It's beautiful

"Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
08/18/2020 at 09:17 • Filed to: None

In case you haven’t heard, the 2020 release of Microsoft Flight Simulator was released today. I’ve pretty much gone without sleep since yesterday afternoon, and started the 93GB install around 0100. The new computer runs it pretty well, all things considered . I didn’t get the version I paid for, but it’s a known issue and they’re working on it. Configur ing controllers is going to be a time consuming process, as is learning new keyboard commands after 15-20 years of them remaining pretty static.

Most of my flying was just a hop around LA, starting down in Orange County, where I grew up, and ending at LAX, looking up at my old 8th floor corner office of the Airport Center building in the middle of the screen next to the Crown Plaza hotel. Such a great view of the airfield.

And below? This is what was considered pretty good back around the mid ‘90s. I remember spending big bucks for a couple of 3dfx Voodoo 2 cards in SLI for what was then amazing graphics.

Screenshot: Tom, Dick and Harry

It’s amazing how far this program has come in 20-25 years (which is probably longer than many of you have been alive...)

DISCUSSION (28)

CobraJoe > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
08/18/2020 at 09:46

For a minute there, I was wondering who had the brilliant idea of putting a gopro on the top of the tail.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
08/18/2020 at 09:46

I remember playing MS Flight Sim ‘95 back in the day! It came with out ‘96 IBM Aptiva desktop! 200Mhz Pentium, 64MB RAM, 2.5GB HDD, 2MB ATi Rage 3D Pro video card! :P

I would love to give the new MS Flight Sim a whirl...sadly, my current PC doesn’t have a good enough video card to run it and I don’t have the money to upgrade for a long time....especially with my job situation being uncertain when school starts back up in the Fa ll...

facw > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
08/18/2020 at 09:50

It is gorgeous. And after complaining about the low quality of even paid scenery packs a couple years ago, it’s awesome that MS has real world buildings everywhere (though the data is at least a few years old, construction on my apartment is just getting started, and one of the buildings torn down to make way for it is still standing, so 2015 or 2016 vintage for Waltham). I’ll need time to take in the fancier stuff, but initial impressions are extremely positive. The big question is whether I should buy/upgrade to the fancy version, or just stay with what I get free from game pass.

facw > CobraJoe
08/18/2020 at 09:52

Can’t blame you, the graphics are quite good if you don’t fly to o low (though I was seeing some weirdness along lake edges where distant water was climbing on land.)

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > facw
08/18/2020 at 10:01

I probably could have bought the basic version, or used it through game pass, but I wanted the 172 with the steam gauges. Of course, because of their install glitch I didn’t get the extra aircraft or scenery, but I can wait a day or two - I’m sure they’ll fix it quickly.

Kinja'd!!!

Looking at the marketplace built into the program there is already aircraft (well, just one) and scenery available for purchase. The default scenery is pretty decent,but there’s still roomfor improvement, and I’m sure people will jump on that in no time. One of my favorite airports is Hana, on Maui. The basic layout of the field is fine, but the distinctive terminal building is just a plain hangar in FS2020. I’m sure there are people out there that will be willing to fix little things like this, some for free and others not. This kind of minor thing isn’t going to bug me much, unlike paid downloads in the past that couldn’t get roads, textures or shorelines right - that’s the kind of stuff that annoyingly jolts me back to reality.

facw > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
08/18/2020 at 10:08

The only planes I’ve flow are Cessna 150/152s, the 152 included by default is the key item, though of course having more options is always fun. And also just having greater variety on the ramps and in the air is nice.

Airport scenery is kind of a weird bit since the streamed Bing Maps scenery isn’t good enough to be viewed that close up, but that means that aside from the few special airports, you get generic hangars and terminals instead of true to life ones. Even more reason to get the top end pack and have twice as many hand-produced airports (though still a tiny fraction), but IIRC there were only one or two on the list that looked interesting to me.

Brickman > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
08/18/2020 at 10:14

I been playing the beta for a week now and I am blown away with what Microsoft did. Of course the first thing I did is fly... I mean stall and crash into the front of my house :P Runs smooth and the weather is breathtaking.

I’ll buy it once I get a joystick. Playing with a Xbox controller is ok for the small planes, but not a 747.

bob and john > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
08/18/2020 at 10:15

whao...

I need this

facw > Brickman
08/18/2020 at 10:22

I tried flying with the keyboard before unpacking my joystick... it did not go well...

Joystick did much better, without any significant death.

ClassicDatsunDebate > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
08/18/2020 at 10:41

Are you running it with TrackIR?

