I hope this is the case. I was a regular purchaser before but obviously have stopped now. It depends I suppose on where people’s tolerances are. If they’re noticing then they might stop buying, but if they don’t then this is where we’ll stay.
For right now I’m just commenting in this thread as much as possible and hoping that we hear something at the livestream on the 18th. Edit: Wouldn’t it be just lovely if it turns out to just be a bug. If only we were so lucky.
I just made another flight to compare the view from previous version.
First screenshot is nearly a year ago (location Madeira) and you can see the detailed mountains far away with every detail.
Second screenshot is made couple of minutes ago with SU11. Just have a look to the mountains…it’s just a green flat hill without a zero detail. This ruins the whole VFR flight.
I cannot believe that this is now works as specified and this must be an issue…otherwise I’m speechless.
Why stop there! Let’s go the whole hog and liken it to a Game Boy game? Or maybe a Game and Watch game? 
On a serious note folks, I do wonder if we’re getting into a level of hyperbole with this discussion that actually risks undermining the perfectly reasonable and proportionate observations that many have made.
The pleasure of VFR flights is gone for me too. I’m hoping for a statement from Asobo on this topic.
I’ve been so disappointed with where the visual quality has gone that I stopped flying a month ago. SU10 started noticably degrading the visuals. I hopped back on for SU11 and the new aircraft, but the visuals are becoming so unappealing. Photogrammetry cities even have a stale look to them. I used to be amazed at the level of detail. I understand the need for good frame rates, but there has to be a balance, and the graphics have taken such a hit that sightseeing is no longer much fun. And it’s really what has kept me engaged with the sim.
To be honest, difference is huge… especially when you fly at 2000-6000 ft. It’s like we went from next gen to ps3/360 era when it comes to ground textures. I don’t believe in conspiracy theory that new addon A310 is problem here, its not space technology. Also talking about balance graphics/performance doesn’t make any sense at all because series x and especially series s was great when it comes to performance and fps in SU10. Just bug and expect patch very soon.
MODERATOR EDIT:
I do not see response from the developers I think that not even they know what is happening to the simulator …! Terrible this situation I abandon this
No miro respuesta de los desarrolladores creo que ni ellos mismo saben lo que te está sucediendo al simulador..! Terrible está situación yo abandono esto
The Top Gun challenges, expecially the snowy mountains, are now looking like Magic Carpet 2.
well, nice try but there’s a lot here that’s wrong. basically none of the terrain is properly rendered and all blurry. it’s not a zoom issue your screenshot is doing great to explain what is wrong
it’s ok if you can’t understand what is going on or if you don’t bother or you don’t notice, still the visual downgrade is massive from what was on su10 and before
The texture issue is obvious to anyone that has eyes, but the 3D LOD radius reduction is equally jarring, which makes me think server issues and/or bugs are not the cause.
The couple of shots DARKNESSAKASK posted above, although not truly comparable, clearly show the massive reduction in flora. We can see trees all the way to the furthest top-left of the image. Whereas the trees in the SU11 image stop at just left of top-centre. I’d say, based on those shots, we’re talking around half the LOD distance of previous versions.
Also, the textures in SU11, above ~3000ft, look worse due to the fact that most 3D objects (with PG off) still stay looking sharp, which only emphasises the now low res ground textures.
My friend on PC says on his system using the same LOD setting as before results in better FPS. His feeling (from looking at it) is that they’ve reduced the LOD for each setting (i.e. 200 is now 100 but is still called 200). If there was a sim wide reduction of that magnitude it would explain why our LOD is so poor, since we have no control over it.
In PC terms, the terrain LOD looks to have been reduced from what was high (100) to medium (50) and the textures also look to have been similarly reduced. The can appear especially low outside the LOD ring of detail.
Welcome to the world of sims.
VR is its own thing.
In 2D, the most immersive results and views come from having proper field of view (FOV) settings.
In short, if your dashboard and windshield are roughly the same size through your TV screen as they are IRL, you will use your eyes the same way you use them IRL. Looking out in the distance. Focusing in on a mountain or river. Watching it get closer.
A proper FOV means a greater sensation of flight, or in racing sims, a greater sensation of speed.
To accomplish this, you need a large screen and to sit up close to it. The closer you are, and the larger the screen, the wider your FOV can be, so you can see even more at once without moving the camera. Triple screen PC setups make extraordinary use of this effect.
Now that we can game in 4K, sitting up close to the monitor allows you to see even more detail than one would see from the couch.
The shame of this graphical roll back is at low/medium altitudes, detail now pops in right about where the eyes would naturally look in a relaxed state while looking out the windshield in sim with proper FOV, so this issue can be especially easy to notice. Especially over mountains.
Anyway, if you have a Series X connected to a big TV and can sit close to it, DO! It won’t make this issue go away. But you might feel that sensation of flight in the pit of your stomach a bit more often. And you will be using your eyes like a pilot more often, too.
I have had instruments black outs with a319 & a321 on final approach into Gatwick dlc by origami studios.Sucks still with these issues on su11
That has been an issue forever. The tricky part is that, for all we know, this graphical downgrade could have been effected in an effort to reduce issues like the aforementioned blacked-out avionics bug.
The thing some people may not be aware of, is that flight sims have always been very hard on the CPU. If MSFS2020 was already pushing the Series CPUs close to max, which it probably was, how much extra strain on the CPU does the new wind/thermals simulation add alone? Factor in the extra features, more complex aircraft, improved weather dynamics, amended flight modelling, etc, and all of a sudden, compromises elsewhere become a necessity.
What was once being squeezed into a 16ms budget may now be hanging over the beltline, requiring a size 33ms, hence the dropped VRR unlocked mode - which would often hit 60fps in less busy areas. There’s only so much the CPU can do and believing the Series X can process extraordinary visuals, while keeping up with every new addition MS/Asobo plan on releasing over the years, is believing you can have your cake and eat it.
I reckon Asobo did what they had to do to ensure a reasonably stable (there’s no such thing as a perfectly stable FS, not even on dedicated rigs) 40th Anniversary release and in time will work to optimise the new build. But, I personally do not expect a return to previous visuals; possibly somewhere close with a few tricks (FSR, ML, VRS, etc). Many of us VFR pilots didn’t want or need anymore - I’d be happy with SU10 and the Kodiak for most of my FS escapism - but it’s not just about us, even if we want to be.
Hopefully I’m wrong and Asobo release a hotfix this Friday and we do get to eat the cake after all!
Yeah as far as I’m aware they made cut backs on gfx lod etc to sort these problems .Avionics bug still a big problem running on su11
Nevertheless i confirm that weather experience is now wonderfull, i am about to wish flying always with bad weather so i won’t see any ground textures but enjoy pure sky fly !!
Maybe that’s Asobo wants…
I fly with a 49 inches screen , zoom at 68 in cockpit view, it’ s near scale 1, just amazing !!!
There has been a really great work on weather , that’s a fact
There’s no denying Asobo has created the most realistic looking skies I’ve ever had the pleasure of flying in. Truly phenomenal.
This is a very reasonable post. Though I wish it wasn’t so, the decrease in LOD and the drop in textures don’t seem like bugs, but intentional decisions. I suppose this day was always coming, I just didn’t think it would come so quickly and suddenly. One would think that as the game developed it would be further optimized and that rather than decrease quality, they would be able to maintain quality and add new toys by using technologies like FSR.
I guess dropping quality is much easier than trying to optimize on the margins. I was using this sim to escape reality, now reality is hitting the sim hard. Fingers crossed for Friday.
