Cloud Power, Helicopter Physics, and Avionics: A Deep Dive into Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024

We had the opportunity to speak with several key figures behind Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, including Sebastian Wloch, CEO and Co-Founder of Asobo Studio, Christopher Barnett from Working Title Simulations, Brandon Yaeger of Got Friends, and David Dedeine, CCO of Asobo Studio. This in-depth interview covers the challenges of optimizing the game for both PC and console, the intricacies of helicopter physics, innovations in avionics and flight planning, and the new career mode designed to appeal to both seasoned simmers and newcomers alike.

First, we had the opportunity to interview Sebastian Wloch, CEO and Co-Founder of Asobo Studio.

First of all, the game looks fantastic. It's an incredible step forward from 2020. Was it challenging to deliver such a graphically intensive game with this heavy simulation, on current gen consoles?

Oh, thank you! Yes, it was definitely challenging, even on PC. The sheer amount of data and polygons we had to display was very demanding. We needed to implement a lot of optimizations, not only to make the game more efficient but also to work seamlessly between the computer and the cloud. More and more processing is happening in the cloud now, which helps lighten the load on the local machine. By offloading some of the processing to the cloud, it reduces the strain on both PCs and consoles. That's one of the ways we've optimized performance. Consoles, in particular, are very powerful if you use them the right way.

The same goes for PCs, though they can handle a wider range of tasks, like running Photoshop. PCs are generally faster, but you need to approach them correctly. If you optimize things properly, the difference between PC and console performance isn't as dramatic. We've tried different methods to optimize as much as possible, because not only does it improve performance on PC, but it also results in a better experience on consoles. When things are done right on PC, they tend to run better on consoles as well. That's one of the tricks we use.

The Xbox team, which develops the tools and systems we use, has been incredibly helpful. For example, although the physical memory on consoles remains the same, we now have access to more of it. Recently, we gained an additional 500 MB of memory for developers, and we can now swap memory to the drive, which has been a huge help.

So, you're using DirectStorage, right?

Maybe, I'm not entirely sure.

Do you have in-game support for mixed reality in VR headsets? For example, I have my own cockpit, and I want to select which part of the screen displays the rendered image from the game.

That's on our list of features. I don't know if it'll make it into this release, probably not, but it's still in our backlog. Some people want no cockpit, others want a cutout, so yeah, that's still being considered.

Was it challenging to implement the physics of helicopters compared to planes? In the simulations you showed us, the ground effects look really cool, and everything seems to work well. But when I think about the complexity of combining the physics of flight with ground effects, it seems like it would be pretty complicated to calculate.

Yeah, the physics were a real headache at first. We began by looking at the legacy base in FSX, and it seemed incredibly complicated, there were so many effects, like translational lift, and a bunch of other factors. We thought, "Oh my God, this is going to be really hard."

So, we did a lot of research. We even flew helicopters a few times and studied the theory behind how they work. Eventually, we realized that many of the effects in FSX were just consequences of the same basic principle - how air flows around the helicopter. We thought, "Hey, if we could create a truly realistic aerodynamic simulation of airflow, maybe we wouldn’t need to manually add all these effects."

And it worked! Once we got that aerodynamic simulation right, it actually made things easier. We didn’t have to manually code in effects like translational lift, ground effects, and others. There are about 10 or 15 different effects on helicopters, but we only had to create one system that worked for all of them.

We also had the opportunity to interview Christopher Barnett, co-founder of Working Title Simulations, and Brandon Yaeger, founder and project lead at Got Friends. The interview focused on their journey to collaborating with Microsoft as third-party developers, but we primarily discussed the new avionics, navigation, gliders, bush planes, and the planning system that both of them contributed to.

How did you get into flight simulation?

