MSFS

On Saturday, November 20th 2021, we will be celebrating the release of our impending new look with a special event. From 17:00z until late, we’ll be hosting an online (and in-person) event featuring a community fly-in, the chance to win plenty of prizes and more!

From 17:00z, we’ll be doing a community fly-in, before then unveiling our new look to the flight sim community at 19:00z. After that, we plan on taking to the skies in Microsoft Flight Simulator using the new Reno Air Race expansion pack. This will be your chance to take on the FSElite team, and others, in some cool air racing. To help accommodate that, we’re giving you the chance to win one of five copies of the Reno Air Races: Expansion Pack.

If you want to win a free copy of the Reno Air Races: Expansion Pack, simply respond to our FSElite v3 Launch Party event on Facebook and RSVP to say you will attend or are interested. If you don’t have Facebook, you can instead comment down below with what you’re hoping for from our new website. We’ll pick four people at random from the Facebook event and one person from the comment section below.

Our winners will be chosen on Friday, November 19th @ 19:00z, which should give you plenty of time to download the pack and then race with us on Saturday, November 20th.

Full event details will be shared tomorrow (we’re finalising the plans). We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the online event on Saturday, November 20th 2021 @ 17:00.

This competition isn’t endorsed or provided by Microsoft or Asobo Studio. We are running this as part of our Launch Party celebrations and as a thank you to the community.

Terms

• Open to over 16s only
• The competition will close Friday, November 19th @ 18:59z. The winner will be contacted after this time.
• The winner will win a single copy of the Reno Air Races: Expansion Pack ($19.99)
• You must own Microsoft Flight Simulator
• This giveaway is not supported, sponsored or endorsed by Microsoft, Asobo Studio or Facebook / Meta in anyway. This is being ran by FSElite as a thank you to the community in preparation for our launch party

In addition to the Game of the Year Edition update just released for Microsoft Flight Simulator, the Reno Air Race Expansion Pack for the simulator has also been released. Available right now through the in-sim Marketplace is both The Reno Air Races: Expansion Pack and Reno Air Races: Full Collection.

The Reno Air Races: Full Collection offers 40 unique, officially licensed and carefully modeled planes. This includes 10 North American P-51 Mustangs, 10 North American T-6 Texans, 10 Aero L-39 Albatros’, and 10 Aviat Pitts Special S1S. Among them are many famous “Gold” champions like Miss America, Strega, Voodoo, Baron’s Revenge, Radial Velocity, Six-Cat, American Spirit, and Pipsqueak, and many of the other top racers. All of the aircraft have been flown in the sim and verified by real-world pilots to ensure they fly accurately and as per their real-world counterparts. All of the aircraft and the full online racing experience are included for $59.99.

For those who just want to get their feet wet and race with friends, the Reno Air Races: Expansion Pack is a great entry point. It includes the online multiplayer racing experience along with four highly detailed starter aircraft: a North American T-6 Texan, a North American P-51 Mustang, an Aero L-39 Albatros, and an Aviat Pitts Special S1S. You can buy this pack through the in-sim Marketplace for $19.99.

Microsoft worked with a number of collaborators to bring these aircraft and experiences to the simulator on both the PC and Xbox versions of the simulator.

We can’t wait to share some online races with the community.

In the mean time, why not read more about the Game of the Year Edition or the recent Developer Q&A session.

The latest Microsoft Flight Simulator update is now available to download and it adds a huge amount of extra content. The Game of the Year Edition of the simulator comes packed with new aircraft, new airports, new features and improvements across the board to make the sim even better.

Starting with new additional aircraft, the Game of the Year Edition brings 5 brand new aircraft free of charge to the simulator. Those aircraft are the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet, the Pilatus PC-6 Porter, CubCrafters NX Cub, Aviat Pitts Special S1S and also a new eVTOL called “VoloCity“. All of the aircraft are original creations specifically designed for the new simulator. For example, the PC-6 Porter, originally planned as payware, was developed by Hans Hartmann who is known for his Aerosoft CRJ. Likewise, the F/A-18 was originally planned to release with the Top Gun: Maverick expansion, but Microsoft wanted to give users the chance to fly the military jet now.

