[Megathread] Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020

[Ron Burgundy]

anyone getting in on this?

time to buy a joystick.

[Yriel]

Graphics are really good but i really would have liked some kind of campaign, business part, anything with gameplay. I watched some streamers, they all just flew over some landmarks and then played something else.
And i read they don't even have time-compression so no transatlantic flights or anything if you don't want to sit for hours on your PC doing nothing.

Maybe they patch it in later but right now it's a no-buy from me.

[Ron Burgundy]

No one likes flight??

[PACOX]

Ive watched a couple of streamers play it and it looks really good if you are into the genre. I'm amazed by the technical aspects of the game, all the detail that goes into to the planes and being able to build a pretty much 1:1 globe...but I don't have the time or patience to play the game at its current price. Kind of disappointed that I'm not into the genre because I know this game is what fans wanted.

[Kallisto]

Ive watched a couple of streamers play it and it looks really good if you are into the genre. I'm amazed by the technical aspects of the game, all the detail that goes into to the planes and being able to build a pretty much 1:1 globe...but I don't have the time or patience to play the game at its current price. Kind of disappointed that I'm not into the genre because I know this game is what fans wanted.

I'll be honest I only got this game because it's on the Xbox game service which I already sub for. But you're right that the flight sim is very niche and for fans of the genre.

I'll be honest though I do like what Microsoft has done with the game. It's beautiful to look at, easy enough to get into. Difficult to outright master. If there was one criticism it is that I wish it had maybe something like Euro truck simulator style mode where you could start from a less powerful plane as a pilot, make money and work your way up to being a pilot for an airliner. BUT, I understand also that this isn't that type of simulator.

I do love also how it seems to have every street in place from Google Earth. I even flew over my home town just to see if everything was in place. The Streets were there in full, but when you get low the houses are generic. That's not a complaint though. No one would in their right mind be flying that low anyway and that it would be impossible to get people's homes done right.

For what it is I'd give it a solid 9/10 Flight sim for fans. For people who are not into it, if you have the xbox live account try it. If not just avoid. It has a near 100gb download.

[PACOX]

I'll be honest I only got this game because it's on the Xbox game service which I already sub for. But you're right that the flight sim is very niche and for fans of the genre.

I'll be honest though I do like what Microsoft has done with the game. It's beautiful to look at, easy enough to get into. Difficult to outright master. If there was one criticism it is that I wish it had maybe something like Euro truck simulator style mode where you could start from a less powerful plane as a pilot, make money and work your way up to being a pilot for an airliner. BUT, I understand also that this isn't that type of simulator.

I do love also how it seems to have every street in place from Google Earth. I even flew over my home town just to see if everything was in place. The Streets were there in full, but when you get low the houses are generic. That's not a complaint though. No one would in their right mind be flying that low anyway and that it would be impossible to get people's homes done right.

For what it is I'd give it a solid 9/10 Flight sim for fans. For people who are not into it, if you have the xbox live account try it. If not just avoid. It has a near 100gb download.

The map is taken from Bing (because Microsoft),so it's as good as their satellite images and how well the game can interpret. There's still bugs but it 'should' get better over time. You can theoretically see your home, though.

[Kallisto]

The map is taken from Bing (because Microsoft),so it's as good as their satellite images and how well the game can interpret. There's still bugs but it 'should' get better over time. You can theoretically see your home, though.

I stand corrected on the source. Thanks ^^

(And I did fly basically into my home, it was quite generic. Funny thing though about my town is the biggest building which is a church is an empty space)

[Ange]

I played till now Lockheads Prepar3D V5 (DX12 version of Microsoft's ESP (Enterprise Simulation Platform)) and I liked the multithread support for current 16+ thread CPUs a lot, FS2020 runs just as good (3800x + 2070S) and the HIGH graphic quality in the 40-60 FPS range looks impressive. Prepar3D V5 was allready close/above FSX+every addon pack available but FS2020 is way above that with the visuals, weather and the generated ground looks just stuning.

I still use my 20+ year old joystick for FS2020 (Microsoft Sidewinder Precision Pro 2) since its basicly unbreakable (optical sensors for everything, no wear) and it got a usable throttle leaver unlike the current alternatives (Thrustmaster TCA Sidestick Airbus etc.) and unbreakable Z-axis potentiometer (rip Thrustmaster anything).

