First of all, this is my first official topic of the forum, and I am glad to be here. I look forward to my future on this forum, and getting to know you guys!
Now, I was wondering if there were any mods (freeware or payware) that you guys could suggest for me for MSFS 2020 that are available on Xbox. It could be anything like an aircraft, airport, scenery, or tool. I realize that the capability of the Xbox is inferior to the performance you would get from a $2K PC (but then again, I donât have $2K burning a hole in my pocket), so any suggestions will be great.
I currently use an Xbox Series X, and the main thing I do in MSFS 2020 is domestic flights within the US (I never have time for flights 6+ hours) on the A320N. The current mods that I have are the LVFR Static Aircraft Pack and the A320N North American Liveries Pack.
If you recommend any payware mods, please donât make them crazy expensive (nothing should cost more than what I paid for the game - I got the Premium Deluxe Edition). Thank you.
Hi, and welcome to the forums. There are a few of us here â among the thousands of users â who like to check in daily and have a good nosy around. Youâll likely get used to the same names cropping up time and againâŠ
I was in your shoes almost exactly a year ago, and while Iâm about to buy a gaming PC next week, I started with an Xbox Series X. Before I make any recommendations, it would help if you could specify whether you have the S or X? The S is significantly more disadvantaged when it comes to MSFS but will still run the vanilla sim and a few light add-ons.
First one to get I think would have to be LVFRâs Airport Static Traffic pack, which is about ÂŁ12 full price. There are frequent mini-sales in the in-sim Marketplace, normally beginning on a Friday and lasting a week. Most of whatâs constantly discounted isnât really worth looking at (without mentioning any developer names). The LVFR pack can be had for as little as ÂŁ7 in one of the many sales, which LVFR often take part in. There are four major sales per year (one for each season), when over 1,400 products go on sale (next one will be Easter so not long to wait!).
The LVFR pack adds static (i.e. non-moving) airliners to the gates of major airports worldwide (420 at the last count). Itâs tailored towards default and hand-crafted Asobo airports and their own product line, but it does function very well with almost any third-party airport scenery. Thereâs practically zero hit on performance (unlike the simâs unrealistic live traffic) and youâll see the correct airlines at the correct airports (and even some airlines at the correct gates!).
Iâve detailed below a few more you should consider if you want to see what the simâs capable of.
1) Bijan Habashiâs Seasons packs
As its name suggests, these colour the trees appropriately based on the current season. Itâs a bit clunky as you need to install and uninstall each (there are four separate packages, one for each season) as you go, basically. But all packs cover both northern and southern hemispheres, so think of it as a sort of 2-4-1 offer. The PC versions are more realistic but the Xbox versions are being patched currently to the same standard.
2) Pyreegueâs UK airports
Pyreegueâs EGAA, EGPF, EGPH and EGNX are renowned for being among the very best airports for Xbox, both for detail and stability. Theyâre pricey (over ÂŁ18 each) but can normally be had for around ÂŁ11 in sales.
3) MK Studiosâ LEMG
This little gem surprised everyone when released by being a tiny download size, yet brimming with tasty detail and offering unrivalled stability. The default photogrammetry in Spain is probably the best in the sim so the quality of any mainland Spanish airport is always bolstered by its surroundings.
4) PMDG 737
These aircraft have not been without their troubles on Xbox but theyâre arguably the best airliners in the sim. Again, pricey at ÂŁ59 each (liveries are extra) but each feels solid and peforms just as it should. Unfortunately they are NEVER discounted.
5) Asobo ATR 42/72
While not what weâd call a âstudy-levelâ airliner, itâs not too far off and has a price typical of something of much lower quality. Itâs very rarely in sales (only once that Iâve seen) but is less than ÂŁ17 full price.
6) Black Box BN-2 Islander
One of the simâs most fun aircraft to fly and like the ATR, not too far off study-level. A lower-resolution cockpit than many aircraft in 2024 but itâs a real joy to fly and is currently less than ÂŁ9, complete with liveries!
7) Just Flight BAe 146
The PMDG 737âs main rival for the title of âbest airliner in the simâ. Price is the same but you get more variants and liveries as standard. Sometimes goes on sale.
8) IniBuildsâ global airports
These guys have a few turkeys on Xbox, that donât run well (KSAT, KJFK, EGSS), but the majority of their stuff is sublime. Probably the most improved developer of the last 12 months. EGHI and KPSP in particular are absolute masterpieces and 100% stable on Series X.
9) Orbx city packs
Orbx have been falling by the wayside just lately but their city packs really are good. They offer London, Sydney, Dublin, Singapore, Dubai, Paris, Brisbane, Melbourne and Auckland, plus the entire UK in three packs. Frequently on sale, often with big discounts.
