February 8, 2024 MSFS Development Update

[David Mills]

FEBRUARY 8TH, 2024 – DEVELOPMENT UPDATE

Posted by: Microsoft Flight Simulator Team

This week’s Screenshot Challenge winner is Twitter user @ukaka5656! If you’re interested in participating in our weekly Screenshot Challenges, check out the details in the Community section below!

The team is currently hard at work preparing Sim Update 15, with the public beta test expected to start soon. If you missed the January 31 Developer Livestream, some of the announced improvements coming in SU15 include:

• Memory optimizations
• New G3X avionics implementation courtesy of Working Title
• Support for multi-rotor helicopters
• Overall stability and performance improvements
• And more!

February 10 marks the beginning of the Lunar New Year! To everyone celebrating this holiday, the Microsoft Flight Simulator Community Team is proud to share this special video showcasing beautiful fireworks displays over several East Asian cities including Beijing, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai, Singapore, and more. We hope you enjoy it!

Lastly, in celebration of Black History Month we’re spotlighting several Black content creators from the Microsoft Flight Simulator player community throughout February on our X / Twitter channel! So far we’ve highlighted Blu Games and Bel Geode. Keep your eyes out for more throughout the month!

– MSFS Team

 

FEEDBACK SNAPSHOT

Click here for the web-friendly version of the Feedback Snapshot.

The Feedback Snapshot will return week.

MARKETPLACE UPDATE

This week, we’re proud to highlight the A2A Simulations Comanche 250, now available on Xbox!

Following its release on the PC platform last year, this plane very quickly became a favorite within the community, and we’re thrilled that Xbox simmers can now also enjoy this highly-detailed aircraft. In a video review, YouTuber Into the Blue Simulations had this to say about the plane:

“The real magic where A2A are concerned, for me at least, is that not only did they manage to produce some highly accurate, highly realistic aircraft; they are still the only dev that I’ve come across that really manages to make their aircraft feel like a living, breathing, working piece of machinery.

It’s certainly quite an art form to accomplish that with a piece of software, and if you’ve yet to experience it for yourselves, it’s pretty hard to describe, but the A2A Comanche really in just about every way, is pushing the boundaries of what we can achieve with Microsoft Flight Simulator.”

MARKETPLACE RELEASES

Click here for the web-friendly version of the Marketplace Update.

There are 50 new and 48 updated products in today’s Marketplace Update.

2023 MARKETPLACE TOP SELLERS

Last week we announced the top 100 products on the Marketplace for 2023 as measured by gross revenue. In case you missed it, you can see the list in the February 1 Development Update.

 

MARKETPLACE BACKLOG

Current Backlog: 301 Total

BACKLOG: NEW PRODUCTS

	Testing Status
Content Type	In MS Processing	In MS Testing	In 3P Testing	Total
Aircraft	6	3	10	19
Mission	24	0	44	68
Scenery	3	10	6	19
Livery	32	0	12	44
Airport	19	9	17	45
Other	10	2	11	23
Total	94	24	100	218

BACKLOG: UPDATED PRODUCTS

	Testing Status
Content Type	In MS Processing	In MS Testing	In 3P Testing	Total
Aircraft	7	4	14	25
Mission	2	0	0	2
Scenery	0	0	2	2
Livery	1	5	6	12
Airport	19	3	7	29
Other	7	0	6	13
Total	36	12	35	83

 

SDK UPDATE

ASOBO

• No update this week.

WORKING TITLE / MSFS AVIONICS FRAMEWORK

• MSFS Avionics Framework
  • The SR22T Avionics Plugin has been published to the mirror; this provides an excellent example for developers to review how the G1000 plug-in system works.
  • Check out the latest Avionics Framework source code here.
  • Find the latest documentation about the avionics framework here.
  • Upcoming Framework Updates:
    • Enhancing the capabilities of the GPSSatComputer by improving the ability to sync data with replica or external instances. (SU_15)
    • Fixing an edge case bug where Map Projection could project the target onto an incorrect position if it was unable to calculate a valid scale factor for the requested range. (SU_15)
    • Adding VFR CDI scaling logic to the NavdataComputer in the GarminSDK. (SU_15)

