May 14th, 2020 Development Update - Microsoft Flight Simulator

“Boeing 747-8i, you are cleared for takeoff.”

– MSFS TEAM

Here is an update on the current postponed deliverables:

MAY 28th – EPISODE 8 (IFR) is our current target release date.
EARLY JUNE – Partnership Series update will be released.

ALPHA 3 HAS BEEN RELEASED!

The team is excited to announce that we have released Alpha 3 (build 1.3.9.0) today!

BUILD NOTES:

NEW CONTENT – BOEING 747-8i

747-8i Known Issues we are in the process of addressing in the coming weeks:

FLIGHT MANAGEMENT AND GUIDANCE SYSTEMS

There may be discrepancies between the world map flight plan and the FMC which may lead to navigation issues
Stall speeds are lower than expected. This results in an early rotation and lower takeoff speeds than expected.
Take Off sequence modes and FMA display may not work as expected
Flight director may behave erratically during flight
Autothrottle is work in progress and can behave differently than expected
Autothrottle disconnect warning should disappear when A/THR disconnect button is pressed for the second time
Target altitude may not be observed by the aircraft
Altitude constraints can be over-shot
Pressing the SEL switch to change speed unit display may change the target airspeed
Aircraft can lose some altitude during turns
Aircraft can slightly slip/skid during turns managed by the AP
AP heading change through 180 degrees should not reverse the current turn direction
Aircraft may present some rocking movements during flight
Aircraft may not be well aligned with runway during ILS approach
LOC mode is not currently implemented
MCP THR button is not implemented
MCP FPV button is not implemented

DISPLAYS

Current VS is not displayed by steps of 50 on the PFD
Target altitude displayed on the PFD may be inconsistent with the one aimed by the aircraft
Target airspeed can be inconsistent between PFD target and MCP target values
Target airspeed and altitude can disappear from PFD
VOR/ADF bearing pointers may be missing on ND depending on selected modes
Weather radar doesn’t draw in Map Center mode
Weather radar is drawn in Plan mode on ND
Aircraft symbol can appear offset compared to flight plan course on ND
MCP altitude setting steps should change depending on flaps settings
CDU legs section is missing some information
CDU Flight plan should change only when EXE is clicked
In CDU leg section, Time Cruise and Time descent look as “hard” waypoints which can cause issues with the other waypoints if the flight plan
CDU RAD NAV page does not fill up the corresponding frequency during approach
CDU legs section can show non existing waypoints
Some routes may be ignored in the CDU route page
Incorrect values are displayed for flaps in CDU Take-Off page
Thrust reference limit is missing from the EICAS display
G/S FMA mode can disappear or replaced by another mode despite being still active

GRAPHICS

A placard is missing on the windshield center pillar
Some parts of the RH tiller may be missing
Black spots can appear and move on the windshield
The cockpit flood lights are inoperative
Wiper animation can disappear depending on the camera zoom level
Aircraft wheels have animation issues
Landing gear and wings can show animation issues during cinematics
Nav lights can be invisible or blinking depending on the camera angle
Airframe shows texture issues when zooming out

OTHER SYSTEMS

Brakes may remain engaged after landing
Speedbrakes may be too effective
Landing lights switches shouldn’t be moving after take-off
Icing of the aircraft can happen without icing conditions

MISC.

Autothrottle is reset to 0 when retaking focus on window
There is no camera to see the TO/GA switches
Callout « V1 » is missing during take off roll
Open door input does not open all doors
The center of gravity info is no longer displayed in the weight and balance page

Plane Specific Changes/Improvements

A320

Fixed AP LVL OFF, no longer makes the aircraft overshoot target speed as badly
Activating APPR PHASE no longer incorrectly commands the plane to change heading
No longer missing audio for all transmitter buttons
Constraint Altitudes on the MFD now match the FMS info (real approach info) + Speeds constraints are no longer missing in FMS
Waypoints are no longer duplicated in the FMS
AP now commands nose high enough on climb out
FD can now be selected on the ground
Fuel pipes are no longer visible during the RTC
Autothrust & Pitch behavior no longer lead to stall
VS mode improvements made
Aircraft no longer rocks left and right when AP is on
Autopilot is now less aggressive
Now able to toggle between Managed and Selected Heading Mode in A320
SIDs, STARs and approaches now selectable
Live weather and preset change no longer cause wrong stall speed to be displayed in PFD
Take off rotations improved
Flaring behavior improved
Selected speed now shows up on speedtape
Enabling the FD no longer makes the FMA vertical mode and target altitude blink
Approach speed calculations are more accurate
Now captures glideslope with APPR mode
Pitch no longer too high during cruise at high altitude
Easier to reach target airspeed while climbing
ILS: approach mode now captures localizer and follows glideslope
Reverse thrust now working
FMA no longer switches mode constantly while turning ALT mode in FCU
Autopilot: bank angle is now the same on a left turn than on a right turn in A320

TBM 930

Aircraft can now teleport when full of fuel
Aircraft tuned to address too much power at idle
FLC button now activates FLC mode instead of ALT mode in the TBM 930
No longer difficult to fly with FSX flight model
Reverse thrust now works above 30 kts in the TBM
VS dial is no longer reversed.

