Microsoft has published a new weekly update on their blog site, with new information on the Feature Discovery Series, Alpha Builds, SDK, and more.
Feature Discovery Series
Starting off with the Feature Discovery Series, last week, we were told that the team was still on track to get Episode 8 out today, but that is unfortunately not the case. Episode 8 of the series, Multiplayer, has been pushed back until next week, the 19th of March. Episode 7, IFR has also been pushed back till early April for release.
Alpha Build and Invitations
The team has said that the next upcoming Alpha build is currently in release testing and are expecting to provide a release date and build notes next week on the 19th.
For new people who have not signed up for either the pre-release build testing, or want to update their DXDIAG information, that will be reopened on March 16th. The team plans to provide an update on the invitation time line on March 19th.
Feedback Snapshot
In the Insider Area, a new Feedback Snapshot was shared. New items from the last snapshot are ground effect and friction models, scaling of objects, support for advanced setups, and more.
SDK Update
The team have reported that “The SDK is now being used by over 50 companies and hundreds of programmers and artists.” The team is spending time talking with, discussing, and learning from the 3rd party developers to improve the SDK and its tools. The aircraft editor is said to be close to being finished with several improvements still in the works. Progress on WebAssembly support has been made that will allow for the porting of native code to the new sim.
The team have reported also that several of the developers have already shared roadmaps with them and that dozens of planes and airport are in development for the new sim.
Screenshots
Lastly, new screenshots were shared of the alpha from some of the participants. They are from all over the world, ranging from Africa, to Mexico, to Japan, to the US, and more. A moon shot was also shared, as well as a sunset shot looking to show off heat haze.
The next update on the website is said to be March 18th, but this could be a typo as usually the updates come on Thursdays and not Wednesdays. If not, be sure to check the website and back here for the latest updates.