Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Trailer

[heywooood]

here is the official statement

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 FAQ - Microsoft Flight Simulator / News & Announcements - Microsoft Flight Simulator Forums

[ak416]

Exactly as I expected was the case. Will gladly pay another $70 if they deliver what they promised in this trailer. Shame the announcement was overshadowed by poor communication, there is a lot to be excited about here.

[zetar]

Is it OK with a core i10 ?

[Javis]

Exactly as I expected was the case. Will gladly pay another $70 if they deliver what they promised in this trailer. Shame the announcement was overshadowed by poor communication, there is a lot to be excited about here.

Hmmm... the only thing i'd be REALLY interested in is if they finally and ultimately make Instant Replay and FLY-BY View available. If not i think that would be utterly ashame. I really don't need new graphics or new missions (never flew one anyway).

No indication whatsoever about Instant Replay nore Fly-By view, not in the video's, not in the announcements neither. Will surely be interesting to see if they *dare* to release this so called *new* MSFS2024 version WITHOUT Instant Replay and Fly-By view. When that happens we deffinately know we can't take them serious anymore.

[kdl]

At first I thought it was a belated April Fool's joke - but no - pure commerce - a new money printing machine
- another 100,000 or more copies for $100 each - not bad

Dieter

[collensr]

I tend agree that there is an overly negative reaction across the Community to what was announced yesterday.

Before passing judgement I think we should give Microsoft/Asobo time to explain the details and the path to 2024 after all they have done a huge amount to reinvigorate this hobby over the past 3 years.

Personally I'm not sure why they haven't chosen to clarify the 2020 > 2024 add-on compatibility issue at this stage as that is really the core concern for players and Developers alike.

Hitherto the Microsoft / Asobo team have communicated much more regularly and expansively with their audience over the past 3 years than was ever the case with Flight Sim Developers before so let's await their explanation before any histrionics or toy throwing.

ADD - Apologies I had not seen the supplementary FAQ statement when scribing the above comments - hopefully many will feel more relaxed about the situation as regards existing add-on purchases now

[guzler]

Whilst I will probably buy the new Sim, my beef is that some basic stuff in 2020 has never worked reliably, AI traffic for a start was better in FSX and even brilliant packages like FSLTL have limitations because of it. I bought it on the basis of the 10 year roadmap and my naïve understanding was that this was going to evolve with time, not get superseded in 4 years time with a new version. I really don't expect them to be investing much development work into 2020 beyond 2024 irrespective of what they say now.

At least we know what to expect in the future so can invest wisely.

[DennyA]

At first I thought it was a belated April Fool's joke - but no - pure commerce - a new money printing machine
- another 100,000 or more copies for $100 each - not bad

Dieter

Microsoft is a business. Gotta pay those devs and licensors. We’ve gotten a cubic buttload of free additions so far. If the want more money, the price of a nice meal out for two with no booze, every four years, that’s fine with me.

[Stearman]

They said that MSFS would be with us for 10 years. If they're making us buy another sim before that, I'm changing hobbies.

My thoughts exactly.

Moreover, one of the things I like about the FS saga (including MSFS) is that you don't need to achieve goals, other than those you pose to yourself on your own. The whole world is there, and you can freely fly to wherever you want, at will.

I see the announced new sim as MSFS 2020 + a handful of add-on aircraft + "goals".

[jmig]

I will buy it just like I have bought every other version since the early 90's. In the meanwhile I will enjoy 2020 for the next couple years (I figure it will take that long to get 2024 out. Hello Bethesda!) I think 2024 will be an improvement over 2020 and look forward to its realease.

I just watched the trailer. I think the new 2024 will help moviate young people into aviation. It showed a lot of things pilots can do.

The drilling platforn sequence brought back memories. I few to a lot of different platforms in helicopters. Except, I don't recall any pilots wearing a helmet, and if the pilot had one it stayed in the cockpit. I am just being picky. I loved the avatar graphics. Much better than current.

As I said earlier, I am looking forward to this release.

[shotgunshack]

What's the biggest SSD that I can afford? When are Quantum computers out? Will my wife still love me? Will I live long enough to see the Spitfire?

[K5083]

I find myself only semi-mollified by the clarification issued later yesterday.

It seems likely that most commercial and, one can reasonably hope, most community addons will still work, probably with the updates that we are already accustomed to seeing to cope with the regular patches to FS2020.

With a little luck, we will be able to use mod managers to have the two sims share a common Community folder rather than having to duplicate a couple terabytes of addons. At least until we are ready to delete the old sim.

I'll be holding back on FS2024 until forced to buy it, to give time (1) for them to smush some of the Day 1 bugs, (2) ascertain what the compatibility situation really is, and (3) figure out if it will run on my hardware. For those of us who don't run MSFS on maxed out settings now, the concern is that any improved graphics in the new sim will have to be dialed back so much to achieve the same performance that they will look the same as the old sim. In VR, in particular, I'll be very surprised if the new sim can be made to look any better.

