Have continued to try and get into MSFS2024 but kept uninstalling it - going back to 2020 which I play almost daily and have no desire to switch to the 2024 version for the foreseeable future. The only disappointment I have now as well as many of you simmers is the LOD in the 2020 version. I don’t understand how they could ( IMO) downgrade the perfectly fine LOD settings in the latest sim update.
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I doubt we will ever know why.
Not for my use case scenario, still flying 2020.
That said, my main flying style is airliners for the virtual airline on VATSIM.
So the prettier scenery, careero mode, etc… aren’t really relevant and I have the required addons that give 2020 most of the stuff 2024 has so for now, I’m sitting tight.
It really boils down to what you want to get out of the sim experience, and whether 2020 checks all those boxes for you and which ones does 2024 check.
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My assumption is that Microsoft/Asobo wanted to consolidate their vast scenery datasets from two to one.
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They should have used the 2020 aerials for both games
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2024 IMO is the largest collection of the stupidest ideas for control settings. I’m sticking with 2020 till the bitter end.
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I have both. IMHO as per today not. If they had added the Tablet and Career expansion to ´20 no need for ´24 that requires a more powerful PC and they could continue with the 10 year plan for ´20 with more resources.
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For flights wth floats or amphibians I use 2024, water operations are so much better.
I flew 2020 yesterday for the first time in many months, just the basic 172 around my hometown as usual. I did notice that the ground colors were more subdued and looked more natural. But Bijan’s Seasons Enhanced mod has fixed this for me in 2024 as well. The only problem with that is that it only affects the landscape out to a certain distance, so beyond that the colors revert to native 2024 and it can look blocky where it transitions.
Other than missing radio towers and some moving traffic off the roadway, 2020 looks about as good as 2024. While pop-in still happens, it doesn’t seem to be as noticeable. I flew under clear skies at midday so weather and lightning changes weren’t apparent.
I did notice that ground handling in 2020 is quirkier than 2024. I didn’t remember that being such an issue before, so maybe something has changed since I last tried it. Or perhaps I’ve just forgotten.
It was wonderful to have the full 10 items available in the ATC comms panel again. Having to scroll through only 4 visible items is such a PITA in 2024. I can’t imagine why they changed this and wonder if they’ll ever change it back. It’s my single biggest complaint outside of performance problems.
I had made a number of control setting changes in 2024, so I spent some time updating these in 2020 to match. In spite of the initial confusion over how the GUI works in 2024, it is faster and simpler to make changes than 2020 once you understand how it works.
I plan to stick to 2024, but it was fun to do a direct comparison now that I’m used to it. For GA flying, I prefer the new sim. I do wish the PMDG 737 would hurry up and become compatible as I’m anxious to fly it again. I simply can’t bring myself to fly the 737 Max.
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I use both regularly each week and I reckon the graphics are very very similar - at least at my level of setup. The flight dynamics are similar except that in ‘24 I have found the ‘slipperyness’ of any aircraft common to both is greater - they don’t seem to have much induced drag or flap drag by comparison (and even in ‘20 it seems a bit too small)
Performance-wise my graphics card is hotter running ‘24 (72c vs 54c). Any connection issue will have greater impact - because everything ‘comes at us via the interweb’ and often some aircraft will load minus instruments for a few seconds.
The extra aircraft are welcome - but i prefer the Carvan from 2020 - weird throttle mapping has been added to the 2024 one. Of course not all addon scenery/aircraft are compatible - even if they load in.
The menus for control and graphics setup have been complicated and keybind/stick button bind options are somewhat unfathomable - no facility to copy over what we have set up in ‘20.
Finally career mode - forget it until a major rebuild: i gave up after a major bug wanted me to climb a C 172 with pax at 45 degrees (after holding at one of the runway undershoots not on a taxiway plus some other weird ‘sins’.
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First off, I have both 2020 and 2024 installed and will probably keep it that way until I need the disk(ssd) space.
Second, I have left both sims control configurations pretty much at default, except for my yoke and pedals.. So I live with the differences.
