Fifteen days after the release of Sim Update 16 for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, Microsoft announced the release of Sim Update 3 for MSFS 2024 in a post on the Flight Simulator Forums.
Among a host of performance improvements, bug fixes, and stability enhancements, the most notable changes in SU3 include optimized boot and loading times, correct application of DLSS x3 and x4 settings, fixes for WASM leaks and VRAM usage, the renaming of Frame Rate Limiter to V-Sync Interval, a new LOD curve system, and proper functioning of sim rate with time.
Aircraft Update Highlights
Platform-wide, SU3 brings support for aerodynamic interaction between tornadoes and aircraft, increases in lighting intensity across several airframes, more realistic engine parameters when spawning with engines running, dedicated keybinds for PARKING_BRAKES_ON and PARKING_BRAKES_OFF, fixes to contact points when belly landing certain airplanes, and a new freelance tag in the livery.cfg to allow users to filter liveries more easily in career mode.
The Air Tractor AT-802 received some minor updates. It now has enhanced lighting and improved dropping physics for crop dusting. Additionally, the circuit breaker system has been fixed to properly control the windshield wipers and lights.
The iniBuilds Airbus Fleet (A310, A320, A321 NEO, A330) received extensive updates focused on fixes to career mode behavior, lighting improvements, CDU logic, and TCAS functionality.
Changes specific to the A310-300 include a new low-pressure alert on the ECAM for hydraulics and several FMA notation corrections.
The A320neo received improvements to system behavior when spawning in the air, fixes to baro-setting logic, and a fix for a WASM exception that happens at flight end.
A321neo-specific updates included tweaks to the volume levels of the PACKs and engines.
The A330s received fixes for autothrottle behavior, revised engine audio levels, corrected instrument views, and instrument screen popouts. The Beluga XL also received some type-specific sound tuning.
The Airbus H125 helicopter update includes increased cockpit lighting intensity, a revised Mass + Balance section in the EFB, and fixes to rain behavior on the fuselage and windshield.
For the flying boat fans, the Amphibian Aerospace Albatross G111 came with an extensive changelog focused on multiplayer behavior, revised effects in the water, a fix for the severe wing flutter bug when flying with low fuel loads, functioning landing light actuators, aerodynamic penalties for cowl and oil cooler flaps, EFB performance calculations, autopilot improvements, and revised LODs.
FlightFX’s Archer Midnight eVTOL received some minor updates to cockpit animations, career mode logic, minor lighting improvements, and revised LODs.
The Pitts S1-S and S2-S updates were minor and focused on fixes to career mode logic (especially when skipping). Elevator authority at higher speeds was also improved in the S2-S.
Beechcraft’s Baron G58 received minor fixes for click spots, career mode logic, EFB takeoff distance calculation, and correctly animated cowl flaps.
Carenado’s C90 GTX King Air had a one-line changelog saying, “fixed career mode.”
The IniBuilds Beechcraft King Air 350i received corrected collision logic for the left engine propeller hub, corrected airspeed indicators, and minor lighting fixes.
Boeing 737 Max 8 updates included a new CDU route and wind predictions uplink, fixes to lighting, corrected flight path vectorization, corrections to engine spool-up simulation, and improved trim wheel sensitivity.
The 747-8 Intercontinental added heat animation to the engine exhaust and corrected ground effects.
Working Title’s 787-10 received new wind and route uplink functionality, improved fuel prediction accuracy in the CDU, and a few other minor fixes.
The Blackbird Simulations Boeing CH-47D updates included fixes to the weight and balance calculations, career mode behavior, GNS530 HSI integration, new LODs, and fixes to both barometric and radar altimeters.
The F/A-18E received minor updates to lighting, LODs, and a fix for the aileron trim issue.
GA Piston Singles, including the CAP-4, Cessna 152, Cessna 172, and C400 Corvalis TT received minor improvements focused on lighting, LODS, and career mode logic fixes.
Microsoft updated the Cessna C208B Grand Caravan with lighting improvements, career mode fixes, livery fixes, autopilot handling improvements, and a new manually openable skydive door.
Carenado’s twin-engine propeller lineup, including the Cessna 404 Titan and Cessna 408 SkyCourier received fixes to door behavior, visual effects, and minor lighting updates.
Sim Update 3 delivers many long-anticipated fixes to the PC-12 NGX, including a correctly modeled pressurization system, revised EPS logic, a working pressure dump gauge, and corrected EFB performance calculations.
