5 ms·

It's been pretty jaw-dropping to see the visuals on Youtube over the past months. I hope it's every bit as good as it looks...that screenshot showing the city l

It's been pretty jaw-dropping to see the visuals on Youtube over the past months. I hope it's every bit as good as it looks...that screenshot showing the city lights at evening is just a beaut. I'm not sure if I'll splurge sooner or later, but I like to set up homebrew missions in the flight sims I have on hand here. It's been fun to throw the dice and add some variables into what can become an air-taxi game (dice determine time of day, passengers, weather, location, payment, maintenance costs, etc.), a rescue game, a stunt-flying game, and so on... My son and I once tried simulating an Indiana Jones-style adventure by stealing a Ju-87 from Berlin, but the flight model for that thing was a bit too detailed and we couldn't recover from my son's urgent zoom-climb. :-) Anyway, I had fun imitating John Rhys-Davies with the soundtrack playing in the background, all the way down. It's a great hobby, major props to Microsoft on their attention to this new effort.

LoSboccacc 6y ago
pc game pass is 1$/month first month hardly a splurge - not joined in yet but fs2020 could make me
- cavanasm 6y ago
  I've been a PC game pass subscriber since they started it up and haven't been disappointed. I honestly think it's one of the best values in gaming right now. Not every game on game pass is something you're going to love, but they have big depth and variety and a commitment to NEW releases, no waiting years for big titles like PS+ (to be clear, I own a PS4 and a PC, no actual Xbox).
  - LoSboccacc 6y ago
    so quick question does it immediately jump to 5$ or is it 1$ while in beta? the promotion material isn't entirely clear to me anyway yeah seems great value even if it's for two AAA from the whole catalogue you come ahead quite fast.
    - greyskull 6y ago
      GP is not in beta, the $1 is a promo. https://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-game-pass#join https://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-game-pass#join is clear I think. $5/mo is also temporary.
      - LoSboccacc 6y ago
        game pass isn't beta, but pc game pass clearly is labelled as such https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/xbox-game-pass-for-pc-beta/cfq7ttc0kgq8?activetab=pivot%3aoverviewtab https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/xbox-game-pass-for-pc-beta...
        greyskull 6y ago
        Ah. The app is, but the service itself isn't.
zoomablemind 6y ago
Another interesting aspect of FS is a chance to practice real ATC comms. At least with the older version, there was a way to connect to a network of actual people "manning" ATC points. IIRC, it was called squawk box addon. I never tried it, but always thought I should learn the protocol and lingo. This would add more realism. I imagine it may be also a way to appreciate the complexity of ATC operator's job.
- RandomBacon 6y ago
  VATSIM?
  - zoomablemind 6y ago
    Wow. You can connect with XPlane too. Here's more info https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_Air_Traffic_Simulation_Network https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_Air_Traffic_Simulati... Surprisingly, a recent news on VATSIM partnering with FS. https://twinfinite.net/2020/07/microsoft-flight-simulator-vatsim/ https://twinfinite.net/2020/07/microsoft-flight-simulator-va...
- wrycoder 6y ago
  There is a whole world to discover here, both literally and figuratively. There are numerous virtual airlines. For example, https://flyuk.aero/ https://flyuk.aero/ which is integrated with VATSIM and IVAO. FlyUK is UK based, of course, but has extensive EU operations and also international operations through other virtual airline partners. https://www.vatsim.net/ https://www.vatsim.net/ itself is an organization of aircraft and Airline Traffic Controller (ATC) sim enthusiasts. At this moment, I see about 900 pilots and 90 ATC on line. These organizations offer pilot and ATC training. There are many events scheduled, e.g. https://www.vatsim.net/events/southern-africa-triangle https://www.vatsim.net/events/southern-africa-triangle http://ivao.co.uk/cms/events_id.php?id=412 http://ivao.co.uk/cms/events_id.php?id=412 https://flyuk.aero/tours/lets-do-europe https://flyuk.aero/tours/lets-do-europe It will be awhile before all these services are fully integrated with the new MSFS and a new community of third party aircraft and utilities are available.

LoSboccacc 6y ago

pc game pass is 1$/month first month hardly a splurge - not joined in yet but fs2020 could make me

cavanasm 6y ago
I've been a PC game pass subscriber since they started it up and haven't been disappointed. I honestly think it's one of the best values in gaming right now. Not every game on game pass is something you're going to love, but they have big depth and variety and a commitment to NEW releases, no waiting years for big titles like PS+ (to be clear, I own a PS4 and a PC, no actual Xbox).
- LoSboccacc 6y ago
  so quick question does it immediately jump to 5$ or is it 1$ while in beta? the promotion material isn't entirely clear to me anyway yeah seems great value even if it's for two AAA from the whole catalogue you come ahead quite fast.
  - greyskull 6y ago
    GP is not in beta, the $1 is a promo. https://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-game-pass#join https://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-game-pass#join is clear I think. $5/mo is also temporary.
    - LoSboccacc 6y ago
      game pass isn't beta, but pc game pass clearly is labelled as such https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/xbox-game-pass-for-pc-beta/cfq7ttc0kgq8?activetab=pivot%3aoverviewtab https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/xbox-game-pass-for-pc-beta...
      - greyskull 6y ago
        Ah. The app is, but the service itself isn't.

zoomablemind 6y ago

Another interesting aspect of FS is a chance to practice real ATC comms. At least with the older version, there was a way to connect to a network of actual people "manning" ATC points. IIRC, it was called squawk box addon. I never tried it, but always thought I should learn the protocol and lingo. This would add more realism. I imagine it may be also a way to appreciate the complexity of ATC operator's job.

RandomBacon 6y ago
VATSIM?
- zoomablemind 6y ago
  Wow. You can connect with XPlane too. Here's more info https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_Air_Traffic_Simulation_Network https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_Air_Traffic_Simulati... Surprisingly, a recent news on VATSIM partnering with FS. https://twinfinite.net/2020/07/microsoft-flight-simulator-vatsim/ https://twinfinite.net/2020/07/microsoft-flight-simulator-va...
wrycoder 6y ago
There is a whole world to discover here, both literally and figuratively. There are numerous virtual airlines. For example, https://flyuk.aero/ https://flyuk.aero/ which is integrated with VATSIM and IVAO. FlyUK is UK based, of course, but has extensive EU operations and also international operations through other virtual airline partners. https://www.vatsim.net/ https://www.vatsim.net/ itself is an organization of aircraft and Airline Traffic Controller (ATC) sim enthusiasts. At this moment, I see about 900 pilots and 90 ATC on line. These organizations offer pilot and ATC training. There are many events scheduled, e.g. https://www.vatsim.net/events/southern-africa-triangle https://www.vatsim.net/events/southern-africa-triangle http://ivao.co.uk/cms/events_id.php?id=412 http://ivao.co.uk/cms/events_id.php?id=412 https://flyuk.aero/tours/lets-do-europe https://flyuk.aero/tours/lets-do-europe It will be awhile before all these services are fully integrated with the new MSFS and a new community of third party aircraft and utilities are available.