Further to the 5 new aircraft, eight new hand-crafted airports across Central Europe and the US were added to the simulator. These are:

• Leipzig/Halle Airport (EDDP)
• Allgäu Airport Memmingen (EDJA)
• Kassel Airport (EDVK)
• Lugano Airport (LSZA)
• Zurich Airport (LSZH)
• Luzern-Beromunster Airport (LSZO)
• Patrick Space Force Base (KCOF)
• Marine Corps Air Station Miramar (KNKX)

New photogrammetry cities have also been added. These are: Helsinki (Finland), Freiburg in Germany (Germany), Brighton, Derby, Eastbourne, Newcastle, and Nottingham (UK), ), Vers-Pont-Du-Gard, Chambord and Port-Vendres (France) and Utrecht (Netherlands).

To help simmers of all experience levels, new tutorials have been added to the Game of the Year Edition. In partnership with FS Academy, the team has added 14 new tutorials to introduce simmers to Bush flying in an Icon A5 and also IFR in the Cessna 172.

In addition to the new content, new features were also added to the core simulator. This includes a replay system, an improved weather engine and also optional DirectX12 usage.

New Replay System

The new replay system is essentially what the Microsoft team use to capture video footage when creating the trailers. The replay system is functional, but lacks a UI that Microsoft considered completely polished and ready, Jorg confirmed to us in an interview that the replay mode will be looked at more in the future as they collect feedback from the community.

DirectX12

Whilst DirectX12 was part of the Xbox release, it has just been added to the PC version with Sim Update 7. It’s worth noting that right now, the implementation of DX12 is optional and is only a port of the API and not a full implementation (in the sense it uses features or enhances performance). It’s there for the community to try and report feedback, but there are no true benefits of using DirectX12 at this point in time.

Other Changes/Features

As with other Sim Updates, this one comes with a bunch of changes and fixes all designed to improve the performance, stability and overall usability of the simulator. Below is the full changelog as given by Microsoft on their blog.

As you wait for the 33GB download to install, why not check out our recap on the latest Developer Q&A session, or read about PMDG bringing their aircraft to the in-sim Marketplace very soon.

Before the release of the Game of the Year Edition and the Reno Air Race DLC tomorrow, the developers behind Microsoft Flight Simulator took to Twitch to talk to the community about some upcoming projects and discussed a little of the near-term roadmap. In the 1 hour 30 minute broadcast, Jorg, Sebastian and Martial answered questions from the community and had some surprise appearances from some special guests.

Jorg kicked things off with a discussion on World Update VII. The new World Update will focus on Australia and will release on January 25th 2022. The team has been busy adding new points of interest, satellite imagery and a bunch more. The Bing team has also got a lot of access to 3D cities so expect plenty of new photogrammetry cities for the region. The stream was then joined by Orbx’s Anna Cicognani who confirmed that Orbx will be bringing the Southern Cross aircraft to Microsoft Flight Simualtor. As part of the Local Legend series, this will be a digital replica of the iconic aircraft that was famously piloted by Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith. It’s planned for the aircraft to release with missions and a manual; the aircraft will be made available on the same day as World Update VI, January 25th 2022.

Some attention was then turned to current and future Sim Updates. Sim Update 7, releasing tomorrow, was reconfirmed to feature (optional) DX12, an in-development replay system and massive improvements to the multiplayer set-up. It was noted that DX12 won’t bring with it any further enhancements or performance benefits, yet, but the team will be listening to feedback and continuously improving the system to make the most of the new technology. Sim Update 8, which will mostly focus on fixing bugs, will release late February 2022 and will also come with Chinese localization and an updated Marketplace user interface.

Another big name then joined the stream, this time, it was PMDG’s Robert Randazzo. Our previous post covers what he said in more detail, but in summary: the DC-6 is coming to the Marketplace next week, and the 737, 777, 747, and a number of other products are due to come to the store in the future. He also teased a 757.

