Honest Review - Good, Bad and Ugly

Discussion Hub General Discussion
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Greetings,

I have been reading alot of posts from people regarding how good or bad MSFS is so far and here my review.

-You can’t play simulate at Ultra settings on a 4k or 2k monitor, and have 60fps or more. There is simply no PC out there to do that, maybe dual 2080ti?
-However high-end settings almost same as ultra to the eye and i get 40-70 fps. Happy with it!
-There are flaws in the sim i.e. few instrumental behaviors are not optimized or doesn’t work, AI traffic is not perfect but it has it bases covered, etc, this will all change. The product just got released less than a week ago. Its a simulation not a game so please try to distinguish since games have storyline, missions, campaign with fancy world norms which all are madeup whilst this simulation has alot of physics and realism associated with it so don’t compare. This product has no competitors to compare with, Period.

-Weather is stunning, scenery is breathtaking, aircraft models are perfect and i can’t stop simulating flight plans on it. Its just too good. I know there are bugs and glitches but there is no product out there which doesn’t, devs have put time and effort to delivery absolutely brilliant product and i am sure same dedication will take it to next level with even better performance. We don’t deserve this sim. :slight_smile:

My Specs are:

  • Intel Core i7 10700K 3.8GHz Processor OC 5.1GHz
  • NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Super 8GB GDDR6
  • 32GB DDR4-3200MHZ RAM
  • 1TB SSD NVMe M.2.
  • Windows 10 Pro
  • 1000 Mbps Fiber Internet.
  • Good liquid Cooling system.

MSFS is 10/10 product. Community should appreciate it and give constructive criticism. Don’t except this product to deliver if you don’t even have specs that are recommended for ideal settings.

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Nice review.
it hits the nail on the head.

We have a awesome new Sim Platform for the next decade!

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10/10? Cmon…as I said elsewhere, you will buy a new PC in the future to run, lets say, Windows 12. You install and … Word works, Excel too, but no email or internet access… would you say it is ok waiting for corrections (maybe months) because the wallpaper and icons are fantastic? I do not think so…they’ve been doing this since 1982, and several “important” things are not working…I do not have to applaud, I paid for the product, it was not free…this is MS, a multibillion company…it is a shame.

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Couldn’t agree more. Not 10/10. More 9.999999/10. Room for improvement. Otherwise agree with OP.

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Why pre order on steam for 120$ when you can try first on gamepass? In these day and age most games always lunched with issues some less than other… I’m sure this game will get fixed etc… I will buy it later, for now best 1 $ ever spent.

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couldnt agree more, my specs are alot lower at,

  • Laptop
  • 8Gb of ram
  • Gtx 1650
  • I5 10th Gen

I run on high with a few tweaks applied for my personal liking, including ultra texture quality, i get 30-40 fps its smooth as butter, couldnt be happier with this simulator, i flown on every simulator thats existed after and including fsx, this is the best performance and prettiest in my own opinion.

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OP is right in one thing: “We do not deserve this sim”…we deserve a better one…lets hope they fix things asap…it is all over the forum the list of problems we absolutely should not have right now…multi monitor support, ILSs working, ATC, better loading times without the ridiculous Press Any Key to Continue, etc…

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Well I’ve been a user of MSFS since the mid 80’s (the very beginning) and have always loved my experiences using it. I’ve joined a VA (Globe Cargo) in the early 2000s and have thousands of hours flying Heavy jets (on the sim) all around the world. Not a novice by any respect.

After just the first 5 hours using this new incarnation, flying mostly the IconA5 and the 747, I am less than impressed with the flying part of the “experience”. Sure the scenery looks great even with everything set to medium. Sure the weather looks realistic, and seems to mimic reality well enough. My hardware is not the newest (circa 2015, but it was top of the line back then) so I will be addressing that soon enough (I haven’t given up yet) so things will get better. I hope to set things to Ultra once all is renewed.

I must wonder if any of the developers/programmers/testers involved on this sim ever used the previous versions, even a little bit. The only thing lacking in the MSFS X version was the graphics of todays version. (kudos to those contributors!!) I would have been extremely happy with MSFS 2020 it if that is all they improved was the eye candy. BTW, I am also a Licensed private pilot so I do understand actual flight very well. The new flight models do seem to behave as they should, but MSFS X was also quite good as well.

  • Where are the tower views?
  • Where are the replays?
  • How can I start my next flight from the same place I left it from the previous flight?

These each seem like expected features that are missing. I am sure there are more missing aspects I’ve yet to discover are missing as well. the old MSFS X version was a great place to start, not to be trashed and begin anew.

What is the purpose of the drone views?.. While in those drone views I can not control the plane… everything seems locked, until I’m out of those views… Why is this? What is the point/purpose of drone views anyway? who needs this “feature”? It appears someone spent a lot of time incorporating something I will be avoiding.

An IcanA5 note: Why are water landings (with IconA5) not considered a landing in the logbook? Why are Lakes (of some minimum size threshold) not considered departure/arrival points for this aircraft? The “world map” does not show any lakes (smaller than several miles) so it is impossible to start a flight from many of the otherwise usable lakes.

Why are all the menus so huge and annoyingly game-like? Even with the monitor settings set quite high in resolution, the menus seem childishly huge, always in the way of what I’m viewing. The controls disconnect unless I mouse click out of them. Even if they are detached and placed on another monitor.

I’ll admit I’ve not yet optimally configured my controller/.mouse/keyboard as it appears ALL my hardware will need to be bought new to get even close to this sim’s potential, but that won’t fix the lack of features the previous version had. Sometimes its nice to replay the landings and such. Has anyone thought to provide this possibility on this “game”. Searching the commands with “replay” has no result.

