I was in Vegas the other day and it was definitely over 50FPS, the Sphere looked like Pixar and all the animations on the buildings and fountains were glass smooth. Even turned street traffic to 100%. Everything on except live weather(and minimal silly airport crew/vehicles). 4KHDR at 120HZ in beta. In 14 it was an instant CTD.
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And it has showcased what the console can do, even with its flaws. Just because something doesn’t perform perfectly, doesn’t mean it can’t be highly commended for its efforts. The PS5 Pro would struggle more to handle MSFS than Series X.
While the sim is in its current state on Xbox, what you’re saying is hypothetical. We as Xbox users (I’m not a PC simmer for another week) have to make a call based on the reality, not our expectations; for it is the reality that dictates how we play the game.
You are not wrong in anything you say or suggest but I for one am losing faith in a console sim that in over three year has seen very few genuine improvements. Those we have had have invariably broken another aspect of the sim, thus creating more problems than they’ve solved.
Say MS backtracks, makes the admission that MSFS will never work flawlessly on Xbox, and issues full refunds to each and every one of us. What then? We’d have no sim. That’s not a solution either.
I hope MSFS on Xbox improves, in spite of my move to PC. I’m just beginning to suspect MS and Asobo have bitten off more than they can chew. Theoretically, a whole new sim — designed specifically around the Series X — should make things better but four-year-old hardware can’t perform miracles. I feel there will always be compromises and caveats on Xbox.
However, going back to what Nikita said about choosing two of three virtues on Xbox, I actually think we can have three of a possible four, with the right scenery. The four are: complex airports, live weather (where a lot of rendering is needed — clear skies are obviously immaterial), proper live traffic (i.e. JF’s upcoming FS Traffic) and multiplayer. I’ve not tried but I get the feeling an airport like MK’s LEMG could handle all four, but airports in that category will be few and far between. The aircraft we use are I think pretty irrelevant now as even some of the defaults are quite complex.
But we ARE reliant upon the devs too; I think their role in product optimisation is largely being overlooked. MK’s LEMG is the evidence.
Once FS Traffic drops I’d be keen to know which airports it functions at (on Series X) without it presenting problems. I must be honest, though: I just can’t see it ever working flawlessly at somewhere like KLAX, KJFK or EGLL.
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I didn’t think they could do it but it’s so close now even with a replay mode that shouldn’t be there that apparently is a memory hog. So looking forward to the next update we haven’t been this close for a long time. The 747 is now a dream to fly, it sounds incredible and smooth as butter, will tie me over until PMDG777. We know the PMDG stuff works it always has
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I really hope the full SU15 release improves things for the Series X folks, without introducing a myriad of further problems. If you guys can get three of the four proposed virtues, I think that would be worth celebrating.
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Well SU15 at 120HZ does it again. DC is fully back up and running and butter smooth. Other than those messed up ‘loaders’ and the 100’ ring around them on the apron that slows it down for a second on the KDCA aprons, all is aces. Even the trains are all back up and running Finally cleared out my old stuffed one drive.
Oh and here’s that ‘tree’ mod, was cruising around Yellowstone. Console not all that bad…
Was hitting some staple areas today. No CTD’s, notable stutters of any type, or black screens. Just the occasional drop in blip you’d get when anything dumps into LOD.
Although now I don’t see any MP players? Just started with that yesterday.
The interface design has always favoured a console controller. I don’t think its a case that the sim was out on PC, then some bod at MS decided “Hey, we want this on XBox as well. Make it happen!”. The PC release was probably some kind of test bed, to get the wrinkles ironed out, see how the public takes to it, then release on XBox.
No, and as time goes on this gulf in performance as PC components increase in capability, and the XBox sits frozen in time, will get larger, and larger.
But the 2024 version is supposed to help with this, and in all likelihood owes its very existence to the XBox, as they have made made some huge memory allocation improvements which are being backported into 2020 SU15(?).
