MSFS 2024 SU1: The Good, The Bad, and The Broken – Let’s Talk

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MSFS 2024 SU1: The Good, The Bad, and The Broken – Let’s Talk.

I’ve spent 165 hours in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, and I’ve had some amazing moments… and some mind-numbingly frustrating ones. This game is stunning, ambitious, and has moments of pure immersion—but at the same time, it’s riddled with issues that should have never made it past beta.

I don’t want this post to be just a rant, so I’m breaking it down into two sides:

:white_check_mark: What MSFS 2024 Gets Right
:x: Where It Falls Flat

Let’s get into it.

:white_check_mark: The Good: What MSFS 2024 Gets Right

:earth_africa: A Stunningly Beautiful World

No matter how many issues I have with this game, I cannot deny that MSFS 2024 is breathtakingly beautiful. The level of detail in the world, the lighting, the weather effects—it all combines to create some of the most immersive flying experiences ever seen in a simulator.

Yes, performance is an issue (which I’ll cover later), but when everything clicks, MSFS 2024 looks like a dream.

:flight_departure: Career Mode, When It Works, Is Unparalleled

As frustrating as the bugs are, Career Mode is a fantastic addition to flight simulation. When everything works properly, it adds a sense of purpose and progression that was missing from previous versions.

  • The variety of contracts keeps things fresh.
  • The structured approach gives players a reason to explore different aircraft and regions.
  • It’s a great way for newcomers to ease into the sim while still challenging experienced players.

The problem is… it rarely works as intended (but we’ll get to that).

:desktop_computer: SimConnect API is a Programmer’s Dream

As a programmer, I genuinely love the SimConnect API.

  • It’s well-documented and actually works well.
  • It allows for deep customization and hardware integration, which I plan to use to build my own hardware in the future.
  • Third-party developers can extend the sim in ways that Microsoft and Asobo can’t, which is why the MSFS ecosystem is so strong.

This is one of the best things about MSFS, and I’m excited to see what can be built on top of it.

:small_airplane: The MSFS Community is Loud, Large, and Helpful

While not exactly a credit to Microsoft or Asobo, the MSFS community is incredible.

  • The knowledge-sharing is top-notch.
  • I’ve relied on forum posts, Discord groups, and YouTube guides countless times to troubleshoot problems and get the best out of the sim.
  • The third-party developers are keeping this sim alive with mods, aircraft, and tools that improve on what Asobo has built.

It’s one of the most dedicated gaming communities out there, and that’s what makes MSFS worth sticking with.

:x: The Bad: Where MSFS 2024 Falls Flat

:dart: Missions Are a Mess

The mission system is completely unreliable and feels unfinished.

  • Many missions don’t work at all—some crash to desktop, others fail to generate complete flight plans, and some have objectives that never trigger.
  • Multiplayer missions are broken—objectives don’t sync properly, making them unplayable with friends.
  • For a feature that was heavily promoted, this is unacceptable.

:warning: Career Mode is Bugged Beyond Belief

As great as Career Mode is when it works, it’s full of game-breaking issues.

  • Missions fail to start or progress properly, meaning you can’t advance.
  • Some contracts are completely broken and can never be completed.
  • Progress randomly resets, forcing players to redo work.

It’s a fantastic idea, but in its current state, it’s unreliable at best and unplayable at worst.

:satellite: ATC is Still a Joke

ATC in MSFS has been a problem since MSFS 2020, and 2024 changed nothing.

  • Altitude assignments are wildly inaccurate, making IFR flight plans useless.
  • STAR and approach procedures are completely mismanaged.
  • AI traffic is a disaster—ATC clears AI for takeoff while players are landing, leading to near-misses constantly.
  • The same robotic, unrealistic phraseology from MSFS 2020 is still here.

At this point, default ATC is borderline useless, and the only real solution is to use VATSIM, Pilot2ATC, or BeyondATC.

:evergreen_tree: Procedural Generation Creates Absurd Results

The new procedural generation system is another example of poor testing.

  • Planes spawn in ridiculous locations—I started a mission, and my plane spawned on top of a building.
  • Random trees appear at the start or end of runways, making landings unrealistic.
  • These are things that should have been checked during the generation process, yet they weren’t.

It’s just another sign that testing was rushed or nonexistent before release.

