FS2020: Sim Update VII (SU7)

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Sim Update VII (Patch 1.21.13.0) and also referred to as SU7 within the community, was a simulator update for Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) released on the 2021-11-18.

This update was also referred to as the Game of the Year Edition or GotY in developer streams and advertising materials prior to release. It also incorporated the Volocopter VoloCity which was originally planned to be a free standalone expansion. Further, due to the delay of the Top Gun: Mavericks movie until 2022-05-27, Asobo released their free Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet aircraft in this update; the remainder of the Top Gun content will launching concurrently with the movie release in the Top Gun: Maverick expansion.

New content

New aircraft

We are adding 5 brand new aircraft to Microsoft Flight Simulator:

  • Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet: Our first military jet and a highly requested feature from the community. The Top Gun: Maverick expansion will release with the movie next spring, but we wanted simmers to have the opportunity to be able to test their need for speed this holiday.
    • [Undocumented] Includes 3 free liveries
  • Volocopter VoloCity: We partnered with well-known German company Volocopter, which is working on an eVTOL called “VoloCity”, a vision for an urban air taxi. We worked closely with the Volocopter engineering team to develop an authentic version of the aircraft for the simulator. This is our first aircraft that can perform pinpoint landings and is a teaser of what you can look forward to in 2022 when we intend to launch helicopters in the sim.
    • [Undocumented] Includes 3 free liveries
  • Pilatus PC-6 Porter: This legendary short takeoff and landing (STOL) utility aircraft is a highly versatile plane from Switzerland, and our close collaboration with the manufacturer and the development efforts by famed developers Hans Hartmann and Alexander Metzger resulted in a great and fun new aircraft with exception capabilities in the simulator.
    • [Undocumented] Includes 4 variants:
      • Wheels with steam gauges in 3 liveries
      • Wheels with G950s in 4 liveries
      • Skis with steam gauges in 1 livery
      • Floats with G950s in 1 livery
  • CubCrafters NXCub: Yakima-based CubCrafters recently introduced a nosewheel option for their flagship CC-19 XCub Aircraft, popularly called the NX Cub, which we are pleased to introduce to the flight sim audience to further enhance our bush flying and off airport options.
    • [Undocumented] Includes 3 free liveries
  • Aviat Pitts Special S1S: One of our most popular planes gets a single-seat option with the release of this aircraft.
    • [Undocumented] Includes 10 free liveries

New airports

We are adding 8 hand-crafted airports in Central Europe and the United States:

This release added information about 545 previously missing airports in the United States.

New missions

Based on the popularity of the recently introduced Discovery Flights, we are adding an additional 6 locations to this popular series:

New tutorials

To further expand the onboarding experience, we are adding 14 new tutorials, introducing simmers to bush flying (in an ICON A5) and IFR (in a Cessna 172 Skyhawk). They are produced in partnership with FS Academy.

New features

We are also pleased to introduce several highly requested features by the community: an updated weather system, early access to DX12, and a dev mode replay system (more info below).

New photogrammetry cities

As part of our ongoing collaboration with Bing Maps, we are pleased to add a number of new photogrammetry cities:

  • Helsinki (Finland)
  • Freiburg in Germany (Germany)
  • Brighton (England)
  • Derby (England)
  • Eastbourne (England)
  • Newcastle (England)
  • Nottingham (England)
  • Vers-Pont-Du-Gard (France)
  • Chambord (France)
  • Port-Vendres (France)
  • Utrecht (Netherlands)

Stability

  • Several crashes have been fixed across the title
  • Fixed sim being stuck while loading the world data in rare cases
  • Improved online multiplayer plane trajectory accuracy and stability
  • A first implementation of DX12 can now be activated via the Option menu (requires a reboot of the title)

Navigation

  • New Arinc424 cycle 2111 is now available
  • Flight plans that were externally loaded or manually edited on the world map will no longer be recomputed from scratch when changing the instrument procedures or the parking spots
  • AI controls ATC will no longer automatically send the updated flight plan from the aircraft’s instrument whenever a change is made

Weather

  • Improved METAR ingestion into live weather
  • You can now consult real airport METARs during flight from the Weather panel (only when Live Weather is active)
  • Updated .WPR file versioning for weather preset edition. Now handles both coverage and density for cloud layers (Formerly density became coverage). Backward compatibility has been handled
  • It is now possible to put clouds below sea level (-400m) for regions such the Dead Sea
  • Fixed AGL / MSL UI display in weather panel
  • Setting wind with weather panel is more coherent with in-game wind near ground
  • Fixed unit conversions in weather panel
  • Minor UI improvements in weather panel

VR

Microsoft Flight Simulator is now compatible with VR controllers on PC!