THIRD PARTY UPDATE

• • As of 02/05, we have now approved 252 (+4) third parties into the in-sim marketplace and – so far 213 (+0) have released 3,193 products on PC (+24) and 2,920 on Xbox (+20).
  • In total, 4,092 products (+24) have already been released in 3^rd party stores and the in-sim marketplace. Beyond that, another 806 products (+4) from 3^rd party developers are in production (345 announced, 461 unannounced). In total, over 4,896 3^rd party products (+26) have either been released or are in development.
  • Airports:
    • 2,301 airports (+17) are either released or are in various stages of development.
      • 2,083 airports (+13) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
      • 1,556 airports (+9) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
      • 112 airports (+2) beyond the released airports have been announced.
      • 106 airports (-2) are not announced, but the dev let us know that an airport is in production.
  • Aircraft:
    • 794 aircraft (+2) are either released or are in various stages of development.
      • 361 aircraft (+5) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
      • 281 aircraft (+2) have been released in the in-sim PC marketplace.
      • 264 aircraft (+3) have been released in the in-sim Xbox marketplace.
      • 211 aircraft (-1) beyond the released aircraft have been announced.
      • 222 aircraft (-3) are not announced, but the dev let us know that an aircraft is in production.
  • Scenery:
    • 1,101 scenery packs (-1) are either released or are in various stages of development.
      • 1,067 scenery packs (-1) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
      • 630 scenery packs (+2) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
      • 21 scenery packs (+0) beyond the released scenery have been announced.
      • 13 scenery packs (+2) are not announced but the dev let us know that scenery is in production
  • Mission Packs:
    • 262 mission packs (+9) are either released or are in various stages of development.
      • 227 mission packs (+3) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
      • 166 mission packs (+3) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
      • 0 mission packs (+0) beyond the released missions have been announced.
      • 35 mission packs (+6) are not announced, but the dev let us know that they are in production.
  • Livery Packs:
    • 400 livery packs (+3) are either released or are in various stages of development.
      • 327 livery packs (+3) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
      • 319 livery packs (+3) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
      • 1 livery pack (+0) beyond the released scenery has been announced.
      • 72 livery packs (+0) are not announced, but the dev let us know that scenery is in production.
  • Ships & Watercraft:
    • 38 ships & watercraft (+0) are either released or are in various stages of development.
      • 27 ships & watercraft (+0) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
      • 22 ships & watercraft (+0) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
      • 0 ships & watercraft (+0) beyond the released scenery have been announced.
      • 11 ships & watercraft (+0) are not announced, but dev let us know that scenery is in production
  •  

COMMUNITY FLY-IN FRIDAY

The Community Fly-In Friday World Tour continues!

After taking a hiatus to explore the new Caribbean World Update last week, we’re back for another stage of our World Tour! As always, our flight departs from our last arrival airport, in this case Reykjavik, Iceland.  From there, we’ll make our way to our next capital city: Dublin, Ireland.

While most of the flight will be over water, this is the final stage of our transatlantic voyage! We also have two touch & go landings en route planned: Faroe Islands and Donegal.

Event details are available here. All are welcome to participate!

TUBELINER TUESDAY

Tubeliner Tuesday will be moving to a bi-weekly schedule on our Twitch.tv channel. The next scheduled stream will be on February 20th.

We are hoping to include more guests — including real-world pilots and third party developers — in future Tubeliner Tuesday streams, allowing viewers the opportunity to learn new aspects of the aircraft we are flying and getting a behind the scenes look at how they are created for Microsoft Flight Simulator!

 

COMMUNITY VIDEO

Last month saw the new Cowan Simulations Robinson R66 release in the Microsoft Flight Simulator Marketplace. For this week’s Community Video we join Belatu42 as he takes this new helicopter for a spin.

Exploring the mountainous Revelstoke region of Canada, Belatu42 provides excellent examples of manoeuvres and techniques utilised in real-world aviation. We really enjoyed this showcase of not only the beautiful scenery in Canada but the well-executed rendition of the R66 by Cowan Sim too!

SCREENSHOT CHALLENGE

This week’s screenshot challenge: Lunar Phases

This past week’s Screenshot Challenge was: World Update XVI – Caribbean

Weekly Screenshot Challenge Winner: @ukaka5656 (Twitter)

Screenshot by HeKa48 (Forums)

Screenshot by AllenCat2333 (Forums)

Screenshot by @Ikulin09 (Twitter)

Screenshot by @Johnny_aircargo (Twitter)

Screenshot by BragRaindrop933 (Forums)

Screenshot by sidthekid871397 (Forums)

Screenshot by @tsujiKa_air (Twitter)

Screenshot by AvianCypress131 (Forums)

Screenshot by @KotetuP (Twitter)

Screenshot by Parorng (Forums)

---

NEXT DEVELOPMENT BLOG UPDATE – February 15th, 2024

Sincerely,

Microsoft Flight Simulator Team

Edited February 8 by David Mills

[Krakin]

How'd they get the Comanche to work on Xbox?

[sonny147]

Really great Screenshot's , But were are they taken , would be nice to know ! 😎

[sonny147]

As always , thank you David

[cmpbellsjc]

Thanks for posting @David Mills. It’s pined 🌲

[polosim]

 I hope that the release of AccuSim on Xbox will bring A2A good profits, which will allow it to continue developing new aircraft for MSFS2020/2024.

Speaking of the features that SU15 will bring, Memory Optimization, stability and performance improvements, if they work as expected, they will take MSFS2020 to the level we all want.

Thanks @David Mills for sharing this valuable information with all AVSIM users.

[lwt1971]

30 minutes ago, Krakin said:

How'd they get the Comanche to work on Xbox?

As suspected before, much of A2A's code is still within the sim framework (i.e. WASM modules, etc) and either heavily customizes base sim areas or completely overrides them. The only truly "external" part was the sound engine which came as an external executable for PCs but even that is now moved into the sim framework now looks like.