:flight_departure: The Pilatus PC-24 is a Joke (and We Paid Extra for It)

One of the biggest insults in MSFS 2024 is that we paid extra for a broken aircraft. The Pilatus PC-24, part of the Deluxe Edition, barely functions.

  • Autopilot struggles to hold altitude, follow LNAV/VNAV correctly, and randomly disengages.
  • Cabin pressurization doesn’t work properly at altitude, making high-altitude flights a problem.
  • Startup procedures don’t work properly, even when following the checklist.
  • Many clickable buttons and screens do absolutely nothing.

If this was a free aircraft, maybe I could excuse it. But this was part of a premium edition that cost extra money.

:rotating_light: “Soft Crashes” Are a Missed Opportunity

When the game detects an issue, it often throws up an error message saying it can’t continue—I call these “soft crashes.”

  • Instead of just kicking players back to the menu, why is there no built-in option to send a report to Asobo?
  • The game already knows what went wrong, so why are players expected to manually track issues, dig through logs, and figure out where to send bug reports?
  • A simple “Send Report to Asobo” button would allow the team to gather useful crash data automatically.

For a game with this budget, automated bug reporting should be a no-brainer.

:desktop_computer: Performance is a Slideshow

MSFS 2024 runs terribly even on high-end systems.

  • Frame rates are wildly inconsistent, even with top-tier hardware.
  • Performance degrades over time, turning long-haul flights into a stuttering mess.
  • Server-side streaming is unreliable, leading to blurry textures and pop-in.
  • Loading times are absurdly long—sometimes just getting into the menu takes minutes.

So, What’s the Plan?

So here’s my question for the developers:

Are these issues actually being fixed, or is the next big update just going to add more eye candy while the core gameplay remains broken?

I’m loving the potential of MSFS 2024, but right now, it feels like an unfinished product.

I want to hear from the rest of the community—what’s been your experience with MSFS 2024?

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I agree that, when it works, career mode is great… However, it’s missing even the most basic functionality which at best makes it super frustrating to use and at worst makes it unplayable.

I’m talking about the following:

  1. Filters for missions on the world map- filter by mission type, plane, airport type, length…
  2. Airplane type and runway type/length matching- there’s no reason a jet should be taking off from or landing at a tiny grass strip.
  3. CJ4 missions- I’ve only seen one mission for the CJ4. People should be able to fly the planes they want to fly… After all, it’s supposed to be fun!
  4. Mission length- Every single Medivac mission is listed as AT LEAST 6.5 hours long… In reality the mission might be shorter than this when you fly it, but to have put an arbitrary minimum length based on mission type makes no sense.
  5. More planes (duh!)… Getting sick of flying a completely broken 737-Max when there are other airliners that work better.
  6. Heavy rating (still no word if/when this is coming).
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Since you posted this in the Beta sub-forum, my question to you is, are you using the Beta? and if so, did you compare it to the current release version?

Because you can answer this question for yourself right now.

However, Sim Update 1 does not add any candy and, if anything, doesn’t address many of the glaring issues. It seems to be mainly focused on fixing issues that are foundational. This sets the stage for SU2 to address many issues that, hopefully, we see and feel more readily.

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@NixonRedgrave

Yes, I am participating in the Sim Update 1 (SU1) Beta and have compared it to the current release version. While SU1 addresses several stability and performance issues such as fixing rare crashes during airport generation and optimizing texture memory usage of WASM gauges (Release Notes) many core gameplay issues remain unresolved.

For instance, the mission system and Career Mode stability continue to exhibit problems, and ATC reliability has not improved.

I acknowledge that SU1 includes meaningful fixes, such as:

  • Fixing crashes related to VR mode toggling
  • Resolving controller input issues in the world map filters
  • General stability improvements

However, the update also introduces minor enhancements like renaming “Bandwidth” to “Download speed” in the FPS debug panel. While small UI refinements like this improve clarity, they don’t significantly impact the overall gameplay experience.

My concern is that while these updates are beneficial, they do not address longstanding issues that affect core gameplay.

If you or others have observed improvements in these areas that I might have overlooked, I would appreciate your insights.

