[Official] Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 Information & Discussion Thread

[J7SC_Orion]

17 hours ago, Andrew said:

Does anyone else play this with an Xbox controller? I've always had issues with the game where it wouldn't load the controller settings properly and more recently, I could fly a plane once. If I go back to the main menu to get a different plane or flight plan, going back into the game would stop the controller from working. It doesn't unmap the buttons, in the controller settings everything is mapped correctly, but it doesn't actually do anything in game.

 

I've noticed it does this as well if I switch to or from VR mode. In order to get the controls to actually work in VR mode, I have to start the game then immediately press alt+tab to get it in VR mode. If I wait until the menu then go in game, I get the same issue with the controller where it just stops working.

 

Unplugging the controller and plugging it back in doesn't fix it. The only fix is it to restart the game entirely which is just inconvenient. The game loads slow enough as it is going from in game to main menu. Quitting the game entirely and starting it again is painful. It's putting me off playing it.

 

...controllers in FS2020 can be tricky...I have been using and recommending the Logitech 3D Extreme Pro USB in FS2020 since I first got that sim...however, I have a second one (same, but wireless model) which does show up correctly in FS2020 control settings and calibrations, but for some reason does not work in actual flight.

 

I also have a cheap pseudo XBox controller which also doesn't work right, though it for some reason does allow you to take single click screenshots continuously ?!  IMO, FS2020 is interweaving your system with their server-side so deeply that some changes, such as controllers, just don't seem to update correctly

[Andrew]

It is a bit frustrating that I've been having these issues since launch, except now they're worse. I'm using a Microsoft made controller on a Microsoft operating system playing a game made for Microsoft and the controller doesn't work properly.

 

I would get a dedicated joystick for it, but I don't really have the space for one, I have my T300RS permanently set up and I'd rather keep it that way. Even if I did have the space for one, I can't really buy one now, even a cheap used one.

[schuck6566]

I wonder if the controller issue would be there on the actual xbox?If I get a chance,I'll see about installing it on 1 of our consoles since it's free with game pass and see what happens.

[UltraMega]

[schuck6566]

Ok, the wife can fly better then me. The xbox controller seems ok on the console so it must be a pc/controller glitch. She moved a couple games and installed Flight Simulator for me to test the controller issue,and her payment was getting to laugh at me when I crashed into the pyramid in gaza and into Mt. Everest.

[J7SC_Orion]

6 hours ago, UltraMega said:

  

Nice ! Reunion Island ?

 

    

  

...then on to Vladivostok and surrounds

 

 

 

 

[UltraMega]

6 minutes ago, J7SC_Orion said:

  

Nice ! Reunion Island ?

 

Indeed. Those cliffs are nice because you can get really low in the tight spaces with a small plane or fit a 747 a little higher up. I've been trying to find more places like this. Nepal is a good area, probably a lot prettier but not the same kind of cramped canyons to fly through. 

 

Couple more screens:

[J7SC_Orion]

...^^ nice, but the Reunion Island Air Traffic Safety Board wants to talk with you re. that 747 excursion...

 

...picked up an LG C1 OLED 48 today as part of the 'Ravens' nest' build...haven't fully calibrated it yet, but full-on HDR / OLED is a blast in FS2020...screenies of HDR don't quite come out right, but the original experience is jaw-dropping - feels more '3D / spatial' with the extra detail 

 

 

[J7SC_Orion]

...less colour, more dreary   ...Toronto and NY as both had real thunderstorm weather

 

 

 

[UltraMega]

Finally adding some activities!

[J7SC_Orion]

6 hours ago, UltraMega said:

Finally adding some activities!

 

...all they have to do now is add some BFGs to both wings and I'm in 

[schuck6566]

lol, y'all posting epic pics of your flights, and I'm over here like this....

[UltraMega]

1 hour ago, schuck6566 said:

lol, y'all posting epic pics of your flights, and I'm over here like this....

Heh, all my screenshots are only after watching lots of YouTube tutorials. Definitely a steep learning curve but some planes are much easier to fly than others. 

 

I can fly; like take off, stay in the air, land, but I don't know hardly anything about what any of the control do beyond the basics. I still don't really get what fly by wire means other than just heavy auto pilot that I can't seem to disable. I also can't figure out how to get the big jets to full speed. I'm mostly just here to see the world rendered in a game and try to land in weird places. 

[Andrew]

3 hours ago, UltraMega said:

Heh, all my screenshots are only after watching lots of YouTube tutorials. Definitely a steep learning curve but some planes are much easier to fly than others. 

 

I can fly; like take off, stay in the air, land, but I don't know hardly anything about what any of the control do beyond the basics. I still don't really get what fly by wire means other than just heavy auto pilot that I can't seem to disable. I also can't figure out how to get the big jets to full speed. I'm mostly just here to see the world rendered in a game and try to land in weird places. 

