The update system is really aggravating

I don’t fly this sim that often, once a month if that. It seems like on the rare occasion I get the itch to fly some virtual airplanes, I have to update before I can fly, EVERY SINGLE TIME. And it’s not a small update, either. Right now I have time to register at this forum and post this topic while I’m waiting for yet another 35GB download. So much for simming today; by the time it’s done, I’ll have real life responsibilities to attend to.

It wouldn’t be so aggravating if not for the fact that I already have Steam. I bought the game on Steam; every other Steam game I have updates through the Steam client and I can see which ones have updates available simply by opening Steam. But no, not MSFS. I have to actually start MSFS with the intent to fly, only to be informed another enormous download of of dubious value is being shoved at me before I can use the software I already paid for. I’m aware of the online nature of the sim and that server/client compatibility is a requirement for online functionality, but it seems I can’t even use the sim in the offline mode once it phones home and determines that an update is available. According to some older (closed) topics I’ve read on the subject, the forced updates only apply to the core sim content, but I have a very hard time believing it necessary to change 35GB of core content every single time. What are they doing? Rewriting the whole program every month? Or are their updates poorly packaged and forcing me to re-download stuff I already have?

For all of this; I bought the game right at launch; and I’m yet to see any real improvement in the fidelity or usability of the sim, which is one reason why I don’t fire it up that often. Performance is still just so-so, the flight model and ground handling is very cartoonish, ATC is still dumb as a brick, and the aircraft systems are so simplified it’s hard to tell one airplane from another. What’s going on, here? Why am I updating this sim so often and it’s still broken?

1 Like

Last update was 18 November, so it has been a while for you! I understand not everyone can run the sim a couple times a week, so my recommendation would be to periodically take a quick look at the development roadmap on the MSFS Home page (click on the link at the top of the forum page. https://www.flightsimulator.com/ That page normally updates late in the day every Thursday (U.S. Pacific time, or approximately 2200Z) to see when the next sim update or world update will be released and plan on opening the sim and letting it update on/after that date so it’s ready whenever you have a convenient time to fly. There will be a new roadmap released in January that will probably run through The March timeframe.
Also, be aware that we “hope” for an update to fix some serious problems with SU7 in the “near future” (no announced release date yet, but should be much smaller than the WU/SU’s).
Regards

4 Likes

Plus the MSFS updater grills your gpu the whole time for some reason.
Would be great if Microsoft would reconsider the way of distributing the updates. Steam and windows store are there, why not use it?

2 Likes

It is very important to limit the FPS to 60, otherwise your CPU and VRAM will indeed get grilled with only ingame menus running for hours (or days).

Firstly, completely agree with the topic author, even if I use MSFS much more often.
Secondly, I agree that one has to limit the FPS (V-Sync) to keep a fluid experience,
though I wish MSFS could keep them up to 60… Even with my rig it barely keeps them to 30…
Mainboard: ASUS Maximus X Hero Intel Z 370
CPU: Intel Core i7-8086K @ 4.0 GHz
Memory: 32GB Corsair DDR4-3000
Graphics Card: ASUS NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 10GB
Monitor ASUS PA 329 32" @ 4K
1 SSD Samsung 860 PRO 256 GB
1 SSD Samsung 860 PRO 4 TB
Windows 10 - 64 V. 21H1
CH Pro combatstick, throttle and pedals

I’m not 100% sure whether my plan to avoid getting caught out by updates (again!) when I want to fly is wholly effective but it has prewarned me on a couple of occasions since I started doing it. I have a dedicated gaming PC and every morning now I fire it up, open the Microsoft Store, go to Library and check for updates. It only takes a couple of minutes and you then know whether sim updates are available and you can choose when you want to download.

Hi all, there are several topics in #self-service:wishlist about having changes made to how MSFS handles updates.

Search:
https://forums.flightsimulator.com/search?context=category&context_id=163&q=Updates&skip_context=false

So as to not split feedback and wishes, closing this topic. Please contribute and vote on those topics.

Thank you.