MSFS 2024 Is it a Game..Is it a Sim debate

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For me MSFS is both a game and a sim. A game because it is a piece of software that I can buy from the Xbox store to play on my pc from the luxury of my home. IT is a sim because it is a game that simulates flight. Hence Microsoft Flight SIMULATOR! Simulator is in the name of the game! Some want to say MSFS is just a game and use it as an insult because they are hurt by MSFS’s performance, or because they added career mode.

MSFS isn’t any different than your favorite racing simulator. “I’m not talking bout those arcadey racing games” You have your hard core racers who always seem to drive the perfect line, enter and exit every corner perfectly, and always seem to get the checkered flag. Then you have your more casual racer who just enjoys the race and who is happy to just finish the race.

A sim pilot can practice that perfect pattern around their favorite airport. Or practice a coordinated turn. Does doing these things make one a real pilot of course not. No more than that hard core sim driver is a real race car driver. But they are useful tools and knowledge which can help you along the way if you choose to be a real pilot.

So MSFS for me is more than just a game, and I excel to be the best armchair pilot I can be! I am SimNutt

Happy Holidays
God Bless

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Its one of the biggest debates in the flight sim community at the moment.

What they have done with the franchise has gamified it a lot more, with career mode etc , however it is a bit of both to appeal to the existing and a new audience.

I think 2020 was more of a simulator but its still a game that tries to simulate flight .

Even FSX had missions etc.

People talk about xplane as the true simming experience , but i have never played it so cannot comment.

Anyway, going back to msfs 2024 , yes it is more of a game , from the UI all the way through to career mode.
Getting a PPL by only doing a quick traffic pattern is basically nonsense , however doing a freeflight on vatsim is fine to do with say the fenix or the inibuilds aircraft so it caters for all.

The thing is apart from the visuals which lets be honest is why hard core simmers switched is the potential for extra realism, but personally i find the new sim is lacking in realistic airports, the lighting is nice but the airports are definitely not as good as 2020, plus the streaming , blurriness , bugs but im digressing….

Anyway back to the original question, yes it is a game and unless you can afford to do all flying in a level D simulator it will always be a game

It is now what we have but unless someone chimes in and say xplane is for simmers and msfs2024 is for gamers then its a personal viewpoint.

For me , I use vatsim on all my simming experience and use Msfs2020 because it just works with the aircraft i fly,

The answer is basically down to the individual.

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It’s how you use it. You can use it as a game. But you can also use it as your simulator.

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It’s a game of the genre “Flight Simulator”.

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its both.

now, if its doing a good job at either is a different topic.

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Definitely a game I say …
…Unless you are using it with a fully functioning cockpit layout which replicates a real aircraft!
…an on screen depiction of something that you sit at a desk and basically watch cannot really be called a simulator?
…No one calls Call of Duty (other titles available! :wink: ) a Simulator …yet its exactly the same principle!

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Simply put it’s a game which simulates flight.

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It is all how the individual approaches the product. Heck - when I was taking flight lessons, my instructor used a chair as a “simulator” as we would “hanger fly” different procedures. At other times I would just sit. :slight_smile:

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It is a Simulator game.

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It could arguably be described as a closely grouped carnal knowledge

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When considering this question, it can be a fine line between the two, however it is easier to apply a simple distinction:

A simulator is used, whilst a game is played.

Applying that distinction, I view it as a game, however I have sympathy with anyone who uses it as a simulator.

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It’s a simulator masquerading as a game playing the role of a simulator in a game that’s a simulation.

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It’s a pointless debate. It will never end in anything other than bruised feelings. Enjoy Flight Simulator how you want to enjoy it. As soon as you tune out the many, many loud opinions, it’s just you and the sky… ahhh. Peace and quiet!

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Hear, hear. In the alpha test I hoped that this was just a preview, but in the Nov 19th version it was still just one circuit.
At that moment the marketing message: “we have partnered with experts in the field to develop true to life careers”, or something along those lines, did get a serious blow for me. It’s even less than in 2020, where we had some sort of lessons. At the moment calling this PPL is just plainly insulting. It has nothing, absolutely nothing to do with real life. This is more like a first solo, which is the first milestone on that path. And even then one has to fly three circuits.

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I don’t really care what people want to call it or regard it as, I will use it in my own way.
Before that though it just needs to work without CTD’s, bugs or blindly obvious half-■■■■■ unfinished features.

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I think it‘s a flight sim that simulates gaming :rofl:

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Yes. Too many people overly focused on arguing game vs. sim. There are strong cases for both. The world is not black and white.

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Its simulating the world of bugs … and doing a great job at it :person_shrugging::rofl:

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Well lets put it this way, its entertainment… (Merry Christmas to you all)

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I keep coming back to a golf analogy.

It golf a game? Is it a sport?
Does it bring you enjoyment? Frustration?
Does it cost money you could be spending elsewhere?
Is that money well spent? Or wasted?

The sim is all those things in different degrees to different people.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Happy Kwanza, Happy Flying. :airplane:

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