After reading the excellent interview with Jorg, I was encouraged to see that the goal of the World Updates is to eventually go around the World as Bing gets better data, not necessarily the most developed countries. With this in mind, I would absolutely love to see Micronesia get it’s own World Update. This area of the World, in particular, needs a major facelift in MSFS. Flying wise, it is such a unique area of the World to fly over. Looking at the globe on Bing Maps one may think that this area has almost nothing to offer. However, when zooming in on Bing Maps, one can start to see that it is actually made up of countless atolls comprising of thousands of islands. Micronesia is essentially a water-masking lover’s dream come true!!
With each World Update bringing about 4-6 airports, a potential Micronesia World Update could harbor nicely the airports served by the famed United (or Continental Micronesia for the retro-fans) Island Hopper Flight.
Majuro
Kosrae
Pohnpei
Chuuk
Guam
And then perhaps one of the myriad bush strips scattered throughout the region.
Tamuning, Guam would be a nice candidate for some photogrammetry as well!
There are also numerous POI’s that could be added throughout the region as well. From the ancient temples of Nan Madol, Sokehs Rock on approach to Pohnpei, to the Rock Islands of Palau, there is no shortage of interesting POIs to be added.
Hello,
I have moved your topic to Wishlist. This is the best category for requests for new base simulator functionality from Asobo.
As an aviation nerd who’s flown the United (formerly Continental) Island Hopper twice and been to Guam a bunch of times, you have my full support on this one!
Oh for sure! The only reason I did not include Kwajalein in the list of Island hopper airports for potential custom scenery, is because it is an active military installation. Regulars like us can’t get off the plane there. However, I wouldn’t be opposed if MS was able to pull a few strings. Koror, Palau is another cool one that is nearby. The old Continental Micronesia Intl. Ops manual authorized pilots to fly a ‘tour’ at only 1500’ MSL over the Rock Islands of Palau on approach into Koror, weather permitting. I’m not sure if United still offers pilots this authorization.
The interview with Jorg released today emphasized that they aren’t picking the World updates based on number of flight simmers, but rather where new Bing data is obtained. But, yes, I agree that most likely we will get some more ‘popular’ locations first. But can’t beat Micronesia for pure exoticism.
I’m on my phone, where Bing Maps doesn’t work well, but in that other maps app, interestingly, Kwajalein doesn’t have anything blurred out that I can see. Which is a contrast to the airport in Málaga, Spain, which is blurred out in Bing and therefore missing a runway in the sim. So I wonder if they could do it.
I posted a number of zendesk tickets before seeing this post. Numerous airports in this region need a facelift and the islands themselves look pretty bland without proper water masks.
Hmmm. I’m not sure about that. The Indonesian Archipelago is, IMO, one of the most stunning coastal regions on Earth - not that you’d get even a suggestion of this from the current state of MSFS 2020.
This is Raja Ampat, Indonesia, comparatively a tiny section of Indonesia’s thousands of miles of coastline. It’s like some fantasy landscape straight out of Avatar.
