March 18th, 2021 Development Update - Microsoft Flight Simulator

Screenshot by JF6420

This Tuesday, the long anticipated CRJ released to the Marketplace in partnership with Aerosoft. We want to thank the community for the continued feedback. We have altered our Feedback Snapshot slightly to account for a more transparent workflow and will continue to listen to our community and adjust accordingly.

We are excited this week to work with NVIDIA on a screenshot contest! Make sure to read below on how to enter for a chance to win an NVIDIA RTX 3080 Graphics Card and more.

–MSFS TEAM-

DEVELOPMENT ROADMAP

Click here for the web-friendly version.

FEEDBACK SNAPSHOT

Click here for the web-friendly version.

Key:

SU = Sim Update (3, 4, etc.)

WU = World Update

ASAP = As Soon as Possible

TBD = To Be Determined

Several Releases = Fixes will come over a series of updates

Ongoing Fixes = An item we will continually be working on

Planned = Scheduled to be worked on

Under Investigation = The team is currently looking into the issue

Not Planned = We will likely not work on this

Started = Work as started on this item

THIRD PARTY UPDATE

Aerosoft’s CRJ launched this week and it’s an excellent example of a sophisticated 3^rd party aircraft add-on that can be made with the SDK. Our team is excited by the quality that was achieved and we are happy that the close collaboration with the Aerosoft team led to a great result.

As of 03/14, we have now approved 143 (+6) third parties into our marketplace and – so far – 63 of which have released the 249 products (+15). Outside of our store, 740 products (+94) have already been released in 3^rd party stores and the in-sim marketplace. Beyond that, another 285 products (+16) from 3^rd party developers are in production (152 announced, 133 unannounced). In total, over 1025 3^rd party products (+110) are either released or are in development. What a milestone!
Airports:
- 656 airports (+8) are either released or are in various stages of development.
  - 469 airports (+8) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
  - 205 airports (+12) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
  - 76 airports (-1) beyond the released airports have been announced.
  - 111 airports (+1) are not announced, but the dev let us know that an airport is in production.
Aircraft:
- 122 aircraft (+1) are either released or are in various stages of development.
  - 26 aircraft (+1) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
  - 16 aircraft (+2) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
  - 74 aircraft (+0) beyond the released aircraft have been announced.
  - 22 aircraft (+0) are not announced, but the dev let us know that an aircraft is in production.
Scenery:
- 226 sceneries (+2) are either released or are in various stages of development.
  - 224 sceneries (+2) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
  - 17 sceneries (+0) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
  - 2 sceneries (+0) beyond the released scenery have been announced.
Mission Packs:
- 21 mission packs (+0) are either released or are in various stages of development.
  - 21 mission packs (+0) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
  - 3 mission packs (+0) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
  - 0 mission packs (+0) beyond the released missions have been announced.

SDK UPDATE

General:
- We have expanded our SDK Team this week by adding a new tech QA and an engine programmer. They will help provide more features, bug fixes, and direct technical support.
Documentation:
- We created a section about VR configuration for cockpits.
- Along with the soon-to-be-released FX Editor, we are preparing a video tutorial, documentation & samples.

- We are currently preparing an external installer sample.

DevMode:
- We are polishing a new feature that will display all the past release notes in the DevMode, and which will also allow users to download the latest update package.
- Improvements are being made on the DevMode’s font, which could be blurry on some screens.
- On the Scenery Editor, we fixed a bug on taxiway lines that were no longer displayed. We also fixed a buffer overflow on Display Name.

Marketplace

This week we added 17 new products including the CRJ on Tuesday and updated 8.

16 NEW PRODUCTS

8 UPDATED PRODUCTS

Community Video

A timelapse of my 9 hour flight from Cape Town to Riyadh from r/MicrosoftFlightSim

TWITCH SCHEDULE

Tomorrow, join us for a guided tour around the Norwegian Fjords with tour guides SeedyL and FactualGull. Click here for more details on how to fly with us!

Next Tuesday, BeMint will be joining us for the first time! She will fly one of the most dangerous VFR flight paths in the world. Come cheer her on!

COMMUNITY SCREENSHOT CHALLENGE

This past week we challenged you to take a screenshot “The Setup” The winner is JF6420 and is our featured screenshot at the top of this update. The other contenders are below. Thanks to all those who participated!

Our next challenge brought to you by NVIDIA: “Dream Vacation” (Winner receives: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 and Flight Simulator Deluxe Edition)

GeForce Garage – The Ultimate Microsoft Flight Simulator PC & Rig Build

Screenshot by CuzDawg3

Screenshot by espn74

Screenshot by AfootGlitter642

Screenshot by DrCsany

Screenshot by CarneyUK

NEXT DEVELOPMENT UPDATE BLOG – 3.25

Sincerely,

Microsoft Flight Simulator Team