mfahey

Last week in one morning I had two error boxes pop up in 2020 with graphics card errors and then the only way out was to be crashed back to desktop. It was strange as it has been years (well it seems like it - definitely a LONG time) since I have even had a stutter, micro stutter or a crash to desktop. I was just go to all the cache locations and delete them all manually when I remembered had previously downloaded this tool but never had the need to use it. I ran it - and all is back to normal - totally fluid in 4K, no CTD, no stutters, no micro stutters. So from me a 5 Star review!

I too prefer the visuals in 2020 (I also own 2024 but rarely fly it). I fly everywhere, but over 75% of my time is in Australia and Indonesia where I have homes. For me 2020 (I use REX Seasons as well as ATMOS) provides far more realistic visuals for these countries. Often promoted as an 2024 adavantge - the 3D trees in 2024 may serve Nth American's and Europeans well, but for Australia, Africa, Central Asia arid and tSouth East Asian ropical areas I think the 2020 models are more true to life.

Gunther just letting you know - I love 'ya stuff! YKOW and Gosper's (along with everything else of course) being faves! Also thanks for supporting 2020 (OMG I hopefully this comment doesn't start a version war) - but for me 2020 and it's (god forbid) different tree models (rather than the 3D vibrant green models in 2024) provide a far more realistic Australian environment - particularly when used with Acuseason.

YLHI included in the World Update is great - but (in my humble opinion) if you already own the AUScene version or have been there in real life the AUScene airport is a better choice. The AUScene version is a work of fine art. Advantages on the AUScene version include (beyond just the overall feel of a scenery that took many months to develop) are there are KitKats for sale in the terminal cafe and VH-TQX Dash 8 is a static parked on the apron. VH-TQX in the AUScene scenery is in it's previous Qantas Link livery, it's now flying as Skytrans Australia in a totally white livery between Sydney YSSY and YLHI daily. https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/11772113

Hey can somebody please identify for me the airport shown in the opening scene of the Boomerang video.

I have both 2020 & 2024 installed and fly 90% of my time in 2020 with REX Seasons & Atmos. The only other things I would add to anyone following this thread and thinking about the two versions of the simulator - you quite often see people say they uninstalled 2020 and went to 2024 on "day one" or "first week" etc etc. Keep in mind that the current state of 2020 is RADICALLY different to the time when 2024 launched. It has gone through a series of stability updates and the global base scenery is identical to 2024 since 2020 service update 16. Also 2020 is still sold by Microsoft and service update 17 will be delivered later this year, so what I think is more relevant is the type of flying you enjoy, stability (based on your PC specs), the simulator workflow itself - ie is walk around a pro or con for you etc.

NO WAY!!!!! I have only use FSLTL Injector to place static aircraft. The injector should NOT DIE, it should at the minimum remain as a way of intelligently placing static aircraft.

I am in the final stretch of preparing a submission (in two weeks or so) to markcellis a really massive Oceania update. A big focus is Australian CTAF traffic which for the first time chatter at uncontrolled airports and airfields (via the Unicom classification) . I'm right now working through cleaning up the file names and metadata before the submission.

Thank you for providing MSFS 2020 & 2024 versions. BEST!

Interesting discussion! For those who are new (ie started simming in the last 10 years or so) PMDG was a company that originally published and sold manuals, ie detailed documentation to use with flight simulators (I think for the 747?). It was only later when they were well known for their manuals that they started to build aircraft for the simulator.

Ha maybe!!! It could be true!!!🙂 One thing maybe long time 2024 users (particularly ones that shifted to 2024 at the time of release or soon after) may not realise is that now both 2020 and 2024 are served with identical scenery and photogramatry. So 2020 looks quite different to when you deleted it at the launch of 2024. Atmos and Aceuseason on 2020 delivers what many feel in a more realistic visual expirence. I don't think 2020 has that many followers here at AVSIM, but in other forums and reddit there are always very active topics annoyed at how now after SU16 last year 2020 is now served the 2024 visuals. Comments typically centre on what is described as the "cartoon" look of 2024, which to many looks like those HDR oversaturated photos you see in used in real estate or holiday resort photos. Also a frequent diffrence commented on is that 2024 has a glaze or vaseline over the image look compared to 2020. SU17 is coming to 2020 soon, it will be interesting to see what happens then. My wish would be that the 2020 engine can display 2024 3rd party native airport freeware and payware, but that said I have never found a product I want to buy that didn't have a 2020 build - even in 2026. 2020 receives all the world updates, city updates and the upcoming scenery gateway, (plus it is still sold by Microsoft) so it is far from finished. In the last development stream Jorg touched on that their analytics show that 2020 users use the sim differently to the type of user growth users that 2024 is experiencing. It was an interesting comment, he didnt go into much detail but one big difference is that in 2020 there is no career mode, but also in 2024 there is no Bush Trip engine at the moment. It's all good, I own both 2020 and 2024, but if I was to uninstal one it would be 2020 that remained.