G58

Propellers now match RPM of aircraft

DA62

Fuel Pump Failure now affects the plane

DR400

Aircraft now rolls more easily with FSX flight model

C152

Wing strobe light sources are now able to be seen

Xcub

Can no longer take fuel on both tanks.
Prop RPM lever tooltip no longer always displays 0%.

C172 G1000

Now climbs at around Vy when pitched 10-degrees nose up in standard conditions

General

Ice no longer remains on any aircraft once conditions outside are no longer freezing / icing
Scale of G1000 (VFR) map is addressed
Increasing pitch oscillations leading to crash or stall of plane on autopilot no longer occur

Airport Specific Changes

Since last Alpha build, more than 7600 generic airports have been updated and improved. This update mainly consists in the implementation of:

Taxiways logic and visuals
Surface types on airports runways, taxiways and aprons (First Pass)
Aircrafts parking spots
Ground markings on taxiways and aprons
Other minor visual improvements
All of this is based on Bing Aerial imagery

Additionally, the following improvements have been implemented:

Many airports had missing or floating features that are now corrected
MRSN Sirena Station Airport crashes are now fixed
Missing ATC instruction has been corrected
EGLL – Star Arrivals were missing in the worldmap

Bug Fixes and QoL Improvements

Stability

Several Crashes and fixes
Game no longer crashes when placing external panel out of screen
Loading into MRSN Sirena Station Airport no longer results in crashes
Processes no longer remain running in background after exiting / closing
Memory use and fps improvements

Airports

Bespoke assets are no longer floating or missing at many airports
Small Bespoke airports no longer have distorted Runways
Missing buildings added in Chicago-O’Hare airport
Missing buildings added in Frankfurt am Main Airport
HUEN main buildings are now spawning
Bugalaga Airstrip terrain is no longer extremely hilly/uneven
[CYTZ] no longer displays placeholder name on the worldmap
[TNCS] is no longer missing bespoke buildings
[1sc2] Terrain issues resolved
[EDDN] No longer has a missing tower
[BIKF] no longer has terrain issues
[EDDW] End of runway lights 23/5 are no longer the wrong type
[KPSP] No longer has a missing tower
[GOBD] Taxi way signs corrected
[KSAN] Control tower added
[EDDN] Nuremberg Airport spawned aircraft at Parking 46no longer results in a plane crash

ATC

ATC now does a better job accounting for the flow of live traffic when issuing user their take-off / landing clearances
COM1 no longer defaults to 122.9 at start of each flight regardless of departure airport

Cameras

Behavior of External Quickview Left / Right has been simplified

Flight Model

Several Aircraft now feel better to fly when using FSX flight model (see specific planes for updates)

Multiplayer

Users are no longer instantly kicked from a group as soon as it is created.
Issue with some group members not being visible while in gameplay is resolved

Peripherals

Added default control / command mappings for unrecognized peripherals
Two joysticks with the same name are now both visible
Assigned controls are no longer missing when initially selecting XINPUT Gamepad in the Controls Menu.
After clearing assigned bindings, a controller can now be used to Search by Input
Scroll wheel input name is no longer confusing in Controls
Apply & Save now saves changes in the Controls screen
Key/Button Bindings can now be changed for all peripherals after making a change and validating a command.
Thrustmaster Warthog Stick default binding no longer has double binding
Key bindings no longer reset to original binding after validation
Input fields no longer fail to show on the scan window
New Input changed on the scan window are no longer written as Undefined
Player is now able to change keys after having created a new profile
Player is no longer stuck in the Options because a Validate button appears instead of the Resume
Changes to key bindings are now saved
Options settings are now saved between sessions
Peripheral input no longer lost after searching for commands in Controls screen
Sim no longer crashes after removing / deleting a control mapping
Scan can no longer fails when searching for specific elements on the Controls Menu
”Create New Profiles from Current Selection” no longer pops 2-3 times when creating a new profile by changing keys in the Default profile
Peripheral sensitivity settings now save between launches of sim
Sim now allows duplicate profile names for a peripheral in Controls screen
Selecting “Validate” after resetting a default binding in Controls now works.
In Game controls now work when reassigning input while flying
Sim no longer crashes on launch after creating new / custom peripheral profile
Device images in controls menu, and controls in game panel and onboarding are now improved

