February 2nd, 2023 Development Update - Microsoft Flight Simulator

Screenshot by nin_aoironinja (Twitter)

This has been a huge week for the Microsoft Flight Simulator team! We kicked things off on January 31 with the release of Aircraft & Avionics Update 1 (AAU1). This update contains dozens of fixes and improvement to aircraft systems. In case you missed it, you can read the full patch notes here.

Yesterday, we also hosted the latest in our series of Developer Livestreams on Twitch. This 90-minute session was packed with information about future updates and releases coming to Microsoft Flight Simulator. Some of the highlights include Asobo CEO Sebastian Wloch discussing planned improvements to thermals and turbulence coming in Sim Update 12, and head of Microsoft Flight Simulator Jorg Neumann revealing more details about several upcoming features, including our next major release: World Update 12: New Zealand. In addition to WU12, Jorg also showcased Local Legend 08: DHC-4 Caribou and Famous Flyer 05: Antonov An-2.

Finally, the biggest surprise of the session was the announcement that the largest plane ever built, the Antonov An-225, will soon be landing in Microsoft Flight Simulator! Built in partnership with iniBuilds in consultation with both the Antonov Company and a real-world An-225 captain, we are thrilled to bring the colossal Mriya to the sim. This plane will be released on February 27 for PC and alongside Sim Update 12 for Xbox. The team also took the time to answer questions from the community about Missions, Airports, the Marketplace, and more. If you weren’t able to watch yesterday’s broadcast live, you can watch the archived video on YouTube here:

Speaking of Sim Update 12, the team is currently hard at work readying a new build for our next public beta test. Keep watching this space for more information about how you can join the public test and help provide feedback to the developers as we prepare SU12 for a planned release next month.

Finally, we’re pleased to bring you an updated Development Roadmap in this week’s blog post. As you can see, we have a lot of great things planned for the remainder of 2023, and we can’t wait to share more details with you in the coming weeks and months.

The sky is calling.

MSFS Team

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.

There are 44 new and 26 updated products in the Marketplace today, and 2 updated products from Wednesday, February 1st. Marketplace updates generally go live on Thursdays between the release of this blog post and 5pm PT.

Updated on Tuesday, February 1st:

2 UPDATED PRODUCTS: 1 ON PC, 1 ON XBOX
	Updated on PC and Xbox

Added on Thursday, February 2nd:

44 NEW PRODUCTS: 22 ON PC, 22 ON XBOX
New 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	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

26 UPDATED PRODUCTS: 15 ON PC, 11 ON 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	Updated on PC	Updated on PC and Xbox
Updated on PC and Xbox	Updated on PC	Updated on PC and Xbox
Updated on PC	Updated on PC and Xbox	Updated on PC and Xbox

Aircraft & Avionics Update 01

We are really excited about the updated Cessna Citation Longitude with the release of AAU_01. It is quite possible that the Longitude is the most complex business jet ever delivered as a default aircraft in a consumer flight simulator, both in terms of aircraft systems depth and avionics fidelity. Thanks to close coordination with the manufacturer, many of the systems have been modeled with incredible detail.

For example, you can switch off both hydraulics pumps in the Longitude and observe the reduced roll authority as the roll spoilers run out of power and go to ailerons only. If you then switch the PTCU to AUX A to power the hydraulic system A from the hydraulic motor-generator, you can see 1) all the proper CAS messages with the exact debounce times straight from the manufacturer, 2) fluid sim that matches real flight log data in temps, pressure curves, and times and 3) hydraulic accumulators that use real fluid dynamics equations to store fluid forces for backup systems, etc. The realism this brings to this aircraft in Microsoft Flight Simulator is fantastic.

