MSFS 2024 FAQ now up

[The Moose 1,179]

7 minutes ago, brinx said:

They said addons that you bought in the store will work. They sell the deluxe and premium as upgrades in the store.

I have no idea what that has to do with my post.  did you mean to reply to someone else?

Edited June 12, 2023 by The Moose

[MarcG 3,097]

It doesn't make sense to continually support MSFS2020, other franchises that release in yearly cycles end support practically the minute the next one comes out. I fear resources are gonna be stretched and it's not like they're utilised fully now or in the recent past, but I guess we'll see in due course.

[Funky D 284]

Deluxe and Premium licenses will probably carry over... so existing users will basically get an "upgrade" price and will only need to purchase the base license. I'm guessing they'll throw extra content to deluxe and premium editions as well. This also simplifies things in Xbox Game Pass land, since those users will basically get a free upgrade to 2024.

As for addons, they can guarantee 99% of the marketplace items will work because they need to follow the SDK and not use any external programs. Addons that require external programs will probably need to be upgraded or rewritten by the dev.

[darshonaut 237]

1 hour ago, DAD said:

Ok so we now have a basic faq. Not to put more oil in the fire but this leaves room for interpretation for direct purchases outside the marketplace:

Add-ons that were purchased from the in-simulator Marketplace will not need to be re-purchased in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024.

They seem to backpaddle now after this PR disaster.

I mean they can claim a lot of things. I guesas the third party developers have a say in this. It's just words until proven otherwise next year.

Not gonna spend a dime on a new sim that is propably as unfinished as the current one and certainly not gonna buy any more addons if their lifespan is propably limited. 

[brinx 281]

5 minutes ago, The Moose said:

I have no idea what that has to do with my post.  did you mean to reply to someone else?

Yes. I replied to the wrong post.

[Mets737 216]

So what does this mean for 2020?

If everyone moves to 2024 with all of their favorite addons then surely no one would use 2020 right? Why would someone chose 2020 over 2024 if everything works?

Will we have all of the AAU's and all previous updates from 2020 in 2024? Will the deluxe aircraft carry over? Still so many questions I would love to know.

[mspencer 450]

So much hyperbole at the moment... I'm going to guess that Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is an addon pack, and it will still be "Microsoft Flight Simulator" as an install method and directory.

P3D v4 and v5 were two different products, and some tweaking was needed to make aircraft work, but they existed in different instances on the harddrive and registry, so you had to reinstall everything.

Microsoft, to occasional infuriation, but at this moment, a bit of joy, uses the MS Store method to just... push you updates.

This is just a generational improvement. Think of it as a mega SU. I, for one, will probably never use the new content, but might have to pick it up for compatibility purposes, depending on the new features it brings. 

TLDR: This is the FSX Acceleration expansion pack.

(also to be fair to P3D - when I upgraded from v4 to v5, I just pointed my addons at my P3D V4 Addons folder, and about 95% of them worked out of the box with no tweaking)

Edited June 12, 2023 by mspencer

[SierraDelta 1,370]

7 minutes ago, mspencer said:

I'm going to guess that Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is an addon pack, and it will still be "Microsoft Flight Simulator" as an install method and directory.

You’re dead wrong. Apparently you didn’t read the FAQ which this thread is about … “stand-alone product” 

[Funky D 284]

8 minutes ago, mspencer said:

This is just a generational improvement. Think of it as a mega SU. I, for one, will probably never use the new content, but might have to pick it up for compatibility purposes, depending on the new features it brings. 

I think the foundations for the sim model and scenery development will be a generational improvement and basically just an SDK update with a lot of added functionality. But I think things like photogrammetry, AI-based autogen, and weather have a chance to be completely new.

[Der Zeitgeist 1,575]

Adding to what I wrote above:

Even if they add Premium/Deluxe content because these were marketplace items, I guess my question would simply be:

Will things like the A310 or the Spruce Goose be in 2024 or will they dump them like they did with, for example, the "Century of Flight" airplanes from FS2004 which weren't in FSX (which was considered a completely normal thing back then).

Edited June 12, 2023 by Der Zeitgeist

[walloppy 35]

1 hour ago, vonduck said:

Exactly... from what ive seen, looks like the same engine material... clouds...with a few bells and whistles... when i saw the announcement i thought at least something like Unreal Engine 5 standards... maybe there's more under the hood than we know?

So far they've announced the Asobo Studio engine is "significantly evolved" with MSFS2024 designed to take advantage of that in addition to: "latest technologies in simulation, cloud, machine learning, graphics and gaming". In the trailer you can see new trees, new vegetation textures, new ocean textures and new more detailed mesh and terrain. There's also tornados which points to maybe a significant weather engine update too. And of course there's a lot more to the missions now too. These things alone are a significant welcome update but I'm sure there's plenty of other stuff they'll be announcing in the time leading up to release too.

I see this as a complete refresh of the sim with big improvements which is more than welcome. Like going from FS2002 to FS2004. Everything carries over, it's an easy OS-like install where everything is as it was, but you get a significant upgrade.

Edited June 12, 2023 by walloppy

[mspencer 450]

3 minutes ago, SierraDelta said:

You’re dead wrong. Apparently you didn’t read the FAQ which this thread is about … “stand-alone product” 

No, I read it.

Quote

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is a standalone simulator and the next-generation sequel to Microsoft Flight Simulator that launched in 2020. Current aircraft and airports that are in Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020), as well as virtually all Marketplace add-ons, will be supported in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024.

Depends on your definition of... standalone? If it's going to use the Marketplace, going to support all current Asobo aircraft and airports, my guess is this is a bit like an opt-in, pay $60, engine enhancement for MSFS. I'd be real surprised if it didn't take advantage of the existing file structure and addons. The way it's installed now, with the store, and with Microsoft making management of the install like an XBox game and so incredibly unfriendly to PC users, I'd be shocked if it just dropped another instance on your C:\ drive. Doesn't seem like it will be that simple.

Standalone can mean based on instance on the drive, or it can mean a standalone commercial product. Perhaps buying FS2024 at full $70 price just gets you 2020 with all commensurate updates, and the 2024 content. Or, it just gets you the FS2024 experience, with the mission-focused activities, default aircraft for 2024. It's simply too early to speculate on this.

I think the pronouncements of "the sky is falling" are quite premature. I don't think it sounds like this is C:\FS2024 vs C:\FS2020. 

[scotchegg 4,311]

45 minutes ago, jcomm said:

and an Egg from Scotland

Actually….😅

[abrams_tank 7,552]

47 minutes ago, MarcG said:

It doesn't make sense to continually support MSFS2020, other franchises that release in yearly cycles end support practically the minute the next one comes out. I fear resources are gonna be stretched and it's not like they're utilised fully now or in the recent past, but I guess we'll see in due course.

Yeah, I suspect they will have a few Sim Updates and maybe even World Updates for MSFS 2020 in the next 2 years after MSFS 2024 is released.  But those updates will gradually fall off as they focus on MSFS 2024. And then when 2028/2029 rolls around, expect MSFS 2028/2029 🤣

Edited June 12, 2023 by abrams_tank

[MarcG 3,097]

12 minutes ago, abrams_tank said:

Yeah, I suspect they will have a few Sim Updates and maybe even World Updates for MSFS 2020 in the next 2 years after MSFS 2024 is released.  But those updates will gradually fall off as they focus on MSFS 2024. And then when 2028/2029 rolls around, expect MSFS 2028/2029 🤣

Well that is the actual thing, I can foresee a cycle release schedule already happening now every 4 years.