Thankfully with MSFS 2020 and even more so in 2024, I can fly to all the wonderful places in the world and see them as never represented ever in a digital world before, while *also* flying the wonderful planes which model the physics, systems, avionics and all the other stuff as realistically as I've ever experienced in flight sims.

 

My flying time increased probably five fold since 2024 came out. Mainly because of the improved graphics from 2020. My 2D flying is on a double wide 32:9 for better immersive look at the scenery. In VR it's equally as good. It is not easier to manipulate digital cockpit equipment in wide view or in VR compared to 16:9. Especially in VR when I have to escape and back quickly when the mouse stops working in 2024.

I'm locked at 38 (riva tuner). I do NOT want any fpshigher. Because 3X 38 is always under 120 Hz monitor refresh rate. For some dense areas in double wide (5184x1440) I don't have the horsepower for 3X LS. So I use locked 36 and reset the monitors down from 120 Hz to 75Hz. (2 times 36 = 72 which is under 75). My two identical monitors can do 60,75,120, or 165 Hz).

My goal is to keep fps close to but under refresh rate.

My lock is at 30, used to be through Riva, lately through the Nvidia App.

Monitor is 60Hz.

I tried DLSS4 and I like it. Have to update the sim to the latest patch and fetch the presets again.

I have solid 30 fps, which is somethings I was almost never able to achieve with P3D or FSX, and I'm only in the 3060 Ti and a 5600x with 32 GB RAM,

I haven't adventured into Lossless Scaling but those who do say wonders.

Edited February 20, 20251 yr by jcomm

5 hours ago, sloppysmusic said:

Open the front door and explore

Well, no way I would want to get this close to a wild bear in reality, lol

12 hours ago, sympilot said:

2024 is head and shoulders above 2020 in the visuals

You know, I try to sit on the fence with these things and take onboard all the information that people casually throw out there but I've seen this line a few times and for the life of me can't see where the visuals are "head & shoulders" above 2020. Take the OP in this thread for a good example. I watched intently and at the end just threw my arms up, confused again. No difference whatsover. What am I supposed to be looking for here that is so dramatic its like looking at a different sim? I think people convince themselves too easily if I'm honest.

6 hours ago, scotchegg said:

What?! It’s easy for anyone to book a flight to any destination of their choosing, and then experience chance encounters with shy fauna?

Don’t think so mate.

I obviously didn't mean all the worlds fauna. Why not look at an actual photo then? Why does it even need to move? Video games have had that for 10 years at least and it's not even REAL rocks it's ai fake random!! People are actually spending good money and time to fawn(sorry!) over fake ai generated ground objects! 

The emperor and his new suit etc. 

1 hour ago, Rimshot said:

Well, no way I would want to get this close to a wild bear in reality, lol

Fortunately it's not a real one but ai! 

17 hours ago, Noel said:

Speaking of amazing graphics...

I decided to let the Longitude crash into the mountains behind Santa Barbara CA as BATC decided to send me, in a Longitude, to Rwy15L at KSBA.  I wanted to see the outcome of the crash there and I was so struck by the incredible detail in all of the vegetation around the plane crash.  The potential issue is this:  I'll never see this kind of detail in my use of the sim.  So....is all of this detail being processed, even though in effect it's not really being accessed?  If so, what sliders can be dialed back to recoup some of this processing cost without noticing loss of areas that indeed will matter?  I mean, even GA flight don't get you down into the ground where you can see this LOD.

One of the rare times an airliner simmer gets to appreciate the ground detail 😅 When I saw the thread title, my first thought was «I bet Noel will comment on the cloud quality», as I seem to remember that you did not particularly enjoy the 2024 clouds. So I didn’t expect your ground detail comment at all.

Me on the other hand am very impressed by the clouds vs 2020. I just had a wow moment in the last flight as I broke out of a cloud and some very beautiful clouds and a bit of blue sky emerged in front of me. Rarely (or never?) do I see those dreaded volcanic ash clouds in this sim.

1 hour ago, El Diablito said:

You know, I try to sit on the fence with these things and take onboard all the information that people casually throw out there but I've seen this line a few times and for the life of me can't see where the visuals are "head & shoulders" above 2020. Take the OP in this thread for a good example. I watched intently and at the end just threw my arms up, confused again. No difference whatsover. What am I supposed to be looking for here that is so dramatic its like looking at a different sim? I think people convince themselves too easily if I'm honest.

Look at this thread with photos from MSFS 2024 vs real life photos at the same location: 

Aside from the photo of the city (the first photo), it's virtually impossible for MSFS 2020 to generate that level of graphics and details that you see in the photos of MSFS 2024 in that thread.  MSFS 2020 can only match MSFS 2024 at these locations with custom scenery.  But we don't have custom scenery for the entire world, right?  This is where MSFS 2024 shines, in that if you fly outside the city, you get graphics and scenery like that thread shows across the entire world, albeit, it's outside cities where MSFS 2024 really shines the best.

