August 4th, 2022 Development Update - Microsoft Flight Simulator

Screenshot by HeKa48 (Forum)

Our third Beta build, 1.27.13, released this morning at 8am PT. You can find the list of patch notes in our forums here, as well as vote in the new surveys here. We already see important feedback coming through and appreciate you taking the time to share your comparisons, regressions, thoughts, and more. Our team will continue to triage the issues you have already captured as we head into the final few weeks of Beta testing.

The Microsoft Flight Sim team also had a great time exploring EAA AirVenture Oshkosh this past weekend. Check out a few of the latest videos here for a small glimpse of our experience!

MSFS Team

Development Roadmap

Click here for the web-friendly version of the most recent Development Roadmap.

Feedback snapshot

Check out July 21st’s Development Update for the most recent Feedback Snapshot. The web-friendly version is available here.

Marketplace Update

Click here for the web-friendly version.

There are 32 new and 56 updated products in the Marketplace today. Marketplace updates generally go live on Thursdays between the release of this blog post and 5pm PT.

32 NEW PRODUCTS: 14 ON PC, 18 ON XBOX
New on PC and Xbox ✅	New on PC and Xbox ✅	New on PC and Xbox ✅
New on PC and Xbox ✅	New on PC and Xbox ✅	New on PC and Xbox ✅
New on PC and Xbox ✅	New on PC and Xbox ✅	New on PC and Xbox ✅
New on PC and Xbox ✅	New on PC ✅	New on PC and Xbox ✅
New on PC and Xbox ✅	New on Xbox ✅	New on Xbox ✅
New on Xbox ✅	New on PC and Xbox ✅	New on Xbox ✅
	New on Xbox ✅

56 UPDATED PRODUCTS: 31 ON PC, 25 ON XBOX
Updated on PC and Xbox ✅	Updated on PC and Xbox ✅	Updated on PC and Xbox ✅
Updated on PC and Xbox ✅	Updated on PC and Xbox ✅	Updated on PC and Xbox ✅
Updated on PC and Xbox ✅	Updated on PC and Xbox ✅	Updated on PC and Xbox ✅
Updated on PC and Xbox ✅	Updated on PC and Xbox ✅	Updated on PC and Xbox ✅
Updated on PC and Xbox ✅	Updated on PC and Xbox ✅	Updated on PC and Xbox ✅
Updated on PC and Xbox ✅	Updated on PC and Xbox ✅	Updated on PC and Xbox ✅
Updated on PC and Xbox ✅	Updated on PC and Xbox ✅	Updated on PC ✅
Updated on PC and Xbox ✅	Updated on PC and Xbox ✅	Updated on PC ✅
Updated on PC ✅	Updated on PC and Xbox ✅	Updated on PC and Xbox ✅
Updated on PC and Xbox ✅	Updated on Xbox ✅	Updated on PC ✅
	Updated on PC ✅

SDK Update

Roadmap:

- Sim Update 10

- - For Premium & Deluxe aircraft, the config files (.cfg) will no longer be encrypted. You’ll be able to access them to mod these aircraft!
  - Terrain & Weather Radar Drawing APIs
  - NavData & Airport Data Reading API for SimConnect and WASM.
  - Aircraft Editor V2
  - Smart Docking System: the game can now be rendered in its own window in the Devmode, allowing you to re-arrange your editors around it.

Sim Update 10 Beta:

- We published the SDK 0.19.1.0 and refreshed the Online version of the documentation for the current flighting.

- - The BGLExplorer which was missing from the previous distribution is now included.
  - The Platform Toolset for Visual Studio 2022 does not require the Visual Studio 2019 tools anymore.
  - The VS WASM Debugger Extension now works with both Visual Studio 2019 & 2022.

