Well, of all the existing flight sims out there - no names mentioned here - over the years I’ve pretty much tried 'em all.
They all had their strengths.
They all had their weaknesses.
And I had my favourites.
ALL of them had bugs and glitches that needed fixing and patching or just plain working around.
But with each iteration and hardware advance the genre inched ever closer to the reality that we simmer’s crave.
However I can honestly say that none of them has ever come even close to what Asobo/Microsoft have served up for our edification here.
MSFS 2020 is … well … just glorious.
And the bug reports we have to submit do not in any way diminish this. It’s called ‘feedback’.
So when I find and report a bug, I consider myself a part of a feedback loop.
A feedback loop that over time will add even more reality and lustre to the sim.
So, for taking this [Armstrong like] “giant leap” toward reality, to all at Asobo and Microsoft I wish to thank you
I don’t know how you did it but I am so happy that you have.
Yes, frankly I have to agree. Although I do not have extensive experience with previous flight simulator launches, I am definitely aware that most of them relied heavily of 3rd party freeware and payware to stitch together the experience.
It is evident there are issues with this sim at launch, in some cases serious ones. But so many people are surprisingly quick to judge Asobo and write this off completely before even giving it a chance. We have yet to even see the sim progress post-launch, see Asobo’s continued development and response to issues. I will admit I believe something pushed Asobo to release earlier than anticipated. Not because of the bugs on launch (what game doesn’t have those these days), but because of the relatively short Alpha -> Beta -> Release timeline. And because of the short notice of the release date. We will likely never know why or if Asobo pushed the release forward. But the very least we could do is be just a tiny bit patient to see what they can do (as well as 3rd party developers) while they inevitably come off what was likely a massive crunch period pre-launch.
X-Plane may have the better flight model, even the better approach of creating a flight model. But when I fly in XP, I don’t get the same impression of my surroundings changing, from region to region, as I do in MSFS. I would never go as far as saying I’m a graphics over flight model guy, but what I would say is I appreciate the scenery a lot. Flying over a city actually feels just like that, and I never got that feeling from XP.
Yes, you can create Ortho for XP, you can add this plugin, and that plugin, and modify it how you wish. But MSFS out of the box has raised the bar sufficiently as to eliminate the need for hand crafted Ortho.
I don’t think anyone out there, with the exception of Google, or partnering with either Microsoft or Google, is going to be able to replicate that.
I spend my time flying GA, so the quality of the aircraft, while not perfect, is good enough for a first release. It’s good enough for me to find flying them sufficiently engaging, that the things I can do, and achieve, in XP I can also in MSFS.