Xbox simmer here, about ready to give up (Or: Should I Just Break Down and Buy a PC?)

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It’s not just the performance, or the peripheral availability, or the Marketplace shuns. It’s all of that, plus a little bit of my own personal issues of wanting to run before I can walk, with respect to peripherals and simulator realism.

After spending years coveting others’ expensive simulator setups and PC builds, I was so excited to see this title coming to the Series X and was pretty optimistic as far as the specs of the Series X. Fast forward to release and I was having a blast with a buttery-smooth experience no matter what I was doing. First with an Xbox controller, then with a T.Flight HOTAS One, then with a Turtle Beach VelocityOne.

Flew through all of the training missions, a few bush trips, tried to get an A on as many landing challenges as I could, and felt pretty comfortable with my sim-level mastery of the 152, the 172, and the CJ4. Took a break to mash refresh on my phone during my honeymoon when Turtle Beach opened up pre-orders for the VelocityOne so I could snag one of those (I know…)

I read that Honeycomb was releasing their XPC Alpha yoke along with a hub that would enable functionality for the Bravo (my dream piece of kit) - total radio silence form Honeycomb as to the production status of these units (as well as their Charlie rudder pedals). I actually bought a Bravo in anticipation of future shortages once the Xbox-compatible bits are released, and I’m just sitting here with this stupid thing mounted on my desk just so I can fiddle with the AP dials and the tension resistance knobs. I think I have a problem.

The VelocityOne is honestly a pretty great all-in-one unit and if I go the Honeycomb route, be it on Xbox or PC, I’ll really miss that trim wheel and vernier TPM controls for GA aircraft. But as nice as it is to get off the screen and start setting aircraft configs on a real controller (lights, landing gear, flaps), it is cheap feeling plastic with no resistance on the throttles and it breaks immersion for me.

Dialing up the tension on the Bravo and imagining taxiing an Airbus is the most exciting thing in the world to me. Those landing gear lights and that annunciator panel. I’m really just so excited to use this stuff but I have very little faith in Honeycomb’s community engagement with respect to release dates, availability, delays, and honestly, how the whole “hub” ecosystem will work. I read about people having annunciator panel issues or landing gear lighting issues even on PC; hard to imagine this will end up being a seamless port over to Xbox.

Fired up the sim last night for a short flight before bed and the “here’s your mouse cursor but you can’t click anything” bug came back (dealbreaker for me - I’m always clicking around the cockpit). Quick Resume trick didn’t fix it, neither did restarting the sim and my Xbox, or switching the USB port for the dongle.

Stuttering and landing-ruining framerate drops on final approach don’t seem to be getting any better, doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason as to whether AI traffic and weather affect this, it just all kinda feels like a ■■■■-shoot and that sucks when you’ve allocated part of your night to simulating a realistic flight of any scope.

I love that my Xbox is the same method by which I can play a few minutes of Forza or Red Dead or Titanfall and it also doubles as my MSFS computer. I love how modular that is, as well as how easy it is to dismantle the VelocityOne and turn my “cockpit” back into my work-from-home desk. But then I’ll see other simmers out there with sweet radio stack peripherals alongside the Honeycomb stuff and VR this and eye-tracking that and it almost feels like a foregone conclusion that I should probably just be simming on PC.

Whole other can of worms there - all my stuff is Apple and I’m not sure how to go about building a PC that will run this sim to a standard I’m comfortable with. Actually, seeing a lot of people with expensive rigs that still complain about some of the performance things mentioned in this post. Looking at the MSFS Discord tech channel, I wonder how anyone can keep these GeForce NX53479875s and Nvidia MX-53297985 model numbers straight, or weed out what makes for a good build or not.

To wrap up this rambling post, I’ll say if Honeycomb can get their stuff out fairly soon and if it actually works as promised, I’m a pretty happy guy I think. But while waiting for these products, and crashing to Xbox home screen and stuttering every time I try to land, I’m wasting a lot of precious time that I could be spending trying to get better. And I know it’s just a stupid game, but like the PC folks like to remind us Xbox players, it is not a game, it is a sim, and I’m starting to wonder if I’m reading the writing on the wall as far as the best and most sustainable platform on which to experience it.

Thoughts from either side of the fence welcome!

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Just get a PC, and get the most powerful one you can afford…

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Now there’s an intriguing statement. It’s a “sim for simmers” according to the Microsoft flight sim lead person.

But seriously, get a good PC and then one of those new VR headsets. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

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if you can afford it the pc experience is miles ahead right now, not even close. Even simple planes like the islander bn2 are missing features on xbox

if you’re into scenery it’s even worse since it seems they’re causing a lot of issues and ctds

default planes apart from a little selection are led back by bugs (constraints, fuel gauges not working, animations missing, etc)

right now xbox makes sense only if it’s your only option as far as I’m concerned (are the wasm issues ever going to be solved, and if it’s really the sacred graal we expect to be for xbox?)

I’m “lucky” enough to be in this condition and I can get lot of satisfaction from it but there’s no competition even with a mid range spec pc

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If you already have an Apple Computer why not fly on there.

We have a guy in our group flights who runs Windows on his iMac and plays MSFS on it.

Don’t aks me for technical details though, I don’t know anything about that. But it’s not something fishy, he says it’s some Bootcamp program and is an official thing.

Second thing: None of the people in our group that flies on Series S has any difficulties at all. Game runs smooth as butter on a Series S. It sure does on mine as well.
But many of those in our group who run it on a Series X have issues with stuttering and FPS. MS/Asobo needs to dial it down a nodge for the Series X, I believe. They have the settings cranked up beyond the limits of the Series X console.

