9 ms·
An Inside Look at Microsoft’s Newest Flight Simulator
- NKosmatos 7y agoNice one!!! Having played with many MSFSs in the distant past(90s), I can’t wait to try this one out. Another page with lots of info: https://flyawaysimulation.com/news/4953/ https://flyawaysimulation.com/news/4953/
- thelazydogsback 7y agoWow, looks amazing! Quite an improvement over V1 of FlightSim. (Nevermind A2FS1 on the TRS-80, lol.)
- jen729w 7y ago...or my beloved F/A-18 Interceptor for the Amiga. I’d love to know how many hours of my youth were spent on this game. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F/A-18_Interceptor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F/A-18_Interceptor
- immigrantsheep 7y agoCame here for this :) it's such an old game and I remember it so fondly.
- jacobush 7y agoThe missions are also so no-nonsense and believable.
- sandos 7y agoI was about ... 12 or so when I played this, and its just stuck in my brain in a way few things are. Flying around that antenna and the golden gate bridge was awesome!
- sundvor 7y agoYep. One of my favourite games ever. It just ran so incredibly smooth. And that music! Blown away by what I'm seeing from the new Flight Simulator. Very excited about this. Whilst on the (semi off) topic of combat sims, you might find this enjoyable - the trailer for the new F-16 sim in DCS World. It's also quite out there; it's an exciting time to be into flight sims as ever! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXZsi7CTpys https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXZsi7CTpys
- steve19 7y ago> While the team is currently evaluating something like an in-sim store for supplemental content, there will be no requirements to use it, and no restrictions of any kind on downloading freeware or payware add-ons from other sources. Great news. I was sure when I first heard the announcement Microsoft was going to try control the market, which would ruin the ecosystem.
- pastrami_panda 7y agoThis looks very impressive. 60 volumetric cloud layers, plus 20 data layers of various other atmospheric conditions. Sounds like they're utilizing RTX to fullest because I doubt this is possible for real-time without ray-tracing acceleration hardware? But this part in the article sounds weird to me: > the new engine brings higher-fidelity collision detection, which makes things like bumpy runways, braking on slick surfaces, varying degrees of friction, etc. much more nuanced. Under the hood, the development team has done significant work with integration, using something called adaptive time steps. The upshot is that the simulation now always updates at the same frequency as the visual frame rate. This sounds more like the physics solver can run adaptively at whatever timestep currently needed, based on the simulation conditions for the frame, no? Edit: Sounds like a framedrop results in a dropped physics solver iteration as well I suppose?
- anjc 7y agoThey said that they aren't using raytracing I believe. That'd be great if they did, I don't think there are any killer apps for a 2080ti yet, but this would certainly be one.
- ladberg 7y agoI don't think there's anything here that would particularly benefit from raytracing. Raytracing usually shines when modeling stuff like reflections, refractions, and multiple light sources that are expensive with shaders, but I don't see much of that here.
- anjc 7y agoAgree, but I suppose I meant more in terms of optimizing performance by making use of idle 2080TI RT cores. Volumetric cloud lighting as OP said, cabin reflections, water perhaps.. I'll take anything that would mean the community doesn't need to keep modifying .CFG parameters to get an extra few FPS
- pastrami_panda 7y agoI thought rendering layered volumetric stuff is where RTX would shine but I don't know much about that type of rendering tbh.
- anjc 7y agoThis looks amazing, and I'd love to switch back to MS after having to switch to XPlane. However: no VR no buy. No matter how many improvements they've made, VR + 13 year old FSX will be much more immersive and useful. It's insane that any sim developer would not even have VR on their post-launch road map. If running their engine at a sufficient framerate is an issue for VR, then it's insane that they didn't consider this from the ground up. Even 25 years ago VR was a consideration for flight sim developers (anyone remember EF2000 and the VFX1?).
- dreamcompiler 7y agoI'm holding out for VR too. The headsets are just not good enough yet. The view outside the cockpit is easy, but showing the in-cockpit instruments without pixellation or picket fence effects was not quite there yet last time I checked.
- anjc 7y agoI use a CV1 with XPlane and...OK the instruments are pixellated from a fully seated position, but lean forward a few inches and they're legible. Any such issues are fully compensated by the sense of height you gain and positional awareness. I could never go back to a monitor setup for flight sim. If my CV1 is fine, I'd imagine that the current headsets are more than adequate for reading instruments.
- dreamcompiler 7y agoThanks! Maybe it's time for me to jump in.
- shifto 7y agoI was like you before I went VR but I was blown away. It's so much better than people make it out to be. You forget the pixels after a few moments getting very into the experience. Nowadays I don't even want to play Elite Dangerous anymore without VR!
- 7y ago
- Hypergraphe 7y agoAs a long-time simmer, this is really impressive given the state of the art. A shame they did not adresse properly AI traffic and ATC which is really a big issue in current sims.
- cjrp 7y agoLooking at the videos and how much emphasis they've placed on the quality of the scenery, I get the feeling this version will be mostly focused on VFR flying, rather than flying in to big commercial airports with ATC and lots of traffic.
- Hypergraphe 7y agoAgreed, imo atc topic has been neglected by all fs softwares so far because it is aimed for advanced users only. I mean it does not sale your product to the masses.
- sundvor 7y agoFor ATC in FSX, on a less serious note, you'd be amiss to go past Airforceproud95's work in his Youtube channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeC0ZTT8n7E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeC0ZTT8n7E ( and his coverage of the new FS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TY56kA8oY0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TY56kA8oY0 )
- Hypergraphe 7y agoHa ha yes I know this video ;). I actually tried vatsim a couple of times but it is not for me, a fully integrated AI solution for ATC would be better => adapted real world traffic, SID/STARS management, HOLD patterns, noise procedures, random events, and a good ui for managing all of this.
