Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020

[jsavvy]

Hi everyone! I've been using macOS exclusively at home for over 10 years now and would have never dreamed that I might want to use Windows again.

I've come across Microsoft's new flight simulator game that comes out next month and am really thinking about diving in to a custom build for this and possibly some other games.

Anyone else a Flight Simulator fan? If so, I thought we could use this thread as a common place to talk about the upcoming game, people's rig for running it and any other pertinent Simulator chat.

Have a good one!

 

[Suture]

My son (14) and I are looking forward to trying this on PC. I believe I heard it's going to be added to the Game Pass also. Need to get a flight stick, so open to recommendations.

 

[ipponrg]

I also plan to get Flight Sim 2020 and Star Wars Squadron.

For joysticks, I am looking at vkb right now. Many say that or Virpil would be the holy grails for joysticks. I figure I could get a high quality joystick like the VKB Mk3 “space sim” version (or Gladiator-K) and then buy the throttle later. Thinking about a mount but not sure if I want desktop or mount experience.

 

[Richdmoore]

I am a real pilot, and am looking forward to this sim if I can either get bootcamp
to run, run under parallels, or the Xbox version (will NOT be released at the same time as the pc version) will accept the various flight controls/plugins actually work.

I would hate to invest in a pc just for this, I am hopeful that more information will be released to see if the Xbox will be a viable option instead.

i really hope thy can do something like they did for the old forza, allow multiple consoles to network together for multiple screens. It could make it easier to build an great sim cockpit without investing in multiple computers.

Right now, I am using a honeycomb alpha yoke, a logitech throttle (will be replaced with a honeycomb bravo throttle upon release) and a pair of thrustmaster rudders (to be replaced with the honeycomb charlie rudders, no price/release date yet.)

I also have a track ir & 2 saitek radio panels, they required a bit of work to get them working under macOS/X-Plane 11, I am hoping for easier integration with the new flight sim.

Air manager 4.0 has a beta version that is suppose to work with the new flight sim, it is a great way to add a second (or more) screen for various instruments, hopefully it will also work with the upcoming Xbox version. Right now I have a second screen connected for my Mac to have the gps/avionics stacks easily in view for proficiency training.

Thrustmaster is releasing an “airbus” branded stick and throttle, if I didn’t want to invest in pricier flight gear, I would consider those as well. Add one of the current rudder options (twist/paddles for rudders destroy the realism for me) and you would have a good basic setup.

 

[jsavvy]

My son (14) and I are looking forward to trying this on PC. I believe I heard it's going to be added to the Game Pass also. Need to get a flight stick, so open to recommendations.

It looks like its already available on Xbox Game Pass for PC. That will be fun to do with your son. As for flight sticks, I’m looking for recommendations as well.

I also plan to get Flight Sim 2020 and Star Wars Squadron.

For joysticks, I am looking at vkb right now. Many say that or Virpil would be the holy grails for joysticks. I figure I could get a high quality joystick like the VKB Mk3 “space sim” version (or Gladiator-K) and then buy the throttle later. Thinking about a mount but not sure if I want desktop or mount experience.

Let us know if you end up getting that stick and how you like it.

I am a real pilot, and am looking forward to this sim if I can either get bootcamp
to run, run under parallels, or the Xbox version (will NOT be released at the same time as the pc version) will accept the various flight controls/plugins actually work.

I would hate to invest in a pc just for this, I am hopeful that more information will be released to see if the Xbox will be a viable option instead.

i really hope thy can do something like they did for the old forza, allow multiple consoles to network together for multiple screens. It could make it easier to build an great sim cockpit without investing in multiple computers.

Right now, I am using a honeycomb alpha yoke, a logitech throttle (will be replaced with a honeycomb bravo throttle upon release) and a pair of thrustmaster rudders (to be replaced with the honeycomb charlie rudders, no price/release date yet.)

I also have a track ir & 2 saitek radio panels, they required a bit of work to get them working under macOS/X-Plane 11, I am hoping for easier integration with the new flight sim.

Air manager 4.0 has a beta version that is suppose to work with the new flight sim, it is a great way to add a second (or more) screen for various instruments, hopefully it will also work with the upcoming Xbox version. Right now I have a second screen connected for my Mac to have the gps/avionics stacks easily in view for proficiency training.

Thrustmaster is releasing an “airbus” branded stick and throttle, if I didn’t want to invest in pricier flight gear, I would consider those as well. Add one of the current rudder options (twist/paddles for rudders destroy the realism for me) and you would have a good basic setup.

Yeah this new sim looks real nice. What kind of aircraft do you pilot?

I’m wondering about the Xbox version myself. If it can utilize some of the peripherals like the PC can then it might be a legit option. I would rather buy the new Xbox than build a PC.

It sounds like you have a nice setup for X-plane 11. Maybe you can share a pic of it with your X-plane setup?

