Updating the sim is too complicated (too many steps)

Official Microsoft Flight Simulator Wishlist
48

Voted too. Mine is arguably the typical user experience:

  1. Oh, I’ve read somewhere there’s a world update coming and it’s about Australia, sweet. They’re even saying WUs will only include scenery updates from now on and no fixes. Sounds promising.

  2. Then days pass and I forget about the exact release date. I happen to launch MSFS today to do a quick flight but nooo, it complains that there’s a mandatory update so it needs to go through the MS Store first for whatever reason.

  3. I’m lucky enough that Store installs the 500MB app update flawlessly.

  4. Then I launch MSFS again and it starts downloading the new 2GB update, how very nice.

  5. Game loads perfectly fine. As soon as I’m the main menu I get a notification that there’s additional content to be downloaded from the marketplace. Fine, let’s go there.

  6. I download that stuff, a couple of GB of updates for previous WUs, probably due to the fact that various airports were updated/inserted (being irrelevant to Australia update). Content Manager seems happy enough and shows all’s up to date.

  7. I load a random airport/flight in Australia to see if I can spot any differences. Looks fine (I guess?)

  8. But wait, I forgot that I also need to manually download Australia WU via Marketplace (the reason why I did all the above in the first place). Exit the flight, back to main menu and Marketplace, download a couple more GBs of Australian awesomeness and now I’m ready.

Apparently such user experience may sound normal to some people but it most definitely looks convoluted and unnecessary to me. How come I need to manually and independently download all the stuff below?

a) an app/launcher update
b) MSFS core update
c) random marketplace updates
d) WU itself

Can’t download and/or installation of all/some of this stuff be bundled in fewer steps or at least done automatically? There’s certainly room for improvement. Hence the vote.

1 Like
49

It can be confusing. The first step I really scratch my head over. The in game mandatory update/patch did seem to patch some scenery here and there ( I saw refs to Zurich, Orlando and DFW among others), but was also largely done to create the new splash screens that advertise the AU update. The other WU updates including the AU world update were optional. I think people get confused with all the new AU splash screens though without realising there’s still a WU to be installed. I was expecting to do so but how many people weren’t. It can certainly be a complex process for the unaccustomed.

50

This should be really simple ‘Update All’ feature, which updates all content what a user has chosen to install previously. Then any unwanted new content won’t get downloaded automatically.

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51

But to buy things from the marketplace is super easy!

52
  1. Everything seems to be done. Launch MSFS and, after the long loading time: CTD
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53

The following was my experience for update 8 (PC):

  1. Read about update 8 being available
  2. Knowing it could take a few hours I boot up MSFS early to get the update started
  3. After the usual long startup I’m in the main menu
  4. No update prompt (like there usually is)
  5. Re-start the sim thinking I missed the update prompt
  6. No update prompt
  7. Get online, Google a few articles all of which are old, and point me to the XBox app for the update
  8. Start the XBox app, locate MSFS, click the three buttons one of which is settings, click on that where a pop-up opens with the tabs General and Files, General has nothing so I click on Files which says ‘check for updates’, yes! Win. Click in that and nothing.
  9. So I let it do nothing for a while thinking something must be happening in the background. (Turns out nothing is happening in the background because later I start up the sim and it’s the same version 7)
  10. Back online and a kind person on the forum says I need to update through the Windows Store
  11. So I open the Windows Store, find MSFS 2020, assume it’s the Deluxe version I need to update (again no indication to which of the three versions I need to update), press the update version and I get taken back to the XBox App. None the wiser I go through step 8. above - again. And nothing happens.
  12. Back on the forum I report my latest finding and am told I need to update all the apps in the Windows store, reboot the PC and then I should be able to update.
  13. I updated my Apps in Windows store (ok?) , reboot the machine, re-open the Store and update through the store, which take me the XBox app, where I finally get somewhere after it asks me to check for update. I click yes and voila! I begin to get somewhere.
  14. Start up MSFS 2020 and get prompted for update 8.
    Wait. It’s not over. I finally get into the main menu, ready to fly (even though I’ve ran out of flying time for the day at this point) when I see a couple of messages: “Updates are ready in the download manager”! What the actual?
  15. Navigate to the download manager where I begin to download further GIGs of updates I assume because I have the “Deluxe” version.
    And there you have it. Hours spend trying to do something that isn’t obvious, that online resources advise all sorts of things most of which are outdated and were about previous convoluted updates.

