Hello there,

I frequently use Xplane 12 as well as 2020. I think both Sims have their advantages and individual flaws. However I am thinking about getting/upgrading to 2024. I am not interested in the best visuals.

I am looking for realistic Physics (Flight and ground) as well as weather and performance. I exclusively fly airliners (Fenix, FSlabs, PMDG). Is there anything 2024 offers over 2020? Would a upgrade be worth it?

 

PC Spec: 9800x3D, RTX4080, 64 GB Ram 

Add Ons: Active Sky, BATC

 

Thanks in advance and best regards 

 

At this point I don't think of MSFS 2024 as an "upgrade".  The PMDG 737s aren't compatible with 2024 yet...unsure about the FSL Scarebus.  Addon scenery compatibility is also a mixed bag.  Some perusal of the forum will show that there are still a lot of unaddressed issues in 2024 to contend with...mostly minor nagging stuff.  Last time I looked the GSX jetways were still not compatible.  The UI for control setup is a PIA, etc etc.

I have both, and still consider my excursions into MSFS 2024 as aggravating experimental adventures.

2 hours ago, CaptainQ8 said:

Hello there,

I frequently use Xplane 12 as well as 2020. I think both Sims have their advantages and individual flaws. However I am thinking about getting/upgrading to 2024. I am not interested in the best visuals.

I am looking for realistic Physics (Flight and ground) as well as weather and performance. I exclusively fly airliners (Fenix, FSlabs, PMDG). Is there anything 2024 offers over 2020? Would a upgrade be worth it?

 

PC Spec: 9800x3D, RTX4080, 64 GB Ram 

Add Ons: Active Sky, BATC

 

Thanks in advance and best regards 

 

I think 2024 is a blast. Much better than 2020. Both sims have their bugs. I haven't gone back to 2020 in a long while. There are plenty of quality payware aircraft and scenic packages to keep you busy for some time.

But why don't you try for yourself and make your own judgment.

2 hours ago, CaptainQ8 said:

I am looking for realistic Physics (Flight and ground) as well as weather and performance. I exclusively fly airliners (Fenix, FSlabs, PMDG). Is there anything 2024 offers over 2020? Would a upgrade be worth it?

As for physics and ground handling in MSFS 2024, there are many reports/reviews here on the forum and elsewhere.. this was a very recent one from an avsimmer who's also an IRL airline pilot I believe:
https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/674408-a2a-aerostar-is-now-available/page/12/#findComment-5520613

And this earlier thread has various reports/reviews on flight dynamics and ground handling in 2024: https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/654326-msfs-2024-flight-dynamics-and-groundwater-handling-thread/

Personally I find the weather better in 2024 (vs 2020) in terms of clouds depiction/variety/etc and also environmental lighting. Performance wise also better, i.e. better use of multi cpu cores, etc.

Might be best to wait until SU3 is released and then make the move. That update is still in beta but from all accounts looks to improve many aspects of the sim over SU2.
 

Edited July 19, 2025Jul 19 by lwt1971

my take.  

-2024 is better visually. 

-2024 load time is much better. 

-2024 UI/Control setup is terrible.  My recommendation is to use a program like spad.next (Their are others also) and do all your controls/bindings thru that.  The only controls I have via the sim menu's are camera.  And they stay the same from every airplane I fly.  

-I'm on the 24 beta.  So things are always changing.  But 2020 has better performance.  

-I'm at the point where I fly General Aviation in 2024 and airliners in 2020.  

3 hours ago, CaptainQ8 said:

Hello there,

I frequently use Xplane 12 as well as 2020. I think both Sims have their advantages and individual flaws. However I am thinking about getting/upgrading to 2024. I am not interested in the best visuals.

I am looking for realistic Physics (Flight and ground) as well as weather and performance. I exclusively fly airliners (Fenix, FSlabs, PMDG). Is there anything 2024 offers over 2020? Would a upgrade be worth it?

 

PC Spec: 9800x3D, RTX4080, 64 GB Ram 

Add Ons: Active Sky, BATC

 

Thanks in advance and best regards 

 

The flight dynamics are better in MSFS 2024. As @lwt1971 mentioned already, check the flight dynamics thread with a lot of comments and reviews from real life pilots: 

Specifically, some real life airline pilots like V1Simulations and Stearmandriver have commented the crosswind is so much better in MSFS 2024.