Frankly, I think there has to be.
I’ve never heard of anyone on the PC getting the black screens issue. CTD’s, sure, all the time for some users, unfortunately.
My biggest concerns for the 2024 version are more PC regressions in their efforts to shoe horn in MSFS onto XBox. We have regressions that have been sitting around for literally years now, and this technical debt needs to shrink, not grow.
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My understanding is that there are folks out there playing on lesser spec PCs than an Xbox Series X, and even if that is a misunderstanding, MS/Asobo would need to make sure that MSFS runs on low spec PCs irrespective of Xbox. With that in mind, we all might be wise to not simply lay regressions at the console doorstep, so to speak? I am always amazed at the vast diversity of input coming from folks simming on PC! Even at the mid to high spec levels of PCs reported, the platforms presumed to be superior to a Series X, there appears to be so much diversity that it makes my head spin just reading the posts: BIOS tweaks, Brand of GPU, choice of GPU, DX versions, firmware updates, version reversions, and on and on.
There was a time a long time ago I enjoyed building my own PC for MSFS. Indeed building gaming PCs is a hobby within a hobby for some, I believe. When one adds the various display configurations and options like multi monitor support and VR, OMG it is a vastly complex landscape available on PC and probably nearly impossible to beta test with any rigor at all, given the vast number of configurations and associated variables. And folks who are that deep into the tech for as long as many are, given the history of MSFS and other sims, well all we can do is ask that they sometime take a step back and realize that MSFS is a game for all comers as a commercial enterprise. Frankly, console or PC, it amazes me that it works at all!
Well now you hear, I have both PC and XBox X and have black screens on both versions, less on PC though.
My pc has 32GB Ram and graphics card 12 (RTX 3060).
-eelis-
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Interesting. I also have 32GB of RAM. Does this happen immediately or after a while during your flight?
Occasionally and after a while, usually in the end of flight.
-eelis-
How long would take be roughly? One explanation is that this is a progressively worsening memory leak, and the longer your flight, the more likely you are to get it.
Which is probably why the majority of people that report this are flying airliners.
I’ve noticed that the more flights you make in one session, the more prone for CTDs and black screens you are. It’s just like it adds up, like it doesn’t free the memory after each flight. The first flight is usually just fine.
-eelis-
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Said this earlier, it doesn’t purge older scenery or flights. This is why a given scenery element that may chug it for a second doesn’t purge and it just chugs and chugs until CTD. Doesn’t recover from taking a hit beyond the memory cap.
Not sure what causes ‘next flight syndrome’ if it’s specific items from 3rd party or Asobo libraries or avionics. I doubt it’s the streaming world map. Fly three short flights from one place and then move across the globe and instant CTD. Should be 4 flights from scratch regardless. Think it’s the two regional libraries causing it.
This could also be the same as ‘long flight syndrome’
In THEORY this is what rolling cache is supposed to cover, although it doesn’t work at all if not makes it worse.
They need to fix the leak, and add a tiny bit more headspace in the memory allotment
And instead of this supposedly dynamic rolling cache, use a few gigs to load every single type of autogen item in the library.
As Nikita says, I don’t believe Xbox is impacting PC. The minimum required PC specs are well below what a Series X is capable of. In fact, if not for the ridiculously low shared RAM/VRAM, the Series X would be the upper end of mid-range in PC terms.
That does sound like some kind of fault. During my research into buying a PC, I spoke to tons of simmers and they all said black-screens aren’t an issue. CTDs do apparently occur but they’re extremely rare and aren’t related to any depletion of system memory.
I’ll be honest: I’m not expecting core functionality/performance to be much different to the Xbox experience. The move to PC for me is purely for stability and to access a better variety of complex third-party add-ons. Any incidental benefits are just welcome bonuses.