The first flight simulator I ever played was Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000, but that was short-lived. After that, I didn’t touch flight simulation for a while. I joined the military and had an actual aviation career for eight years. Once I returned and settled into civilian life, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 was the first one I really got into. Initially, it was just a passion, but it soon became a development hobby. I started experimenting, creating add-ons, and doing some freeware projects with my team. Before long, we were making some payware content, and then Microsoft invited us to work on Flight Simulator 2024 and 2023. So, it's still a fairly new experience for us, but we’re really excited to be here.

You guys talk about all the avionics in the game, and it's obviously super important to a lot of people, though not necessarily to me. For me, it’s kind of overwhelming—there are all these computers and buttons everywhere. How do you approach that as a general topic? What would you say to someone who looks at it and thinks, "This game isn’t for me because I don’t know anything about all these systems or controls"?

Yeah, that’s a great question. I think there are a few ways we’re addressing that. First, we need to acknowledge what Jorg said during the presentation - about a third of our audience cares deeply about avionics, while two-thirds don’t, which ties into your point exactly. That’s a big part of what Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is about: balance.

We wanted to increase realism, but we also aimed to make it more approachable. We’ve done this in several ways, and I know Seb and Jorg can talk more about it. For example, they’ve introduced aircraft that don’t rely heavily on complex avionics, offering a simpler entry point. We’ve also simplified certain processes, like having the Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) automatically input the flight plan into the avionics, which removes a step that users previously had to do manually.

Another thing is the career mode, which creates a natural progression or learning path. You might start with something simpler, like a Cub pulling a banner, which doesn’t require a lot of avionics, and then gradually move to more advanced aircraft. Of course, you can always skip ahead to something like a 737 if you want, but you don’t have to.

The game design really focuses on guiding people through that educational process, because you’re absolutely right, some of these systems can be very complex.

In the presentation, they mentioned that the planning system has undergone a lot of changes. Can you explain what players can expect from the new flight planning system?

The flight planner is integrated with Microsoft Flight Simulator and is tied to your Xbox account. When you purchase the simulator, you also get access to an external website that’s mobile-friendly. So, if you want, you can do your flight planning outside the sim using a tablet or any device. There’s also a tablet within the sim itself. One of the really cool things is that the tablet is accessible almost everywhere in the simulator. Even from the world map, before you get into your plane, you can choose where you want to start your flight. Then, you can pull up the EFB (Electronic Flight Bag) and do your flight planning right there, if you want. Alternatively, you can import a flight plan from an external source.

Once you're in the plane, you can sync your flight plan with the avionics, and it works both ways. If you make updates to your flight plan in the avionics, you can sync it back to the EFB. The EFB and the external app also provide charts, different map layers, and a lot of other useful information. It's a really robust system.

And are all those indicators included as well?

Yes, exactly! It all comes together seamlessly.

You may have noticed that the name Jorg comes up frequently. Jorg Neumann is the head of Microsoft Flight Simulator, and we had the opportunity to discuss with him the goals, visions, and digital twins of the world for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024.

What was your main vision at the beginning of this project, and what's your vision now, as you're nearing the completion of Flight Simulator 2024?

I think the true innovation was in the concept itself. Flight Simulator has been around for over 40 years, and one of the principles we hold ourselves to is not to make just another simulator without offering something truly new. In 2020, we introduced the first iteration of the digital twin of the world, which had never been done before. And from that point, we became perfectionists. I’m one of those people who constantly strives for perfection, even though I know it’s an impossible goal. We’re just going to keep pushing this as far as humanly possible over time. But the ultimate goal is to fulfil the wishes and expectations of our community.

That’s the goal, and our community has an insatiable appetite for more detail, more realism—just more of everything. I don’t see an endpoint. I think this is an ongoing journey in the long term. If you look at the history, by 2032, we’ll be celebrating the 50th anniversary of Flight Simulator. I’m just here, in this moment in time, pushing it forward for the next 10 or 15 years, and then someone else will take it on and make it even better. Who knows what the future holds?

