February 16th, 2023 Development Update - Microsoft Flight Simulator

Screenshot by nin_aoironinja (Twitter)

Following-up on our update from last week, the development team continues to prepare the first Sim Update 12 beta for release to those players who have opted in to receive test builds. We will have more information to share, including the SU12 beta patch notes, as soon as the test build is ready to be released to testers. Please note the update in today’s Development Roadmap that indicates the scheduled release date for SU12 has been pushed back by one week, now targeted for March 21.

SU12 isn’t the only update on the horizon, though. Coming next week on February 23, we are proud to release World Update 12: New Zealand. This update will include more accurate terrain elevation data plus dozens of new hand-crafted points of interest and bespoke airports. We’re excited for everyone to experience the updated version of New Zealand next week!

Last week’s issue that was affecting Live Weather has been resolved. Thank you for your patience and understanding as our teams worked to restore normal service for the Live Weather system.

MSFS Team

Feedback Snapshot

There is no Feedback Snapshot this week. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Development Roadmap

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

Marketplace Update

Click here for the web-friendly version of the Marketplace Update.

Available in today’s Marketplace Update from our friends at Project Stratosphere is the Kitfox Speedster Series 7! Check out the trailer for this aircraft:

There are 24 new and 26 updated products in the Marketplace today. Marketplace updates generally go live on Thursdays between the release of this blog post and 5pm PT.

24 NEW PRODUCTS: 12 ON PC, 12 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 and Xbox	New on PC and Xbox

36 UPDATED PRODUCTS: 19 ON PC, 17 ON XBOX
Updated on PC and Xbox	Updated on PC	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 and Xbox
	Updated on PC and Xbox

SDK UPDATE

Asobo

Package Builder
- We strengthened the Package Validator in order to avoid issues further down the ingestion pipeline.
Aircraft Editor
- We fixed the cfg reading of values starting with ‘{’.
Scenery Editor
- We fixed the fact that airports were disappearing when we weren’t editing them.
- We fixed the One-click placing of airports.
- We improved the objects list.
- We reduced the loading time for glTF names.

Working Title / MSFS Avionics Framework

We are still working to finalize the framework update for AAU01 content, including plug-in documentation – stay tuned.
Remember you can find the MSFS Avionics Framework on GitHub here.
Upcoming framework updates:
- Added parameter to set the initial selected altitude to the APConfig interface for the framework autopilot. (AAU02)
- Added new SoundServer class to the framework that allows developers to play arbitrary sequences of avionics sounds organized into packets instead of just one file at a time. (AAU02)
- Added new FuelSystemData publisher to the framework event bus to support custom bus events for fuel system related data, such as valve states. (AUU02)

Avionics Framework Feature Highlight: The Event Bus
- What is it:
  - The Event Bus is a data transfer bus available to developers using the Avionics Framework that serves the same purpose as a real-world avionics data bus. The Event Bus allows the developer to transmit data from one system/component of an instrument to other systems on the same instrument, or even between instruments such as transferring data between an FMC and PFD or MFD.
- Why use it:
  - The Event Bus was designed to accommodate essentially any data type defined within the framework or your project, from simple Booleans or Enums, to complex object structures such as flight plan data, in the most performant way possible. Prior to the Event Bus, data had to be moved between instruments using Simulation Variables (simvars) or Local Variables (lvars), which generally limited your data to a single value per variable, and could also negatively impact frame time. As the name implies, the Event Bus is event-driven, rather than update loop driven, meaning that consumers of the data are only notified when the data value actually changes.
- Simple example:
  - Imagine you want to control the color of a data value on the PFD based on a selection in the FMC. Before the Event Bus, you would have needed to set a local variable on the FMC for this feature; your PFD would then need to check the value of that local variable frequently (perhaps every frame) to check whether the value had changed and, if it had, to change the color of the displayed data on the PFD. However, with the Event Bus, we can now create an Event Bus Topic, then publish that event only when the setting changes on the FMC and the PFD component that controls the color would ‘subscribe’ to that topic on the PFD; this component would be notified when an event with that topic was published and would only then take action to change the display color of the value.
- Read more about the Event Bus here!

THIRD PARTY UPDATE

As of 01/27, we have now approved 209 (+0) third parties into the in-sim marketplace and – so far 179 (+1) have released 1,656 products on PC(+15) and 1,368 on Xbox (+17).
In total, 2,614 products(+40) have already been released in 3^rd party stores and the in-sim marketplace. Beyond that, another 687 products (+32) from 3^rd party developers are in production (336 announced, 351 unannounced). In total, over 3,301 3^rd party products (+72) have either been released or are in development.
Airports:
- 1,759 airports (+8) are either released or are in various stages of development.
  - 1,544 airports (+19) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
  - 977 airports (+12) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
  - 122 airports (+8) beyond the released airports have been announced.
  - 93 airports (-19) are not announced, but the dev let us know that an airport is in production.
Aircraft:
- 546 aircraft (+58) are either released or are in various stages of development.
  - 196 aircraft (+7) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
  - 141 aircraft (+9) have been released in the in-sim PC marketplace.
  - 110 aircraft (+6) have been released in the in-sim Xbox marketplace.
  - 194 aircraft (+6) beyond the released aircraft have been announced.
  - 156 aircraft (+45) are not announced, but the dev let us know that an aircraft is in production.
Scenery:
- 850 scenery packs (+2) are either released or are in various stages of development.
  - 751 sceneries (+10) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
  - 267 sceneries (+11) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
  - 20 sceneries (-0) beyond the released scenery have been announced.
  - 79 sceneries (-8) are not announced, but the dev let us know that scenery is in production.
Mission Packs:
- 146 mission packs (+4) are either released or are in various stages of development.
  - 123 mission packs (+4) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
  - 49 mission packs (+4) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
  - 0 mission packs (+0) beyond the released missions have been announced.
  - 23 mission packs (+0) are not announced, but the dev let us know that they are in production.

Community Fly-In

It is often said that the invention of commercial air travel is responsible for shrinking the world, but 35 years before the Wright Brothers’ first flight, another massive undertaking significantly reduced global travel times: the completion of the Suez Canal in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.

Although the canal would not officially open until 1869, a very important milestone in the canal’s construction was achieved on February 17, 1867. It was on this date that the Scottish merchant ship S.S. Dido became the very first vessel to traverse the entire length of the canal. For Community Fly-In Friday this week, we will be following the Dido’s northbound path through the canal from the Gulf of Suez to the Mediterranean Sea.

Event details are available here. All are welcome to participate!

Community Video

Last summer, we published a Community Spotlight article about Lillo and Roberto, two avid flight sim fans from Italy. Lillo is a quadriplegic, and Roberto built him a custom flight control system that allows him to fly planes in Microsoft Flight Simulator using only head movements. Theirs is a remarkable story of overcoming adversity through the power of friendship. Recently, YouTuber SimHangar Flight Simulation interviewed with Roberto to talk about their long-term plans to help make flight simming more accessible to people with disabilities through the use of hardware such as the Xbox Adaptive Controller and the Tobii Eye Tracker 5. Check out the interview below!