And here is another video with obvious graphical differences between MSFS 2020 and MSFS 2024:

Cities are a different matter, because MSFS 2024 is using photogrammetry just like MSFS 2020.  The trees are improved in MSFS 2024, so that makes the cities look a little better in MSFS 2024.  And some of the patches of land also look a little better and more realistic in MSFS 2024, so in the suburban areas on the edge of a metropolitan city where there starts to be land, it may look better in MSFS 2024.  But for cities, it's not a huge improvement in MSFS 2024. The huge improvement is outside cities.

Having said that, if you fly at 30K feet in the air, MSFS 2024 may be slightly better than MSFS 2020, but not way, way, better. The graphics differences between MSFS 2020 and MSFS 2024 is mostly at the ground level, not at 30K feet in the air.

In any case, if you can figure out the locations of the photos in that Reddit thread, try going there with MSFS 2020.  It will look radically different in MSFS 2020 versus MSFS 2024.

 

Edited February 20, 20251 yr by abrams_tank

I wasn't trying to be in any way contentious with my "bear" post, just reinforcing the point about how incredible the graphics are now. I realise my personal take on the sim is maybe a bit different from most, but it can't be denied that the visuals now are a couple of orders of magnitude above what they were ten years ago.

As to the issue of doing stuff like this versus actually travelling to real places or just looking at photos, well I did my share of travelling and wild horses couldn't drag me much further than the local supermarket now, and I do actually have a huge library of real books here including lots of photography and travel/places stuff. But the beauty of the sim is that it allows me to explore at will, and randomly. And flying, in the sense of being airborne rather than being a pilot, is really the best way to see the world. I happen to like aviation/aircraft as well, so it all hangs together splendidly for me.

I've followed the progress of flight sim avidly since I got involved but from a visual perspective, not a procedural one. I've spent a bundle, both in terms of time and money, trying to improve that visual experience. And now, for the first time, I really begin to feel like I have the world right here in front of me on my screen. The fact that I can drop down out of the blue literally anywhere on the planet I want and go exploring (and I prefer to use the dronecam rather than the walkabout option, but that's just a preference) and it's beginning to create a genuine feeling of "being there", which is incredible.

Nowhere near finished yet, there are plenty of dodgy places and the PG badly needs fixing in a lot of areas, but we're definitely getting close now.

Plus, I can do this from a small plane like the Norden, any one of a variety of fine helicopters (Bell 47-G is my preference), various weird and wonderful craft like paragliders, jetson etc, and I can even go sightseeing low and (not very) slow in a 318 or 777 if I feel like it.

And all you guys who just want to learn the procedures and replicate long haul fights at FL300 can do your thing in the same sim.

I still have a full 2020 system on my simpc, but apart from a couple of times when I wanted to do a comparison I've only used 2024 since it came out. I've got high hopes for SU1, but to be honest, I'd be happy enough to continue permanently with what we've already got in 2024 - it really does feel that good.

Edited February 20, 20251 yr by andy1252
text

4 minutes ago, andy1252 said:

As to the issue of doing stuff like this versus actually travelling to real places or just looking at photos, well I did my share of travelling

I share that sentiment. I’ve lived for a while in Nepal and Australia, and every now and then I do GA flights there which certainly brings back fond memories (I did my GA training down under). Even though I’ve always been fascinated by aviation, I also very much like the virtual sightseeing part of simming. Much cheaper than traveling too 😅

12 minutes ago, Cpt_Piett said:

 

Coming back to the sky/clouds in the video at the top of this post - I recommend using REX Atmos in FS2020. It not only changes the cloud shading to whatever you wish. It also allows you to change the shape of the clouds to look (IMO) a lot more convincing than the current clouds in FS2024.

5 minutes ago, robert young said:

Coming back to the sky/clouds in the video at the top of this post - I recommend using REX Atmos in FS2020. It not only changes the cloud shading to whatever you wish. It also allows you to change the shape of the clouds to look (IMO) a lot more convincing than the current clouds in FS2024.

I actually think 2020 with Atmos looks better than 2024. It can look quite stunning with the right settings. Even though default 2024 clouds/sky/light/shadows is considerably improved vs 2020.

13 hours ago, sloppysmusic said:

So you look straight ahead the whole flight then? That MIGHT just do it.

No, I just haven't been obsessed with getting higher and higher framerates over the years, so I can cope with 30fps without seeing any imaginary slideshow

1 hour ago, sloppysmusic said:

The emperor and his new suit etc. 

you could make exactly the same argument for flight simulation, why bother with X when X isn’t in a level D simulator and can be experienced for real outside your door. Nonsense.