Working Title’s executive aircraft, including the Cessna Citation CJ4 and Citation Longitude, saw minor cockpit fixes in SU3. The Longitude received a new, accurately modeled hydraulic spoiler simulation. Meanwhile, their Cirrus SF50 received FADEC improvements, LOD revisions, and revised autothrottle tuning. The smallest changelog from Working Title belongs to the TBM 930, with the sole update being a revised EFB outline.
The DeHavilland Canada CL-415 received minor updates to lighting, water effects, and LODs.
Hans Hartmann’s DeHavilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter received fixes for lighting, door logic, click spots, and crash logic.
The Diamond DA-62, DG-1001E, Grumman G21A Goose, Heart Aerospace ES-30, and Guimbal Cabri G2 all received minor updates to lighting, LODs, and textures. Bluemesh’s Magni M-24 Orion only received a career mode fix in Sim Update 3.
Extra’s E330 LT received key refinements to the engine model, handling, and flight model, along with minor lighting and career mode fixes.
For the lighter-than-air enthusiasts, the Airship Industries Skyship 600 received minor updates to panel lighting, a functional water ballast system, and a weather radar fix. The Hot Air Balloon was also updated with fixes to fuel gauges and temperature monitor screen brightness.
Systems and Avionics Improvements
Sim Update 3 brought support for multiple physics-based ball indicators, corrected water rudder controls, and revised drift damage calculations.
Across the various avionics suites, Sim Update 3 improved flight path vectorization in procedures with intercept legs, enhanced aircraft speed anticipation in lateral flight path calculations, and made autopilot glideslope tracking more effective. Furthermore, flyover fixes are now supported in flight path calculations.
Specific to the G1000, Sim Update 3 brought PFD memory usage improvements, while the G3000/5000 received minor fixes to CDI auto-slew and terrain settings. The GNS430/530 received a minor fix for some players who were unable to enter waypoints.
Along with the general fixes above, the Primus Epic 2.0 Integrated Avionics System received a new GPWS system featuring basic and enhanced forward-looking terrain alerts.
The Pro-Line 21 received the general avionics updates, minor UI improvements, and a new SELECT DEF page.
The UNS-1EW SBAS Flight Management System‘s changelog focused on the main updates incorporated into the rest of the avionics suites as part of Sim Update 3.
The Default Flight Simulator 2024 EFB came with an extensive changelog. Major improvements were made to the auto-routing logic, especially in procedure selection and cruise altitude calculation. The latter of which now takes into account constraints on arrival procedures.
Gameplay Improvements
Air Traffic Control received an extensive list of changes in Sim Update 3. IFR clearances were overhauled to allow pilots to request clearance when not using flight following; support was added for expected altitude IFR clearances, and initial altitude logic was improved to take into account published top altitudes, SIDs, or safe terrain values. Support for STAR procedures (Standard Terminal Arrivals) was added, along with an updated algorithm for selecting appropriate arrivals, transitions, approaches, and runways.
Besides the big changes, minor updates were made to the ATC engine, including improved descent estimation, adjusted climb/descent gradients, and fixes to class B/C VFR airspace transitions.
To match the new ATC updates, AI Traffic also received a comprehensive list of updates in SU3. Among many AI logic improvements and live traffic performance optimizations, live traffic model matching is now forced to use models optimized for AI traffic.
Career Mode received a host of updates in SU3. Notably, the update brought revised taxi-to-gate infringement logic, new filters for aircraft specialization, an incompatible aircraft screen, and disabled skip-cruise when the aircraft is damaged or fuel is too low to complete the mission.
Missions themselves also received core logic improvements, and new dialogues were added for different specialties, like rotorcraft cargo transport, agricultural aviation, and search and rescue.
The Weather Engine received minor fixes, including a fix for certain airports ignoring information from their METARs, performance fixes when using live weather in an area with a high density of airports or heliports, and improved thunderstorm behavior.
Sim Update 3 also brought a host of scenery updates including 188 airport identifier changes, 368 deletions of closed or non-existent airports, a host of minor tweaks to default airports, and improved compatibility for MSFS2020 packages.
VR users received a new LOD curve, controller fixes, cockpit interaction improvements, and a performance optimization designed to reduce render thread overhead.
For more information, click here to view the full changelog on the Microsoft Flight Simulator Forums.
