Today third-party developers released new assets and shared development updates about upcoming aircraft and airports for Microsoft Flight Simulator.
We start with the Pilatus PC-12 in the works at SimWorks Studios, which shared new screenshots and an extensive development update, unfortunately delayed by health issues within the team.
"Firstly, the flight handling is mostly there. We are having an argument with P-Factor on take-off and some engine quirks, but that is something we will get fixed. In flight, the plane responds like it should, and we are evaluating it against our team's PC-12 pilots.
As far as the exterior model goes, we are adding some last bits to the model that are missing: fire extinguishers in the cockpit, closing some holes in the exterior and adding the rivets. The trailing link landing gear is animated, and we will continue with fine-tuning the various animations next week to bring the exterior model to a close. The texture layout is also done in a way to be repainter-friendly, so even if you don't use Substance Painter or Blender, you will be able to load up the templates in your trusty MS Paint and do your favorite liveries!
Going into the aircraft, the PC-12 legacy cockpit is also largely complete, and we are doing some more minor corrections to it. Materials have been assigned to the model, and we expect to have a very high level of detail at a lower texture cost than the Kodiak. The mapping is also done in a way to allow for a great level of customization for the interior. For the passenger cabin we intend to have everything usable, from the armrests to the toilet and perhaps, even the snacks. Our goal is to have the aircraft capable of receiving unique interiors for each tail number. The purpose is to have both the exterior and interior fully animated by the end of next week, so we can focus on finalizing the systems and avionics coding within the rest of April. With the completion of the animations, we also expect to begin sound work.
Systems-wise, the custom EIS we wrote is now integrated in the legacy cockpit and despite some quirks, it works very close to the real thing. The custom EADI is also mostly finished, and some nuances regarding the operation of the Glideslope and Localizer display remain before we move on to the EHSI. The plane already sports a GNS530/430 set along with a KR87 ADF. A GTN750/650 combination will be available to users that have the TDS GTN750Xi or PMS50 GTN750 packages, which will automatically swap if one of them is detected running.
Finally, we have started coding in the “useless” features that make our planes stand out. We won't get into more detail on these today because we need something to show next week too."
We take another look at another aircraft, the Maule M-7-235 by Pilot Experience Sim, which got a new trailer. The developer also revealed that the expected release date on the official marketplace is April 6.
Moving on to airports, the developer of Stockholm Arlanda Airport (ESSA) by Orbx revealed new screenshots and a development update, also showcasing the difference with Asobo's own handcrafted airport.
"At the moment we are finishing up ramp H, J and K plus working on bridges and enhancing ground details for landside. We were lucky to be able to purchase very high-res up-to-date ortho imagery for the airport (costs a furtune for those who are wondering!). MSFS2020 got a limit on resolution for ground imagery which I assume many of you have noticed where ground details rarely are sharp, (this goes for both the underlying ortho and for ground signage and taxilines etc) which also means we can't use the ortho directly as we would have done in P3D for instance as a base.
With that said, we were able to combine a few different techniques and get the most use of it. We've also used it for bridges to blend better with the sourronding terrain imagery and some roof tops where the resolution comes to good use. I'll add a couple examples of the ground imagery details so you can see the difference between the Arlanda thas is shipped with the simulator and our version and I hope you can appreciate the quality difference in the ground details."
Last, but not least (at least for add-ons), we take another look at East Midlands Airport (EGNX) by Pyreegue, specifically the whole terminal and a detail shot of a walkway.
More news come from the Flight Simulation Association, which released the schedule of FlightSimExpo, which will happen between June 23 and June 25 at the Lone Star Flight Museum in Houston, Texas.
Apparently, some of the slots are still lacking details, probably to obscure surprise reveals, but you can find the current schedule on the official website.
New exhibitors have also been announced: RealSimGear, Aviation Training Foundation, FlightChops, FLYING Magazine, Fsdreamteam, Redbird Flight Simulations, MobiFlight, Sim Innovations, Flight Sim Wings, Resonaero, and Airland World.
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 reviewed Orbx's Oslo Gardermoen Airport and RHDSimulations' Boeing 767-300ER.