The ground handling and ground physics is also vastly improved. 

 

Edited July 19, 2025Jul 19 by abrams_tank

Thank you all for your input :). I think I will wait for SU3 as suggested. Seems a good point for switching and spending that 80 Euros 😄

11 minutes ago, micstatic said:

my take.  

-2024 is better visually. 

-2024 load time is much better. 

-2024 UI/Control setup is terrible.  My recommendation is to use a program like spad.next (Their are others also) and do all your controls/bindings thru that.  The only controls I have via the sim menu's are camera.  And they stay the same from every airplane I fly.  

-I'm on the 24 beta.  So things are always changing.  But 2020 has better performance.  

-I'm at the point where I fly General Aviation in 2024 and airliners in 2020.  

I guess I'm one of the lucky one's that never had a problem setting up my control via the 2024 setup menu. Whether I'm flying GA or tune liners or Helos. It knows what type of aircraft I'm flying and set my flight stick, throttles and pedals accordingly. I haven't touched my key bindings in 6 or 7 months now. I have spad.next but never could figure out how to set it up. So I set up everything through 2024 controls menu and FSUIPC for multi engines and throttles.

...you can always fly both! Stick to the aircraft that are 2024 compatible in 2024, and fly everything else in 2020. The install footprint of 2024 is so small compared to 2020 that it's easy to have the two running side by side. You can also get a cheap GamePass trial if you want to try 2024 for a few bucks.

I uninstalled 2020 last November but I also fly mostly GA so it was a no-brainer for me.

10 minutes ago, CaptainQ8 said:

Thank you all for your input :). I think I will wait for SU3 as suggested. Seems a good point for switching and spending that 80 Euros 😄

Also, about the control setup, don't be afraid of it. As I like to say, the steep learning curve is learning the MSFS 2020 control setup and control binding terminology. If you came from MSFS 2020, it's not hard to map the controls in MSFS 2024, because you already know the control binding terminology from MSFS 2020. I would recommend you watch a YouTube video on the control and binding menu for MSFS 2024 though before you start. 

Yes, it's true that the MSFS 2024 control setup menu is not the most intuitive design and there is lots they can do to improve it. But if you come from MSFS 2020, you'll figure it out, and it uses all the same control binding terminology as MSFS 2020, which is the hard part, IMO.

Edited July 19, 2025Jul 19 by abrams_tank

4 hours ago, CaptainQ8 said:

I am looking for realistic Physics (Flight and ground)

Keep firmly in mind that these aspects are HIGHLY variable on a PER ADDON basis.

I.e., it’s up to the addon devs to take advantage of the sims updated cfd/sbs/nps/ground physics.

this is in contrast to XP’s method where much of the flight/physics model is forced on all addons (this method has its own pluses & minuses, too) .

for e.g., the iB A300 Premium was specifically upgraded for v2024 features, whereas the “Compatible” version from 2020 is missing out on those. And the differences are genuinely noticeable. 
 

Also e.g., while it’s possible to copy/paste the PMDG 737 in v2024, it hasn’t been updated in the least, and its handling shows that. 
 

Best to do research with a keen eye towards IRL pilot feedback on whichever are your primary addons. 
 

and to succinctly answer your question: yes, 2024 is worth the upgrade across the board. 

Edited July 19, 2025Jul 19 by UrgentSiesta

Yes, I haven't touched 2020 since January. Focus on airliners?

I do miss the pmdg 737s, dc6 (when it worked) and their 777 series. The 777 has been available to fly in 2024 for a while now and was recently updated. I would recommend this! 

Just Flight have a lot of working aircraft for 2024 as well. Current favorite is the Avro RJ series. F28 I forget...

Fenix runs but I feel like it hogs more fps in 2024 than it does in 2020 (unless someone can point out what im doing wrong). 

I would get it. Performance, lighting, physics and scenery are improved overall. 

On 7/19/2025 at 11:46 AM, abrams_tank said:

Also, about the control setup, don't be afraid of it.

 

Don't listen to anybody just what you feel is right.  But for sure get MSFS 2024.

dd

On 7/19/2025 at 9:40 PM, CaptainQ8 said:

Thank you all for your input :). I think I will wait for SU3 as suggested. Seems a good point for switching and spending that 80 Euros 😄

You could also try it on XBox Game Pass for 2 weeks for only 1 $... along with many other games.

https://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-game-pass