FS2020 Closed Beta and Preorder: What’s New?

Microsoft recently revealed Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020. Let’s take a look at what’s new.

A plane flying in MFS (Picture Credit: Fly Away)

Recently, Microsoft made many announcements regarding the preorder of Microsoft Flight Simulator (MFS). In this article, I will guide you through these announcements, define MFS, and explain what is new.

What is MFS?

MFS is Microsoft’s first major flight simulator since FSX, which was released 14 years ago. This version heavily emphasizes improving detail and also greatly increases the functionality of the application. Some of the major changes are:

Detailing

MFS is much more detailed compared to FSX, in both aircraft and scenery.

FSX scenery and aircraft (Picture Credit: AVSIM)

MFS scenery and aircraft (Picture Credit: AVSIM)

Interior

There is much more detail in the interiors (cockpits) of the aircraft than the previous version. Also, many more of the buttons are functional. The main offering of MFS compared to FSX is the increased detail, albeit it requires a much more powerful computer compared to its predecessor.

Systems

Microsoft has reworked many of its engines, including the day/night engine, the AI engine, and the control engine. The main goal is to make the game as realistic as possible. One of the main benefits of this is that it is 64-bit based, compared to 32-bit based FSX. This makes the game run much smoother and not crash because it can utilize all of the computer’s resources, unlike FSX.

Specs

MFS is looking to be a pretty beefy game, compared to FSX. To compensate, you’re going to need some equally powerful hardware to run it.

Minimum

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 1200, or Intel i5–4460
• GPU: Radeon RX 570, or Nvidia GTX 700
• VRAM: 2 GB
• RAM: 8 GB
• HDD: 150 GB
• Internet speed: 5 Mbps (0.6 MB/s)

Recommended

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 1500X, or Intel i5–8400
• GPU: Radeon RX 590, or Nvidia GTX 970
• VRAM: 4 GB
• RAM: 16 GB
• HDD: 150 GB
• Internet speed: 20 Mbps (2.5 MB/s)

Ideal

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 Pro 2700X, or Intel i7–9800X
• GPU: Radeon VII, or Nvidia RTX 2080
• VRAM: 8 GB
• RAM: 32 GB
• HDD: 150 GB SSD
• Internet speed: 50 Mbps (6.3 MB/s)

To get the full detail, you will have to kit your PC out with some of the newest parts available. It makes sense, though, because the massive amount of detail and the weather engine require lots of live data to be put into the game.

Preorder

Microsoft has announced that the game will be released for Xbox and PC on August 18. They are releasing 3 different versions: Standard, Deluxe, and Premium.

A list of airports available in each version (Picture Credit: Microsoft Flight Simulator)

A list of planes available in each version (Picture Credit: Microsoft Flight Simulator)

According to a Microsoft spokesperson,

“Microsoft Flight Simulator features virtually each airport all around that world that is represented in Bing Maps, which is roughly 37,000. Having said that, of people 37,000 airports, we have specially hand-crafted 40 of them (based on the version — 30 for Regular Version, 35 for Deluxe Version, 40 for High quality Deluxe Version) for the most realistic and immersive simulation encounter.”

What this is saying is that we will be able to have access to all the airports from FSX and more. The only downside is that most of them have not been crafted like the 40 above. Fortunately, Microsoft will most likely release more over time, depending on your version.

The Premium bundle is $120, compared to the $60 Standard bundle and the $90 Deluxe bundle. Clearly, the price is not negligible and this is an important piece of software. Once it releases, I will be doing a hands-on review to cover some of the pros and cons of this compared to FSX, so stay tuned for that. All in all, Microsoft Flight Simulator looks to be miles ahead of FSX, and I can’t wait to get my hands on it on August 18.