Let’s remember that the Xbox no doubt continues to mould future serious simmers, as well as host old hands who in some cases know more about flight physics and systems than 90% of PC pilots. I think owning the sim on Xbox makes one more humble in the event of switching to PC. We’re all simmers and there should be no segregating players based on their platform — using the PC version isn’t a badge of honour reflecting one’s experience, dedication or knowledge
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High performance computers still lose half their resources to the OS, and use a good portion of the rest to simply bully through unoptimized software look at how much is underutilized in the PC performance threads. Unused ram, unused cores.
PC software is never optimized, they drop kick games and tell you to spend until it works. Consoles often end up with massive improvements in games throughout the life cycle. Pretty much the only time game developers have to make an effort to optimize.
I highly doubt a top current gaming rig is using(or can even use) more than 30% of it’s power to run MSFS max schnell.
The rest of it would be for beyond native resolutions and multiple screens. They have at least 5 more years to continue to find hidden performance in the XBSX. Any PC more powerful than the Xbox will see improvements for years.
A fault of the software, for sure. 2024 may make some improvements in this area. I certainly won’t be buying a new CPU/Motherboard/Memory until I have tried it out on my current rig.
I dispute that number. 
Also, don’t forget the Xbox has an OS as well. How much does it lose, I wonder, before the sim has even loaded. And it has far less to lose overall.
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Yup, this console push they make can have you leaning back with your hands behind your head for a while. One of the few games ever that the port and the PC version follows the same path. For the PC it’s the OS that’s the anchor.
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There are so many other variables that the OS is a drop in the ocean. Nvidia drivers can have a huge impact for instance. I’ve never seen any evidence that my OS was slowing the sim down, more a case of the sim not taking advantage of the hardware I have. Again 2024 will have enhancements, some of which like the memory allocation are coming to 2020 in SU15, I think.
For the OS to be an issue, you would need to provide evidence that some process was holding the sim back. A service consuming excess CPU, for example, or taking memory then not releasing it, those kinds of things.
PerfMon would be the tool to show this.
For those on PC having the blank screen issue, that would be an interesting thing to run. Observe memory in use by “FlightSimulator.exe”, as well as total RAM usage, plotted over time during a flight. Try to sync up the plots to the flight, and set a date stamp a the point where the black screens occur, then look to the trace in PerfMon to see what triggered it.
This is a pretty simple one to do.
In the example below, I have just under 21GB of memory free, and the sim is using just under 6GB, sitting on the main screen.
When I load in to EGLC, the graph changes as expected, and I had to scale the chart as MSFS usage blew through the top of the chart.
Sim is using 15GB on the ramp, C&D. Back to the main menu, and the lines diverge once more.
But the sim has not recovered to the state that it was in on first launch. Some 2GB is still in use. Possibly the plane not being fully unloaded, to facilitate another flight.
At some point in a flight, available memory drops to the point where the sim decides its needs to start switching things off to keep the sim going, and the displays get sacrificed.
Run the game, the OS comes with it to manage everything. Heck quick open three Excel spreadsheets. XB minimizes the os when running games. It’s not much more than a smart TV or Roku OS. A PC pretty much needs to be ready to do a million different things at all times, you can tell a console to just ignore everything in game. If you run MSFS and all cores and ram/vram aren’t all steaming along at 90% in complete unison, it’s pretty obvious something is under/over utilized.
I’m saying in the abstract for ‘os’ meaning all software required to make the PC operate. Black screens CTD’s are not an Xbox thang. The average $3-$5k nice rig isn’t going to find anything better from the game until the game gets better. And you’re still going to be limited to any advantage at some point. On a long time frame with 2024, you can just sit back and wait for the game to get better.
Here’s a List of airport I have on Series X which cause black screens and CTD on every load using both default and payware aircraft and would recommend anyone to avoid purchasing these airports on marketplace on Xbox:
EGKK (Origami Studios)
ENTC (M’M Simulations)
LIMC (Deimos Inc)
OIIE (Homa Sim)
PAFA (Realworld Scenery)
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