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But it’s also “Game of the Year”.

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I have a PC and a Series X. I’ve tried MSFS on Xbox many times but there is just no comparison to the experience on PC. If you can, make the change. You will never go back.

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Judging by the content of your post I think you’ll be just fine building out a PC. Cost these days is the issue with the shortages. With VR you might need to start with a GTX 1070 or 2060 on up to an RTX 3090. Those are all overpriced now and hard to find.

Big question is do you want to go VR, build out your own panels or a combination?

VR is amazing but you have to be willing to put up with a little bit of a blurry cockpit and leaning in to see things. Nothing will make it look as crisp as it does on a standard monitor. It takes some fine tuning that depends on your video card, headset, VR runtime and preferences to get dialed in. I can’t 2D the sim any longer, other than program a Garmin. It just feels wrong, like I’m locked into a narrow, flat, lifeless view.

I’m not sure about head tracking. People seem to like it but I would think it’s awkward with needing to look the wrong way with your eyes. But I haven’t tried.

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I didn’t read your entire paragraph. But it sounds like you already know the answer. :wink:

Buy a PC if you’re not happy with what you have on Xbox.

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Agreed. I have both, too, and I’ve maybe played it on Xbox like 2 times. Won’t go back anytime soon.

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This game is bugged. It really doesn’t matter if you have an X-Box or Top of the Line PC.

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Hopefully, by 2030, it may be “Sim of the Year”

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First the PC is more powerful, will have more ports to plug stuff in. Second, the performance in the PC will be higher than the X-Box Controller.

Next, before you dump a bunch of money on flight gear, figure out which planes you really want to get good in and at. Then target the flight gear into that area of immersion because some of what you mention won’t be good for fighters, and most new military planes at least USA, are based on Stick not a yoke. I had Honeycomb Bravo, too big for my space, did not like trim wheel performance but I was doing it wrong, nevertheless, I sold it, and got Virpil VFX/Mongoose base and the TM-3 Throttle unit. Both have been better than excellent in quality and ease of setup. I posted long setup thread on the Virpil TM-3 unit.

I have a USB-C hub with all my stuff plugged into that except my Galaxy Buds Pro set, and never had problem (USB-C port on Laptop is 10GB/sec out). My devices do not cause issues.

I have ordered the Monster Tech Flight Chair, and the necessary accessories to mount the JS & TM-3 and have a mouse table, then can put keyboard tray back under desk, I think. Figure out what/how you are going to fly mostly in/with and target your flight gear appropriately, otherwise your room will become full of “stuff” with no room to fly.

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Buy a PC if you wanna get serious. I have an Xbox X too but I use that to just console game whilst PC plays MSFS.

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Same here, plus the FBW320 does not fly on the X

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At this moment in time, it seems a PC is the way to “play” MSFS. You don’t need a cutting edge machine either, as a matter of fact, the folks reporting the most problems seem to have the “latest and greatest.”

The problem at this moment in time, is building a PC. A good (not great) GPU - if you can find one - will cost twice MSRP. Even things like PSUs have spotty supply. The global shortage of microchips - coupled with other microeconomic factors - all serve to raise prices beyond what many consider reasonable.

That leaves buying a pre-built machine. If you go that route, do your homework. Fast RAM is very important to MSFS, as is fast storage (think an SSD on a PCI lane.)

Or, you can wait until SU8 and see if things improve. I’d bet they do…

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Hi, I was in the same position like you. Fast forward, I bought a pc. I will put my numbers instead of words. 27th July - mid December around 150 hours flown. Mid December till now almost 350 hours flown, I guess it speaks for itself…

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On xbox x and also considering the switch to PC for all the reasons stated. I understand that all add-ons purchased through the Marketplace would be available on PC so no need to buy again. Is that true for the game itself? I purchased delxue/premium edition through xbox. Also, what is considered the minimum GPU to match xbox x performance - I assume anything RX 3060 and above would be sufficient? I’d build myself except with GPU shortage/inflated prices probably best to go pre-built.

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PC definitely has the edge when it comes to peripherals, there is simply more choice and better quality. (at a price obviously)

Head tracking, eye tracking, VR all become available to you also. (And I couldn’t dream of not flying in any sim without head tracking any more)

In terms of performance and stability it’s a bit less clear. The Xbox is a capable games device and the forums have been filled with PC users describing the performance and stability issues since it was launched pretty much.
I have a pretty powerful PC with an RTX 3090 and while that probably does perform better than an Xbox does it perform €1500 better? I doubt it.
(Note, that sum was just what I paid for the GPU…and I was lucky to get it that price, the rest of the PC would add significantly more)

Lastly, as pointed out simply getting hands on hardware these days is an absolute drag. AMD struggled to get their CPU’s onto market until they were almost obsolete, GPU’s are rarer than hens teeth and I would really love to pick up a PS5 to play Horizon Forbidden West when it’s released but these aren’t even being wait listed in my regions legit outlets and those who do claim to have stock want €1000+!!!

A note with pre-build desktop PC’s.
Some brands (Dell for one) use proprietary components. This is not good and means you have no real upgrade path using that hardware. Do your research before buying into a pre-build and avoid dell.

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Omg, PS5 and Horizon Forbidden West! I can’t wait for that. I’m 51 too, lol. Amazing game franchise. I’ve been looking for a year+ now to get a a PS5 for that.

My children were shocked at my hand eye coordination fighting stalkers.