I am writing to provide feedback to the MSFS development team so that they can reconsider their implementation of career mode. I have really tried to enjoy career mode, however, I cannot continue using this mode for the following reasons:
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Real Weather Requirement I find the real weather requirement too restrictive. I appreciate the effort to enhance realism, but this feature has limited my flying time due to severe icing in my area over the past several days and weeks. An “easy mode” option that allows us to adjust the realism settings would be greatly appreciated.
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Aircraft Availability The limitations on available aircraft are too restrictive. I have several high-quality third-party aircraft for MSFS 2020 that cannot be used in career mode. While I understand these are not native, they can offer a superior flying experience compared to the default aircraft. I understand that non-native aircraft would likely prevent the pre-flight tasks and loading animated movies. However, I find that these become repetitive and tedious over time and I would not miss the experiences.
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ATC and AI Voices The default ATC and AI voices are difficult to understand, not accurate, and become repetitive. The unnatural pauses and run-on words make it difficult to understand instructions, reducing the experience to a “Press enter” interaction. Alternatives like BeyondATC and SayIntentions offer a more pleasant experience but are incompatible with career mode. Improving the quality of these voices or allowing third-party integrations would greatly enhance the realism and enjoyment.
Overall, I’m disappointed by the restrictive set of realism options in a non-competitive, single-player experience. The lack of flexibility doesn’t make sense and detracts from the enjoyment for users like myself who are not professional pilots. I struggle with full weather realism and usually reduce turbulence settings to the lowest level. A feature that allows customization, even at the expense of XP or payouts, would be a welcome addition.
I do appreciate the mission generation and aircraft maintenance features in Career Mode. However, until there are some adjustments, I’ll be stepping away from Career Mode and returning to less-integrated third party options to satisfy my desire for a mission generator.
5 Likes
You can switch off Weather in the settings somewhere, which leads to all flights will have blue skies and little to no wind.
Why not going somewhere warmer if It’s too cold in your area, waiting for it to have better weather ?
Yes this is the reason why I started to develop my career in spain/portugal and kenya
1 Like
I am very close to quitting the career mode as well. My reason is this: I have PC12 for medium cargo missions. Every single mission I am given is from some god-forsaken 200ft airport to another. Not a single mission between medium airports with runways that suit the plane. I cannot accept any of them. I am flying in the central Europe.
1 Like
Thank you for the thoughtful feedback about Career Mode. The plan is to continue to build and expand upon it, so we will be sure to send your thoughts to the team as they iterate on the experience.
2 Likes
I have to add: I hate Career Mode because the airplanes keep dying mid-flight - fuel still in the tank, altitude and weather not a problem, but the engines just die and after checking my fuel and mixture, then the normal engine start command from keyboard won’t start it again. This happens to me about 50% of the time. The other 50% they are asking me to land in extreme turbulence while the entire flight up to that point has been smooth. Turbulence that knocks the nose up and down by 30 degrees in a split second. Totally unrealistic.
I read there is some maintenance to be done if you have a company in Career Mode but that’s not my case - I don’t have and don’t want any companies - I only fly missions as a free-lance pilot and the sim doesn’t present any opportunity or responsibility for the free-lancer to maintain aircraft.
I can fly the same airplane for hours straight in Free Flight and there is no problem with the engine. And the handling characteristics seem much better in Free Flight for all the planes.
As long as aircraft are going to fail mid-flight, It might be cool for the sim to offer an option to select a maintenance level of the aircraft in each mission. Selecting a lower maintenance level or older aircraft might give you extra points, if you complete the mission.
Also if there is an engine failure you should be able to land at any airport and if you manage that you should get a very nice bonus!
I have to abort about 3/4 of the missions I start - while the flying is fun up to the point where all heck breaks loose, it is very disappointing (maddening, really) to fly every thing smoothly for an hour then have to abort due to an engine failure.