Microsoft and Asobo Studio took to Twitch to take part in the regular live stream where the community can ask the development team burning questions. The 1.5 hour stream is full of information related to how specific decisions are made, upcoming changes and normally features a sneak peek at what is to come next.
World Update IV: France and the Benelux
During the live stream, the first confirmed details for what exactly we can expect in the upcoming World Update IV: France and the Benelux. This means France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg will see vast improvements in the simulator through new aerial imagery, points of interest and all-new hand-crafted airports. During the live stream, Jorg Neumann confirmed that Gaya Simulations have returned to develop new airports for the world update. When the update does drop, simmers will be able to explore Megeve Altiport (LFHM), Rotterdam The Hague Airport (EHRD) and also Nice Côte d’Azur Airport (LFMN). In addition, Orbx has been involved to help fix over 100 airports.
In addition, it has been confirmed that over 100 points of interest will be included. From the teaser trailer shared, some of them include: Erasmus Bridge, Cathedral of Our Lady Antwerp, Museum Aan De Stroom, Basilica of the Sacred Heart, La Jument, Cairn of Barnenez, Saint-Nazaire Bridge, Fort Boyard and Tour Eiffel. Speaking of the Eiffel Tower, it is confirmed that Paris and Amsterdam will be reproduced in photogrammetry for the simulator. Furthermore, new procedural buildings from Blackshark will be added to include churches and windmills. Finally, two new languages will be included for the simulator, which will be Dutch and also Japanese (which is in response to feedback following the World Update I released last year).
New Aircraft
Whilst nothing concrete was confirmed, it was teased that there’s possibly a brand new aircraft coming soon to the simulator. No word of what it is was mentioned, but we hopefully will hear more soon.
Weather Engine
The development team hear the community and know that the weather engine needs work and as such as making a “major investment” into how it works. More information on what this means exactly will be coming soon, but nothing more was said at this time.
Photogrammetry
With the World Updates released, various photogrammetry packs have been included to enhance specific cities. London, in particular, was highlighted in the stream after community feedback was received by the team. They are aware of some of the performance issues and are working to fix this. Furthermore, it was said that the Bing Team (totally independent of the Microsoft Flight Simulator team) is working on improvements to make photogrammetry even better. There’s no time frame attached to this as it’s a separate team that will in the future work with the flight simulator team to improve how its represented within the sim.
Scenery Gateway System
The new scenery gateway system is still in development, with prototypes being made to make sure that a function like this will work well for the community. That said, the team are eager to get your feedback on what you want from such a platform. Microsoft and Asobo are keen to know what you think and are encouraging as many of you to give you feedback.
Other Info
A few other tidbits were shared from the stream worth highlighting:
- The team continues to work with FlyByWire to see how they can bring the A32NX mod to the simulator through a community section in the marketplace
- Asobo Studio gave support to Aerosoft with the upcoming CRJ which the team say is a “milestone for the platform”
Watch the Q&A
You can watch the full 1.5-hour stream now on Twitch to learn even more.
Otherwise, check out our article on the recent release of Sim Update III, which saw contrails added to the simulator, along with other options for how you interact with aircraft.