  • Main menu: Use the raycast mode to navigate and interact with the menus
  • Cockpit instruments: Switch between the proximity mode (you interact with the instruments by grabbing them) and the raycast mode (you use a raycast to pinpoint the instrument you want to interact with). Beware of the autopilot as it overrides your inputs.
  • Yoke/stick: In the VR options, you can choose between ‘Hold’ mode (hold the interaction button to grab the yoke) and ‘Toggle’ mode (press the interaction button once to grab the yoke and press the button again to release it) to interact with the yoke at your convenience.
  • Toolbar: Use the raycast mode to interact with the toolbar and the in-game panels.
    • Implementing support for VR controllers has required a few updates in each plane. If a plane has not been updated, a pop-up message informs you that it is not fully compatible with VR controllers, in which case:
      • You cannot grab the yoke with the VR controllers and control it with hand gesture.
      • You can control the yoke with the stick of the left VR controllers.
      • You can interact properly with the instruments using the VR controllers.
  • Lighting issues are fixed.
  • VR is compatible with DX12. You might encounter a few issues as the implementation of Dx12 is still WIP.

Accessibility

  • Audio customization: Option to convert to mono for people deaf in a single ear
  • Option to adjust background contrast in HUD has been added

Activities

  • A new Spotlight Event landing challenge is available for you to fly, featuring the F/A-18E Super Hornet landing at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar MCAS Miramar (
    • ICAO: KNKX
    )    . 4 hours of existing flight time in a non-Discovery flight (free flight, Landing Challenges, Bush Trips, etc.) are required to display the event on the homepage. It replaces the Discovery Flight shortcut.
  • G-Effect and G-Suit preference assistances have been added in the option menu
  • New assistance has been added to disable the automatic logbook at the end of a flight
  • Fixed Bush Trip progression not saved when completing a bushtrip leg
  • Fixed Germany Journey Bush Trip which could not be completed
  • Fixed A320 Takeoff Flight Training which could not be completed with only the keyboard
  • Completing a Landing Challenge will no longer change Assistance settings

Planes

General

  • Fixed a bug with water rudders at high speeds and with water rudders incorrectly affecting aerodynamics in air
  • Made ITT simulation engine specific on multi engine turboprop aircraft
  • Modular fuel system now supports CG-based triggers
  • The primed level of the piston engine does not reset anymore when no combustion happens
  • Added a new parameter to use in the flt files for turbine engines: CorrectedFF
  • Added TACAN related inputs
  • Added a SimVar that shows the effective flaps handle position when some logic makes it different than the physical position
  • Checklist highlights will now properly use the HIGHLIGHT_NODE_ID rather than the NODE_ID if specified
    • Previously only affected the hover highlight
  • Added a parameter to specify whether or not a plane’s autothrottle attempts to maintain vertical speed when controlling the airspeed
  • Title no longer crashes when trying to invert a one-waypoint flight plan
  • Added SIMVARs for TACAN Navigation
  • Improved accuracy of FLC speed hold system on aircraft with a calibration difference between IAS and CAS
  • Corrected an issue which would cause the fuel capacity of planes using the modular fuel system to be displayed as 0 gal
  • Audio: Added flaps drag sound effects
  • Audio: Added passenger ambiences cabin in airliners

Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental

Main article: Boeing 747-8
  • MCDU now supports waypoint insertion on Leg page

Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner

Main article: Boeing 787 Dreamliner
  • MCDU now support waypoint insertion in Leg Page
  • Fixed HUD projection
  • MCDU has all its buttons highlighted on hover
  • ND flightplan display now has correct color
  • REV indication on EICAS is now display when in reverse mode

Airbus A320neo

Main article: Airbus A320neo
  • Fixed a problem that prevented auto start Ctrl + E without external power unit
  • Autopilot now updates its target vertical speed while in VS mode
  • Autopilot now updates its target altitude while in VS or Managed mode
  • Corrected an issue which allowed setting the Autobrakes to the MAX position in flight when it should be disabled

Cessna Citation Longitude

Main article: Cessna Citation Longitude
  • Corrected an issue which caused push buttons for lights not to change state when toggled using a key
  • Fixed ITT alarm is ringing and caution message is displayed on PFD while ITT graph and numbers are green on PFD
  • Fixed aural warning related to parking brake cannot be silenced without disengaging the brake

