I’m so glad you noticed. Thank you. I really hope one of these managers will take this very seriously.
It’d be nice to be acknowledged more and that people are being heard when comes to a serious situation like this.
@tgbushman just said he’s put 3K into this, that’s impressive, I’m in the hundreds now, others here are no doubt financially invested as well. We have skin in the game and deserve better than this.
I know this word gets thrown around a lot but we need much greater “Transparency”. For god sakes Microsoft throw us bone every once in awhile. We need much better than a Q & A session in which we “May” get a mention. Would it even be so bad or too much to ask if we could have Xbox only sessions or something, I dunno, just something that may give more community engagement and give Xbox problems the exposure that it needs with more frequent feedback on how they’re fairing.
The new year is just around corner now. Can’t we make 2022 the year the Sim finally properly launches on Xbox. It’s like we’ve got the final level of flaps down, wind in the rear, full throttle but gravity is pulling real hard and we are coming close to falling out of the sky with the way things are currently.
See, I’m trying to do similar things with the issues I’m stumbling over, but then after all that effort and reporting it, I end up feeling like it was absolutely wasted effort.
The day SU7 released, I spent my first 8 hours — eight hours! — with it trying to understand why the sim kept locking up — most often just on taxiways, I couldn’t even make it to the runway let alone get off the ground.
They shipped SU7 with a crash bug linked to a default hot key on the Xbox controller — a default key that every Xbox user has out-of-the-box mapped.
This bug isn’t even on the known issues list — even after myself and many others have narrowed it down reported it and provided reproduction steps.
How does that encourage me to continue to bother to be active in reporting anything? It’s totally disheartening.
I do NOT have an X-box, and this know very little about the X-Box…
But surely, Dev should be able to submit their “expected to work” products to the MS-Store, but have that product Unable to be Purchased, while their X-Box account allows it.
Then the Dev can install the product on their X-Box, trouble shoot it, ( do any changes needed, and repeat the process until it works), then tell MS to release it for purchase.
The Dev could also supply a list of their Testers to MS, whose accounts will then allow the pre-release version to be installed for testing.
I parallel, a team at MS/Asobo should also be able to install the pre-release version, test it, and advise the Dev on necessary changes to make it work correctly.
and this is true, but when issues are encountered and bugs present there is no tinkering to do other than research on here and try to highlight the bugs into what is often a vacuum where no sound permiates. There is no separate bug list for XBox so voices go unheard. It’s not just nit picky things it’s sim breaking things - loss of mouse control, black screens, & frequent crashes to dashboard.
This is why I left the platform.
We all know FS on console is ground breaking, innovative & headline grabbing, but in it’s current state its literally game breaking for many too. Remember, this is M/S software running on a M/S o/s on M/S hardware. Patience is not an option or many when the sim breaks every time they use it on console.
Also, from the get go FS on Xbox was never advertised as an ‘XBox Edition’ maybe it should have been, with certain disclaimers / restrictions around what could be done and what would be available with it. It wasn’t though, it was advertised as being the same experience & many people banked on that.
The main frustration I have with the Xbox version is how, technically, Asobo/MS are selling products they know have a chance of not working as intended in a store with a “no refunds” policy.
I’m so frustrated that I took the gamble buying a plane only to find out it can’t be used cold and dark because the door doesn’t shut (Spitfire). I’ve just been told my next purchase causes CTDs (Gatwick Airport), the DC-6 was pulled entirely because it just didn’t function, the A320 FBW had to be stopped on the platform; so I’ve decided not to be an idiot and just leave the marketplace alone. This is annoying as I’ve saved up for a wishlist over £100 (I have to be careful with money as we’re expecting a child soon).
I just don’t trust it.
They really need to at least allow refunds after a small amount of time so these add-ons can at least be quickly tested by the user, especially if there’s no refunds on a 50% possibility the add-on won’t even work in some capacity, that the Dev and Asobo can’t explain. It’s a harsh model at the moment and it’s causing a lot of bad faith with Xbox users. They need to work on getting 3rd party planes and add-ons functional by prioritising support for 3rd party devs, get some quality stuff out on the marketplace and build trust with the users on the Xbox platform specifically. Again, be honest and say there’s a chance a purchase won’t work, and let us load into the sim with the add-on to have a 10 minute trial or some refund period. I don’t see why that can’t be done with a button click from a product page, at least for airports or planes, where it could just load you into a parking bay or something for you to play around and do a circuit.