I own both 2020 and 2024 - but all my flying is in 2020 with Rex Acuseason and Atmos. I take a look at 2024 occasionally after each major update is released but for me it doesn't meet my 2020 experience. The major advantages for me of 2020 is the ability to edit and the tune aircraft config files to exactly how I like them (I fly only the DA-62 - IFR usually around 8,000 or 9,000 feet always live time and weather), the ability to have flights and starting locations saved as files, the ability to start in the cockpit cold and dark without work arounds, and the biggest issue for me I think is the 2024 is the user interface - for me thats the showstopper. If 2024 ever has a sim update addressing the user interface and allowing to start directly in the cockpit I would be more tempted to shift - but until then 2024 sits on my system unused.

Just a heads up for anyone reading this thread that uses MSFS 2020... Sim Update 16 (SU16) in August 2025 unified the base global scenery for both 2020 & 2024 - so now the MSFS 2024 China scenery is also served in MSFS 2020.

MSFS 2020 is still a current product - it’s still sold worldwide. Many countries in the world (including mine) have laws which demand a minimum support period. So 2020 is certainly going to be available (ie photography and scenery streamed) for a long time. In the case of my country I think it is for 7 years after it becomes unavailable to purchase so the timer to non-support hasn’t even started yet. Jorg explained the usage of 2020 and 2024 in his interview with FSElete a few days ago. Microsoft analytics show that the users of 2020 and 2024 are different. Watch or listen to the interview.

For MSFS 4 (ie FS4) I created and published regional scenery (including every airport and even small airstrips) for the south east of Australia. 3 products, first Sydney, then Melbourne and finally Canberra. With the 3 products you could fly from the Hunter region all the way to King Island Tasmania, with every VOR, NDB and airfield. The software included a thick manual, charts etc and floppy disks. Available in stores. Ha, those were the days! 🙂

Thats unlikely to happen! MSFS (2020 version) is still sold in the Microsoft Store (as a one off purchase). Most countries have consumer laws that require a product to function as described/promoted/intended for a reasonable lifetime after a purchase. In my country that would be considered at the minimum being 5 years. MSFS 2020 and 2024 are are now essentially different application layers fed by a common datasource (the digital twin). Many users of 2020 consider their application layer to be mature, and there are many calls in the Microsoft forums for the developers not to make any further changes to the 2020 application layer due to the risk of the developers "messing up" the working sim - most of the current complaints from 2020 users relating to the digital twin quality rather than the MSFS2020 application layer itself.

MSFS (the 2020 version) is still being sold by Microsoft. It's in the store, the marketing pages are all still up. It's still being sold around the world and in my country (and many more) it's against consumer law to sell something without a reasonable product lifespan. People saying 2020 is "dead", "unsupported" etc are really misinformed. I've even seem people concerned that Microsoft will "turn off" the 2020 servers - huh, what??? A key reason for 2020's upcoming update (16) is to complete 2020's use of the unified cloud content - ie 2020 uses the same digital twin, the same weather data from the same servers. It's the simulator user application layer and to what extent and data elements the two generations of the application (2020 or 2024) interacts and renders the Azure cloud content (digital twin, weather data) that is different between 2020 & 2024. So what do people mean when they fear Microsoft is going to "turn off" the 2020 servers - after application update 16 they are exactly the same servers that are serving 2024. I myself own both 2020 and 2024. To me both have a different feel and even targeted to slightly different markets. I never use 2024 (apart from occasionally looking to see if it's improving). I use 2020 every day.

Scenery Gateway is planed to return soon (next 6-12 months?). It was suspended after it's trial and will move to being reintroduced once MSFS 2024 and 2020 are served from the same digital twin scenery (ie the planet we fly over). At the moment MSFS 2024 is using a later version of the world than 2020. Around the time of the 2024 launch Jorg mentioned that 2020 would eventually be fed from the same digital twin as the new 2024 version. The two versions of the world would have duplicated the communities effort to work on the gateway scenery due to slight terrain differences, alignments etc, once both 2020 and 2024's worlds are the same then a Scenery Gateway mod created in either sim will seamlessly flow to the other. The upcoming Service Pack for 2020 is expected to deliver to 2020 the new world (2024's digital twin).

Hey thanks for testing! That's great!

It's a shame this debate isn't in a psychology forum! 🙂 There is an excellent essay by Jonathan Hadith, Social Psychologist, NYU Stern School of Business published on The Atlantic... https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/05/social-media-democracy-trust-babel/629369/ If a nutshell "when critics go silent, groups get stupid". Criticism by some of MSFS 2024 is not only justified, but should be encouraged (assuming their argument holds merit) to ensure the long term viability of our flight simulation hobby!

bennyboy75 wrote... "The streaming ones run like crapola but YWMV." Here is Australia YMMV looks like it would be a ICAO code for an airport - for example I live near YSRI and I often fly out of YSSY. One day YMMV is bound to be assigned 😹