JMB VL-3

Main article: JMB VL-3
  • Corrected airframe lights

Cessna 208 B Grand Caravan EX

Main article: Cessna 208 Caravan
  • Corrected some textures for airframe
  • Condition lever has new keys to bind
    • Pre-existing bindings to mixture keys can also be used to move the lever without any change in settings
  • Fuel flow controller PID was tuned to avoid fuel flow spikes when using the condition lever

Beechcraft King Air 350i

Main article: Beechcraft Super King Air
  • Condition lever has new keys to bind. Preexisting bindings to mixture keys can also be used to move the lever without any change in settings
  • Throttle levers animation gives incorrect lever position

Cessna 172 Skyhawk

Main article: Cessna 172 Skyhawk
  • Pushback service was removed from the floats version

Daher TBM 930

Main article: SOCATA TBM
  • Fixed aural warning related to parking braking could not be silenced without disengaging the brake

EXTRA 330LT

Main article: EXTRA EA-300
  • Removed some electrical circuits that were not used in the plane but could be enabled using the TOGGLE_ALL_LIGHTS key

World

  • Fixed a crash that could occur when flying near cities with a lot of autogen buildings
  • Various watermasks have been added around the world
  • Improved night lighting by reducing the intensity of the distant sepia layer
  • Fixed an issue with wind turbines lights sometimes no display at the right altitude
  • Fixed missing terminal at Orlando Sanford International Airport (
    • ICAO: KSFB
    )
  • Shahjalal International Airport (
    • ICAO: VGHS
    )     has been renamed
  • Collision pass has been performed on most of the hand-crafted airports
  • Vegetation has been tweaked around Christ the Redeemer
  • Improved LODs on Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (
    • ICAO: CYTZ
    )

UI

  • Fixed mouse click sometimes not working on external windows
  • Added a minimized HUD assistance option
  • Moved in-game news and release notes to the bottom of the main menu
  • The Marketplace is now accessible directly from a dedicated widget in the main menu
  • Allowed inputs to be mapped on key/button release
  • Community-made activities now have their own dedicated page
    • They are grouped by their mission type, which can now have any custom value

Peripherals

  • Added support for Tobii Eye Tracker
    • More settings/configuration will come in a later update
  • Added a new gamepad preset to complement the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet release: Gamepad (Fighter Jet)
  • Added afterburner controls to the commands list
  • Added G Limiter controls to the commands list

SDK

Devmode

  • The Replay system can be activated via the devmode on PC only / Options / Experimental / Enable replay panel. More info here
  • ArtProj asset groups are now automatically converted to ModelLib upon loading a project
  • Fixed various UI issues in Project Editor
  • Expose the electrical system debug window (Windows > Behaviors > Systems > Electrical system)
  • Remove arbitrary limits for electrical component definitions
  • Added draw debug helipads
  • Extra parameters linked to the selected material code can now be edited through the Material Editor
  • Fixed corrupted node positions in graph when cloning an FX
  • Improved teleport window
  • The Output node of the Visual Effects Editor now exposes extra material parameters
  • Added debug OSM point features
  • Added top down camera
  • Added the Aircraft Thumbnail Capture tool. Allows to customise and capture aircraft thumbnails (see SDK doc)
  • “Advance Capture” button in Package Inspector has been replaced to a button which opens the Aircraft Thumbnail Capture tool
  • Fixed random crash in Material Editor when building a package
  • Fixed export to community folder
  • Fixed “Remove Package” and “Remove Asset Group” buttons in Package Editor / Inspector
  • Fixed random textures flickering in Material Editor
  • Old material files are now properly deleted upon renaming a material through the Material Editor
  • Added the selection of the default VR API used (Fake or OpenXR) in option menu
  • Fixed conflict between drone camera and developer camera. Now the two options are incompatible
  • Xbox LOD Selection Mode will be replaced by the new model LOD limits system
    • Since they are exclusive, the UI now reflects this by disabling the LOD Selection Mode box when the new model LOD limits are activated
  • Improved the export window interface in the Project editor
  • Add more data validation for invalid and out-of-bounds Color and UV data, to help avoid rendering issues such as black screen flickering during the Package tool
  • Fixed that a flight could be started even if a wasm module and/or wasm gauge weren’t loaded (more visible if a flight is restarted)
  • Fixed fspackagetool.exe not displaying console FlightSimulator’s console output
  • Added two commands:
    • -outputtoseparateconsole: allow users to have FlightSimulator output to a separate console
    • -nopause: Prevent FlightSimulator to pause at the end of the proccess

