feat and will no doubt be the foundation for many other things to come.  Boat simulator?  Train simulator? Truck simulator?  Yeah, this is just the beginning…..looking forward to what’s next for sure!

[The Flight Level 2,113]

Something a little different to acknowledge the success of this incredible hobby.

 

 

[VBHB 298]

I been here from day 1.  Deleted P3D that day and installed MSFS and never went back.  It's been a rollercoaster but it's the best sim I've ever used.  Can't wait till SU10 and the associated aircraft that will be released.

[OneOfMany 314]

Having just sold my business, and entering retirement, I see the parallels with this software. It started with a vision to be everything everyone wanted, but had to start somewhere. For every small success, there are setbacks, for every happy customer, there is one who demands better, for every change made for what is believed to be better, there can be results that are not. Most important is to keep the passion to look forward, regardless of those who try to drag you back. 

My first flight from the mouth of the Mississippi following its historic path, or my exploration of Patagonia, the Congo River, the barren shores of the Black Sea, and of course my hometown in the middle of Canada, with its albeit dated photogammetry and too large trees 🍁gave me a sense of wonder no other game did. Or has yet to do. 

This winter, time to deal with the crappy AI, the incorrect Metar, the less than perfect real weather while I try to become proficient in tubeliner flying. I'm guessing my rose colour glasses will come off. 

Until then, congratulations to the team who easily gave me my buck and a halfs worth of entertainment. 🥂. 

[TheFamilyMan 280]

Before the MSFS release I was a nay-sayer about its constant need for data from the web will necessitate a subscription based model.  Boy, was I glad I didn't know what I was talking about...really!

MSFS2020 is the game.. I mean sim.. changer.  How I used to struggle for performance in FSX for such a measly looking world; now that hasn't struggle hasn't changed much but dang, that world outside the cockpit (and inside too) sure has (and in VR to boot).  My FSX install hasn't seen a CPU clock cycle for about 2 years...guess it's time to completely purge it...no going back for me, that is for sure (though I sometimes miss the aircraft I collected over the years...RealAir Lancair Legacy anyone?).

[Ricardo41 5,949]

On 8/18/2022 at 3:16 PM, Fiorentoni said:

things were really looking dire in many areas in the first year.

Lol, are you joking?

The future looked extremely bright as soon as MSFS was released. You could see that this was the start of a new era of flight simming.

After downloading MSFS and completing my first flight, I deleted P3D from my harddrive, together with (probably) thousands of $$$ worth of addons. 

Yeah, right, things looked "dire".

[Virtual-Chris 682]

I'm feeling more optimistic about the sim now than I was two years ago - but that has more to do with the amazing mods 3rd parties have developed.

I actually stopped using the sim in early 2021 because it was actually getting worse with every release at the time. It's still pretty sad that after 18 months (since I packed it in) a lot of issues have still not been addressed... ATC, pop-out windows robbing FPS, sunken docks and boats, a line appearing across my horizon, poor turboprop simulation, a huge reliance on single-thread CPU performance, I could go on. Fortunately the 5800x3D and a number of mods have addressed some of the issues. G1000NXi aside, I still feel the progress on the core sim has been rather pathetic, and I think trying to shoe-horn this app to run on the Xbox is probably to blame for a lot of mis-placed dev resources. Asobo as a studio really hasn't done much - or at least enough - in my view for the sim. Almost every tangible improvement has come from third parties, including Working Title. 

Like I say, I'm feeling guardedly optimistic, but Asobo is not getting much praise from me.  This Sim is only great because of the community and the amazing mods they've created.

[abrams_tank 7,417]

11 minutes ago, Virtual-Chris said:

poor turboprop simulation,

They updated the prop physics earlier this year, It’s not perfect, but from all the comments I have read, most real life pilots are happy with the prop physics at the moment. 

[JBDB-MD80 1,473]

1 hour ago, Virtual-Chris said:

This Sim is only great because of the community and the amazing mods they've created.

Is this the first time this has happened in flight sim, Name one that would even last this long (at this level) without the community and 3rd party addons? I will wait.

Oh and your little dabble elite egotist about P.C. regarding MSFS stringing on Xbox, I serious doubt this MSFS project would even exist without a serious effort to an Xbox inclusion of it. We be straight back in ESP or Xplane with 2010 scenery and 5 year old controllers.

Edited August 28, 2022 by jbdbow1970

[Scottoest 1,561]

On 8/20/2022 at 9:47 AM, Gilandred said:

I think Microsoft has much, much bigger plans in store than “just” flight simulation.  Think about it - they have managed to simulate the entire earth.  This is an amazing technological feat and will no doubt be the foundation for many other things to come.  Boat simulator?  Train simulator? Truck simulator?  Yeah, this is just the beginning…..looking forward to what’s next for sure!

They'd need a quantum leap in the quality and granularity of their geographic/photogrammetric data to use MSFS's twin of the world for ground-level simulators.  It works now because you're typically flying over it hundreds if not thousands of feet in the air, and the fine details matter less than an accurate looking overall picture.  The models their AI-assisted autogen populates would also have to be orders of magnitude more complex and varied.

Don't mean to be a debbie downer, but yeah... we are nowhere close lol.

[abrams_tank 7,417]

28 minutes ago, Scottoest said:

They'd need a quantum leap in the quality and granularity of their geographic/photogrammetric data to use MSFS's twin of the world for ground-level simulators.  It works now because you're typically flying over it hundreds if not thousands of feet in the air, and the fine details matter less than an accurate looking overall picture.  The models their AI-assisted autogen populates would also have to be orders of magnitude more complex and varied.

Don't mean to be a debbie downer, but yeah... we are nowhere close lol.

The technology to get detail at ground level is getting better and better.  Look at Immersive View for Google Maps: 

No doubt that Microsoft is also working on the same technology as Google.

Also, data can be used from the street view photos, to generate a 3D world: 

I don't think the technology is there right now to use the MSFS engine for a train simulator, or a truck simulator, at ground level.  But give another 10 years, the technology may get mature enough that it looks good at ground level.  MSFS is a 10 year project anyways, and has another 8 years to go.  You can bet Microsoft will keep refining their photogrammetry and satellite technology, it's a huge golden egg for Microsoft, if they can make it look good at the ground level.