@udubp13

I share your concerns regarding Career Mode. While it has great potential, several fundamental issues hinder the experience:

  1. Mission Filtering – A filter system for mission type, aircraft category, airport type, and length would make finding missions much easier.
  2. Runway/Airplane Mismatches – Jets should not be assigned to dirt runways. The sim needs better validation checks.
  3. CJ4 Missions – The lack of missions for specific aircraft limits player choice. People should be able to fly the planes they enjoy.
  4. Mission Lengths – The minimum flight times for certain mission types (e.g., Medivac requiring 6.5+ hours) make no sense. There should be short, medium, and long-haul options.
  5. More Planes – Adding fully functional aircraft would enhance the sim, but only if they work properly (cough 737-Max).
  6. Heavy Rating – Still no word on this highly requested feature. A status update would be nice.

It appears that while some issues are being addressed, others persist, affecting the overall experience.

I hope future updates prioritize core gameplay fixes over UI tweaks and visual polish.

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Yeah, I didn’t intend to imply that SU1 addressed your (and many of our) primary concerns.

You’d simply asked if “the next big update” was just going to add eye-candy. Seeing as you’re using the Beta for the next big update, then you already know it isn’t really going to address what you’re primarily concerned about, nor is it adding any eye-candy or other sorts of new content beyond getting the Marketplace finally implemented, which is desperately needed.

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@NixonRedgrave

Gotcha, I see what you’re saying now. My point wasn’t that SU1 is all eye candy, but rather that it still doesn’t address many of the core gameplay issues that have been around since launch. Stability and backend improvements are great, but they don’t mean much if the core experience still feels unfinished.

I also feel like there’s been a lot of focus on dissecting smaller details when the bigger picture is that the game is still in a rough state. Right now, getting a consistent, issue-free flight experience especially in the highly anticipated Career Mode is a literal roll of the dice. And with a sim as immersive and time-consuming as this, that’s just not acceptable for a premium product.

The real frustration for me is that these core issues shouldn’t be issues in the first place they’re fundamental to a functioning flight simulator. That’s why I really hope they get fixed sooner rather than later, because waiting months (or longer) for solutions to problems that shouldn’t exist is disappointing.

That said, I’m definitely excited to see the Marketplace finally getting implemented! Having a proper system in place for third-party content is huge, and I hope it makes it easier for quality add-ons to thrive. Hopefully, with that out of the way, future updates can start focusing more on refining the core gameplay experience.

Aside from the Marketplace, what big-fix do you think should be top priority right now? Curious to hear your take!

Appreciate your perspective on this it’s always good to hear different takes on where the sim is heading!

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My largest concern, jumping 3 generations from FS9 to MSFS2024 is the flight modeling is ridiculous. I just tried the 747 and with full up trim and 10 degree flaps at 50% loading it barely left the runway. Major FDE flaws exist in all the planes, except for minor ones in the CJ4 and PC12. I’ve been doing FDE editing for over 20 years with Historic Jetliners Group and many of these issues can be easily fixed…just give us access to the flight_model.cfg!!!.

Second: the spawning of GA and gliders at airliner gates…ridiculous. And the default ATC is no better than what was done way back in FS98. I will be moving to beyondATC and FSFTL soon.

The scenery, weather, and panels are fantastic, but everything else is done half-a**ed.

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While I get that people would like all major bugs fixed right away, the reality is that isn’t going to be possible to do. They took a bite size chunk of what they were able to tackle, listed what those bugs are that they addressed, and SU1 Beta is just focused on testing those things.

You might disagree with the selection of bugs that were addressed. But something that wasn’t in the listed defects addressed can’t be a Go/NoGo on SU 1. There will be SU2 and SU3 to address more bugs. Jorg and Asobo have said that SU2 will have a heftier size of bugs addressed.

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The 747 normally flies quite nicely. But you’ve got to make sure it’s set up right with the centre of gravity in range and the trim set accordingly.

But this is the problem - there’s no instruction on how to do that - or indeed how to do anything. The sim relies solely on people going off to watch YouTube videos with the airliner training activities on the sim being restricted to taking off and landing in an already configured aircraft. I haven’t really ventured into the EFB or flight planner as it doesn’t work on Xbox (won’t let you type anything in) and the web based one doesn’t tell you fuel consumption of any aircraft making it the stuff of nightmares for newcomers, unlike 2020s simple range ring and auto-generated IFR flight routes. And the last time I tried to use it to apply a random payload in an aircraft, my C172 tipped back onto its tail. As such, I’ve only flown the inibuilds aircraft with their simbrief integration

And don’t get me started about gliders with jetways attached :rofl:

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Well, without access to the cfg file, it’s impossible to tell if they have actually set the CG at 1/4 MAC on the 747; or any other plane for that matter. So, there’s no trusting the EFB numbers for the CG.

