January 7th, 2021 Development Update - Microsoft Flight Simulator

Screenshot by xanys

With the launch of VR and snow in our last update, our team has been hard at work reading your feedback, preparing our next updates, and prioritizing our goals for the year. We hope you and your loved ones stay safe this season.

–MSFS TEAM-

FEEDBACK SNAPSHOT

Click here for the web-friendly version.

Regarding the new bug, #2 – Spikes on Terrain, our team is actively working on this issue and should have a solution in the next few days.

SDK UPDATE

DevMode:
- The updated version of the in-game console is now included in our production pipeline and will be available as part of the upcoming World Update 3: United Kingdom / Ireland.
- We fixed a bug affecting the taxi light signs’ size in the Scenery Editor.
- Our first wizard setup for airports is being reviewed and tested to ease up the creation of new airports via the Project Editor.
- Hierarchical instances / Grouping in Scenery Editor is in the testing phase and is also going well.
- We are always looking into how we can better improve the devmode experience while stability will remain a key pillar throughout 2021.
WebAssembly:
- Security for WASM modules has been the focus of our efforts throughout the week.

THIRD PARTY UPDATE

Since launch, we have approved nearly 100 3^rd party development teams to the Partner Program and they have released close to 350 products on the platform to date. Another 300 additional aircraft, airports and other add-ons have either been announced or are in production. It’s also exciting to hear about new companies joining the program or new add-ons being developed every single day. We’re thrilled to see this level of activity which shows how vibrant our platform is already in just a few months. We’re eager to see what the third party community will come up with in 2021!
- Airports:
  - 285 airports (+12 from last week) have been released for the platform so far.
  - 97 airports (+7 from last week) are already in our in-sim store.
  - 65 airports (+8 from last week), beyond the released airports, have been announced.
  - 121 airports (+5 from last week) are not announced, but are in development based on information from 3^rd parties.
  - In total 471 airports are either already released or are in active production.
- Aircraft:
  - 15 aircraft (+3 from last week) have been released for the platform so far.
  - 7 aircraft (+1 from last week) are already in our in-sim store.
  - 67 aircraft (+7 from last week), beyond the released airplanes, have been announced.
  - 23 aircraft (+3 from last week) are not announced, but are in development based on information from 3^rd parties.
    - So overall, 105 aircraft are either released or are in production.
    - Per request from Aerosoft and the development team led by Hans, the CRJ was recently delayed. It’s good to see Aerosoft’s commitment to quality and that they want to invest additional time to make this plane a standout release and we are happy to help them get there.
- Scenery:
  - 106 scenery add-ons (+60! from last week) have been released for the platform so far.
  - 10 scenery add-ons (+0 from last week) are already in our in-sim store.
  - 3 scenery add-ons (-1 from last week) beyond the released scenery, have been announced.

We continue to have a great time engaging with Working Title and are also in contact with Fly By Wire, Saltys, and a few others. We hope to share some good news on all this soon!

MARKETPLACE UPDATE

Seven new products will be released to the Marketplace today along with one updated product.

7 NEW PRODUCTS

1 UPDATED PRODUCT

TWITCH SCHEDULE

Next week, we will start our Twitch programming for 2021 with the 3rd lesson of our Flying Lessons with ForderLearntoFly on the Cessna 152. Details about the upcoming lesson can be found here.

Also, we are always looking for Tour Guides who are interested in sharing their part of the world with us on stream! Click here to sign up.

COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT – VR FLIGHT SIM GUY

VR Flight Sim Guy featured content includes Flight Sim flights (VR and regular), VR Reviews and Set-Up Guides for the Rift S and Reverb G2 along with addon reviews. Check out his videos here!