MS Flight Sim 2024 launched ... but don't get excited

[Saracen999]

I've just watched the JayzTwoCents first review. Oh boy, is he ever not happy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXjBeU0QfGY

It's titled includes "this legit pile of dog <BLEEP>. NEVER BUY THIS!!!"

Now, yes, obviously most video's have a title that is a least a bit click-baity, but he does on to use such terms as, slightly para-phrasing, "steaming pile of hot garbage". Come on Jayz, get off the fence and say what you think.

For me, the first (and sufficient to render it a non-starter) is it emphasaises keeping a "thin client". i.e. supposedly minimal hardware needs. Right, Check out the recommended and 'ideal' spec. So, Jayz used a system that in all but a marginally short CPU ('cos it was an X3D, so boosts cache at expense of cores) exceeds their 'ideal', and performance is still an utter farce. As he complains, all he expected is a stable 60-FPS and despite the X3D, 4090, 2TB Gen4 SSD and 64GB of fast RAM, it's lousy.

One problem is that keeping the "thin client" means downloading all the terrain data etc as you play. So you'd better have a stonking fast net connection. And have it always available. No offline play then.

And therein lies my primary problem. I neither have nor want an MS account, and only want to play single-player so .... pemanent net connected game? Hell no.

He does detail a few new features, though nothing ... ahem ... 'game changing'. He reckons if you sat an FS2020 user down with that, and 2024, side-by-side, they'd be hard-pressed to tell the difference.

Bridges, in the main game at least, are still essentially walls, so no flying under them. Trees still tend to grow out of ships, oil tankers, etc. But the main problem seems to be excruciatingly slow loading of ground data .... despite him being in SoCal, with a full 1Gig line.


He thinks the best FS version is FS X (10) which came out in, what, 2006? A lot, accrding to him, of the issues in FS2020 still, 4 years later, haven't been fixed.

So when he goes to Marketplace looking for extra bits, he got .... "COMING SOON"! The damn game, DESPITE the delays, and high price, still isn't even feature-complete.


I haven't played FS for quite a while, though it used to be a favourite, so I was watching/waiting with keen interest. Not any longer. It's now crossed off my list. I'd suggest any other fans check his video, and a few others too, out carefully before diving in. Or you might regret it.


P.S. Yes, it's only a day after launch and server demand wll be very high for a while. But even so, IMHO if MS are going to release premium-priced games, they should at least properly resource them 'cos it's not like they can't <bleep>ing afford to, is it, MS???

[Jonatron]

About the terrain data being streamed vs local, FS2020 requires 150+GB of disk space, which requires either a good connection or a long time to download. Even with all that data locally, it still requires internet for more terrain data, because it's not realistic for users to download and store petabytes of data. There's the advantage of not taking up too much SSD space in FS2024, so this isn't a big deal to me.

The other problems though, server crashes / slowness, few new features, and poor performance / optimisation are fair enough. Doesn't exactly seem like a "new" game.

[Saracen999]

I take the point, but it seems to me there's a balance to be had. Storing the data for the whole planet locally might be a bit of a challenge, but if I remember correctly, the local storage requirements have dropped to 50GB, which suggests (to me, anyway) that they're storing less locally and therefore providing a lot more via streaming. Which, arguably, is fine .... provided shifting the balance like that doesn't impact on performance and actual gameplay. It certainly seemed to impact it pretty seriously from what the screen in Jayz' review seemed to say, and his comments.

To be fair, neither scenario appeal to me, which is why I crossed it off my list. So my interest in either is .... limited. I certainly haven't researched it much. Or tried it. As it seems to require an XBox Pass, I won't be tring it anyway. Oh well. though, the much older FS X doesn't seem to have that requirement. Maybe I'll look at that. Maybe.

[Jonj1611]

Some good info here :

https://flightsimulator.zendesk.com/...lator-2024-FAQ

One of them being :

Will Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 have improved loading times?

One of the biggest priorities for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is to improve the simulator’s data management. One of the major changes to the simulator’s architecture being made is using Cloud streaming to help ensure that the client becomes thin. When users load into the sim, only the textures, meshes, and map data that they need will be downloaded to avoid unnecessary bandwidth and disk space usage.



This will keep the minimum specifications of the sim as low as it is now and will also reduce update and load times.

[AGTDenton]

I wondered why my feed this week was suddenly littered with Flight Sim videos...

Loved Flight Sim '98 back in the day, not played one since.

[Saracen999]

Some good info here :

https://flightsimulator.zendesk.com/...lator-2024-FAQ

One of them being :

Will Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 have improved loading times?

One of the biggest priorities for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is to improve the simulator’s data management. One of the major changes to the simulator’s architecture being made is using Cloud streaming to help ensure that the client becomes thin. When users load into the sim, only the textures, meshes, and map data that they need will be downloaded to avoid unnecessary bandwidth and disk space usage.



This will keep the minimum specifications of the sim as low as it is now and will also reduce update and load times.

The wording there looks like it's lifted directly from the official MS FAQ. I'd suggest viewing that as while the factual side is no doubt accurate, the inferences drawn are going to be those MS want drawn. No doubt the client is "thin" and disk space, at least, reduced. As for bandwidth? It should certainly spread it out.

Whether it's a good move or not will be for users to decide. At least in the very early days, Jayz certainly seems to think it's .... ummm ... not great.

[Jonj1611]

Yes, actually I thought it was the original site originally, here is the link to the official FAQ which is identical. - https://www.flightsimulator.com/micr...ator-2024-faq/

I haven't had any issues myself but I have a 1Gig connection so not sure how much difference that makes

[Saracen999]

My assumption is that a good part of Jayz problems were due to server overloading, on Day 1.

He said in the vid that they got in initially, but after logging out, couldn't get in AT ALL for 24 hours-ish. That definitely sounds like launch day woes.

More worrying was that the textures on the ground were extremely low to load, eve while he was flying around. That was a 'live to camera' test and it sure didn't look great. But again, still only day 2 so ... who knows. It wouldn't be a stretch to assume that that's still launch day volumes of traffic.

More of a concern were the trees growing out of ship, even those in the water, or ships self-rotating, including up and over the ground in docks, and over cargo containers on the dockside. That kind of behaviour is pretty pathetic in a product that's been out since, what, the 1980s? in one form or another.

He too had a 1Gig connection and, being a business I assume a business grade line, in Southern California. I may be wrong but I assume that is going to be as close to as good as a 1Gig line gets?

Me? Well, theoretically it's a 350M connection, but recently, I've been getting more like 30M to 130M. Way to go, Virgin. I'm investigating alternatives before talking to VM, so that if I don't get a suitable response, I can just cancel. It's complicated though, because currently, we have landline, BB and a fairly large (excluding premium channels) TV package. I'm looking at options for all 3, including dumping the landline bit, gettig the TV a different way and maybe switching to an 'all you can eat' data SIM and a 4/5G mobile router. Dunno, still thinking about it. But in any event, I've ruled FS 2024 out of consideration for several reasons. Might still grab FS X though. Dunno.