Microsoft Flight Simulator may have been in the skies for around a month now, but that has not stopped the devs making new additions.
At the Xbox Tokyo Game Show, Microsoft revealed a load of aspects regarding Xbox in the nation - including an update to Microsoft Fligth Simulator.
Japan World Update out now
Xbox Game Studios and Asobo Studio shared the trailer for the first free content update for Microsoft Flight Simulator – World Update I: Japan.
The update features an upgraded digital elevation map across the entire country, high-resolution 3D photogrammetry for six Japanese cities - Sendai, Takamatsu, Tokushima, Tokyo, Utsunomiya and Yokohama.
Ther is also six handcrafted local airports - Hachijojima, Kerama, Kushiro, Nagasaki, Shimojishima, and Suwanosejima.
Players will also be able to try their hand at executing a trio of exciting new Landing Challenges set at Japanese airports.
Patch notes
The new update is here, which means so are some patch notes!
Three airports have been added, LEMG - Malaga Airport, LFLC - Clermont-Ferrand Auvergne, and PAFR - Bryant Army Airfield Heliport.
60 airports have been imporved based on community feedback, and control towers have been added on 700+ US airports.
UI
The UI has seen some changes, with the sensitivity screen now displayed correctly and the manual cache management UI being improved.
ATC Options should now correctly save, and liveries selection menu should now work as expected. The music can now be deactivated before or during the initial dowload on startup.
Aerodynamics
Aerodynamics have also been tweaked. Collision problems at negative altitudes have been fixed, and braking power on ground has been tweaked to reflect more realistic braking distances.
GO EXPLORING: The land of the rising sun is here!
Fuel consumption updating mass problme has been fixed for some airplanes, and a plane with no fuel leak system should no longer lead to a crash. Aircraft gyroscopic stability can now be set in the SDK toolset.
Planes
Incorrect energy formulas resulting in inaccurate autopilot behavious has been fixed, and autopilor overshooting altitude capture during descent has also been corrected.
The game will now allow to up 8500fpm max climb speed after the new AP is now more accurately respecting 6000fpm.
Visuals
Some visuals and animations have seen an upgrade too. The Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner has improved wing flex, and the Beechcraft King Air 350i has the correct rudder pedals animation.
The Cessna 152 graphic glitch when switching between cockpit and external view has been fixed, and the Airbus A320neo copilot AP button lights issue has been resolved.
General aviation avionics
- Garmin avionics : fixed issues with auto switch from NAV to LOC in approach
- Garmin avionics : Fixed wrong country codes
- G1000/3000 : Fixes on flight plan entering / duplicate waypoint page
- G1000 : performance improvements when displaying nearest airport page
- G3000 : it is now possible to active approach legs
- Cessna 172 Skyhawk (G1000): fixed automatic change from GPS to VOR 1 when a flight plan or approach loaded
- Cessna 172 Skyhawk: fixed crash when deleting direct-to flight plan
- Cessna 208 B Grand Caravan EX: fixed default state of avionics Sby & avionic bus guarded switches when starting cold and dark
- Cessna Citation CJ4: Upper menu and ENG buttons are no longer INOP
Airliners systems
- Airbus A320neo Fix APU Fuel Flow shutting down left engine
- Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner/ Airbus A320neo Fixed lack of elevator authority with FBW at low speeds
- Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner: fixed APU fault light behavior
- Airbus A320neo : fixed max thrust display
- Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner: altitude target can no longer be set to negative values
- Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental: fixed wrong approach VREF speeds
Airliners Avionics
- Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner HUD colors and layout improvements
- Airbus A320neo : fixed missing runway in the MCDU perf page
- Airbus A320neo : improved disappearance of legs too early when following a flight plan
- Airbus A320neo : STARs are filtered to display the ones connected to the selected runway in the MCDU
- Airbus A320neo : “Invalid entry” has been replaced by “Not allowed” message in MCDU
- Airbus A320neo : Flaps “F” indication replaced by “FULL” when flaps completely deployed
Weather
The wind gradient when getting close to the ground on live weather has been fixed.
Lightning has been added where applicable too.
Marketplace
Average rating has been fine-tuned for more accuracy, while 3rd party filter is now sorted alphabetically.
There is improved notification system for content bought outside of the marketplace exisiting in the Community folder. Version history is now available when an item is patched.
Content Manager
The community content is now clearly identified in the content manager.
The content manager button in the Marketplace will redirect to the corresponding addon content. Version history is now available when an item is patched.
Installation Manager
The title's audio is properly muted when the window is out of focus. Graphic settings UI during onboarding has also been fixed.
Apply and save pop up now displays only once during Graphic Settings in the onboarding.
Cameras
- Fixed visual glitch happening in camera cuts
- Fixed wrong LOD selection when a camera cut happens
- Camera reset function does not revert Cam speed/ momentum to default values anymore
Input
- CH Eclipse default preset has been added
- TrackIR can now be enabled or disabled in the camera panel
- Track IR is now disabled when on the pause menu
- Improved support for Logitech Multi panel
Bush trips
Back on track should no longer show the wrong airport.
World
- Ocean rendering has been improved (waves scale, foam and reflections)
- Water mask has been edited to display actual aerial image near the shore in some areas
- Luminance has been tweaked for some photogrammetry cities (Napoli, Darwin, San Gorgonio, Las Vegas)
- Fixed terraforming issue which was causing issues in KTEX airport
- Water elevation has been updated to improve rivers (Missouri river and around Toronto for example) and lakes (center of Canada)
- Fixed detail map rendering around runway/taxiway borders
Known issues
- Game may crash if the VFR Map is not opened right after starting the flight
- Cessna Citation Longitude: Regression AP FLC and VS mode
- Cessna Citation Longitude: Autopilot climb and level off issues
- Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental: Autopilot switches to FLCH mode instead of catching the glideslope
- Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental: Autopilot switches to VNAV mode on take-off even if VNAV is not used by the pilot
- Airbus A320neo : PFDs shutdowns randomly
- The Tour of Japan discovery flight will be greyed out in the main menu if the Beechcraft King Air 350i is not installed
- A new install on a different install folder will only download the mandatory content and will require a reboot (non mandatory content can be downloaded from the Content manager)
How to get the Japan Update
- Log into the Microsoft Store or Steam and check for updates for Microsoft Flight Simulator. Make sure you install the latest update (1.9.3).
- After you launch the sim, you can press ALT+ENTER and look at your title bar to check to make sure you have the latest version.
- An automatic update around ~9 GB will begin to complete the 1.9.3 installation.
- Once MSFS is updated (v1.9.3.0), visit the Marketplace to download the Japan content bundle
Don't forget you can play Microsoft Flight Simulator on Xbox Game Pass for PC, as we wait to hear when the game will arrive on Xbox Series X|S.
READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Microsoft Flight Simulator