A popular aircraft type, gliders, was also brought up in the stream. Whilst the development team have listed it as a Q3 2022 release, it was confirmed that a new partner, FlightSim Studio AG would be working on bringing gliders to the simulator. Work has just started, but the team has acquired talent from Aerosoft and others to help create the best gliders in the simulator.

During the live Q&A, some other details were mentioned. Firstly, supersonic flight and afterburner effects are now available to 3rd party developers, whilst Metroblue and Asobo have made improvements to the weather engine with the latest Sim Update. For those experiencing crash to desktop issues still, Asobo and Microsoft continue to work on identifying as many as possible and fixing them. Jorg said that they hope to be more transparent about the issues they’re facing and also provide more detailed information when a user sees a crash. Finally, it was confirmed the next developer Q&A will come in January 2022.

You can watch the full Q&A now over on Twitch. Come back tomorrow for more information on the Reno Air Race DLC pack, an update on the Game of the Year Edition and more. We also have an interview with Jorg coming very soon.

PMDG’s Robert Randazzo has appeared today on the recent Microsoft Flight Simulator Live Q&A session. During his short time on the live stream, he gave some rather exciting updates on the future of the DC-6, the 737 and teased what is possibly being worked on.

Starting with the news surrounding the DC-6. When PMDG released the DC-6 earlier this year, they said it would eventually be coming to the Marketplace. Today, Robert confirmed that the DC-6 would be coming to the Marketplace next week. Not only will PC owners be able to get their hands on the DC-6 through the Marketplace, but Xbox owners will also be able to buy and download the sophisticated aircraft on the console. When asked, he confirmed that the Marketplace version will include a number of liveries, but that the aircraft will be identical on both platforms, otherwise.

Further to the news of the DC-6 coming to the in-sim Marketplace, Robert also confirmed that the upcoming 737, 777 and 747 will also be heading to Marketplace in the future.

So what’s up with the tease of the 757? Well, when Robert was first saying hello on the stream, he said that he keeps models of aircraft the team is developing on his desk as a good luck charm. He shared a quick look at a DC aircraft, followed by the 737. Then, without any prompting, he quickly brought up another aircraft model and said “there’s another product line that’s coming along and we’ll talk more about that a little later.” It was a bit quick, and a bit small, but from what we can see, it looks like a 757. Below is a snippet from that. You can watch the Twitch stream at around the 14:50 mark to see for yourself. If you think it could be another aircraft, let us know in the comments.

Robert also pulled a quick prank on the community by saying “the 737 would release on …….” before then saying his audio cut out. A mean prank, but you could just tell everyone edged closer to the stream hoping to catch a whisper or something to know when the narrow-body would be available in Microsoft Flight Simulator. On the plus side, he did say that the team currently has 14 products in the pipeline all of which are coming to Marketplace.

To watch Robert talk a little bit about the development process and also his experience at the Reno Air Race, you can watch the live stream now. The live stream is full of other great information and we’ll post a re-cap article shortly.

There’s no denying that Microsoft Flight Simulator provides a great visual experience, even at low altitudes. However, whilst some developers have been able to bring a great number of smaller aircraft to the simulator, one prominent developer has been sadly missing from talks of bringing their content to the new simulator. That developer is A2A Simulations. However, that looks to change now as the team has made progress with their tools to be able to now bring their products to the new platform.

Over on the A2A Simulations forums, Scott Gentile (CEO and Owner) made a post detailing how progress with the sim is now looking positive. After a long development process, Scott said, “as of yesterday, thanks to our brilliant Michal Krawczyk and Mark Smith, we appear to be out of the woods with Accu-Sim and MSFS2020.” He went on to say that he did some test flights with an all-new Accu-Sim Comanche 250 in the simulator. “Today for the first time, I took off and performed a bunch of maneuvers in the air, came back with a nice flare and landed in an all-new Accu-Sim Comanche 250. “

He went onto say that “all major road-blocks are cleared” before then confirming that the team can now properly plan for Microsoft Flight Simulator development. A2A Simulations has chosen to bring the Comanche 250 as their first aircraft for the platform as “[they] know the it so well.” Whilst development for the first aircraft will take longer, Scott confirmed this is due to new technology, systems and physics all being made for the aircraft in the modern platform. In even more exciting news, Scott said that a spell of US military work has meant that A2A also has Accu-Sim turboprop and turbojet already on the shelf that can be used for any future aircraft products.

