Xbox is more stable than it’s ever been but i still get at least one crash a session.
There’s just still so many things making us second class citizens:
- Only being able to buy on market place. No freeware, no cool mods, flight tracking programs etc. Later patches to third party content.
- content providers seemingly not testing actually controlling their aircraft with Xbox controller.
- Degraded first party aircraft via missing the pc enhanced packages for a310, dc3 etc.
- Quite a few third party aircraft missing instrumentation options etc on Xbox compared to pc.
- No vr
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I wouldn’t go as far as claiming we’re second-class citizens but I empathise. I think Asobo have basically said that the PC version will always take priority — however I think the Xbox uptake has been such that they’re really beginning to take the platform seriously. Freeware should be just around the corner; we’ve just got to hope that there’s the same level of enthusiasm from amateur devs as there is on PC.
I’m confident we’ll eventually get the little utilities that make the PC version that bit more immersive: decent AI traffic, VDGS and something akin to GSX (the basic likes of which we’ve already seen in add-ons such as My Replacement Service Trucks). Maybe even a VATSIM equivalent, ultimately?
As long as people continue to buy MSFS on Xbox, there’ll be an incentive for the team to continually enhance the experience on console. Many traditional gamers will be picking it up and playing casually, and many more will be curious enough to give it a go following all the positive marketing hype. This sim can be enjoyed by almost anyone, from qualified/working pilots to people who just want to see what the world looks like from above. As I’ve said already, there are some benefits to owning the Xbox version; and certainly on a price/performance ratio I actually think the Xbox version is better.
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Huh? Where? Jorg specifically and explicitly said that they aim to treat each platform equally in terms of priority, keeping in mind the inherent limitations of the Xbox being a closed platform.
Also, try selling that to some PC users who actually feel the opposite about prioritization.
VDGS is already implemented in 3 airports by The Secret Studio. I am one of thier xbox testers and it works flawlessly.
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I recall reading it somewhere. Maybe I didn’t. But it would be hard to believe there isn’t more care and attention devoted to the PC version, given that’s the sim’s inherent platform. And that’s fine by me, so long as the Xbox isn’t left out in the cold.
I’m not going to pretend us Xbox users get the same experience as those on PC; but that experience is largely due to third-party devs. The Xbox platform needs to be opened up a little, and they need to find a viable way of doing that — otherwise there’s never going to be a level playing field.
smiffyninja, that’s great news — once one’s done it, it’ll open the door for the rest! I wonder if it’s a feature that will be able to be added to a scenery retrospectively, with relative ease? After all, every airport I’ve seen on Xbox actually has the basic VDGS boxes in place (although I’m not sure if that’s to accommodate the future function or just for completeness/accuracy).
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Here are some pictures of it. The developer uses its in house WASM module to develop the VDGS for their airports. I am hopeful they would consider a standalone VDGS module to be included for all airports.
Brilliant! I was confident WASM would bring such things as VDGS. And GSX is ostensibly feasible on Xbox, as demonstrated (although in a more basic fashion) by the My Replacement Service Vehicles add-on.
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Absolutely! I was awed when I was testing the VDGS for their xbox marketplace release to be signed off. From here I knew that the Xbox is more than capable of more than just basic vanilla systems.
Also, I do have my replacement trucks add on. I wish we had sone sort of pushback feature comparable to GSX or pushback assistant like the PC has.
Now that news of the PMDG 737 releasing just around the corner, it is no stranger to us that the xbox is more than capable of producing more complex addons favouring what our PC counterparts have released.
It is looking good, of course with the right mindset coming from developers and the community, there is truly a future with xbox being a good platform for simmers, casual or serious alike to have options. As I understand not everyone can afford a good PC to run MSFS, especially since the whole world is just recovering from the effects of COVID that had an impact on alot of people’s financial resources. I for one am very happy that msfs is on the xbox!
Yes I get it, some are complaining about certain issues like LOD, and what not. Trust me, I have faced them too, but it still doesn’t deter me from flying my short and long hauls in the vanilla 787. Add ons of course enchance my experience with the sim. But hey, I am hopeful these issues will iron itself out eventually. Just keep the right mindset and we will get there!
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I’m not as optimistic as some here. As long as I face black screens on certain 3rd party airports, and believe me, I face them way too much, I can’t say this Sim is sublime on Xbox. Another example is Inibuilds JFK, it clear this one isn’t fit for Xbox in it’s current state. It’s a CTD fest.But still they release it nevertheless… It’s not tested in any way, I’m certain of that.
I can live with fps/stutter issues, I can live with lesser quality textures etc etc, but I can’t live with avionics going dark and CTDs on short final, that’s game breaking.
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I don’t think the Xbox’s capabilities have ever been in doubt — the system I’m sure is more than capable of handling a GSX-type add-on — it’s the restrictive nature of the Xbox OS that’s the primary hurdle. But it’s a hurdle I’m sure can be overcome with some co-operation between Asobo and third-party devs.
I’m still amazed at how some really complex sceneries run on Xbox, and am unnecessarily disheartened and disappointed when devs blame the console for the lack of fluidity within their sceneries. After all, most of the bugs and stutters are present in the PC versions too, even with high-end specs. I hate to say this as I have no clue about software development, but there are obviously ways to optimise scenery for Xbox that not all devs are successfully employing.