The download part of the game/maps is not a huge deal.

1. The game needs to download ~90GB for the installation
=> normal AA steam game

2. You can set the size for your ROLLING CACHE, so you cache the FULL-FEATURED-MAP DATA from previous flights (I set this to 2000 GB on my NVME)

3. You can also prepare for OFFLINE mode with FULL-FEATURED-MAP DATA with the OFFLINE CACHE to PRE-DOWNLOAD the route/area for your flight and keep the data offline (I set this to 6000 GB on my HDD).


=> Normaly you end up with offline data for most of your regular flight routes.


But this is so worth it. Visual flight rules (VFR) is possible not only for small missions but basicly WORLD WIDE. FS2020 is a completly new game in this regards, you can enjoy low altitude VFR flying and not just the regular high altitude airline part. Not only you have all the roads of the world but many paths and small rural roads too. Here in Germany in my rural area (Black Forest) I can basicly track cycling roads in VFR - its just ridiculous the amount of detail you have in this game.

The on-the-fly changable weather data, the real time flight traffic, the manual/auto ATC and the visual effects with the simulation details make this a very immersive experience - VFR flying with VR will be just insane.

If you have a real gaming PC with more than just the usual small storage/budget CPU/WiFi go for it, get a propper joystick and enjoy this new kind of flight sim, with basicly the part that 99% of the pilots are experiencing in reality but it was never usable in sims - VFR.

[StillMcfuu]

No one likes flight??

I got it, I'm top 100 on one of the landing challenges. Complete fluke, still Bill Gates is sending me my commercial pilots licence.

[AidanJLowe]

It's well worth it for people not even into simulation games, you can get it on games pass and settings can be changed to simply cater for newcomers so you don't stall, cause damage etc if you're main focus is just flying around.

It's one of those games which if you really want it to look its absolute best you'll be looking at purchasing a lot of DLC but the game as it stands now is perfectly fine as is.

[Bigbazz]

Surprised nobody talking about this, it's quite incredible. Started playing last night using the Xbox app, they have a month sub for £1 (again). Knew nothing about flying or aeroplanes prior to installing, did the tutorials in the Cessna 152 and felt like I learned a tonne of stuff, really informative and easy to pick up. Playing with a DS3 controller, most of the important stuff you can do with the gamepad (button combos etc) but the rest you can just click within the cockpit or use keyboard hotkeys.

Game looks amazing, runs better than I expected after all I had heard about it being a PC killer, it's smooth as butter on high settings 1080p after scenery has loaded in (low fps for the first 10 seconds or so). It's definitely a slow pace kinda gaming, but the novelty factor is pretty high.

130gb download though, oooof.

I can basicly track cycling roads in VFR - its just ridiculous the amount of detail you have in this game.

Yep I flew over the forest that I cycle through, most of the dirt roads and paths are there to some extent, not massively detailed or super accurate but close enough.

[Ange]

Surprised nobody talking about this, it's quite incredible.

The immersion you get with a few extras (joystick, HOTAS, trackIR) is incredible. VFR flying with TrackIR (headtracking) is a game changer.

TrackIR in action:
https://clips.twitch.tv/BombasticAstuteWaspRiPepperonis

[Bigbazz]

The immersion you get with a few extras (joystick, HOTAS, trackIR) is incredible. VFR flying with TrackIR (headtracking) is a game changer.

TrackIR in action:
https://clips.twitch.tv/BombasticAstuteWaspRiPepperonis

That's pretty incredible. I'm still learning all the basics though. AI pilot not much help, I thought I'd turn on the AI to help me land in pitch black darkness over ireland while flying the Cessna private jet, the AI took 15 seconds roughly to put it into the ocean upside down. Another time the AI decided to land the plane safely and then drive it into a fence where it got stuck.

But AI autopilot aside, the game is incredible. I'm just too clueless to fly much other than the Cessna 152 for the time being.

[Mister K]

Bumping this I guess, loving the new races. Hopefully we get more maps and something more in terms of rewards and would love a TBM races.