[Blog] October 7th, 2021 Development Update

Official Microsoft Flight Simulator News & Announcements
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Screenshot by isaiahnparadise (Twitter) -Shanghai from Skyfall

Pre-release testing for Sim Update 6 has begun! If you are interested to see what’s coming in this update, we posted the tentative Release Notes for Sim Update 6 here.

Later this month, our next Live Dev Q&A is scheduled for October 20th at 10:30am PT. We plan on talking more about the upcoming Reno Air Race DLC and answering top community questions. If you have specific questions about the Reno DLC, please post them here.

Have a great week!

- The MSFS team

DEVELOPMENT ROADMAP

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FEEDBACK SNAPSHOT

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KEY

SU = Sim Update (6, 7, etc.) WU = World Update
ASAP = As Soon as Possible TBD =To Be Determined
Several Releases = Fixes will come over a series of updates
Ongoing Fixes = An item we will continually be working on
Planned = Scheduled to be worked on
Under Investigation = The team is currently looking into this issue
Not Planned = We will likely not work on this
Not Started = We have not begun investigation on this yet
Started = Development work as started on this item

COMMUNITY TRIAGE UPDATE

Click here to see our Known Issues list.

  • Black Screen/Avionics: Earlier we mentioned there are likely multiple root causes. We have confirmed one of those root causes is related to battery draw. No update on the fix and release but stay tuned!

SDK UPDATE

  • Dev Mode

    • We developed a new Aircraft Thumbnail Capture Manager which allows you to take several preset screenshots of one or several aircraft and automatically save the result in the folder of your choosing.

    • Regarding gauges, we added a new option to switch between GDI & NanoVG at runtime.

    • We improved the UI of the Objects window: it now has 2 columns, one for packages & one for objects. They have separate filters to make it a lot easier to find an object in particular.

    • Project Editor

      • We removed the ArtProj type from the list of asset group types. Existing ArtProj assets groups will be automatically converted into ModelLib asset groups.

    • Scenery Editor

      • We are currently developing a “top/down” camera that will be particularly useful when editing an airport.
      • We added and optimized the debug OSM point features.
      • We disabled the gizmo while editing the heightmap.
      • We further optimized the exclusion polygons.
      • We fixed an issue where the windows would pop-up out of the screen when opened from the far right side of the main screen.
    • Visual Effects Editor
      • We fixed node graph display issues when editing a newly created effect (e.g. white output pins, links disappearing upon edition).
      • We added a constraint on name when creating or renaming a visual effect.
      • Confirmation pop-up is now displayed when trying to create a new VFX with unsaved modifications on the one currently being edited.
      • We fixed several issues on the BezierCurve.

  • SimConnect

    • We enabled Key Events:
      • KEY_AILERON_RIGHT
      • KEY_AILERON_LEFT
      • KEY_ELEVATOR_UP
      • KEY_ELEVATOR_DOWN

3RD PARTY UPDATE

  • As of 10/03, we have now approved 219 (+0) third parties into the in-sim marketplace and – so far 119 (+2) have released 545 products on PC (+7) and 156 on Xbox (+31).

  • In total, 1,376 products (+20) have already been released in 3rd party stores and the in-sim marketplace. Beyond that, another 393 products (+16) from 3rd party developers are in production (253 announced, 140 unannounced). In total, over 1,769 3rd party products (+36) are either released or are in development.

  • Airports:

    • 1105 airports (+11) are either released or are in various stages of development.

      • 881 airports (+15) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
      • 439 airports (+2) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
      • 107 airports (-2) beyond the released airports have been announced.
      • 117 airports (-2) are not announced, but the dev let us know that an airport is in production.

  • Aircraft:

    • 227 aircraft (+20) are either released or are in various stages of development.

      • 74 aircraft (+2) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
      • 42 aircraft (+0) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
      • 130 aircraft (+18) beyond the released aircraft have been announced.
      • 23 aircraft (+0) are not announced, but the dev let us know that an aircraft is in production.

  • Scenery:

    • 394 sceneries (+4) are either released or are in various stages of development.

      • 378 sceneries (+2) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
      • 37 sceneries (+0) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
      • 16 sceneries (+2) beyond the released scenery have been announced.

  • Mission Packs:

    • 43 mission packs (+1) are either released or are in various stages of development.

      • 43 mission packs (+1) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
      • 4 mission packs (+0) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
      • 0 mission packs (+0) beyond the released missions have been announced.

MARKETPLACE UPDATES

There are 30 new products (2 on PC, 28 on Xbox), and 32 updated products (30 on PC, 2 on Xbox) in the Marketplace today.

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TWITCH UPDATE

We stream weekly on Twitch.tv/MSFSOfficial!

In this week’s Community Fly-In, we will tour a few of them from Bond’s home country, the United Kingdom, to celebrate the new James Bond film and our recent screenshot challenge, Not Time to Fly. Click here for details. Everyone is welcome to fly along!

COMMUNITY VIDEO

YouTuber British Avgeek showcases two beautiful mods in this video: the PMDG DC-6 and Aerosoft’s Antarctica Vol. 1 scenery addon. Enjoy the spectacular views as British Avgeek touches down at one of the most remote, inhospitable, and magnificently desolate areas of the world.

FEATURED FREEWARE MOD

For over 90 years, the Royal Flying Doctor Service has provided aeromedical service to people living in remote areas of the Australian Outback. Now you can fly the Beechcraft Baron, Cessna CJ4, and TBM 930 in Microsoft Flight Simulator using the livery of the RFDS at no charge compliments of Impulse Simulations. Note that a free Orbx Direct account is required for this download.

Royal Flying Doctor Service Livery

SCREENSHOT CHALLENGE

You can now submit your screenshot via Instagram and Twitter with #MSFSchallenge or the Weekly Forum Post! This week’s screenshot challenge: Upside Down

This past week our Screenshot Challenge was No Time to Fly. Here are our runner ups this week:

Screenshot by Raynen

Screenshot by BigrabH80 - The Alps

Screenshot by canuck695 - Istanbul from From Russia With Love

Screenshot by Chacal830000 - Venice

Screenshot by JazzSam - Mont Blanc (FRA) ‘‘James Bond - The World is not enough’’

Screenshot by DaveBGaming - Millenium Dome from The World is Never Enough

Screenshot by Parorng - LFIP -Tomorrow Never Dies

Screenshot by ScenicAtol3300 - Corfu

Screenshot by zkdos - Jökulsárlón Lagoon from Die Another Day

Screenshot by JazzSam - Lago di Como (ITA) ‘‘James Bond - Casino Royal’’

NEXT DEVELOPMENT UPDATE BLOG – October 14th, 2021

Sincerely,

Microsoft Flight Simulator Team

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