10) South Oak Real Effects
These packs cover a handful of airliners in the sim: the default 310, 32N, 781 and 748, and the LVFR 320 (with more on the way). They add some really neat effects such as improved contrails, engine thrust spray (in wet conditions), wingtip/strake vortices, wing fogging, St. Elmoâs fire, etc. Some effects are better than others but most look convincing enough.
Hope this helps, for starters. Thereâs a thread that deals specifically with Xbox add-ons here:
Itâs a LONG read as itâs been going a while, but a lot of Xbox users have detailed their experiences with a huge range of third-party products.
My advice with add-ons is to wait for the frequent sales (check every week) as most items end up being discounted at some stage. I only buy add-ons now if I really want them (i.e. if someone releases an airport either local to otherwise very familiar to me) or if theyâre very reasonably priced on release. Iâd say the developer with the most reasonable release prices is IniBuilds, so I tend not to mind buying their stuff at full whack.
Finally, there are devs to avoid but Iâm sure youâll learn which quite quickly, if you do your research before buying anything. Some scenery is converted or ported from other sims (previous iterations of MSFS or XP/P3D) and doesnât work well at all.
Welcome!
Great detailed list there from @JakTrax78 , and I fully agree with it.
Off the top of my head, I donât have much to add, other than to recommend âWeather Preset Proâ by Sofly. This is another add on that, like Bijanâs Seasons affects the look and feel of the sim in a more global way.
It adds a lot of (as the name implies) pre set weather conditions to fly in. Live weather in the sim is pretty good, but sometimes you might be looking for a particular kind of weather or vibe to fly in, and this add on fits the bill. It also lets you see the full extent of cloud types available etc.
The xbox is by itâs nature more limited than PC, but that said, there are plenty of great add ons available, and the scope of what is possible continues to expand. Only a couple of weeks ago A2A released their Comanche 250 which, when it was originally announced, seemed to be an impossibility on console - it runs really well.
Also, JustFlight are currently testing their FS Traffic utility for Xbox, although I think release will be some way off as itâs a huge challenge to accommodate it on the more limited ram.
One last thing I would say is - trust the Marketplace ratings. There are a few nasty cash grabs waiting for the unwary but, as Jak says youâll soon get to know who to look out for.
However, sometimes even well made competent add ons may have performance issues and the thread linked above is a great resource for getting a feel for how something runs on Xbox specifically.
Iâd also add that LVFRâs Airbus aircraft are good value, particularly when discounted (as in fact they are this week - their static aircraft pack too). Not study-level but decent models that are nice to fly (especially their 339). They come with custom GSE/sounds and tons of liveries.
I had seen this, and I am really excited and hopeful that it comes out by the end of this year.
Yeah, I kinda had to learn that one the hard way. Since I am financially constricted, I was looking for planes to buy, and I came across the 737-MAX 8. It has poor ratings, and costs $20, but I was really hoping to get another plane, so I bought it anyway. Now, I am really disappointed in the lack of quality in the aircraft.
I keep considering buying the 737-800 from PMDG, but I have to wait to see if it will go on sale - $70 is a pretty penny. I am also interested in buying a 777, but currently, the only option available is not ideal.
The PMDG 737s may eventually go on sale but they havenât in the almost 12 months since their release. The livery packs did, however, go on sale at Xmas.
The Bredok 7M8 is unfortunately a complete turkey, as is everything else they pass off as respectable add-ons. If you just want to fly a high-fidelity airliner, and arenât fussed about recreating real-world flights, the ÂŁ30 PMDG 736 is the way to go. Or for a slightly more flexible experience, the ÂŁ40 739.
The Black Box Islander and Asobo ATR are both excellent value for money. Not quite on PMDGâs level but not far off.
This is a brief list of renowned devs who can normally be trusted to properly optimise for Xbox Series X:
Aerodesigns
Aerosoft (official MSFS partner)
AUScene
Black Box
BMWorld/Amsim
Bravoairspace
Burning Blue Design
Drzewoecki Design
FeelThere
Flightbeam
Fly-X Simulations
FlyTampa
FSDreamTeam
FSimStudios
FSReborn
GAYA Simulations (official MSFS partner)
Impulse Simulations
IniBuilds (official MSFS partner)
Jetstream Design
Just Flight
Macco Simulations
MK Studios
MM Simulations
MXI Design
NZA Simulations (official MSFS partner)
Orbx (official MSFS partner)
Paulo Ricardo
Pilot Experience Sim
PMDG
Pyreegue
RDPresets
Roman Design
Samscene3D
Simworks Studios
SLH Sim Designs
UK2000
Verticalsim
X-Wind Studios
While most of the above devs can occasionally mess things up, theyâre usually pretty good at attempting to rectify any issues.
