October 27th, 2022 Development Update - Microsoft Flight Simulator

Screenshot by Parorng (Forum)

We are now only two weeks away from the November 11th launch of the 40^th Anniversary Edition. This free update comes with a wealth of new features and content, including official support for gliders. To learn more about how we brought these unpowered aircraft to Microsoft Flight Simulator in the most realistic way possible, be sure to watch our new Feature Discovery Series video linked below. This video contains interviews with several Asobo developers as they discuss the process of creating the looks, sounds, instruments, and flight model of gliders.

Public beta testing for Sim Update 11 remains ongoing. SU11 will be released simultaneously with the 40^th Anniversary Edition on November 11^th and contains many bug fixes and improvements to the core sim code, including changes to the weather system to add thermals to the sim, essential for glider flight! Thank you to everyone who is participating in the public test and reporting your feedback.

In Marketplace news, the Eurofighter Typhoon from CJSimulations is now available. While the Typhoon is CJSimulations’ first product in the Marketplace, it comes from a veteran developer who has previously worked on several other popular MSFS addons. We’re very excited to bring this modern fighter jet to the Marketplace for both PC and Xbox!

And lastly, earlier this week we announced that the date for our next Developer Q&A is November 18th, and our next SDK Q&A is on November 23rd! You can submit and vote on questions for our Developer Q&A here, and questions for our SDK Q&A here!

MSFS Team

New Feature Discovery Series Video

Development Roadmap

Click here for the web-friendly version.

Feedback Snapshot

Click here for the web-friendly version of the Feedback Snapshot.

Marketplace Update

Click here for the web-friendly version of the Marketplace Update.

There are 20 new and 32 updated products in the Marketplace today. Marketplace updates generally go live on Thursdays between the release of this blog post and 5pm PT.

20 NEW PRODUCTS: 10 ON PC, 10 ON XBOX
New on PC and Xbox ✅	New on PC and Xbox ✅	New on PC and Xbox ✅
New on PC and Xbox ✅	New on PC and Xbox ✅	New on PC and Xbox ✅
New on PC and Xbox ✅	New on PC and Xbox ✅	New on PC and Xbox ✅
	New on PC and Xbox ✅

32 UPDATED PRODUCTS: 16 ON PC, 16 ON XBOX
Updated on PC and Xbox ✅	Updated on PC and Xbox ✅	Updated on PC and Xbox ✅
Updated on PC and Xbox ✅	Updated on PC and Xbox ✅	Updated on PC and Xbox ✅
Updated on PC and Xbox ✅	Updated on PC and Xbox ✅	Updated on PC and Xbox ✅
Updated on PC and Xbox ✅	Updated on PC and Xbox ✅	Updated on PC and Xbox ✅
Updated on PC and Xbox ✅	Updated on PC and Xbox ✅	Updated on PC and Xbox ✅
	Updated on PC and Xbox ✅

SDK Update

Flighting SU_11: Breaking Changes:

- Sim Update 11 flighting is almost over. We are doing our best to fix the last issues reported on DevSupport!
- We need your attention on two features that work differently now on SU_11:

- - Localization process: https://devsupport.flightsimulator.com/articles/11061/new-localisation-process.html
  - Stricter control of the files present in a SimObject type AssetGroup: Documentation on this one will be made available today on DevSupport.

General:

- Aircraft Editor:

- - We fixed the parsing of fields with slash, comment and spaces.
  - We fixed the display of param of type float3 with variable precision (32bit/64bit/other).
  - We added an Open Explorer button next to each editable field which should specify a file path..
  - We added a default value for arrays.
  - On all fields, we changed the help marker to an information tooltip icon for consistency across tools.

- WASM:

- - We fixed a crash that happened when resetting a flight while the WASM Debug window was opened.

Third Party Update

As of 10/22, we have now approved 280 (+0) third parties into the in-sim marketplace and – so far 168 (+0) have released 1,525 products on PC (+17) and 1,234 on Xbox (+16).
In total, 2,414 products (+33) have already been released in 3^rd party stores and the in-sim marketplace. Beyond that, another 601 products (-3) from 3^rd party developers are in production (310 announced, 291 unannounced). In total, over 3,015 3^rd party products (+30) have either been released or are in development.
Airports:
- 1,653 airports (+11) are either released or are in various stages of development.

- - 1,430 airports (+19) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
  - 929 airports (+10) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
  - 115 airports (-1) beyond the released airports have been announced.
  - 108 airports (-7) are not announced, but the dev let us know that an airport is in production.

Aircraft:
- 460 aircraft (+1) are either released or are in various stages of development.

- - 174 aircraft (+1) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
  - 121 aircraft (+0) have been released in the in-sim PC marketplace.
  - 92 aircraft (+0) have been released in the in-sim Xbox marketplace.
  - 176 aircraft (+0) beyond the released aircraft have been announced.
  - 110 aircraft (+0) are not announced, but the dev let us know that an aircraft is in production.

Scenery:
- 788 scenery packs (+14) are either released or are in various stages of development.

- - 701 scenery packs (+10) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
  - 239 scenery packs (+3) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
  - 19 scenery packs (-2) beyond the released scenery have been announced.
  - 68 scenery packs (+6) are not announced, but the dev let us know that scenery is in production.

Mission Packs:
- 114 mission packs (+4) are either released or are in various stages of development.

- - 109 mission packs (+3) have been released on the platform so far in various stores.
  - 42 mission packs (+1) have been released in the in-sim marketplace.
  - 0 mission packs (+0) beyond the released missions have been announced.
  - 5 mission packs (+1) are not announced, but the dev let us know that they are in production.

Twitch Update

For our Halloween flight this year, we will be flying over the Transylvania region of Romania, mythical home of the vampire Dracula in the classic novel by Bram Stoker. Our flight plan will see us visit two historic locations which were said to inspire Stoker when he was picturing Dracula’s castle: Bran Castle and Poenari Castle.

Event details here. All are welcome to participate!

Community Video

Headlining this week’s Marketplace releases is the Eurofighter Typhoon from new developer CJSimulations. Over on YouTube, thecorporatepilotdad recently posted an overview video showcasing the aircraft and its many simulated functions. If you’re considering purchasing this fighter jet and want to see more about its model, avionics, and other features, watch the video below to learn all about it!

Screenshot Challenge

You can submit your screenshot via Twitter with #MSFSchallenge or the Weekly Forum Post! This week’s screenshot challenge: Microsoft Fright Simulator

This past week our Screenshot Challenge was “Wide Open Fields“