As for other XBOX issues, I must be quite lucky as the game runs just as well as the PC version (I own both) and I very rarely suffer crashes. Most of my main gripes have been solved such as the Thrustmaster hotas not binding correctly, flight plans on the world map being all wonky, these kind of basic things. There’s still issues to resolve but the marketplace and 3rd party add-ons is definitely my biggest concern.
I think this is key - I’ve got over 400 hours on this sim for Xbox and have thoroughly enjoyed my time (mostly ). But without additional, quality 3rd party content (mainly aircraft) I’m not sure what exactly will keep me coming back until this larger issue is resolved. It felt like we were almost there with the DC-6, like a major break through was finally coming with the console version.
But what exactly is there to look forward to now? Maybe flying the DC-6 by February, April, who really knows? Unfortunately there is going to be a substantial drop of users, I just don’t see any way around it other than a focused effort to fix this testing/environment problem ASAP. I’m not sure they have the luxury of months based on what I’ve seen and read the past 24 hours.
I know everyone thinks this is just about PMDG. For me, its the fact I don’t know what is going to work. Voyager is a mission pack. The home screen for the missions, they don’t have legs on XBox. That isn’t state of the art systems we are talking about, its something pretty basic, and no one knows why it doesn’t work on XBox. I thought I had 5 addons that have specific XBox issues, but actually I guess it is more because I thought the Carenado were general SU7 issues, I didn’t realize they were XBox specific. So its not at all about focusing on quality addons. I am never sure what next is going to have an XBox issue and be non-functional for months. As far as I know, even the next five versions of Captain Sim 7X7 are going to have XBox issues…
Let me cast my voice here, that that is not the case with me. There is plenty in the base sim that allows me to hone my flying skills in regards to procedures, navigation and basic simulating real life flight and flight planning to keep me involved for years.
I just want to see some acknowledgment of our concerns and some sort of realistic road map for the future.
I never expected the Xbox to be on par with the PC, but I knew it could have a happy medium as I’ve seen other “sim-type” products support a fair amount of third party mods successfully.
Regardless, the base product has more than enough that needs to be addressed without even mentioning 3rd party mods.
I guess that was the point I was trying to get at. What developer (big or small) would want to release anything to Xbox at this point knowing there’s more than a small chance it will not work properly. And it is these 3rd party products that create not only longevity for the platform and users, but also vital revenue from the Marketplace for MS/Asobo. Do I enjoy the base A320? Sure. Do I want to only fly an A320 for the next however many years on this sim? Absolutely not. That’s point of these add ons (scenery, airports, planes, liveries, living world, bush trips). And I don’t think I’m the only Xbox user who feels this way.
I only bring up the DC-6 as it seemed to be the one that finally pushed this testing issue over the edge. My biggest fear with the unknown testing environment is we’ll see a massive drop in support from many 3rd party developers, followed by a mass exodus of Xbox users. I don’t think it’s that hard to fathom and it’s why I believe this needs to be a top priority.
I would definitely agree with this statement. What I’d thought would, maybe, be easy fixes for my Carenado aircraft now might be daunting after watching the DC-6 situation carefully.
Who knows though, because no one will communicate what the specifics are.
I have no idea when I’ll be flying my DC-6 on Xbox. A couple of months is vague enough to be 2 or 6 or more.
Core issues, Asobo has a plan to deal with, and they are really hard working people. I truly have faith that will be resolved. I have said this time and time again, and believe it. The sim is getting more and more stable since July. I feel I am in good hands there, otherwise I would have issues even with switching to PC.
The part I’m losing faith with is the Microsoft side, specifically dealing with XBox issues.
But I think that’s what I’m referring to. Sure, Asobo can work their tails off and send a build off to MS Cert, but what goes on there?
It seems really strange that so many issues pass at MS Labs and fail in retail Xboxes. That cannot be coincidental. Is that a hardware issue or is it a QA process issue or both?
Since we Xbox users are relying on the MS end to do our QA, it leaves us very beholden to whatever goes on there.
