Tropical water not like in the "Around The World Tour" Trailers

[FLYTSIMFREAK]

I am writing this because I’m not sure if its just me or if everyone is experiencing this. Also I do not see this topic even on the bug page or upcoming fixes, very sad

Microsoft has been releasing “Around the World Tour” videos for some time now. I first noticed this on the Oceania video (first video released I believe)… I was excited to visit Bora Bora and in that trailer it looked amazing. once I was flying over it I quickly noticed the water around the islands looked nothing like in the trailer. take a look at these 2 images

Trailer image

Here is what it looks like in my sim

I was hoping it was going to be fixed or looked at, but instead Microsoft released more videos and the most recent and probably the best examples was the “South America, Central America, and Caribbean” video. This time I tried to copy exactly the same location, angle, and height

Here is Barbados in the trailer

This is Barbados in my sim

you can tell the shallow water is small to non existent.

Here is Antigua and Barbuda in Trailer

And in my sim it looks like this

Again no shallow water and no detail. Here is one that’s very noticeable

Bahamas in the trailer

And Bahamas in my sim

I think you get the point. in the trailers, these locations look really great and its advertised as being available in game right now. Don’t get me wrong I love the sim but I do get disappointed every time I see a trailer and when I try to visit the location it looks different.

I don’t believe this to be due to my pc, I run the sim on High setting and have tried on Ultra but with same results. And everything is up to date on my computer (the sim, windows, graphics drivers etc…)

Is anyone else experiencing this? its not on the list of bugs the developers are working on and I really don’t see anything from Microsoft or Asobo regarding this

If you know anything feel free to share your thoughts

Regards

[Hambone6563]

Anyone gullible to fall for marketing hype… is. I don’t expect my PC to look like Microsoft’s trailers. That would be naive, and a setup for expectation hangover.

[FLYTSIMFREAK]

I agree I should lower my expectations regarding the trailers but the regular in land locations look the same, and all these trailers are “In game” footage (plus these videos have been recorded and put together during the last couple of months… what’s different from their version of the game verses the one released to us?? it seems to me its just to shallow waters and tropical locations that have this big difference. There does seem to be some variation in water color where the shallow water should be so I was hoping its just a water height adjustment or something that could be fixed (wishful thinking). I just brought it up because I don’t see it being discussed anywhere else, and its not on the developers list of bugs or things they are working on so I wanted to know if its just me and my pc, or if everyone has the same issue.

[Hambone6563]

I look at it as a work in progress. I think the earlier footage used in the trailers has proved problematic to deliver, hence the reduction in quality. I think we’ll get improved quality in due course, assuming the project doesn’t get scrapped.

I keep my expectations low. Then I’m never disappointed!

[Piper9t3]

I think you bring up a valid point. I personably have not explored the Caribbean in MSFS but will give it a go one day to see if my sim looks anything like those trailers. My graphic settings are mostly Ultra so curious how it will look in comparison.

[Piper9t3]

Have a look at this thread too…it explains more about the water masking feature which apparently is work in progress by Asobo

Water Masking.. It's just so Beautiful!

The Water Masking makes all the difference in the world! Cockburn Harbor Turks and Caicos Islands North of Haiti Coordinates: 25.025081, -76.528483 [Image305] [Image306] [Image309] [Image330] The Water, the Clouds, the Aircraft, etc… it all looks so much better! Wow. The Stars have begun to align within MSFS20!

[FLYTSIMFREAK]

I found the landmarks and points of interests including cities seem to be the same as the trailers. I’ve just noticed the difference with the shallow water and tropics. I first noticed it with Bora Bora on the Oceana Trailer and though ok maybe they are working on it and it will be fixed but, months later it looks the same today as it did on release, yet more trailers with new locations and more tropical regions have been put out to the public with the same issue, the shallow water (really it looks like satellite scenery just under a shallow layer of water) again is not there. I guess I wouldn’t have been so disappointed if it wasn’t presented as already being in the game in that state. Hopefully it is a work in progress and they will update those areas.

[FLYTSIMFREAK]

Yes this is what I mean. Some areas in the game do have the proper water masking and look great. That means its possible. I just found it strange that Microsoft would promote the areas I mentioned in the trailers showing the water masking but they don’t exist in the game and haven’t for months. So I’m just hoping it is a work in progress. I couldn’t find any information on it, or any statement from Microsoft, or Asobo that its being worked on

[SkipTalbot]

It’s been brought up in numerous threads and the developers have even addressed it in a q&a session. Short answer is the marketing team is using a specialized version that lets them take pretty screenshots where the default Bing imagery shows through, while it’s hidden in our version. It’s not representative of the actual gameplay, or necessarily a coming feature that they’re working on. It’s basically misleading advertising.

