Flight Simulator 2024

[Kalo]

Microsoft announced a new simulator, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. I thought the trailer looks essentially the same as 2020 but with some high detailed areas along with a missions/career aspect (Didn’t they have a 10 year roadmap for 2020?). Microsoft said you will not have to repurchase DLC from their in-simulator store (that’s nice but shows there will be no major changes). Obviously Microsoft needs to make money but I think it might have been wiser for them to focus on making DLC to sell such as aircraft, scenery updates, or expansions such as the mission/career mode they are making for 2024. I feel like creating a second version is a bit of a distraction for the dev team and complicates the third party add on market. Shouldn’t selling a new simulator be reserved for a ground up rebuild or am I being overly critical? What are your thoughts, are you planning to buy 2024?

"Today’s trailer was a short teaser to introduce Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. We are excited to share much more information about the next generation of the Microsoft Flight Simulator franchise in the coming months. We have been monitoring your feedback to the trailer very closely and apologize for our delayed communication. We would like to take the opportunity to address some of the most common questions we’ve seen.

Will Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 be a completely standalone sequel, or will it also be offered as a paid update for existing players?

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is a standalone simulator and the next-generation sequel to Microsoft Flight Simulator that launched in 2020. Current aircraft and airports that are in Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020), as well as virtually all Marketplace add-ons, will be supported in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024.

What kind of support can Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) players expect to see once Flight Simulator 2024 has been released?

We will continue to deliver our Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) Roadmap which has content ranging from Aircraft and Avionics Updates, Sim Updates, City and World Updates, and also the free Dune DLC. We will continue to support Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) post the Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 launch.

Will all purchases users have made from the Marketplace be transferrable to the new simulator?

With very few exceptions, virtually all add-ons that work in Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) today will function in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. Add-ons that were purchased from the in-simulator Marketplace will not need to be re-purchased in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024."

[Wingman]

I agree 100% with your thoughts on this, Kalo. The move feels a bit too anti-consumer/pro-bottom-line. Any word on pricing? If it's priced like DLC, then maybe they're somewhat excused for posing a DLC pack as an entirely new platform (which clearly it is not). I hope multiplayer will be cross-version compatible, else MS risks repeating history.

[ak416]

Obviously Microsoft needs to make money but I think it might have been wiser for them to focus on making DLC to sell such as aircraft, scenery updates, or expansions such as the mission/career mode they are making for 2024.

Most of that stuff has been contracted out to third parties now, the last paid DLC aircraft that was done in-house by Asobo was the Aviat Husky. The world updates are mostly done by Orbx and Gaya, so it seems Asobo has been focused on the Sim Updates and obviously FS2024. The Local Legends and Famous Flyers are published by Microsoft but all contracted out to third party devs like Andrei Tsvirenko of AT Simultions/SibWings, Hans Hartmann of Aerosoft, Michael Johnson of Lotus Simulations, etc.

I feel like creating a second version is a bit of a distraction for the dev team and complicates the third party add on market.

According to Matt Booty, Head of Microsoft Studios/Xbox Game Studios, Asobo approached them about releasing FS2024 as it's own product, so it seems it wasn't a mandate that came from the publisher. Whether you believe him or not is a different story.

"Yeah, so the team felt, there was enough improvement in what we are doing with graphics, it doesn't come through, sometimes I say to them, you guys are being a little subtle, and they assume that everybody is an airplane nerd. I don't know if you noticed, there's a tornado in that trailer. It's not canned, it happens because we're simulating weather. So, their advances in graphics in terms of how they're simulating the atmosphere and the flight dynamics, they felt it was enough of a leap forward to call it 2024, that'll be the new baseline going forward."

https://clips.twitch.tv/SpotlessEasy...gZARe69aHYVGHO

Shouldn’t selling a new simulator be reserved for a ground up rebuild or am I being overly critical? What are your thoughts, are you planning to buy 2024?

I'll buy whatever Stupid Expensive Edition they release just like I did with FS2020, I got more than my money's worth last time around and really my only major complaint with it is lack of anything that even resembles structure.

I still don't understand how they got it so right in Flight 2012 with the Job Board and now pretend like that product didn't even exist. There is a lot they could learn from it. I just want them to give me a reason to fly, whether that be to collect an Aerocache or to fly 700 pounds of Monkeys to Upolu or fly a sightseeing tour.Just basic things like unlocking liveries after completing certain missions or X number of flights kept me coming back and trying new things.

I agree 100% with your thoughts on this, Kalo. The move feels a bit too anti-consumer/pro-bottom-line. Any word on pricing? If it's priced like DLC, then maybe they're somewhat excused for posing a DLC pack as an entirely new platform (which clearly it is not). I hope multiplayer will be cross-version compatible, else MS risks repeating history.

No word yet on pricing, I'd expect them to discuss this at either Flight Sim Expo or the Dev Q&A in July, but there will almost certainly be an upgrade path for existing customers. If I had to guess maybe 25-50% off if you own the base game and 50-75% if you own the Premium Deluxe version? I could be wrong and we might have to full price again but to me that doesn't seem likely because there would be some outcry if they did that.