More big picture, I hope MS isn't making a mistake with this gamification of the sim. I see a dozen or so mission scenarios called out in the trailer, but that isn't going to impress a real gamer. The graphics in the current sim are junk by the standards of a real AAA video game, to the point where my kids jeer at them when they see me playing. The trailer looks better, but then, the trailers for FS2020 always looked much better than my sim ever did. Somehow the bombed-out photogrammetry, low-poly ground assets, and color-shifted ground textures never made it into those movies. It's a stretch to imagine that anyone who plays Elden Ring or Cyberpunk 2077 could ever find MSFS either of sufficient quality or having a sufficient amount of content to call it a good game. MS might really be better off focusing on the traditional sim audience that is happy to accept these tradeoffs so that we can do our esoteric flying thing. But heck, what do I know. Maybe the Top Gun and Reno racing missions were such booming successes that MS decided that scenario-based missions point the way forward for the platform. As long as we still have a flight sim, I don't mind having those elements which I can always ignore. But I do want the franchise to stay economically healthy, by developing in directions that are going to be sustainable.

August

[Bomber_12th]

If they're shooting for a mid-2024 release (or even late-2024), they have at least a year or more to show and discuss whatever else may be new and cutting edge about this new title over the existing one. They have a lot of time between now and then to show it off in greater fashion, to guarantee that interest in the new sim will be piqued by the time it launches. I have noticed that MSFS's vocally-largest user base, the tubeliner guys (graphics and GA aircraft not mattering as much as flight parameters, avionics & navigational systems, autopilots, ATC, etc.), have expressed next to no interest in anything that this teaser trailer has shown, so MS/Asobo will have to of course be presenting more to those folks as to why this will be a worthwhile switch from the existing sim if they are to keep that userbase into the next generation of the sim.

I have noticed in the teaser trailer that there are actual airlines shown in one of the clips, and it is neat to hear that tornadoes will actually be weather-controlled/variable (not just a specially-setup mission sequence), and aspects of the scenery and vegetation look quite a lot better than what currently exists in MSFS (I'm hoping too that this wide-spread, and not just pockets of bespoke mission scenery, such as the 3D crop fields). Knowing some of the mindset behind how Microsoft/Asobo plan these teaser trailers in the past, the fact that so many of the aircraft seen in the trailer are already-existing MSFS addons, was the hint that the aircraft addons for MSFS will continue to work in the new sim (now since confirmed by Microsoft/Asobo in writing). They do say that a few addons might not work, but that surely is them making sure to cover all of the bases - for instance, the teaser trailer shows that the new sim will have new vegetation as well as seasonal texture changes, which means that all of the season-related vegetation addons for MSFS will likely not work in the new sim, nor even be necessary (except for alternative model/texture options).

[dvj]

Microsoft will quickly bleed-off resources from MSFS 2020. Costly to support both platforms for any length of time. So bye, bye MSFS 2020. It's just how the for profit business runs. The new platform becomes the business priority until FS 2028. I also suspect a few developers know more than they are saying under NDA. The smaller devs left in the dark. As for me, I'll throttle purchases for the current platform.

[dvj]

I find myself only semi-mollified by the clarification issued later yesterday.It seems likely that most commercial and, one can reasonably hope, most community addons will still work, probably with the updates that we are already accustomed to seeing to cope with the regular patches to FS2020.With a little luck, we will be able to use mod managers to have the two sims share a common Community folder rather than having to duplicate a couple terabytes of addons. At least until we are ready to delete the old sim.I'll be holding back on FS2024 until forced to buy it, to give time (1) for them to smush some of the Day 1 bugs, (2) ascertain what the compatibility situation really is, and (3) figure out if it will run on my hardware. For those of us who don't run MSFS on maxed out settings now, the concern is that any improved graphics in the new sim will have to be dialed back so much to achieve the same performance that they will look the same as the old sim. In VR, in particular, I'll be very surprised if the new sim can be made to look any better.More big picture, I hope MS isn't making a mistake with this gamification of the sim. I see a dozen or so mission scenarios called out in the trailer, but that isn't going to impress a real gamer. The graphics in the current sim are junk by the standards of a real AAA video game, to the point where my kids jeer at them when they see me playing. The trailer looks better, but then, the trailers for FS2020 always looked much better than my sim ever did. Somehow the bombed-out photogrammetry, low-poly ground assets, and color-shifted ground textures never made it into those movies. It's a stretch to imagine that anyone who plays Elden Ring or Cyberpunk 2077 could ever find MSFS either of sufficient quality or having a sufficient amount of content to call it a good game. MS might really be better off focusing on the traditional sim audience that is happy to accept these tradeoffs so that we can do our esoteric flying thing. But heck, what do I know. Maybe the Top Gun and Reno racing missions were such booming successes that MS decided that scenario-based missions point the way forward for the platform. As long as we still have a flight sim, I don't mind having those elements which I can always ignore. But I do want the franchise to stay economically healthy, by developing in directions that are going to be sustainable.August

Well stated. My thoughts exactly.

[K5083]

John makes a good point about the tubeliners. Those guys are the most loyal part of the base. I'm sure they want a virtual airline career mode, or at least a lot of commercial pilot mission options. Even some normies might want that. Where are they?