Visual Effects Editor

  • Added a constraint on the name when creating or renaming a visual effect
  • New GroundDirection node, return directions relative to the plane orientation projected on the ground. See documentation here.
  • Fixed node graph display issues after creating a new effect
  • Fixed new effect creation when there are unsaved modifications on the currently opened document. Will now display the usual confirmation popup
  • Fixed particle emission flow to get a more stable emission and particle count with high rates and velocities
  • In the Bezier Curve Editor, use ⇧ Shift + left click to add a point
  • Node graph inspector shows more user friendly names when possible for properties that can be added and removed in blocks
  • Fixed bugs & made major UX/UI improvements to the Bezier Curve
  • Allow spawning Visual Effects with no node and no contact point setup. The effect will spawn attached to the root node of the object.
  • Fixed obsolete properties shown in node graph inspector
  • New primitive type GroundRibbon will create a fixed orientation ribbon that follows the orientation of the ground
  • Added a StaticMesh node
  • Fixed the deformation shader
  • Fixed a crash when closing the editor for an effect after moving a node then deleting it

Scenery Editor

  • Added road, street light and power lines exclusion to polygons.
  • Added power line debug
  • Disable gizmo while editing heightmap
  • Fixed apron resume edition when there is a spline
  • Fixed light update when moving taxipoint
  • Fixed floating object that take too much time to be snapped
  • Fix DEM update when updating terraforming
  • Added airport checks
  • Added taxiways connectivity checks. Show hold-short orientation
  • More color for taxiparkings and taxipaths
  • Making the hide and lock by type window a subwindow instead of a popup to be able to dock it
  • Fixed floating taxipoint
  • Fixed and improved color extractor
  • Fixed gltf textures not updated automatically

Aircraft editor

  • Cylinder displacement now correctly converted to cubic inches in the AircraftEditor

3ds Max Exporter

  • Fixed typo in UI of 3ds Max material
  • Pearl parameters are now restricted to only Standard Material

Audio

  • Added SONIC_BOOM Trigger Event in MiscellaneousSounds
  • Added mach cone zone & degree RTPC in the WwiseSampleProject

Model behaviors

Improvements to the usability of the Behaviors Window

  • Addition of ParametersFn feature to model behaviors
  • Addition of Process="String" to process a parameter as a string using RPN

Known issues

General

  • TrackIR may sometimes stop working properly during a flight. Press F12 to reset the position.
  • Glass cockpit remains off when starting from cold & dark with the Volocopter VoloCity
  • Save custom weather presets is not operational
  • High temperature spikes happen above 44,000 ft (13,411 m)

VR

  • Only one controller is active at a time so you cannot interact with two instruments at the same time. However, you can control the yoke and interact with an instrument simultaneously.
    • A few planes, such as the Volocopter, have a very specific configuration (throttle or other instruments on the yoke for example) which makes them currently more complicated to control with VR controllers. We will work on a way to make these planes fully compatible with VR controllers in the future.
  • The HUD in Reno Air Races may appear in the center of the field of view
    • Switching out of and back to VR fixes the problem
  • A large white dot appears in the center of the screen during the loading after completing a landing challenge
  • You may experience a visual glitch when loading the main menu back from the cockpit
  • Clicking on the Toolbar does not work (mouse, VR controller)
  • There may be some issues with the VR controllers when setting the interaction model to Legacy

Devmode

  • Aircraft can no longer compile because of glTF errors

Gallery

  • Microsoft Flight Simulator - F-A-18 E Super Hornet Release - The Potential Is Strong With This One
  • Sim Update 7 - Overview - Analysis - Microsoft Flight Simulator
  • STREAM REPLAY- Sim Update 7 First Impressions - Microsoft Flight Simulator
  • UPDATE 7- Microsoft Flight Simulator Game Of The Year 2020 Reno Races + Update
  • UPDATE 7- Microsoft Flight Simulator Game Of The Year 2020 Reno Races + Update
  • Flight Simulator 2020 - DirectX 11 vs DirectX 12 - Sim Update 7
  • MSFS 2020 - Boeing F-A-18 Supersonic Boom - Sim Update 7
  • Flight Simulator 2020 - Ray Tracing ON vs OFF - Sim Update 7
  • Flight Simulator 2020 - DirectX 12 vs DirectX 11 - Sim Update 7
  • Microsoft Flight Simulator Game of the Year Edition - Available now
  • Microsoft Flight Simulator – Announcing the Game of the Year Edition
  • Microsoft Flight Simulator - Volocopter - gamescom 2021

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Developer Q&A Twitch Series: October 20th, 2021. YouTube. Microsoft Flight Simulator Official YouTube Channel (2021-10-22). Retrieved on 2021-10-28.
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