Today we have two updates for Microsoft Flight Simulator. A developer update and a sim update with Update 7 (version 1.21.18.0). Let’s have a look!

Updates are here

First the lead story for today is, of course, that there is a new Sim Update out. Sim Update 7 brings with it a smaller list of updates than past updates but there are some attempts at fixing the stability of the sim, resolving some live weather related issues, fixing TrackIR support and adding and fixing VR functions, as well as performance related tweaks as well. The full list of patch notes is available here.

We also have a nice welcome message kicking us off with a new year of development and progress for MSFS. Here’s what Asobo has to say:

Happy new year simmers! It’s great to be back. We hope you’ve had a restful holiday. To kick off 2022, this morning we released build version 1.21.18.0, available now on PC and Xbox. If you participated in the public beta, please click here to learn how to leave the preview smoothly. Release notes are available in our forums and we welcome all feedback here.

MSFS January 6 dev update

As part of the dev update they have also released a touching community celebration video that’s worth a watch.

New roadmap

We also have a new roadmap today. We’ve been flying a bit blind for a few months now after the last one ran out but here we are with a new year and a new roadmap for the next few months.

There are some highlights that you may want to note in this newest roadmap. First, World Update VII is on its way coming the week of January 31st. That update will be focused on the Oceana region including Australia. More details are likely to come in the next couple of updates. Also coming is a new “Local Legend” aircraft in the form over the Fokker FVII – the first aircraft to cross the Pacific from the United States to Australia.

A new feature discovery series is on the way on the week of February 14th with a look at Aerodynamics (and no doubt an update to what is being done to further improve the flight model). Then we have the next “Famous Flyer” with the Antonov AN-2 which a third party is developing for Asobo and that will come out at the same time as Sim Update 8.

All in all there’s quite a bit on the schedule over the next couple of months.

In-case you’re wondering…

My ongoing stability issues with MSFS continue despite the latest update. Although I have tried nearly everything to resolve this issue, I’m still unable to fly any third party aircraft of any kind and first party aircraft are also unstable with some working fine for a time while others crash after just a few minutes of flight. I’ve diagnosed many software related problems over the years with no solution yet in sight.

My best guess is that Capture One, a completely unrelated utility, may be the culprit but so far none of the suggested mitigating measures work.

I had some hopes that the stability fixes here would solve the problem but no. I tried a couple of third party aircraft and I had the same crash on load that I’ve been having since Sim Update 5. It has dampened my enthusiasm, though not entirely diminished it. I still have hopes that this will be solved.

I am likely to be building a new PC at some point anyways…