Another updated generic airport spotted, VHHH now has runway 7L/25R

Though the taxiways to it were added pretty lazily, the marking are overlapping 7C/25C

Edited October 14, 20241 yr by Tuskin38

1 hour ago, JonathanC said:

Just loaded Gibralter for the very first time and it loaded in less than 45 seconds - from clicking Fly Now to Ready to Fly

MKJS, MKTP

Seattle Tacoma, Pretty much every airport no exception. I don't think it really matters which airport really.. Its just that im not getting the data fast enough. I dont have this issue at all with MSFS2020. Usually when everyone is complaining about download issues im flying along.. I sat there and waited a full 15 mins for it to load the flight school tutorial.. 😞

Hong Kong has new imagery, and I think new DEM.

I wonder how they managed that.

Look how well defined the hill side roads are, def looks like higher res DEM than 2020.

Edited October 14, 20241 yr by Tuskin38

Ground handling and realistic "feel" in flight: A

Scenery: A- *

ATC: C (but there are improvements, mainly bugs because some things aren't working that are supposed to be working)

Stability and lack of stutters: A+ **

Interface, GUI: B+

Clouds, turbulence, weather: A

* Overall sort of ugly tannish tones go away if I reset the calendar before flight to May or June.

** For great stability and lack of stutters, I must sit still and do absolutely nothing for one minute after the flight is fully loaded. If I do that, there is no scenery snapping in and out. Not a single one the whole flight. I think something was loading in the background while I was waiting.

I'm going to miss this alpha when it's gone.

 

Brazil, specifically Rio de Janeiro (that's all I've checked ATM) has improved DEM, I'm guessing the stuff they got for the Brazil World Update.

Or might just be that height map from imagery thing Jorg mentioned a while ago.

Edited October 14, 20241 yr by Tuskin38

Went ahead and uninstalled. Had a lot of fun playing around with it and hope Asobo got some good information from me lol. 

I was going to fly more but for some reason my magenta line has disappeared any time I make a flight plan with the EFB. Would show in the G1000 either, which is so very weird because it worked fine all day yesterday. Weird alpha issues.

Took my final flight in FS2024 since I believe the Alpha goes offline at midnight Pacific Standard Time (I think??).  This time it was an acid test flying low and slow around Manhattan with some clouds and for this area I thought the terrain looked pretty darn solid.  Enough so that I almost feel like I can visit for reals and know my way around.  What really impressed me the most was the very solid performance.  I was literally flying in between buildings and I was not getting so much as a single stutter.  In FS2020 it will be smooth but also be plagued with a lot of pauses and such.  Not so in FS2024 it was butter smooth.   My system is not even high end by today's standards with a Intel I7 10700 (or something around that) CPU and a NVIDIA 2070 Super plus 32gb of RAM!

I also tinkered with the different times and checked out the lighting.  Definitely a higher fidelity over what we get in FS2020. 

I was thinking about buying a new system after FS2024 has been out for a few months but now I am thinking I really don't need to do that.  I suppose if I had a 3000 or 4000 series video card and 64GB of RAM things might be even better but its not critical.  Probably still have a new machine built after the holidays but right now its a tough thing to go for.  

For those like me who have ripped into FS2024 for the lack of detail in some areas should try a tour around Manhattan as is it might change your mind.  My only wish is if they could some how make Maui and Lake Tahoe look like New York.  I have read they have obtained a lot more data but they did not specify what areas that I have seen.  You would think places like Hawaii and Maui would be among them but I guess not!    

6 hours ago, Tuskin38 said:

The final version of the sim will have pre-sets for different controllers. They're just missing in the Alpha.

Ahh that's great to know. I remember 2020 didn't have any upon initial release so I assumed it would be the same this time around.

ditto on the magenta line, it doesn't go all the way to the destination in the 172 either.

Here’s my impressions from the alpha. It’s basically just things that struck me and not a balanced review. Overall, I’m very impressed. Unfortunately, I only had 1-2 hours to test it, so the following screenshots aren’t the best. I’m fully aware that this is a technical alpha and not the release candidate and that things might change until release.

• Super fast loading times
• Performance was excellent without any stutters whatsoever. I’m not sure how it compares to 2020 though because I never use it in pancake mode.
• The new procedural cliffs and rocks look amazing. What a difference compared to 2020!

• The lighting engine is fantastic too.

• I’m glad roads are finally excluded from being covered in snow, and that water bodies no longer freeze as soon as there’s a bit of snow. However, the current implementation feels off. While rivers and lakes don’t freeze anymore, the surrounding land is often snow-free as well, which looks very odd.

I’m not too optimistic that this will be fixed before release since improvements to snow and ice coverage have progressed at a glacial pace since it was first introduced.

• Mountain streams have always looked unrealistic in MSFS. It seems that they’ve attempted to address this. Unfortunately, the result isn’t that convincing.

• At ground level, the new 3D fields look very good. However, from higher altitudes, they look a bit weird because the few procedural fields stand out too much. I understand this is an alpha and that the final release will probably offer complete coverage for all fields and grasslands which will look a lot better (as demonstrated in the preview event), so for now I’m not too concerned about this.

• Countryside TIN is a groundbreaking feature in MSFS 2024. When the imagery loads in quickly, the countryside TIN looks incredible, and the new tree replacement tech is revolutionary. That said, there are still some areas where it doesn’t seem to be working properly.

These are just a few observations from my brief testing. Overall, I think the improvements far outweigh the shortcomings. In many areas, the difference compared to the 2020 version is like night and day. I can’t wait to get my hands on the final version.

Edited October 14, 20241 yr by Shack95

Did anyone else see there was some kind of AutoFPS included in FS2024 settings?

4 minutes ago, Luis Hernandez said:

Did anyone else see there was some kind of AutoFPS included in FS2024 settings?

Yes - but in the limited time I spent on the tech alpha, I didn't pay much attention to it. I've already forgotten what the setting was called. But IIRC it was an on/off toogle in the graphics menu. 

Edited October 14, 20241 yr by Cpt_Piett

11 minutes ago, Cpt_Piett said:

Yes - but in the limited time I spent on the tech alpha, I didn't pay much attention to it. I've already forgotten what the setting was called. But IIRC it was an on/off toogle in the graphics menu. 

Almost: I also forgot the setting name (it was called dynamic something), but I remember I could also set a target framerate, and I could choose multiples of 5.

Edited October 14, 20241 yr by Luis Hernandez

I'm going to miss the alpha lol. At least the visuals and the Cessna's physics.
something similar happened with the 2020 Alpha/Beta, it made me not want to fly in P3D anymore

1 minute ago, Luis Hernandez said:

Almost: I also forgot the setting name (it was called dynamic something), but I remember I could also set a target framerate, and I could choose multiples of 5.

I think default fps was 30. Can't remember if it was on by default though. During the time with the alpha I set TLOD to 400 and had fps higher than 30 (even over Manhattan), so I guess it didn't kick in.