I was thinking of creating a whole new topic to cover my thoughts over the past few days, but what the heck—I’ll just reply here instead. First off, I’m not saying any user type is correct or better! What’s really clear (at least to me) is that MSFS attracts a wide range of users. There are gamers who comment, saying, "I’m giving up and going to other games." (For the record, I’m not a gamer—MSFS V1 from the 1980s and each never version is the only “game” I’ve ever played. What grabbed my interest way back then was the idea of simulating IFR flight using VORs and NDBs.) Then there are “train set” users who enjoy exploring detailed environments, like walking through terminals, simulating buying a coffee, and then heading to the flight deck. There are also plenty of other user types—people who fly tubeliners and use GSX, among many others. As for me, I fly only one (!!!) aircraft: the DA-62. I use MSFS as a home FTD—a non-motion navigation trainer with believable graphics. My focus is mainly on flying instrument approaches and occasional cross-country flights, always ending with an instrument approach. Last night, I watched a YouTube video where the uploader compared MSFS 2020 and MSFS 2024 in a split-screen approach into SBRJ. The comments were fascinating because many viewers couldn’t tell the difference between the two sims. It was like a blind Coke vs. Pepsi test—some even preferred the visuals of 2020 over 2024. Since I only fly the DA-62, I’m not likely to move to 2024 anytime soon. The 2024 version of the DA-62 includes a massive EFB tablet suction-cupped to the right seat window. Even if you click the EFB away, the suction cup mount remains. That’s not appealing to me. Additionally, I’m not interested in career mode features like earning money to “buy” aircraft or designing a pilot avatar. I even hide any visible “people” in the cockpit. I’ve seen people post screenshots of MSFS 2024 to show its improved visuals, but those images often look worse than what I already see in 2020. For now, 2020 works reliably for me and exceeds the visual quality I’ve observed in many 2024 screenshots shared on forums. Of course, I’ll eventually move to 2024, but at the moment, it feels like a step backward due to bugs and other issues. Please don’t get me wrong—my point is that the MSFS community is broad and diverse. Opinions about whether 2024 or 2020 is better are interesting to read, but it’s clearly not black and white. I’m glad Microsoft made the wise decision to keep 2020 available alongside 2024 rather than forcing a complete replacement. (2020 is still available to purchase in the Microsoft Store, so it’s not an obsolete product.) So you can feel free to choose what works for the type of experience you are looking for - for me even one auto-pilot or navigation bug impacting my flight is annoying and I'm not going to use something until it is superior to my current experience for my user case.

Regardless of if these observations are placebo or not, in a developer stream prior to the MSFS2024 launch Jorg did mention that the 2020 Bing imagery would be updated to be the 2024 imagery around 2 months (from my memory) following the 2024 launch. The impression given was the lag in deployment was a technical timing reality. He wasn't talking about 2020 receiving the same amount of terrain polygon resolution as 2024, he was talking about the Bing imagery, the ground textures placed on the planet would be the same in both sims. I assume this is a practical decision - serve both sims from the same texture source. So it will be interesting to see how much of a visual impact (I assume improvement) this will be. I wonder if this will be impacted, delayed, due to the amount of effort being focused on to tame 2024 at the moment.

I haven't tried 2024 because I have been traveling (I typical fly 2020 a few hours a day when home) - I fly back home tomorrow but I doubt I will purchase 2024 on arrival which had been my plan. The whole building a pilot avatar choosing your hair and bling and game user interface is a BIG turn off for me, and I already totally love 2020, it looks real to my eyes! I hope Parallel 42 (or someone else) builds a 2024 Stripr product that focuses on free-flight user interface and does away with the gamification like walk-around etc.

I didn't pre-order, simply because I didn't see the point of it and planned to buy 2024 on launch day. But after reading and watching I'm waiting. MSFS 2020 runs perfectly for me and suits how I use a sim 100%. So I'm quitting with my plan to buy 2024 any time soon. After reading all the comments since launch it's interesting how wide a net of user types the MSFS sims appeals to. There are many comments from pretty dedicated users (that were active in the forums with 2020) saying they were putting aside 2024 and then naming other game titles they are going to spend time in the next few weeks/months such as train sims, farm sims, other games. To me this was so interesting - I'm not interested in any other games - simply an obsessive flight simmer since MSFS version 2 in the 1980's. Which got me thinking and wondering how typical is my usage of the sim. I only fly one aircraft - in 2020 it has been the DA62, learn it inside out, fly it daily and hopefully master it to fly instrument approaches, and maybe occasional short hops. The simulation of real world procedures using real world charts (Navigraph) in the twin is what interests me. So my use for 2020 and eventually 2024 is to be a "budget" flight trainer sim, and designing an aviator, selecting preferred facial hair and sunglasses or even doing do walk arounds prior to being in the cockpit etc are not something that interests me. I can see I'm in the minority. I hope Parallel42 or like 3rd party company works on a new UI product, similar to their Stripr and Flow offerings to allow me to skip all the skeuomorphism in the user interface allowing a more direct path to the cold and dark cockpit. I feel a tiny bit sad, thinking will scenery developers from now on only release 2024 versions, as I expect I will be still using 2020 for at least a few more years. It's not that I dont want to move to 2024, it's that moving at the moment would be a massive downgrade to my current experience.