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I am usually cautious about throwing around what I think needs addressing since I do not have the full picture of what the state of the sim is from a developer’s standpoint.

Frankly, as stupidly unimportant is it may seem, I would like to see the front-end and glaringly obvious little issues fixed.

  • The aircraft sorting mess with liveries and variants and naming of aircraft
  • I’d like to see the ATC window reverted back to 2020’s version where you could see all 10 selections without the need to scroll a tiny scroll bar
  • I’d like to see the Zoom to Details fixed on the World Map
  • I’d like to see the World Map filters remember their settings session-to-session
  • I’d like to see a number of overlooked Quality of Life opportunities implemented
  • I’d like to see the EFB be implemented in a more consistently integrated way for the 2024 aircraft, which means being a part of built-in EFBs on various default aircraft and/or ensuring flight plans are loaded correctly
  • I’d like to see the Tobii adjustment interface fixed
  • I’d like to see the Aviator Edition aircraft that I paid top dollar for fixed and working correctly
  • I’d like to see the bugs in the default aircraft fixed

I could go on, but without the perspective of being a developer on the project, I don’t know what aspects of fixing/implementing these things are reliant on other aspects of the sim being fixed first.

All the complexities of weather, physics, etc. are, to me, far more difficult to adjust, address and make right in all scenarios. It is all the glaring, in-your-face issues that make me nuts every time I look at or interact with the sim every session that I’d like to see dealt with.

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Have you actually gone in and looked at the EFB CG section to see what’s there? It is quite hidden down several layers of navigation along with fuel/cargo/passengers. You should however be loading the aircraft via this EFB tool in FS2024.

EFB → AIRCRAFT (ICON) → FLIGHT PERFORMANCE → MASS & BALANCE → SEATS/CARGO/FUEL/EMPTY(CG)

You can click on the various passenger cabin layout sections and load them individually, however you feel like, add fuel, cargo etc and the CG will change accordingly. Then be sure to “LOAD IN AIRCRAFT”.

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@HJGB727

I’ll be honest—I don’t have enough experience to judge the flight realism myself, so I’ll trust your expertise on this one. If the 747 is struggling that much to get off the ground under what should be reasonable conditions, that’s definitely concerning.

I’m curious—do you think the FDE (Flight Dynamics Engine) could be improved through mods, or would it need deeper system changes from Asobo? I know some aircraft in MSFS have different flight models, so I wonder if they could implement more user-configurable settings to tweak aircraft behavior. Maybe that’s wishful thinking, but it seems like there should be some way to refine the physics without a full rewrite.

I’ve also noticed planes spawning in places they don’t belong, though in my case, it’s usually fighter jets at small rural airports—which definitely feels out of place. If the game is using some kind of generic traffic logic, it would be great if they could refine the system to better match aircraft type to the appropriate airports and gates.

@tgbushman

I completely understand that they can’t fix everything all at once, and I get that updates have to be prioritized. That said, in a flight simulator, you’d think that getting flight mechanics right would have been a top priority from day one. And if they weren’t, it should at least be at the forefront of what gets fixed.

I don’t expect perfection overnight, but when fundamental systems like aircraft behavior and mission stability are still inconsistent after launch, it’s frustrating to see fixes being pushed further down the line. If SU2 or SU3 are going to tackle a larger list of bugs, that’s great—but it still feels like some of these issues shouldn’t have made it past beta testing in the first place.

@NixonRedgrave

Yeah, I can definitely get behind a lot of what you’re saying—especially with the Aviator Edition aircraft. I also dropped $200 on this, and it really does feel like we’re just beta testing planes that should have been properly vetted before release. If you’re going to charge a premium, the aircraft should at least meet a higher standard of quality from day one.

I totally get the frustration. Like I’ve said before, a good flight feels like a roll of the dice at this stage. Some days everything works fine, other days you’re fighting against UI quirks, mission issues, or aircraft bugs that shouldn’t even exist in a finished product.

I also get why the small, in-your-face issues drive you nuts, because you notice them every single time you play. Stuff like aircraft sorting, ATC UI regressions, and broken map filters are all death by a thousand cuts—individually they might seem minor, but when you deal with them constantly, it wears you down.

