Replay mode has been in Prototype for last several months. Any ETA on release?

I use replay all the time in DCS to fly air show routines and then later watch the routine from a spectator view on the ground. I would like to try doing the same in MSFS (otherwise, what’s the point of having a Pitts and Extra in the hangar) :wink:

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A replay mode will allow you to view your landing from different viewpoints and angles. For example, I could run the replay mode and see how my landing looked from the passenger window view. Or I could run the replay mode and see my landing from besides the runway, to see how close I was to a tailstrike, an engine strike, or the general landing angle of my plane. You can’t do that by running Shadowplay because that just records the cockpit view.

Imagine you are practicing crosswind landings with the 747. Engine strikes sometimes happen with crosswind landings, especially if the pilot banks the plane too much. With a proper replay mode, you can see from an external view how close you came to an engine strike, and then you can keep refining and practicing your crosswind landings to avoid this.

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I don’t understand why they didn’t include it in the base game…like we shouldn’t be having to wait 6 months :frowning:

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There are a couple of addons in the works, my guess one will be released soon after the next update to make sure that Asobo didn’t break anything new. Hopefully within a few days we’ll have flightcontrolreplay. It looks amazing!

Payware addons though… when Asobo was supposed to implement it into the game that we already paid for.

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As a matter of fact, replay mode is already there in the code. You can clearly find it there already (well it takes some tools and skills), or at least some traces of it.

The only reason it is not publicly available was best said by Sebastian himself:

Therefore I believe we shouldn’t assume they’d need to allocate resource to implementing replay, rather, they’d need to allocate resources removing the code which is hiding the feature already coded and implemented.

Everything in the flightsim world is built on addons. Has been for years, will be for years to come. I’m not surprised that Asobo didn’t implement it yet- along with a laundry list of other features that we’ve become accustomed to over the years. It is what it is. Over time, things will be great- now, we’re just in limbo. However, I’m almost certain that whatever replay system Asobo implements will not come close to what we can get from addon devs. They said as much in their last QA- we can expect a very basic system.

Following the development of replay tools over the past month, my impression is that you need a high end system to produce stutter free videos, and that we should record with low settings and then increase the settings during replay until we get the right blend of eye-candy and performance.

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I don’t get why people need a replay feature or consider it an essential.
It’s a simulator, you don’t get the option in a real plane to watch your flight from an infinite number of locations.
Sure you can get a few go pros attached to your plane or possibly get permission to setup a camera at the airfield to watch your landing (though I doubt that’s very easy to arrange).

Apart from making pretty videos of your flying adventures and a nice to have feature I can’t really see why it’s needed. I’d much rather they concentrate on fixing the bugs and improving on the existing features.

First of all, this is a flight simulator. This isn’t real life so of course it makes sense we should be able to do stuff in a flight simulator including using replay, which was a key feature of every Microsoft Flight Simulator going back over 20 years.

Next, it allows some of us to view how we handled the plane from an external view. For example, if we practice crosswind landings with one of the airliners, we can see how close we were from a tail strike or an engine strike on the landing.

Just because you don’t find value in the replay doesn’t mean we don’t. Replay is the second most voted feature in the wishlist so obviously, you are the minority and the majority of MSFS users want replay (as demonstrated by it being the second most voted wishlist feature).

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Yeah, Asobo mentioned they have had replay for a long time, but that it worked on a second monitor. I think that’s why they put it in “Prototype” status for the last 3 months. But sadly, it’s still in “Prototype” status for 3 months so they didn’t make any movement on it. Sebastian said the team that was working on replay was working on other stuff in the last while so that’s why progress on it had halted. I hope they get back to finishing replay.

Yes I know it’s a simulator but I can’t see why it’s a must have feature. Sure it might help you judge how well you handled an approach/landing etc… but that’s not very realistic.

People complain about the immersion breaking issues with pixelated clouds, incorrect ATC etc… but then accept a feature like replay mode. (I’m not suggesting you are in this camp, just a general observation)

As for popularity on a wishlist making it an essential fix/feature for them to work on, think back to the "Press Any Key to start " example. That was way up the top of the list but hardly worthy of an essential fix, it was just a minor annoyance.

Yes for me a replay mode is not essential, just a fun toy to play with for making some pretty videos.
I’ll quite happily put that at the bottom of my wishlist.

And I’m not arguing against all of you who are waiting eagerly for this feature, I was just wondering why so many seem to think it’s an essential missing feature.

In real life, if you are flying solo, your instructor would be a spotter on the ground for you, to give you feedback on your landing. And your instructor might even have a camera on your plane while you land, so you can see the quality of your landing. There is no way to get an external view of your landing without replay. It’s a very useful feature.

I just mentioned the case with crosswind landings. You cannot tell how close you are from a tail strike or engine strike without an external view. In real life, there are cameras on runways so pilots can review how close they were to a tail strike or engine strike during a crosswind landing. The replay in MSFS will take the place of cameras in real life.

Fair enough, that answers my initial question as to why some think it’s a useful feature.

I can’t see myself making much use of it though, and would still rather they focus their attentions on many other issues first.

Are the 3rd party ones available not able to provide what you want?

Replay mode is already in “Prototype” status according to Asobo. It means the base code is done. They just need to port it so it can be used by the game for stand alone monitors.

If the base code for replay mode is done already, and Asobo just needs to put the finishing touches on it so that it can be used by all of us, I don’t get why people don’t want Asobo to finish the job. They have already invested the time to make replay mode and it’s mostly complete.

I would understand if Asobo has not even started on replay mode yet. But they have already started on it and they even have a working version of it, albeit, it needs to be ported for use in a standalone monitor.

I mean, we use a flight simulator to do things, we can’t IRL. So watching how you handled your landing from another view is not only rewarding but also a nice asset.

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I wasn’t suggesting they stop work on it, if it’s nearly complete then fine.
I do remember them saying it would only have basic functionality though, I wonder if it will meet with the approval of those eagerly waiting for it.

Just seemed to me to be a non priority item that I am quite happy to do without.

That’s why we upvoted this topic and got Asobo to answer it. They are close to finishing it. For something that is almost done, it would be nice if they put the finishing touches on it.

I would imagine it’s not as simple to implement in this sim as with previous ones. There’s more going on with streaming scenery/weather/other traffic to record. As well as making it not impact too much on performance which is already a big issue for many peoples machines. Also developing a system that will work on XBox too (maybe?)

So if you guys are still looking for a free replay tool, I posted one on the forum [RELEASE] Flight Recorder - Free replay tool. Also put it in flightsim.to for easy downloading Flight Recorder • Flight Simulator 2020.

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