Microsoft Flight Simulator

[sscadmin]

I was looking at the upcoming MS Flight Simulator that is due to release in 2020 on PC and Xbox. All this footage and screenshots are from the pre-alpha but I will admit it is gorgeous. They say you can basically fly to any spot on earth and have it be accurate because it will be using bing maps . Its been what 10+ years since the last game and now Microsoft is going to release this.... wow what an upgrade to the series and supports VR too.[url]https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/microsoft-flight-simulator[/url]  Haha the dude flew over his house ....

[D.C.Elington]

Yes that's really impressive. I used to log countless hours on my heavily modded FSX, learning how to fly airliners from the real manuals sometimes... until I just "stalled" a few years ago (pun intended! ). This to say I'm really looking forward to trying this new one.

[sscadmin]

This game just keeps looking better and better and I hope they take their time and just make this the ultimate simulator....

[D.C.Elington]

Yes that's incredible. I just updated my rig (Ryzen 5 3600 / GTX 1660 S / 16 GB). It's quite the little computing monster and hopefully will provide a good trade-off between smoothness and rendering detail. I'm OK with a steady 30 fps (VSync/2) but what they show makes me worry to be honest...

[sscadmin]

Posted by: @d-c-elington
I'm OK with a steady 30 fps (VSync/2) but what they show makes me worry to be honest...

I guess it might depend on the detail level you are going for when in game. Until we get more info on specs we just have to wonder? Because you are correct @d-c-elington the 30fps you should be just fine as long as it doesn't dip below that level during your game session. Because I have watched many videos comparing 30 to 60fps and you cannot really notice the difference. I think where we might run into gfx frame rate reduction is the sky/weather effects and as you get closer to the ground and you want to see more detail. The cockpit is pretty static with dials and gauges so the hit will come from the outside of the plane  

[D.C.Elington]

Indeed nothing like a "broken 7/8" with huge gorgeous volumetric clouds and their shadows to make a GPU enter its "What The Fps!?" mode

[sscadmin]

Here is the spec sheet for the requirements to play the upcoming MSoft Flight Simulator

Min Spec
AMD
Min Spec
NVIDIA
Recommended Spec
AMD
Recommended Spec
Intel
Ideal Spec
AMD
Ideal Spec
Intel


Min OS Version
Windows 10
November 2019 update (1909)
Windows 10
November 2019 update (1909)
Windows 10
November 2019 update (1909)
Windows 10
November 2019 update (1909)
Windows 10
November 2019 update (1909)
Windows 10
November 2019 update (1909)


CPU
Ryzen 3 1200
Intel i5-4460
Ryzen 5 1500X
Intel i5-8400
Ryzen 7 Pro 2700X
Intel i7-9800X


GPU
Radeon RX 570
NVIDIA GTX 770
Radeon RX 590
NVIDIA GTX 970
Radeon VII
NVIDIA RTX 2080


VRAM
2 GB
2 GB
4 GB
4GB
8 GB
8 GB


RAM
8 GB
8 GB
16 GB
16GB
32 GB
32 GB


HDD
150 GB
150 GB
150 GB
150 GB
150 GB SSD
150 GB SSD


Bandwidth
5 Mbps
5 Mbps
20 Mbps
20 Mbps
50 Mbps
50 Mbps

Think I might have to upgrade my PC a little to do the ideal specs on this game.... the 50mbps internet speed thats from downloading actual bing maps data in real-time This game looks amazing in these videos, so it looks like a lot of fans might be upgrading their PC's this year. 

[Cody]

WX is required because of DX12, yes? <grumbles> That'll become standard soon, I expect.
I've got the hardware for the recommended specs, but not the damn software!

[sscadmin]

I would say your right on that @Cody, only real reason to have Windows 10 is for DX12. So many new games starting to utilize just DX12 and not have backwards compatibility just for the simple fact of creating games for the next gen consoles. I have been using Win10 for a few years now and I will admit that Msft has definitely increased stability. I don't think my PC has ever hard crashed, that was not the case with Win7. I believe you can get a free upgrade key from Msft (they might have discontinued that) to give it a run for a few months. The compatibility is actually pretty good in Win10 I have been able to run most of any older game natively without having to use a emulator. So I have been pleased with Win10 performance thus far, and yeah if you like gfx you will have to upgrade to get the performance you are looking for, because sometimes without the newer DirectX features your game actually runs more poorly without than with. 

[Cody]

Posted by: @sscadmin
I believe you can get a free upgrade key from Msft (they might have discontinued that)

Although MS don't advertise it, I understand free upgrades are still available. I've even got a lump of rust somewhere in the spares cupboard with an early install of WX on it. But as I've said before, it'd take a real humdinger of a single-player space game to draw me in... and I really don't want to be building yet another machine.

[Geraldine]

I've nowhere near these specs so I guess I will be passing on this latest version of MS Flight Sim. I still get a lot of mileage tho from FSX and FS2004. There is so much content available for these two. Incidentally, if any of you have these games, check out Avsim, California Classics, and Flight Sim dot com. Tons of great free content on these sites to be had.
[attach]23[/attach]

[D.C.Elington]

New machine half-way between the "Recommended" and "Ideal" configurations so I'm reasonably hopeful
Meanwhile I'm happily flying with X-Plane 11 (on Win 10), and unless I'm mistaken this one runs on Linux?

[Cody]

Talking about flight... 'UFO' vids. I know it's true 'cos my cat told me!
This thread deviation has been brought to you by cosmic cats!

[Geraldine]

@cody
Fire up the interceptors!

And if you didnt like that, get the funk out!

This thread deviation has been brought to you by S.H.A.D.O

[Cody]

Posted by: @geraldine
Fire up the interceptors!

Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters are go!

This extended deviation has been brought to you by the Widowmaker!

[sscadmin]

Posted by: @d-c-elington
Meanwhile I'm happily flying with X-Plane 11 (on Win 10), and unless I'm mistaken this one runs on Linux?

There has been no mention of this being released on Linux as of yet, but I believe the previous Msoft Flight Simulator X works on linux but thats over 10+ years old now

[Cody]

Has anyone tried FlightGear?

[Geraldine]

@cody
I did a while back but this latest version seems to have come along in leaps and bounds from that old build I tried. What you got to lose. If it could use aircraft from the older MS fight sims or convert them even, it would be a winner.

[Cody]

Posted by: @geraldine
What you got to lose.

Aye, that's the beauty of FOSS. Perhaps I'll give it a go, when/if I get my eyes fixed.

[sscadmin]

This article has some beautiful screenshots from this game, look at these clouds
[url]https://www.dsogaming.com/screenshot-news/new-microsoft-flight-simulator-screenshots-showcase-volumetric-clouds-environments-airplanes/[/url]