And another community which, speaking for myself, I had no expectation of being supported by MSFS but have been genuinely delighted over the past 2 years to see being a thing MS has catered to, is the historical/vintage community. We've had the "try to fly the Wright flyer" thing. What about 1930s air races, 1920s air mail challenge, more 1900s try-to-get-off-the-ground things, 1940s flying the Hump or pilot training, 1950s surveying or propliner ops? Admittedly this might require different scenery and stuff; but if, as I suspect, the missions in FS2024 are all going to take place in bespoke, hand-built limited areas with super detail, these could just as easily be backdated. Now that, I just might conceivably be willing to drop some coin on.

Know what else would be fun? An airshow challenge where you have to fly a Pitts or Extra acro routine, do demo displays in a warbird, do hot jet flypasts, etc. Maybe even make it multiplayer, have live events, so you can be in the P-51 and I can be in the F-22 for the heritage flight. Heck, for all I care, they can even include jet trucks and skydrivers, which usually are my cue to go look for the hot dog stand. Excuse me while I adjust my seating position, this makes me excited.

As much as it might be tempting to do the "Help! Griffith Park is on fire! Put it out before Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling burn to death at the observatory!" mission and fail it on purpose, none of the modern, workaday operations missions currently being promoted are going to have much play value, let alone replay value, for me.

August

[dvj]

John makes a good point about the tubeliners. Those guys are the most loyal part of the base. I'm sure they want a virtual airline career mode, or at least a lot of commercial pilot mission options. Even some normies might want that. Where are they?And another community which, speaking for myself, I had no expectation of being supported by MSFS but have been genuinely delighted over the past 2 years to see being a thing MS has catered to, is the historical/vintage community. We've had the "try to fly the Wright flyer" thing. What about 1930s air races, 1920s air mail challenge, more 1900s try-to-get-off-the-ground things, 1940s flying the Hump or pilot training, 1950s surveying or propliner ops? Admittedly this might require different scenery and stuff; but if, as I suspect, the missions in FS2024 are all going to take place in bespoke, hand-built limited areas with super detail, these could just as easily be backdated. Now that, I just might conceivably be willing to drop some coin on.Know what else would be fun? An airshow challenge where you have to fly a Pitts or Extra acro routine, do demo displays in a warbird, do hot jet flypasts, etc. Maybe even make it multiplayer, have live events, so you can be in the P-51 and I can be in the F-22 for the heritage flight. Heck, for all I care, they can even include jet trucks and skydrivers, which usually are my cue to go look for the hot dog stand. Excuse me while I adjust my seating position, this makes me excited. As much as it might be tempting to do the "Help! Griffith Park is on fire! Put it out before Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling burn to death at the observatory!" mission and fail it on purpose, none of the modern, workaday operations missions currently being promoted are going to have much play value, let alone replay value, for me.August

The Teletubbie rescue from my Lego Batcopter will be a first day buy for me.

[Navy Chief]

But have they put out info yet on the specs required to run msfs 2024? If the same as 2020 version, OK but if not, that's a whole 'nother story for me at least. NC

[DennyA]

From the FAQ, looks like this is just going to be a superset of FS2020 and fully compatible. I would not expect the system specs to change, Navy Chief.

Way, way more compatible than, say, FSX was with FS9, or FS9 was with FS2004, where a lot of scenery and planes had issues with each update.

https://www.flightsimulator.com/micr...ator-2024-faq/

I don't think MS asking for the price of a dinner out (with no alcohol) every four years (IF you're not a Game Pass member) is unreasonable at all for the amount of content they're creating. Especially if they're maintaining support for the current ecosystem.

My guess is this will be a superset of FS2020, so you won't need both installed. Eventually FS2020 might just get maintenance updates, and probably benefits to world scenery improvements, but new features will be in 2024/2028/etc.

Knowing the push for revenue these teams feel, I'm glad they have a solid source of potential money to keep the sim funded outside of the disappointing job they've done with Marketplace.

[Navy Chief]

This is another perfect example of why Add-on Linker comes into play! Once the new sim is released and installed, all will be ready to use☺️ NC

[Stearman]

the price of a dinner out (with no alcohol)

Now that sounds funny to me.
I assume wine or beer must be really expensive in your area

[centuryseries]

My question is what happens post support for FS2020 - would they pull the plug on all that streamed data for that version? If so, that would be a shame.

[Bomber_12th]

According to the Microsoft FAQ: "We will continue to support Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) post the Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 launch."

It would be interesting to know if both sims will be streaming the same data/using the same servers or not.

[Bomber_12th]

I saw this posted by Flightbeam Studios earlier today, and I just loved it, especially for the Mr. Bean graphic at the bottom of the page: https://www.flightbeam.net/post/msfs...O6T7bNvFUDlSGk

[DaveKDEN]

Not going to lie - I'll buy it pretty much right out of the gate. I think many people have forgotten about the old two year cycle of Flightsim from days gone by... FS98, FS2000, FS2002, FS2004. If Asobo/MS goes to a 4 year cycle for new FS versions, I'm all in.