That said, I still feel like core gameplay (flight behavior, ATC logic, mission stability, etc.) needs to be prioritized over QoL updates. Fixing everyday annoyances is great, but if the underlying systems don’t work reliably, no amount of UI polish will fix that.

Thanks to all of you for your input! It’s good to hear different perspectives on what needs to be addressed first, and I appreciate the discussion. Hopefully, we start seeing some real movement on both core fixes and QoL improvements sooner rather than later.

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That is understandable, for sure.

I know many are using Career Mode and that is where most of what you’re frustrated by is striking hardest.

I’m not bothering with it, so I’ve avoided so much of the issues that are compounded there.

I felt forced to give up on the default ATC due to there no longer being any way to file an IFR flight plan from a non-controlled airport. I now use BeyondATC, which has its own limitations re: VFR ATC, so it isn’t a catch-all solution either.

I’ve given up on all the default aircraft, too. As crazy as it sounds, I’ve been working on fixing the Boeing 247D to get it compatible with 2024. I feel like I’d rather fly a bugged aircraft that I have some modicum of control over fixing than fly a bugged aircraft that I have to beg/wait for Microsoft to fix.

Honestly, I see so many posts where people talk about enjoying 2024 only to find out they are not using many of the built-in functionality of 2024 – no ATC, no default aircraft, no Career Mode, no photogrammetry, etc., etc.

They are essentially stripping the sim down to a core shell and running all sorts of other products to make up for its shortcomings.

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Topic moved from SU1 Beta category, as posts in that category must be about a regression in the sim brought about by the beta, or feedback on something in the beta.

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Well, I have just come back today, thinking about purchasing the 2024 version, put it looks like it is only an eye-candy improvement on 2020, ( which is working great for me at this moment in time)

I want to invest in 2024 because I wanted the new ATC because 2020, well doesn’t work, surely 2024 is somewhat better? ( but it doesn’t sound like it)

I enjoy the challenges, with various aircraft, do they work?

Can I ask a few questions or should I start new thread

According to " Huddison " the MSFS2024 Flight Planner is excellent! so how can that be true if ATC is not?

A question about upgrading to 2024, is there a sequence or method to install?

Do cloud settings from 2020 controls work in 2024, or is it advisable to start from scratch?

Is it advisable to remove 2020 before installing?

At this stage in the sim I would expect there is no problems with flight Dynamics or mechanics after 8 years of development.

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A post was split to a new topic: Twisted

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If I remember right, on the index page of the MCDU, there should be settings and a fuel and payload page. In there it will tell you the CG. You can tell the aircraft what it is by clicking the left key beside CG in the takeoff performance page. That will tell you the trim setting or tell you if it is out of range. If out of range, no amount of trimming will get you off the ground

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@NixonRedgrave

You hit the nail on the head—so many people aren’t even using the new features of the sim because they just don’t work properly. As a result, they’re relying on third-party tools to compensate, which brings its own set of problems.

  • Things still don’t work as intended when patched together with external tools.
  • Now, there’s extra setup time before every flight to get the tools configured properly.
  • These third-party programs use extra system resources, and MSFS is already demanding as hell on even high-end PCs.

For me, Career Mode was what made me jump on this game in the first place. I invested in it—bought all the control gear, got fully immersed—and I just wish the experience was more reliable. Right now, it’s a roll of the dice whether or not things actually work.

And yeah, I know I sound like a broken record here, but the price we paid for the product we received just isn’t worth it. I didn’t pay for a great sim next year, when SU3 finally sorts things out—I paid for a great sim today.

The worst part is that I struggle to recommend this game to anyone in its current state. Yes, it’s breathtaking, and when everything clicks, it’s an incredible experience—but that’s the problem: “when” it clicks. It’s a gamble. If this had been released as Early Access at 33% of the cost, this entire experience would be expected and accepted. But not at the premium price we paid.

That said, I appreciate the back and forth discussion we’ve had here—it’s been good to lay out different perspectives on the state of the Beta. But to @TheSevenflyer’s point, I guess we’ve kind of shifted away from “what’s good vs. what’s bad” in the Beta and more into a discussion of what we expected vs. what we actually got—and our collective disapproval of how it’s played out.

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I have no idea what you are on. Like literally the entire forum is filled of threads on how blurry everything is and how bad the clouds are compared to 2020