- jillesvangurp 7y agoIf you fly at 35000 feet, a lot of that scenery is either not visible at all or miles below and in front of you. Either way, you are not going to be able to appreciate the level of detail much. So, VFR is indeed where this shines. Same with super realistic flight characteristics. That's nice but maybe not that relevant with the auto pilot on. With VFR that's a different story and very much part of the experience. I've done a bit of VFR flying with x-plane and it's kind of cool to be able to navigate parts of the world that you know by simply looking at it as opposed to wondering where in this bland brown/green monotonous plane is my airport. Ortho4XP has been a key enabler for this. But this is just a level beyond that. I've seen reports from several youtube pilots I've followed for years that went in somewhat skeptical and came out completely convinced. The basic message is that this is awesome, works as advertised, and is way better than anything seen before. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fj8h6yibHHc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fj8h6yibHHc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrJs0jK4a1g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrJs0jK4a1g
- Razengan 7y agoAre there any good space flight simulators with hypothetical space craft with realistic physics? Do "construction" games like Kerbal Space Program have that?
- fredley 7y agoThe space flight simulation/orbital mechanics in KSP is very good/realistic, miles better than anything else out there anyway.
- LoSboccacc 7y agoand you can mod n.body and real universe in it: https://github.com/mockingbirdnest/Principia https://github.com/mockingbirdnest/Principia https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/177216-161-real-solar-system-v162-19-apr-2019/ https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/177216... getting them all to work together might be a little finicky, for a realistic simulation I'd go just with Principia, as the compressed distances and smaller forces seems to help a lot with game stability
- bbojan 7y agoOrbiter. It's free, too. http://orbit.medphys.ucl.ac.uk/ http://orbit.medphys.ucl.ac.uk/
- canthonytucci 7y agoMany great videos on YouTube showing just how flight simulatorish orbiter really is. You spend a lot of time figuring out how to time burns to manage your orbit.
- Cthulhu_ 7y agoI don't know if the physics are realistic, but Elite: Dangerous is the closest thing to a space flight simulator. Distance wise it's realistic at least, in that even with FTL speeds going 300x the speed of light you take forever to get to another planet.
- sorenjan 7y agoBased on real world data, I wonder if this will get included in mapping products too? Maybe a Microsoft version of Google Earth? I know it's called a flight simulator. but can you play and get enjoyment out it with only a gamepad? I don't know if I want to buy the right hardware for it until I've tried it.
- tokai 7y agoFlight sims are much better with with a gamepad, than only keyboard/mouse.
- sorenjan 7y agoI meant is it fun to play with only a gamepad in contrast to a joystick and more specialized flight sim controls. Are people really playing this with keyboard and mouse?
- goblin89 7y agoI use a flight sim (X-Plane, though) with mouse and keyboard alone. For me it’s mostly about navigation realism and IFR, most of the time I’m adjusting heading bug and watching needles on the instruments, takeoff/landing and emergencies aside. While realistic controls could be nice, you’d never feel complete immersion due to lack of changing (and potentially disorienting in some scenarios) gravity forces. To me the tradeoff is not worth it right now, I’d rather fly an actual plane when I can.
- sorenjan 7y agoThanks, I guess I'll give it a go when it's released then. It looks interesting.
- goblin89 7y agoYes, it’s really cool to be able to look up online the actual real-world area and airport charts with radio frequencies and all, plan your flight with something like SkyVector (free, no affiliation), and then reproduce it fully in the sim with actual weather and without relying on in-game map for hints. To a bystander it may seem like watching paint dry, but it’s quite engaging and not so easy. The worst (and/or most fun) is when you are in a cloud, lose your instruments/AP and suddenly notice your compass spinning like crazy (one time I forgot to switch the alternator on and the battery powering most of the instruments ran out, plus sims usually also have configurable random failures). It’s quite trivial to just lose track of your position as well at first. I pick some old aircraft like Cessna Skyhawk usually, it has autopilot and most common instruments, but its AP is not so advanced that I’d have to spend a chunk of my time sitting around keying in data in order to fly it properly.
- plg 7y agofirst thought: ack! I may have to buy a Windows machine second thought: phew at least it will be a lot cheaper than my Mac and probably better specs per dollar ;)
- goblin89 7y agoTL;DR: New MS Flight Simulator features overhauled flight model, bringing it closer to (or up to par with) X-Plane; overhauled whole-planet scenery (again, parity with XP); still apparently no cross-platform support. I’m a happy user of X-Plane 11, never used MS Flight Similator before. This update looks very enticing and may compel me to install Windows to try it out and potentially switch. I wonder how well it does on navigation realism—compass drifting, radio (nav aids, ATC communications) and such. X-Plane frustratingly lacks realistic ATC in many non-US airports, resorting to “Top-level area controller”, and sometimes—admittedly rarely—IRL radio navaid frequencies I’d find online are not replicated within the simulator. If new MS simulator fares better in that regard, the switch may be imminent for me. I’m also curious about VATSIM integration, but I’m not too fixed on it as something I’m yet to actually use.
- omni 7y agoAre you running X-Plane 11 with some terrain mods or something? I'm clicking through some Youtube videos of it and the terrain in X-Plane isn't even close to what's in this MSFS video.
- goblin89 7y agoI was only pointing out that the new MSFS has whole-planet terrain and many thousands airports, like X-Plane. Whether the terrain looks better or not I don't know and frankly don’t care that much, it probably heavily depends on the setup as well. I heard clouds in MSFS look better. If its weather doesn’t momentarily glitch out as it is being updated in accordance with real-life conditions, like what happens in X-Plane sometimes, that’d be nice to have too.
- lostmsu 7y agoHoly shit that is a level of detail. I can see my house on the picture with rain in south Seattle!