PMDGâs version is in development and apparently fairly close to release. It will be better than any other 777 on the market. Captain Sim offer the only 777 currently and they are actually a reputable developer â but theyâve lost a lot of respect in the community lately for their sales methods, and for the fact that their aircraft are basically âskinsâ for default Asobo planes.
Yes, both shorter range but excellent VFR aircraft (as in real life). Of course the islander is VFR only but does feature AP. Itâs great fun to fly the Islander, particularly in the Caribbean (an area well covered by SLH Sim Designs and their fantastically-optimised airports).
There are E-Jets on Xbox, by VirtualCol, but theyâre not very good (think Bredok quality â maybe just a touch above). Flight Sim Studios AG has the older gen E-Jets (170/175/190/195) but theyâre PC-exclusive. They are being reworked for Xbox, though, so Iâd expect them in the next six months.
I own a pretty heavy amount of add ons too. But focus first on WHERE you like to fly and work your way out from there. Research, and then favorite possible adds waiting for sales. Flying tubers you donât really get up close and personal unless lining up with a gate, and what really sucks is when you have a true favorite place that doesnât have anything worthy for it.
The lower you go the more you spend, with everything from Supercarriers to camping utilities. And half the time the âenhancementâ can be underwhelming(although those two are great). Plus when youâre low and slow you tend to try to fix up cell areas and end up with a lot more than just zooming into an international hub. Now I need boats, now I need trees and birds, now I need the other airports within an hourâŠ
A lot of the add onâs other than specific airports and city details donât help all that much with airliners. Samesceneâs city mods tend to work out well if theyâre in areas you fly. PG and general ground textures arenât too hateful from altitude, just a skyline you recognize and pops helps a lot.
Iâve never really been too fussed about trees, and certainly not birds. I do have one of Bijanâs seasons packs (winter) but with a PC on the way Iâm unsure whether to get the spring one or go REX Accuseasons.
VERY guilty of this one!
I only have Tokyo but itâs fantastic. Easily as good as Orbxâs city packs. I have Drzewieckiâs Seattle too but itâs not as nice as Samscene/Orbx and is quite stuttery. Chicago apparently is awful, with zero building detail until youâre practically right on top of the city!
I usually only fly within the US. My most common thing that I do is pick two East Coast airports, and more often than not, one of them is KMCO, as it is my home airport IRL. Also, since I am limited with the airlines I can fly with (I only fly a route if I have its airlineâs livery), I tend to get kinda picky.
I donât have Orlando, even though I usually go there all the time IRL⊠Fly more GA/Biz Jets when not bush or island hopping. So Iâm usually out of Kissimmee up there and Ft Lauderdale, Key West, and Naples, which I havenât got the new airport for yet. Most else is out to the east, where I have gobs of Bahamas adds.
I will tell you the âbirdsâ do help, with pigeons around aprons and seagulls near water, when your just setting up or on taxi and see them flying around itâs pretty entertaining. Keep an eye out for sales, the east coast adds cover a LOT of area by itself.
I find KFLL excellent though as it adds the harbor, and I have no issues with KMIA either, bought it to originally help doll up flying KFLL to KEYW often. Have a lot of the small airports.
KDCA and Washington DC are one of the best adds and a regular hub to FL, along with KIAD and a reasonable after-dinner flight at tuber speed. Donât have issues with those either. The Northeast I really donât have much, just Samscene NYC for the occasional heli flight.
I will say Global shipping helps a little in some areas, but not much outside of Miami or NYC, and a few through Baltimore. Itâs not saturated like the individual packs are. Probably hold off on something like that going from Orlando to DC/Baltimore/NYC. Miami to NYC I would definitely add it you get both ends.
Iâd probably get KDCA/Washington DC city first if you donât already have Orlando. KDCA has one of the best approaches ever(with the river visual 19 approach), particularly with the scenery, you even get metro trains, a loaded apron, all the DC goodies, extended areas near the airport, even boats in the river.
Is there a KMCO for purchase on the Marketplace? As it is my BOO (base of operations), the fact that it doesnât have Terminal C is a big disappointment. However, it being one of the handcrafted airports included in all versions is awesome
I havenât seen Orlando, definitely not on Xbox. Nobody went after the theme parks either. Biggest tourist destination on the planet and itâs an ugly wasteland in MSFS. Default KMCO looks decent enough but nothing else does. I love to hop from KFLL to KDCA though. At altitude Orlando doesnât look bad. San Diego to Vegas is another one I personally enjoy both ends of the flight.
Hey, I would highly recommend you to fly and use the Inibuilds A320neo(if you want to fly realistic Airbus routes) WHEN ITS RELEASED!!!
This will be completely free and will be offering a very very good simulation of the A320neo. I think, beside the PMDG 737, this will be the only good rendition of a modern airliner on Xbox so far
So⊠wait a little more until March 26th and then go for it!