It’s astonishing just how bad the UX can get for this sim. Asobo and MS really need to get their act together. Sure I may be at fault for not having “apps” updated but most of disable as many apps as possible including the store and xbox app in order to get better FPS.

1 Like
54

That was some interesting reading. Compare the above to a random update of any given game in Steam. The latter is how it should be done, and it’s how the vast majority of modern software does it regardless of platform.

Personally I’ll never understand why I have to go through all those MS Store updates (when they actually work), not to mention the various in-game updates. If I had to guess I’d say most of it is on MS themselves, not Asobo. But anyway, up to both to improve the user experience.

2 Likes
55

absolutely. of course it’s MS. Asobo are just the brains behind the product. All of this stuff (including the flight model) are after thoughts.

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56

It might be easy and convenient in dealing with the in game Marketplace but, if you’re going to be doing that then, you better make sure that that’s the version of MSFS you’re going to stick with. Or else, your Add-Ons won’t cross over from Steam Version of the Game to Gamepass version, and vice-versa.

57

Made the update from the sim on the PC.
It was only a one step process, without any complications, as you wished !
No necessity to use the microsoft store any longer.
After the mandatory update I could choose which further updates to install via the content manager.

You can’t make it still easier (better) !

Bye, walter

1 Like
61

I only recently found out that I was doing World Updates all wrong when I had issues with UK and Ireland World Update in June/july 2024.

The reason is the World Update download and install process is unecessarily complicated and requires too many pointless downloads that are quite illogical and I would like to see it simplified if you agree with me.

Talking about the UK Ireland update, I was excited for it and I launched the sim to be asked to install a Standard Content update - it was quick and unproblematic.

Then, the MSFS loading screen changed to an image of the Cliffs of Moher, which looked spectacular and I couldn’t wait to get flying.

Upon arriving at the menu screen, the content manager had an update - it was UK and Ireland and it was around 1 or 2GB, expanding to 5/6GB installed. I downloaded it rapidly and it installed pretty quickly too. I launched a flight in Ireland and everything was the same, Dublin was uninteresting, the Cliffs of Moher were still the Marshmallows of Moher (non cliff like MSFS cliffs), so I cleared my MSFS cache thinking a forced download of new bing maps was possibly required. No change… Then a sim restart - still no change…

I come to these forums to find out what I did wrong and it turns out I missed a step - I needed to go to the marketplace and AGAIN, download an another UK and Ireland world update after having already done something from the content manager.

What is this logic where multiple seperated and unrelated downloads have to be performed to get a WU installed ?

It was exactly the same for Germany and Austria III WU today.

Any chance that during the Content Manager update that everything can be downloaded at that stage OR at least that CLEAR messaging is shown when necessary such as after the Content Manager update - “If you want the full UK and Ireland World Update don’t forget to download the rest from the Marketplace”.

From the point of view of software design and logical flows that make sense to the vast majority of users - it’s a poor show and no doubt many scratch their heads wondering why they’re not seeing the spectacular scenery that’s in the images.

63

Hello @nickmcpilot,

The UK/Ireland and Germany/Austria/Switzerland updates you are seeing in Content Manager are not for the new World Updates 17 and 18 but rather for the previous World Updates that covered these same regions (WU3 and WU6). If you choose not to install WU17 and WU18, you would still have new versions of WU3 and WU6 available via Content Manager.

To summarize, the process for installing a new World Update is as follows:

  1. Mandatory update upon launching the sim. This small update contains no code changes and doesn’t install the World Update itself. It includes new loading screens image to indicate that a new World Update is available.
  2. Optional “purchase” (for free) of the World Update from the Marketplace. This is optional because not everyone wishes to install every World Update.
  3. Sometimes, existing content will also be updated when a new World Update or City Update is released. In these cases, you will be notified that updates are available via Content Manager. This is unrelated to installing the new World/City Update itself.

