Jorg – We are super happy to give this presentation today. Many were seeing the Xbox version as a potential downgrade for the SIM but it’s the exact opposite! PC user will greatly benefit from the improvement made.
The other thing that I wanted to share is that MSFS is featured in the latest Windows 11 announcement trailer. It does mean a lot and show how much the SIM is appreciated within the Microsoft company. Without you support this would not be the case, so thank you for all that!
Performance improvement video – Timestamp
Seb – We have been working hard, mostly on the engine. We have re-written parts of the engine and improved the architecture in order to get the maximum performance to the sim and minimum resource/memory.
The video is showing a performance comparison between Sim update 4 and 5 in the same area
The Sim Update 4 is around 35-40 FPS in the Manhattan area.
Task manager windows shows-up
Seb – You can see that the CPU is 100% occupied but the GPU is between 50% to 75%. You can also observe some stutters - In the Sim Update 5, we did a lot of CPU optimization and some GPU improvement too.
Sim Update 5 comparison video plays
Seb – Framerate has a solid 60 FPS at first – it goes down to 50 sometimes, stutters are almost gone.
Task manager windows shows-up
Seb – The GPU is 100% occupied and the CPU around 75% - you can now run other stuff in the background. On my computer it’s completely stutter free.
Jayne – It’s very nice to see a comparison side by side like this. Do you have anything to share regarding VR framerates?
Seb – We are in the process of testing all sort of configuration because the impact will not be the same. There’s going to be a positive impact on it for sure, but we cannot yet quantify it.
Jorg – I’ve been making game in 30 years and never been experiencing such improvement – Jorg gives a round of applause.
Chat question – When is coming the Sim Update 5?
Jorg – Same as Xbox, July 27th
TREES:
Seb – This has been going on for month and we have been investigating continuously. We finally found the cause and fixed it. It was linked to latitude. The fix didn’t have any impact on the memory, it was rather quick to fix related to calculation on bow the SIM handle trees.
In Sim update 5, there is no clipping and you don’t see the tree lines anymore. The tree distance is now what is supposed to be.
Martial – Thank you to the community, thanks to feedback given, we’ve been able to target the issue.
Jayne – We appreciate the feedback given; it helps us target issues such has this one. Please continue to send us report! Thank you.
Garmin
Jorg – The Garmin, it’s already announced by Matt from Working Title. It’s in good hands.
Live Weather, you will soon going to hear about it!
Crashes
Seb – We are fixing crashes daily. We have a system to monitor crashes and know exactly the health of the software. It can be many different causes, but what we see is that crashes that we are currently fixing are new as the old cases of crash have been fixed already.
Chat question – Will the performance update impact large airports and glass cockpit?
Seb – All glass cockpits have been moved to a separate thread so it’s creating any stutter or problem on framerate (Glass cockpit works a lot better on big planes). A lot of work on big airport has been done also.
Photogrammetry
Jorg – I’ve read the thread again and there are some confusions. Photogrammetry is like any other data set we have. There were taken at a specific time, some of them have 7 years old and the resolution were not that great.
I was looking at cities that are coming for World Update 6 (Not announced yet) and it looks great. The evolution of photogrammetry will benefit us all. We are going to refresh some cities in addition of adding new ones. There is no magic fix for photogrammetry but better DATA and we planned on getting better DATA.
Night lightening
Seb – No update on this one
Turboprop
Seb – A first update has been made on SIM update 4, we have few more fixes on Sim update 5 and few more are coming. They is a fair amount of updates on flight model on Sim Update 5. It is the changes of SIM update 4 made on 7 planes that will be applied to all planes – Altitude and speed issues that were supposed to be on sim update 4 will make their way to sim update 5. More turboprop updates will come after Sim Update 5.
Chat question - Will the performance fix help with the current photogrammetry performance?
Seb – Yes, that is why we choose to shoot the video in NYC. If you have a GPU impacted by photogrammetric city, it should be much better.
ATC Phraseology
Jorg – There is a strike team looking into ATC right now – it’s under investigation but the team is fully working on it regularly reporting on the progress.
Ground texture low resolution – incorrect bandwith
Jorg – We are working on it all the time. There are going to be another update for US next year.
Dreadful performance
Jorg – Sim Update 5 will address this
Mirror texture
Jorg – Not planned, but the SDK team is going to expand a bit more on how painting works
Coastline glitch
Jorg – We are actively looking into it
Lack of real time traffic
Martial – It’s something that we want to improve
The trees issue has been fixed as Seb mentioned earlier
Horizon line visible through mountains and object
Martial – This one is tricky as it’s linked to rendering
Approach Flyback Bug
Martial – The Strike team is working on it
Reflections look grainy, even on Ultra
Seb – It could improve once Ray Tracing will be implemented. Xbox is on DX12, PC DX11. PC is not moved to DX12 yet, but this would help bringing advanced effects.