Added 08/29/20: Still trying to like this “Simulator” but not getting that nice happy feeling… I tried a quick flight from KSTL to KORD in the 747-800 and all was fine (using the AP) all the way to approach and it stayed at 3900ft to within 10nm of 28R…following ATC instructions, I had to do a go around and almost had it manually BUT at the last 20ft (call outs) where as expected until Boom (black screen) I had hit an “object” I was totally on the centerline at the touchdown point -150ft/min descent… what was I hitting? … the runway??? no way of knowing. This would be a good time to see a replay of my landing/crash. NOT very happy with this “kids toy” of a simulator. Did anyone fully try this thing out?

All in all I have not totally given up, but I will need to invest in new hardware to actually see if this Sim is up to all the hype…

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Coming from xp11, i think your review is bang on, remember xp11 was buggy as hell on launch.
I think msf2020 is a good starting point, but do feel it was 3 months too early, and released with too many bugs and issues, but will improve and think this will be something i will enjoy for years to come.
Vfr flights are just breathtaking, im looking forward to some good payware planes and patches.

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I think a lot of negativity comes from people expecting addon quality aircraft for default aircraft. Am I a little disappointed that the Gxxx is lacking features? Of course. Am I mad? No, not really. I know Asobo/MS will get them sorted eventually. The only thing I’m a little disappointed in is the lack of upper winds (I’ve only seen 255@3kts - lots of people reporting the same thing).

Anyway, really looking forward to the future of the sim.

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ive been seeing winds of up to 30-40 knots in the air, however that was flying around EGGP - Liverpool when the surface winds were also 15-25 knots, but like you said its a new simulator, every other simulator started from this point at one time or another, its spectacular visuals, the features just need tweaking and VNAV needs to work thats the only thing i cant live with out, performance wise its one hell of a sim my laptop can run it no problem on high.

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Not dual 2080ti, but If you want ultra settings without stutter and fps drops on 4k, it requires 11GB 2080ti with custom liquid cooling and you need to overclock that graphic card. A friend of mine just build a computer and we did 2080ti custom liquid cooling with custom overclock and it does fine with ultra settings, of course micro stutter still happens time to time but tolerable and I think in time it will be fixed by the updates.

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I’m going to be a pedant here and point out that 2k is not a resolution that is used in gaming and it is basically cinema 1080p, so this game CAN be comfortably maxed out at 2k with current hardware.

You probably meant 1440p, which is often (and erroneously) referred to as “2k”.

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I have to say, that I am very disappointed that this product was released as is. In the past, MSFS have been well polished prior to release with at least the planes working correctly, granted not all buttons and systems were fully functional but those that were worked.

As this is sold, and played, as a “Simulator” it is vitally important to ensure its simulation authenticity is correct. Remember that there are real pilots who use these programs, some for fun, and some for practice. You wouldn’t have a pilot going for their simulator time and being told “oh btw, most of the systems don’t work correctly or aren’t accurate, so just imagine they are.”
When an A320 pilot opens this MSFS to practice flight systems etc, but when more than 60% of the aircraft isn’t functional or correctly working it really does take away from this program.

Now I am not disputing the effort that has been put into this program and the hard work by all those involved, but I think someone really didn’t have their eye on the ball when they released this. They clearly focussed too much on the graphics and dynamics, which are incredible, but forgot about the details of the aircraft themselves.
Basic MCDU features don’t work or are not incorporated and this is a FUNDAMENTAL part of the A320 and most other commercial aircraft. The way it stands, with the combination of non-functional overhead panel and concole systems, non-fully-functional MCDU (some basic features. Such has being able to input an entire flight plan with airways beyond just several before having to skip airway input for just way points for example) and the aircraft having a mind of its own at times, to the incorrect functions of the A/P, makes this almost an annoyance to fly.
I am disappointed as I said in the released product and feel that it is almost a kick in the teeth to all of us hardcore MSFS fans who have stuck with the franchise and paid much into our systems and kept the franchise alive. I feel as though they have gone for the “Oh look how pretty our product is” over the “This is just like flying the real thing” approach.

Hopefully, based on how much weve all paid for this, they will get their finger out and product patches and updates that correct all these issues and make the program a “simulator”.

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Has anyone tried the 747-800 on approach to ORD 28C using AP and an IFR Flight plan? (No use of AI) I just did my second flight (1st from STL, the second from DEN) Both without success…ending similarly ATC had me changing frequency 25 (no exaggeration) times within the last 10 minutes, (Used AI to handle radio) Requested climbing to 9000 at the lakeshore (which I ignored) staying at 4000 as per posted approach but then the AP did NOT go lower than 2500 while on Final approach and with APP set on active and engaged within last 5 miles…I had to disengage AP and attempted to land… WAY too fast/high to get it down…then ATC requests to Go Around. DUH! This is bull $hit. I suspect there is some further development needed for ORD ILS approaches, at least 28C. Are all airports like this?? Two out of two failures both following ATC and loaded approach using AP. When are the updates coming??? I feel like I’m doing the development testing on my dime. The old FS10 was much better using PMDG … is that what I need to wait for and then buy again?

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As long as the patches come quick, fix the issues and don’t introduce new ones I think we’ll be fine.

With the update that we can expect the 2nd patch since release, I think Asobo is showing promise.

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I have to say that I think I am going to like this sim. Been with this series from the start and I can only check it out on a severely sub-par laptop right now using the integrated Intel graphics processor…so, the experience is…terrible right now because of that. But it is allowing me to test add-on tools and experiment with aircraft and just getting familiar until my Alienware i9-10900K, 2080 ti, with 32G RAM and 1TB SSD arrives next month…I will be a kid in a candy store that day and look forward to spending many hours on this sim.

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