This is a huge piece of news and will certainly be exciting to follow in the future.

Thanks to Tom for the tip!

Featured image from P3D.

LatinVFR has released AREX: Middle East and Africa for Microsoft Flight Simulator. The last of the AREX collection packs now completes LatinVFR’s mission to bring regional and correct ground service vehicles to locations around the world. This particular pack focuses on the Middle East and Africa and replaces the stock ground service for airports in those areas.

Vehicles at airports in these areas will be replaced with correct logos for catering trucks, fuelers, pushback trucks and maintenance vans. AREX integrates with the default ground service system, so no extra steps are needed to use AREX in the sim. Due to the fact that the product replaces the default vehicles, there’s no negative impact on performance.

As mentioned, this new AREX pack now completes the set, meaning you can now cover the whole world with custom airport vehicles that better represent what you would see in the real world. You can find out more about the European, North American, Asian and South American packs on the respective links.

You can buy LatinVFR’s AREX Middle East and Africa for Microsoft Flight Simulator now from various stores including LatinVFR’s own, simMarket and Contrail for around $8.49 USD.

Following on from the announcement last week, Orbx has released Himalaya and Central Asia Mesh for Microsoft Flight Simulator. The newly released product includes a highly detailed mesh for one of the most mountainous and picturesque locations in the world. Known for its alpine glaciers, jagged peaks and tall mountains, the Himalayas is a challenging and interesting place to fly in the simulator.

Himalaya and Central Asia Mesh is a self-contained product, meaning that no other changes are made to other files or meshes in the simulator. This means you can enjoy the experience without impacting anything else in your sim. Furthermore, Orbx says there is “virtually no noticeable performance impact” and each level of detail layer will morph elegantly whilst flying with no blurring or sudden changes.

You can buy Orbx’s AS Himalaya and Central Asia Mesh for Microsoft Flight Simulator now for $15.59 AUD (US$11.45 | €10,07 | £8.51).

Following a cycle of “it’s coming” to “it’s cancelled” and back again to “it’s coming again“, Aerosoft has released Simple Traffic for Microsoft Flight Simulator. The new tool will replace default fictional liveries with real-world ones at a number of airports across the world. Simple Traffic includes liveries for over 175 airlines, meaning there will be a lot of variation on what you will see in the simulator.

In total, over 1400 traffic routes have been included to enhance the AI aircraft in Microsoft Flight Simulator. Aerosoft has designed Simple Traffic to work both online and offline, and all the settings can be configured from a simple user interface. Aerosoft has specifically called this ‘Simple Traffic’ thanks to the user-friendly installation and use. Whilst this isn’t a complete overhaul of the in-sim AI, the product will give you a much more realistic looking simulator with airports populated with liveries that should be there.

Aerosoft Simple Traffic (developed by Revolution Simulations Ltd) is now available through Aerosoft for €12.50.

Scenery developer Digital Design has released Leipzig Airport for Microsoft Flight Simulator. Leipzig-Halle Airport (EDDP) is the second busiest airport for cargo in Germany, with DHL having a massive presence at the airport. In addition to heavy cargo use, the airport also sees many airlines serve leisure routes taking passengers to numerous holiday destinations across Europe.

The airport comes with photoreal PBR texturing on the airport buildings, custom taxiways and 3D models throughout. The airport also comes with detailed airport vehicles, custom bridges and also numerous static cargo planes on the apron. Furthermore, Digital Design has included advanced night lighting. The airport has been developed based on the current state of Leipzig-Halle Airport.

You can buy Leipzig Airport from simMarket for €15.50 or on OrbxDirect for $28.80AUD. If you buy on simMarket, there are some upgrade options available if you own the original version on P3D or XPL.