I really like the much quicker Startup and loading times of 2024. That alone makes 2024 preferable for me. I don’t like the internet disconnects I often get on 2024.
Like others posting in this thread, I fly mostly free flight. I have flown in career to get the PPL, but found it mostly entertaining and lacking in realism, which is my main goal in a flight simulator. I did a few challenges and found them fun when I wanted to just take it easy.
I find the Scenery in 2024 appears to me sharper. Performance has improved greatly with SU2 and SU3 and I’m looking forward to SU4, as it is supposed to bring even better performance.
I fly with a triple monitor setup at 1080p and get 45 to 60 fps with a lowly AMD rx 6650 xt with FSR3, but with only a little stutter now and then at large airports with large aircraft, so I’m very happy where things stand in 2024 now and look forward to upcoming improvements. Maybe I’m easy to please. I’ve been a beta tester since I got the 2020 sim, so I’ve lived with many issues. Lately, using 2024 with BATC and planes that work, flying has been getting more and more exciting and realistic!
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2024 is a lot better and I’m so glad I switched. The graphics are way better and that’s a reason alone to switch. I’m not too crazy about the default airplanes so you can just buy the basic package which is what I should’ve done. The simulator runs very well with update number three. I fly the PMDG777 and the Phoenix bus, and few GA aircraft.
When you say the graphics are better, are you talking about when you are on the ground or when you are in the air. In the air they both look the same to me. I don’t see much difference at all
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I realize your question is directed to @mannereddoor, but I agree that graphics are better in 2024 when on or near the ground, up to maybe 10,000 ft AGL, so I thought I’d confirm it. Higher than that and things start looking similar, but maybe they should, naturally?
I’ve left FS20 alone since May this year. Weather has been so good, I’ve been cycling to country cafes most days. Plus, building a new bike.
Rain today, so I’ve returned. FS20 still as good as ever. I have no urgent need to upgrade.
I fly GA in the C152. 1 hour flights max to and from my SDK improved small fields.
Sun and dry forecast for tomorrow, so it’s coffee and cake 25 miles away. 
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MFS 2020 is still good .. if you have powerful PC (4000$)and internet you can invest in MFS 2024 but still have glitches and bugs … MFS is just graphic patch and carrier mode nothing special … still same physics , game mechanics …. And cant play offline , and you have to buy all your payware add-ons again to transfer it in 2024 !!
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Here’s what I’ve discovered with fs2024. It uses a lot, or takes advantage of so much bandwidth regarding internet connection. I have gone into settings, and tried, or attempted to do away with most of the internet connections. Then I get a smooth performance. Just like fs2020. And I think taking away some of the internet connections ‘bandwidth’, the game does not look as real as possible. Asobo could realize this and understand that the internet is worldwide, with many millions of people connecting to the world wide web. In which this game “fs2024” relies on. But however, Asobo can only gain so much bandwidth for this game that the governments of the world will allow. I Suppose?
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It is the world wide web folks. This game “fs2024” uses so much bandwidth in order to give the game so much realism. But not everyone in the world is able to gain access to large amounts of bandwidth this game craves. I think Asobo should realize that this game, as well as everything mostly in the world realizes on bandwidth of the world wide web. As well as the governments all over the world will only allow just enough bandwidth for games like this. Maybe Asobo could have made fs2024 more similar to fs2020. Whereby, as with 2020, fs2024 would be with great performance. Not needing to have to buy very expensive graphics cards, CPU, memory, etc. And then have to go to our internet service providers, to try and purchase more bandwidth. It’s just not worth it.
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- Ugly aerial imagery
- Broken generic airports
- Broken seasons
- Many photogrammetry glitches
- Don’t care much about 3d vegetation
- Don’t care about career mode
- Don’t care about new planes
- No bush trips
Unless they fix the scenery and make 2020 great again, not worth it at all
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This is exactly what I did, and a good way to test it. There’s so much individual variation in what people want out of their sim experience, and so much variation in how their hardware handles it, that “should I switch?” is an almost unique question for everyone.
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