UI/UX

New Flight Simulator Icon added
Content manager issues now resolved when not using the default install path
Assistance is displayed correctly in the Fourth Page of the Onboarding
Installation issues between Alpha no longer cause problems
Checking for updates screen no longer results in some users being locked
Hangar aircraft now updated after changing on worldmap
Xbox Login dialogue is no longer displayed over the Main Menu.
Users can now sign back in after signing out on the Alpha
Client no longer Freezes or must be relaunched when Resetting the Build.
Aircraft specs displayed correctly in the menus
Worldmap: Time adjustment is no longer locked after switching from live weather to custom preset
Assistance Notifications being set to easy no longer cause the title to crash when loading into flight
Gust settings in Weather panel are clearer.

User Experience

There are issues with the TTS voice on the Take-off Flight Training when using the Female Voice
We still display some debug subtitle-text with TTS audio on the Landing Flight Training
Planes can teleport 900 – 5000 FT above when returning to free flight from any Landing Challenge
The ”Apply the Brakes” objective fails to get completed after the player applies the brakes during that Landing Tutorial
Objectives can break using the despawn /respawn at the start of the Take Off Flight Training
Objectives are easier to follow when changing devices during the Basic Controls Flight Training
Flight Lesson #3 1st objective can now be completed while inside Third Person/Outside Camera Mode,
Attitude Indicator now correctly displays when highlighted in training
Users no longer despawn / respawn when looking at the instruments during the Attitudes & Instruments Flight Training
If the player fails to take off correctly during the Takeoff Flight Training, neither of the double objectives can remain green (as if validated)
Free Flight at POI locations or Airports in Japan flight start improvements
User is now able to continue gameplay using the cockpit camera after crashing and restarting the flight in “Flight Training”.

Various bug fixing & improvements

Airport Ground Crew AI (Worker Density) no longer defaults to 0 on default (high-end) settings

Weather

Several Weather improvements

World

Worked on trees overlapping with buildings
Service vehicle driver animations improved
Increased draw distance/ LOD switching for windsocks
[ICAO] – improvements made

Known issues

Some jetways are misplaced at airports (Mostly Fixed)
Black stripes can be visible on the side of different world tiles
FPS tends to drop after the end of a loading sequence
FPS tends to drop during intro cutscenes
There are possible FPS drops when moving the camera around the plane
Objectives can fail to show any inputs if they were previously cleared by the user under Controls
Panels previously undocked from the toolbar can appear enable on any Activity
The TTS voice during the Take Off Flight Training audio and subtitles are mismatched
The TBM930 engine shuts down after a teleport
Intermittent weather bug that can sometimes create unrealistic gusting winds, more likely to hit this when the user changes settings mid-session.
Autopilot can become inoperable when switching between Vertical Speed and Altitude in All Aircrafts.
Switching instructor models midflight (in tutorials) will not switch the instructor voices.
If you are upgrading from a version older than 1.2.5.0 you will need to fully uninstall before installing this update
There are potential installation and update issues if the install path contains ‘Extended Unicode characters.’ For now, we recommend installation paths containing standard Roman alphabet letters and numbers only.

ALPHA INVITATIONS

Alpha invitations are being sent starting today!

Ensure that everyone that received an acceptance email has access to the Alpha.
Assess Alpha participation options for adding more people as quickly as possible.
- Prioritize access for those that registered early for pre-release build testing.

SDK UPDATE

Our focus on the SDK development has been intensified in recent weeks and the SDK is getting more mature as we improve it based on the feedback we receive from 3rd party developers. We are now in contact with more than 200 companies and 400+ developers have access to the SDK.

On the airports side, we are both widening the scope of what can be customized in the sim (e.g. adding the possibility to blend custom aerial imagery on the terrain, creating custom painted lines per airport) and working towards simplifying the adaptation of existing assets to the new simulator (e.g. adding support for projecting meshes).

On the aircraft side, we are working closely with 3rd party developers to ease the transition to WebAssembly and glTF. Just as with airports, we are both extending the possibilities of what can be customized and working to ease the porting of existing assets to the new simulator. We also improve our support for WebAssembly by implementing specification proposals that focus on performance.

The in-game developer mode is also seeing a lot usability improvements based on feedback from the 3rd party developers community. Overall, it’s a great journey we are on and many developers are giving us a peak what they are working on and it’s amazing. We can’t way to share more about our 3^rd part partners and their creations in the coming months.