Yesterday Microsoft shared their latest development blog which focuses heavily on the announcement of the free Japan ‘World Update’. However, the eagle-eyed among you may have noticed that Microsoft has confirmed that Flight Simulator will eventually transition to the DirectX 12 engine.
The news was documented in the Feedback snapshot under issue #11 related to how “reflections look grainy, even if reflections are on ultra”. The solution to this problem is when the simulator transitions to DirectX 12. This will be made available in the future.
For those unaware, DirectX is an API that enables developers to create visual environments and graphics engines. Currently, Microsoft Flight Simulator runs on DirectX 11, whilst DirectX 12 is the latest version of the API system. Developers have said that DirectX 12 offers a lot more flexibility for creators and more functionality to take advantage of features for the latest graphics cards. How Microsoft Flight Simulator will use the new rendering API is yet to be seen other than fixing an issue reported on by the community.
The Flight Simulator blog also gave more details on the upcoming Japan ‘World Update’. We now know that Gaya Simulations are responsible for three of the six new airports and a partnership series update will be coming next week focusing on the development studio. Additional details were also shared about what the future looks like. In the coming weeks, we will see updates that enhance the overall sim experience along with a future paid DLC pack. The blog finished by saying, “[w]e are on an incredible journey together and we are committed to work with you, the community, to continue to improve and evolve Microsoft Flight Simulator for many years to come.”
You can read more about the upcoming Japan ‘World Update’ in our previous post, or you can check out the Flight Simulator blog for more community screenshots.