Anyhow, great that A2A's offerings are now marketplace and XBox compatible, expands their reach (and revenue 🙂) and a welcome edition I'm sure for those using XBox and looking for a high fidelity GA.

Also great that SU15 beta is starting soon! Still no mention of which exact SU the ground handling improvements will come in, hopefully SU15, but worst case SU16 I guess.
 

Edited February 9 by lwt1971

[stalz]

The top selling marketplace products for 2023 by gross revenue list is very interesting.  I wonder if that should get it's own topic?

[bobcat999]

8 hours ago, stalz said:

The top selling marketplace products for 2023 by gross revenue list is very interesting.  I wonder if that should get it's own topic?

I was already discussed in a while ago, but the threads move so fast on here due to the activity level.  The An-224 was mentioned in the main because it was the only one where the actual sales figures were given.

As the others are just placings, there is not too much to talk about really, as they will not release the actual sales numbers, so it is just a relative table, and there are no big surprises.

I looked down the table and thought 'OK - yep!'.  I was surprised about how many people bought the Captain Sim fuselage shells, but that was about it, and they were right at the bottom end.

I would have liked to know how much the PMDG sales figures were in Dollars; that would have been interesting. 
And then of course, not everything is sold through the Marketplace, such as the Fenix A320, so the list is of very limited value really.

Edited February 9 by bobcat999

[Rune-ENHD]

Some (many) of the screenshots in this sim over the 4-year period is erasing **the line between** SIM(game) & reality 😵‍💫😱

it's really mindboggling how many

*GREAT 📷 SHOTS*

It is capable of conveying!!! 😀😀🤩😀😀👍👍

I have lost count of how many times this sim has fooled me it is a real picture 😵‍💫😳😲

Many shots are really "like a tourism catalog" of yesteryear 😅  absurd really.. 😲

I do believe that there are now "many" hobby-photographers taking(snapping) screenshots, because they are "so well framed" 😀

It's the photographers(person) skills "behind the camera" that shows.. 👌👍 and not really "just the equipment"..

A Large KUDOS to the sim-users that are able to give us a Picture-telling *shot* 🤩👏👌

Edited February 9 by Rune-ENHD

[bobcat999]

I find the fireworks video fascinating, as not only is it beautiful, but at first glance, the way they show this, the perception could be that it is their own work in the sim - it isn't.

If you go to YouTube you can read the credits under 'more...'.

Virtually everything you see is an add-on, such as 'Orbx' or 'City Times' scenery packs, and the fireworks are by PuffinFlight, available as an add-on download from fs.to.

https://flightsim.to/file/24818/we-love-vfr-xtra-fireworks

[bobcat999]

12 minutes ago, Rune-ENHD said:

Some (many) of the screenshots in this sim over the 4-year period is erasing **the line between** SIM(game) & reality 😵‍💫😱...

Yes.  You can't beat a good old Cessna 172 floatplane for the Caribbean shots.  It just looks so natural and photogenic. 
That colourful Aruba shot is great (is it Aruba?  With the coloured buildings and the two bridges?)

In fact, it makes me want to take the C172 floater for a spin now.  I haven't touched it for a good while. 

Edited February 9 by bobcat999

[DAD]

13 hours ago, David Mills said:

public beta test expected to start soon

now MSFS also starts with soon, thought that is RSR's trade mark ;-). anyway, soon sound better than "in a few weeks" what Matt mentioned few days ago. can hardly wait for SU15 beta

[Rune-ENHD]

I thought SU15 was supposed to *be about* the ground-handling/better flightdynamics fixes as a priority?

Are they postponed ? 😕 ??? 😬

THAT!! would be a bummer.. 🙁🙁

The Performance updates are a most welcome and a *Fantastic surprise* really. 😀😀🤩 Hopefully they will help in VR-related scenarios also 🤔👍👍

But I was looking towards the Flightdynamics-*fixes/improvements* the most..  🤔🙄 It is a Flightsimulator at the heart 😲 The improvements are really needed in the transition-fase between ground/air, and it is a bit abrupt espesially when there is a bit of windy weather-vaning on top of it.. 😬🙄🙄

I REALLY HOPE they CAN improve that aspect long before MSFS2024 launches ?? 😬🫢😬😵‍💫

Hopefully we don't have to wait until MSFS2024 for *improvements* to the Flightdynamics/groundhandling..

[bobcat999]

35 minutes ago, Rune-ENHD said:

I thought SU15 was supposed to *be about* the ground-handling/better flight dynamics fixes as a priority?

Yes.  As far as we all know, these enhancements will be included.  The ground handling will only be included on three aircraft to start with, the main one for me that I noticed being the C172.

Apparently, they can be added to any standard flight sim model by cut and paste into a config file.  I wouldn't try it on the A2A or Fenix though until they comment, as the flight models are not standard.

I think for those in the beta, we will be testing things next week.  It might not be everything all at once though.  Sometimes they do weekly updates and gradually add things in.

Edited February 9 by bobcat999