There’s no denying the latest PC tech will run the sim more smoothly than Xbox but it does seem that blaming the machine has become a good go-to excuse for poor general optimisation.
United Art, fully agree with your second paragraph — I’d much sooner have a less fluid (but stable) experience than face real immersion-killing bugs. This is what’s so annoying, because most Xbox scenery I’ve used runs really well! But let’s be under no illusion that this isn’t happening on PC, too…
I haven’t heard of any PC user facing black screens. CTD’s off course, but they can tweak their systems accordingly to prevent that.
This is so true. I have Singapore, Malaysia, Perth airports installed. Landmark packs by Orbx for some regions and it runs absolutely flawlessly. The way it changes the landscape at night and in the day. It is very fluid when I have Live Traffic off and Ai turned off. Albeit, with it turned on, the stutters are very minimal and i am sure with 100% traffic, you would expect some sort of stutters.
So far I have never experienced UnitedArt’s issue of CTD or my avionics going blank, mostly it’s LOD related but again I had fantastic LOD in beta versions of SU11 and 12.
As I’m typing this out, I am reinstalling MSFS from scratch as I’ve encountered some strange issues with texture loading in and some Nav Data issues.
They certainly have more resources to negate bugs and issues, but that they’re happening on PC at all indicates that the Xbox isn’t to blame. I understand that such a sim on a console is a huge challenge but if it’s not universally usable — with futile attempts made to fix it — there’s not really much point.
I’ve had very few CTDs lately, and only black avionics once or twice in total (after two months’ simming). Unfortunately, the CTDs tend to come while on finals at the end of a flight, which is about the worst time. Not all Xbox users are experiencing disruptive CTDs, though, so one has to wonder whether it’s the (very limited) set of performance options each user has chosen. Can rolling cache somehow have an effect, for instance? And are the recent updates complicit?
I’m most certain not the only one facing them. Others do to, but I think they are too tired of it responding on it anymore.
I don’t have them all the time off course, but I still have a handful of airports which are unusable because of this.
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I’m not sure what is the cause of it but have you tried using the default airport to see if it replicates the same issue?
There were some talks saying that it might be 3rd party add ons causing ctds or what not. As for user settings, I don’t think xbox has anything much to tamper with except turning off/on HDR10 under graphics.
Default airports has never been the issue. The issues start with the bigger handcrafted ones by Asobo (no CTD’s or black screens, but performance can be really terrible, like EGLL for example) but again I can live with that to a certain degree. The real issues start with certain 3rd party ones. I bought Berlin and Warsaw last week for example , and both facing the black avionics issue.
To be fair the issues with Fly2High’s WAW are apparently well-known. I did a little research on them and learned their products are renowned for being buggy, so they went onto my ‘avoid’ list.
Disappointing to hear about SXF since Aerosoft are one of the industry’s veterans — but at least there’s a good chance of, at worst, an attempt at a fix.
Devs whose products I wouldn’t generally hesitate to buy are: Pyreegue, Aerosoft, Just Flight, Pilot’s, Pilot Plus, ORBX, Drzewiecki, DigitalDesigns, IniBuilds and FlyTampa. I’m not sure about MK-Studios as I own nothing of theirs currently but, aside from the Dublin upgrade issue, I’ve seen no really adverse press. it’s important to remember that some devs sell on behalf of others, which certainly doesn’t make things any more transparent.
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To be clear, Fly2High WAW didn’t CTD on me, nor did Aerosoft/Limesim’s EDBB. They caused black screens after exploring the scenery with the drone. I can depart from them from cold&dark state as long as I don’t do any sightseeing for too long. But, I’m pretty sure they will cause black screens when on arrival but I haven’t tested that yet.
The black screen issues s are a problem within of the Sim itself, in my opinion. Or maybe not, because I can’t explain it why Drzewiecki and Pyreegue among others don’t have any issues, and with higher detailed assets…
MK Sudios is fine nowadays btw. Those were really struggling in the past as well. Especially Lisbon and Porto.
I missed NZA Simulations from my list. Not quite as well optimised as Pyreegue and Drzewiecki but absolutely no issues aside from LOD textures taking their sweet time to pop back in. I also really admire Flightbeam’s work.
Don’t be deluded on this one, it’s not happening. On a live stream long ago Jorg said the marketplace could already have freeware but it’s not true.
Multiple developers have tried to get freeware into the marketplace and MS won’t let them do it. Several of these freeware products are now available on marketplace with a price tag attached. This proves it’s not a licensing or testing or onboarding issue. It’s not a technical issue as the marketplace does technically support free items.
The latest of these is PMDG who wanted to spilt the liveries for the DC6 into a separate free package, but MS forced them to charge a minimum price for these liveries, despite the fact that xbox users had already paid for the liveries once when they bought the aeroplane package. The result is that now xbox users will need to pay twice for these.
I’m sure there’s nothing stopping freeware into the marketplace other than somebody that pulls the strings at MS sees a cash cow and wants to maximise the amount they can make out of it. I suppose the only light in the tunnel is that if they changed their mind everything is already ready and freeware could be added quickly.
Or course there’s also the licence problem which means that the likes of the FBW A320 couldn’t come to marketplace anyway, similarly for any other GPL freeware.
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