Thanks,
MSFS team

66

Just brainstorming here, could there be a system like when theres a simupdate (mandatory) could the sim then check against all your sim files stored on you pc and be like oh so this updated today server side would you like me to install it now, so instead of making the user manually go to the store and the content mgr to installed everything could there just be 1 button to install all updates now, or if the user wants to wait on installing the optional updates they just untick the update items box

2 Likes
68

I appreciate your reply but I’ll be honest in saying I struggle to understand what you’re talking about, not because you have poorly explained it, but because I don’t know what WU 3 and 6 are and maybe that shows the level of complexity of the update process.

What I find strange is since day one of having this sim which has been about 2 years at least, I have performed every update necessary that was presented to me in the Content Manager (I have a high performance machine with lots of M.2 disk space so I don’t refuse really any updates) so I don’t understand how I would’ve missed WU 3 and 6 in the past. I am a European and have lived in multiple EU countries so I certainly don’t skip EU based updates as I fly around there a lot. The only explanation for why I missed WU 3 and 6 of course is that it was the same bizarre system as today where a CM (content manager) download AND a MP (marketplace) download was necessary and I was utterly unaware of this process.

Where is this information posted in relation to this functionality? Why isn’t it obvious to a user that now that a World Update is available that to get it, you should go to the Marketplace to “purchase” it (for free). It’s an update, it shouldn’t be a “purchase” (again which is illogically “free”) - there should be no implication of having to go to a “store” to get an update. Updates always tend to be in the “Update” section of any app or in FS’s case, the Content Manager where I get updates for my Marketplace bought aircraft or airports etc. It’s not user friendly, not at all logical and leaves a bad taste of something not particularly well thought through. It reminds me of Windows Update where you associate other apps with it to turn it into the central PC updater and those updates NEVER show up there - it turns out that another 2 to 3 steps that are obvious to NO one are required.

This is the reason I use a MacBook for EVERYTHING else in my life and a Windows PC just for Flight Simulator.

69

Why does everything have to be so complicated.
I started the Sim in anticipation of the new Germany, Austria and Swiss updates. As expected a relatively quick initial update, then an in sim notification of further updates available and a link to the content manager where I could download the World Update. Great, so I tried a flight to Salzburg, and I came away disappointed. Then two days later I discovered another World Update for Austria in the marketplace… So what was in the other World Update for Austria, Germany and Switzerland that I was prompted to update automatically. Just about every aspect of MSFS is overcomplicated, from the absurdly named multiple control settings, the incompetent complex ATC system and the unworkable view settings. Please keep it simple. KISS…

2 Likes
70

It’s really not that complicated. All new updates like City Updates and World Updates are free and optional downloads that are always available in the marketplace to download for those who want them. That’s why they are released on the marketplace instead of a mandatory update.

The mandatory update when you first launch the sim is usually the marketplace update, allowing you to access the new updates via the MarketPlace. In fact these are the only mandatory updates, Sim Updates and the Marketplace updates.

The other updates you’re seeing in your Content Manager are all packages that have to work and play nicely with the new WU updates. These packages have to be updated/downloaded in order for a seamless blend of the new WU and the old WUs.

Not seeing how this is too complicated. Go to MarketPlace for the new content, download updates from content manager, restart sim. Done.

4 Likes
71

If you look at it like that, it does indeed seem straight forward. But i can also see how it could be confusing for newbies.

They hear of the latest release of an update, then the next time they play, it downloads from the blue splash screen. They then “wrongly” assume that was the update. Understandable oversight.

Perhaps a little message on the blue-screen “New content will now be available in marketplace - Head there next”.

1 Like
72

This is fine if this is very clear to people, but it isn’t clear. 3 different updates / downloads to get something is ridiculous. And the signals we get during startup truly give the impression that you’ve downloaded everything necessary when its not the case - standard content update, then change of loading screen showing the new region, then content manager update that refers to the region for which there is a major update which you would like. It pretty much screams “Your MSFS has been updated”, when it hasn’t.