As for the “airbus” branded thrustmaster stick, I just came across that and it looked interesting. I‘m going to check into more.

 

[Richdmoore]

Yeah this new sim looks real nice. What kind of aircraft do you pilot?

I’m wondering about the Xbox version myself. If it can utilize some of the peripherals like the PC can then it might be a legit option. I would rather buy the new Xbox than build a PC.

Right now I am assigned to an Embraer Phenom 300 (G3000 equipped version.)

I am hopeful at least basic usb pc rudder/yoke/throttles will be available, it would require Microsoft to allow non-security chipped controllers for this app, hopefully they will decide to allow that.

 

[garnerx]

I have Prepar3d, which I use with a basic CH Controls stick/throttle/pedal setup. I haven't used it much lately, but if the new sim reignites my interest then I might consider upgrading my controllers.

One thing that kind of puts me off changing to a new sim is all the expensive add-ons I currently own. I saw that Flight Simulator 2020 comes with a reasonable selection of aircraft, and presumably the streaming map means there's less of a need for add-on scenery, but there's a lot of functionality in other add-ons that the base sim might not have.

Currently I have a lot of Orbx scenery (perhaps that's not required now), many extra airports, five or six purchased aircraft that aren't in the new sim, a program called EZdok for enhancing the camera movement, a logbook manager, a weather engine that gives you live or historical weather data, something else for enhancing the clouds...

 

[pdoherty]

Hi everyone! I've been using macOS exclusively at home for over 10 years now and would have never dreamed that I might want to use Windows again.

I've come across Microsoft's new flight simulator game that comes out next month and am really thinking about diving in to a custom build for this and possibly some other games.

Anyone else a Flight Simulator fan? If so, I thought we could use this thread as a common place to talk about the upcoming game, people's rig for running it and any other pertinent Simulator chat.

Have a good one!

This new sim looks awesome - thinking I’ll add a flight controller to my XBox One X and try it there.

 

[maflynn]

Xbox Game Pass for PC

I remember the very first Microsoft Flight Simulator, running on a CGA screen, on an IBM PC. it was AWESOME, this latest version requires 150gig

Source: Toms Guide

This is not a game for wimpy PCs. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 will require, at minimum, a Windows 10 PC with either an Intel i5-4460 or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 processor, an Nvidia GTX 770 or AMD Radeon RX 570 GPU, 8 GB RAM, 2 GB VRAM, 150GB of hard drive space, and support for DirectX 11. with either an Intel i5-4460 or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 processor, an Nvidia GTX 770 or AMD Radeon RX 570 GPU, 8 GB RA

 

[Huntn]

Hi everyone! I've been using macOS exclusively at home for over 10 years now and would have never dreamed that I might want to use Windows again.

I've come across Microsoft's new flight simulator game that comes out next month and am really thinking about diving in to a custom build for this and possibly some other games.

Anyone else a Flight Simulator fan? If so, I thought we could use this thread as a common place to talk about the upcoming game, people's rig for running it and any other pertinent Simulator chat.

Have a good one!

I used to be a big flight sim fan, always like to hear about them.

 

[maflynn]

I used to be a big flight sim fan, always like to hear about them.

Over the years, I had worked with people who were pilots and loved flight sim, so much so, some of them had the yolk and pedals hooked up. In some ways, I envied that, since flying a plane with a keyboard and mouse doesn't fully give you the experience. Still, I'm debating to get this, since I have the xbox game pass - I just don't know if I have enough space

 

[Huntn]

Over the years, I had worked with people who were pilots and loved flight sim, so much so, some of them had the yolk and pedals hooked up. In some ways, I envied that, since flying a plane with a keyboard and mouse doesn't fully give you the experience. Still, I'm debating to get this, since I have the xbox game pass - I just don't know if I have enough space

Airbuses have joysticks.

At one point I read about a virtual airline where you actual could fly scheduled flights with virtual passengers.

I really liked X-Plane. As far as I know this is the only flight sim that actually calculates performance based on flight surfaces vs charted performance. When I was flying a NWA DC9, I flew a an X-Plane DC9 from Minneapolis to Detroit and it was pretty accurate.

It’s been a long while but the last time I flew a simulated Airbus A320 as compared to a real one is that they really did not have in depth simulated systems or flight control systems. I imagine those simulations have improved over time, but it’s been over 10 years since I was involved.

For those who are not familiar, Flight Control System are much more than autopilots as typically though of. They control all sorts of flight parameters, things like limiting bank angle, preventing stalls, preventing contact with the Earth if in the wrong configuration, auto approach flying and landing. It’s the complex computers with Flight Control, that got pilots asking, what’s it doing now?

 

[maflynn]

Airbuses have joysticks.

Back when I last played flight sim, I was just in a small cessna

 

[garnerx]

I remember the very first Microsoft Flight Simulator, running on a CGA screen, on an IBM PC. it was AWESOME, this latest version requires 150gig

To be fair, 150GB install is less than Call of Duty requires these days.