The pursuit of “as real as it gets” doesn’t have an endpoint. It’s an approximation, and we just keep getting closer and closer to it. We’ll keep grinding, constantly improving what we can.

In the future, can we expect the possibility of creating unconventional planes, like fun, fan-driven projects? For example, if I have a vision for a plane or glider, could I use the physical simulation tools to design and model it, and then fly it?

You can actually do that now. If you're familiar with tools like 3D Studio Max or Blender, which are what people typically use to build these things, you can create planes. In fact, Blender is free, and it's a really cool tool. There used to be a plane creation tool inside older versions of Flight Simulator when things were much simpler, and I often think about that. So, while it's currently not on the official roadmap, there's a huge community around experimental aircraft—like in the U.S., the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) hosts events like OshKosh, which is one of the largest aviation conventions in the world. They focus heavily on experimental planes.

I haven’t received many requests for a dedicated plane editor recently, but I don't see why it couldn't happen. Blender is free and very powerful, and with our SDK, you can already do most of the things you’re asking about—physics, aerodynamics, and more. We're also working with companies like Working Title to improve avionics, and those tools are essentially free for users.

That’s why we hire talented people, but in theory, you can already create your own plane using the current tools. You can design almost anything, like a quadruple-decker or something equally crazy—why not? It just needs to work aerodynamically, or it'll fall out of the sky! But yes, you can do it.

The last person we had the opportunity to interview was David Dedeine, the CCO of Asobo Studio, who is responsible for game modes such as career, activities, and challenges.

What was your main goal when designing the career mode?

The goal was to make it as true to life as possible, while still enjoyable for hardcore simmers and beginners alike. And when I say beginners, I’m not talking about people completely new to games. To fully engage with the career mode, you probably need to have played some games before. What we noticed after releasing the 2020 version was that people across the board were playing it hardcore simmers, casual gamers, digital tourists, and everyone in between. Some of these "digital tourists" had never played a video game before. They played Flight Simulator because they loved the idea of exploring the planet. They saw the videos and wanted to experience the world for themselves. So, we tried to design the career mode in a way that even if someone is unfamiliar with video games, they can still enjoy it. But, of course, if you’ve never played a game before, I would recommend starting with something like world exploration or some of the simpler challenges.

I think it's better to ease into it. Maybe do some world photography, try a few challenges, and then start with the training in the career mode. But on the other end of the spectrum, if you’re a hardcore simmer, you can skip all the steps you don’t need. For example, if you’re already comfortable with landing, take-offs, or even IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) flights, you can skip the training and go straight to the exam. Once you pass the exam, you unlock activities that match your skill level. The challenge was to create something that works for everyone, and that was probably the hardest part. But I think it works. The mode isn't just about training or exams, it's about the types of missions you'll have access to. And for any given mission, you can choose to play with or without assistance.

When I talk about assistance, I mean both piloting assistance and visual assistance. For example, one of the hardest things in navigation is getting lost. If you lose your GPS and don't know where you are, you're in trouble. Without GPS, you won't know where your next waypoint is, and eventually, you’ll run out of fuel and need to land. So, navigation can get really complex. While navigation is interesting, it can be quite challenging. If you’re not ready for that complexity, it’s okay, you’ll still be able to enjoy the mission. We remove those complex elements for beginners, and you just follow a flight path that leads you to the objective. The system will tell you what to do at each point, guiding you back to the airport and even inserting you into the proper landing pattern. But if you're more advanced, you won’t need this assistance.

Experienced simmers can turn off visual and piloting aids. They can prepare their own flight paths, import them, and use only their navigation skills to figure out where they are. When they arrive at the airport, they’ll use charts to understand the layout and decide which approach to take. But for beginners, by default, a flight path is provided, and it's displayed clearly so they can just follow the blue line.

What's great about this is that it helps players gradually understand how things work. For instance, when you approach a runway, the system will guide you based on the wind conditions. Little by little, you'll start to get a sense of why things are done a certain way.

Thank you for your time.