General:

- XML Gauges

- - Package fonts are now added to the Windows Fonts table only when drawing with GDI+. This is to avoid the fonts file locking when using NanoVG, which prevented packages from getting rebuilt when in use. (SU10)
  - We fixed a crash upon freeing-up font data. (SU10)

- Material Editor

- - We fixed the misleading message that said the user was editing a material from a specific asset group while it was showing the name of the package. (SU11)

- Package Builder

- - An empty Material Library will now compile as expected instead of throwing a cryptic error. (SU11)

- Aircraft Editor

- - We fixed the “Save and reload” button found in the “Cameras” tab. (SU10)
  - We added a search bar to easily locate parameters. (SU11)

- Scenery Editor

- - We fixed a crash at exit after using vector placement. (SU10)
  - We added a warning for vector placement with several meshes. (SU11)
  - We fixed an issue when plugging particle specific computation in Rate parameter of Emitter block. (SU11)

- SimConnect

- - We fixed a crash in the new NavData API. (SU10)

- WASM

- - We fixed the .obj generation which would sometimes lead the compilation to fail. (SU10)

Third Party Update

As of 07/23, we have now approved 263 (+12) third parties into the in-sim marketplace and – so far 159 (+6) have released 1,294 products on PC (+59) and 1,003 on Xbox (+47).
In total, 2,340 products (+52) have already been released in 3^rd party stores and the in-sim marketplace. Beyond that, another 591 products (+14) from 3^rd party developers are in production (311 announced, 280 unannounced). In total, over 2,931 3^rd party products (+59) have either been released or are in development.
Airports:

- 1,512 airports (+23) are either released or are in various stages of development.

- - 1,388 airports (+25) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
  - 827 airports (+22) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
  - 119 airports (+0) beyond the released airports have been announced.
  - 105 airports (-2) are not announced, but the dev let us know that an airport is in production.

Aircraft:

- 424 aircraft (+22) are either released or are in various stages of development.

- - 149 aircraft (+5) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
  - 105 aircraft (+3) have been released in the in-sim PC marketplace.
  - 76 aircraft (+4) have been released in the in-sim Xbox marketplace.
  - 173 aircraft (+4) beyond the released aircraft have been announced.
  - 102 aircraft (+13) are not announced, but the dev let us know that an aircraft is in production.

Scenery:

- 798 scenery packs (+11) are either released or are in various stages of development.

- - 706 scenery packs (+19) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
  - 194 scenery packs (+9) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
  - 19 scenery packs (+1) beyond the released scenery have been announced.
  - 73 scenery packs (-2) are not announced, but the dev let us know that scenery is in production.

Mission Packs:

- 97 mission packs (+3) are either released or are in various stages of development.

- - 97 mission packs (+3) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
  - 31 mission packs (+1) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
  - 0 mission packs (+0) beyond the released missions have been announced.
  - 0 mission packs (-0) are not announced, but the dev let us know that they are in production.

Twitch Update

We stream weekly on twitch.tv/MSFSOfficial. August 5 is the 12th anniversary of the Copiapó mining accident, an industrial disaster in which 33 Chilean miners were trapped underground following a cave-in. All 33 miners were successfully rescued and safely returned to the surface by October 13, 69 days after the collapse. To commemorate this event, our Community Fly-In Friday this week will see us tour the Atacama Desert in Chile, including a fly-over of the site of the Copiapó mine. All are welcome to participate! Click here for event details.

We had an incredible preliminary round of our Reno Air Race Series: Presented by Tobii. Every racer gave it their all and we now have 7 grand finalists prepping to compete next Wednesday, August 10th at 1900Z on our Twitch channel. Chewwy94 will be joining us again for live commentating E-sports style, and we are ready to crown the grand champion! We hope to see you there. Click here to watch the preliminary round if you missed it!

Community Video

Going beyond a basic gamepad setup is one of the best ways to enhance your enjoyment by increasing the sense of immersion and realism while flying in Microsoft Flight Simulator. PC simmers have dozens of control options available to them, but those who enjoy MSFS on the Xbox platform have a more limited (but growing!) selection of flight controls. Which one is right for you? Over at YouTube, SimHanger Flight Simulation recently posted a run-down of the various yokes and throttles currently supported on the Xbox platform. If you’re an Xbox simmer thinking about upgrading your controls, watch this video for more information.

Screenshot Challenge

You can submit your screenshot via Twitter with #MSFSchallenge or the Weekly Forum Post ! This week’s screenshot challenge: Small but Mighty Ponds and Lakes

This past week our Screenshot Challenge was “Go With the Snow”. Here are this week’s runner ups: