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FSExpo 2026 Keynote: Microsoft Flight Simulator
- Thread starter TuFun
- Start date
DennyA
SOH-CM-2023
For those who don't want to watch for 45 minutes...
This keynote from *FSExpo 2026* features the *Microsoft Flight Simulator* team discussing major updates, new content, and technical improvements for the simulator.
Key Highlights:
### Sim Update 6 Details
*Sim Update 6* focuses on flight model refinements and improved accessibility for developers and users:
* Helicopter Debug & Assistance Tools (18:03 - 23:05): To help creators build high-quality helicopters, four new assistance tools are being introduced. These include:
* PID Tuning Visualization: Displays real-time data for pitch, bank, rudder, and collective assists.
* Rotor Blade Polars: Allows creators to visualize lift and drag polars, aiding in fine-tuning rotor physics.
* Vortex Ring State Visualization: A graphical aid to help identify where this state occurs based on airspeed and vertical speed.
* Phase Lag Visualization: An intuitive way to tune the relationship between rotor incidence and displacement.
* Turbulence Enhancements (23:06 - 25:00): Users can now visualize turbulence intensity and identify its origin (terrain, weather, or wake turbulence) through a new EDR (Eddy Dissipation Rate) calculation across all axes.
* Airport Lighting (25:31 - 27:08): New algorithms now automatically calculate where to spawn light poles on facilities and aprons. Additionally, runway lighting logic has been improved to ensure that if taxiways are lit, runways are also illuminated.
* Mission & Activity Improvements (27:14 - 30:25):
* Night Missions: Expanded options to fly missions at non-lit airports, offering higher XP bonuses for the increased difficulty.
* Filter System: A new layer for mission filtering allows players to search for missions compatible with specific aircraft.
* Bush Trips: 59 classic *Bush Trips* from *Flight Simulator 2020* are being brought to *2024* with full *Electronic Flight Bag (EFB)* and live-log integration.
### Marketplace Enhancements
Recent and upcoming changes to the *Marketplace* aim to improve usability and content quality:
* UI & Experience Redesign (31:00 - 32:00): The *Marketplace* features a cleaner layout with full-screen hero selections, consistent carousels, and improved gamepad navigation.
* Quality & Curation (32:30 - 34:00): The team has removed inflated user scores to combat manipulation and switched the default sorting method from user scores to revenue to better highlight popular, high-quality content. The hero row is now manually curated.
* Daily Releases: Content updates are now released daily rather than on a limited schedule.
* Gifting System: Arriving with *Sim Update 5.1*, a highly-requested gifting feature will allow players to send content to friends (restricted to users who do not already own the item).
This keynote from *FSExpo 2026* features the *Microsoft Flight Simulator* team discussing major updates, new content, and technical improvements for the simulator.
Key Highlights:
- World Update 22: Centered on *United States National Parks and Monuments*, this update brings high-resolution (15-30 cm) terrain data covering 43,000 square kilometers, plus new POIs, handcrafted landmarks, and *Goodyear Blimp* integration (1:57 - 5:40
- National Championship Air Races: A revamped, more authentic racing experience is coming this fall, featuring *Roswell* as a new location, a fifth "Star" class, and improved engine management/damage systems (5:43 - 7:40).
- Expert Series: Piper M600: Released today, this aircraft introduces advanced systems modeling, including custom engine wear, hot starts, fuel freezing, and a fully functional *Autoland* system (10:15 - 16:51).
- Sim Update 6 (Preview): The team showcased new helicopter debug assistances (pitch/bank/rudder PID, rotor polars, and phase lag visualization) alongside improved turbulence intensity displays and lighting upgrades for airport facilities (17:15 - 29:25).
- Marketplace Enhancements: The team has overhauled the marketplace layout, improved curation to combat "cat games" and review manipulation, and introduced a gifting feature arriving with *Sim Update 5.1* (30:35 - 35:35).
- Famous Flyer 10: Boeing 707: Developed in collaboration with *iniBuilds* and *Working Title*, this rebuilt classic features three cockpit variants, a virtual flight engineer, and simulated classic navigation systems like *CIVA INS* (36:47 - 43:57).
### Sim Update 6 Details
*Sim Update 6* focuses on flight model refinements and improved accessibility for developers and users:
* Helicopter Debug & Assistance Tools (18:03 - 23:05): To help creators build high-quality helicopters, four new assistance tools are being introduced. These include:
* PID Tuning Visualization: Displays real-time data for pitch, bank, rudder, and collective assists.
* Rotor Blade Polars: Allows creators to visualize lift and drag polars, aiding in fine-tuning rotor physics.
* Vortex Ring State Visualization: A graphical aid to help identify where this state occurs based on airspeed and vertical speed.
* Phase Lag Visualization: An intuitive way to tune the relationship between rotor incidence and displacement.
* Turbulence Enhancements (23:06 - 25:00): Users can now visualize turbulence intensity and identify its origin (terrain, weather, or wake turbulence) through a new EDR (Eddy Dissipation Rate) calculation across all axes.
* Airport Lighting (25:31 - 27:08): New algorithms now automatically calculate where to spawn light poles on facilities and aprons. Additionally, runway lighting logic has been improved to ensure that if taxiways are lit, runways are also illuminated.
* Mission & Activity Improvements (27:14 - 30:25):
* Night Missions: Expanded options to fly missions at non-lit airports, offering higher XP bonuses for the increased difficulty.
* Filter System: A new layer for mission filtering allows players to search for missions compatible with specific aircraft.
* Bush Trips: 59 classic *Bush Trips* from *Flight Simulator 2020* are being brought to *2024* with full *Electronic Flight Bag (EFB)* and live-log integration.
### Marketplace Enhancements
Recent and upcoming changes to the *Marketplace* aim to improve usability and content quality:
* UI & Experience Redesign (31:00 - 32:00): The *Marketplace* features a cleaner layout with full-screen hero selections, consistent carousels, and improved gamepad navigation.
* Quality & Curation (32:30 - 34:00): The team has removed inflated user scores to combat manipulation and switched the default sorting method from user scores to revenue to better highlight popular, high-quality content. The hero row is now manually curated.
* Daily Releases: Content updates are now released daily rather than on a limited schedule.
* Gifting System: Arriving with *Sim Update 5.1*, a highly-requested gifting feature will allow players to send content to friends (restricted to users who do not already own the item).
Last edited:
jmig
SOH-CM-2026
I see KC-135 repaints in the future.
Victory103
SOH-CM-2026
Playing sims since I was a kid, should probably try to attend one of these.