SDK UPDATE

Asobo

General
- We are polishing the Layouts feature which will allow you to dock your ImGUI windows and save your layouts. We also offer default layouts for your first launch of the different editors.
On the VFX Editor
- We fixed a crash when moving points too far in the Bezier Editor by constraining the values range.
On the Aircraft Editor
- We added new parameters for helicopters.
- We’re working on an Aircraft Creation Wizard to help you create a new aircraft in the Aircraft Editor.
- We fixed a crash on increase hydraulic_system_scalar when no hydraulic systems were declared in the Aircraft Editor.
On SimConnect
- The region field is now added to RequestFacilities calls when region is empty but airport is not.
- SIMCONNECT_ICAO is now available in the managed version.
On WASM
- Beta support for Edit & Continue will come with SU_12 – it will allow you to modify your C++ source code and see the changes instantly without having to restart your flight.

Working Title / MSFS Avionics Framework

Introduction of the MSFS Avionics Framework
- What is the Avionics Framework?
  - The MSFS Avionics Framework is a React-like framework based on Typescript and JSX that contains tools developers can use to build JS/HTML-based avionics and in-game panels for Microsoft Flight Simulator. The framework is used by MSFS development teams to implement the advanced avionics systems included with the sim, such as the Garmin G1000NXi, Garmin G3000/G5000, Garmin GNS and more. This same framework is available to third party developers, allowing them to leverage the powerful component composition skills that come with frameworks like React, while keeping the implementation light enough and opinionated enough to promote MSFS TS/JS development best practices. This framework is not a replacement for the existing JS API or Coherent framework, but rather builds on top of those existing systems.
- Where can I find the Avionics Framework?
  - The MSFS Avionics Framework mirror is available on GitHub here.
- Where can I find documentation for the Avionics Framework?
  - The MSFS Avionics Framework documentation is available via the GitHub mirror and can be accessed here.
- Where can I get help with the Avionics Framework?
  - Support is available via the MSFS Dev Support platform or in the Working Title Discord server in the #avionics-framework channel.
- How often is the Avionics Framework updated?
  - Generally the MSFS Avionics Framework GitHub mirror and documentation are updated in coordination with, or shortly after, major aircraft or avionics updates, such as after the G1000NXi was released in SU_10. An update is planned very soon containing enhancements made for AAU01.
- What exactly will I find in the Avionics Framework mirror?
  - The mirror is comprised of the base SDK source code, the Garmin-specific SDK source code and avionics package specific source. The Garmin SDK includes common components and logic that conforms to Garmin avionics units; in the future, other avionics families may receive their own SDK as well to streamline development within those families.

Plug-In Support for updated avionics, including the Garmin G1000NXi, Garmin G3000/5000 and the other avionics from AAU_01 (SU_12).
- A feature of the updated avionics systems is support for plug-ins. This means that third-party developers can add features to the updated default avionics packages via the Community folder or marketplace package. We will share further details and documentation in the coming weeks on this new developer feature.
  - Plane-specific plug-ins: Third-party developers can add features such as custom synoptics pages, views or data importers that are specific to a particular third-party aircraft that uses the base avionics package.
  - Avionics-specific plugins: Third-party developers can add features such as a chart viewer, flight plan importer or data importer that apply to all aircraft that use a particular base avionics package.

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

Friday, February 3 is the anniversary of the signing of the 1958 treaty that led to the Benelux Union, an economic and political alliance between Belgium, The Netherlands, and Luxembourg. The Benelux treaty was highly influential in the history of European politics in the latter half of the 20th Century and is seen as a predecessor to the EU.

To mark the occasion, this week’s Friday Fly-In will see us visit all three countries from the Benelux Union, starting at Amsterdam then proceeding to The Hague, Delft, Rotterdam, Bruges, Ghent, Antwerp, Brussels, and finally a full-stop landing at Luxembourg. En route, we will also pass several famous landmarks including the Windmills at Kinderdijk and the Spa-Francorchamps F1 circuit.

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

Community Video

Instead of posting a video this week, we’re going to share the following article from FLYING magazine. In it, real-world bizjet pilot Peter James talks about how pilots can use Microsoft Flight Simulator to hone their flying skills. Read what Peter has to say in the article linked below!

Flight Sims, Real World Flying Interact Beautifully

Screenshot Challenge

You can submit your screenshot via Twitter with #MSFSchallenge or the Weekly Forum Post! This week’s screenshot challenge: Pretty (or Pleasing) Panels

This past month our Screenshot Challenge was “Good Evening“.