Fly by wire means all of the controls are connected electronically. There's no mechanical or hydraulic linkage between the controls and what they're supposed to control. It's not auto pilot, but it does allow auto pilot easily. I do know there are mechanical forms of auto pilot that are really complicated.

[J7SC_Orion]

1 hour ago, Andrew said:

Fly by wire means all of the controls are connected electronically. There's no mechanical or hydraulic linkage between the controls and what they're supposed to control. It's not auto pilot, but it does allow auto pilot easily. I do know there are mechanical forms of auto pilot that are really complicated.

 

...even most modern cars have fly-by-wire controls, such as throttle, breaking and now even steering  ...I do miss the immediacy of the old carb 'throttle linkages' though on a hi-po 6.6L engine.

 

@UltraMega depending on your settings, NOT starting on an airport runway but instead elsewhere in mid-air usually doesn't kick in the autopilot.  

[schuck6566]

the wife was laughing at me 'cause I managed to fly into a building twice by accident. She was like "Really?This isn't the Bin Laden flight academy here..." at which point I gave up trying on her xbox.

Edited October 10, 2021 by schuck6566

[UltraMega]

 

[Andrew]

I want better performance without lowering the graphics significantly. I exclusively play MSFS in VR and it can get pretty bad when you have to run low-medium settings and you still get 20-30fps.

[J7SC_Orion]

...I only had sporadic FS2020 play time recently as both systems loaded with it are undergoing custom fab and mods. Once complete, I might do a deep-dive into 'local cache' rather than just 'rolling cache', as much as they're related. However, with local cache, you can manually add much greater detail for selected areas...that also helps both visuals and performance a bit but is apparently quite tedious a process.

 

... @Andrew - I've heard a lot of folks suggest that FS2020 VR could use more hp, even with an oc'ed 3090. So far, I resisted VR as much as I'm interested in it...and went instead for a new LG C1 48 OLED and and older LG IPS HDR 55 on the two respective FS2020 work-and-play machines that have FS2020 loaded. Quite immersive in their own right, and buttery-smooth even at 4K Ultra max.

[J7SC_Orion]

...some good news > I finally finished the second Ravens' nest build (also a dual mobo one) and FS2020 on a 520W w-cooled 3090 is gorgeous. But...

 

 

 

 

...yet another big patch today which also contained the DX12 beta for FS2020. Overall, graphics were great other than a few minor issues, and frame rates were also good - but 10 % and 1% lows were best described as 'jerkomotion', unlike the same flight in DX11. Then again, it is a beta update, and it could be that this didn't quite work right with the rolling cache from before.

 

Also: F18 addition for those who want to fly faster...

 

 

 

Edited November 27, 2021 by J7SC_Orion

[J7SC_Orion]

Having some fun with the new > Volocopter option in FS2020, and landing pretty much anywhere, including where I shouldn't  

 

Below is London, original screenshots are 4K / Ultra / HDR via the DX12 beta in FS2020...

 

 

[Andrew]

I've installed this again after a few months and I see they've finally fixed LNAV and VNAV on the 787 and 747, they've also fixed the autopilot for the 747 when you're not using any flaps as well as the fuel usage on the 787. The last time I tried the 747, any time I tried to use autopilot with the flaps not set to 1, the plane would slowly climb up to the set altitude and then violently drop at 10-15K fpm before slowly climbing back up again.

 

Also how do you get that Volocopter thing? I've been told it's free and part of an update but it's not in the select aircraft screen and I don't see it in the marketplace either.

[J7SC_Orion]

16 minutes ago, Andrew said:

I've installed this again after a few months and I see they've finally fixed LNAV and VNAV on the 787 and 747, they've also fixed the autopilot for the 747 when you're not using any flaps as well as the fuel usage on the 787. The last time I tried the 747, any time I tried to use autopilot with the flaps not set to 1, the plane would slowly climb up to the set altitude and then violently drop at 10-15K fpm before slowly climbing back up again.

 

Also how do you get that Volocopter thing? I've been told it's free and part of an update but it's not in the select aircraft screen and I don't see it in the marketplace either.

 

The Volocopter came with the latest 'big patch' that also included DX12 a few weeks back and loaded fine on both machines and appears in the hangar (along with several new other planes, including w/ floats, and of course the F18)- do you have the FS2020 'Premium Deluxe' version (stupid name, I know) ?

[Andrew]

30 minutes ago, J7SC_Orion said:

 

The Volocopter came with the latest 'big patch' that also included DX12 a few weeks back and loaded fine on both machines and appears in the hangar (along with several new other planes, including w/ floats, and of course the F18)- do you have the FS2020 'Premium Deluxe' version (stupid name, I know) ?

I do have the F18 available. I bought the most expensive version on Steam on release, ultimate edition I think?

[J7SC_Orion]

16 minutes ago, Andrew said:

I do have the F18 available. I bought the most expensive version on Steam on release, ultimate edition I think?

 

That should have worked then, weird...currently tied up. but the next time I log into FS2020, I'll take a screenie re. position of the Volocopter in the 'hangar' on my setups.