[Kalo]

Any word on pricing? If it's priced like DLC, then maybe they're somewhat excused for posing a DLC pack as an entirely new platform (which clearly it is not). I hope multiplayer will be cross-version compatible, else MS risks repeating history.

I haven't seen anything about price but I’d assume it will be $60 unless they offer upgrades like Ak suggested they might. If they do offer an upgrade price why not just roll major updates into paid expansion packs with a couple aircraft/airports instead (and make money on other DLC)? Your right about splitting player bases, so many game developers have made that mistake.

Most of that stuff has been contracted out to third parties now, the last paid DLC aircraft that was done in-house by Asobo was the Aviat Husky.

That’s a shame, most large games (not just free to play games) make huge amounts on DLC. Asobo should really be making aircraft/airports in addition to whatever Microsoft is paying them to develop the core game. I wonder if Asobo got a cut from the Reno Air Races expansion Microsoft released? I also counted around 40 DLC aircraft listed as Microsoft being the sole creator of and another 16 listed as co-creators between Microsoft and other developers such as Microsoft/Carenado, while Asobo only has 2. I don’t mean for the 50+ aircraft to criticize Microsoft, this is exactly how they should be monetizing flight simulator...I’m just surprised Asobo is not getting in on this.

According to Matt Booty, Head of Microsoft Studios/Xbox Game Studios, Asobo approached them about releasing FS2024 as it's own product, so it seems it wasn't a mandate that came from the publisher. Whether you believe him or not is a different story.

I lean towards believing that, I would bet Asobo probably feels like they are not getting paid enough for the amount of work they are putting into developing the core game, so releasing 2024 would bring in extra money for Asobo. I’m sorry Asobo, but adding tornadoes and improved flight dynamics to 2020 does not warrant a new simulator. I hope Microsoft is paying you well for all these great core sim updates, but you need to be making money on DLC (aircraft, airports, scenery, career mode etc)!

https://clips.twitch.tv/SpotlessEasy...gZARe69aHYVGHO

That clip is great! The Xbox Game Studios CEO Phil Spencer (guy on left) chuckles twice around 20 and 45 seconds mark when the VP said two times Asobo felt like they made big enough improvements/leap forward to call it 2024. Pure speculation on my part but it looks like he doesn’t think it’s a big enough improvement...any how that clip made me chuckle whether he meant that or not.

[Travis]

Reply to Kalo's Original Post:
I very likely will be getting it, unless there are clear reasons not to that show up later. I am not excited about this step because I think it would have been better to do a DLC. However, they might be doing this as a money motivator. If you put "DLC" into a "new" sim, and sell it that way, you will likely make much more at the end, than a selective DLC package most people might not care about.

There are some things in the trailer to unpack. It seems like they are going to give people an objective or missions like FSX, which I think is great. I hope this is all available on multiplayer so you can "experience" things together. That will make the simulator much more desirable for the average person I think.

Other than a decent amount of bugs that have been around for a while, I think MS and Asobo have done a good job of running this simulator to success, so far. I am generally very pleased and if this is what things take to keep the development going, then I am okay with it.

I do have some mild complaints about certain things, but it is a complex simulation program. And I think perfection is not to be expected, but desired. And I hope this new sim clears out some of these big issues we are having. I do not like them supporting 2 platforms though, this means development is going to slow a little. And it is a little odd, because I doubt they will be doing much new for core simulator code changes that they wont do with 2020...

I guess like all things, we will see. And I hope I am pleasantly surprised.


Reply to Wingman's post:
I also hope they support cross platform multiplayer, and work on the odd issues/quality of life desires. Such as name tag customization. That is probably the biggest, and I feel like since there is a mod for changing them to whatever you want(font, color, size, etc...), other than information like distance away, that would be a big step forward. It also seems very very easy to do, since they have the code and examples of how to do it all around.

Reply to ak416
I hope there is really enough there for a new title like they are saying. I think having a reason to fly is great to keep the sim very much alive. I think the aerocache thing they did was a bit silly, but it did get some people involved. And I think special liveries for people that have accomplished certain goals is a great idea.


Conclusion:
I look forward to the future of flight siming. If this is the best course of action, I think it is fine. It kind of reminds me of Windows 10 a little bit though(last operating system ever)... then 11 is out bit is still the same core kernal with a different UI, and a few back end changes that could have been done on 10.

I think we should all appreciate progression in flight sim and be appreciative that it is back alive and well. I was pleased to see all these postings were positive, and maybe this release will be more beneficial to all of us than we expect.

Also, it would be great flying with you guys again, come around and join a group flight! Fridays at 9. Dont have to be there for all of them... once in a while is good enough.

[WarHawK]

Will be pickin' it up.

Also A2A released their first product for MSFS2020, their A2A Comanche. It's more of a gem than it's ever been. Highly recommend it.