Yes, when you know, you know but it’s an utter mystery up until that point and that’s obvious from this “Wishlist” item which is at 57 votes, so many believe that this is a problem. Think of future newcomers to the Sim who’ll pull their hair out and potentially give up on the Sim.

Understand also that many of us have gone through hours of troubleshooting wondering why were not seeing the updated cities, airports, mountains etc. I was super excited about UK and Ireland and spent hours trying to figure out what I had done wrong - including cache clearing (which was around 80GB’s), removal of my community folder, multiple MSFS restarts (which as we’re well aware, take an eternity), I considered uninstalling all 3rd party content but found the answer before this. That’s a major waste of my personal time for something that could be built so much more logically - “The region X has been updated with new cities, airports, elevation data and much more - would you like to download it ?”.

It turns out that an “UPDATE” is in a “Marketplace” where a “free” purchase must be made (please explain to me what a “free” purchase is). If there was ever a bodge, this one is the King Lord Almighty of bodges and its the ultimate Microsoft “ship it and we’ll fix it later” approach. There’s no logic to this - they’re called World “UPDATES” and updates are ALWAYS done in the Content Manager and they could show up there as region updates to either dismiss if you don’t care OR to download if you do. It’s the poor software design and user experience that gets me in this one.

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73

It’s ironic that you say this because it’s Microsoft that put many guilt inducing options into Windows 11 to reduce power consumption in fairly pathetic ways (something I’m not actually opposed to), including an “Energy Bar” that shows as incomplete if you don’t follow their fairly ridiculous recommendations, including, and I joke not, removing the seconds from the clock because showing “seconds” consumes more power according to them… PC’s are glorified SUPER fast clocks even when they’re doing no work!

I tend to agree with @lkowgli as when on the home screen, obviously the hangar view loads just in case you want it (and I rarely do) and that causes my graphics card to ramp up to 40 - 60% fan use (which trust me is noisy and irritating - I have a RTX 3090Ti) and I’m just on a normal 2D menu screen, no 3D objects in sight - it’s kind of insane. I’d like to honestly remove this automatically loaded hangar view as I don’t like the unnecessary power consumption either, when just in the standard FS menus. There are times that I start up the sim and then have to do another task for maybe 30 minutes, 1 hour and so I leave the computer for that time but I don’t want to turn it off as it takes MSFS 7/8 minutes to start every time and I genuinely feel bad that I walk away from it sitting just on the main home screen and all my fans are starting to sound like a CFM56 at 70% power.

No joke, those months where I fly more often my electric bills are SIGNIFICANTLY higher as my machine is pretty powerful and I’m close to Ultra settings, so personally any power reduction MSFS can do when not actually flying, I’d appreciate.

That’s to a great extent the problem, and without coming across as too derogatory, I feel it’s a big issue with exclusive Windows users where they’ve been used to running an overly complex and poorly thought out OS and general ecosystem for such a long time that it doesn’t surprise them that they have to do something convoluted for another MS product, and they’re actually pretty happy with it.

For my everyday life I use a MacBook Pro and macOS (I literally only use my Windows PC for FS, thats it) and the design differences are incredible, the menus are unbelievably simplified and clear - the language is written with normal people in mind and is straight and to the point, not Microsoft language which is flowery, over done, terribly inconsistent and trying to cover every possible use case and hence becomes unreadable after 3 lines. I actually get the impression from Mac and Apple design that they really think about how every element goes together and what each user sees, they truly care about the the interaction from start to finish.

When I use Windows I still see the corporate Windows 98 in Windows 11 - it’s nothing more than multiple licks of paint since Windows 95 days. I think that MS users have actually deeply internalised this complicated “interaction” with their computer and that convolution is just normal for them - until the day that they use something simpler, more streamlined, more functional and then the wool falls from the eyes.

74

Didn’t read all of the thread, so sorry if this came up already.
In my opinion, at least everything that’s FREE should automatically be added to content manager, without being installed.
With a notification, that content has been added and is ready to review and install.
Then everyone could just decide what they want to install, or ignore it.