[BLOG] September 29th, 2022 Development Update

iinKWest · September 29, 2022, 11:03pm

Screenshot by tsujiKa_air (Twitter)

Get your maple syrup and poutine ready, because World Update XI: Canada is here! (We don’t recommend mixing them together, but we won’t tell you what to do.) This free add-on is available in the in-sim Maketplace, and the update brings with it 12 new photogrammetry cities, 87 hand-crafted points of interest, 5 hand crafted airports, and more! Further information and release notes for World Update XI can be found here.

Alongside WUXI, today we also released Local Legend VII: the Cessna 195 Businessliner! This classic-looking plane was the first all-aluminum aircraft developed by Cessna, and has been wonderfully recreated in Microsoft Flight Simulator by our friends at Carenado. It is available now in the in-sim Marketplace for USD $14.99. If you’d like to learn more about the Cessna 195 Businessliner, check out our article on the plane!

We hope you enjoy the new update, and we’d love to hear your feedback on it! You can leave your thoughts here for World Update XI: Canada, and here for the C195 Businessliner.

MSFS Team

DEVELOPMENT ROADMAP

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FEEDBACK SNAPSHOT

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MARKETPLACE UPDATE

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We have a Marketplace Sale going on to coincide with World Update XI: Canada! You can check it out here.

There are 22 new and 35 updated products in the Marketplace today. Marketplace updates generally go live on Thursdays between the release of this blog post and 5pm PT.

SDK Update

Roadmap:
- Sim Update 11
  - We are focusing our efforts on the Project Editor, improving its stability & ergonomics.
  - We’ve added a new tool to create and edit taxi signs, with a previsualization window!
- General:
  - Project Editor
    - We fixed a crash on closing the Project Editor.
We changed the “?” by an information icon at the end of fields.
We added default company/creator fields on new project prompt.
We improved Back/Next flow and moved the back arrow before the text.
Scenery Editor
- We added a better way to edit taxi signs directly in their properties window. Documentation is available online!
- We fixed the vehicles that were not hidden by tunnels or exclusion polygons.
Aircraft Editor
- We fixed problems with the camera: avoid duplicating GUID when duplicating camdefs, fixed VarToggle param’s alias, set UiTitle to be visible.
SimConnect
- We added lat/lon/alt to facility minimal list.
- We created a sample for the Network API.
- We updated the FacilityDataDef sample to show a new feature (conflict between facility with the same name).
- We added new fields to the NavData API (ICAO, Region, Is Terminal Waypoint).

Third Party Update

As of 09/24, we have now approved 278 (+5) third parties into the in-sim marketplace and – so far 164 (+0) have released 1,467 products on PC (+26) and 1,176 on Xbox (+30).
In total, 2,468 products (+25) have already been released in 3rd party stores and the in-sim marketplace. Beyond that, another 590 products (-13) from 3rd party developers are in production (316 announced, 274 unannounced). In total, over 3,058 3rd party products (+12) have either been released or are in development.
Airports:
- 1,662 airports (+9) are either released or are in various stages of development.
- 1,444 airports (+11) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
- 904 airports (+4) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
- 119 airports (+1) beyond the released airports have been announced.
- 99 airports (-3) are not announced, but the dev let us know that an airport is in production.
Aircraft:
- 448 aircraft (+2) are either released or are in various stages of development.
- 164 aircraft (+3) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
- 115 aircraft (+2) have been released in the in-sim PC marketplace.
- 87 aircraft (+1) have been released in the in-sim Xbox marketplace.
- 177 aircraft (-1) beyond the released aircraft have been announced.
- 107 aircraft (+0) are not announced, but the dev let us know that an aircraft is in production.
Scenery:
- 842 scenery packs (+1) are either released or are in various stages of development.
  - 757 scenery packs (+10) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
  - 227 scenery packs (+12) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
  - 20 scenery packs (+0) beyond the released scenery have been announced.
  - 65 scenery packs (-9) are not announced, but the dev let us know that scenery is in production.
Mission Packs:
- 106 mission packs (+0) are either released or are in various stages of development.
  - 103 mission packs (+1) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
  - 35 mission packs (+0) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
  - 0 mission packs (+0) beyond the released missions have been announced.
  - 3 mission packs (-1) are not announced, but the dev let us know that they are in production.

Twitch Update

We stream weekly on twitch.tv/MSFSOfficial. Two pilots from Asobo Studio are currently participating in the Rallye Toulouse Saint-Louis, a celebration of the brave French aviators (including beloved author Antoine De Saint Exupéry) who pioneered airmail service between France, Morocco, and Senegal in the 1920s. The last stage of the flight, the return to Toulouse, coincides with our Community Fly-In. This week, our group will be completing a portion of the final stage, crossing the Pyrenees Mountains between Spain and France.

Event details here. All are welcome to participate!

Community Video

Hurricane Ian is currently making landfall in Florida, and the team here at Microsoft Flight Simulator share our most heartfelt sympathies to anyone directly affected. For those not in the hurricane’s path, however, this moment presents an opportunity to engage in virtual storm chasing from the safety of your home. In the video below, YouTuber ObsidianAnt flies over Hurricane Ian in Microsoft Flight Simulator with Live Weather enabled. Seeing the storm from this perspective gives simmers a unique view into the awe-inspiring power of nature.