March 14th, 2024 – Development Update

This week’s Screenshot Challenge winner is Twitter/X user klrkjp1! If you’re interested in participating in our weekly Screenshot Challenges, check out the details in the Community section below!

Yesterday, we hosted another Developer Livestream on Twitch. Among the many topics discussed by our panel were the following highlights:

• Sim Update 15 has a target release date of March 26. As always, we want to ship a quality product, so there is a chance this date could be slightly delayed if SU_15 isn’t ready for release by that date.
• The new Airbus A320 from developer iniBuilds will be included with SU_15! This complex airliner will be free to all simmers on both PC and Xbox.
  • Cameron MacMillan from iniBuilds did a live showcase of some of the exciting new features coming with this aircraft.
• The next City Update will be for the region of Southern Germany and will include the following:
  • Mannheim
  • Heidelberg
  • Karlsruhe
  • Stuttgart
  • Esslingen
  • Kehl
  • Strasbourg
  • EDNY (Friedrichshafen Airport)
• The next Local Legend will be an unconventional VTOL cargo plane from Germany, the Dornier Do 31! Only three test prototypes of this aircraft were ever built, and we’re thrilled to digitally preserve this unique plane in Microsoft Flight Simulator!

In addition to announcing these new content updates, the panel also answered many questions from the community, both those that were submitted in advance and those that were asked live from Twitch chat during the stream. If you missed the session, you can watch the complete replay on YouTube here:

Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to answer all of the questions we received. We were particularly sad that we didn’t have time to address this very important question pre-submitted by a player:

On Tuesday, we released a new pre-release test build (1.37.8.0) to players participating in the optional Sim Update 15 public beta. You can find the release notes on our forums here. Once again, we would like to thank all the volunteer testers who are enrolled in the beta for your feedback and bug reports.

Finally, we also released an update to Local Legend IX: Latécoère 631 earlier today. Please see here for the release notes.

– MSFS Team

Development Update

Development Roadmap

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

Feedback Snapshot

Click here for the web-friendly version of the Feedback Snapshot.

SDK UPDATE

Asobo

• WASM :
  • We changed the way native (PC/Xbox) memory is handled when the module performs allocations & deallocations.
  • In the past any block of native memory that was allocated would remain so for the whole module lifetime (as per the WASM standard) – even if the module itself would later deallocate the said blocks within its linear memory.
  • We decided to change this in order to minimize modules memory footprint – this is accomplished through the system virtual allocation system with pages that can be free, reserved or committed (only committed pages actually use native RAM).
  • The new “Memory debug” tab of the “WASM Debug” window will help you understand the state of your module’s memory with a series of colored block (gray = decommitted, green = free, blue = used, red = full, purple = corrupted).
  • Please note that in order to benefit from this new feature, WASM modules will require to be recompiled with the SU_15 SDK – of course SU_15 and later versions will remain compatible with previously compiled modules (but they won’t benefit from this new feature)
  • Full documentation will be provided when SU_15 is released globally.

Working Title / MSFS Avionics Framework

• MSFS Avionics Framework
  • SU15 Framework Updates:
    • NPM Avionics Packages have been updated to reflect what we believe will be the final versions for SU_15.
    • Avionics Framework documentation has been updated to reflect what we believe will be the final versions for SU_15.
    • G3X documentation is available on the Avionics Framework document site (see link below).
  • Find the Avionics Framework Source Code here.
  • Find the latest documentation about the avionics framework here.
  • Upcoming Framework Updates:
    • Adding support to the GarminSDK Airspeed Indicator to support custom speed bug colors. (SU_16)
    • Improving GarminSDK AoA Indicator for greater display options, including digital readout and more flexible caution/waring thresholds. (SU_16)
    • Adding support in the GarminSDK for the approach cue (green donut) on the airspeed indicator based in enhancements to the Garmin AoA Indicator. (SU_16)
    • Extending Avionics Framework SimVarValueType to include ‘per second’ as a unit. (SU_16)
    • Extending Avionics Framework Aircraft Inertial Events publisher on the Event Bus to include load factor and load factor rate. (SU_16)

Marketplace

Featured Release

This week, we’re pleased to highlight a new scenery product from developer SamScene3D: USA Modern Cities Vol.3! This volume includes four major cities in the United States: Dallas, Austin, San Diego, and Houston.

The main objective of this scenery is to show MSFS’s USA photogrammetry at its best, with addition of feature buildings to further enhance the simulation experience. A re-design of city area according to geographical position of objects, SamScene3D brings out the best of Microsoft Flight Simulator’s built-in photogrammetry around the city areas by fixing textures, structure, bridges, and shores and adding many missing buildings and features.