Helicopers are a Must
Jorg – We are actively looking for a partner as Helicopters are complex to develop!
Replay functionality
Seb – The feature is working well and we are currently working on the interface to make it more user friendly.
Tobii eye tracker
Martial - Tobii eye tracker is in the pipeline, planned after sim update 5 and Xbox version.
Scenery gateway system
Jorg – The prototype was completed. At first, we thought hiring external people, but it is quite close to the SDK and Asobo should do this work, it’s in discussion.
Gliders
Jorg – There are some exciting announcements coming up!
Mountain terrain too rounded
Jorg – We are in continuous contact with AIG and it’s going to lead to good things for the SIM
Is there an Xbox BETA?
Jorg – We ran out of time, instead we have this current PerformancePLUS flighting which is in essence the Xbox Build.
Jayne took the opportunity to let the chat knows that we’ve gathered some Aicraft expert but also many Peripherals users for this BETA.
Jorg – There is dedicated Xbox team currently testing the sim on Xbox. They are critically reviewing builds before they go to public as it needs to be stable. This strict process prevented us from getting a proper BETA on Xbox but you can play the exact content on Xbox (We talked about features that are coming in the Xbox Games Showcase).
What will be the framerate for both X and S?
Seb – On console, it’s locked to your monitor or TV framerate. If you have regular TV it’s going to be locked at 30. We support VRR (Variable Refresh Rate). Depending on where you fly it goes from 30 to 60. It is about the same on X and S.
Is Xbox 4k native or upscale?
Seb – 4K is only for the X version, if you’re on S it’s 1080p.
Will there be a physical disc for Xbox version?
Jorg – We have a physical disc for the standard version only. The physical industry has been heavily impacted and we wanted to be cautious, but if there’s a demand, we will respond to that. We want to make everyone happy.
Will we see those new particles effects properly integrated into the default sim?
Martial – Yes, everything you’ve seen on the trailer will be on PC.
Jorg – As we have cross play and cross save, everything you see on one version will be on the other.
Is Xbox live Gold required for console users to play online multiplayer?
Information soon available
What happen to MSFS coming Xbox One?
Jorg – The Xcloud team has been doing some work with us. We don’t have any date yet but Microsoft is looking into it and we are quite confident.
Can we expect an overhaul cross wind component?
Seb – This is planned. There was no crosswind on FSX and we need to redo from scratch the ground collision.
Can we have an update on the big weather news that Jorg teased a couple Q&A ago
Martial – I want to say hi to Romain who’s working hard on this feature. It’s part of our direct collaboration with our partner Meteo Blue. We have meteo data all over the planet but also the METAR, both data can show some inaccuracies, so we decided to mix these DATA together to provide smooth transitions between precise real time observations and complex worldwide forecast models. More that just ingesting the METAR, we are working on ingesting live satellite observations to enhance the precision of our cloud coverage. The goal being to be the closest possible to the observations.
Jorg – The weather is super important! Discrepancies will be fixed. We also have a roadmap that will blow people mind with an incredible weather system but it will be there for late 2022. Be patient, there’s a lot more coming.
Can we get an update on thermals up and down draft?
Seb – Vertical wind speed in the Sim is currently limited, this is something we’ll be working on later.
How is the Marketplace going to work on Xbox?
It’s the same. There is no need to be on Xbox, 3rd party can opt in or out as they want. When you buy from us it’s cross purchase and you don’t have to buy again item that you already own. Think about it as one product that has 2 platforms.
When Xbox comes out, what will be the priority for the Team after launch.
Jorg – There are tons of stuff planned! If the question is about bug fixing, you will see that the Teams made an outstanding job for the Sim update 5. Beyond that, we have announced stuff (including VR).
Any comments on Offline traffic and default liveries applied to it.
Martial – We introduced a new system for the air traffic and multiplayer. The system is now looking for the best match possible. Players will be able to tweak it in order to find the right balance between variety and performances depending on memory resources.
Will we be able to pre download the entire update for the Xbox launch?
Jorg – No, there’s a first download allowing you to be in queue for the Xbox version download but the full content will be available at launch. Everybody will get it at the same time on the 27th of July.
Is controller functionality overhauled for console?
Seb – We added few options to soften the controller stirring. There is a new way to interact with the cockpit. Mouse and keyboard will be supported on Xbox also.
When can we get more information about the Top Gun expansion?
Jorg – We have a great relationship with people at Paramount, but we can’t spoil anything yet.
Will you support AMD FidelityFX super resolution?
Seb – We are still looking at it.
Is content going to be free on Xbox
Jorg – Yes, for instance the A320Neo by FBW will be free. For the Marketplace, it’s going to be the same. World Update/Sim update are also free.