Microsoft Flight Simulator Fokker F28, F-4 Phantom, & East Midlands Airport Get New Screenshots

Here's your daily dose of Microsoft Flight Simulator news: the Fokker F28 Fellowship, the F-4 Phantom, and East Midlands Airport got new screenshots. Metz-Nancy Lorraine, Florø, and Loemühle Airports have been released.😎


Published: May 5, 2023 10:54 PM /

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Microsoft Flight Simulator Fokker F28 Fellowship

Today third-party developers shared new screenshots of upcoming add-ons for Microsoft Flight Simulator, while new airports have been released. 

We start with Just Flight, which showcased the upcoming vintage regional airliner Fokker F-28 Fellowship, alongside a meaty development update.

At the end of another busy period of development on the F28 Professional and as we draw closer to release, here's the first of a few final Development updates along with some of the very latest screenshots from the aircraft itself.

Since our previous in-development update, our systems coding team have been busy finalizing the code for the vast array of quirky systems in the F28, and our flight model team has been busy tuning the unique flight models for each of the included variants. These are tasks which don’t lend themselves to in-development content during the development phases, however, we are now in a position to start sharing more content as all the pieces of the puzzle start falling into place. Earlier this week we handed over a new build of the systems and flight model to our testing team and we continue to review and act upon their feedback as we receive it.

Whilst systems coding has been ongoing, our artists have revisited various aspects of the interior and exterior model. The exterior of the aircraft now has improved texturing throughout, a full set of decals, highly detailed cargo holds, highly detailed landing gear bays, additional compressor and guide vanes in the engine, additional detail added to speedbrake mechanism, and added wear and tear where appropriate.

We also received this week a new build of the sounds, key to ensuring the aircraft comes alive once they are implemented! The sounds are going through thorough testing as we speak to ensure they live up to our ever high-standards, and we will be sharing a dedicated in-development video on the sounds once they are finalised.

And in other exciting news, in the last few days, we have also added an exciting new feature to the interior which adds an entirely new dimension to how you can operate the aircraft. We still have some work to do on this feature so we don’t want to show it off just yet, but we are very excited to show you this in action in an in-development in the near future!

 

DC Design also provided a development update and new screenshots of its upcoming F-4 Phantom fighter. 

A lot of work on further Phantom liveries was prepared this week by my artist Tristan, who is now in the final stages of putting them all together and delivering them to the package. They’ll be added and then the external XML files finished off to ensure the coding works across all three variants as well as those codes created for the differing types ( such as the FGR2 Spey engine exhaust doors ).

( Attached images of liveries courtesy of Novawing24 )

Work continues apace in the Phantom cockpit, mostly now in the RIO station although CodenameJack has been hard at work creating custom code for the large number of unique switches and knobs in the pilot’s cockpit to tie them in with the sim. As mentioned previously, there is only a very basic autopilot in the Phantom, so prior flight planning will be required should you wish to navigate long distances. TACAN will be available also for navigation to military bases.

The Phantom work will take up most of this month in the lead-up to launch, after which I will be taking a summer break and focusing mostly on updates for all my existing products. There are other projects underway but they will continue in the background for a bit while I bring everything else up-to-date. Expect shorter Friday news updates for a while now as there won’t be huge amounts of new stuff to show as the package is put together ready for launch. There is no actual launch date yet – that will mainly depend on the delivery of the sound packs. I have recently seen a few comments from people complaining that I “promised” delivery by whatever-given-date and therefore I have somehow failed or gone back on promises: this has never happened. I give estimates, and that is all they are. I also point out in those estimates that they are subject to change due to any number of reasons. The Phantoms will be ready when they are ready.

 

More screenshots have been released by Pyreegue, showing off East Midlands Airport (EGNX) in the UK. 

Microsoft Flight Simulator East Midlands Airport by Pyreegue

Microsoft Flight Simulator East Midlands Airport by Pyreegue

Next, we move on to releases, with France VFR launching Metz-Nancy Lorraine (LFJL) in France. It's currently available on Simmarket for $11.15. 

Here's what you can expect. 

  • High resolution ground textures reworked aerial images from IGN.
  • Detailed ground markings.
  • Photo-realistic 3D buildings specific.
  • Vegetation reworked on the platform and its surroundings.
  • Realistic night lighting reworked.
  • Runways profiles (slopes) reworked.
  • Compatible with our VFR FRANCE product range.
  • Geo-referenced data for maximum compatibility with future add-ons installed on the same area.
  • Development process 100% SDK (System Developement Kit) specifications compliant, ensuring maximum compatibility with new releases.
  • SIA – VAC – IAC – APT – ARRDEP charts provided.
 

Another airport was released by S-Design, and it's Florø Airport (ENFL) in Norway. It's currently available on Simmarket for $14.85. 

  • Hand-made ground textures with high definition
  • True-to-life airport land side recreation with custom ground decals, signposts, vegetation and more.
  • 20cm aerial photographs
  • Highly detailed models of all airport buildings
  • Using PBR textures in 4k resolution
 

Lastly, Loemühle Airfield (EDLM) in Germany was released by Spinoza. It's currently available on Simmarket for $21.61. 

Below you can take a look at a bunch of screenshots. 

 

Microsoft Flight Simulator is currently available for PC, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox Cloud Gaming, including Game Pass. If you'd like to learn more, you should stay tuned on TechRaptor as we have daily Microsoft Flight Simulator news to keep you updated on the many add-ons coming and released for the sim. We have also recently interviewed Microsoft's Jorg Neumann about the Antonov An-225 "Mriya" and iniBuilds' CEO Ubaid Mussa on the work of the popular third-party developer. If you're interested in reviews, you can check out iniBuilds' New York-JFK AirportOrbx's Oslo Gardermoen Airport, and RHDSimulations' Boeing 767-300ER.

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More Info About This Game
Learn more about Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020)
Developer
Asobo Studio
Publisher
Xbox Game Studios
Release Date
August 18, 2020 (Calendar)
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