USA Modern Cities Vol.3 features:

• Over 80 handcrafted building models in each city
• Replaced default broken bridges with handcrafted bridges over the cities
• Beautiful night effects
• Most building rooftops are landable helipads
• Compatible with other developer airport addons
• Can be used with the photogrammetry turned off

For the best experience with this product, SamScene3D recommends installing the free World Update II: USA and World Update X: United States and US Territories add-ons from the in-sim Marketplace.

USA Modern Cities Vol.3 is available now for both PC and Xbox. Check out the trailer below for more information!

Marketplace Releases

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

There are 69 new and 31 updated products in today’s Marketplace Update.

RELEASED EARLIER
Updated on PC and Xbox

69 NEW PRODUCTS: 34 ON PC, 35 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 and Xbox	New on PC and 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

31 UPDATED PRODUCTS: 17 ON PC, 14 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	Updated on PC	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

Marketplace Backlog

Current Backlog: 429 Total

BACKLOG: NEW PRODUCTS

BACKLOG: UPDATED PRODUCTS

THIRD PARTY UPDATE

• As of 03/10, we have now approved 265 (+3) third parties into the in-sim marketplace and – so far 219 (+0) have released 3,333 products on PC (+31) and 3,073 on Xbox (+34).
• In total, 4,217 products (+27) have already been released in 3^rd party stores and the in-sim marketplace. Beyond that, another 836 products (-9) from 3^rd party developers are in production (343 announced, 493 unannounced). In total, over 5,050 3^rd party products (+18) have either been released or are in development.
• Airports:
  • 2,351 airports (+1) are either released or are in various stages of development.
    • 2,124 airports (+6) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
    • 1,608 airports (+10) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
    • 113 airports (+1) beyond the released airports have been announced.
    • 114 airports (-6) are not announced, but the dev let us know that an airport is in production.
• Aircraft:
  • 809 aircraft (+1) are either released or are in various stages of development.
    • 370 aircraft (+2) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
    • 290 aircraft (+3) have been released in the in-sim PC marketplace.
    • 275 aircraft (+3) have been released in the in-sim Xbox marketplace.
    • 210 aircraft (-1) beyond the released aircraft have been announced.
    • 229 aircraft (+0) are not announced, but the dev let us know that an aircraft is in production.
• Scenery:
  • 1,117 scenery packs (+1) are either released or are in various stages of development.
    • 1,084 scenery packs (+1) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
    • 648 scenery packs (+0) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
    • 18 scenery packs (-3) beyond the released scenery have been announced.
    • 15 scenery packs (+3) are not announced but the dev let us know that scenery is in production
• Mission Packs:
  • 309 mission packs (+7) are either released or are in various stages of development.
    • 264 mission packs (+6) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
    • 203 mission packs (+6) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
    • 0 mission packs (+0) beyond the released missions have been announced.
    • 45 mission packs (+1) are not announced, but the dev let us know that they are in production.
• Livery Packs:
  • 426 livery packs (+8) are either released or are in various stages of development.
    • 348 livery packs (+12) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
    • 340 livery packs (+12) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
    • 1 livery pack (+0) beyond the released scenery has been announced.
    • 77 livery packs (-4) are not announced, but the dev let us know that scenery is in production.
• Ships & Watercraft:
  • 38 ships & watercraft (+0) are either released or are in various stages of development.
    • 27 ships & watercraft (+0) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
    • 22 ships & watercraft (+0) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
    • 0 ships & watercraft (+0) beyond the released scenery have been announced.
    • 11 ships & watercraft (+0) are not announced, but dev let us know that scenery is in production

Community

Community Fly-In Friday

The Community Fly-In Friday World Tour continues!

We’ve had a break of two weeks for other events, but we’re back for another stage of the World Tour this week! Picking up in Amsterdam where we left off, we’ll be visiting two more capital cities: Brussels and Luxembourg!

En route, we will also be making several touch and go landings, including at Rotterdam.

Please note the possible start time change depending on your location: with most of North America switching to Daylight Saving Time last weekend, the start time for this event is now 1800 UTC, not 1900 UTC as it was previously.

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

Tubeliner Tuesday

For the next Tubeliner Tuesday stream, we are going to be replicating a real world Southwest Airlines flight between Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and Los Angeles LAX. We will be flying in the PMDG Boeing 737-800 for this one hour flight, which all are welcome to join on the VATSIM Network.

Event details are available here!

Community Video

YouTuber, video editor, and scenery creator Maty743 showcases their brand new Port Neville & Beyond freeware scenery in this week’s Community Video.

Encompassing over 500sqm of improvements and 13 custom locations, Maty743 highlights the true beauty of the British Columbia region not only in their new freeware scenery, but also in this incredibly well structured and edited trailer. From McLeod Bay to Snow Mountain Lookout, there is no shortage of places to visit. We were thoroughly impressed at this spectacle of a video, and look forward to seeing more creations from Maty743!