And, again, a big part of all of this is the lack of communication between us and them.
I really don’t expect miracles, but some understanding of what the issues are that are causing us to come here and express our frustrations would be really, really helpful.
Thanks for starting this thread. I as an Xbox owner, I also share many of your frustrations. I also bought an Xbox Series X specifically for MSFS for simplicity. I use the Thrustmaster HOTAS flight stick, and use mouse and keyboard.
Things seemed to be trending in the right direction with SU6, but then hit a brick wall with SU7, specifically with third-party content.
I too have literally spent hundreds of dollars in the Marketplace. It’s disappointing to spend that kind of money, to not know whether they will work or not and possibly crash the sim.
I really hope Jorg addresses the long-term plan about Xbox in the next Q&A. It needs to be discussed. Especially around the key points you mentioned around Quality Control of Xbox Marketplace add-ons.
With testing you have to also examine devs past record/current trends. Every SU release seems to be pushed out to some beta testers but irrespective of their bug findings gets released on schedule anyway and causes things to break - or at least that’s the vibe I’m picking up reading these forums.
SU7 introduced so many issues that they are currently in a flap trying to do an unscheduled hotfix before Christmas. Suddenly they have changed tack on methodology and are doing a real public beta test for it, to make sure it meets peoples needs, hopefully that trend continues with future bug fixes/SU’s.
With this methodology of ‘cast in stone’ calendar release update cycles (which have been confirmed right through 2022) this firefighting mode will likely continue for the foreseeable future. In many ways I feel (as do a few others on here) that new stuff should be temporarily paused while bugs are fixed. SU8 is promising bug fixes, but which ones? and who will benefit? If they are not Xbox ones or they are only ones from 6-8 months ago then it could be another disappointing bug fix release for say XBox users. How long are XBox users who are experiencing game breaking issues expected to wait?
Interestingly, specifically with freeware add ons on PC. Flightsim.to always has a compatibility tag so after every SU release everything is flagged as ‘compatability not confirmed yet’ until the dev confirms it’s ok and compatable with the new SU update, if it’s not then it either stays flagged and out of date or a fix is submitted and flagged compatible. Maybe this goes on behind the scenes with payware marketplace items on PC/XBox etc but to me there is no visible method of such checking or anything to flag potenial issues with payware add on compatability as far as I am aware, if there is it’s invisible to us. Many CTD issues after SU’s with scenery could in fact be down to this type of thing going on. It would be good to hear that marketplace add on items are checked as much as the freeware is though.
I digress a bit, but it all merges together into a bigger picture thing that now engulfs the XBox.
Hi,
Would like to share my story with you. I chose Xbox Series X over PS5 only because of Flight Sim. I have around 300hrs loged on Xbox. I didn’t have any plans to move to PC, although I consider myself as a simmer as I’m into flightsiming since FS2002. Over the last few weeks I realized that the performance on Xbox is getting continuously worse at least for me. Stuttering, CTDs and when you put lack of addons/modding options now but even in the future on top of it I started to look for a gaming laptop. Eventually I purchased and customized Acer Nitro 5 for a decent price. I can only share first impressions, but I kinda have mixed bag of emotions. I have to admit that the way it looks and performs on PC is simply incomparable with Xbox. I can see myself returning to Xbox for short GA flights, but that’s something around 10% of my flying.
Its only the short term and middle term that are and will be lacking imo.
I use the sim for what it does well on both pc and xbox and wait for what gets fixed or added. Or sometimes I just play another game or do something completely different when they break something and I get frustrated by that.
I don’t lose any sleep over the development state of a videogame.
They will get it fixed and complete eventually and if not, so what. There’s really more important things.
I do agree they have to get rid of schedules for Sim Updates. Make World Update every two month with a new airport and mesh or whatever. And release Sim Updates when they are really ready and work well, not when the schedule says.
Welcome to PC you won’t look back. I Was going to do the same with my XBox but as it sat there not being used I found myself questioning that logic and sold it. It’s great if you play other games or are utilising game pass, and games do look great at 4k but I’m just not a gamer.
). But without additional, quality 3rd party content (mainly aircraft) I’m not sure what exactly will keep me coming back until this larger issue is resolved. It felt like we were almost there with the DC-6, like a major break through was finally coming with the console version.