Bye the way photometry is not updated with new satellite imagery! We used to have a Power Plant that was dismantled almost 4 years ago in Carlsbad, CA. Since that it disappear as one prominent VFR reference point due to long stack  . But now it's still here in MSFS20204 😞

I just started the sim for the first time. I took the Hornet for a spin in the Swiss Alps and wow! The rocks as you get closer look so real now. I‘m gobsmacked. I wasn‘t expecting that. And hardly any terrain morphing. Is Switzerland countryside TIN or do all cliffs look that great now? I‘ve got to check out other places. And the lighting looks amazing too. What a great first impression.

Edited October 12, 20241 yr by Shack95

12 minutes ago, Matchstick said:

So you have the build number of the influencer version to confirm it post-dates this build ?
But honestly it's not the stability of this test release that concerns me, my problems are with bugs and really rough edges with the system when they aren't crashing.

Their email explicitly said to expect bugs and crashes. Confirmation bias anyone????

8 minutes ago, hanhamreds said:

Taking into account this is a stripped down Alpha build - for the testers, is there anything you’ve seen which concerns you?

 

 

Based on my individual experience, it is the inability to use it on my relatively high-end hardware as it crashes +-5min after loading up, irrespective of whether you are in menus or in a flight/ activity.

A pity, no VR, I am out of beta alpha already after half hour, hope they gathered those telemetries, and they could add something more to retain more time if it wasn´t enough time. I couldn´t configure my Xbox gamepad curves like in 2020, even they didn´t move, hope that will be solved ofc.

It scares me the state of this beta alpha, though all will be better in the release, I hope.

Edited October 12, 20241 yr by peloto

4 minutes ago, peloto said:

A pity, no VR, I am out of beta already after half hour, hope they gathered those telemetries, and they could add something more to retain more time if it wasn´t enough time. I couldn´t configure my Xbox gamepad curves like in 2020, even they didn´t move, hope that will be solved ofc.

It scares me the state of this beta, though all be better in the release, I hope.

It's not a beta version, It's the ALPHA. 

2 hours ago, lwt1971 said:

All the new ground procedural details seems to be there in this tech alpha

Not here it isn't.  Low resolution satellite imagery, poor or no photogrammetry, no grass or crops (maybe in some isolated places) and very few rocks or stones (again, maybe in some isolated places).  The new lighting engine is really nice, as are the clouds and trees, but FS2020 overall looks far better.

However, I guess initially not all the new features are in the Alpha as the servers get stress tested.  I hope to see better resolution terrain and other features added over time.  

What we saw in previous videos are not in the Alpha so far.

Edited October 12, 20241 yr by MrBitstFlyer

56 minutes ago, Matchstick said:

We thought EXACTLY the same thing in the 2020 Beta just a couple of weeks before release.

It wasn't true then, I don't believe it's true now.

No way this Alpha is as advanced as the previous videos we have seen.  Either that or many features have been removed for stress testing purposes.  The terrain and photogrammetry seem way lower than what we have in FS2020 (no doubt some small areas around the world are different).

I am not disappointed in any way as one shouldn't expect everything included in the first few days of an alpha.

34 minutes ago, Shack95 said:

 What a great first impression.

Interesting. Whats about all those hill and mountain sides completely naked due to shadows in the satellite imagery? E.g. around lake Lucerne? Still present?

Not impressed with seen thus far. But again, it’s the alpha version. And my controllers are half working. Go figure. I’ll be surprised if this goes out smoothly in November. 

1 hour ago, Tuskin38 said:

If there's core sim features missing, than yes it's a different version.

He actually states in stream that it’s the same version everyone else has! 

Just now, AnkH said:

Interesting. Whats about all those hill and mountain sides completely naked due to shadows in the satellite

I don‘t know. I just had time to do a short flight from Meiringen up to the Aletsch Glacier and then for a quick visit to Zermatt. I won‘t be able to do more testing till tomorrow. But what I saw was very impressive. Mountains finally look like real mountains.

1 hour ago, Matchstick said:

Unlike you I don't believe there's a different version of the core sim and I believe that disclaimer is basically meaningless. We'll see in a few weeks I guess.

I agree. What we are currently seeing in the Alpha is obviously a less feature rich sim than the previous videos Microsoft have released. This must be to gradually increase the load on the servers because that is what Microsoft said the alpha is for.  

This must be just the core version with features turned off as a stress test, because it would be suicide to show us rocks, crops etc in previews then release it in its current state.  

Like other I'm also very impressed with what I have seen so far, given the fact it is a tech alpha. I was pleasantly surprised the tech alpha suggested the best settings for my system are ultra, which isn't to bad for a three year old system. The scenery in the sim looks more real than its predecessor. The sense of altitude is an example, because the size of the trees and buildings is better scaled, the way I look at it. As others have stated, the lighting is excellent!

I also find the flight model of the C172 very convincing, better than the one in MSFS2020 and better than, well... Let's not go there 😁

Some of you may remember I occasionally complained about the QNH only being given in Hg, instead of Millibar where appropriate in MSFS2020. Well, that is fixed now! 🥳 The pronunciation is wrong, as ATC calls 1013 as 'one-thousand-thirteen' instead of 'one-zero-one-three', but we're getting there.

I'm thrilled about the upcoming successor of the current sim, I see a lot of potential.

6 hours ago, turbomax said:

it is pretty obvious in spot view if you yank the yoke left and right. you can now really observe some inertia as the plane moves left and right, while before it looked like you were flying a butterfly or some paper plane.

Very nice! Looks like the flight model did improve in MSFS 2024!  This is early, as MSFS 2024 hasn't been released yet, but if the consensus from real life pilots is that the flight model has improved, then maybe Asobo going with the CFD (dumbed down CFD of course) was the right decision afterall.

Edited October 12, 20241 yr by abrams_tank