Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020’s 9th update covers the Northeast United States and spans across Buffalo, New York, Allentown, Pennsylvania, the East End of Long Island, New York, and the Washington, D.C. region.
These areas are depicted in unprecedented detail thanks to the conjunction of very high-quality data and the work of several teams from Bing, Microsoft, and Asobo as well as a data-gathering partner.
That high-quality data comes from Microsoft’s partner, Vexcel Imaging, which has been working with Microsoft to feed data to the Bing/Microsoft teams, which then process it, using Machine Learning as well as other technologies to remove shadows, clouds, and flatten trees.
Above: one of Vexcel Imaging cameras, the UltraCam Merlin 4.1 2010
The tree flattening process is a rather recent one where tree geometry is removed from the data so the teams can then add their own trees which are rendered properly in the sim. This is a step forward when compared with the trees we had at the launch of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020.
As I said above, Vexcel Imaging has been flying around countries to feed Bing which, in turn, feeds Microsoft Flight Simulator and builds a realistic depiction of the world. As you can see from the images in this article, there are no more “melted buildings”, which plagued MSFS from the beginning.
This is the result of very high-tech (and expensive) cameras and sensors used and developed by Vexcel Imaging, which provides very high-quality imagery – and, in the future, according to Jorg, LIDAR/LADAR, which will be another amazing step towards better geometry and much nicer and cleaner scenery.
To get the imagery necessary for the development of the photogrammetry scenery, Vexcel Imaging needs to have airplanes flying around the target region. And this is when things get even more interesting.
Because, if you remember the first paragraph of this article, I mention that one of the covered regions is Washington, D.C.
Which is rather restricted airspace. Yet, Microsoft pulled it off.
Jorg told me that this was a 4-year process in which not only the federal government had to be involved, of course, but also the local ATC. Not to mention that the teams were at the mercy of the weather conditions. So, not only did all the bureaucracy have to be taken care of, but they would also need to wait for the perfect storm.
Except, you know, exactly the opposite. They would have to wait for the perfect… Not… Storm? Well, clear skies, after getting the proper clearances AND having the ATC being able to cooperate that day.
You know what I mean.
If you think about it, being a 4-year project means that Microsoft was on it since, at least, the release of MSFS2020 to get what I said to Jorg to be one of the Holy Grails of photogrammetry. I haven’t heard of any other company doing the same around Washington D.C.
Microsoft did it and they are making it available to us in Microsoft Flight Simulator.
This was an obviously lengthy process, which took about twice as long as other projects go. Jorg mentioned “2 years” as something relatively normal for projects like these. The amount of time and work is staggering if we think about it. And that’s only for portions of the world.
After all the explanations of these processes (shut up, I didn’t geek out at all), I got a much better understanding of the process. Well, actually, I got an update of the process, because part of it had already been explained to us back in 2019.
The conversation I now had with Jorg added to what I already knew and renewed my respect for the work everyone is doing to make the sim better over time.
And, of course, I had to ask what would the end game for Jorg be, regarding scenery. Can we imagine ourselves walking into buildings in the future?
I know, I know. “But this is a flight simulator, not a walking simulator.”. That’s 100% true. But imagine having the ability to have in-game virtual hubs for your virtual airline, where you can hang around with other fellow pilots. And that’s just the beginning.
The addition of interiors in the sim can foster flight simulation clubs and other kinds of communities that nowadays linger on other platforms outside the simulator. Bringing people into a world where they can talk and help each other there would be a fantastic addition.
And, if it’s really not your thing, then, don’t. But I like that some people may have that option.
I liked Jorg’s answer to that. He said it’s something he has been experimenting with but he actually went a little further than that, talking about the fact that sensors are everywhere. On cars, phones, buildings, and it’s possible to understand what’s going on, in real-time, in many places in the world.
That got me intrigued. Jorg was not only talking about replicating places. He was talking about replicating events. Be it large ones or small ones, like just having a cat walking on the sidewalk for example.
Of course, this is not something that could happen right away, but it’s quite an interesting perspective of making the vortical world we fly at to feel alive.
So alive that it’s almost scary if we start thinking about it. We can not only “see our house from the sky”. We could actually see your neighbor parking on the street.
But yes, I am going wild here now.
Happy 4th of July!
MSFS City Update IX: Northeast United States brings something else as well: 4th of July commemorations. Fireworks will be present in major cities, such as New York City or Washington D.C.
Those effects are manually placed, in those cities, but there will also be procedural fireworks in all cities with 50.000+ inhabitants. So, if you fly around on the 4th of July, you will certainly be able to see a lot of fireworks in the skies of the United States.
MSFS2020 beyond 2024
I asked Jorg to help us understand what is happening with MSFS2020 now that MSFS2024 is coming. It’s something that has been asked a lot and some folks have been freaking out here and there.
I was hoping that Jorg could give me a few more nuggets so that the community could breathe a little better and not panic.
Well, don’t panic.
Microsoft will be supporting MSFS2020 for years to come. Microsoft and Asobo will try to port every improvement that is made in MSFS2024 to MSFS2020. Flight dynamics improvements, for example, or anything else that makes sense will eventually be carried from the new to the “old” sim.
Of course, new features, that are only present in MSFS2024, will not be added to MSFS2020 but the sim will not be stagnant.
Considering that they are also working on making add-ons forward-compatible (meaning most MSFS2020 addons should work in MSFS2024), it means that some of these may also be backward-compatible (2024 to 2020). It may only depend on the developer.
In fact, Jorg mentioned that there are plans to update the sim up to a World Update that should be coming in 2028 so I think it’s safe to say that we still have, at least, 4 more years of updates coming to the sim.
I can hear some of the folks out there already “Oh but they said they would support MSFS2020 for 10 years”.
Well, yes and no.
Back in 2019, Jorg said Microsoft was committed to the sim for 10 years. Not committed to a specific version of the sim, but to the sim in general, as a product.
He later clarified that expression when I interviewed him for the 40th anniversary edition of MSFS. What he meant was that they were committed for the long run. 10 years was a figure of speech and. He didn't mean MSFS2020 was going to be supported for 10 years and that was it. But that doesn't mean it's less than 10 years either. By the looks of it, they are working on going much further than that.
Honestly, I think it can go both ways. I would say that, if it's justifiable, MSFS2020 will be supported for more time. If not (if the vast majority of users migrate to 2024), they may cut support of MSFS2020 short. But please notice that I am guessing here. This is not something official or some sort of “inside information”. I am speculating.
Having that said, MSFS2020 seems to be supported, again, at least, until 2028, considering the sim/world updates that are being planned for it. That’s a lifespan of 8 years. I believe it may be supported for longer, but I am not expecting anyone at Microsoft to be marking a calendar with a “10-year and that’s it” date. In fact, I don’t think there’s a hard, strict plan for the obsolescence of MSFS2020.
Learning about the new update, how things are being made, and how people may still enjoy MSFS2020 for quite some time makes me happy since a lot of members of the simming community will be able to continue appreciating their sim of choice, with relevant updates that will make it better, even if they don't want to move on to MSFS2024.
And, of course, for those moving to the next iteration of the sim, all this – and more – will help improve their experience in what I think is one of the most complex and challenging pieces of software in the market right now. And it’s available to us, right now.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 City Update IX: Northeast United States is available now. Check out your sim's marketplace and content manager.
