bonchie

I fly jets for a living, and I'm happy they are including more reasons to fly than "here's a world map, do whatever." You have missions in real life. Reasons for doing what you're doing. You also don't just spawn in the cockpit, crank up, and go. Any expansion of what it's really like to be a pilot is welcome, IMO. The other benefit a career mode provides is a reference point for seeing lots of cool places in the sim. Would I normally research some backwoods Aussie strip or where to go hot-air balloon in Africa? No. But a career mode that curates the locations for me and puts me in some cool spots doing some cool things I may have never otherwise seen or done is a positive. Booting up, spawning in the cockpit, and flying A to B isn't bad, but there's no reason to limit the hobby to that. Heck, I don't even sim anymore right now because I get enough of the mundane flying in real life. A career mode that provides some purpose, backstory, and variety is a good thing.

It affects engine temps too as far as I know. Like, the TBM will start hotter if the outside temp is high.

You still have to press the IAS button to capture your current indicated airspeed. I took his question to be where he could pre-select an airspeed.

I’ve noticed that about a lot of planes in the sim. We taxied idle and still had to ride the brakes when I flew King Airs. In the Citation Excel, it’s just a slight touch of power and idle to taxi the rest of the way. When I tried the CJ4 in the sim, it needed 40% just to get moving. Something is off with ground friction. Hope they fix it in 2024.

There is no place to set the speed. When you are at the speed you want to climb at, hit IAS and it’ll hold it.

It seems like this developer's experience is 100% US based, and they are mimicking how calls in the US typically go, technically incorrect and all. They should be able to make European-centric calls as well. We'll see what the ICAO video brings. As a broad pursuit, I like that they are making the calls more real-world and less just what's in the book. It'll take some work, but if they can vary it and do it right, it'll really be immersive (at least for real world pilots that know what real ATC sounds like). For example, one thing they could add that's very common is reporting ride conditions as part of a check-in with a new controller. Once you get above FL300, your typical check-in is "Houston Center 838HU 330 smooth" or something of that nature. Even cooler would be if an ATC program could do what real-world controllers do, taking those ride reports and building a bigger picture to advice on cruising altitudes. That's probably impossible with current technology, though.

Europe is more strict on phraseology so I can't comment on that part of this, but in the US, "looking for" is very common when speaking to clearance delivery to pick up a clearance. That's exactly what I say every flight in the real world as a corporate pilot. I think their goal is to make it sound more real-world by adding the slang you typically hear. I'm sure they'll vary it.

With all due respect, so what? MSFS survives because it makes money. They can't just never release a new version unless you want development to stop eventually. FSX was not a completely new product. XP12 was not a completely new product. The Asobo engine is the base, and they are going to keep building on that with new versions. They've already said addons will transfer and that the MSFS roadmap will be completed. With simming, people forget that there's more to a good product than just scenery and airplanes. If MSFS 2024 includes a ton of new career/game elements and some engine improvements, that's a big investment by them and they should be rewarded for that.

Are we supposed to be mad they were going to release a new version four years after MSFS? And they've already said the MSFS roadmap will be completed AND that addons will transfer (for free) to MSFS24. So what's not to like? I also agree with those who say the career stuff is not just Xbox fodder. I fly Citations for a living. We do not fly just to fly. Real-world aviation is mission based.

You have to wonder how in a hurry developers are to devote time to long haul planes when most simmers just want to do 1-2 hour hops domestically from pretty airport to pretty airport. Not saying there's anything wrong with long haul in a sim, but it's a niche within a niche.

The grass in MSFS is much better than the stuff Orbx used to use in P3D. What I’m seeing in that video looks like the default procedural grass. It does have a lot of variation and it goes past grass. For example, dry areas have overlays of small rocks and thin ground foliage too.

Direct comparison (I actually think P3D does some things better in these shots, but it ain't the night lighting)

It's hard as heck to see to taxi in real life unless there's a ton of ramp lighting. I've almost taken a turn into grass several times in real life. Night is dark. We are just conditioned to the bright nights of P3D.

The crab doesn't really use rudder until alignment at touchdown. You are turning into the wind and letting the plane fly the way it naturally wants to in order to stay aligned. Thus the crab. In smaller planes we are typically taught to dip a wing and then apply opposite rudder to align the plane on short final. That makes heavy use of rudder and helps not to side load so badly on touchdown.

Even though people say not to, I've had much better luck using the REX textures with wave animations baked in. Looks much more like FSX.