I’ve been around the FS community since ‘95, in various capacities and platforms and I would never have bet that MS would release another major flight sim since they shut down Aces Studio. I think I’m gonna spend my unused vacation money on a GTX 1670 based machine to run this and DCS.

I winder if MS has a combat version up their sleeve or if they will just let DCS have that market?

user314 > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
08/18/2020 at 10:50

It’s amazing how far this program has come in 20-25 years (which is probably longer than many of you have been alive...)

Pfft, you whippersnappers don’t know! This is the MSFS I knew:

Kinja'd!!!

RIP Meigs F ield, Fuck Mayor Daley .

Grindintosecond > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
08/18/2020 at 11:21

Meigs field there? If not, then its not a MSFS

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > user314
08/18/2020 at 11:41

I have an add-on for FSX that restores Meigs - I think it’s from ORBX. Hopefully they’ll update it for 2020.

I’m an old, so my first experience was on the Commodore 64:

Kinja'd!!!

Was the speed measured in FPS or SPF? I'm not talking sunscreen here...

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > Grindintosecond
08/18/2020 at 11:43

I have Meigs for FSX from ORBX; I believe it was free. Hopefully they'll do an update for 2020.

Bandit > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
08/18/2020 at 11:50

There should be an Oppo multiplayer group, not sure how multiplayer works on this new version though...

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > ClassicDatsunDebate
08/18/2020 at 11:54

I have something similar to TrackIR that came out of England. It’s a tiny box that attaches to a headset, and that size is part of the reason I can’t find it. I now have a 7.1 headset and want to attach the tracker to that but I need to track it down first, along with its USB dongle.

I’ve been into FS since the early ‘80s. In a way I’m glad MS started over (for the most part) rather than continuing to evolve the same ol’ core. They needed a new approach, and this version, at least from a visual standpoint, is just that.

jeepoftheseus > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
08/18/2020 at 12:00

That’s beautiful. I played a lot of FS and CFS growing up. This is tempting. This may be a silly question but can you land outside of an airport with the GA planes ? Rural strips that didn’t make it but are still a flat field? Can I pretend to be a bush pilot? Looks like it was worth the download wait!

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > jeepoftheseus
08/18/2020 at 12:05

I’ve watched dozens of YouTube videos about this program and can confirm that landing off-airport is indeed possible. A great video showed multiplayer action with three guys in some of those Cubs with the giant tires landing in the grass. I can’t wait to try that myself.

Kinja'd!!!

jeepoftheseus > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
08/18/2020 at 12:15

Fantastic!

ClassicDatsunDebate > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
08/18/2020 at 12:30

They should buy Eagle Dynamics and put it all in one box.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > ClassicDatsunDebate
08/18/2020 at 12:37

Not a bad idea. But let’s keep going and tie in driving sims, ship sims, and train sims into one giant open world, seamlessly moving from one form of transport to another, seamlessly.

EDTracker wireless pro - that's the device I have (and misplaced...)

Taylor Martin > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
08/18/2020 at 12:47

I thought the first couple photos were just GoPro photos on the plane’s tail. Holy moly that is pretty. I’ve only messed around with the Steam version of M icrosoft Flight Sim. It’s good, but I’m no pilot. Took me about 45 minutes of circling around a runway to land the 737 in one of the scenarios.

facw > user314
08/18/2020 at 13:35

Was probably the right decision for the city, but the way he did it was quite underhanded, and of course it was a special place in the flight sim community.

MrSnrub > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
08/18/2020 at 13:38

This looks awesome, maybe I should get it

...

9 3GB? Oh my GOD

ClassicDatsunDebate > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
08/18/2020 at 13:52

EDTracker...i’ll have to check it out. I still have TrackIR5, but my lazer reference clip doo-dad that is busted.

We were able to build missions in one of the later IL2 builds where you could select AA guns and tanks. We used to have on-line Jeep races....good times. I think in DCS you can man AA as well, if set-up in the mission builder.

Back in the CFS2/3 days when ACE Studios was soliciting community feedback, we told them that what the customer base wants is simply MS Flight Simulator with ordnance . Obviously never happened.

BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
08/18/2020 at 17:22

Heh, I wish 20-25 years really was longer than I’ve been alive, but alas, I remeber gawking over the original Flight Sim, as well as several other Big Box PC games of the era such as IndyCar Racing and Nascar and not being able to play them because PC Gaming back then was a hot, messy, expensive affair for a kid to get into.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > CobraJoe
08/18/2020 at 22:26

a380 has cameras all around. you can pretend youre coming in for a bombing run.

Kinja'd!!!

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
08/18/2020 at 22:29

Oh man that looks amazing and I remember those old graphics 20 years ago .