The big thing in this sim is that is has 2 *petabytes* of mapping data to stream. Two million gigz!

 

[PracticalMac]

Started on Flight Sims on Apple ][+
And MS was dumb to abandon the FS world 5 years ago.

 

[garnerx]

I just saw the ”ideal” specs for this (for high quality settings, presumably) require 32GB RAM - that’s certainly unusual. Plus a 2080 GPU and 50 Mbps internet. Time to upgrade...

 

[Richdmoore]

I just saw the ”ideal” specs for this (for high quality settings, presumably) require 32GB RAM - that’s certainly unusual. Plus a 2080 GPU and 50 Mbps internet. Time to upgrade...

That is why I am hungry for more info about the Xbox version. I will not leave macOS, especially when Apple silicon Macs are coming soon, with probably lots of unique features that will be borrowed from their other devices.

If I want to use flight sim 2020, I will have to buy a whole pc just for that app. It would be much easier to buy an Xbox (or two if system linking for external displays/touch screens) if that version has Most of the same features/controls/plug ins.

Ever since e3 last year, there has been no info about the Xbox version, except it will come late later than the pc system.

 

[garnerx]

That is why I am hungry for more info about the Xbox version. I will not leave macOS, especially when Apple silicon Macs are coming soon, with probably lots of unique features that will be borrowed from their other devices.

If I want to use flight sim 2020, I will have to buy a whole pc just for that app. It would be much easier to buy an Xbox (or two if system linking for external displays/touch screens) if that version has Most of the same features/controls/plug ins.

Ever since e3 last year, there has been no info about the Xbox version, except it will come late later than the pc system.

So far all the Game Pass 'play anywhere' titles I've tried have been exactly the same on PC and Xbox, to the point of sharing the same save data, but then they've launched at the same time on both platforms. There must be a reason for holding back the Xbox version.

Also I can't imagine they'll allow people to plug any old USB controller into an Xbox. There's such a variety of niche controllers in the flight sim world, and most of them tend to at least require some sort of calibration software, if not dedicated drivers. Maybe we'll get a few old Thrustmaster or Logitech devices updated with Xbox stickers, but most people who play on Xbox would probably only have the console controller.

It would be amazing if it did turn out to be identical on Xbox, though. A really cheap way to get a sim rig started, and all the money you save could go on decent pedals and stuff like that.

 

[Plutonius]

I just don't know if I have enough space

Delete Fallout 76 .

 

[maflynn]

Delete Fallout 76 .

Nope, I'm enjoying it too much

 

[jsavvy]

It would be amazing if it did turn out to be identical on Xbox, though. A really cheap way to get a sim rig started, and all the money you save could go on decent pedals and stuff like that.

I totally agree it would be amazing! I have heard that only the base package will be available on Xbox...not sure if that’s official though. They have been rather quiet on the Xbox version. I’m hoping they will give some more info soon.

 

[psingh01]

I've been a flight sim fan for a long time. I remember getting a Mac version that came on floppy disks in the 90s. I'll probably get this new version to run in bootcamp mostly. Sometime in the future I will aim to build a desktop to max out all the bells and whistles.

 

[garnerx]

There's a preview on Ars Technica where the writer says he was getting 12-30 fps in some of the most detailed areas, and this was on a top-end PC with the settings on low. Maybe that's why there's no Xbox news yet - a poor framerate on a flagship game for a new console will get negative press (although in my experience with Prepar3d anything above 20 fps is perfectly adequate for a flight sim and more than playable).

Some other interesting things in that article, like the amount of data it consumes - it's possible to set a data cap if that sort of thing is a problem with your ISP.

 

[nicho]

There's a preview on Ars Technica where the writer says he was getting 12-30 fps in some of the most detailed areas, and this was on a top-end PC with the settings on low. Maybe that's why there's no Xbox news yet - a poor framerate on a flagship game for a new console will get negative press (although in my experience with Prepar3d anything above 20 fps is perfectly adequate for a flight sim and more than playable).

Some other interesting things in that article, like the amount of data it consumes - it's possible to set a data cap if that sort of thing is a problem with your ISP.

Sounds like they've accidentally chosen to release Flight Simulator 2025 5 years early and with the wrong name!

 

[dimme]

I just installed the closed beta on my 2019 27" iMac i9 w/Vega40 & 40 GB of ram. With the graphics settings at medium the computer was running with the fans at full blast. I don't know if it was the frame rates of the graphics settings but I was a bit disappointed in the clouds and the way the planes handled. I may need to do some tweaking or it could just be the beta. Either way if I purchase the sim I will need a to purchase more monthly data from my ISP.

One troubling thing when I booted up the sim twice my iMac shut down, I am fairly sure this was due to some component getting too hot. I wounder if this is because it's beta software or is this to be expected in the final verson.