MSFS 2020 First Impressions

If you have a payware prog whether it be a model, scenery or utility that you have tried.. tell us about it here.

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chrispbits
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MSFS 2020 First Impressions

Post by chrispbits »

Here goes...

So far I've flown in the UK, France, Spain, Sri Lanka and Nicaragua. In general terms the landscape, topology, buildings and trees are pretty good, not perfect, but as an out-of-the box sim about as good as I would hope. Some of the more remote areas where satellite imagery is lacking aren't wonderful but they are acceptable. Weather effects, lighting effects are superb. Flight models seem pretty good also with plenty of interaction with the air although getting unstuck from the ground continues to be a somewhat surprising affair for the aircraft I've tried so far. I found some airports I didn't expect to see included (Omatepe Island) and some I expected to see (Clermont-Ferrand) not included. Performance so far is excellent but I've stayed away from large cities for the time being. I was able to do a VFR flight following recognisable roads and towns in Nicaragua which is a first in any sim.

It took a while to get things set up on my (unrecognised) joystick and to get used to the various commands and inputs but no doubt they'll become second nature in a short space of time.

There's plenty of scope for the add-on makers to improve aspects such as airports and building types (there's still the age old problem of incongruous multi-story buildings cropping up here and there.

All in all a big thumbs up from me. I think add-on makers are really going to get stuck into this. The sim is already very good but I expect it to be the sim of choice for the majority of people in the not very distant future.

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TSR2
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Re: MSFS 2020 First Impressions

Post by TSR2 »

Hi mate, I’m pretty sure Clermont-Ferrand is there as I used it in the Alpha. It’s just one of the default airports with no custom buildings.

[EDIT]

My mistake... we drove past Clermont-Ferrand last month, I'd been testing from Chateauroux :worried:
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chrispbits
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Re: MSFS 2020 First Impressions

Post by chrispbits »

It's there as a satellite image Ben with 3D Airport buildings (but not custom). There is grass growing down the centre line of the runway. I know it's quiet but it's not that quiet. :lol: The airport isn't selectable or highlighted on approach. I haven't turned that function off yet. There are two others in the same area that I can't find on the map also (Issoire and Ambere).
Last edited by chrispbits on 19 Aug 2020, 07:13, edited 1 time in total.

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TSR2
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Re: MSFS 2020 First Impressions

Post by TSR2 »

:doh: Sounds like someone spilt their coffee on the keyboard when they were preparing the release version then. Oops. 😁
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blanston12
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Re: MSFS 2020 First Impressions

Post by blanston12 »

Now that there is no NDA I can say it.

The view handling in MSFS i found to be quite different. in FSX/P3D I was very used to holding down the space bar and moving around with the mouse when looking around. Also S and A keys to switch view modes and the mouse hat by default would turn the direction I moved it then stop, that is all changed.

The mouse had now snaps to 90 degree left or right, or 180 back and hitting the spacebar pops your view up a bit over the cockpit panel and then back with another press. The first thing I am not sure about but I know I can customize it to the old way and the space bar thing I like. You can press down on the mouse wheel and toggle between a mouse pointer and moving the view around which I use a lot, its ok and maybe its my mouse but the 'toggle' seems a bit sticky and does not always switch when I want to. The S key does not toggle view mode and I have not yet figured a way to replicate that, but by default on my logitech joystick one of the buttons is mapped to toggle between internal and external view and I use that quite a bit.

Most annoying thing I have found is pausing. There are now two modes, the regular 'Pause' which freezes everything but displays a menu screen over the window so you can do or see anything in the aircraft or scenery, and 'Active Pause' which freezes the aircraft's position and you can look around and play with the controls, but while the position is frozen the speed is not, and the autopilot continues to make adjustments, so unless you are in level flight with the autopilot off, don't use active pause because when you turn it off 95% of the time your going to spin out of control.

Scenery and weather are quite amazing, I feel sorry for ORBX and Active Sky as much of their business is gone.

Wind effects on the water is very impressive, but the one float plane they have, the Icon A5, has no wake effect and as the waves move up and down the plane does not move with them, not very satisfying.

But these are impressions from the alpha, I have installed the release build but have not had time to play with it much so stay tuned.
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TSR2
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Re: MSFS 2020 First Impressions

Post by TSR2 »

Hi Joe, did you convert the model format? I tried and couldn't get it to show up at all (Exported from MCX, imported to Blender, then exported to the new format.)

I was actually hoping to do it with AI ships in the first instance as there's no FD or panel as such.

I did notice there seems to be differences between the A320 and the 787 in that the former uses an aircraft CFG file, but the later doesn't seem to use one.
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blanston12
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Re: MSFS 2020 First Impressions

Post by blanston12 »

No I did not have to do anything to the model, it may be that the ones I tested did not need conversion but I only tried a few, including the default FSX DC-3 and the Ryan Navion from Sim Outhouse, and I only did the Ryan because I was looking for an aircraft where the gauges were built into the model.
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chrispbits
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Re: MSFS 2020 First Impressions

Post by chrispbits »

Mouse assignments have changed in the release version. Hold down the right button to move the view around, inside and outside the aircraft and move the scroll wheel to zoom. I haven't tried pressing the scroll wheel yet.

It's fair to say that the new UI takes a bit of getting used to but it looks to be built specifically with X Box style controllers in mind, as have some of the joystick button assignments.

There's the usual arguments over on Avsim - is it a game or is it a sim. I would say definitely a sim but with elements to appeal to gamers.

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Re: MSFS 2020 First Impressions

Post by DaveG »

I left it downloading overnight and managed to grab a quick 15 minutes in the sim this morning before heading off to work.
All my controllers were recognised and configured automatically, but the rudder pedals weren't working for some reason which made take off interesting! I'll have to go though the assignments and configure them to a more familiar setup.
Very impressed with the visuals. Don't know what the frame rates were, but it was very smooth.
I'll have a much more in depth look this evening. :)
Dave G.

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Nigel H-J
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Re: MSFS 2020 First Impressions

Post by Nigel H-J »

Chris, thank you very much for an informative 'First Impressions' and found that your revue albeit short, was, for me informative. Would be interesting to hear more from you as you progress up the ladder with it!! :lol:

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Nigel.
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