We have a bumper crop of news coming our way today for Microsoft Flight Simulator. The release of Sim Update 12 is a significant shift for the sim that brings WASM support for Xbox players and opens the door to more complex modules on that platform. Meanwhile the An-2 has released to the marketplace and the An-225 has received some significant updates too.
Sim Update 12 now available
Another big moment for Microsoft Flight Simulator arrives thanks to Sim Update 12. This update comes packed with a ton of updates across the whole of the sim. Here are just a few of the features in the patch notes that stuck out to me.
- Optimized the “Checking for updates” phase to reduce the booting time of the simulator; improved the download speed in the installation manager; improved loading time before booting to the main menu.
- Added a new assistance option to customize the intensity of turbulence experienced during flight (based on current altitude, environment, and weather conditions).
- Corrected an issue that caused some multiplayer planes to display a purple texture on their Glass cockpits.
- Fixed a Rendering issue where clouds were ghosting into the sky at horizon
And that’s just to start. There are fixes and updates for live weather, fixes to crashes caused by buildings and ATC, GNS430W, GNS530W, G1000, G3000 and G5000 fixes and updates, as well as tons of updates across helicopters and fixed wing aircraft including the A310 which has a long list of updates. There’s also updates for nearly every world update.
Read the full list of patch notes here.
Famous Flyer #5: An-2 released
This one I’ve been looking forward to for a long time. Microsoft and Asobo have worked with ATSimulations to bring us the Famous Flyer #5: An-2. This project has been in the works for a long time now with images having been shown off a couple of years ago and the aircraft having been caught up in licensing challenges after the Microsoft team lost contact, for a time, with the Antonov team at the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Things have been sorted out and the An-2 is now available in the marketplace. This unique bi-plane bushplane was designed in the late 1940s to meet a Soviet Forestry requirement for a replacement to the U-2/Po-2 biplane. Like some of the other bushplanes of the era, they have lived on long past their original intended purposes and An-2s are still flown worldwide by multiple countries, organizations, and through private ownership.
The An-2 has a top speed of 132 knots and an incredibly low stall speed of just 27 knots.
The aircraft is available in the marketplace for $14.99 USD.
WASM Support for Xbox has arrived
Sim Update 12 has a key feature for Xbox console flyers in that it supports WASM aka WebAssembly Module aka the thing that will make complex aircraft flyable on Xbox.
This separate installation, not required for PC flyers, opens the door to airplanes like the An-225 which require more complex scripting to make all of their various features work. A Zendesk support document details what WASM does for the sim.
By installing Microsoft Flight Simulator: Add-on Support, certain features (within Marketplace content) become functional or begin functioning as intended. Most commonly this means aircraft instruments, such as controls, panels, and displays, will function as intended (without WASM these instruments may not function at all or would function incorrectly). However, WASM usage is not only limited to aircraft.
Zendesk support article
The addition of WASM leads into our next story…
An-225 update and Xbox support
Thanks to Sim Update 12 and the addition of WASM, the An-225 is now available on the Marketplace for sale to Xbox flyers. This is a big moment as the sim’s previous attempt at a complex aircraft, the PMDG DC-6, failed because of issues with scripting. Now the door is open and this beast of an airplane is available for purchase.
The update today also comes with news from iniBuilds that the aircraft has now progressed to version 1.4. The update includes mostly fixes to features like audio callouts being too quiet, removal of a looping bass note when the engines are off, and in-sim checklist discrepancies. There are also a few new features such as the ability to remove the dirty exhaust, and an added clickspot on the AP controls to select 1s and 100s on the altitude selector.
Stormbirds 