1.9.3.0 Water Mask Still Missing?

[Developer Q&A Twitch Series: Top Community Questions [8.14.20]] Sebastian states that the team making video clips leaves everywhere “shallow water”. By that he means they simply turn off the water masking when they’re cherry picking screenshots and clips. This exposes all of the default Bing imagery, but all of the glitches that go along with it, so they only pick the best spots for their promotional materials. The scenery/art team is supposed to actually go back and create water …

[talgmar]

As far as I know it has been communicated that better looking shore lines and water masks will be implemented later.
Those trailers were shot intentionally with special/no water masks for the marketing.

That being said, as a consumer you should not accept misleading marketing. There are laws for that. Federal law states the advertising must be truthful and not misleading. As an example you are not allowed to show a product and claim it is the same as you will get, and then deliver another - unless specified (thats usually where you have the tiny text and watermarks saying "bla bla might deviate from the final release…)

Personally, I dont really care too much - as I think the sim looks great either way. But It sure was a disappoinment flying over tropical shorelines after seing them in the trailers. For a game that relies heavily on the graphics, it was definately a ‘interesting’ move.

[FLYTSIMFREAK]

Thats misleading and unfortunate. Thanks for the information. Let’s hope for the best and make this great sim even better

[FLYTSIMFREAK]

I completely agree, the sim is great and a lot of good work has gone into it. But like you, I was disappointed when I realized they didn’t look like they did in the trailer. But I’m willing to wait for a good product if they are working on it.

[rp198419]

The waves don’t roll onto the shore either, though they did when the sim was first released.

Sacrificed for consoles perhaps? Or just cut for general performance improvement?

Either way it’s gone…and honestly I don’t think it will return.

Pity.

[TurtleX696]

I think the trailers were made with combination of very good hardware and highly modelled locations. Like any advert, there will always be gap between the advertised and real experience.

My last sim experience was FS2002, those graphics are nothing compared to FS2020. I am satisfied with the eye candies in FS2020, may be its just me who is easily satisfied.

Instead of removing elements to improve general performance, I hope dev team consider adding more bands in the settings on both extremes (e.g. bare minimum/one level down from low end and super ultra/one level above ultra) to give options for those with superb hardware and know how to tune their system.

[marsman20208043]

It’s false advertising plain and simple.

They start all the videos with “captured in real time 4k” which is implying that it is a real time capture from the actual sim.

But it’s not, it’s the special marketing version.

They can mumble whatever excuses they want but it’s still false advertising.

[p1nba11er]

This is pretty cut and dry false advertising I think. To use an example… if you’re selling cereal you must use the actual cereal in your advertising. You can fill the bowl around it with all the glue, or whatever liquid you want, instead of milk, since milk isn’t the product being advertised. Unfortunately, the world renderings are the product being advertised in this case, and it’d be a streeeetch to claim anything otherwise. The laws may be different in Europe and other coutnries, but in the US, this is a no-no. They really shouldn’t be doing this or they really should fix it. But then this sim was a bait and switch from day 1 so I can’t say I’m too surprised.

[WeamDreaver]

BTW, anyone notice how the image in those trailers has a lot more contrast and looks less hazy?
Even with Aerosol Density to Zero I always end up with a very washed out and hazy look.

[DarkerJoker1]

Why are water masks used at all if they can render photo real water lagoons, sea, ocean and coastlines? Nog only because its beautiful, but also for aimulation realism. With current water bodies its impossible to estimate your altitude other than looking at the altimeter.

Furthermore, 3rd-party developers create fantastic sceneries for islands such as St. Maarten. However, they usually don’t work on water masks. So why would it buy this scenery? It looks nothing like the real thing.

[RolandoRossini]

I only say DX12 maybe and the Caribbean update should come as far as I know!

[DeftestSundew71]

Once in the days of Bill Gates Microsoft did advertise honestly. If it showed a picture that picture was genuine. It may have been taken on an ultra high end machine but it did not show something that was not in the software.
This is misleading and dishonest. I hope they stop doing this.