[BLOG] February 17th, 2022 Development Update

Jummivana · February 17, 2022, 10:40pm

Screenshot by Isaiahnparadise (Twitter)

We are nearing our Sim Update 8 release (see the updated Roadmap)! For those currently participating in the Beta, an update dropped yesterday based on your feedback and reports from last week. You can read the changelog here.

The Dev Q&A forum section is also now open to everyone if you have a question for our developers! This Q&A will be on Wednesday, March 2nd at 10:30am PT on Twitch.

Clear skies and smooth flying!

- MSFS TEAM -

DEVELOPMENT ROADMAP

Click here for the web-friendly version.

FEEDBACK SNAPSHOT

Click here for the web-friendly version. To learn more about Accessibility in Microsoft Flight Simulator, click here.

We are working on revamping our Bugs & Issues section to better reflect the top bugs in our Feedback Snapshot. More updates to come!

FEATURE DISCOVERY SERIES EP. 12 - AERODYNAMICS

The latest Feature Discovery video is now live:

SDK UPDATE

General:
- Thanks for your feedback on the Sim Update 8 flighting which allowed us to fix some important issues prior to the public release.
DevMode:
- We fixed several issues with the in-sim Package Builder. In case your package still fails to build, please make sure to check the console for errors (the “Builder” filter can be selected to focus on the appropriate messages).
- We fixed potential crashes in the Marketplace Creator Preview when switching projects.
- Scenery Editor:
  - CTRL click now behaves as expected.
  - The camera does not reset to top-down view anymore when adding new objects.
SDK:
- We fixed random crashes when requesting weather-related SimVars (e.g. "AMBIENT PRECIP RATE”) through SimConnect.

3RD PARTY UPDATE

As of 02/11, we have now approved 234 (+4) third parties into the in-sim marketplace and – so far 134 (+0) have released 912 products on PC (+12) and 614 on Xbox (+15).
1,839 products (+18) have already been released in 3rd party stores and the in-sim marketplace. Beyond that, another 529 products (+59) from 3rd party developers are in production (303 announced, 226 unannounced). In total, over 2,368 3rd party products (+77) are either released or are in development.
Airports:
- 1372 airports (+22) are either released or are in various stages of development.
  - 1135 airports (+7) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
  - 629 airports (+2) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
  - 127 airports (+13) beyond the released airports have been announced.
  - 110 airports (+2) are not announced, but the dev let us know that an airport is in production.
Aircraft:
- 322 aircraft (+35) are either released or are in various stages of development.
  - 105 aircraft (+0) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
  - 71 aircraft (+0) have been released in the in-sim PC marketplace.
  - 45 aircraft (+0) have been released in the in-sim Xbox marketplace.
  - 159 aircraft (+1) beyond the released aircraft have been announced.
  - 58 aircraft (+34) are not announced, but the dev let us know that an aircraft is in production.
Scenery:
- 594 sceneries (+18) are either released or are in various stages of development.
  - 521 sceneries (+10) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
  - 126 sceneries (+11) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
  - 17 sceneries (+0) beyond the released scenery have been announced.
  - 56 sceneries (+8) are not announced, but the dev let us know that scenery is in production.
Mission Packs:
- 80 mission packs (+2) are either released or are in various stages of development.
  - 78 mission packs (+1) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
  - 8 mission packs (+0) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
  - 0 mission packs (+0) beyond the released missions have been announced.
  - 2 mission packs (+1) are not announced, but the dev let us know that they are in production.

MARKETPLACE UPDATE

Click here for a web-friendly version.

There are 29 new and 23 updated products in the Marketplace today. Marketplace updates generally go live on Thursdays between the release of this blog post and 5pm PT.

TWITCH UPDATE

We stream weekly on Twitch.tv/MSFSOfficial! This week, the talk of the aviation world is the ongoing Singapore Airshow! To celebrate this biennial event, Friday’s Community Fly-In will take us from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore. Our flight plan will see us tour some truly iconic scenery from Malaysia and Singapore such as the Petronas Towers, the Marina Bay Sands, and Gardens by the Bay. Click here for details. All are welcome to participate!

Next Wednesday, February 23rd at 2:00pm PT, we will continue with our Flying Lessons in the C172: G1000. Click here for details.

COMMUNITY VIDEO

It’s #ThrowbackThursday! In this video from YouTuber Nassault, we see a back-and-forth comparison between 1993’s Microsoft Flight Simulator 5.0 and the current version from 2020. It’s amazing how far flight simming has come over the last 30 years. Who can forget that iconic takeoff from Meigs Field in Chicago?